Law School Confidential, Revised; A Complete Guide to the Law School Experience: By Students, for Students

by Robert H. Miller

• ISBN13: 9780312318819
• ISBN10: 0312318812
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2004-01-17
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Summary

With over 25% new material, this is a must-have guidebook for students preparing to embark on the three-year odyssey of law school. Miller has assembled a panel of recent graduates to act as 'mentors,' all of whom are perfectly positioned to shed light on what law school is like today. Together, they demystify the life-altering thrill ride that defines an American legal education by providing a comprehensive, blow-by-blow account of what to expect, including: -Taking the LSAT -Securing financial aid -Navigating the notorious first semester -Taking exams -Tackling the bar. This newly revised edition includes updates on the economy, salary ranges, interviews with hiring partners at law firms and directors of law school admissions, new student mentors, and much more.

Author Biography

Robert H. Miller is now working at Sheehan, Phinney, Bass & Green in Manchester, NH.
The Law School Confidential mentors have attended law schools across the country, including Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt, and Boston College.

Table of Contents

Author's Note	xvii
Foreword	xix
Part One: So You Wanna Be a Lawyer...	1	(94)
How to Use This Book	3	(5)
I am a college student thinking about applying to law school, or I'm thinking about changing careers and applying to law school	5	(1)
I've already been admitted to law school, and I'm nervous...	5	(1)
But I'm already in law school ... I wish I'd found this sooner	6	(1)
I'm the parent, friend, sibling, or significant other of someone going to law school	6	(2)
The Law School Confidential Mentors	8	(12)
Thinking About Law School? Think Again...	20	(19)
My relative the lawyer made me do it	22	(1)
I can't ignore this amazing LSAT score, can I?	22	(1)
I don't have a mind for science, so...	23	(1)
It's the economy, stupid	23	(1)
This ain't Hollywood, son	24	(2)
A Realistic Evaluation of Your Fitness for Law School	26	(9)
The reading load	27	(1)
The discipline	28	(2)
The atmosphere	30	(1)
The writing	31	(1)
The commitment	32	(1)
Taking time off before you apply	33	(2)
Plan Your Application Process in Advance	35	(4)
Recommendations	35	(1)
Essays	36	(1)
Your criminal history	36	(1)
The LSAT	37	(1)
The big picture	37	(2)
Your Five Most Critical Hours: How to Beat the LSAT	39	(7)
So What Is This ``LSAT'' Anyway?	40	(6)
The reading comprehension section	41	(1)
Logical reasoning	41	(1)
Logic games	42	(1)
The minutiae and related suggestions	42	(2)
So what about the test prep courses?	44	(1)
I bombed it---I know it---Should I cancel my score?	45	(1)
Applying to Law School: Bait the Hooks Carefully and Cast the Nets Wide	46	(29)
Interview with Richard Geiger, Cornell Law School	47	(28)
Additional strategies	71	(1)
Try to decide where you want to practice before you apply	72	(1)
Apply Early Action wherever possible	72	(1)
Proofread everything	73	(1)
Visit your top schools and keep in touch with the admissions office	73	(2)
Choose Your School Wisely	75	(9)
The school's regional and national reputation	75	(3)
Pay the greatest attention to a school's placement record	78	(1)
The harsh reality	79	(2)
Philosophy	81	(2)
But what about...	83	(1)
An Investment in Your Future: Funding Your Legal Education	84	(11)
Sources of funding	85	(1)
General suggestions	86	(1)
Some terms they'll throw around in your aid package	87	(1)
Federal loan programs	88	(1)
Stafford Loans (formerly the ``Guaranteed Student Loan'')	88	(2)
Perkins Loan (formerly the ``National Direct Student Loan'')	90	(1)
Private loans	90	(2)
Grants and scholarships	92	(1)
Federal work-study	92	(1)
Your day of reckoning	93	(2)
Part Two: The First Year, They Scare You to Death	95	(138)
The Ten Things You Must Do Before Classes Begin	97	(19)
Before You Arrive on Campus	98	(9)
Read this book from cover to cover	98	(1)
Arrange for housing	99	(4)
Use the summer to get in shape	103	(1)
Read now, sign up later	103	(1)
Buy a computer and become computer literate	104	(2)
Check in with the registrar	106	(1)
After You Arrive on Campus	107	(9)
Set up ``headquarters''	107	(2)
Learn the ``lay of the land''	109	(1)
Update your resume	110	(3)
Get your books, study aids, and other supplies	113	(1)
Recommended commercial outlines	114	(1)
Bonus: Go to orientation!	115	(1)
Contacts for commercial outlines	115	(1)
So What Is a Tort Anyway? A Brief Overview of the First-Year Curriculum	116	(12)
The Subjects	117	(11)
Civil Procedure	117	(2)
Contracts	119	(1)
Torts	120	(1)
Property	121	(2)
Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure	123	(2)
Constitutional Law	125	(1)
Administrative Law	126	(2)
Getting Out of the Gate---Applying the Lessons of Futures Past	128	(15)
Case briefing---their way	129	(2)
Case briefing---my way (The five-step plan to success)	131	(1)
Step One: Start each night with a lesson from your commercial outline	131	(2)
Step Two: Brief in Technicolor	133	(3)
Step Three: Supplement your notes and tab your statutes in class	136	(2)
Step Four: Write your own outlines	138	(2)
Determining your work schedule	140	(1)
A word about study groups	141	(2)
The Unspoken Code of Law School Etiquette	143	(14)
Things You Should Do	144	(6)
It is your duty to follow the honor code	144	(2)
Share your class notes, hornbooks, and outlines with anyone who needs them	146	(1)
Phrase in-class comments as questions---not statements	147	(1)
The wrong way to make a point	147	(1)
A better way to make the same point	148	(1)
When you're speaking, speak up, and when you're not, shut up!	149	(1)
When referring to cases or statutes, provide page or section numbers	149	(1)
Reign in your electronics	150	(1)
Maintain a sense of humor	150	(1)
Things You Shouldn't Do	150	(7)
Resist the urge to make unsolicited, tangential, or politically charged comments during lectures	150	(2)
Don't boast about your study habits	152	(1)
Safeguard your reputation	153	(1)
Adhere to your school's recruiting guidelines	154	(1)
Avoid all postmortem discussions about exams	155	(1)
Never discuss grades	156	(1)
The T-Minus One Month Checkpoint: How to Arrive Ahead of the Competition	157	(9)
I've missed a couple of classes, a couple of reading assignments, and I'm two weeks or less behind in outlining for each class	158	(1)
I've fallen way behind in my outlining---what do I do?	159	(1)
Panic button	160	(1)
Read Legalines to catch up, and find four good student outlines for your courses	161	(2)
What Else Do I Have to Do Between Now and Exams?	163	(3)
Acquire old exams	163	(1)
Clarify exam rules with each of your professors	164	(1)
Send query letters to potential employers	164	(2)
Making Your Summer Plans: How to Win the 1L Recruiting Lottery	166	(15)
The firm	168	(5)
Interning for a judge	173	(4)
Working for a public-service organization	177	(1)
Researching for a professor	178	(1)
Working it	179	(2)
Your First Semester Endgame	181	(22)
It's time to find an off-campus location to study	181	(3)
Mapping out the law	184	(1)
How to create a ``case map''	185	(2)
Creating a bullet outline	187	(1)
Taking sample exams	188	(2)
Review sessions	190	(2)
The final hours	192	(1)
Exam day	192	(1)
Examsmanship	193	(3)
But wait ... my exam is closed book!	196	(1)
The ``doomsday scenario''	197	(1)
The Performance Self-Examination: Part One	198	(5)
Looking Behind and Looking Ahead: Assessing the Damage and Charting the Course for Your Second Semester	203	(10)
I got straight As, mostly As and B+'s, or I am ahead of the curve in most classes	204	(1)
I got a mix of grades, some ahead and some behind the curve	205	(1)
One grade is widely disparate from the others	206	(1)
All grades at or below the mean	206	(3)
The Performance Self-Examination: Part Two	209	(4)
First-Year Endgame: Succeeding in Exams and the Law Review Competition	213	(10)
The law review competition	215	(5)
So should you do it?	220	(3)
Working for Free or Working for Pay, Your First Summer Paves the Way	223	(10)
For those clerking for a judge	225	(1)
For those going to a firm	226	(4)
For those going into public-service jobs	230	(1)
Thoughts about your 1L summer	231	(2)
Part Three: The Second Year, They Work You to Death	233	(112)
Charting a Course for Your Upper Years	235	(11)
The bar exam preparation approach	236	(1)
The survey approach	237	(3)
The major or career-focus approach	240	(1)
Majors	241	(5)
The clinical approach	244	(1)
Other considerations	245	(1)
Your Survival Guide to Recruiting Season	246	(12)
How to decide where to interview	247	(1)
How to prepare yourself for the screening interview	248	(1)
Know your audience	248	(2)
Be prompt and polite	250	(1)
Dress conservatively	250	(1)
So what are they going to ask me, anyway?	251	(4)
When a ``stunner'' goes over the line	255	(1)
What you should ask	255	(1)
The things you should avoid	256	(1)
A few horror stories to calm you down	257	(1)
Everything You Need to Know About Callback Interviews	258	(9)
So what the heck is a ``callback'' anyway?	258	(2)
Scheduling appointments	260	(2)
Tackling the callback interview	262	(2)
How to handle the recruiting meal	264	(1)
When the callback is over	265	(1)
Some horror stories to calm you down	266	(1)
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Law Firm Hiring: An Interview with Douglas H. Meal of Ropes & Gray and David W. McGrath of Sheehan, Phinney, Bass & Green	267	(34)
The Summer Associateship Itself	294	(7)
The Future Is Now: Using the ``Relevance Calculus'' to Choose a Firm	301	(14)
How to compare starting salaries	301	(3)
Salary Comparison Chart	304	(8)
Choosing a firm using the ``relevance calculus''	306	(1)
Description of factors in the relevance calculus	307	(5)
The Relevance Calculus	312	(3)
Back on the Chain Gang: Advice About Journal Membership	315	(8)
Writing your note or comment	319	(1)
The case note	319	(1)
The comment	319	(2)
Choose a topic that fascinates you	321	(1)
Find a mentor on the faculty	321	(1)
Stay organized, and stay on deadline	322	(1)
Restoring Balance: Moot Court, Public Service, and How to Reclaim the Life You've Lost	323	(7)
Public-service opportunities	325	(1)
Moot court	326	(1)
Inns of Court	327	(1)
Law school committees	328	(2)
Keys to Ascension: Turning 2L Summer Employment into a Permanent Offer	330	(15)
When you arrive	331	(1)
Handling assignments	332	(1)
Managing your workload	333	(2)
Billing your time	335	(1)
Using Westlaw and LEXIS at the firm	336	(1)
Getting the work you want	336	(1)
Getting feedback on your work	337	(1)
Escaping the clutches of a possessive partner	338	(1)
Confront problems immediately	339	(1)
Getting along with the other summer associates	339	(1)
Proper etiquette at firm social events	340	(2)
Some closing thoughts	342	(3)
Part Four: ... and the Third Year, They Bore You to Death...	345	(48)
Demystifying Judicial Clerkships: Hie Thee to the Chambers	347	(22)
State Court Clerkships	348	(2)
State trial and intermediate appellate courts	348	(1)
State supreme courts (highest court)	349	(1)
Federal Court Clerkships	350	(2)
Federal district courts	350	(1)
Specialty courts	351	(1)
Federal circuit courts of appeals	351	(1)
The United States Supreme Court	352	(1)
Why People Clerk	352	(1)
How to Apply for a Judicial Clerkship	353	(16)
Choosing your judges	353	(2)
What to send	355	(1)
The cover letter	356	(1)
Your resume	356	(1)
Your writing sample	357	(1)
How to choose your recommenders	358	(1)
Negotiating the new law clerk hiring plan	359	(2)
Preparing your applications	361	(2)
When you return to campus	363	(1)
Scheduling interviews	363	(1)
The interview itself	364	(3)
Accepting an offer	367	(2)
Opportunity Knocks Again ... A Second Chance at Recruiting	369	(6)
How to handle phone calls from people at your old firm	371	(1)
If you didn't get an offer from your 2L firm	372	(3)
Last Semester Cross-Checks	375	(9)
Ensure that you have enough credits to graduate	375	(1)
Ensure that you've taken and passed all required courses	376	(1)
Cocurricular or extracurricular requirements	376	(1)
Verify that your tuition has been paid	377	(1)
Register for the bar exam and get your firm to pay for it	377	(2)
Register for and take the MPRE	379	(2)
Arrange a start date with your firm, judge, or placement	381	(1)
Make advance accommodations in your new place of employment	381	(1)
Make arrangements for your move well in advance	382	(2)
The Final Hurdle---Strategies for the Bar Examination	384	(7)
When exam day nears	389	(1)
Final thoughts	390	(1)
Parting Thoughts	391	(2)
About the Author	393

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