Laptops and the internet have changed the way law students conduct legal research, prepare for class, and participate in class. By and large, however, most professors stick to the Socratic method and do not integrate technology in the classroom. Professors should join the revolution and use technology to help prepare students become better lawyers.
Law School
No matter what the job market looks like, law school is a tough slog. But don’t worry, we’re here for you.
Start with Randall’s excellent How to Succeed in Law School. And before you get to finals, check out our guide to law school exams.
You should also take some time to optimize your legal resume, polish up your networking skills, and learn how to improve your performance in job interviews (including OCI).
Or, if you are interested in hanging your own shingle, we have lots of information about starting your own law firm.
Oh, and we’ve got lots of great bar exam study tips if you are between graduation and lawyering.
Finally, join the Lawyerist LAB, where we have specific forums for law school, careers, and law practice.
Law school career services offices at many schools are currently failing to serve their students.
After my post “Applying to Law School? Please Reconsider!,” Lawyerist Contributor Randall Ryder made the comment:
“. . . If you want to go to law school, and really want to practice law, an opportunity will present itself––or you can make an opportunity for yourself. It’s tougher in this economy, but it is still doable, you just need to work hard at it. If you are not willing to work hard, you are in [the] wrong profession.”
Randall is right. Not only can the law be a rewarding profession, the current economy actually creates opportunities for savvy lawyers to have more fulfilling and lucrative careers, with the right kind of planning. The problem is that a large number of law school career services offices spend little time focusing on creating career-savvy legal professionals.
The end of each semester in law school brings a flood of emotions. We expect the relief and even glee that comes with selling, shelving, or destroying casebooks and bidding the classrooms farewell.
What is not so expected is what I half-jokingly call decompression sickness, or the stress that comes from a great decrease (or shift in focus) of stress.
Think you want to apply to law school? It might be time to rethink your application decision. While law school admissions are at an all-time high, law jobs are disappearing. Maybe forever.
Signs of a law school application bubble
The concurrent trends of increasing legal education cost, decreasing legal employment, and strong debt insulation are setting the law school market up for a crash.
Keep Reading ⇒
For those law school students who have the option of using a computer or hand-writing an exam, here are some factors to consider before presuming that the benefits of typing outweigh those of writing by hand.
Today I took the first of my 2L exams. After traveling through a blizzard to make it to school, I was unpleasantly surprised when my computer, running ExamSoft‘s Softest application, hung on restart and deleted my test template.
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 be well-organized and easy to read. Most students leave it at that. But you will be well-served by learning to craft answers using the language and methodology of your professor.
Think of it this way: most professors would give themselves an “A.” If you can figure out how the professor would approach an exam problem and mimic that approach, you increase you chances of earning an “A” yourself.
Guest post by Sara Jaspers.
Outliner 4.0 by Storelaw
As a first-year law student, one of the most frustrating aspects of law school is how to structure class outlines in preparation for finals. Outline organization can be difficult juggling the notes taken on readings prior to class, notes taken during class, and consolidating and condensing the ultimate outline you will use to study for the final exam.
My first semester I took extensive notes on anything and everything and then eventually reduced those notes to a separate outline in a separate document. The second semester I switched from using a typical Microsoft Word document to Outliner 4.0 software for taking notes, which has been an immense time-saver.
These beginner tips (optimized for PC users, but some equally applicable for Macs) might help you gain a few minutes back into your hectic day, or make some of your routine tasks easier and more efficient.
Guest post from Craig Janis.
Successfully running an organization often means getting people to attend your organization’s events. This is true for almost every type of organization, including law school clubs, professional groups, and community associations. While different kinds of organizations have different needs, there are a few basic principles of event planning that are universally helpful.
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 conclusion,” “without a doubt.”
![Nominate the Best Law Firm Websites (2013 Edition) [UPDATED]](http://lawyerist.com/lawyerist/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-popular-posts/timthumb.php?src=http://lawyerist.com/lawyerist/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/best-law-firm-websites-nominations-2013.jpg&h=90&w=90)
