Posts tagged Law school

THE REALITY OF 1L YEAR GRADES, 2L SCHOOL TRANSFERS AND JOB PROSPECTS (PART 1 OF 2)



By Don Macaulay, President and Founder of Law Preview, a BARBRI company

The grades you receive during the first year of law school will likely dictate the professional opportunities that will be available to you upon graduation. As a result, it is important to map out a plan now that will allow you to maximize your chances to excel during 1L year.

IT’S A ONE YEAR SPRINT, NOT A THREE YEAR MARATHON

LawPreviewYour 1L grades will not only determine your eligibility for law review and other honors, but will dictate what job opportunities are available when you graduate.

As you have undoubtedly heard, it is a very competitive legal hiring market and the most selective legal employers make offers for full-time employment only to those students who participate in firm-sponsored summer associate programs that take place during the summer after the 2L year. The truth is that only those students with top 1L grades will get considered for these coveted programs because law firms recruit during the fall semester of the 2L year and only consider 1L grades when determining who to invite for an interview. Consequently, students who view law school as a three year marathon rather than a one year year sprint often find themselves running the wrong race because most of the best jobs will have been filled long before graduation.

“A student’s grades during the first-year of law school are extremely important. Top law firms recruit for their Summer Associate programs during the fall semester of the 2L year and often only consider a student’s 1L performance when deciding who to interview. Grades should be considered a top priority over participation on journals, moot court and other extracurricular activities.” – Mike Telle, Esq., Hiring Partner, Bracewell & Giuliani LLP

TOP 1L GRADES? TRADE UP TO A BETTER SCHOOL

The recent drop in law school applications has many believing that 2014 will present a unique opportunity for students admitted to lower-ranked law schools who wish to “trade up” and transfer to higher-ranked schools during the second year. Many of the highest ranked schools have purposely decided to accept fewer applicants in 2013 in order to preserve (or even improve) their U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings by taking only students with the highest LSAT scores and most impressive undergraduate records. The thought is that these schools will likely admit a greater number of second year transfer students to fill their seats and generate much-needed tuition revenue for the school.

When determining who to admit as transfer students, law schools often consider only one thing –1L grades. LSAT scores and undergraduate GPAs may be used as predictors by admissions deans for how well someone will perform in law school. But the best evidence of how well someone will perform in law school is how well they performed in law school. This is why law schools are not asked to report transfer students’ LSAT scores and UGPAs to either the American Bar Association or U.S. News & World Report, and why law schools base their transfer admission decisions almost solely on a student’s 1L grades.

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TOO MUCH ON YOUR MIND? HERE’S HOW TO KEEP THE “LIZARD BRAIN” AT BAY.



By Christy Cassisa, Esq., BARBRI Director, Professional Effectiveness

Congratulations, law school is done. Time to relax, right?  Not when there is one last hurdle to becoming a licensed lawyer.

IT’S CALLED “LIZARD BRAIN.”

Every exam, study group and dollar spent on law school comes down to the next few months during your stressful bar exam studies. Stressful because of the major deadline looming, fear of failure and continuous depletion of physical resources that are your daily reality. All this causes chronic sympathetic nervous system arousal – in other words, “lizard brain.” A fight-flight-freeze survival mode that dates back to our prehistoric days as Paleolithic humans.

YOU KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.

You may have already experienced chronic stress during law school. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms include: headaches, muscle aches, fatigue, increased illness, upset stomach, chest pain, sleep disturbances, anxiety, lack of motivation or focus, irritability, restlessness, depression, angry outbursts and social withdrawal.

AND IT WANTS TO DRIVE YOUR BUS.

Your body is expending all its energy to stay alive. There’s not much left over for anything else, including memorizing black letter law, taking practice tests and remaining upright in your BARRBI classes. The lizard is driving your bus. And, as you might imagine, a frazzled lizard driving a bus can be detrimental to everyone and everything nearby, including the bus itself (that’s you).

HOW TO TAKE CONTROL WHEN IT TRIES TO TAKE OVER.

LizardBe Grateful. Every day, take a few minutes to think of 3-5 things for which to be grateful. Lawyers tend to be world-class pessimists, but research shows that this may not be good for our health.  Remembering things that really matter can shift your focus to the positive, improving physical health and energy levels.

Make time for family and friends. Connect with the important people in your life. Your support system will help you feel less alone and improve your outlook.

Smile. Research has shown that the simple act of smiling can slow your heart and reduce stress, and may even help alleviate depression.

Meditate. Take a few minutes a day to be still and focus on your breathing. Recent research has shown that meditation can help prevent mind-wandering, increase focus, reduce stress, improve sleep and strengthen the immune system.

Plan the day. Map out time for studying, eating, sleeping, fun activities and exercise, for example. You’ll feel in greater control and get the most important things completed.

Eat, sleep, play. Healthy foods, enough sleep (seven hours minimum) and exercises that you enjoy (a groovy walk or dancing in the kitchen) are critical to your health.

Be your own cheerleader. We are often quite critical of ourselves. Become aware of your self-talk, challenge it and replace it with a positive mantra. Research shows that people with a positive outlook can fight off colds, can handle stress better and even live longer.

Laugh. Laughter has been shown to lower cortisol in your bloodstream, relax your muscles and improve your overall well-being.

Eat 1.4 oz of chocolate: Doing this every day for two weeks can actually lower your stress hormones.

 

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1L/2L WEBCAST SERIES: TESTING METHODS, GRADES, CAREERS



By Don Macaulay, President and Founder of Law Preview, a BARBRI company

As the 2012-13 law school admissions cycle winds down and recently admitted applicants begin to decide where to send their seat deposits, it’s a good time to give future 1L students a clearer idea about the law school experience.

Google

UNOFFICIAL ORIENTATION TO LAW SCHOOL

BARBRI has teamed up with Above the Law and Lexis-Nexis to sponsor a three-part webcast series entitled An Unofficial Orientation to Law School. This webcast series, hosted on Google Hangouts (Google’s new video chat platform), will inform newly admitted law school students about what to expect during the all-important 1L year.

If you have a question/comment you’d like to contribute to this series or simply want to share your own law school success stories and advice, click here.

WEBCAST 1:
HOW TO EXCEL DURING 1L AND UNDERSTAND THE TRANSFER GAME

Successful first and second year students describe the way law school differs from the undergrad experience, how they prepared for law school and how they were able to excel in a competitive law school environment. Andrew Cornblatt, Dean of Admissions from Georgetown University Law Center, will also explain how top grades during the 1L year can lead to higher-ranked schools during the 2L year as more and more law students transfer between schools. Watch it now.

WEBCAST 2:
LEARN TO THINK LIKE A LAW PROFESSOR

John Goldberg, Professor at Harvard Law School, and Mike Sims, President of BARBRI, will help you understand how the teaching and testing methods in law school differ from what they probably experienced in college.  They will also explain the case method and offer tips for earning top grades on law school exams.

WEBCAST 3:
HOW 1L GRADES IMPACT JOB OPPORTUNITIES AFTER GRADUATION

During the final webcast of this series, recruiting managers and hiring partners at top law firms will describe what they are looking for when recruiting for their coveted summer associate programs. Also lined up: two attorneys who took different career paths — clerking for Justice Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court and working for a governmental agency like the SEC – and how both can lead to successful careers in private practice.

To view upcoming webcasts 2 and 3, sign up now at the Above the Law website

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TAKING TWO BAR EXAMS



By Dale Larrimore, BARBRI Regional Vice President

Can I take two bar exams this summer? We often hear this question at this time of year. The lawyerly answer is: “It depends.”

There are two factors that control whether you sit for two different bar exams in the same week. First, you have to determine on which day each state administers its essay exam. Second, you have to find out if one of the states will accept a transferred Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) score from a concurrent exam.

KNOW THE EXACT DATES FOR BOTH STATES

MultistateThe MBE is always given on the last Wednesday in February and July. Most states administer essay exams on the Tuesday before the MBE. Three states administer essays on the Thursday after the MBE – Massachusetts, New Jersey and Wyoming. So if you want to take two bar exams at the same time, you have to combine a Tuesday/Wednesday exam with the exam in one of these three states.

For example, many students take the New York bar exam on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then travel to New Jersey for Thursday. Other popular combinations include Pennsylvania/New Jersey or Pennsylvania/Massachusetts.

CONSIDER GEOGRAPHY TO AVOID FATIGUE

There are many other combinations that you could consider like Alabama/Massachusetts, yet keep in mind that geography and fatigue can work against you.

Using this example – to sit for Alabama and Massachusetts – here’s what your schedule would look like on bar exam week:

    Monday: Three hours of Alabama Civil Procedure exams
    Tuesday: Six hours of MBE and Multistate Performance Test
    Wednesday: Six hours of MBE, then travel to Massachusetts
    Thursday: Six hours of Massachusetts Essay Exam

As you can imagine, it’s much easier to travel from New York to New Jersey than from Alabama to Massachusetts, especially after three days of the bar exam.

MAKE SURE YOUR MBE SCORE WILL BE ACCEPTED

Once you figure out whether the dates will work for the two states you choose, you next have to determine whether one of the states will accept an MBE score from an exam administered in another state. This list includes:

> Arizona
> Connecticut
> Indiana
> Kansas
> Maryland
> Massachusetts
> New Hampshire
> New Jersey
> New Mexico
> New York
> Oklahoma
> Rhode Island
> South Carolina
> Utah

FINALLY, HOW HARD IS IT TO PASS TWO STATE BARS

In some states, like New Jersey, little knowledge of state law is required. In others, like Massachusetts, a significant amount of state law is required to be successful on the essay exam.

There are obviously many factors to consider when deciding whether or not to take two bar exams at once. The good news is that BARBRI has helped thousands of students pass two bar exams simultaneously. We have specifically tailored study programs that highlight key differences between the two states and make learning law in two states not significantly harder than learning one.

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CHOOSING LAW SCHOOL CLASSES



By Bob Cohen, BARBRI Vice President

“What classes should I take?”
“Should I choose classes that are tested on the bar exam?”Fotolia_43609139_XL

At the core of these common student questions is the common misperception that law school should prepare them for the bar exam. That is not the case.

LAW SCHOOL DOESN’T TEACH TO THE BAR

The purpose of law school is to develop critical thinking skills. Take first year exams. They are discussion-oriented, calling upon your ability to “think like a lawyer.” The purpose of the bar exam is dramatically different. Bar examiners want you to learn an incredible amount of material that calls upon your knowledge of local law. While some law schools incorporate local state law into their curriculum, most professors do not teach with the bar exam in mind.

Bar examiners are looking for an answer-oriented analysis. On a bar exam essay, you can actually provide an incorrect conclusion based upon wrong law, yet attain points by presenting a clear, logical legal analysis. Obviously, you will score more points by applying the correct rules of law; however, the analysis leading to your definitive answer is the key to success.

BAR EXAM TOPICS DO CHANGE

If you’re plan it to choose classes based upon topics tested on the bar, keep in mind that bar-tested topics do change. Several years ago, for example, the New York bar exam dropped Personal Income Tax and Bankruptcy and added New York Professional Responsibility. Although not tested on the New York bar, Personal Income Tax relates to almost every aspect of a legal practice. A tax foundation attained in law school might also help make you a well-rounded lawyer. Similarly, Bankruptcy is currently one of the hottest fields of practice but is irrelevant for New York bar exam purposes.

GO WITH WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO MOST

BARBRI’s advice: select classes of most interest to you and in areas you intend to practice. Keep an eye towards your legal future – beyond your school’s required curriculum. If you are interested in a career as a prosecutor, take electives such as Criminal Procedure and Trial Advocacy. If you want to practice matrimonial law, choose Family Law as an elective.

If you happen to be interested in two electives offered at the same time, consider the one more frequently tested on the bar. You can obtain a bar subject frequency chart from BARBRI or speak with a BARBRI Director of Legal Education for assistance.

WITH BARBRI BAR REVIEW, YOU ARE BARBRI READY

The mark of a good bar review course is that it doesn’t attempt to take the place of what you learned in law school. The BARBRI bar review course guides you through what you either did or did not learn in law school, shows you how each subject will be presented on the bar and then gives you everything you need to be BARBRI ready – to pass the first time. Add to that your quality law school education and you are prepared to succeed in life.

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