USC 3L AMA Forum

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JPell

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by JPell » Fri Apr 24, 2015 12:46 pm

I guess it would make my life much easier if my criteria for picking between private law firm/PI/gov't is salary and lifestyle. Could I pm you my PS?

Sure.

Also, I decided to attend USC in the fall, and I was able to make that decision after getting all the information from you in this thread. Thank you.

Wonderful! You're welcome! Great choice (although I'm biased).

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LawsRUs

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by LawsRUs » Sat Apr 25, 2015 2:09 am

I just pm-ed you, JPell. Thank you !!

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LawsRUs

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by LawsRUs » Sat Apr 25, 2015 7:07 pm

JPell, I'm going to move it back here, if you don't mind it. :mrgreen: You can move it back if more comfortable.

Two more:
- Why are people not taking state & local judicial clerkships? Are these not desirable?
- Is FB something that you recommend having in my 1L year? Or can I get by without it?

Thank you!!

JPell

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by JPell » Sun Apr 26, 2015 1:40 pm

- Why are people not taking state & local judicial clerkships? Are these not desirable?

This is a complicated question. The short answer is yes—state/local clerkships are not as highly regarded as article III clerkships, with the exception of state clerkships in a state supreme court.

There is a perception among lawyers that federal judges are generally more qualified than state court judges. This is a matter of academic dispute. (There are journal articles evaluating the differences between state and federal judges.) Merits aside, the perception is common. So, from the perspective of a prospective clerk, it's generally preferable to have a federal clerkship on your resume instead of a state court clerkship. IIRC the ABA standard employment reporting feeds into this distinction because it divides clerkships into federal vs. not federal.

The much more practical concern is clerkship bonuses. While there are variations, the prevailing norm among biglaw firms is to pay a $50,000 signing bonus to new associates who join the firm after just having completed either an article III clerkship or a clerkship for a state supreme court. So this excludes state trial court clerkships, as well as non-article III federal clerkships (i.e., BK or magistrate judges).

The school will help you apply for state court clerkships if you're interested, but they will probably encourage you to consider article III clerkships instead (or at least in addition). Article III placements look good for the school and for the student. They are also very hard to get. For the most part, article III judges are more grade-selective than biglaw.

- Is FB something that you recommend having in my 1L year? Or can I get by without it?

I don't think it makes a big difference either way. You will get to know the classmates in your supersection very well because you will be spending every weekday with them. And as far as keeping up with school events is concerned, SBA is pretty good about sending out a weekly digest email that will summarize all the events/goings-on around the law school. So I don't think you need FB, and if you don't currently have an FB habit, it would probably be good to avoid developing one just as 1L starts.

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LawsRUs

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by LawsRUs » Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:12 pm

JPell, I feel really guilty for taking so much of your time, but I just wated to say that you have helped me more than anybody in clarifying some of the questions and concerns that I had in mind. Everything you say I appreciate.

(I am taking your advice and in the process of applying for housing close to the campus. :))

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pineappleman

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by pineappleman » Fri May 01, 2015 3:21 pm

hi jpell, thanks for doing this.
I'm going to be starting USC Law this fall, and I'm gathering that classes are assigned to us by the school in certain sections of 60-70 students?
What were some of the most challenging courses?
Easiest?
Do we get to pick any classes during 1L? or is it all after?

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Worker and Parasite

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by Worker and Parasite » Sat May 02, 2015 7:08 pm

I think your year gets to choose electives for 1L spring. Otherwise you get Torts/CivPro/Contracts/LLV Fall and Con Law/CrimLaw/LegalProfession/Property Spring. Class difficulty is professor specific.

JPell

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by JPell » Sat May 02, 2015 8:51 pm

I'm gathering that classes are assigned to us by the school in certain sections of 60-70 students?
What were some of the most challenging courses?
Easiest?
Do we get to pick any classes during 1L? or is it all after?


Worker and Parasite is correct.

You will choose one elective class in the spring; everything else during 1L is fixed.

While class difficulty is professor-specific, you will probably find all of your 1L classes to be fairly labor intensive, except maybe LLV.

supersplittysplitter

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by supersplittysplitter » Mon May 04, 2015 6:44 pm

Is the lottery for Terrace random or is it based on when you submit your application? So for example if send the housing application now am I screwed?

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JPell

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by JPell » Mon May 04, 2015 10:06 pm

Is the lottery for Terrace random or is it based on when you submit your application?

I don't know. I did not apply for Terrace.

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LawsRUs

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by LawsRUs » Tue May 05, 2015 12:43 am

JPell or WP, can I ask you if you used any commercial outlines? Many thanks in advance.

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goden

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by goden » Tue May 05, 2015 4:50 am

supersplittysplitter wrote:Is the lottery for Terrace random or is it based on when you submit your application? So for example if send the housing application now am I screwed?
Not to hijack but it is a hybrid of first come first served and prioritizing people who are out of state or not from Southern California. I know people who sent it in pretty late and still got in, so I would definitely still try. In fact I don't know of anyone who tried to get Terrace and didn't get it.

JPell

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by JPell » Tue May 05, 2015 12:18 pm

JPell or WP, can I ask you if you used any commercial outlines? Many thanks in advance.

Sure.

I actually haven't used commercial outlines much at all. I generally found the Examples & Explanations series to be more helpful for me. E&E describes the law in prose rather than in outline format. I preferred that to outline format. Furthermore, E&E (as the title suggests) has example problems at the end of each substantive unit, followed by explanations. It's a good way to test yourself, if you have the time to work through the explanations.

Here's my recollection of the supplements I used as a 1L.

Torts
I mostly used class materials. I looked at the E&E some.

Contracts
Same. For my class the E&E wasn't so helpful compared to what/how the professor was teaching.

Civ Pro
I heavily used the Glannon E&E for civ pro, which is probably the most helpful supplement I've used in law school.

Crim Law
I mostly used class materials.

Con Law
I used the Chemerinsky treatise. I'm pretty sure any law school student you ask will recommend his treatise. I found it to be pretty helpful. (Fun fact: Chemerinsky started his teaching career at USC Law.)

Property
I used the E&E and found it to be helpful.
I also used the Barbri outlines for property. (Barbri gives out free 1L outlines in the fall if you're willing to give them your personal information.) I found the outlines to be helpful because my professor went over some material pretty quickly. The outlines were helpful for clarifying some of the more technical property rules (of which there are many).

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LawsRUs

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by LawsRUs » Tue May 05, 2015 3:21 pm

Thank you so much for sharing which supplements you used. It seems like a lot of TLSers have been recommending E&Es, so I'll be sure to check them out. And thank you for the ~fun fact~ haha, I didn't know that.

- I'm also interested in how you read a case. (I hope you don't mind me asking--I'm trying to understand how you get such great marks.) Do you do full-blown IRACs? Book brief? Highlighter method? Do you spend a lot of time scrutinizing each case, or skim? What do you read for when you are reading a case?
- Can I also ask how early did you do the practice exams, assuming you did do them? How many do you usually do them? Are past exams archived in the library?
- One last question...Should I come back with my questions after your finals are over?

With gratitude

JPell

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Re: USC 3L AMA

Post by JPell » Tue May 05, 2015 9:09 pm

Thank you so much for sharing which supplements you used. It seems like a lot of TLSers have been recommending E&Es, so I'll be sure to check them out. And thank you for the ~fun fact~ haha, I didn't know that.

You're welcome!

- One last question...Should I come back with my questions after your finals are over?


Yes. And I'll get back to you later regarding the other questions as well.

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