How I Learned to Succeed at a Top Law School
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
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Getting into law school is only half the battle. This is my story of how I learned to succeed in law school in the face of stiff competition, crazy professors, and endless work.
Law school is incredibly intimidating. When you arrive you are surrounded by the highest concentration of the smartest people you’ll ever meet. It’s very different from college where many people are just skating by. In law school, everyone is giving 100% and going 100 miles per hour.
Law school is graded on a curve. Which means that professors can only give out a few A’s per class, no matter how well everyone does on the exams. Generally only the top 5% get A’s and another 5-10% get A minuses. You’re not competing against the professor’s exam, you are competing against your fellow classmates.
I realized pretty quickly that I couldn’t out work my classmates. I also couldn’t “out think” them in the sense of just being smarter. I was going to have to find an edge.
So I started to study law school itself. I learned all the tricks. I learned to focus on what matters and remove all the extraneous stuff. So much of law school is wasted on focusing on crap that doesn’t matter. I learned to work smarter rather than harder.
In the end, my strategic thinking paid off. Watch the video until the end to find out how.
If you’re interested in learning the system that I created (one that is guaranteed to get you better grades in law school) you can check out the link below. In my spare time, I teach current law students how to kick ass in law school. I’m not special. I just systematized a better way. And you can get that system. Learn from my mistakes and triumphs.
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I found the best shot at getting an A was to study the professor as much as you study the material. Knowing how the professor looks at exam answers helps you to ensure your answers contain what they are looking for.
qdllc: what the hell kind of educational philosophy is this ? Play your man, not the ball ? Important thing in law school (or any school) is to understand the stuff, not just learn it like a Taliban without questioning it. I think study groups is the best way to learn stuff like law. You always need another (preferably complementary) perspective.
Ben Flynn - I’d suggest you reread what I wrote. You can know the material, but if you don’t know how the professor grades the exam, you may miss out on many of the points you could score in an essay question. I had a property law professor who painted insanely complex legal scenarios then asked what the law would ultimately rule. She never told the class what she was looking for in the answer. It was an upperclassman who explained that she wanted a legal analysis of each step independently. So, A to B results in ? Then, B to C results in ? All the way to the end of the Gordian knot she tied for the exam question. Fail to follow this process and you could easily miss half the points she would have awarded for a “complete” answer and analysis.
This is all great advice but it's difficult to do when you're not attending classes in person. Imagine being a first year working through material on your own with very little guidance. I pray I make it through this year with good grades, 2020 has been a wild year
True
I'm not going to law school, I don't even live in the US, but I still watch your videos because they're very interesting and you're a very good speaker. Keep it up!
same here
He’s also nice on the eyes so that helps
postmodern professor
same!
@@vtpub5652 And very much a relativist: everything's relative to those final grades !
First year they work you to death. Second year they scare you to death. Third year they bore you to death. I’m a 71 year old autistic PhD who’s applying to law school for 2024. Wish me luck!!
Wish i had found this video sooner. My first semester grades in law school are so bad, I have been feeling so overwhelmed and essentially like a fish out of water. I am a mom of three juggling life and my dream school course! It's never too late to improve though. Thank you so much for this🙂
Bro, you have no ideal how much you’re getting me prepared to get into law school. Thank you!
Glad to hear it!
Same here
Update after 4 years
"studying French, German and Spanish at the same time in different classes". Welcome to high school in Europe
wow
@@kc0838 It's rather normal in Europe to learn at least two foreign languages. Obviously, you attend your native language classes and in addition to it, you have to choose one foreign language at the beginning of your primary school and the second foreign language when you start middle school - that is a standard in my country. If you choose a profile in high school that focuses on languages you will most likely learn an additional foreign language. It of course varies, every country has different rules bout most of the high school students learn two foreign languages as a minimum.
@@ewatokarz577 Thanks for the reply! I am a native Filipino. My highschool only taught Filipino and English. But some of my classmates who transferred to public schools had Spanish classes. It's absolutely amazing to know.
@@kc0838 I may unintentionally mislead you. Just because in Europe we learn two or three foreign languages doesn't mean we are fluent or even advanced in them. At least in my country most of the people can communicate in English without major problems and a huge amount of them is quite fluent in it. When it comes to the second or third foreign language it depends - people who focus on languages in school speak German/Spanish/French/Russian really good, but an average person like me (I've just graduated from high school taking advanced Bio, Chem, Maths, and kind of English) can just communicate in the second foreign language.
@@ewatokarz577 That's cool for me. No need to worry about it :) My country has different dialects in every region and I did not even get to learn some of them.
The fact that "gunners" place themselves at risk of the skewering you'll never forget....every day...multiple times per day....willingly....is why they're important and useful in the field regardless of whatever grades they graduated with (as long as they did graduate...and pass the bar).
Yep, gunners are admirable because they put up their best effort and pride in the face of humiliation all the time and don't shirk away from failure
@@iannordin5250 Like first out of the trenches?
I really like your story. For me I know I'm not naturally brilliant like my brother who's actually a Rhode scholar and everything really came quickly to him. But what I am is persistent. I want to be a lawyer because of all the human rights violations I experienced in Jamaica. I like to think to myself "I may not have all the brains but I have the heart." I applied to law school for this year but didn't get in so I'm back to studying for the LSAT again and hoping for next year.
I finally found someone who has the same mind as me. I'm in second year in law school, and I know absolutely nothing from the class. I'm not smart and my effort is also limited. I don't have any basics for law but I like law and wanna be a lawyer. I wanna find justice and help people. Just like you, " I only have the heart not the brain". Let's not give up and work harder for what we love.
What do you mean by naturally brilliant?
Update?
what do you get ?
I knew you were more accomplished than some of the other law school youtube channels but wow congratulations on doing so well. I'm going to be starting my 1L year and I love watching all your videos.
Thanks! But I'm not special. Anybody can do it with the right mindset.
How is it going? I’m a (struggling) 1L right now and could use any optimism😂
Don’t get discouraged. I didn’t do all that well my first year. (I did well, but not great. It took me a while to catch on.) But I ended up graduating in the top 15% from a top 10 law school. And won the AmJur Award in one of my classes (highest grade on the final exam). Study hard, study smart, and try to have fun. (Join a study group. It’s really valuable for the help, friendship, etc.) Practice for exams by studying your professors’ old exams, if they are available. And look up your professors’ published law review articles! Most likely, those concepts will show up on the final. After the first year, you will be amazed at how more confident you feel and how much easier it gets.
I graduated and was pretty much mediocre at best. I had no idea what I was getting into. I graduated and passed the bar in Virginia, but this was all a struggle for me.
@@coolbreeze2.0-mortemadfasc13 how much in debt?
Who watches this for no reason?
Yeah, I totally don't care about lawyers. In fact I think it should be automated.
i'm an engineering student with no interest in being a lawyer, but damn these videos are interesting.
I watch this to procastinate my actual work as copywriter xD
art student watching for no reason at all
I'm watching this as a dropout and I'm wallowing in my regret.
Id love to see you talk about Sovereign Citizen "pseudo-law" tactics.
I've decided to try and get into law school. I graduated college a while back so I'm a little scared of getting back into it, but I'm thankful for videos like these they're such a huge help.
My dad was a lawyer. His experiences basically made me not want to be a lawyer. But a lot of what you discuss is exactly what he went through going through law school, and as a lawyer.
Definitely resonate with the feeling you describe in getting straight As first semester. I got an A+ in three classes and an A in the fourth during my first semester and when I got my grades I just started crying. The relief after weeks of waiting, the affirmation that I really do belong in law school, knowing that my family will be proud, etc. was just overwhelming. I really thought I bombed all of my exams despite all the effort I put in so to see that I was #1 in the class was just one of the best feelings of all time. I'm a week away from 1L spring exams and hoping I can recreate the success from the first semester. Great video, this is all spot on and I'm sure it has helped a ton of people.
Ahhh, I remember when I wanted to be a lawyer. But then I took the LSAT, saw my score, and suddenly decided that grad school was a much better option.
It must have felt exhilarating to open your first law school report card and see all As. I will be a 1L in just a couple weeks and I hope to experience that as well!
How is law school?
@@christianlourenco5652 Well I will be a 3L in the fall so only one year left. Law school has been a great builder and breaker of self-confidence. I've discovered new skills I never knew I had but also became humbled by the talents and experiences of others.
@@tiredhoneybadger1916 would you say he's right in this video?
Can you do a video on the different fields of law?
Thats really great man. You put in the work. Made it happen. Thats awesome. And the part with your parents really being proud of you... just great
I’m starting law school this fall. Thank you for all of the valuable content.
I'm the kinda gunner that speaks to test the validity of my thoughts and my understanding of the topic against the expertise of the lecturer/Professor. I don't get embarrassed if I get things wrong because the entire point of my speaking out is to learn rather than to show off.
I hope other gunners adopt this attitude.
Good point
This is giving me the motivation to become a lawyer. The story literally made me cry.
I'm a first year grad student and though I'm not studying Law, I find your videos, especially this one, VERY helpful! Thank you LegalEagle :)
Congratulations to your younger self. 😀
Your stories reminded me of my self last school year.
I took a different major, although, the joy is pretty much similar.
I am studying in UK. I’m at the LPC stage. I honestly felt the same in my first month which is something I have not ever felt before. I really appreciate this video 👍🏽 Hopefully it helps
My in-class professors are amazing and I am learning so much simply because of their modesty and willingness to be patient and clarify a talking point if you don't understand it. It keeps the class less tense and they are constantly stressing the point of asking questions if you need clarification. Then again I am in a lower-end community college/technical school, in my pre-requisite classes before my actual degree program, but I am definitely learning a lot. One of my best moments this year has been getting 100%'s on my first lab and lecture exam in Human Anatomy. Definitely makes you feel good when you accomplish something^^
this video is underrated. It's so inspiring and heartwarming.
9:45 We grew up in rural poverty and could not afford college then. I watch this channel to learn and because LE is humble and grounded. The content is always relevant and explaining the actual laws over someone’s opinions is better towards understanding. I wish I had had the same chances sometimes.
Hello Deven. Excellent to hear a story not of competence, but of Excellence.
Great advice sir, I am studying part time and working full time am getting As in every exams, thank you sir, you have been a great help. God bless you
It doesn't matter what the topic of these videos is, I'm going to watch them. My LSAT test date is quickly approaching and this channel helps me keep things in perspective. Everything from making decisions regarding law school choices, managing debt, extracurriculars in school, and post-graduate goals are addressed on this channel.
Purchasing the Legal Eagle program for law school is a no-brainer and I'll be purchasing it before attending law school next year. I really appreciate the work you guys are doing and I'm thankful that you're helping us navigate through school so we aren't wasting time on unnecessary task. Thank You!
- T. Young
Nice, thanks for watching.
Hey, this is a bit late but if you've already done your LSAT, I hope you got a great score, and if you haven't done it yet, best of luck to you!
Today I'm a musician but before, I graduated in Civil engineer and worked in banks for many years and hated review legal documents. For some reasing I really enjoy this channel. I hate legal jargon and most of the time do not trust lawyers but the amount of good info here is awesome. Love this channel!!!
Ugh, I wish these videos had existed before I went to law school, very good advice!
Man this sounds so useful! first week of law school here and you sound exactly how I am so I’m definitely going to try this method... especially being that it’s 99% remote 😭
I'm going to be starting my 1L year and I love watching all your videos.
Are you a 3L now?
Great video legal eagle!!
Im in my first semester of law school and all those tips are really fire me up to score well in my final. Thanks!
You're a really good explainer (as you should be😂) I don't even have much interest in being a lawyer but your videos are super inspiring to do what I'm pursuing
Intersting! I intend to go to grad school, u give good advice!
Im not even planning on becoming a lawyer, but my love for The Good Wife makes me love watching all your videos.
You are such a good storyteller
thanks so much for this video!
I'm a law school student who live in korea, and I love you channel ! :) I had similar experiences when i just got into a law school. I thought people in law school no need to have sleep... lol and hate gunner so much
It's unfortunate that your future depends so much on your first semester of law school.
It HAUNTS you FOREVER if you don't do well.
Really appreciate all this golden information you’re sharing with us. Anyway you can mention obstacles for those who want to go to law school but have a criminal record? On my last year of my undergrad and hoping to pursue law but want to be prepared of the challenges I’ll face having a record. Thank you 💕
Extremely helpful.
1st day of law school and this is so relatable already
You’re very inspiring !
I enjoy your channel, good stuff. It reminds me of my own law school experiences. You’re spot on about issue spotting exams; somehow I figured that out as well during my 1L year and ended up doing well enough such that it sustains me to this day. Listen to this guy he knows what he’s talking about, I can vouch.
Objection: If your exam is being graded on a curve, you’re being cheated. Exams should be point based. If you address the points in your answer, you should get the points and whatever grade it adds up to. I knew a guy who got his exam grade bumped up to an A by pulling the A example put on review and showing the professor how his answers hit all the same points.
Canadian law schools are mandated to curve the entire school.
I don't know if you're just talking about law exams or exams in general, but I have taken organic chemistry courses where the exam averages were in the high 20%s and let's just say a curve is not only necessary but a part of the standard procedure there.
@@Am-Not-Jarvis Curving isn't terribly rare (not everywhere of course) but school wide curves are. So not just the exam is curved, but all grades handed out for the term are curved against eachother.
What is a curve?
Your grade gets based on your relative percentile within the class rather than your results on the exam. So in a 10 person class everyone might get over 90% only the top 2 will get an A, the bottom 2 fail, and everyone else is distributed based on the desired grade curve everywhere else. This means that every class will produce X As, Y Bs, and Z Fs.
I have 3 exams left to graduate😁 hoping for the best🤞🤞
Best of luck to you!
@@jonathan99097 thank u!
Cool, good video - thanks!
Do a reaction to the miniseries The Night Of, a lot of lawyering there.
That's the one on HBO right?
Yessz it is :)
I got all As in High School, College, and Grad School...all this with English being my third language, yet I got TERRIBLE grades my first semester in law school. I really don't like law school at all but it's too late to back out. On that note, could you make a video about careers for people who have JDs but don't want to practice law? I love your channel, and it makes law sound less awful :)
It's been 4 months since i started law school and I'm still slacking off. My peers are really into it (studies) and i don't know why i don't take it seriously bec. I know i'm not giving my best yet. I still have issues to fix bec.i always watch youtube, play online games etc. Some already given up law school. I'm still hanging on. Something tells me that no matter what i will continue this. I do admire you and grateful to you for sharing your knowledge. Your videos remind me to "go back to your studies NOW!!" 😂😅😄
how are you doing now ?
@@kentaviouskcpk957 Im still in law school. Made some changes and kept on learning. Slowly progressing but im not yet the person i wanted to be because Im still adjusting. I failed major subjects, then re-took them and passed. Now im left behind, my peers are now ahead of me bec.of my failure. But i just keep going.
I'm taking the Bar in May 2019 - and I haven't been to Law School. Thanks to the Apprenticeship laws, I've done my seven years of gathering evidence, building cases, writing decision drafts, briefs, subpoenas etc.
I think that a good reason for becoming a good lawyer is finding yourself and your capabilities over everybody. You have to look at them with superiority and I think that's what this guy have been doing.
"The best teacher failure is." - some green old dwarf
I’m a psychology undergrad student from Toronto & am minoring in law. I’m hoping to get accepted in Osgoode Hall Law School or UofT Law. This video really inspired me to study hard, ace my exams & get As. It made me truly see that nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it. Now I feel so much more ready to start second semester & really prove myself wrong by being the best that I can be. Thank you for this really inspirational video! 💕🙌🏽
I dont know if you'll see this. Did you get in? Im currently trying to figure out what i need and what to do to get in U of T.
Any up day
Hello LegalEagle, I'd like to request you react to the TV SHOW 'Suits'. Thank you!
I'm a college student in my first semester of Junior year and I'm currently working on a criminal justice degree among other things to try and get into the FBI. I've been teetering between Law and Federal Law Enforcement and your videos inspire me to work hard and do better. The FBI also likes people with law experience so I guess I'll go on with my question. I'm planning on interning for a law office this summer and then interning the following summer for the FBI, do you think this would be enough along with a CJ degree to get a good inning with the FBI or should I try and continue my degree in Law school and get myself better situated with more options?
Inspiring
Great channel man, did you ever get straight A's in law school?
The sinister “wouldn’t you like to know” was what compelled me to stay
Watching this from South Africa
Well explained experience with A A A !
Another video I would like to see is Law School for part-time students
Thanks for the idea.
Your vidoe itl's will help me on law school is as well
Mechanicl engineering student here. Wow there is such a difference in our degrees. In engineering, at least where I study it, asking a question or asking the proffessor for a clarification is never laughed at. Not every one understands everything and many people are just scared to ask. I am one of the people who raise their hands often and ask for a better explenation and the lectors are more than happy to provide it, it is just not something to be mocked for. That proffessor seems like a dick, but hey he was a post modernist.
I know the feeling of suddenly getting to university and realizing you are no longer the smartest person in the room, but I tell myself that my advantage is the self awereness to realize it and work around it. And I am still one of the smarter people in there, just not always in the 5% anymore. To be honest I love it. Having some actuall "competition" (really friendly competition might I add) is very inspiring and gets the best out of people. Realizing what subjects you are good at and where you struggle and finding peole with opposite struggles is half the battle won and you make good friends at the same time.
Aw that is a lovely message overall. Where do you study?
In NTNU in Norway :)
Absolutely agree with everything you said. Where I am studying medicine atm also has the culture you described rather than the one in the video.
I may also add that I enjoy having the "gunners" in my class (although the closer we get to exams the harder it is to stop it from getting to me and freaking me out), because they literally tell you the answers when you don't know something! How awesome is that? If I don't know the answer I now know, and if I do know the answer I get instant confirmation. Plus, the lecturers wouldn't feel too lonely if students interact back with them.
I'd also go to the gunners in spare time to ask questions if I know they are good at a particular topic. I mean, we each has our own strength, I have my strength that others come for help too. Our cohort established a "trading" of knowledge from very early on, and it's immensely helpful.
You have amazing hair fam lol
This is Fantastic advice, what would you recommend doing today? how would you implement this strategy?
It's so interesting to hear about how different law school is in the US compared to my country (Sweden). We don't go to any undergraduate program, but rather go directly from high school to law school, it's 4,5 years instead of 3, the exams are usually very similar to the classes (usually we're given a case with lots of background information and then asked to identify the legal issues and offer a solution), and the first semester is without a doubt the least important of all when it comes to grades. Oh, and we only have 7 different law schools in the entire country (up until just 2-3 years ago only 6)
Did you ever consider transferring after receiving those 1L grades?
This is true higher-ranked, generally more marketable law school have harder grade curves.
Nice!
I am a first year law student in Germany. Here things are so different not just regarding the legal system we operate in but also regarding law school. Three straight A's are unheared of over here. There is actually a saying about our grades (which operate on a 0-18 Points Scale): "God achieves 18 points, the professor hit 15 and the best of you guys come in at 12 points tops" For motivation purposes I sometimes wish I studied in the US (but then again you guys have tuition fees and student debt... :D).
Could you do a video on Masters? Since it’s mostly essays?
I just subscribed to your channel and been watching your past videos. Do you have any video that addresses issue spotting? Please send me a link if you do it in one of your past videos. Thank you
I just started my Bachelor in Law in Switzerland and I want to to back to las school in the US once I‘ve passed the bar here and I‘m curious to see how much it will translate from one to the other.
That moment you realize that you are a gunner
You could have watched "The Paper Chase" to get a TV-flavored sense of what law school is like.
Great video! Please what law school did you go to?
It' in the video! UCLA. Go Bruins!
Tbank you
A whole nother huh? Haha that phrase cracks me up.
If this gets me the 1L grades I need (shooting for NYC Big Law, so pretty high), I'll fly over to Cal to buy you drinks all day.
Law school sounds surprisingly similar to how my sister has described medical school
What percentage of your final grade in first semester was coursework/papers/seminars/mock-trial/etc ?
thanks for the video, the volume is too low, can you raise it bit please, thank you
May I please ask if you know anything related to getting a law degree while serving in the military?
Do you have any opinions on Medical Law? I'm thinking of specialising in that field.
Me: watches this while being supposed to write my assignment
*Please review the movie, "The Paper Chase".*
Nice Seamaster ;)
Where do we get our hands in those practice papers? Most universities only make them available to their own students
It is official. I have found the friendliest smile in the world. I don't want to be a lawyer at all but that smile reeled me in. I love this man.
So where do we learn this secret format? And how it relates to filing cases?
What to do if you've wanted to become a lawyer for some time but are extremely nervous about actually going? What can help calm the nerves?
- Chapter 1 -
- Chapter 2 -
- Chapter 3 -
- Chapter 4 -
- Chapter 5 -
- Chapter 6 -
Currently in my first year of law school (in Norway), and I totally feel the same way ..
How is it going?
I would love to meet you on It's new York and other state and country as well