Illinois Law 1L Taking Questions Forum

[ChattelCat]

From what I know the alternates are chosen by the firm in case someone turns down an interview. Our year career services would email you if there was a spot that opened up - I was seriously doubtful that this would actually happen but I did actually end up getting an interview as an alternate for one firm.

I'm not holding my breath for any alternate spots to turn into interviews, but I notice on Symplicity that there are still slots open at a lot of firms. Are these empty spots, or are they just people who haven't signed up yet? I couldn't believe that there would be anybody who wouldn't sign up right away, but throughout the weekend there was still a slow trickle of latecomers. Were people waiting until the last minute to sign up during your OCI?

Also how did the alternate interview go? Do you know anybody who got a callback or an offer after being an alternate?

I remember that happening too, but the spots did eventually fill up. I have no idea why anyone would wait either, but some people do. My alternate interview was fine - no callback, but I didn't feel like he had already decided I was a "no" before I walked in the door. I have no idea if anyone else had alternate interviews or whether callbacks resulted - my class got so screwed by the economy that people stopped talking about interviews & jobs around the time of OCI and it was essentially a forbidden topic of conversation for the next two years.

[flyingbamboo]

Changing the subject... we've received our sections and small sections! Can you guys provide some advice about the various professors who will be teaching 1L courses? Thanks ahead of time.

Here's the list of profs:

Civil Procedure
Verity Winship

Contracts
Ralph Brubaker
Robin Kar
Peter Maggs

Criminal Law
Kenworthey Bilz
Margareth Etienne
Heidi Hurd
Eric Johnson
Andrew Leipold
Michael Moore

Legal Research
Stephanie Davidson
Paul Healey
Travis McDade
Michael Robak
Clare Willis

Legal Writing and Analysis
Rummana Alam
Sean Anderson
Shannon Moritz
Janice Pea
Aylon Schulte
Amy Tomaszewski

Property
Daniel Hamilton
Laurie Reynolds

Torts
Jennifer Robbennolt
Lesley Wexler

[Kilpatrick]

Most of my professors from last year aren't teaching 1ls this fall. But one of my favorite profs last year was Etienne. She has a very dry but very awesome sense of humor. Try to take her to lunch if you can. But for her class - be prepared. She doesn't believe in letting people pass. If you haven't read, she will just let you sit there and squirm trying to bullshit answers. Always do the reading! And know the difference between common law and the MPC. She makes this point pretty clear at the beginning of the semester, yet some people somehow didn't know it when finals time came. Yes, the exam is closed book and yes, you have to memorize both. Learn to love it.

If there was an anonymous feature in this forum I'd tell you about the ones I didn't like

[flyingbamboo]

Bummer, I don't have her.

On a similar note, do we need to buy all the books on the book list? i.e. did you open all the books you bought from the law school bookstore via their bag o' books? If not, which books did you guys actually use?

[Kilpatrick]

For substantive classes - whatever book the prof says you need, get it

For legal research - never used the book once

For legal writing - hardly ever used the book except when writing the memo. I sold it after the first semester. Then it turned out we needed the same book for second semester. I never rebought it, did just fine.

You should probably buy all the books your first semester though just to be safe.

[SaintClarence27]

For substantive classes - whatever book the prof says you need, get it

For legal research - never used the book once

For legal writing - hardly ever used the book except when writing the memo. I sold it after the first semester. Then it turned out we needed the same book for second semester. I never rebought it, did just fine.

You should probably buy all the books your first semester though just to be safe.

But you WILL need the bluebook for Legal Research. The only books I didn't need are legal research and legal writing. I would advise getting them, but using them more as reference than for actual reading the assigned chapters and such.

[Kilpatrick]

Oh yeah I almost forgot about the Bluebook. I blocked it out of my brain.

[normn3116]

Changing the subject... we've received our sections and small sections! Can you guys provide some advice about the various professors who will be teaching 1L courses? Thanks ahead of time.

Here's the list of profs:

Civil Procedure
Verity Winship

Contracts
Ralph Brubaker
Robin Kar
Peter Maggs

Criminal Law
Kenworthey Bilz
Margareth Etienne
Heidi Hurd
Eric Johnson
Andrew Leipold
Michael Moore

Legal Research
Stephanie Davidson
Paul Healey
Travis McDade
Michael Robak
Clare Willis

Legal Writing and Analysis
Rummana Alam
Sean Anderson
Shannon Moritz
Janice Pea
Aylon Schulte
Amy Tomaszewski

Property
Daniel Hamilton
Laurie Reynolds

Torts
Jennifer Robbennolt
Lesley Wexler

The profs above in bold, I had for 1L two years ago.

Moore--to this day, he might be the most confusing professor I've had. He teaches crim from a legal philosopher's perspective. Pay attention during the first few days/weeks of class, because that will lay the foundation for the rest of the semester. That said, I ended up doing fairly well in his class.

McDade--not much to say here, since Legal Research is Legal Research. Make sure you have your bluebook, and simply follow along as he does things online (like the CFR, HeinOnline, etc.) and you'll be fine. He is a HUGE Illini fan, so if you come from Ann Arbor, be prepared.

Schulte--She's a big fan of the overhead projector. She holds office hours during the week, but will likely not be in the office during the times that are not specified as office hours. For someone coming from a tiny undergrad, I was not used to this at first. As a professor though, she is good. Very quiet in class, so a seat up front is best if you don't have great hearing.

Reynolds--I did poorly in her class, yet I love her. She is incredibly helpful and does a great job of synthesizing the material. The lone problem with that is that it makes the curve very steep. You really have to know your stuff in there, because everyone else will.

[normn3116]

From what I know the alternates are chosen by the firm in case someone turns down an interview. Our year career services would email you if there was a spot that opened up - I was seriously doubtful that this would actually happen but I did actually end up getting an interview as an alternate for one firm.

I'm not holding my breath for any alternate spots to turn into interviews, but I notice on Symplicity that there are still slots open at a lot of firms. Are these empty spots, or are they just people who haven't signed up yet? I couldn't believe that there would be anybody who wouldn't sign up right away, but throughout the weekend there was still a slow trickle of latecomers. Were people waiting until the last minute to sign up during your OCI?

Also how did the alternate interview go? Do you know anybody who got a callback or an offer after being an alternate?

Kilpatrick, I can speak to this as well. I was able to turn 2 alternate interviews into interviews during OCI. One I could tell had his mind made up before I even walked through the door. That was a very awkward 20 minutes. Another would not have even happened, but I sent an email to career services saying something like, "I've noticed there are X number of spots available for Y firm. I am very interested in interviewing there and would love the chance if possible." At worst, you're out the 5 minutes it took to type the email.

[NancyBotwin]

But for her class - be prepared. She doesn't believe in letting people pass. If you haven't read, she will just let you sit there and squirm trying to bullshit answers. Always do the reading!

For that matter, for Etienne, do reading that isn't even assigned.

[adammac17]

does anyone have suggestions on supplements to get that worked for them?

[Chupavida]

.

[Thirteen]

But for her class - be prepared. She doesn't believe in letting people pass. If you haven't read, she will just let you sit there and squirm trying to bullshit answers. Always do the reading!

For that matter, for Etienne, do reading that isn't even assigned.

+1

[blurbz]

But for her class - be prepared. She doesn't believe in letting people pass. If you haven't read, she will just let you sit there and squirm trying to bullshit answers. Always do the reading!

For that matter, for Etienne, do reading that isn't even assigned.

That was a really funny day.

[NancyBotwin]

But for her class - be prepared. She doesn't believe in letting people pass. If you haven't read, she will just let you sit there and squirm trying to bullshit answers. Always do the reading!

For that matter, for Etienne, do reading that isn't even assigned.

That was a really funny day.

For YOU maybe.

[Kilpatrick]

does anyone have suggestions on supplements to get that worked for them?

I never really used supplements for any of my classes. I bought a few used ones (Glannon Civ Pro, Chemerinsky) but never needed them. The reality is that if you pay attention in class, read the cases, and clarify any issues you might have after class or in office hours, they just aren't necessary. If you're still inclined to buy them, ask your professors for recommendations. A couple of my professors went out of their way to tell us not to buy specific supplements because they didn't like them.

I used supplements for all my classes, but their usefulness varied wildly by professor. None were relevant for my Conlaw class (not even Chemerinsky) but I wouldn't have survived Crim without Dressler's Understanding Criminal Law and his Black Letter Outline. As with most study advice - do what works best for you. I disagree that supplements are never necessary, but they are definitely professor specific, and if you have a professor who specifically says not to use a certain supplement you better listen.

[flyingbamboo]

haha, i already bought all the E&Es... hope that won't be completely wasted money... yikes.
thanks for the advice so far guys. doesn't seem like many of you have had this year's 1L professors though, bummer.

[SaintClarence27]

haha, i already bought all the E&Es... hope that won't be completely wasted money... yikes.
thanks for the advice so far guys. doesn't seem like many of you have had this year's 1L professors though, bummer.

I had Wexler, Hamilton, Maggs, Johnson, Tomaszewski, Robak, and Thomas (for civ pro). Who do you have?

[SaintClarence27]

does anyone have suggestions on supplements to get that worked for them?

I never really used supplements for any of my classes. I bought a few used ones (Glannon Civ Pro, Chemerinsky) but never needed them. The reality is that if you pay attention in class, read the cases, and clarify any issues you might have after class or in office hours, they just aren't necessary. If you're still inclined to buy them, ask your professors for recommendations. A couple of my professors went out of their way to tell us not to buy specific supplements because they didn't like them.

I used supplements for all my classes, but their usefulness varied wildly by professor. None were relevant for my Conlaw class (not even Chemerinsky) but I wouldn't have survived Crim without Dressler's Understanding Criminal Law and his Black Letter Outline. As with most study advice - do what works best for you. I disagree that supplements are never necessary, but they are definitely professor specific, and if you have a professor who specifically says not to use a certain supplement you better listen.

Chemerinsky was really helpful for conlaw if you had Solum, but he's gone now. I didn't really feel the need for the Dressler supplement, but Johnson was pretty good at explaining everything.

[adammac17]

Etienne for Crim, Wexler for Torts, Brubaker for Contracts, Moritz for Writing and idk for Research

[SaintClarence27]

I actually really liked Wexler - she's funny, and knows her stuff. The class was well organized, and she's pretty strict Socratic. She's bigger on policy than some torts, but you'll know what you need to know for her exam. I didn't use any supplements, but you're going to want to make your own outline for that class. Then take LOTS of practice exams, work on getting info out quickly and efficiently.

[klacoste]

Etienne for Crim, Wexler for Torts, Brubaker for Contracts, Moritz for Writing and idk for Research

sounds like you're in b3 with me. we have mcdade for research, I believe. I've heard relatively good things about all of our professors so far, except not much at all about moritz or mcdade but as was already mentioned, not sure if it really matters for research.

[adammac17]

is Legal writing/research pass/fail, and if so, how hard is it relative to curved classes?

and yes, B3 here, nice to meet you.

[Kilpatrick]

Writing and research are both pass/fail. You can get honors if youre in the top 40% and high honors for the top 10%. these are things you can put on your resume but they don't show up on your transcript. As to whether they are hard? No class in law school is hard. But good grades in your substantive classes will largely determine your future so those classes should definitely be your priority.

[oldtimer]

As to whether they are hard? No class in law school is hard. But good grades in your substantive classes will largely determine your future so those classes should definitely be your priority.

Love it.