NYU 1Ls taking questions Forum

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by kkdk » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:53 am

tls123456789 wrote:Hi guys, thanks for doing this...

I'm a 0L attending this Fall and I may have to take on a part-time job during 1L. I'm hoping to get some sort of a position at a law firm.

Has anyone had experience with a part-time job at a law firm during their 1L, or know someone that has? What was that like? If you don't mind answering, what was the pay?

Would really appreciate some input on this
Hey, rising 2L at NYU as well. Figured I'd help out in answering questions because there's only a few of us on this thread. I know someone who worked part-time in a fairly intense job/volunteer position. If you want to be put in touch, PM me. That person had that job all of 1L and at least, from seeing them respond to cold-calls and make comments in class, was exceptionally well prepped for class. No clue about what happened re: finals but they are doing some great work for 1L summer, on a merit-based summer funding scholarship. So I suppose that indicates that it's at least possible.

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by kkdk » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:54 am

barrelofmonkeys wrote:
newforllm wrote:If they don't get a temporary gym, does anyone have any thoughts on any of the private gyms? I've been looking at NYSC and Equinox. Anyone have any thoughts on either of those or other options around the law school? Also, is there a spot near NYU for running (similar to the spot around the reservoir in Central Park)?
I think the university is planning 404 Lafayette as a temporary replacement for Coles.

Also, I think they aren't closing Coles until the replacement is open, but I'm not sure I'm reading this document correctly:
Coles will not be closed until a firm timeline has been established and communicated and not until alternatives, including the interim facility replacing Coles are open and operational.
Someone told me we'd be getting free membership at the Crunch nearby?

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by newforllm » Fri Jul 03, 2015 4:54 pm

tls123456789 wrote:Hi guys, thanks for doing this...

I'm a 0L attending this Fall and I may have to take on a part-time job during 1L. I'm hoping to get some sort of a position at a law firm.

Has anyone had experience with a part-time job at a law firm during their 1L, or know someone that has? What was that like? If you don't mind answering, what was the pay?

Would really appreciate some input on this
The ABA has some rules about working during law school but it's generally up to the school to enforce so it depends on the school, and some states don't allow students to do legal work in their first semester. You should probably email the career center asking them if you can. Some states also have rules about when the career center can begin working with students, so you may want to ask about that as well, because they may not be able to help you find a job.

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by E.cola » Wed Jul 08, 2015 11:25 am

NYU sections + classes just came out. Do y'all have any insight into how Eleanor Fox/Mitchell Kane/Arthur Miller (dun dun dun) are in class?
Just curious....
Thanks!

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by w0w » Wed Jul 08, 2015 11:38 am

This is all I know about Arthur Miller.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7GqyyjLU7MYp


But I'm still an 0L

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by Skool » Wed Jul 08, 2015 1:23 pm

w0w wrote:This is all I know about Arthur Miller.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7GqyyjLU7MYp


But I'm still an 0L
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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by kfb2112 » Wed Jul 08, 2015 8:27 pm

Anyone here have thoughts on: Oscar Chase, Jeanne C Fromer, Amy Mulzer, or Catherine Sharkey? Thanks!

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by Scalia » Thu Jul 09, 2015 5:29 pm

similar to two posts above. can anyone give their thoughts/knowledge about Burt Neuborne, for Civ Pro, Barry Adler for Contracts, and Kim Taylor Thompson for Crim Law? Thanks!

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by w0w » Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:31 pm

Scalia wrote:similar to two posts above. can anyone give their thoughts/knowledge about Burt Neuborne, for Civ Pro, Barry Adler for Contracts, and Kim Taylor Thompson for Crim Law? Thanks!

Section 3 I see? They are all on ratemyprofessor.com. I looked them up there.

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by barrelofmonkeys » Thu Jul 09, 2015 11:22 pm

Scalia wrote:similar to two posts above. can anyone give their thoughts/knowledge about Burt Neuborne, for Civ Pro, Barry Adler for Contracts, and Kim Taylor Thompson for Crim Law? Thanks!
i have so many thoughts

had all these profs (except adler for torts instead of contracts)

quick thoughts (and i can maybe do more later):
neuborne is an amazing person but a terrible professor and you will have trouble learning civ pro from him
adler is a snooze and can be very confusing, but he's a nice guy. i did not enjoy his torts class but contracts might be better, since it's more his thing. pay MUCH attention to the slide shows and study guides...everything you need to know is in those.
KTT is a treat and a lovely person and a good professor. the subject she teaches...eh.

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by Synch » Fri Jul 10, 2015 11:26 am

barrelofmonkeys wrote:
Scalia wrote:similar to two posts above. can anyone give their thoughts/knowledge about Burt Neuborne, for Civ Pro, Barry Adler for Contracts, and Kim Taylor Thompson for Crim Law? Thanks!
i have so many thoughts

had all these profs (except adler for torts instead of contracts)

quick thoughts (and i can maybe do more later):
neuborne is an amazing person but a terrible professor and you will have trouble learning civ pro from him
adler is a snooze and can be very confusing, but he's a nice guy. i did not enjoy his torts class but contracts might be better, since it's more his thing. pay MUCH attention to the slide shows and study guides...everything you need to know is in those.
KTT is a treat and a lovely person and a good professor. the subject she teaches...eh.
I had Adler for contracts - from my friends in your section, I've heard he was much worse at torts.

Adler is interesting, to say the least. I found his lecture style to be dry and frustrating - and he generally hits the same points over and over. That being said, at least in contracts, he really knew his stuff (even if he only wanted you to aim toward his views on the exam), and the slides and extra class notes he provided were the most helpful come exam time. I found contracts difficult, and felt lost through most of the semester, but it clicked in the last week or two.

PM me if you want more details/outlines on Adler re: contracts.

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by Skool » Fri Jul 10, 2015 12:00 pm

What about Arthur Miller? The dude's been around for decades and is one of the country's experts on civil procedure. I know people are all about not gunning over the summer or whatever, but there must be something I can read to get ready. Thoughts/ suggestions?

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by Synch » Fri Jul 10, 2015 3:28 pm

Skool wrote:What about Arthur Miller? The dude's been around for decades and is one of the country's experts on civil procedure. I know people are all about not gunning over the summer or whatever, but there must be something I can read to get ready. Thoughts/ suggestions?
Never had Arthur MIller, and don't know much about the man - but I cannot tell you how much of a waste of time it would be to try and prepare for Civ Pro. This is perhaps the last summer you'll have to relax. Take that time, and enjoy it.

If you must prepare, I recommend Getting to Maybe. It will teach you the basics of how to approach ambiguity, and how to deal with what law school is about (looking at situations from multiple perspectives, and translating that into the exam). But trying to learn personal jurisdiction on your own? Waste of time.

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by kkdk » Fri Jul 10, 2015 4:13 pm

Skool wrote:What about Arthur Miller? The dude's been around for decades and is one of the country's experts on civil procedure. I know people are all about not gunning over the summer or whatever, but there must be something I can read to get ready. Thoughts/ suggestions?
Had A.Milley for Civ Pro. Did well. Don't bother gunning over the summer. Know the following things and profit:

1. Whoever gets cold-called the first day gets Pennoyer. That person usually becomes legendary (for screwing up or for being smoother than a unicorns hair). Miller loves to grill folks on that case. Could take the entire class. Maybe a class and a half if you're like my section and are a combination of no fucks given and low-concentration of Gunnery Sgts. Oh and yes, you are cold-called on Day 1. No Biggie.

2. Buy the hornbook b/c Miller wrote it. Explains all these big cases really nicely. Do NOT quote him his own jokes or explanations. Someone did that and he gave him a death stare asking "Did you come up with that yourself?" Kid tried to fake saying yes. Miller did not buy it.

3. You will not finish the syllabus. If you get to Discovery you're on fantastic pace. Most classes get past Class Action. This is because Miller LOVES Class Actions and he will move heaven and earth to teach you Rule 23 stuff.

4. Download his Civ Pro Audiobook (or PM me for link). If you listen to that thing before finals, you'll be set. You'll also become strangely enamored with Miller's voice.

5. Be willing to type a LOT for the final. All A exams cleared 7K words minimum. A+ finals clocked in around 8.5K. I looked at my outline twice--it's just word vomit.

6. Miller's favourite case is Erie Railroad. If you want to be part of the 'show' (you'll figure that out soon) then you'll be doing extra work in Civ Pro for literally 15 minutes of fame. But it's tradition and every class does it.

7. He's actually a sweetheart but chances are you'll never find out. Do not insult New York or the Yankees. He will insult every other state.

8. He likes elaborate hypotheticals when you do minimum contacts (Personal Jurisdiction stuff). He'll start you on a fact pattern and will add one more event or fact each time and ask a (usually) blank-stare-giving class if the person can be brought into court or not.

9. Miller waxes eloquent about Twombly and Iqbal and Modern Pleading in general. He is NOT a corporate hack despite having suits worth more than your law school textbook bill. He actually is a staunch advocate for making accessibility to the courts much easier and class actions easier to recognize. KNOW his opinions on Twombly and Iqbal and reiterate them on the final. He is so passionate about those cases that your opinion will not matter if you get a pleading question.

10. If you're feeling daring, imitate his "hmmmmm?". If you value your life expectancy, don't. But if you become a TA you can see him in *gasp* polos and khakis and maybe even get him to smile at you.

Bonus: don't laugh if and when he misses the garbage can when he throws his coffee cup into it from not more than 1 foot distance.

I had Miller, Sharkey, Davis (Contracts), T-Money (Con Law), Samaha (LRS),and Murphy (Crim). Happy to do a less robust but similar run down for others. For now, back to pretending like I know this shit.

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by arsenal11 » Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:55 pm

kkdk wrote:
Skool wrote:What about Arthur Miller? The dude's been around for decades and is one of the country's experts on civil procedure. I know people are all about not gunning over the summer or whatever, but there must be something I can read to get ready. Thoughts/ suggestions?
Had A.Milley for Civ Pro. Did well. Don't bother gunning over the summer. Know the following things and profit:

1. Whoever gets cold-called the first day gets Pennoyer. That person usually becomes legendary (for screwing up or for being smoother than a unicorns hair). Miller loves to grill folks on that case. Could take the entire class. Maybe a class and a half if you're like my section and are a combination of no fucks given and low-concentration of Gunnery Sgts. Oh and yes, you are cold-called on Day 1. No Biggie.

2. Buy the hornbook b/c Miller wrote it. Explains all these big cases really nicely. Do NOT quote him his own jokes or explanations. Someone did that and he gave him a death stare asking "Did you come up with that yourself?" Kid tried to fake saying yes. Miller did not buy it.

3. You will not finish the syllabus. If you get to Discovery you're on fantastic pace. Most classes get past Class Action. This is because Miller LOVES Class Actions and he will move heaven and earth to teach you Rule 23 stuff.

4. Download his Civ Pro Audiobook (or PM me for link). If you listen to that thing before finals, you'll be set. You'll also become strangely enamored with Miller's voice.

5. Be willing to type a LOT for the final. All A exams cleared 7K words minimum. A+ finals clocked in around 8.5K. I looked at my outline twice--it's just word vomit.

6. Miller's favourite case is Erie Railroad. If you want to be part of the 'show' (you'll figure that out soon) then you'll be doing extra work in Civ Pro for literally 15 minutes of fame. But it's tradition and every class does it.

7. He's actually a sweetheart but chances are you'll never find out. Do not insult New York or the Yankees. He will insult every other state.

8. He likes elaborate hypotheticals when you do minimum contacts (Personal Jurisdiction stuff). He'll start you on a fact pattern and will add one more event or fact each time and ask a (usually) blank-stare-giving class if the person can be brought into court or not.

9. Miller waxes eloquent about Twombly and Iqbal and Modern Pleading in general. He is NOT a corporate hack despite having suits worth more than your law school textbook bill. He actually is a staunch advocate for making accessibility to the courts much easier and class actions easier to recognize. KNOW his opinions on Twombly and Iqbal and reiterate them on the final. He is so passionate about those cases that your opinion will not matter if you get a pleading question.

10. If you're feeling daring, imitate his "hmmmmm?". If you value your life expectancy, don't. But if you become a TA you can see him in *gasp* polos and khakis and maybe even get him to smile at you.

Bonus: don't laugh if and when he misses the garbage can when he throws his coffee cup into it from not more than 1 foot distance.

I had Miller, Sharkey, Davis (Contracts), T-Money (Con Law), Samaha (LRS),and Murphy (Crim). Happy to do a less robust but similar run down for others. For now, back to pretending like I know this shit.
How was Sharkey?

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by to116 » Fri Jul 10, 2015 7:35 pm

id be interested if anyone has any insight into chase (civ pro), fromer (contracts) and sharkey (torts) too! Also what did you guys do if you can't find any practice exams online for your profs and they dont provide any?

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by tls123456789 » Fri Jul 10, 2015 10:22 pm

Can anyone shed some light on Kane (Contracts) and/or Eleanor Fox (Torts)? Would REALLY appreciate it! :D

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by Skool » Fri Jul 10, 2015 11:04 pm

kkdk wrote:
Skool wrote:What about Arthur Miller? The dude's been around for decades and is one of the country's experts on civil procedure. I know people are all about not gunning over the summer or whatever, but there must be something I can read to get ready. Thoughts/ suggestions?
Had A.Milley for Civ Pro. Did well. Don't bother gunning over the summer. Know the following things and profit:

1. Whoever gets cold-called the first day gets Pennoyer. That person usually becomes legendary (for screwing up or for being smoother than a unicorns hair). Miller loves to grill folks on that case. Could take the entire class. Maybe a class and a half if you're like my section and are a combination of no fucks given and low-concentration of Gunnery Sgts. Oh and yes, you are cold-called on Day 1. No Biggie.

2. Buy the hornbook b/c Miller wrote it. Explains all these big cases really nicely. Do NOT quote him his own jokes or explanations. Someone did that and he gave him a death stare asking "Did you come up with that yourself?" Kid tried to fake saying yes. Miller did not buy it.

3. You will not finish the syllabus. If you get to Discovery you're on fantastic pace. Most classes get past Class Action. This is because Miller LOVES Class Actions and he will move heaven and earth to teach you Rule 23 stuff.

4. Download his Civ Pro Audiobook (or PM me for link). If you listen to that thing before finals, you'll be set. You'll also become strangely enamored with Miller's voice.

5. Be willing to type a LOT for the final. All A exams cleared 7K words minimum. A+ finals clocked in around 8.5K. I looked at my outline twice--it's just word vomit.

6. Miller's favourite case is Erie Railroad. If you want to be part of the 'show' (you'll figure that out soon) then you'll be doing extra work in Civ Pro for literally 15 minutes of fame. But it's tradition and every class does it.

7. He's actually a sweetheart but chances are you'll never find out. Do not insult New York or the Yankees. He will insult every other state.

8. He likes elaborate hypotheticals when you do minimum contacts (Personal Jurisdiction stuff). He'll start you on a fact pattern and will add one more event or fact each time and ask a (usually) blank-stare-giving class if the person can be brought into court or not.

9. Miller waxes eloquent about Twombly and Iqbal and Modern Pleading in general. He is NOT a corporate hack despite having suits worth more than your law school textbook bill. He actually is a staunch advocate for making accessibility to the courts much easier and class actions easier to recognize. KNOW his opinions on Twombly and Iqbal and reiterate them on the final. He is so passionate about those cases that your opinion will not matter if you get a pleading question.

10. If you're feeling daring, imitate his "hmmmmm?". If you value your life expectancy, don't. But if you become a TA you can see him in *gasp* polos and khakis and maybe even get him to smile at you.

Bonus: don't laugh if and when he misses the garbage can when he throws his coffee cup into it from not more than 1 foot distance.

I had Miller, Sharkey, Davis (Contracts), T-Money (Con Law), Samaha (LRS),and Murphy (Crim). Happy to do a less robust but similar run down for others. For now, back to pretending like I know this shit.
Thanks for this

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by barrelofmonkeys » Fri Jul 10, 2015 11:43 pm

tls123456789 wrote:Can anyone shed some light on Kane (Contracts) and/or Eleanor Fox (Torts)? Would REALLY appreciate it! :D
neither was a 1L teacher this past year so i've got nothing for you

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by k5220 » Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:32 am

tls123456789 wrote:Can anyone shed some light on Kane (Contracts) and/or Eleanor Fox (Torts)? Would REALLY appreciate it! :D
Do you have your student log-in information yet? https://its.law.nyu.edu/courseeval/inde ... udent.main

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by checkers » Sat Jul 11, 2015 9:11 am

barrelofmonkeys wrote:
tls123456789 wrote:Can anyone shed some light on Kane (Contracts) and/or Eleanor Fox (Torts)? Would REALLY appreciate it! :D
neither was a 1L teacher this past year so i've got nothing for you
Fox taught torts last fall. She's a sweet, grandmotherly person, but not the clearest teacher. That will be to your advantage at the end of the semester if you study hard, since not everyone will know the law.

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by Synch » Sat Jul 11, 2015 9:38 am

Regardless of the teacher, I'd strongly recommend making your own outline. I didn't do that for civ pro, and regretted it.

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by barrelofmonkeys » Sun Jul 12, 2015 12:32 pm

checkers wrote:
barrelofmonkeys wrote:
tls123456789 wrote:Can anyone shed some light on Kane (Contracts) and/or Eleanor Fox (Torts)? Would REALLY appreciate it! :D
neither was a 1L teacher this past year so i've got nothing for you
Fox taught torts last fall. She's a sweet, grandmotherly person, but not the clearest teacher. That will be to your advantage at the end of the semester if you study hard, since not everyone will know the law.
wow...oops :oops:

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by kkdk » Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:37 am

arsenal11 wrote: How was Sharkey?
Sharkey is fantastically brilliant. She is a Rhodes Scholar and was Exec Editor of the YLJ while at Yale. She clerked on the 2d Cir and the Supreme Court. Not that those things necessarily mean she's brilliant, or even cool--in fact I think the coolest thing about her is that she was All-American in Lacrosse (I'm Canadian and I love that sport). But sometimes, you come across a professor who is just so damn vastly intellectually superior to every atom and cell they interact with, that you are hopelessly outmatched. Adam Samaha, though I do not necessarily agree with how he taught, is one other such professor. He was a Fay Diploma recipient at Harvard. Look that up to know what it means.

That is what Sharkey's class is like.

Lucky for you, she is more or less gracious, always willing to hear your argument and thoughts and answers. But you'll find that a lot of the time she will qualify most of what is said because she has this beautiful rare pearl of an answer already formulated. Sharkey wrote your casebook and your supplement.

As for how to do well:

1. You HAVE to know the material cold. You only get 2 sheets, back to back, for an outline. 6 pt font size will not save you.

2. You need to really understand, digest, and analyze every policy/ethics argument made in class, and in the readings. Know the econ side of things, the deterrence side of things, the retribution side of things. Know how you can pursue both goals at once and why you might not be able to. Policy is going to be a big chunk of the final.

3. The final is one massive fact pattern, several short answers that ask you to weigh in on statements or argument theses, and then one essay on torts policy. Even if you knock the fact pattern out of the park (it's ALWAYS negligence, causation, maybe a smattering of other things too), you've only done half her final. The other half, is concocting policy arguments.

4. It is comparatively less important to know the exact facts of torts cases than it is to understand the reasoning for a decision. You'd think this was a no-brainer, but there are courses where the facts matter a lot--Crim for example is a class where exactly what happened matters as much if not more than the policy behind the judgment. In torts, you can use all the facts to make some case for negligence sure, but a lot of what drives whether it's a cogent argument or not is to examine the policy reasons. Sharkey loves asking those types of questions in esoteric fashion--structured as "Why would we prefer 'elaborate argument X' over 'elaborate argument Y' to support 'somewhat related notion A' in the context of this Case?' If you read the Case, you'll have no clue how to answer. You need to have read the Case and contemplated related notions A and B, before her question makes any sense to you.

5. Do NOT skip out on the guest lectures. If she tells you something is optional, translate that into 'mandatory'.

6. She also cold calls but IIRC, you can request a pass from time to time without penalty.

7. Go to her office hours. She doesn't care that you reiterate her thoughts on things on a final, but you need to know how she dissects arguments to understand how she will think about your own. This is unlike Miller--I don't even know where his office is. You don't need to understand Miller to do well in Civ Pro. You need to understand Sharkey to do well in Torts.

NYU has been poaching these sorts of folks for years. And there's a reason why.

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Re: NYU 1Ls taking questions

Post by arsenal11 » Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:49 am

kkdk wrote:
arsenal11 wrote: How was Sharkey?
Sharkey is fantastically brilliant. She is a Rhodes Scholar and was Exec Editor of the YLJ while at Yale. She clerked on the 2d Cir and the Supreme Court. Not that those things necessarily mean she's brilliant, or even cool--in fact I think the coolest thing about her is that she was All-American in Lacrosse (I'm Canadian and I love that sport). But sometimes, you come across a professor who is just so damn vastly intellectually superior to every atom and cell they interact with, that you are hopelessly outmatched. Adam Samaha, though I do not necessarily agree with how he taught, is one other such professor. He was a Fay Diploma recipient at Harvard. Look that up to know what it means.

That is what Sharkey's class is like.

Lucky for you, she is more or less gracious, always willing to hear your argument and thoughts and answers. But you'll find that a lot of the time she will qualify most of what is said because she has this beautiful rare pearl of an answer already formulated. Sharkey wrote your casebook and your supplement.

As for how to do well:

1. You HAVE to know the material cold. You only get 2 sheets, back to back, for an outline. 6 pt font size will not save you.

2. You need to really understand, digest, and analyze every policy/ethics argument made in class, and in the readings. Know the econ side of things, the deterrence side of things, the retribution side of things. Know how you can pursue both goals at once and why you might not be able to. Policy is going to be a big chunk of the final.

3. The final is one massive fact pattern, several short answers that ask you to weigh in on statements or argument theses, and then one essay on torts policy. Even if you knock the fact pattern out of the park (it's ALWAYS negligence, causation, maybe a smattering of other things too), you've only done half her final. The other half, is concocting policy arguments.

4. It is comparatively less important to know the exact facts of torts cases than it is to understand the reasoning for a decision. You'd think this was a no-brainer, but there are courses where the facts matter a lot--Crim for example is a class where exactly what happened matters as much if not more than the policy behind the judgment. In torts, you can use all the facts to make some case for negligence sure, but a lot of what drives whether it's a cogent argument or not is to examine the policy reasons. Sharkey loves asking those types of questions in esoteric fashion--structured as "Why would we prefer 'elaborate argument X' over 'elaborate argument Y' to support 'somewhat related notion A' in the context of this Case?' If you read the Case, you'll have no clue how to answer. You need to have read the Case and contemplated related notions A and B, before her question makes any sense to you.

5. Do NOT skip out on the guest lectures. If she tells you something is optional, translate that into 'mandatory'.

6. She also cold calls but IIRC, you can request a pass from time to time without penalty.

7. Go to her office hours. She doesn't care that you reiterate her thoughts on things on a final, but you need to know how she dissects arguments to understand how she will think about your own. This is unlike Miller--I don't even know where his office is. You don't need to understand Miller to do well in Civ Pro. You need to understand Sharkey to do well in Torts.

NYU has been poaching these sorts of folks for years. And there's a reason why.
This is great. Thank you.

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