Advice to 1L's from Jack Chin's Former Students

What follows is the “single most importance piece of advice” a number of my former students at the U of A and elsewhere would give to an incoming first year law student. Although there is an enormous amount of sense in the words that follow, none of the advice necessarily represents my views. -- Prof. Chin

What do we do as lawyers?

From a grad awaiting Bar Results: The one piece of information that helped me the most in law school came from Professor *** in my Civil Procedure class in the first few weeks of law school. We were discussing Personal Jurisdiction and, of course, a case in which the result was anything but a foregone conclusion. I, and many others I’m sure, were wondering what the “answer” was “supposed” to be. We did not yet realize that the law is not like mathematics, usually there are no cut and dried answers. Anyway, Professor *** made the following comment: “Great lawyers thrive in the area of uncertainty.”

I went home and thought about what she had said, and it dawned on me that I did not need to fear not knowing the answer when posed with a legal question. Rather, I needed to embrace the uncertainty, and then argue my heart out on BOTH sides of the issue presented. I kept that thought in mind during my first semester exams, and it served me very well. I made law review, and ended up getting two Notes published.

Studying

From a City Councilor: Get a good outline

From a JAG Officer: The key to Law School, and especially the first year, is discipline. You need to have the discipline to put in the work when it is time to work, but you also need the discipline to walk away from it and blow off some steam when the time is right. Keeping the balance up between school, family, and personal time is extremely important and it is all about discipline. However, this is coming from a Marine’s perspective, we think everything is about discipline!

From a Current Student: 1. Use supplemental texts!!! They are helpful for an overview of a subject at the beginning of the semester, or for practice problems to reinforce concepts before exams. Favorites: Nutshells, and Glannon’s Examples and Explanations. Even Emmanuel’s was useful for practice problems.

2. Take practice exams, whenever possible, first year, under exam time pressures. Absolutely essential to master the typical “law school exam.”

The smartest single thing I did two years ago, which helped me do very well in my first year of law school--well enough to transfer schools, and better than many peers who were more qualified--was to study outside materials.

Specifically, one thing I’m grateful that I did early in law school was to read (and follow the advice of) Atticus Falcon, Planet Law School, which is widely available. Having that knowledge also helped me to hone in and attack issues, which resulted in my earning the highest “A” in ***.

In the book, Falcon teaches prospective or novice law students several invaluable lessons. First, law school professors usually aren’t going to facilitate the journey through law school. Conversely, professors’ familiarity with the law, and their insatiable love for theory, often make learning the fundamentals of law quite difficult for students. It makes sense, too; seated atop the isolated towers of academia, professors often forget that the law is a foreign language to newcomers. Second, “black letter law” is the best place to begin one’s study of law, and to combat these professor-fueled problems.
To that end, Falcon recommends: (1) judicious use of study aids (e.g., Aspen’s Examples and Explanations series; Emanuel’s Law in a Flash cards); (2) learning how to brief cases properly (e.g., by using Professor John Delaney’s systematic dissection of cases); (3) taking the LEEWS law school essay exam course by Wentworth Miller; and (4) studying up on related areas, such as Judge Ruggero Aldisert’s Logic for Lawyers: A Guide to Clear Legal Thinking, and Stephen W. Comiskey’s A Good Lawyer. The first three are essential, but all are beneficial.

Numerous friends who began law school with me at ***, and who used the advice of Planet Law School and LEEWS, have also done quite well. Some have transferred and are finishing law school at Georgetown, George Washington, and Boston College; many are on law review and moot court. Additionally, and most important--though of little comfort to typical “type-A” law students--I feel that these materials give students a strong analytical foundation. And I’ll take that any day over top grades. After all, only one in ten students makes the top 10% of the class. But to become a good lawyer, every law student needs to have keen abilities in legal reasoning and analysis.

Broadly speaking, the best thing in any situation is to have an ordered plan of attack. For the smoke and haze of the first year law school battlefield, Falcon gives students a method, a plan, and an arsenal.

Colleagues

From a Current Student: No matter how annoying some people may be, be nice to them- not only will you feel better about yourself, but these people will be your colleagues and you will have to work with them in the future, so you might as well get a head start.

Attitude

From an in-house lawyer: Do not start law school with any ‘fixed and inflexible’ decision about what you want to do or what path you WILL to pursue after you leave. It limits your choices, narrows your chances to broaden your opportunities and it can be disappointing (which is especially depressing for overachievers like wanna-be lawyers) if you do not find yourself EXACTLY in the field you ABSOLUTELY were going to be in when you graduated.

From a current student: Most importantly I just hope 1L’s do not get wrapped up in the fishbowl of law school. There is so much more to life and it is never healthy to let one thing consume you completely. Our worth should come from what we accomplish as human beings; the products of our toils as we try to make the world a better place. Grades in law school should never define that worth.

I remember entering as a 1L thinking that all people talk about is your grades and how important that is for the rest of your life. I knew going in that I could not be a top student so this was hard to swallow day after day. I realize that grades are important but I would have appreciated someone acknowledging that law school is more than just grades. It is an experience and if you are not the best student you can still distinguish yourself in other ways.

From an in-house lawyer: Try, really try, to be just a little humble. You honestly do not know EVERYTHING you think you know. And be aware of what you DO NOT know. That’s generally humbling in itself.

From a lawyer at a large private firm: My thoughts: (1) work harder in first year than you have ever worked before -- it is really the most pivotal time, (2) make as many contacts as you can.

From a student awaiting bar results: My philosophy has been don’t put too much pressure on yourself. There are all kinds of things that can go wrong and trip you up. When you put too much emphasis on one class or one exam/paper and it doesn’t get the grade you expected it can really devastate some people. However, unless it actually is bad enough to make you fail out of school, it should be looked at as a learning opportunity. Find out what went wrong, or maybe realize it wasn’t as important as other things going on in your life, and pick your pride up dust it off and keep trudging forward. As bad as it ever gets you come to realize that you have to wake up the next morning and convert oxygen into carbon dioxide all day long and that isn’t easy either.

 From an in-house lawyer: The best suggestion I could make would be to find a mentor -- a 2L or 3L -- who can assist in formulating a successful game plan. It certainly worked for me. Such a relationship provides insight into professor requirements as well as assistance in creating useable outlines.

From a lawyer at a large private firm : My spouse says: “Don’t freak out, it’s not as hard as it’s cracked up to be.” My spouse thinks it’s hyped.  ”At the end of the day, the only one you’re competing with is yourself.”  She also said “don’t be intimidated by your professors, all they are are lawyers who couldn’t make it in practice” (she had to dig at you a little, don’t hold it against her).  From me, it’s been several years, but I have 2 thoughts on the first year, first, on the social/study end, it’s the weirdest social time you’ll experience, everyone circles wagons into tight knit groups, then they splinter.  Stay independent and don’t rely on anyone else.  On the study end, you can’t study too much.  You’re learning a whole new way of thinking and speaking, it’s like taking a concentration in space logic with a second major in a different language.  Keep a glossary of every word you read that you did not know, with the definitions (including words you thought you knew, like “offer” and “acceptance.”) My best piece of advice for law students is really on exams.  Once you’ve come up with a thorough outline of your own and understand every bit of it, you’re half way there.  Taking practice exams is the most critical key to doing well, anyone can memorize an outline, it takes a lot of practice to know how to apply it.

From a current student: The ability to keep things in perspective -- if you don’t get an “A” in every class (because you won’t), it is not the end of the world and your dog, cat, spouse, parents, or whatever will still love you. Keep some outside interests that you had before starting law school; things that interest you, you are passionate about and/or help you relax. They will be VITAL to keeping your sanity in law school (let alone having a life after you graduate).

From a prosecutor: This is nothing like your undergraduate experience. You will be intimidated and scared to death intentionally your first year . . . this is normal and expect it. You will be worked to death you second year, so don’t be resting on your laurels. It’s time to work. Your third year, you will of course, be bored to death. Enjoy this time and get as much intern/clerk experience as you can . . . you will never have this much time on your hands again. Also, take all the necessary bar required courses, but don’t be afraid to take some electives. Your mind will change many times as to what type of law you will practice in the future. Sometimes it just comes down to where you can get a job. But prepare yourself now by exposing yourself to a wide variety of specialties, including criminal law. Trial experience never hurts and learn to research well. Good luck, and remember, A students are professors, B students are judges, and C students make all the money!!

From a lawyer at a small firm: I would tell them to get as many diverse experiences in the law as they can while they’re in school because for many of them, it’ll be the last chance to do so. My personal example: I knew I’d be working for my dad doing worker’s comp. when I got out, so I asked him if he would want me to either come home for the summer or find a worker’s comp. lawyer to work for to pick up experience. He told me my last summer would be the last time to do anything exciting involving the law, so I should take advantage of the opportunity, and I did.

From an administrator at a law school: Professor *** told all of his advisees to work your hardest your first semester because it is the time to prove yourself and to get your job that hopefully you’ll have when you graduate.  I like the tip, but for a different reason - working your hardest your first semester gives you a great sense of esteem.  When you receive your first semester grades and see that you’ve done well, you feel confident and know that you can achieve anything.  I can’t imagine how hard it would be to pull yourself out of a hole.  So my advice is, work your hardest your first semester so that you know you can do it.  It only gets easier.

From a lawyer at a federal agency : My single most useful tip is for the procrastinators: learn to DO IT NOW.  The problem is that procrastination is habitual. The sooner you can shake free of this habit, an albatross for a law student, the better (not just in law school, but in life as well).  I came to law school very much a procrastinator. I thought that I could put things off and then just cram for exams (as I did as an undergraduate). It was a rude awakening.  There was too much to cover in such a short period of time.  I hadn't given myself enough time to let the concepts sink in.  I knew bits and pieces, but I struggled to understand how they connected. 

Preparation for my first semester exams became a frustrating endeavor, on top of the stress that already exists, because I waited to long to really start studying.  The worst part of the process was that as I was "reviewing" (for the first time) the class materials, questions starting leaping off the pages; questions I should have been asking the professor (in or out of class) well before the eve of the exam. 

I survived my first exams (obviously), but the grades were not great.  They definitely did not reflect my true capability.  If I was starting law school now, the most important thing I would do is make a schedule and stick to it.  The more you put off, the further behind you are and the longer it takes to right the ship.  If you DO IT NOW and use your time effectively, you won't regret it. 

This is easy to say, but hard to do.  It won't happen overnight.  Like most change that is long lasting, it will take incremental steps.  But you can start by DOING IT NOW.

From a Current Student: First semester, I stressed out over my outlines because I put it off until November, so I burned a lot of midnight oil getting my outlines done by finals. I decided for 2nd semester that I would take notes on all my readings, and put the notes in outline form. Then at the end of the semester, I pretty much had my outlines done, and I just added things from my class notes and deleted those things that the professor didn't focus on. Although it requires a lot of effort each day, it really saved me a lot of time and stress during those weeks leading up to final exams.

Fall, 2004