law school finals

[Keller]

For those of us going through hell now, discuss.


From my perspective all I have to say is, "Hearsay just got pwnt." Next up: Monday, CrimPro. I've spent the last 2 weeks outlining/cramming Evidence, so I'm pretty fucked.

Funny anecdote. A buddy of mine were sitting in the undergrad commons about an hour ago getting some SoCal sun while we ate lunch (post-evidence final) and this smokin-hot chick walks up to us and say, "Hey boys, what're you doing Saturday night?"

Both of us looked at each other, then at her, and said, "Studying."

She said, "Well can you take a 2 hour break?"

We said, "No."

I guess she was soliciting people to come here her sing and I don't think she'd been turned down all day. It was pretty fucking funny (if not also really lame).

[Sean of the Thread]

Best of luck.

[TheEschaton]

I have Civ Pro on the 8th, then Con Law on the 11th, Crim Law on the 15th, ethics take home on the 18th.

They give 1Ls a ridiculously long reading period, classes ended today (yesterday for me, since our Crim Law teacher switched our Friday classes to Wed).

-TheE-

[Khariz]

I'm taking a Civ Pro final, a Property II final, and a Business Associations final (it like Corporations and Agency law mashed into one class).

I'm a part-timer, so its kidna odd. We do Torts, Contracts, and LRW the first year, and Civ Pro, Property, Crim Law, and Business shit the second year.

Next year, I do Evidence, and Con Law, and from there I have electives.

[Hulkein]

Con Law and Contracts next week, Crim Law and Prop II the week after that.

Good luck on Civ Pro, that one was fun last semester. Couldn't believe I got a B in the class.

[Keller]

I'm taking a Civ Pro final, a Property II final, and a Business Associations final (it like Corporations and Agency law mashed into one class).

I'm a part-timer, so its kidna odd. We do Torts, Contracts, and LRW the first year, and Civ Pro, Property, Crim Law, and Business shit the second year.

Next year, I do Evidence, and Con Law, and from there I have electives.

I have really good civ-pro exam materials.

u2u me your e-mail and I'll forward them.

[TheEschaton]

My Civ Pro was a full year, 5 credit course, grade based ENTIRELY on this one exam.

It's gonna be a shit show.

-TheE-

[Keller]

My Civ Pro was a full year, 5 credit course, grade based ENTIRELY on this one exam.

It's gonna be a shit show.

-TheE-

I have a good outline, rules table, and pleading table. U2U me your e-mail and I'll forward it to you.

[Hulkein]

My Civ Pro was a full year, 5 credit course, grade based ENTIRELY on this one exam.

It's gonna be a shit show.

-TheE-

Mine was one semester, 4 credit, grade based on one test. The test was two essay questions. The one mainly dealt with pre-discovery, jurisdiction/venue, and removal processes, and the other with discovery and summary judgment I believe. He did a pretty good job of getting two questions to cover most of the course.

You already have experience with finals so you probably don't need advice, but from what I can gather the people who did bad in the class are the ones who got so nervous about it and built it up like they were facing execution. I went into it a little nervous (impossible not to be) but knew that I was prepared. Good luck.

[Gan]

My Civ Pro was a full year, 5 credit course, grade based ENTIRELY on this one exam.

It's gonna be a shit show.

-TheE-

Thats just mean, plain mean.

[Warriorbird]

Next year sounds like its gonna be real thrilling.

:twitches:

[Gan]

Have you read One L yet WB?

[Khariz]

My Civ Pro was 5 credits too, but split into one exam one semester for 3 and one for 2 the next.

[TheEschaton]

1L is a bunch of shit. I don't think it's true any more.

At least, it hasn't been true for me. My classmates have been an amazing support for me. When my laptop crashed and I lost my HD, I had all the notes for the whole year before the end of the week, from multiple sources.

-TheE-

[Warriorbird]

"Have you read One L yet WB?"

Heh, yeah, and I'm glad I'm not headed for the experience he went through. It was still amusing. It'll be damn tough but I'll make it through. I've eliminated most of my serious distractions (the ex, et al.)

The worst thing I think I'll be going through is my grandpa's tremendous resistance to me going to law school instead of focusing on the family business + finances.

[Gan]

1L is a bunch of shit. I don't think it's true any more.-TheE-

Considering it was based on full time law school at a very self conscious and 'prestigeous' institution in the late 70's... no shit sherlock.

[Hulkein]

Outlining Con Law takes fucking forever. I changed my profile occupation in honor of the inordinate amount of time it takes.

[Latrinsorm]

Outlining Con Law takes fucking forever. I changed my profile occupation in honor of the inordinate amount of time it takes.Do they have FIXSKILLSes in law school? Wouldn't it be boss if they did?

[TheEschaton]

I'd fucking FIXSKILL a grade or so from last semester.

-TheE-

[Keller]

Finished Criminal Procedure. Despite spending 1/3 of the class on habeas he had a tremendous hard-on for the 5th amendment. I spent an inordinate amount of time memorizing all the habeas shit and all he asked about was the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. Fucking douche.

[Keller]

I'd fucking FIXSKILL a grade or so from last semester.

-TheE-

I'd fixskill my entire second semester of 1L. ConLaw + Property + Legal Ethics + Crim Law. That shit sucked.

[TheEschaton]

CIVIL PROCEDURE IN 25 MINUTES!!!!!

I've so fucking rule 56'd this: summary judgment for me, GRANTED.

-TheE-

[Hulkein]

Good luck.

One left for me on Thursday. The past week has felt like a month.

[TheEschaton]

That shit is adjudicated, and the doctrine of res judicata (claim preclusion) says you can never mention that shit to me again.

Hallelujah, I hate 6 credit exams.

-TheE-

[Hulkein]

Relax with the law lingo jokes, you nerd. Haha

[Keller]

My buddies and I used to be like, "Give her some undue influence" as a pep talk before we'd talk to girls at bars.

There is something about, "I'm a law student" that opens a girl up.

[Keller]

oh ya, and I've been done with finals since Friday. Suckas!

[TheEschaton]

Fuck off. Con Law is gonna rape me. I'm thinking of just bending over, grabbing the ankles, and relaxing the sphincter, I heard it hurts less. Any advice on that, Sean2?

-TheE-

[TheEschaton]

Well, Con Law is over. Not as bad as I thought. My idiot prof psyched us out for months about the fucking Dormant Commerce Clause and then didn't even use it on the test. That's totally un-ripe.

Now that I've fully emerged from my drunken Friday night stupor, it's time for Crim Law on Tuesday. Joke of the day while studying this morning, to my friend Elise:

"Boy, I'm glad I'm done with murder, and I can move on to rape."

-TheE-

[Caiylania]

Man my head hurts just reading Exam Names. Good luck you guys!

[Sean of the Thread]

You're all doomed.

[Khariz]

One more to go here....

Business Associations (Agency+Partnerships+Corporations).

Suck.

[Warriorbird]

Some of em were easier than others though. Right? Right???

[TheEschaton]

They were all hard, but not nearly as hard as I thought they were going to be.

Hell, the one I thought was ridiculously easy last semester (Contracts) was the one which raped me. Obviously I missed another level.

-TheE-

[Warriorbird]

That's cool. Just a matter of focus I imagine in the end.

[Khariz]

That's cool. Just a matter of focus I imagine in the end.

Well...the thing about Law School exams that is really weird and counterintuitive is that it really doesn't matter how well you as an individual do. It matters how well you do versus everyone else. Or to put it even better for the sake of the pure curve that law schools use: It matters how well everyone else does.

I mean, you could get one of three essays right and get an A, or you every single person in the class could find every issue in three essays, and the teacher will almost have to assign grades arbitrarily based on grammar or something. It's pretty scary. It's scary to know that it's technically possible that the A and the C are seperated by a 10 point spread.

When you go through your scholastic correct with the possibility of "Earning" your grade by actually being able to technically earn the points possible on exams and papers, you can pat yourself in the back when you do well, and get mad at yourself when you do poorly. But in law school, if you get a bad grade, you have to wonder if it's just because you did slightly worse than a handful of people in your class.

[Note, I've never gotten anything below a B in Law School, so I'm not one to talk, but no matter what my grade is, I'm always thinking to myself "I don't understand how I could have done better than anyone else in my class and attained this grade" or "Wow, a couple people did better than me on this, I'm impressed".] It's just weird that such thought are possible to have, since you can't directly "earn" your grade like you could in undergrad and grad school.

[Warriorbird]

Perverse and strange. Just about what I expected. Mainly curious because I'll have a scholarship to maintain.

[Khariz]

Perverse and strange. Just about what I expected. Mainly curious because I'll have a scholarship to maintain.

I think that's the worst thing about Law School, having to maintain a scholarship. You are right about it being perverse. No matter how hard you study, and no matter how well you know the material, if a handful of people spot 3 more issues than you did, there goes your A (and probably your B too in your first year). Most Law Schools have 1Ls on a harsh curve, like 2.5, where 80% of the people in the class will get a C. The curve moves up as you move on to 2L, etc, but it's still painful that first year. It really seperates the cream (or the lucky folks).

[TheEschaton]

God, a grades based scholarship? FUCK THAT.

Grades in law school = completely arbitrary. Go to a lower tier law school where you can be at the top of your class if you need to maintain a scholarship - job getting is all about the hustle, you don't necessarily need the school.

My school is top 30, apparently (I never even looked at the rankings before I came here because that would have meant I should have gone to BU), and I consider myself pretty fucking smart - but the people here are kind of ridiculous.

And single-minded. They put 24/7 into law school, which is something I would never do, and, unfortunately, they are rewarded for it if they have even a decent brain, which all of them do.

-TheE-

[Warriorbird]

I've got to remain in the top 25% of my class.

[TheEschaton]

Wow, that's superiorly fucked up.

-TheE-

[Khariz]

Yeah, that's harder than it probably sounds right now. Particularly for the aforementioned reasons of not being able to earn your own grade.

[Hulkein]

It's an adversarial profession. They grade you accordingly.

I like it, personally.

[Gan]

Yea, they base your grades on the method I detest the most... and yet I'm willing to subject myself to it with open arms. :spaz:

[TheEschaton]

The law is all about networking and camraderie. Even prosecutors and criminal defense types tend to be friendly these days. Therefore, grades should reflect this. :P

-TheE-

[DeV]

job getting is all about the hustle, you don't necessarily need the school.
I've always firmly believed that success after law school has more to do with knowledge, networking, and the amount of effort and work you put into securing your future before and after graduation. More so than someone saying I attended this tier 1 ranked law school; now give me a job, damnit.

Unless of course you graduated from Yale, then pat yourself on the back; you're pretty much set.


I've got to remain in the top 25% of my class. Given your intelligence this should definitely be within your reach.

[TheEschaton]

I don't understand, I know some dumbasses at Yale Law, though.

-TheE-

[DeV]

True, hence the italics.

[Keller]

My thoughts on law school grades/finals:

WB: Don't fret. If you do all your reading, go to all your classes, and review each class weekly you'll be in the top 10% I promise. Law school success is about hard work. To be sure, there is the novel "issue spotter" but that's just like a normal essay in other classes, except grammar, spelling, complete sentences, etc are all thrown out the window. Most of my "issue spotters" are all short hand that only myself and the professor can understand. For example, a paragraph from one of my business tax finals would have looked like this: "Good 351? Property transfered for stock? Yes. Transferors in control? Yes. Application to shareholder --> Boot? $20. Grec? Lesser of FMV boot or greal. Greal = Areal - OB. Here greal = fmv boot so grec = $20. Basis? NB = OB - boot + grec = OB - $20 + $20 = carry-over basis. Application to corp --> no 357 gain. carry over basis + grec = ob + 20. Tacked holding period applies."

I'm quickly stating rules and applying rules. I'm basically spewing every rule or application out that I possibly can. In law school exams you don't have time to revise or edit. Just write, write, write, write, write. It's a really foreign art, especially for most of us who come out of liberal arts in which we try to write fluidly and with a little bit of grace. But law school is all about the check marks. If you can mention every tiny variation of a rule which might apply you'll get the most check marks. And the best way to be able to write everything is to know everything. And the best way to know everything is to work hard from day 1 through the end. You can be as successful in law school as you want to be. Sure, at the upper tier where everyone is working their ass off you've got to be a little creative/lucky/smarter, but to get to the top 10% all you've got to do is work your ass off.

My advice is take practice exams early in the finals prep month and try and get your professors to look them over and give you feed-back. They've graded thousands of exams and know exactly what to tell you. Obviously it's very helpful for the particular professor, but it's also helpful to transition into the "law school finals" mode.

[Warriorbird]

Solid. Thanks for the advice, man. The scholarship total is certainly worth hard work and hard work I can handle.

[TheEschaton]

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNE!

I am officially a 2L now, YES!

Time to drink myself into a stupor.*


*anyone in the Boston area, I'm throwing a party at Tonic, 1316 Comm Ave. If you want to show up, at some point, I guess.

[TheEschaton]

Holy shit Batman.

-TheE-

[TheEschaton]

I only find this shit when I should be doing my law school finals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VESzLBqx7KY

[Sean of the Thread]

I won't wonder any longer why the legal system sucks here now after seeing that video.




*The video is witty and well done however :)

some lol
"Commerce, undoubtedly, is traffic, but it is something more: it is intercourse" GIBBONS v. OGDEN, 22 U.S. 1, 190 (1824)