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Nena Street

Tips for Adjuncts: Balancing Practice and Teaching

January 29, 2010

Teaching a law school course is a ton of work, but, it is well-worth the investment.
I am about to start my third semester teaching a law school course while practicing full-time as a mid-level associate in a large law firm. It is not easy to maintain your quality of life while balancing practice and teaching, but [...]

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How to Become an Adjunct Professor of Law

January 27, 2010

I recently explained why lawyers should teach. This post offers a road map for lawyers interested in teaching a law school course as an adjunct professor.
Although tenure-track law professorships are scarce and fiercely competitive, it is comparatively easy to become an adjunct professor of law. Design a course that you are qualified to teach and that fills [...]

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Teaching Makes You a Better Lawyer

January 19, 2010

As lawyers, we teach all the time. Legal practice requires that we learn, analyze, teach and persuade. We teach juries, judges, clients, adverse parties, and colleagues. A good lawyer is a good teacher. If you enjoy the teaching part of practice, pursue teaching opportunities, whether as an adjunct professor of law or a regular on the [...]

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How to Channel Your Professor

December 2, 2009

Increase your chances of success on law school exams by learning to ”channel your professor.”  At the most basic level, this simply means that you should write for your audience, i.e., your professor. Consider what your professor wants.
First, your professor wants you to demonstrate your knowledge and fluency of course concepts . Second, your professor wants exams to [...]

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Clearly, the Answer is not “Obvious”

November 14, 2009

Professors craft complex and nuanced fact patterns for their exams. They spend a great deal of time drafting exam problems without clear answers, problems that allow students to differentiate themselves based on their grasp of the material. Do not insult them by including words or phrases like the following in your answers: ”clearly,” “obviously,” “the only sensible [...]

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10 Steps To Writing a Great Law School Final Paper

November 13, 2009

This week I have offered study and test-taking tips for the common law school exam formats. Today I cover the last common evaluation method, the final paper. In prior posts, I wrote as a recent graduate. This post I also
write as an adjunct professor of law who will grade final papers in the coming weeks. [...]

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How to Succeed on Take-Home Law School Exams

November 12, 2009

In my view, take-home exams are the toughest test format to tackle. In spite or because of that fact, they have emerged in recent years as the darling of law professors. To prepare this post, I consulted other recent law school graduates, including a top 2008 graduate of Georgetown Law, a school with decidedly take-home [...]

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How to Succeed on Open Book Law School Exams

November 11, 2009

Yesterday, I offered exam prep strategies for closed book law school exams. Here, I consider exam prep strategies for open book exams and conclude that there should be little difference in how you prepare for and take closed versus open book exams.
Avoid the trap of false confidence which too often comes from having a textbook, [...]

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Closed Book Law School Exam Preparation Tips

November 10, 2009

For those of you with closed book law school exams coming up, here are a few exam prep strategies that you might find useful: (1) assess course expectations, (2) organize, memorize and master the course material, (3) practice, practice, practice, (4) rest your brain, and (5) take the exam with confidence.

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Winning the Law School Mind Game

November 9, 2009

First things first. One of the most important pieces of advice I received during law school was: “first, win the mind game.” To do this: remember what you know, prioritize something that has nothing to do with law school, make a plan and stick to it, and limit talk of law school and exams.
Before law [...]

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