You graduated from college, took the lsat, submitted all your law school applications,
and now you're wondering what's next? What am I supposed to know
before law school actually starts? Great question. And that's exactly what we're
gonna dive into in today's video. We're gonna walk through the seven
things that I think every brand new law student should know before you.
Start so that we can remove that uncertainty, that anxiety,
that mystery that so often characterizes that very first year of law school so that
you can position yourself to be as successful as possible. So if you're excited to dive in,
smash that like button and let's go. . The first thing to understand about law school is that what
you'll be assigned to read are called Cases a K a judges written Opinions in previous lawsuits.
And this is important to know because what we're traditionally used to in
college and in grad school are textbooks that are specifically designed to teach
us a concept of the material that we are trying to. Whereas in law school, these cases are not
designed with law students in mind. [00:01:00] They're not designed to teach you the law.
Instead, they are written by judges trying to resolve a legal dispute between two parties, which
means sometimes they're straightforward, but most of the time they're very convoluted and complex
and we essentially have to undergo a little bit of a scavenger hunt to try to figure out
what this case is even trying to say or what the rule of law is that our professor is trying to.
And so it sounds really counterintuitive,
but actually the worst way to teach yourself a concept of law is to read a case because
the cases are not designed to teach you the pieces of the law and are really broken down,
really easy to follow format. And so what is infinitely more efficient and more effective?
Is to read a non case resource like Quimby, for example,
before you actually dive into the case. That way you know what the big takeaways are. You
know what you're supposed to be getting out of the case. You know what to look for when
you then devote and invest those hours into actually reading the case itself.
The second thing to be aware of in law school is that class lectures are [00:02:00] based on
the Socratic method. Now, the Socratic method is one of those things that is
probably the biggest fear factor for most of us heading into law school. And you might have
seen examples of it in movies like the Paper Chase or Legally Blonde, where the professor
basically stands up at the front of the room, looks down at their seating chart.
Picks a student at random and then begins to ask them really detailed
questions about the case that you read for class. So questions about the facts,
questions about how the judge ruled, why the judge ruled that way,
and hypothetically how the judge should have ruled if the facts were slightly different.
Now, this causes a lot of really terrifying anxiety for most of us because. We don't
wanna look like an idiot in front of our professor or our classmates. We wanna make
a really good impression. We don't wanna get blacklisted and all of the things.
And so what we tend to do is spend a lot of time reading and rereading and
preparing for class so that we can avoid a potentially embarrassing cold call.
And the problem with this is that cold calls are 0% of your grade. And so what I tend to
see [00:03:00] most new law students doing is over. Time on the reading and preparing for
class and under allocating time on post-class work. And so what we want to always remember
when we are heading into class is that we're actually focused on a c plus understanding,
meaning we are not trying to master the cases, we are not trying to be experts in this material.
We're trying to be able to just have a foundation to be able to then understand what the class
lecture is about. The third thing to know about law school is that your final exams are worth 100%
of your. Yikes. And that's one of the biggest differences between undergrad and grad school
and law school, which is that the four months you're spending studying and preparing throughout
the semester really boiled down to one three to four hour final exam at the end of that semester.
And it is true that some law schools are starting to implement midterms and smaller
assignments to try to break that grade up a little bit. But by and large, those are
still ungraded or a very small percentage of your grade. And so how you're [00:04:00] spend. Four
months of the semester getting ready for final exams is totally crucial and very strategic.
And so if you're interested in learning how I'd love to break down that study process,
then definitely check out my Beat the curve guide that you can download for free. I'll lead
the link in the description below and it walks through the five step study plan that I'd love
to teach my students to really make concrete what can feel like a really nebulous process.
Now speaking of the final exam, another really unique aspect of law school is
that the final exam largely takes the form of an issue spotter. And
an issue spotter is essentially a long hypothetical fact pattern where a lot
of people are doing a lot of things to each other, causing a lot of problems.
And then the question at the end is something really broad, like explain all the claims and
defenses of all the parties, and so what your professor is doing in that type of a final exam
question. They're not telling you what to talk about. Instead, it's your job to read through
the facts and spot the legal issues that are [00:05:00] being triggered, and then analyze
those legal issues based on the rules of law that you've learned throughout the semester.
And so when we're talking about final exams in college and grad school,
usually those take some kind of form where you're giving the right. Back
to the professor based on what you learned in the semester and in law school. That's
not the way that these exams are created at all. And so, yes, there are a lot of
layers to writing a really powerful final exam answer that gets you a lot of points.
But one of the most important things to keep in mind is that when we are
attacking these final exams, we do not wanna look for the right answer. Instead,
we want to analyze the issues that we're finding both the. And the counter arguments based on the
facts that are in the fact pattern and the rules of law that we've learned in class.
And so, even though this is by far the hardest skill for new law students to learn,
myself included, that one piece of the puzzle to keep in mind can be really
powerful and making sure that you're getting [00:06:00] all of the points on
the. . The next thing to know about law school is that it's graded on a curve.
And this is the thing that makes law school so competitive because when we look at a curve,
it's essentially like a bell curve, meaning that there's the largest distribution of grades in the
center, and then a smaller distribution of grades on either side. And so if we're thinking about a
100. Person class, about 70% of people in the class are gonna get something in the B range.
About 15% of people are gonna get something in the C and D range, and about 15% of people are gonna
get something in the A range. And so if being at the top of your class is a goal of yours,
It's not just that we're learning the material throughout the semester,
it's not just that we are learning how to write a really point maximizing final exam answer,
it's that we're trying to do those things better than 85 to 90% of the people in our class.
And because law school tends to attract people who are hardworking, overachieving,
a type personalities who are very used to getting A's in all of their [00:07:00] classes,
this aspect of law school is what makes it so incredibly competi. now on top of the fact that
you're gonna be graded on a curve, that your final exam is worth a hundred percent of your grade,
and that you're going to be inundated with complex material from the very first day of the semester.
The other thing that makes that first year of law school so tough is the reality of
how powerful your one L grades are. And the reason that this is the case is because the
largest hiring process. School starts at the end of your one L Summer and it's known as
OCI or on-campus interviewing. And OCI is a process by which the biggest law firms come
to campus to interview and recruit students for full-time jobs, eventually out of law school.
And a lot of people go to law school with the hope of getting one of these
big law jobs because they also pay the most start. As a new lawyer,
and so one of the things to be really aware of in this OCI process is that big law firms
make their initial hiring decisions, those initial cuts based on grades.
And because [00:08:00] that process happened so early in the three years of law school,
at the end of your one L summer, the only grades you're going to have are your one L grades,
which is why your one L grades are so disproportionate. Powerful. And
so one of the things to keep in mind if you are looking to go after one of these big law jobs,
or at least leave the door open to that opportunity, is that you wanna
be incredibly intentional and strategic from day one of law school so that you don't leave
anything up in the air in terms of trying to figure it out on the fly or trying to learn.
From mistakes, and so if you're curious about where in your one L class ranking you would
need to fall to compete for big law jobs, then definitely check out this video here
where I break down the one L class ranking you would need based on where you are going
to law school. now. We just talked about all of the things that make law school
competitive and difficult and overwhelming in a way that none of us has experienced before.
And it is true that that first year of law school is going to be
tough and confusing and stressful because everything will be new,
but it'll be that way [00:09:00] for everyone else too. And in my years of being a law school coach,
what I've seen time and time again is that it's not about being the smartest person in the room.
Good law school grades are all about. Strategy for how to spend your time,
strategy for how to study and strategy for how to take a final exam. And if you can
get clear on these three pieces before you start law school, you're gonna put
yourself in the best possible position to go after those grades that you really want.
Because the way I see it, if you're going to law school, you're already committing
to the law degree. You're already going to be putting in late nights and long weekends,
and you're already going to be subjecting yourself to the uncertainty and the fear and the imposter.
The best gift that you can give your future self is to really go after those results too.
So if you're curious about my signature three part framework for really breaking down these
strategies and positioning yourself for those as high as I can go grade goals,
then comment me in the comments below and I will send you guys the link to my free
masterclass so [00:10:00] that you can sign up. All right guys, that's it for this week.
I'll see you in the next one.