P.A.S.S. is a bar prep group in California.  As part of their many services, they produce "Study Guides" for Torts, Contracts, and Criminal Law.  One of the best aspects of these guides is that they are jam-packed with questions and answers ... just the thing you need for your weekly exam-practice sessions as you weave your way through year one of law school!

I was looking around the web for material about note-taking recently, and I stumbled upon a forum entry that included this sentence written by a law student:

"I recommend never taking case notes separately from lecture notes.  I did that first semester, and it added an extra layer of confusion when I had to assemble an outline."

What's wrong with this statement?  Where do I begin?

Taking excellent notes is a very important skill to learn ASAP in law school.

As a new student, you may find that taking notes in law school is quite different than taking notes in college.  I remember thinking often, "So what do I write down?"  That's because you'll undoubtedly find yourself in some classes where the professor says very little of substance.

"Why do you say that?"

"What does that mean?"

"How do we know that?"

So how do you take notes that make sense ... and what do you do with them after you've taken them? 

Over the last few years, many law schools have made an invaluable staff addition: the Writing Specialist.  If your school has one – visit.  The role of the writing specialist is to assist students in the transition from the type of writing they have been producing in college, graduate school, or the work force to the types of writing they will need to master quickly in law school. 

For most law students, their law school grades will be quite different than their university  grades.  Why?  Think about it.  Most law students were accepted into law school based in large measure on their successful achievements during their undergraduate experience.  That means, most of your student colleagues will have been in the upper quartile, more or less, of their college classes.  Not everyone will be in the upper quartile of the law school class – actually, of course, only one-fourth of the students will comprise the upper quartile of the law school c

Do you have a disability?  How will that affect you in law school?  You need to know about your rights under the law, what types of “accommodations” are available, and how students go about disclosing disabilities.  Most law students with disabilities recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act are at least generally familiar with their rights vis-à-vis their academic pursuits.  For a brief introduction into the general principles of the Americans with Disabilities Act, consider reading the introductory pages of attorney Nathaniel Wolf’s excellent article in the

The law library used to be the intellectual soul of every law school.  At many, it still is.  The entire character of libraries in general has been changing for the last decade or more, and that includes law libraries.  

In "the good old days" (when were those, exactly?) lawyers and law students performed legal research using books.  Now, most use the internet.  As a law student, you will become familiar with the thousands of law books on the shelves of your school's library, but most of your research will be done

Most entering law students seem to believe that one of the toughest chores awaiting them in law school is the production of "outlines." Not very many of these students know what "outlines" are, or what their purposes are. They soon learn that their self-produced course summaries (a much more descriptive and accurate name than "outlines") provide the backbone of their study efforts.

"If you want to learn to play the flute, you've got to play the flute." (Aristotle)

"It's about "hours in the saddle." (Kristy Tonsing)

Aristotle and Kristy are both right.

Whether you want to master playing the flute, riding a horse, or answering law exams, the winning formula is the same: practice, practice, practice.

If you approach each of your 1000 days of law study as if it is part of your "practice" for the bar examination and your entry into the profession, you'll glide through that rigorous test and never look back. 

Don't get me wrong ... the studying you do in law school does not directly prepare you for the bar examination.  Rather, it prepares you for the professional practice of law.  But the same principles, rigor, and content you learn and practice throughout law school are certainly help you in your bar exam preparation.