Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges Forum

[GoCats56]

BusCom – Bruce Markell
CLR – Dana Hill
CivPro – Richard Hoskins
Property – David Dana
Torts – Ellen Mulaney

Survival tips appreciated. TIA

Haven't had any of them, but can sort of speak to Markell. He's currently visiting from Florida State, so you won't find anyone who's had him before. However, your advice may be sought after in future years since there's rumblings he may be coming here full time as our resident bankruptcy guy.

He was a bankruptcy judge in Nevada for a while, and was known for having no patience for incompetent lawyers. See, for example, http://abovethelaw.com/2012/04/benchsla ... -in-court/. Google his name and you'll find others. He's very respected, but I would guess that he'll be on the intense side.

[lhanvt13]

BusCom – Bruce Markell
CLR – Dana Hill
CivPro – Richard Hoskins
Property – David Dana
Torts – Ellen Mulaney

Survival tips appreciated. TIA

Haven't had any of them, but can sort of speak to Markell. He's currently visiting from Florida State, so you won't find anyone who's had him before. However, your advice may be sought after in future years since there's rumblings he may be coming here full time as our resident bankruptcy guy.

He was a bankruptcy judge in Nevada for a while, and was known for having no patience for incompetent lawyers. See, for example, http://abovethelaw.com/2012/04/benchsla ... -in-court/. Google his name and you'll find others. He's very respected, but I would guess that he'll be on the intense side.

sounds pretty damn awesome actually haha

[Solistus]

BusCom – Bruce Markell
CLR – Dana Hill
CivPro – Richard Hoskins
Property – David Dana
Torts – Ellen Mulaney

Survival tips appreciated. TIA

I had Hoskins last year. The first few weeks are pretty intense, since he throws you pretty much right into the Federal Rules. His Civ Pro class was my section's only class other than CLR that had graded assignments before exam week - a graded short answer midterm on the Federal Rules, a take-home exam toward the end of the semester, and then a fairly short final covering just the last few weeks of material during the normal exam period. The midterm wasn't too bad, but I remember the take-home being significantly harder than the final. Don't blow it off. On the plus side, you have a lot less material to review for the final exam, leaving more time for your other classes. He's a great lecturer, and sprinkles in some great war stories from his experience as a BigLaw litigator.

[babblefish]

How does this schedule sound? (Not that I can change that haha)

Property -Shoked
Torts -Shapo
Civ Pro - Provenzano
Contracts - Nzelibe
CLR - D. Hill

Anything that would be good to know about these professors before classes start? Seems like Shapo uses his own textbook. Is that good or bad? Thanks in advance

i'm so sorry

I disagree on Hill, I think she is one of the better CLR Profs because she actually gives you the rubric and checklist that she grades by. A lot of people don't like her because she doesn't allow laptops in class, which can be brutal for CLR, and she will count off for minor Bluebooking and grammar mistakes, but she genuinely tries and cares about the students.

My advice: Start your papers early, go to her office hours, use the TAs, and review her assignment checklist with your paper before you turn it in. Seriously, saved my ass multiple times.

[Intella32]

I would appreciate any words of wisdom for those of us in section 4!

Contract - Kadens
Civ pro - Waterstone
Tort - Frakes
Crim - Rubinowitz

Not sure how this will turn out, but it seems Waterstone is a visiting professor while Frake is a new faculty.

Thanks in advance!

[Man from Nantucket]

I would appreciate any words of wisdom for those of us in section 4!

Contract - Kadens
Civ pro - Waterstone
Tort - Frakes
Crim - Rubinowitz

Not sure how this will turn out, but it seems Waterstone is a visiting professor while Frake is a new faculty.

Thanks in advance!

Pepper your angus

[cookiejar1]

I would appreciate any words of wisdom for those of us in section 4!

Contract - Kadens
Civ pro - Waterstone
Tort - Frakes
Crim - Rubinowitz

Not sure how this will turn out, but it seems Waterstone is a visiting professor while Frake is a new faculty.

Thanks in advance!

Pepper your angus

Kadens will be a polarizing figure. Just note that a lot of what she says about the law does not necessarily extrapolate to other classes (or at least to the extent that she implies that they do). You will need to game this class. You will need to figure out exactly what Kadens wants and you have to give it to her. Your Rubinowitz final and your Kadens final will look nothing alike.

[Dr. Filth]

So Dana will tell you not to worry about an issue being on the exam or to not study too hard for one issue, and then it will be on there. Do not trust that man.

[onionz]

So Dana will tell you not to worry about an issue being on the exam or to not study too hard for one issue, and then it will be on there. Do not trust that man.

+1

[Flips88]

BusCom – Bruce Markell
CLR – Dana Hill
CivPro – Richard Hoskins
Property – David Dana
Torts – Ellen Mulaney

Survival tips appreciated. TIA

Haven't had any of them, but can sort of speak to Markell. He's currently visiting from Florida State, so you won't find anyone who's had him before. However, your advice may be sought after in future years since there's rumblings he may be coming here full time as our resident bankruptcy guy.

He was a bankruptcy judge in Nevada for a while, and was known for having no patience for incompetent lawyers. See, for example, http://abovethelaw.com/2012/04/benchsla ... -in-court/. Google his name and you'll find others. He's very respected, but I would guess that he'll be on the intense side.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Markell engaged to Kadens? *shudder*

[M458]

BusCom – Bruce Markell
CLR – Dana Hill
CivPro – Richard Hoskins
Property – David Dana
Torts – Ellen Mulaney

Survival tips appreciated. TIA

Haven't had any of them, but can sort of speak to Markell. He's currently visiting from Florida State, so you won't find anyone who's had him before. However, your advice may be sought after in future years since there's rumblings he may be coming here full time as our resident bankruptcy guy.

He was a bankruptcy judge in Nevada for a while, and was known for having no patience for incompetent lawyers. See, for example, http://abovethelaw.com/2012/04/benchsla ... -in-court/. Google his name and you'll find others. He's very respected, but I would guess that he'll be on the intense side.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Markell engaged to Kadens? *shudder*

You are not wrong.

[LRGhost]

Who ever has Len for crim, he's a nice guy, class is fun and engaging if you want it to be, and the final isn't bad in and of itself. Everything else I could say is fairly biased but if you have him three times a week instead of two times, I imagine some of the downtime or silence will be eliminated which is great since his class really does present the opportunity for fireworks.

[Georgia Avenue]

Just read up on this Markell guy. He sounds like an asshole. Enjoy!

[382piccadilly]

So Dana will tell you not to worry about an issue being on the exam or to not study too hard for one issue, and then it will be on there. Do not trust that man.

+1

+2

[suzige]

BusCom – Bruce Markell
CLR – Dana Hill
CivPro – Richard Hoskins
Property – David Dana
Torts – Ellen Mulaney

Survival tips appreciated. TIA

Haven't had any of them, but can sort of speak to Markell. He's currently visiting from Florida State, so you won't find anyone who's had him before. However, your advice may be sought after in future years since there's rumblings he may be coming here full time as our resident bankruptcy guy.

He was a bankruptcy judge in Nevada for a while, and was known for having no patience for incompetent lawyers. See, for example, http://abovethelaw.com/2012/04/benchsla ... -in-court/. Google his name and you'll find others. He's very respected, but I would guess that he'll be on the intense side.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Markell engaged to Kadens? *shudder*

You are not wrong.

there's a lot of professors whose sig others are also @ NU.

[dagny05]

Is it ok to use older versions of textbooks in class? Epstein's third edition of contracts costs about ten times what his second edition book on the same topic does, for example. Just wondering if using the older edition will matter.

[cookiejar1]

I've used the older versions of textbooks for the vast majority of my doctrinal classes. You may be missing out on specific "case notes" (which kind of but not really summarize the case you just read) but imo most of my classes were so case driven that it's 100% possible to just get by without a text book (and relying, for example, on the cases as excerpted on LearnLeo).

[cookiejar1]

It's a pain in the butt to figure out the page numbers but I'm cheap so that extra effort is worth that few dollars.

[splitsplat]

Is it ok to use older versions of textbooks in class? Epstein's third edition of contracts costs about ten times what his second edition book on the same topic does, for example. Just wondering if using the older edition will matter.

really depends. unless it's the professor's own book, they are usually very straightforward about whether the newest editions are needed. sometimes there are very substantive differences between editions, other times almost nothing. shoot an email to the professor.

[Pishee77]

Any more details on Kadens and Len?

[Snape]

For 1Ls its probably best just to get used versions of the latest editions….IL is stressful enough without having to worry if you are missing key notes or pages from the latest edition of the book (its also like 1% of what you spend on 1L). For everything after 2L I always used $4.00 second newest edition and probably saved at least 1K during 2 and 3L.

[rinkrat19]

A few profs will actually take the time to provide page numbers for new and old versions of the book.

[Micdiddy]

Any more details on Kadens and Len?

For Len focus on the MPC pretty heavily (but also note common law and statutes as mentioning them can be extra points on the final).
Talk to him, he's probably the nicest and most approachable Prof at NU.

[Cobretti]

Any more details on Kadens and Len?

Kadens has some very unique views on things so supplements are basically worthless in her class. With that said her text (which she writes herself and modifies every year) has everything you will need to know. Just try to keep up and don't fall behind. She's going to make examples of people the first few weeks with some insane cold calls but she will mellow out as the semester goes.

If you ever get caught not having read when you get cold called you will be in the hot seat for the entire next class also, so do your reading.

Overall she's great once you figure out her style, just gotta play the game her way and you'll do fine.

She also gives out probably the most robust model answers of any professor so prepping for her exams is extremely straightforward.

ETA: she will also tell you over and over that she doesn't want you to argue in the alternative for the exam, and that there is a right answer... this is a bold faced lie. if there is actual ambiguity ignore everything she tells you and argue both sides. when you read her model answers/memos from past tests you'll see if you don't argue in the alternative you're gonna miss half the points on every question.

[feralinfant]

Any more details on Kadens and Len?

For Len focus on the MPC pretty heavily (but also note common law and statutes as mentioning them can be extra points on the final).
Talk to him, he's probably the nicest and most approachable Prof at NU.

Len just lets people say random things for an hour and then does wrap ups every other class or so. Type up the wrap-ups and you're good. Zone out/gchat/websurf the rest of the time if you want. His exams are such straightforward issue spotters and you get seven hours that in some ways its the worst because the curve will be extremely compressed in the class. There are no cold calls, he puts people on call ahead of time. He will "grade" a midterm so you have some feedback. This means you will get a "good", a "very good" or "some more superlative version of good".

I never really clicked with Len and had some awkward interactions but in general he's a very well-liked professor who will bid on literally every single item at the spfif auction to give you an idea of how much he cares about the students/the school etc.

If I had to change one thing I probably would have prepped more for policy stuff more in an effort to distinguish myself more on the exam. With seven hours you can literally find pretty much every issue in the fact pattern. The class does not cover much.