Guest Blogger!

 ASP is happy to welcome a few guest bloggers for the next few posts!  These guest bloggers will be current students which should give you greater incite to the ASP experience. 

Many first and second year students are reluctant to ask for help--and that's okay.  You probably went to law school because you have a strong Type-A personality; and your strong sense of self led you to believe that your personal study methods were and will always be fine and dandy.  Many students, even after a semester or two of dissatisfaction with grades, are STILL reluctant to ask for help.  This is why first years are encouraged to come to ASP from the get-go.  This is also why students are encouraged (or sometimes required) to take Legal Methods I, a course designed to improve the law school skills we know you have.  If you did not have those skills, you would not have been admitted.  ASP is here to help you develop those skills.  Here is Guest Blogger Erin Langdorf-McKinley's take on her experience with ASP and Legal Methods I:

I have to say that at first, I was not thrilled to be in Legal Methods I. I figured I would just go and listen to what they have to say, but not try. I thought I did everything first year fine and they couldn’t help me. I was wrong. The extra practice of writing essays and taking multiple choice tests did help. The feedback on each essay told me something new and showed me where I needed to work harder. I learned that I needed to take it slower on MC and read the call of the question first and read every answer choice before I picked one.

I also changed the way I studied. First year, I did the majority of outlining during the couple days leading up to finals. I also studied in a study group of four the whole time; I studied from 9am to 10pm for three weeks straight. This method, I found out, was not helpful. I liked the study group aspect, but by the end of finals, I was wiped.

During this last set of finals, I had finished all of my outlines a week before finals started. Instead of cramming long days for the whole time, I worked until about 5pm and then headed home, watched some of my television shows, went out a little, went to the gym. I didn’t stop my life for finals. Instead of a group of people, I studied with one person and did more practice exams. I felt a lot less stressed and more relaxed going in.

Before Legal Methods I was happy with a 2.7 or 2.8 in a class. After Legal Methods I, my GPA for Fall 2011 went up significantly and my CGPA went up as well. I know that at first, some people (including myself) might be hurt or upset to be in Legal Methods I, but don’t fight it. It helps and the professors know what they are talking about.

A special thank you to Erin for her candid account of her experience and her amazing ability to improve her GPA and legal skills overall!

What should you be doing over Winter Break?

Congratulations! You have completed your first semester of law school. It is an accomplishment you should be proud of. Now take some time to relax and recharge before next semester. (sleep, clean your living space, catch up on your DVR programs, start some holiday shopping, etc.) Spend time reconnecting with family and friends and remembering there is a life outside of law school.

Do not feel the need to start pre-reading right away for next semester. However, take some time to reflect on your performance during your first semester. What worked well for you? What did not work as well? Was you study group effective for your learning? Were your study guides an aid or a crutch? Make new goals for yourself for the next semester; such as when to start outlining, when to start taking practice exams, when to see T.A.s, Prof. ASP etc.

If your professor gives you the option to review your final exam, take that opportunity even if you scored well in the class! Learning what your professor, and ultimately the bar, is looking for and how each grade an exam will help you self-assess and identify areas for you to improve.

Last but not least, have fun but get ready to gear up for next semester!

Are They Speaking In Code?

For better understanding of what your professor is writing on the board and for speedier note taking, here is a list of useful symbols and their meanings.  Trust us, these will come in very handy over the course of law school:

·      § = Section

·      ∆ or D = Defendant

·      ∏ or P = Plaintiff

·      ¶ = Paragraph

·      Aff’d = Affirmed

·      B = Beneficiary

·      BFP = Bona Fide Purchaser

·      BOP = Burden of Proof

·         COA=Cause of Action

·      Corp = Corporation

·      FRCP = Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

·      FRE = Federal Rules of Evidence

·      Gov or Gov’t = Government

·      JNOV = Judgment notwithstanding the verdict

·      Jx or Jxn = Jurisdiction

·      K = Contract

·      OE = Offeree

·      OR = Offeror

·      PJ = Personal Jurisdiction

·      RAP = Rule against Perpetuities

·      Rev’d = Reversed

·      SL = Strict Liability

·      SMJ = Subject Matter Jurisdiction

·      SOL = Statute of Limitations

·      TRO = Temporary Restraining order

·      UCC = Uniform Commercial Code

·      v. = Versus

·      w/ = With

·      w/o or w/out = Without

In addition to these symbols, which are perfect for condensing notes and outlines, some common law school accessories a student should not be without are a Black’s Law Dictionary and perhaps a supplement or two. 

For help with note taking, outlining, and determining what, if any, supplement is right for you come to ASP office hours where you can check out a supplement or ask for advice regarding them.  Our office hours are:

	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
Prof. Homer	12:00pm-2:30pm 4:00pm-5:00pm	9:00am-12:00pm	9:00am-12:00pm
Prof. Dombrow	9:00am-12:00pm 2:00pm-4:30pm	9:00am-12:00pm 2:00pm-4:30pm	9:00am-12:00pm in library
Prof. Gutterud	12:00pm-2:30pm in library  4:00pm-7:00pm in library	8:00am-12:00pm 1:00pm-2:00pm	9:00am-12:00pm

"Everybody's Working For the Weekend..."

Congratulations! You survived the first week of law school. What should you be spending your first weekend doing? Celebrating? Studying? Trying to see if you can still transfer to an M.B.A. program . . .? First and foremost, take a moment to take a deep breath and realize that you made it through the first week, only 16 more to go until Winter Break! Law school is about pacing yourself, so take pride in the fact you have one full week under your belt.

In ASP we recommend that you spend part of the weekend evaluating your performance during your first week of law school. Ask yourself the following questions: How did your reading go? Reading briefs will get easier the more you read, but are you having a hard time finding the rule of law in the brief? Are you confused by the procedural history? Ask yourself, how did your briefs work? If you had been called would you have been able to answer the professors questions using the briefs you prepared? What area of your brief do you need to work on? Make sure to attend the ASP Workshop #1 next week to fine tune your briefing skills. Identifying the areas you need improvement this weekend will help you pinpoint what to focus on during the workshop.  Law school is all about self-assessment and identifying how you can best learn, comprehend, and analyze the law.

We also recommend that you make a study plan or review your current study plan. Make a calendar that breaks up the week, day by day, hour by hour. Include your classes, your commute time, any jobs, family or religious commitments, workout time, etc. This should leave you with a clear view of the hours you have to devote towards reading, briefing, outlining, etc. As you probably are already realizing, you will spend more time reading some subjects than others. Pencil into your calendar when you plan to do reading and briefing for each subject. Realize that your study plan is not set in stone and needs to be constantly evaluated during the first semester. You will need to add in time for outlining, research projects, legal research papers, etc. in the near future. Start to think about where you may be able to plug these tasks into your current study plan.

So, in addition to any studying your new study plan includes this weekend, remember that it’s important to RELAX and maybe even catch up on the sleep you missed over the week.