Anonymous Law Student
An escape from the real world

Roundup

What can I recap from my first 2.5 weeks of class?

  • Law school involves a lot of reading, but it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be – although, I do somewhat feel like the 20 minutes I spend briefing each of my cases may be equated to time wasted. (Question for 2Ls and 3Ls, am I wasting my time?  I don’t feel like I gain any additional benefit from briefing that careful reading/rereading doesn’t already confer.)
  • Only one of my professors employs the socratic method.  The other two just allow the class to fall horrendously off-track because everyone and their mom feels the need to raise their hand and add their two cents.  Did I just end up in a section with a disproportionate amount of gunners?
  • I really like Lawyering.  But it involves a very disproportionate amount of work for the fact that it is pass-fail.  To learn how to be a good lawyer or to learn civil procedure, get an A, and subsequently land a decent job?  Tough call…
  • My classmates are very nerdy.  But it’s okay, because I am, too.
  • NYU has a lot of clubs and activities.  I want to do them all.  But during orientation, I was told by various deans that 1Ls should join a maximum of one organization.  Who should I listen to, my gut or the various deans of NYU?
  • I still don’t know how the heck professors plan on testing us.  But I’m afraid to look at an example final.  I feel like it’ll be like opening Pandora’s Box or something.

Also, I’m really sorry for being the world’s worst poster.  I’ve just been inexplicably absent from the internet in general.  I promise I won’t let the blog die.

9 Responses to “Roundup”

  1. The 2Ls I talk to all say just focus on grades. Activities are meaningless. This is said with a hollow, shaken voice.

    But if you find something that’s fun, why not go for it? I wouldn’t do it to build the resume because, well, grades do that. But if you’re genuinely interested in something, it can’t hurt to pursue it if it doesn’t hinder your studying.

    Have you met the other NYU blawgers yet?

    idwsj - September 12, 2009 at 11:56 pm

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    • Yeah… I’m def. not joining anything for a resume boost. Just more because I think they sound interesting and fun. But yeah, definitely not doing anything that’s going to be any sort of commitment in November, or anything that will require > 5 hours or so a week.

      And no, I haven’t met any… you?

      Valentina - September 13, 2009 at 1:21 pm

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  2. If you feel like you’re wasting your time briefing cases, you probably are. Everyone hits that point sooner or later (some *way* later than others); at that point, I recommend “book briefing” where you’re still looking to pinpoint the important info (facts, holding, etc.) but you’re not retyping/rewriting it…you can highlight in different colors or simply write in the margins. I used a red pen (anything other than black) and would bracket off and/or underline the parts that were important then put a big circled “F” next the facts, “I” next to the issue, etc. This way you’re still reading the cases closely and absorbing the important parts without rehashing them *and* if you get called on, you at least have the info somewhat organized in front of you.

    On activities, there’s no rule that says you can only do one–you just probably won’t have time to do more than one or maybe two. That said, there’s nothing wrong with trying out several right off the bat; you will eventually decide which are worth making time for and which just aren’t what you thought.

    Getting copies of exams at this point probably won’t help or hurt very much, but if you are set on glancing at them, read the questions and try to find where you might be able to discuss the issues you’ve learned about so far…that’s exactly what you’ll be doing on the exam only with more potential issues.

    Sounds like you’re doing great!

    Michelle Fabio, About.com Guide to Law School - September 13, 2009 at 1:36 pm

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    • Thanks for the advice! I think I may start book briefing for sure. What exactly are we supposed to take away from the cases come finals time? Just the applicable rule? Maybe instead of briefing, I can just write down the name of the case, the issue, and the resulting rule?

      Valentina - September 13, 2009 at 8:32 pm

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      • Hah, in true lawyer form…it depends ;) For the most part, yes, you’ll need to know the rules of law, but it will also be helpful for you to know how the facts of a given case you studied applied them. Ideally, you should *know* the facts in your head, not memorize them exactly, just remember what the case is about, but definitely know which facts were important to the decision based on the rule of law. That way, in an exam, you can say, for example:

        “X can bring an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim under these facts.” Then you lay out the elements of the claim. Then when applying the current facts to the elements, you can recall the case(s) that dealt with that in your casebook: “Although such claims are notoriously difficult to prove, X’s assertion of ‘extreme and outrageous’ is [much stronger than in Y case, where the claim was rejected by the court etc.].

        Does that make sense? Don’t get caught up in the tiny details of cases. Some profs just do that to screw with you, and they’re very good at it. What you’re looking to do on a law exam is APPLY what you’ve learned not repeat it (although repeating the phrases of professors if they use them often enough is never a bad idea) :D

        This will all make more sense as you start to look at past exams, do some “issue-spotting” (ah, look, that’s an acceptance problem just waiting to happen!), and have more rules of law under your belt. I promise you it’ll all fall into place in late October to mid November, if not earlier. You’ll literally say “aha!” if you’re anything like me ;)

        Michelle Fabio, About.com Guide to Law School - September 14, 2009 at 5:46 am

  3. This made me laugh: “Only one of my professors employs the socratic method. The other two just allow the class to fall horrendously off-track because everyone and their mom feels the need to raise their hand and add their two cents.”
    - and no, you didn’t get a lot of gunners, this happens whenever you let a room of type A people go amuck.

    And yes, briefing is a waste of time. Most people switch to book briefing. http://lawingenue.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-book-briefing-saved-my-behind.html

    Jansen - September 18, 2009 at 11:42 am

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