Well my fellow non traditional law students, it is that time again.  I will be taking my final exams in about two weeks.  If you are stressing over exams I have a few tips for you to stay sane.  Not all of them may work for you, but they certainly continue to help me.

• The night before the exam do not study.  If you have not learned the material by now you simply will not learn it.  Last minute studying up until the very moment of the exam increases your stress levels.
• The night before the exam spend time with your family.  Watch t.v.  Go to a movie.  Do anything that helps you to relax.  Your brain will function much better when prompted to recall information if it is relaxed and fresh rather than stressed and hurried.
• Eat a healthy dinner the night before the exam and a healthy breakfast the morning of the exam.
• An hour or two before the exam drink a glass of orange juice.  Stay away from sodas and too much coffee.  I say too much coffee because I gots ta have my java. 
• If you don’t exercise regularly, begin walking at least one week before the exam.  Exercise releases stress and makes your body feel better and your mind more responsive.
• Have a positive attitude.  You are in law school.  You are probably working as well and raising a family.  This is a great and difficult accomplishment.  If you have made it this far, you have no reason to doubt yourself now.  If you have prepared and studied like you should, you DO know the material and you WILL do fine on the exam.
• Don’t listen to other students; they are not you.  It is not about other students’ experiences.  It is all about how you have prepared for the exam.  Never let another student make you believe that an exam is impossible to pass simply because he or she did not pass it.  For all you know that student may not have studied like you did.
• Arrive early for the exam, especially if you commute to classes like I do.  Allow for weather and traffic.  The last thing you want is to be stressed out about being late and running out of time.
• A few minutes before the exam begins, forget about everything else in the world.  It is just you and that exam for the next three hours.  Believe me, everything will still be there when you are finished.
• During the exam don’t second guess yourself.  If you have prepared properly and you believe an answer to be correct, it probably is.  I made that mistake last term and changed an MC answer at the last minute.  I’m sure you know what happened there.  Yes, I had the correct answer the first time.  Don’t check you common sense at the door when you sit for your exams.
• Finally, after the exam is over, FORGET ABOUT IT!  You cannot change your answer now.  You are finished so move on.  If need be you can appeal later.  But for now, do not worry about something you can do nothing about.

The term is almost over.  If you have done your job in preparing exams will go fine.  God bless and have a great day.

I my pretrial skills class am currently preparing to present my oral arguments in support of a motion for summary disposition.  I did my research.  I drafted my motion and supporting brief.  I studied all the supporting statutes and case law.  And then…I got the plaintiff’s counter motion and brief.  Whadda ya know, she thinks she has a great case too

Part of being a good law student (and a good lawyer) is being able to anticipate what the opposing party is going to do and say.  This can sometimes seem like a conundrum.  On the one hand we are to know our client’s position and case inside and out.  We are to focus on putting our client in the best position possible.  On the other hand, we must also be focusing on the opposing party’s case inside and out.  We must focus on how she will put herself in the best position possible.  Essentially, we must not only know what we want to convey but also how to respond and what to expect from the opposing party.

This can sometimes prove to be a formidible task.  It is very easy to become narrow minded and see things only from our client’s perspective.  We try so diligently to argue our client’s case in the best possible light that we sometimes overlook the fact that the opposing party will be doing the same thing.  It is imperative that for every point we make for our client we anticipate the opposing party’s response to that point.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said in a famous quote:

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.

This is the hallmark of a good lawyer.  As current law students we should learn the lesson now.  It may take some practice, but we must learn to do it and do it very well.  Most of us become very focused when delving really deep into an issue.  This is a good thing because it helps us to prepare quality work.  Just remember that for that detailed focus to be complete and fomidible it must be balanced.  Although the math may be strange, we must be 100% focused on our case and 100% focused on our opponent’s case as well.  We must do this and still retain the ability to represent our client the very best we can.  When we can learn to do that we will pass the test of a first-rate intelligence.

God bless and have a great day.

For all you law students out there who may have missed the opportunity for a lifetime scholarship at Solo Practice University, you may still have another chance.  In honor of Build A Solo Practice’s second birthday, another lifetime scholarship is being awarded.  You can read all about it here.  Hurry though, you don’t want to miss this opportunity a second time.

Law school is nothing like the undergraduate experience.  From the very first day you are bombarded with large amounts of information.  To be successful in law school you must have a system of organizing this information into a comprehensive, easily accessible, and efficient manner.  Here are just a few of the things that have helped me in my law school endeavors.  I hope you too will find them useful.

• Create a separate “data” folder on your computer specifically for law school.
  • My system looks like this: c:\data\law\…
  • In this directory, create a separate folder for each of your classes.  If you wish, you may also want to further subdivide these folders into more specific elements.
    • c:\data\law\pretrial skills\
      • cases
      • statutes
      • motions
      • interrogatories
      • etc…
  • Not only does this folder help you stay organized, you can easily backup this directory of all your law school materials onto a flash drive for safe keeping.
• Have a 3-ring binder for each of your classes to organize outlines and class handouts.
• Keep a calendar of deadlines for writing classes and other classes that require periodic work to be turned in.
• Track the week you studied certain areas in both your casebooks and your notes.  This provides easy reference when you study for the final exam.  I have found that those small book tabs work very nicely.
• Know how long it takes to prepare for each class and manage your time appropriately.  Some classes just take longer than others to read or write for.
• For non traditional law students that have kids, have a place that is reserved specifically for your law school materials.  Do not keep them in areas where kids are likely to get at them.  I have a special bookshelf and desk that is separate from other bookshelves.
• Keep a list of your professors and their contact information.  Not only will you need this during law school, it may come in handy when you begin your career.

These are just a few of the things that have helped me keep organized in my busy life of family, work, and school.  I hope you too will find them useful and helpful.  God bless and have a great day.

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I think this should be the motto of every law student.  The next time you discuss or read a case try exhibiting a “first-rate intelligence.”

If you are in any position of authority I am sure that you have been faced with opposing views on the same issue.  If you are a parent the same is true.  You are put in the position of listening to both arguments and trying to remain neutral while deciding how to handle the situation.  Get used to it.  As a lawyer, this is what you will do.  As a law student, this is what you should be doing now.

We are all human, and we all have our biases.  This is not a bad thing.  But to do really well in law school we must constantly distance ourselves from those biases.  We must think from both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s perspective.  We must anticipate arguments and counter-arguments.  To really understand a case (and the law) we must be dual-minded.

This is not an easy task.  If you had to argue an issue to a judge that was easily swayed, you would want to argue last.  Make sure your argument was the last one heard and the freshest in the judge’s mind.  But if that judge is truly intelligent the order of argument will not matter.  Both arguments will be retained and given equal weight.

To be a great lawyer someday let’s begin now while we are in law school.  Fight the urge to think on only one side of an argument.  As future lawyers we will be arguing one side, but should still be thinking on both sides.  If you can hold both sides of an argument in your mind at the same time and still remain unbiased and function, then you truly are intelligent.  God bless and have a great day.

One thing I try to instill in my children is the idea that you must form your own opinions and beliefs based on what you know, not what others tell you.  Of course, I want them to believe in the things I believe in and hold the same values I hold.  But rather than merely telling them to believe that way, I explain to them why I believe the way I do.

The same is true in law school.  You will be told by countless other students “this is the way it is.”  You will be told by professors that “this is the law.”  This very well may be true, but why is it true?  Is it true because your fellow classmates said so?  Is it true because your professor said so?  If you take for truth what someone else says merely because they said it, you may want to choose a profession other than law.

There are of course many people I trust and whose opinions I value.  But I still question those things I have not researched for myself.  Think about it.  When we are lawyers someday, will we tell our clients they have no case because opposing counsel told us what the law was?  NO!  We will do our own research on the issues.  We will decide for ourselves what the law is and how it can best serve the needs of our clients.

Why wait until we are lawyers?  Do your research now while you are in law school.  Question every decision.  Form your own opinions based on what you have learned.  Only then will you be able to be a true advocate.  The law is not static because good lawyers have firm beliefs and argue those beliefs persuasively.  And those same lawyers started out where we are right now, in law school.

Who do you want to be when you get out of law school?  The guy that sat next to you?  Your professor?  I hope not.  You want to be You.  To truly be yourself in law school and as a lawyer, you must do your research or don’t believe it.  At the very least, question it until you are able to form a basis for the belief yourself.  God bless and have a great day.

By the way, the title does not imply that you should try to vote three times ;)  November 4th is going to be an exciting day, and this election has all the tells of a real nail biter.  As lawyers and law students we should be especially cognizant of this great privilege to vote.  This privilege and honor has been tried in blood and fire and emerged victorious.  For all that have suffered to preserve our freedom and way of life, you owe it to them to exercise your right to vote.

Naturally, I have my pick for president.  But no matter who wins, they will win because of those who took the time and cared enough about our country and their future to vote.  Do not ever think that your vote cannot make a difference.  Can you say, Bush/Gore?

My oldest daughter just turned 18 in June and she will be voting for the first time this year (for my candidate thankfully).  She is excited, and I am excited that she is excited.  So I hope you will take time from your busy schedules and studies to potentially alter the outcome of this election.  God bless and have a great day.

Law school is a wonderful misery, an enlightening conundrum, and an absolute what-if.  The point is that law school is a great endeavor, and being a lawyer is a noble profession.  But sometimes you just want to pull your hair out, shout to the heavens, and then jump off a cliff.

If you want to keep sane - especially if you are a non traditional law student - you must take time for yourself often.  It does not need to be a long time, but you simply must take time.  If you go through law school without taking the proper time to just relax and enjoy yourself your brain will literally melt.  Well, it may not literally melt, but it won’t do it any good.

When I get overwhelmed I take 20 minutes and go outside.  That’s it.  I love God’s world around me.  I look at the animals, the trees, and the flowers.  It relaxes me.  You may not like the outdoors like I do, but there is something that you like to do that relaxes you.  When law school (and live in general for that matter) gets you down, do what you like to do for a while.  You will thank me later.  And your brain won’t melt.  God bless and have a great night.

It comes as no surprise that your law school GPA is a significant factor future employers may consider.  But what does your GPA really say about you?  I would propose that the answer is generally different for non traditional law students as opposed to traditional law students.

For the most part, a traditional law student will devote most of her time to school (study, law review, moot court, etc.).  For the non traditional law student however, law school is in addition to work, family, and probably many other responsibilities.  Of course we must also balance the fact that many non traditional law students do not attend full time either.  That notwithstanding, most stresses for traditional law students come from school, while for the non traditional law student they come from many more sources.

That being said, for a law student who has basically all of her time to devote to school, she will probably obtain a very nice GPA if she wants to.  For the rest of us, it may be almost impossible to pull the same GPA simply because we do not have enough time to devote to our studies.  Does that mean that we are not as intelligent or as hard working as our traditional counter parts?  No.

I do not have a 4.0 GPA.  But I work full time.  I have a wife and six children.  I cut the grass and pay the bills.  I take the kids to activities.  The list goes on and on.  If you are like me, and I know some of you are, you know exactly what I am talking about.

I am very competitive and put a lot of pressure on myself.  During my first few terms I did very well grade wise, but my family and personal life suffered somewhat as a result.  In my later terms I have decided that being a 4.0 student is not worth three years of alienating my family, church, and friends.  This is not to say that I do not strive to do the best that I can do.  This is only to say that I realize that I must prioritize my life and create a proper balance.  Grades are certainly important, but they are not the most important.

I carry a class load that I feel comfortable with; that I can maintain a good GPA and still have time for the other important things in my life.  I have just had to except the fact that if I want to graduate from law school before I am, ahem, too old, I will probably not attain the GPA that I wish I could.

But consider this.  If you can average a 3.0 (or even a 2.5) with a moderate amount of study time, just think of what you can do if you really apply yourself during your study for the bar exam.  If you are serious about learning you will learn the material.  When you go for your bar review course it will all come back to you.  Then you can take 2-3 months and really cement the material into your mind.  Moreover, once you are a lawyer you will not have a full time job other than that of lawyer.  For me this means 40+ hours a week that I will have to familiarize myself with areas of the law that I did not have each week I was in law school.  After all, ethics do not require you to know the law in an area before you take a case.  They do require you to be able to learn the law through proper research and preparation.

So if your GPA is not as high as you would like it to be, take a moment to reflect why.  Is it because you are lazy?  Is it because you really just don’t care?  Or is it because you have made the commitment to prioritize your life and accept the fact that law school is not the most important thing in the world to a non traditional law student?

Don’t read this and think for one minute that I am promoting any slackers out there.  I study hard.  I just don’t study as much as I would like to because there are only 24 hours in a day (and I like it when my kids remember who I am.)  If you are doing the best you can, and you are not on academic probation, buck up and be happy.  When the bar review rolls around you will kick some booty!  God bless and have a great day.