Texas 2L, Law Review, Taking Qs Forum

[UT1502]

Any advice for someone new to the area?

Regarding what? Housing, places to go, etc.? I am a fount of information!

Are there quite a few bars, restaurants in the Hyde Park area that you recommend?

Hyde Park Bar & Grill has the best fries in town, plus something called the Horseshoe, which is toast, burger, queso, fries, and then more queso stacked up. Mmmmmmmmm, I want one now. Take that, heart!

Trudy's is basically in Hyde Park, though it's technically North Campus. Their chorizo-stuffed chicken is about the best thing to eat in Austin, and the Mexican Martinis are...well, they cut you off after two. Mother's is pretty good if you like vegetarian food, and Asti is good Italian if you're not into saving money. Over on 30th and Guadalupe, there's Thai Kitchen, for my money the best Thai in town. But really, if you're not at Trudy's, you're wasting your time. But then I'm kind of a fanboy.

You can catch the #7 bus on Duval St. and it'll take you straight down to 6th street in about 10 minutes. I prefer the warehouse district (4th-5th street area); you've got the Hangar (my favorite), 219, Cedar Street (always some live music going on), Fado (Irish pub), etc.

The Triangle is nearby, which has a Flying Saucer. There's also a place called Draught House nearby that's got like 60 beers on tap, and is reasonably cheap to boot.

Hyde Park is where I live. It's the correct choice. It is not, however, quite the going-out part of town; trust me, that's just fine once school starts.

[UT1502]

About to start the year as a 1L at UT. Any favorite profs to report? Any ones to regret getting when I find out my section?

Alan Rau for Contracts is sort of a...I don't want to say "good" experience, but it has become something of a bonding experience in Texas. I interviewed with several people that had Rau, and we commiserated a bit. Anyway, he's "fun". He has a penchant for putting actual recent TX opinions on his final and just telling you to explain why the judge fucked it up. Pop quiz, hotshot!

William Forbath for Con Law is great. I've heard George Dix for Crim is hilarious. I've heard Kadens for Contracts is every bit as fun as Rau. Honestly, though, the classes with the least personable professors are really the ones I learned the most in, because they don't beat around the bush when you're wrong. Which you are. Every time.

What I know:

Civ pro - Mullenix - She'll try to scare you at first, but don't worry about it. She's actually pretty cool. Be aware that her exam is all multiple choice and will be a disaster if you prepare for a "real" civ pro exam. There's a heavy slant toward the second half of the course. When you're on call, she has a tendency to ask questions that you can't possibly get right, and expect certain things to be in your answers that are arbitrary and tough to figure out. Just take it all in stride and don't get flustered.
Supplements: Glannon is OK but probably isn't as good as you think it will be. Buy her outline and use it to prepare for being on call.

Property - Smith - Extremely straightforward. Take GOOD NOTES in class and get an old outline. I can't emphasize the take-good-notes part enough. Much of the exam came from situations he mentioned in class.
Supplements: E&E will work. If you do those flashcards, start early.

Ks - Golden - Pretty sure he's not here this year. Too bad, because I liked his class (my small section).
Supplements: Best thing I did for Ks was read Chirelstein multiple times and use the Barbri outline as an (open-book) exam checklist.

Crim - Laurin - She's quite good. Cold-calls people like crazy, so be prepared and learn what kinds of questions will be asked. Strong focus on policy and statutory construction. Good old exams are tough to find. Do any problems she suggests you do.
Supplements: Read Dressler even though she'll tell you not to, but don't necessarily take it as gospel, and read only the sections you cover in class. E&E is useless.

Con law - Graglia - Most bizarre class I've ever taken. Do lots of his old exams. Keep up with the readings as much as you can. (Not a lot, just hard to figure out what to read sometimes.) Don't expect your grade to correlate with anything.
Supplements: Chemerinsky, maybe Graglia's law review articles. Who knows.

Torts - Robertson - Also extremely straightforward. Get an old outline and do lots of old exams, and go over the exams in a study group. His textbook is really good. Go to his review sessions and pay attention. It's easy to keep up with the reading, so do it and really try to understand it. If he calls on people and they are having a little trouble, he often walks them through it, but you'll get way more out of the discussion if you already know the basics, whether you're participating or watching.
Supplements: Abramson (little blue book) is easily digestible but almost too simple for anything other than basic concepts. E&E is OK but ignore the exam tips. Robertson will tell you what he's looking for on the exam.

LRW - Einhorn - She's fine, and means well. Mostly by the book. By far the toughest class to stay awake in.
Supplements: Get the Bluebook, not ALWD. If you're bad at grammar, now's the time to brush up. Otherwise, ignore everything you think you know about writing and do what the assigned books say. Anything by Bryan Garner will be helpful.

What I've heard:

Bob Bone (civ pro) yells a lot and is obsessed with economics. Rau (Ks) is scary. So is Kadens (Ks), but she's a really good teacher; for her, keep briefing. Meyer (LRW) is terrible. Sokolow (Ks) is awesome. Sturley (property) tends to be an absentee prof.

Sturley taught Estates and Future interests to our Property section for two weeks. One day he asked if we'd prefer to have a fee simple or a life estate. Then he asked, "what if I told you the fee simple was in one square inch in the middle of a garbage dump in Detroit, and the life estate was in the Taj Mahal?" OH, WELL DONE, STURLEY. SURE FOOLED US.

One day Rau told a kid that his UG business law professor had no business polluting his mind.

[smokyroom26]

About to start the year as a 1L at UT. Any favorite profs to report? Any ones to regret getting when I find out my section?

Alan Rau for Contracts is sort of a...I don't want to say "good" experience, but it has become something of a bonding experience in Texas. I interviewed with several people that had Rau, and we commiserated a bit. Anyway, he's "fun". He has a penchant for putting actual recent TX opinions on his final and just telling you to explain why the judge fucked it up. Pop quiz, hotshot!

William Forbath for Con Law is great. I've heard George Dix for Crim is hilarious. I've heard Kadens for Contracts is every bit as fun as Rau. Honestly, though, the classes with the least personable professors are really the ones I learned the most in, because they don't beat around the bush when you're wrong. Which you are. Every time.

What I know:

Civ pro - Mullenix - She'll try to scare you at first, but don't worry about it. She's actually pretty cool. Be aware that her exam is all multiple choice and will be a disaster if you prepare for a "real" civ pro exam. There's a heavy slant toward the second half of the course. When you're on call, she has a tendency to ask questions that you can't possibly get right, and expect certain things to be in your answers that are arbitrary and tough to figure out. Just take it all in stride and don't get flustered.
Supplements: Glannon is OK but probably isn't as good as you think it will be. Buy her outline and use it to prepare for being on call.

Property - Smith - Extremely straightforward. Take GOOD NOTES in class and get an old outline. I can't emphasize the take-good-notes part enough. Much of the exam came from situations he mentioned in class.
Supplements: E&E will work. If you do those flashcards, start early.

Ks - Golden - Pretty sure he's not here this year. Too bad, because I liked his class (my small section).
Supplements: Best thing I did for Ks was read Chirelstein multiple times and use the Barbri outline as an (open-book) exam checklist.

Crim - Laurin - She's quite good. Cold-calls people like crazy, so be prepared and learn what kinds of questions will be asked. Strong focus on policy and statutory construction. Good old exams are tough to find. Do any problems she suggests you do.
Supplements: Read Dressler even though she'll tell you not to, but don't necessarily take it as gospel, and read only the sections you cover in class. E&E is useless.

Con law - Graglia - Most bizarre class I've ever taken. Do lots of his old exams. Keep up with the readings as much as you can. (Not a lot, just hard to figure out what to read sometimes.) Don't expect your grade to correlate with anything.
Supplements: Chemerinsky, maybe Graglia's law review articles. Who knows.

Torts - Robertson - Also extremely straightforward. Get an old outline and do lots of old exams, and go over the exams in a study group. His textbook is really good. Go to his review sessions and pay attention. It's easy to keep up with the reading, so do it and really try to understand it. If he calls on people and they are having a little trouble, he often walks them through it, but you'll get way more out of the discussion if you already know the basics, whether you're participating or watching.
Supplements: Abramson (little blue book) is easily digestible but almost too simple for anything other than basic concepts. E&E is OK but ignore the exam tips. Robertson will tell you what he's looking for on the exam.

LRW - Einhorn - She's fine, and means well. Mostly by the book. By far the toughest class to stay awake in.
Supplements: Get the Bluebook, not ALWD. If you're bad at grammar, now's the time to brush up. Otherwise, ignore everything you think you know about writing and do what the assigned books say. Anything by Bryan Garner will be helpful.

What I've heard:

Bob Bone (civ pro) yells a lot and is obsessed with economics. Rau (Ks) is scary. So is Kadens (Ks), but she's a really good teacher; for her, keep briefing. Meyer (LRW) is terrible. Sokolow (Ks) is awesome. Sturley (property) tends to be an absentee prof.

Sturley taught Estates and Future interests to our Property section for two weeks. One day he asked if we'd prefer to have a fee simple or a life estate. Then he asked, "what if I told you the fee simple was in one square inch in the middle of a garbage dump in Detroit, and the life estate was in the Taj Mahal?" OH, WELL DONE, STURLEY. SURE FOOLED US.

One day Rau told a kid that his UG business law professor had no business polluting his mind.

Also, Youngdale is where it's at for LRW. Horror stories all around from a variety of sections, but Youngdale was reasonable with assignments and genuinely cared about our progress.

[mfeller2]

@UT1502 Thanks for the info! I'm moving down next week, wanted to take my parents some decent places. Thanks!

[UT1502]

@UT1502 Thanks for the info! I'm moving down next week, wanted to take my parents some decent places. Thanks!

Cool! If you like sushi, UchiKo is nearby, which was recently called like the number 3 sushi restaurant in America by whatever administrative body would rank such things. It's expensive, but mmmmmmmmmmmmm. UchiKo. Also, they do a happy hour where you can get sake and sushi for more reasonable prices.

For fast, cheap breakfast/brunch, TacoDeli (in the same building as UchiKo) is also nearby and has awesome stuff like pork belly tacos. If you want to take them to--and here I'm not exaggerating--the best pizza I've had in America, on South Congress there's Home Slice. It takes a while to get a table, but it's so worth it. There's also a patio out back where you can drink a beer while you wait. I'd say the can't-miss, true-Austin-Experience places are Trudy's for tex-mex/margaritas, Home Slice for Pizza, Hyde Park Bar & Grill for sandwiches/fries, UchiKo for sushi. There's a place downtown called Iron Works that sells some bomb-ass BBQ (It's not quite as good as Franklin, but at Franklin you have to get there at like 8:30 in the morning to get brisket before they sell out--not something you want to deal with when you're moving in, and in any event Iron Works is ridiculicious). Get the beef ribs if you want to feel like a Flinstone.

That should keep everyone happy. If I think of anything else you can't miss, I'll put it up here.

Oh, also, there's a gas station at 45th & Duval that has a bunch of flags in the parking lot: it has a better beer selection than (again, I'm not exaggerating) any liquor store I've ever been to. Learn this place well; it is to be your friend.