1L Workload Question Forum

[Legal Baller]

It's the first week of law school and thus far I am not bombarded with work. I have kept up with all of the readings (engaging with them, not passively reading), I have briefed every case, and after every class I've taken time to review notes and even dick around with hypotheticals a little. I've also read some relevant sections in E&E's. Even after all of this, I find myself with a lot of free time. All the while, I have a lot of class mates that are complaining about the workload and bitching about how they've been in the library constantly. It's kind of stressing me out and making me think I should be spending more time on school work.

So, am I missing something? Is there something more that I should be doing? Or are the kids who are living in the library just wasting their time?

Thanks.

[TheFactor]

You are smarter than they are obv.

[Knuckles]

It's the first week of law school and thus far I am not bombarded with work. I have kept up with all of the readings (engaging with them, not passively reading), I have briefed every case, and after every class I've taken time to review notes and even dick around with hypotheticals a little. I've also read some relevant sections in E&E's. Even after all of this, I find myself with a lot of free time. All the while, I have a lot of class mates that are complaining about the workload and bitching about how they've been in the library constantly. It's kind of stressing me out and making me think I should be spending more time on school work.

So, am I missing something? Is there something more that I should be doing? Or are the kids who are living in the library just wasting their time?

Thanks.

I'm doing what you are doing, except replace briefing cases with reading hornbooks; I also have quite a bit of free time. So far everything makes sense and the reading isn't nearly as dense as people make it out to be. Maybe we are lucky and will have a knack for the process (who knows if that relates to being a good lawyer).

Having said that, I'm not listening to my classmates. People like to bitch about how hard they are working and how stressed they are to make themselves feel more disciplined and productive, when in reality they might be in your shoes (so don't underestimate them). Additionally, those who actually don't understand the material are working longer hours doing more ineffective things; doing preliminary research on the law school exam and workload might have helped us trim the fat. It really helps if you have the ability to do the required reading more quickly than those who just don't understand the material as readily. Since the pace is sure to pick up and assignments will get long, however, I refuse to let myself become disenchanted or relaxed enough to skip out on or halfheartedly do the activities I know reap rewards.

If you feel unproductive with all the things we are already doing, start reading ahead in one class to get in more exam practice time.

[spleenworship]

Different people react to stress differently. Studying all the time might be their coping method. Personally, I prefer beer, but different strokes and all that.

Also, different people have different reading speeds, comprehension abilities, and note taking styles. All of those are likely to change over the next year from everything I have heard. At this point if you are keeping up and feel like you are getting the work you need done, good for you. Forget the others.

That was my decision today: If I am keeping up and feel like I understand the material then I am not going to worry about the fact that I have free time. Besides, as legal writing gets more involved and I start outlining in a few weeks I figure some of that free time will go away. For all I know some of those people in the library are outlining already. Whatever, I figure... I need to try to do what is working for me, and not kill myself worrying about them. Law school, with its lack of feedback and (for most of us) entirely new style of learning and studying, is stressful enough. And I don't mean stressful in the sense that we are all going to go postal, but in the sense that it is a change that we need to adapt to. So I am going to forget about my classmates that are studying their asses off and complaining, and just work on making this a positive experience for myself.

[kalvano]

The first month, month and a half honestly aren't that hard, workload-wise. Figuring out everything is another matter.

It will pick up. Wait until your memo is due at the same time you have to read for other classes.

[ap1987]

My school starts this week and we have over 100 pages of reading assigned plus a small legal writing assignment.

[spleenworship]

The first month, month and a half honestly aren't that hard, workload-wise. Figuring out everything is another matter.

It will pick up. Wait until your memo is due at the same time you have to read for other classes.

Is it possible to start working on the memo in advance? I was thinking about putting a couple hours in on it on Labor Day? What do you think... doable, or am I so ignorant at this point that it would be pointless?

[hawkeye22]

1L really isn't hard, its just stressful. It shouldn't take too much time, but most people (like I did) overdo it, because they're scared.

[target]

The first month, month and a half honestly aren't that hard, workload-wise. Figuring out everything is another matter.

It will pick up. Wait until your memo is due at the same time you have to read for other classes.

Is it possible to start working on the memo in advance? I was thinking about putting a couple hours in on it on Labor Day? What do you think... doable, or am I so ignorant at this point that it would be pointless?

You should be the one who can answer this question. Did you already know what your first memo is about? I imagine you don't have to do your own research for this one yet, so do you have the reading material from your instructor? Start reading cases and pull out relevant facts, legal rules, and put them in a detailed outline are a good start.

[FeelTheHeat]

Is this a yearly thing on tls where a bunch of 1Ls post that it's not has hard as they thought it would be, they are obviously more prepared than their classmates, their technique is making it easy, etc.? good god

[kaiser]

Some people I know who spent all day in the library did extremely well, and some did poorly on exams. There isn't a correlation. Some people just work more efficiently than others.

[kalvano]

The first month, month and a half honestly aren't that hard, workload-wise. Figuring out everything is another matter.

It will pick up. Wait until your memo is due at the same time you have to read for other classes.

Is it possible to start working on the memo in advance? I was thinking about putting a couple hours in on it on Labor Day? What do you think... doable, or am I so ignorant at this point that it would be pointless?

Have they given you the memo topic?

[kalvano]

Is this a yearly thing on tls where a bunch of 1Ls post that it's not has hard as they thought it would be, they are obviously more prepared than their classmates, their technique is making it easy, etc.? good god

I think it's more that everyone hears how awful 1L is, and how much work there is, and then after a couple of weeks everyone is thinking "this isn't so bad".

[FeelTheHeat]

Is this a yearly thing on tls where a bunch of 1Ls post that it's not has hard as they thought it would be, they are obviously more prepared than their classmates, their technique is making it easy, etc.? good god

I think it's more that everyone hears how awful 1L is, and how much work there is, and then after a couple of weeks everyone is thinking "this isn't so bad".

That's reasonable, cause truth be told I've had the same feelings. I'm still reeling from that other thread where the kid goes on about how lost his classmates are and how superior he is

[target]

Is this a yearly thing on tls where a bunch of 1Ls post that it's not has hard as they thought it would be, they are obviously more prepared than their classmates, their technique is making it easy, etc.? good god

I think it's more that everyone hears how awful 1L is, and how much work there is, and then after a couple of weeks everyone is thinking "this isn't so bad".

That's reasonable, cause truth be told I've had the same feelings. I'm still reeling from that other thread where the kid goes on about how lost his classmates are and how superior he is

which thread is that?

[MC Southstar]

You are smarter than they are obv.

[kaiser]

Is this a yearly thing on tls where a bunch of 1Ls post that it's not has hard as they thought it would be, they are obviously more prepared than their classmates, their technique is making it easy, etc.? good god

I think it's more that everyone hears how awful 1L is, and how much work there is, and then after a couple of weeks everyone is thinking "this isn't so bad".

That's reasonable, cause truth be told I've had the same feelings. I'm still reeling from that other thread where the kid goes on about how lost his classmates are and how superior he is

And when he finishes below median, he will wonder where he went wrong. I will be happy to point him back to the thread he made, because that it is right there. The moment you underestimate your competition is the moment they have you beat.

[kalvano]

Is this a yearly thing on tls where a bunch of 1Ls post that it's not has hard as they thought it would be, they are obviously more prepared than their classmates, their technique is making it easy, etc.? good god

I think it's more that everyone hears how awful 1L is, and how much work there is, and then after a couple of weeks everyone is thinking "this isn't so bad".

That's reasonable, cause truth be told I've had the same feelings. I'm still reeling from that other thread where the kid goes on about how lost his classmates are and how superior he is

which thread is that?

[FeelTheHeat]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=164025

[spleenworship]

The first month, month and a half honestly aren't that hard, workload-wise. Figuring out everything is another matter.

It will pick up. Wait until your memo is due at the same time you have to read for other classes.

Is it possible to start working on the memo in advance? I was thinking about putting a couple hours in on it on Labor Day? What do you think... doable, or am I so ignorant at this point that it would be pointless?

Have they given you the memo topic?

Yeah. And the research for it.

Given what target said, I think I will start and outline of the memo, especially since I have been given a sample memo so I know the general format of what I am expected to do... then go from there depending on time constraints and how confident I am feeling.

[kalvano]

Is it just a memo, or THE memo? Make sure. We had to do a couple of practice memos, and then our real memo, the graded one, wasn't given to us for some time.

[target]

Is it just a memo, or THE memo? Make sure. We had to do a couple of practice memos, and then our real memo, the graded one, wasn't given to us for some time.

True. And if you legal writing course is P/F, I wouldn't do much work either.

However, unlike your doctrinal courses, in which you have cases and chapters to find your ideal approach, you only have three, maybe four max, memos in legal writing. You should start figuring out your best approach to legal writing.

[spleenworship]

Is it just a memo, or THE memo? Make sure. We had to do a couple of practice memos, and then our real memo, the graded one, wasn't given to us for some time.

True. And if you legal writing course is P/F, I wouldn't do much work either.

However, unlike your doctrinal courses, in which you have cases and chapters to find your ideal approach, you only have three, maybe four max, memos in legal writing. You should start figuring out your best approach to legal writing.

@K: I had to check. The first of 2 graded, yeah. So...



"GAME ON!"

@T: Not P/F. Graded. I am OK with that though, since this will be one of the few classes where I can get feedback on my effort to grade correlation before January, and correspondingly work harder and/or smarter if it appears that needs to happen.

[Legal Baller]

You are smarter than they are obv.

Yea, that's what I figured. Thanks, man.

[shock259]

I've had the exact same reaction. I'm already getting ahead in reading, outlining as I go, doing the E&E's and hornbooks, etc. And I still have a lot of free time. In fact, I usually run out of things to do.

Our impressions may change in a month, but for the time being, this is all very workable. Not the hell that everyone prepped me for.