1Ls, what's your impression thus far? Forum

[Merr]

Every time I think I am just about to grasp something and it turns out that I am missing a whole lot more then I thought. Add to that a fair amount of anxiety and excitement and you have my impressions.

[Holly Golightly]

I'm thoroughly convinced they're still taking it easy on us.

[JCougar]

I'm kind of surprised at how bad it isn't. The horror stories told on TLS are way overblown. Honestly, if you just treat it like a job and work 9-5, you'll have plenty of time to go to class and do the readings in the library when you don't have class. Except you don't have to dress up, shave, and worry about petty workplace bullshit like kissing your idiot boss' ass, and all your "coworkers" are young and bright, and some of them are hot (instead of having to work with fat, lard-butt office ladies and grumpy old men). To make things even better, I have Fridays off, so I can go to bar review guilt-free.

I think case briefing is a waste of time. I haven't briefed a single case yet, and I'm still as prepared for class discussion as anyone.

I've been doing little mini-briefs a la Arrow in an Excel spreadsheet for each class so I can go back to them later when I'm making my outline -- basically stating the name of the case and the black letter law it creates, and leaving one box for any miscellaneous notes. I read through the cases once, and I'll remember enough of the facts from such reading to do fine if cold called. But none of my professors so far really ask about the petty facts -- they're more concerned (thank god) about whether you can understand the practical implications of the black letter law created by each case.

I really love law school. I came into this scaring myself shitless about having to work, work, work. And now I find that I've read over everything, read the supplements, etc. and I just run out of stuff to do after only studying maybe an average of 3 hours a day. But then again, this is only the second week...it's got to get harder from here.

[kalvano]

I'm kind of surprised at how bad it isn't. The horror stories told on TLS are way overblown.

This. My professors are nice and helpful. No gunners to speak of. I spend 1.5 - 3 hours a day reading stuff, and I seem to be grasping the concepts like the professors want.

I'm sure it will get busier, and it's definitely different from undergrad in that the work load doesn't let up, but it's not anywhere near as bad as some people make it out to be.

[BioEBear2010]

Seems like most people at my school (myself included) read/study at least 4 hours/day. Perhaps this is a result our 4 blackletter law classes + LRW.

[Charles Barkley]

I'm still worried that I am doing something wrong. Everybody else I know is spending 6-7 hours reading and still struggling to grasp concepts. I finish my reading in 2-3 hours and feel like I have a good grasp on everything. I'm also following Arrow's guide with the table.

I'm glad to see other people are in my boat as well.

[savagecheater]

I outlined for 2 of 3 BLL classes today. I feel unjustifiably accomplished.

[Bustang]

7am-5pm/7pm-9pm everyday and then 4~ hours on Saturday to do practice questions/outline/discuss things with my study partner. I feel pretty tired by Thursday but it isn't too bad, yet.

[kalvano]

What the hell do you do with all that time? I'm honestly curious. I couldn't fill that much time studying if I tried.

[Grizz]

What the hell do you do with all that time? I'm honestly curious. I couldn't fill that much time studying if I tried.

Seriously. Reading for my classes Monday took 2 hrs.

[chicoalto0649]

Seems like most people at my school (myself included) read/study at least 4 hours/day. Perhaps this is a result our 4 blackletter law classes + LRW.

That's an ass ton of classes! I didn't know schools had more than 3 plus legal writing...

[Bustang]

What the hell do you do with all that time? I'm honestly curious. I couldn't fill that much time studying if I tried.

E&E+daily reading+hornbook reading+updating notes based on reading. I've never been the person to understand something the first time I read it, so it takes me a bit longer to get the concepts down pat. Plus I'm the irrational person that runs back to the book when I can't recite a rule or list of elements in my head when I'm thinking about a class. Reading is taking a lot less time now, though, so my studying time has gone down a bit. I do onenote brief(which makes reading take longer), but that's 100% because of the way I learn. If I don't write things down at least once, I don't remember 5 minutes after reading it. My briefs are about 1/4-1/2 a page on average.

[kalvano]

I've found that people who spend a ton of time on stuff also tend to spend a ton of time on unnecessary reading.

[Kobe_Teeth]

...and usually 1 or 2 of them end up ranked in the top 3 or 4. However, most end up wondering why they wasted so much time to finish top 50% and a few hang themselves for finishing lower.

[Bustang]

I've found that people who spend a ton of time on stuff also tend to spend a ton of time on unnecessary reading.

It's all personal preference. I've never been the one to read 30 pages, close it and go home understanding everything.

Haters gonna hate I suppose.

[California Babe]

I've found that people who spend a ton of time on stuff also tend to spend a ton of time on unnecessary reading.

It's impressive that you found this without actually finishing one semester, taking any exams, or seeing anyone's grades.

[danidancer]

Seems like most people at my school (myself included) read/study at least 4 hours/day. Perhaps this is a result our 4 blackletter law classes + LRW.

That's an ass ton of classes! I didn't know schools had more than 3 plus legal writing...

I also have 4 BLL classes (Contracts, Torts, Civ Pro, Con Law) + Lawyering. And Lawyering is graded, not pass/fail. FML.

Edited to add: reading/briefing the first couple of weeks took me AGES, but since I bring my books with me to class anyway, I've basically switched over to book briefing at this point, so I'm now doing about an hour of reading, give or take, outside of each class.

[clint4law]

Seems like most people at my school (myself included) read/study at least 4 hours/day. Perhaps this is a result our 4 blackletter law classes + LRW.

That's an ass ton of classes! I didn't know schools had more than 3 plus legal writing...

I also have 4 BLL classes (Contracts, Torts, Civ Pro, Con Law) + Lawyering. And Lawyering is graded, not pass/fail. FML.

Edited to add: reading/briefing the first couple of weeks took me AGES, but since I bring my books with me to class anyway, I've basically switched over to book briefing at this point, so I'm now doing about an hour of reading, give or take, outside of each class.

pretty intense

[kalvano]

I've found that people who spend a ton of time on stuff also tend to spend a ton of time on unnecessary reading.

It's impressive that you found this without actually finishing one semester, taking any exams, or seeing anyone's grades.

Isn't it? Pure genius, I tell you.

[wreckem]

The load for my normal classes is not that heavy. Daily reading is pretty short and Im typically three days ahead.

However, my legal writing class(two semester class) is graded on a forced C+ curve, with 2 A's per a 25 person class. Its blind graded too, so no one knows how well they are doing letter grade wise until we actually get our grades in December.

Legal writing is making everything a grind. FML.

[ChattTNdt]

I think my school has the most 1L classes of all. 4 BLL classes (Contracts, Torts, Civ Pro, Crim Law) + LR&W + a 3-hour Legal Traditions course.

Still, I don't see how some people are spending so much time in the library. I went by Sunday to do some printing and was at how FULL the library was. On a Sunday! I've been frontloading my work each week and reading about 4-5 hours per day Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. 2-3 hours / day on Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday and Saturday I spend being social. Any Friday/Saturday work I do is big picture thinking / outlining sections we've completed / playing with facts in hypos

The workload is perfect for me so far. Gives me something to get serious about, without making me want to kill myself. Yet.

[kalvano]

I have -

Torts
Civ Pro
Contracts
Criminal Law
Property
LW&R (combined into one class)

All are graded. No pass/fail option.

[Mroberts3]

I'd have to echo a lot of the comments here about how LS is definitely a lot more work than undergrad, but is still totally manageable. One thing I know TLS has helped me with is case reading. After only a few days I felt really confident that I was extracting the correct legal principle from each case (based on class discussion the next day). Even though nobody ever said "here is exactly how to find the BLL in a case," the general consensus that most of the info is not important kept me from getting bogged down.

I'm also with whoever said they are still taking it easy on us. I won't claim to have picked out everything from the cases by myself, but I've never gone home at the end of a class thinking "wtf was that case about and what legal rule/issue is it discussing?"

Also -- F the bluebook and the ICW site (those of you who don't have to use this site, thank whatever god you pray to). I can't believe smart people waste their time with this thing. I understand citation is important, but there is no reader on earth who will fail to find the cited info if it is cited as "Party v. Party, 123 F. 2d 456" vs " Party v. Party, 123 F.2d 456

And don't get me started on italicized periods and commas...

[Grizz]

I have -

Torts
Civ Pro
Contracts
Criminal Law
Property
LW&R (combined into one class)

All are graded. No pass/fail option.

All this semester? Wow.

[eandy]

I have -

Torts
Civ Pro
Contracts
Criminal Law
Property
LW&R (combined into one class)

All are graded. No pass/fail option.

All this semester? Wow.

Same. I feel your pain. Year long classes blow.