I had no idea what to expect from law school classes. I knew that they would be taught using the socratic method, but I didn't know how I was going to extract information while other students were on call. As a result, I essentially transcribed the entire professor/student dialogue during my first torts class. While this was insanely stupid for a lot of reasons, reading it may give you a good idea of what kind of questions you can expect to be asked. Click here for my notes from the first day of class. Now I'm going to tell you why these notes are bad. 1.) If I did want to take anything substantive out of these notes, I'd have to go back through the conversation and pick out the important parts. It would have been just as easy to do it the first time, while it was being said. 2.) As you can see, I prepped that brief with a lot of useless information. If you insist on writing real briefs (rather than book briefing as I've discussed in previous posts) try to keep facts to a minimum. My fear was that I would be called to state the facts and forget some ...

I'm usually fairly good about following law school etiquette. I try to limit the number of comments I make in classes, I don't talk about grades to people outside my study group, etc. These are things that are obvious. So I'm in Chicago right now for the Loyola Patent Law Job Fair, and tonight, those of us that are being interviewed by Howrey were invited to a reception. It was a good time -- there were a lot of tech geeks, and lots of talking about law schools and 1L life, and the like. When the conversation moved to the job fair, I was curious how other people were preparing for interviews. Specifically, I wanted to know how people with 10 or more interviews were preparing (because dear god, that is a lot of information to have to know). The first two people I asked told me, and then later I asked the same question to another guy, who uncomfortably said, "Yeah, I don't really want to talk about that." And then it occured to me. I should have just asked his class rank while I was at it. Maybe what his worst grade was, and in what class. My argument (though ...

Yeah, I know it's a bold statement, but I swear by this program.  Microsoft OneNote allows students to organize multiple notebooks, sections, and subsections in one application, with instant, database-style save capability so you'll never lose your notes.  You can create tables and charts, take notes in easily formatted bullet or numbered outlines, drag and drop pdfs and then take notes over them, highlight on-screen over pdf text, or take class notes in color.  You can export OneNote files into PDF or Word formats, or hit Cntl+E and OneNote will automatically add that section to your email client as an attachment. I've thrown together some screenshots below, click on the image to expand.  Microsoft offers a 60 day free trial here or PSU students can spend $80 and get the full 2007 Microsoft Enterprise Package which features a poorly redesigned version of Microsoft Word (that other kids will be using).  The computer store will probably have a student software discount at your school. I make the "Get As in Law School" boast because OneNote organizes your notes, saves time, and allows for easy file transfers.  You'll be thanking the search function when your prof asks you what case that you've studied this ...