Just finished 1st week of law school!

Didn't realize how overwhelmed one could be!

Someone please comiserate with me (I'm feeling quite sorry for myself right now) or just help me find a way to pull my head out of my ass and just get over it!!

Don't worry about it, 1L year is really not so tough with some perspective. You'll figure out what you need to know soon enough, but until then I guess there's no good way to avoid actually reading everything...

Just trying to find my routine now. Y'know, "How much studying is enough?" or "Is there a such thing as too much?" I'm sure once I get into my niche, it will be much more managable.

Commercial Outlines...Don't forget to use them too.

I'm getting mixed messages from professors and 2nd and 3rd year students alike. Commercial outlines cannot possibly cover excatly what the prof is looking for on the exms, but on the other hand they CAN be used for particular cases and ideas that WERE discussed in class. I just don't know. Gonna need to feel that one out a bit more.
Thanks for the reply!

BTW-
Anyone recommend ROM-LAW?

I went to a top 10 school and the outlines had basically what the professors were looking for. What they do is help you spot all of the issues in a certain case. Analyzing them is up to you though. Part of their value is helping you cut through a lot of blubber in a case and get to the important stuff. They also help you understand the progression of case law.

Should you rely exclusivley on them..Probably not, but they are certainly valuable.

Figured that they would allow one to find the nuggets for each case or principle.

They really help you understand the basics, and also go into greater depth on the issues that you know the Prof cares about.

Damn handy tools. It got to the point where I seldom went to class, I just bought the commercial outline and then got the low-down from friends on any key items the Prof covered that weren't in the commercial outline.

Congrats! My advice is kick ass in your first year, and get a good summer job (I don't know if they still offer summer associate positions at the big firms to first years), and then you'll have a strong basis for your second year interviews.

If you get the job you want in your second year, then you're hopefully set. Make sure you kick ass there, and hopefully you'll secure an offer at the end of the summer.

DTH

and not feeling sorry for you one bit.

Carry on, tough guy, we need more of you out there on our side.
;))))))))))))))))))))))))))

And I certainly will be on "our side" (Now if I can only figure out how to pay back $100K+ in student loans serving the public interest. Well, I've got 3 yrs to worry about that)

things you might check into is looking for a copy of a Bar Review book. After I finished law school and was studying for the bar exam, I took some bar review courses. The bar review courses provided you outlines of the lectures. Those outlines were very good in explaining things. I remember thinking how I wished I had a copy of those bar review books in the first year.

I suggest you go to the law library and see if they have any copies of the bar review books, or talk to someone who has just passed the bar exam.

Best advice I got for law school: TREAT IT LIKE A JOB. In other words, if you take the opportunity to keep up and study during the day, then you might be able to keep your nights relatively free and that will keep you fresh.

all day and all night.

I'm in the middle of my 16th year of practice, and if I didn't love it, I'd be out of here. I did undergrad at UCLA, and at least you have the pretty sights to keep you going.

There is really no substitute for doing the actual reading, but a short commercial outline can give you a big picture, and a canned case brief book can act as a guide on a case. But the reason you read the cases in the text books as they are edited is to give you the reasoning process of judges. Oh, and good luck on Pennoyer v. Neff, you poor, dumb bastard!

I still buy the course summaries on tapes for classes I didn't take, but that's cuz I'm insane.

How'dya know!! (Sobbing profusely into my pillow as I read it, though...) WTF??

THANKS EVERYBODY!!!

It IS overwhelming for good cause..no shortage of law school students. I DO feel for you because unlike ANY college work...the first week of law school is worse than studying for most finals.

You must learn to say to yourself..I can deal with anything for three days, I can deal with anything for one month, I can deal with anything for one year, I can deal with anything for three years...just remove all alternatives for failure from your consciousness..and DEAL WITH ANYTHING.

When you get a little time off..MAKE IT COUNT...do what you LOVE or get some rest and be sure you know which you need most.

If it's any consolation...folks like JackSwift and I didn't have the internet or Nexus to do our hard work...we had to fumble through BOOKS all the time..and our written work was done on shitty word processors...if at all!

Be glad for MS word!

Hang in there and learn to love coffee!

looking to maintain the diet.

Thanks, NSMA. Your posts are always insightful and great to read, and to have you comment on my thread is truly appreciated.

The first year of law school is designed to be overwhelming. Everyone freaks out sooner or later~ EVERYONE. And, there will be at least one time that you make a complete fool out of yourself. Know that it will happen and let it roll off your back. I can remember every bad answer I gave, but I can't recall anything stupid anyone else said, so don't worry about making mistakes.

Advice? If you're like I was, you are writing out briefs for your cases. Learn to book-brief now. By Oct. no one will be writing out case briefs, so start the trend. You might want to buy commercial briefs. Some cases are like reading a foreign language (i.e. Contracts cases from the Queen's Bench) and a canned brief will at least help you keep the parties straight, etc. Also, don't date anyone in your section. Just trust me on this one...

Good luck. Believe it or not, when I look back at law school it was the best time of my life.

:toast:

than your previous 4 years COMBINED:bounce: :argh: Have Fun. It's worth the pain!

Ya' Gotta love- TORTS!!:loveya:

Didn't realize the eyes could move across so many pages in a week!!

If you're going to use commercial outlines, get your state's bar review materials. They are far superior to any of the commercial outlines and usually some people are selling their used copies about now. Once bar results are sent out, there will be even more of these available.

If you're in California, the name you need to remember is Witkin. For all intents and purposes, Bernie Witkins treatises are the law in California. They are exceptionally well reasoned books, ful of authorities, relatively easy to understand and used by just about every California attorney.

In other states, such as Oregon, CLE materials often take the place of things like Witkin and are well worth the read, but I would shy away from them (the CEB publications) in California.

It's easy to get overwhelmed by all of the material. Even a speed reader with a photographic memory couldn't digest much less synthesize all of the extraneous stuff they throw at you in the casebooks. Weed through those things. Hit the library and pull the important cases from the stacks- there you will find keynotes which tell you about all you really need to know. you can pull this stuff up online too, but if you're like me actually going to the library and cracking the books will boost your retention. Sort of a Montessori thing.

Maybe my best suggestion would be to take a deep breath and realize that you're going to fall behind at times. Everyone does. Try not to freak out about it and just keep plugging away. Do whatever it was that got you there and just keep doing it. There'll be plently of time to freak out once exams roll around. ;-)

Hope that helps a little... Good luck!

I am trying very hard to keep up/ahead (done quite a good job of it this first week). Thanks for the advice.

I always feel I am among friends when I post at DU!!! THANKS!