Law school is such a pain in the ass!(help!) Forum

[sandwich8]

Hello,
sorry for my English I am not a native speaker. I study in the U.S. ,and I will go crazy. I am not a JD student, but it seems like we live the same tragedy. I have some Qs about studying law:

1)I have a hard time reading cases and am not really sure if they are important? they consume my time. I spend the whole day reading cases!
are canned briefs enough? or is there any solution?
2)how can I make an outline I know that it is a combination of cases briefs, class notes? is that right or is there anything else I have to add to my outline?
3)Is there any supplies that might be helpful? any books?
4) I am taking intro to Con this semester is there any advice that might help me?
5) grading on a curve is scaring the hell out of me! is it hard to get high grades under this system? what can I do to achieve high scores am so scared!

[TheSpanishMain]

Are you an undergrad? Why are you reading a ton of cases if you're not a JD student?

[sandwich8]

Are you an undergrad? Why are you reading a ton of cases if you're not a JD student?

No, I am a law student (L.L.M)

[TheSpanishMain]

I don't really know what to tell you, other than I can't imagine reading legal texts with shaky English. If you're just spinning your wheels with the case book, read canned briefs and supplements, I suppose. What school are you at? What are your goals?

[sandwich8]

I don't really know what to tell you, other than I can't imagine reading legal texts with shaky English. If you're just spinning your wheels with the case book, read canned briefs and supplements, I suppose. What school are you at? What are your goals?

It's a T14 school, They have a 2 year program where you study Law and English. First year is mostly about English with some legal courses, so I am hoping that my problem with English won't be an obstacle next year. For now I have one legal course (Con), and the exam will be multiple choices, so I think it is not unreasonable to try to achieve a high score since I do not have to write anything.

[rcharter1978]

I don't really know what to tell you, other than I can't imagine reading legal texts with shaky English. If you're just spinning your wheels with the case book, read canned briefs and supplements, I suppose. What school are you at? What are your goals?

It's a T14 school, They have a 2 year program where you study Law and English. First year is mostly about English with some legal courses, so I am hoping that my problem with English won't be an obstacle next year. For now I have one legal course (Con), and the exam will be multiple choices, so I think it is not unreasonable to try to achieve a high score since I do not have to write anything.

Well, it sounds like everyone in your program is in the same situation as you are, because English is their second language as well. That should help make your life a little easier with the curve. I would say canned briefs might be the best thing for you, only because some of the cases use very flowery and long winded prose (especially some of the older ones). Briefs are just that...brief and to the point. So the English may be a little easier to read/comprehend. E&E's (which I loved) are also written to be straight to the point, so I would pick those up as well. See if you can find any other multiple choice questions out there, or if your professor is willing to share a few of his old ones (most likely not). Or ask your professor if there is a supplement you can get for the MC questions. I've had professors unwilling to share any of their previous MC questions, but they will be very clear that they follow the Barbri style of MC question writing. This means if you get your hands on Barbri MC books, you'll have a pretty good idea of what the questions will look like.

Good luck!

[sandwich8]

I don't really know what to tell you, other than I can't imagine reading legal texts with shaky English. If you're just spinning your wheels with the case book, read canned briefs and supplements, I suppose. What school are you at? What are your goals?

It's a T14 school, They have a 2 year program where you study Law and English. First year is mostly about English with some legal courses, so I am hoping that my problem with English won't be an obstacle next year. For now I have one legal course (Con), and the exam will be multiple choices, so I think it is not unreasonable to try to achieve a high score since I do not have to write anything.

Well, it sounds like everyone in your program is in the same situation as you are, because English is their second language as well. That should help make your life a little easier with the curve. I would say canned briefs might be the best thing for you, only because some of the cases use very flowery and long winded prose (especially some of the older ones). Briefs are just that...brief and to the point. So the English may be a little easier to read/comprehend. E&E's (which I loved) are also written to be straight to the point, so I would pick those up as well. See if you can find any other multiple choice questions out there, or if your professor is willing to share a few of his old ones (most likely not). Or ask your professor if there is a supplement you can get for the MC questions. I've had professors unwilling to share any of their previous MC questions, but they will be very clear that they follow the Barbri style of MC question writing. This means if you get your hands on Barbri MC books, you'll have a pretty good idea of what the questions will look like.

Good luck!

Thanks for your helpful post.
yes, actually the program (LLM) is mainly for foreign lawyers, but they are still hard competitors.
I could not find any previous exams for my prof, but he said it will be similar to the Qs on the bar exam
Also, is there any favorable source for briefs? what do you think about Quimbee?

[rcharter1978]

I don't really know what to tell you, other than I can't imagine reading legal texts with shaky English. If you're just spinning your wheels with the case book, read canned briefs and supplements, I suppose. What school are you at? What are your goals?

It's a T14 school, They have a 2 year program where you study Law and English. First year is mostly about English with some legal courses, so I am hoping that my problem with English won't be an obstacle next year. For now I have one legal course (Con), and the exam will be multiple choices, so I think it is not unreasonable to try to achieve a high score since I do not have to write anything.

Well, it sounds like everyone in your program is in the same situation as you are, because English is their second language as well. That should help make your life a little easier with the curve. I would say canned briefs might be the best thing for you, only because some of the cases use very flowery and long winded prose (especially some of the older ones). Briefs are just that...brief and to the point. So the English may be a little easier to read/comprehend. E&E's (which I loved) are also written to be straight to the point, so I would pick those up as well. See if you can find any other multiple choice questions out there, or if your professor is willing to share a few of his old ones (most likely not). Or ask your professor if there is a supplement you can get for the MC questions. I've had professors unwilling to share any of their previous MC questions, but they will be very clear that they follow the Barbri style of MC question writing. This means if you get your hands on Barbri MC books, you'll have a pretty good idea of what the questions will look like.

Good luck!

Thanks for your helpful post.
yes, actually the program (LLM) is mainly for foreign lawyers, but they are still hard competitors.
I could not find any previous exams for my prof, but he said it will be similar to the Qs on the bar exam
Also, is there any favorable source for briefs? what do you think about Quimbee?

Well, then sign up for AdaptiBar and do the con law questions. AdaptiBar has questions from past bar exams. Or, do Barbri questions. Or get the MBE book from Emmanuals. AdaptiBar is sort of expensive, but they have tons and tons of questions. You're a hard competitor too, but everyone has the same handicap, which is the language barrier. And with this con law class you won't have to write, just to understand how the questions flow and what they are asking. So, you challenge will be to understand the English in these questions, so try to do a lot of them as you cover each subject. A lot of professors won't give out past MC questions, so I'm not surprised, but if your professor says they are like the bar exam, you should ask him if Barbri is a good source, or if you should do actual bar exam questions to study. I've never really used a brief book, but I know a lot of people do, I just don't know the particular one they use.