New Semester Preparation

New - “beginning as the resumption or repetition of a previous act or thing.”

-      Merriam Webster’s Dictionary

I just finished the second week of my last semester of law school.  Since I’ve done the beginning of the semester routine for law school six times already, I thought I’d share my process for getting ready for a new semester.  If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of assignments and mid-terms you have this semester, read on to find out how I get prepared for an upcoming semester.

Tackling Finals

Tackle — “To set about dealing with.”

-Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary

I’m knee deep into finals (three down, two to go) so I thought I’d give you an overview of how I approach taking exams.  I have a typical way of approaching my exams, but as with any of my posts, find what works for you and stick with it.  This is a similar way that I approached taking exams in college as well.

Scheduling in Law School

Register — “To enroll formally as a student.”

-Oxford’s English Dictionary

I am the type of person who plans everything out far ahead of time.  Like make a plan of your entire law school courseload before you even start law school.  Yes, I actually am that organized.  But I recently just registered for my last year of law school (seriously, how is that already around the corner??).  But, I thought I would share what classes I think are a good idea to take in your three years, and my opinions on the classes.

Building a Professional Network

Network — “A usually informally interconnected group or association of persons (such as friends or professional colleagues).”

-Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary

When I started this professional development series, I had envisioned devoting an entire month to certain types of posts, but finals got in the way of that plan.  However, I promise I’ll be more on top of it once finals are done!  So without further ado, here is the next installment in this series about creating a professional network.

The Value of Pro Bono Service

Pro Bono Publico — “A Latin term meaning for the public good.  It is the provision of services that are free to safeguard public interest.”

-Black’s Law Dictionary

So with the Thanksgiving holiday being last Thursday and today being Giving Tuesday, I thought the most appropriate installment of my professional development series would be to focus on pro bono service.  Doing pro bono service really helps me to be thankful for all of the blessings I’ve had and to take an opportunity to give back to others.  Since academically I enjoy more corporate and “cold” matters, like contracts, I find that doing pro bono service allows me to actually help people, rather than just focusing on money and other similar business issues.

Cover Letters: First Intro to Future Employers

Cover Letter — “A letter that is sent with something to explain the reason for it or to give more information about it.”

-Merriam Webster’s Dictionary

I’m back with part two of my professional development series, and today’s topic is cover letters!  To be honest, I actually don’t like writing cover letters at all.  Prior to law school, I had never written one and, to this day, I still get writer’s block when trying to write one.  So here’s my brief introduction on how to write a great cover letter!

Polishing Your Legal Resume

Resume — “The presentation in a formal document or form of a person’s employment history and skills they possess.” 

-Oxford’s English Dictionary

I’ve been really inspired to do a monthly theme for my posts, and this month, I decided on the theme of professional development.  My first post is on what I consider to probably be one of the most important things a law student has, your legal resume!  I’ve had an ever changing resume draft since high school; however, a professional resume needs to highlight the skills you can bring to a potential employer.  Read on for tips on how to perfect your resume!

The Best Apps for Law School

App — “A computer program that performs a special function.”

-Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary

Since basically everything I do involves my phone in some capacity, it’s only right that I have a whole folder on my phone dedicated to law school.  Here are my votes for the best apps for law school!

Utilizing Legal Research Resources

Research — “Basic or applied method of increasing the knowledge by finding new information.”

-Black’s Law Dictionary

During law school, the research tools available to you will become your best friends.  Honestly, I feel like I used at least one of them every day during my 1L year and my summer internship.  The trio of legal research resources every law student is exposed to consists of LexisNexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law.  Everyone has their own favorite, but it’s good to know how to use all three because most employers only pay for one.

Orientation Essential Posts

Advice — “Recommendation regarding a decision or course of conduct."

-Merriam Webster's Dictionary

It’s that time of year again, orientation and the start of a new school year!  Starting something new can always be a bit overwhelming, and I personally read almost anything related to law school that I could get my hands on.  So for your reading pleasure, here are some of my posts from last year when I was just starting out my 1L year and going through orientation!

First Year Summer Internship

Intern — “An advanced student or recent graduate who is apprenticing to gain practical experience before entering a specific profession."

-Black’s Law Dictionary

For this summer, I have the wonderful opportunity of interning with a judge in my hometown.  I’m currently in my fourth week of interning and I really enjoy the work that I am doing, along with the cases I get to observe.  The main types of cases he hears are custody cases, juvenile cases, and alternate courts that focus on rehabilitation, such as veteran’s court.  So, here are some of my tips on how to find a summer internship, to choose the right one for you, and to get the most out of this rewarding experience.

Officially a 2L!

Complete — “Brought to an end.”

-Merriam Webster’s Dictionary

I cannot believe I’m already done with my 1L year of law school!  I hope everyone else had a great end to the school year and a wonderful beginning of your summer.  Now that this semester is over and I’ve finally received my grades for the semester, I thought I’d reflect a little on my first year of law school as a whole. 

Finals Study Plan

Examination — “An exercise designed to examine progress or knowledge.”

-Merriam Webster’s Dictionary

 

With finals quickly approaching, (my first one is Friday!) I thought I’d share with you about how I prepare for my own finals.  This might be a shorter post since I’m knee deep in outlines, textbooks, and supplements to study for my finals. 

Outlines, Outlines, Outlines

Outline—“A list of the key items in a document or plan, presented in the order they appear in the main document, or in some other logical sequence."

-Black’s Law Dictionary

Less than one month and I can officially say that I’m a third of the way done with law school.  What???  I honestly cannot believe how fast my first year went and how soon I will actually be a lawyer.  But with the end of the semester comes the dreaded end of semester finals.  And with finals comes writing outlines, memorizing outlines, working on practice problems, etc.  As I said in my post here on my review of last semester, I only started my outlines during reading week, which was definitely not the best study plan.  This semester, I definitely started on them earlier, but not as early as I resolved to do so earlier this year. 

A How-To Guide to Law School Classes

Class—“The period during which a body of students meeting regularly to study the same subject meets.”

-Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary

 

So you’re probably wondering what makes me take forever to post a new blog post on here.  Sometimes the day-to-day of school, plus the extras of trying to find a summer internship and writing my legal writing motion, have me so crazy by the end of the week that all I want to do is sleep and that’s pretty much how spring break went too!  But, now I’m back and hopefully, once my motion is turned in on Monday, I can have more time to devoting to my blog (comment below on what you’d like me to write about next!).  Since my daily class preparation has been consuming my life, I’ve decided to let you in on how I get ready for class and how I make the most of my actual class time.

Casebooks Galore

Casebook—“A book containing a selection of source materials on a particular subject, esp. one used as a reference work or in teaching."

-Black’s Law Dictionary

 

If you’re in law school, then you’ve come to have a love-hate relationship with what we call casebooks.  If you’re not in law school, then you’re probably wondering what a casebook is.  Well, it’s basically a giant book (in the case of my Con Law book, almost 2000 pages!) that’s filled with court opinions that teach you the law.  In addition to being giant, they can be very expensive so read on to see how I save some money on them.

New Semester Resolutions

Resolution—“The determination or decision, in regard to its opinion or intention, of a deliberative or legislative body.”

-Black’s Law Dictionary

 

One week in to the new semester and I thought I’d give a brief summary of last semester and my goals for this semester!  At my school, we got our grades back the Friday before the semester started, which is just what you want to see right before classes begin again.  I didn’t do terribly overall, but it was definitely the lowest GPA I’ve ever had (not by much, I did a tiny bit better one semester in college, but by that point I had a high overall GPA).  That really stung since I was used to a particular level of achievement.  However, I had a mock interview this week with a practicing attorney and she told me that my current GPA is a good starting point because I can always increase my grades this semester now that I know how to work the law school system.

Making Friends in Law School

Friend—“One attached to another by affection or esteem; a favored companion.”

-Merriam Webster’s Dictionary

Oh wow, the past four weeks have gone by insanely quickly and I can’t believe it’s been this long since I’ve written a post!  However, in those couple weeks, I’ve become intimately familiar with this topic.  I’ve never really had a problem making friends.  I’ve had the same best friend since kindergarten and in high school, I had the same friends from grade school.  In college, I became friends with my college best friend the first day of orientation.  So not having a good group of friends in law school was a new thing for me.

How to Bluebook

Bluebook--"The citation guide that is generally considered the authoritative reference for America legal citations.”

-Black’s Law Dictionary

Last week, my TA for Legal Writing hosted a session introducing us to the Bluebook.  Over the past eight years, I’ve used about five other citation styles so it was a little annoying to have to learn another one.  Though, hopefully, this will be the only one I’ll have to use again!

One Week Done!

Opinion--"a court’s written statement explaining its decision in a given case, usually including the statement of facts, points of law, rationale, and dicta.”

-Black’s Law Dictionary



Ahh so sorry I’ve been absent for so long!  Law school really throws you right into the swing of things.  One week down and I’ve already read well over a couple hundred pages.