1	Excelling in Law School Achieving Your Personal Best!!
2	Keeping Perspective!! Being a good person Excelling in the Practice of Law Passing the Bar Graduating from Law School Performing Well in Law School Excelling on First Year Law School Exams
3	Another Perspective Goals (1) To become an exceptional lawyer (2) To maximize your employment options Can do (1) without doing (2) (2) Requires that you make the best grades in law school (1) Requires much more than the best grades and can be achieved without the best grades
4	Conventional Wisdom High UGPA Above Average LSAT Political Science or Appropriate Major No disabilities or other problems White and Male Young and Unencumbered Ability to Devote Complete Attention
5	Lies, Damn Lies & Half Truths Law School’s
6	Your Classmates Are More Intelligent than You Are, and You Can't Perform as Well as They Can No Matter How Hard You Try. Lie, Damn Lie, Half Truth They sound really smart when they answer in class. They tell you they never study, or alternatively they tell you they study all the time. They tell you they never use study aids and imply that you're a slacker and a cheater if you do. They are, in fact smarter than you are. So What?
7	Law School is Teaching You to “Think Like a Lawyer”. Half-Truth Misleading at Best On Exam Need to: Write like a lawyer Sound like a lawyer Analyze the Law But. . . thinking process not different from other thinking process Determine the facts Identify the Issues Identify the Rule, Standards Test that Govern Determine what course of action and explain why Predict the likely result
8	If You Have Family Pressures You Will Be Lucky to Pass. Half-Truth Having Less Time can be an Asset Students without families often waste a lot of time Students without families often become significantly more stressed out and obsessed There is a need to adjust family expectation Doing Law School IS NOT just another demanding job More time More emotional energy
9	If You're in Law School in the First Place, You're Already an Exceptional Student. Lie (possibly Damn Lie) An exceptional student is a person who has excellent study habits and who achieve his or her grade through application of those study habits. Many law students are poor students who succeeded in undergraduate because of their intelligence. To Be the Best in Law School , you will have to have more than innate intelligence you will need excellent study habits/skills
10	You Don't Need to Use a Study Aid, You Will Learn All You Need to Know in Class and from Briefing Cases. Lie, Damn Lie This disinformation comes from both students and faculty “good old days” students used outline banks of organizations. Study aids help in gaining the knowledge that you need to know. Do NOT use Canned Brief Danger Substituting the commercial outlines for your own product. Substitute for reading the cases. In using to many.
11	Reading Assignments Are Overwhelming and There Is No Way to Keep Up! Half-Truth Read Efficiently Reading can be very passive. Active reading improves performance. What do you do if you just don't get it. Keep a Parking Lot List. Resign your self, don't get bogged. Move on Return Later Derive your understanding from another source (ie a study aid)
12	Book Briefing is just as effective for preparing for class as mini-briefs. Half-Truth But you are skill building and written briefs are important. Helps to make reading active Helps to make you read cases critically Briefing is an important lawyering skill.
13	Attending Class Is (Is Not) Important! Half Truth Does not directly affect Grade Gives idea on Exam Coverage Helps encode into memory Helps clarify points Note-taking is an active learning Beware Attendance Policy!
14	Participating in Class Is (Is Not) Important. Half-Truth Only talking about voluntary participation. Be prepared as possible to participate when called on. Effectiveness depends on learning style. One of two ways to have professor check an evaluate thinking process Don’t Forget Podium Talk
15	Belonging to a Study Group Is (Is Not) an Essential Part of Law School. Half Truth Reasons for joining Help with developing analytical ability Help with processing information Reasons you may not want to join a study group: Your study time may be more productive alone. Different people study differently. You may be tempted to slack off.
16	You need not do an outline you can just use a commercial outline or another student’s outline. Lie, Damn Lie Benefits: cementing information in your mind help you see the whole scheme of the course. create a reference document for later use. Can use Traditional Outline Graphic organizers combination of the two
17	Law School Grades Are (Are Not) Important! Half Truth Important for maximizing job opportunities and ease of success Not important to who you are as a person
18	Law School Is a Grueling Experience Which No One Enjoys. Half Truth Is a Grueling Experience at times But also enjoyable experience!!
19	All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. --Martin Luther King, Jr If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work. --Kahlil Gibran
20	To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.--Pearl S. Buck Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.--Buddha