Law is Cool

I've added a new student blog to my blog roll. Law is Cool features a whole slew of law students from law schools in Canada, and it has a nice, eclectic blend of posts. Check out the March 8, 2008 post called Virtual Genocide in the U.S. No, it's not a political screed--just funny.

Most interesting to me are the podcasts. Check out Podcast Episode #7. It features Law is Cool bloggers commiserating about their workload, stress, and general level of exhaustion. Which I find very heartening. If these folks were having an easier time of it in Canada, I think U.S. law schools might be in trouble--there might be a mass transfer of U.S. law students to Canadian schools. (Actually, I'll bet many Americans would like the U.S. to export thousands of future lawyers to Canada.) I know that when I was a law student, I would've been tempted by the lure of kinder, gentler law schools in the Great White North. But fortunately--I mean, alas--that is not the case.

More (and Still More) Advice for New Law Students

Professor Paul Caron at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, who runs the excellent blog TaxProf Blog, has provided an admirable compendium of online advice for newbie law students. I am proud to say that one of this blog's entries is on the list. Check out his list of very useful links here.

And for those of you who may have missed some of my recent posts with advice for incoming law students, here are the links: two entries about how to brief a case (here and here); podcast advice for new law students from CALI's Pre-Law Blog (here); and advice regarding law school orientation, including what not to do, based on my own painful experience (here).

Good luck to all incoming students as they transition from the real world into the rarified atmosphere of law school! It's a transformational experience--one that shaped me enormously and that I have never regretted, despite all the hard work and stress of it all.

More Thoughts on How to Brief a Case

Yesterday I posted advice on how to brief a case (here). I've thought about the subject some more, and I think I need to emphasize the importance of not only briefing the case--understanding what happened and why--but also critiquing the case. As I said in my last post, what do you think of the court's decision? Was it right? Wrong? Partly both? And why?

I am not suggesting that you try to read your professor's mind. Nor am I suggesting you have to get your analysis of the case right. There will be many, many times in law school when you go to class thinking you understand the material, and leave class confused. That is not just a mean trick we play on unsuspecting students; rather, it is part of the educational process. Cases need to be unpacked and dissected, and this process often uncovers things you might not have expected or seen when you prepared your casebrief.

But you should go through the critiquing process anyway, since you are being trained in critical thinking. Sometimes you will hit the nail on the head, too--and that is a great feeling. And on a more practical note, doing so gives you something to say if your professor asks you, "So, what did you think of the decision?" Saying something that clearly shows you have prepared is a lot less embarrassing than saying, "Uh, I don't know" or something equally insightful. Plus, if your professor takes class participation into consideration when handing out final grades--as I do--you are possibly helping your grade (or at least avoiding doing damage to it).

How to Brief a Case

Right now, thousands of incoming law students across the nation are probably not sitting at home preparing for their very first classes of law school. But they should be. And if you are one of these students, when you do crack the books one of the most important things to do is learn how to brief the cases--that is, prepare written summaries of them in advance of class, so that you are familiar with each case, the issues it presents, the proposition of law it stands for, and so on.

Let me repeat that: as a new law student, you need to brief the cases. Not rely on a casebrief from a friend, or an outline from last year's class, or a commercial outline, or (heaven forbid) some casebrief you download from the web for free. (In my experience, you get what you pay for in the latter case.) You can experiment with different, and possibly faster, approaches later in law school and decide what works best for you. But right now, at the beginning of your law school career, you really, really need to learn how to brief a case.

This is because briefing a case is a good exercise for learning to differentiate among the different parts of a judicial opinion. Perhaps shockingly (or perhaps not so shockingly), judicial opinions are not always well written--including those by our esteemed Supreme Court Justices. Working to identify the specific legal issue in question, the relevant facts, the analysis and reasoning of the case, and the legal holding of a case--and writing it all out in a concise and standard format--is a good habit to get into as a new law student.

So, how do you brief a case? One method I commonly hear recommended is that students should follow the "IRAC" method, which as I understand it stands for "Issue, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion" (with the conclusion being the holding). I suppose that's fine as far as it goes, but it seems incomplete to me. What about the facts--aren't they important? Who are the parties? What is the procedural history of the case? These things make a difference. So the IRAC approach falls somewhat short, in my opinion.

Yet on the other hand, you are trying to distill the case down to its essence, and too much information can cloud the picture. What is a first-year law student to do? I suggest a compromise. It's basically the IRAC approach, but topped-and-tailed with additional information. Here is what I think you should include in a typical casebrief:

• Parties
• Relevant facts
• The legal issue(s) raised
• Summary of the relevant law
• Analysis: the application of the law to the issue(s) and facts at hand--that is, the court's reasoning
• Holding (and disposition)
• Your thoughts: was the case properly decided? What did the court get right or wrong? What do you think the implications of the case are?

Is there an acronym for this? PFILAHT? PRILAHY? I've seen worse, I suppose. Any suggestions for a good acronym would be much appreciated. "IRAC" is a great acronym--just an under-inclusive approach, in my view.

Thanks to Professor Randy Barnett of Georgetown University Law Center for sparking some of my thoughts on this issue. His Contracts casebook (3d edition), which I use in my first-year Contracts class, contains very helpful suggestions on briefing cases. My "PFILAHT" (ugh) approach is streamlined and altered from his approach--but I suppose that proves my point about ultimately using whatever method is best for you. Whatever approach you take, though, I hope you come up with a better acronym than me.

Yet More Pre-Law Advice (and this time not from me)

The National Jurist publishes a magazine called preLaw which, true to its name, is all about stuff for incoming law students. The latest issue can be found here. I'd mention that my law school is featured in the article on guaranteed (frozen) tuition rates, which do not increase while a student is in law school--but that would be blatant hucksterism, so I won't.

In addition, the preLaw website has other information that newbie law students might find helpful. I'm not endorsing it, but it is there. The site has a podcast feature that is on my to-do list to check out.

Some Advice for Incoming Law Students

The first year of law school can be an incredibly stressful time for new law students. What kind of advice might I give to someone starting law school? After all, I myself was in law school in the early 1990s, and in many ways I am still getting over the experience of being a first-year law student (or "1L").

I could give a lot of advice from my own personal experience, such as "Don't eat a big piece of chocolate cake at bedtime every night and expect to stay thin," or "Yes, there really is a judge named Learned Hand" (what a great name). But a lot of what I might say has already been stated quite eloquently by Professor Barbara Glesner Fines of the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law. Several years ago she posted online a speech she gives in class about law school and stress, and it remains as relevant as ever today. You can link to her advice here. I highly recommend you read it.

I also have one other piece of advice: if you haven't read Scott Turow's law school memoir One L yet--DON'T. Wait until after you have finished your first year of law school, and then read it. I read it in the summer after my 1L year, and I am fully convinced that if I had read it before law school, I might well have never gone. For those of you who already have read it, well, too bad for you, I guess. Hang in there.

Law School Orientation Advice

My last two posts (here and here) discussed the impact of Baumol's cost disease (aka the Baumol effect) on the practice of law. There's more to say on that subject--especially with respect to how law schools are (and are not) run--but the subject of this post is law school orientation do's and don't's for new 1L students.

But first, two caveats: (1) my comments are based on my own non-scientific observations, and (2) all law school orientations are not created equal. Some are very good, and some are subpar. So with the disclaimers out of the way, here are my thoughts.

Tip #1: Don’t skip orientation.

Most new law students do attend orientation, but invariably some do not. Don’t skip it. It may not help you, but it really cannot hurt you.

Tip #2: Meet as many new students, faculty and law school staff members as possible.

This should seem obvious, but I am always surprised and somewhat disappointed when I attend orientation events and see new students just standing around. I do not mean to sound harsh--the natural tendency when you do not know anyone is to hang back. But remember that many of your new peers are interesting and dynamic people, and some will become your close friends. Your new professors can be interesting too, of course--and since they can help you enormously with career advice and job recommendations, you should talk with them. As for law school staff, they can make or break your law school experience. They often wield enormous power within the law school, so be nice to them.

Tip #3: Play well with others.

This too should be obvious. However, you will be in a room with scores of other driven, ambitious people, and your inclination may be to have your guard up and try to impress people. Just remember that orientation has no effect on your grades or class rank, but it has everything to do with first impressions. When you are running for student office or trying to find study mates, it helps to have made a good first impression, instead of trying too hard to impress people with how smart and accomplished you are.

Tip #4: Ask 2L and 3L students at orientation for advice on anything and everything related to law school.

Often there are second- and third-year law students at orientation as student mentors. Pick their brains. That’s what they are there for. You may learn nothing useful, but again, it cannot hurt you to try.

Tip #5: Listen to what law school professors, staff and students say (and do not say) during orientation to get a sense of your law school’s culture.

I can’t be too specific on this one, because the nature of law school orientations can vary widely. But hopefully you can get a sense of the internal culture of your law school during orientation.

Law schools are like law firms, in that they all try to say the same lofty and positive things. “We promote diversity.” “Our professors welcome interaction with students outside class.” “We value a well-rounded education.” “We pride ourselves on the excellence of our teaching.” Etc. etc. etc.

Now, I am not saying that these statements are false per se. In fact, I suspect they are usually true. The question, though, is to what degree they are true. All law schools are not equal, and all law school cultures are not identical. Some schools really do thrive on student-professor interaction, and some do value teaching more than others. Some schools have a vibe, because the school is on the move and doing a lot of exciting things. And some probably do not.

So here’s my point: people have a hard time faking joy or exuberance. Use that to filter what you are told (and not told) in orientation. Also, how do faculty members, staff and students interact with one another? Do faculty members approach you during orientation and talk with you? Or is there a sense of separate cliques? I’m not saying you should reach any firm conclusions based on any such intuition, but this is a useful approach for getting an initial sense of your school.

Tip #6: Don't hold a plate of food and shake someone's hand at the same time.

I did this at my 1L orientation, with disastrous results. Not only did I spill food on someone else, but it was my law school's dean.

No joke. I dropped an entire plate of food on Northwestern’s Dean Bob Bennett. Got potato salad all over his very nice loafers. He may have forgotten the incident, but I never will. I wanted to withdraw from law school on the spot and crawl under a rock, in that order.

So take it from me: if you are holding a plate of food and someone introduces themselves to you, DO NOT TRY TO SHAKE THEIR HAND. Just smile, nod, and hold your plate in a two-handed death grip.