You can’t really know what law school is like until you’re actually in it. I have classmates who grew up knowing they were bound for law school, whose parents went to Loyola, who didn’t know how to outline or write a case brief. It’s okay. The learning curve is steep but most people get the hang of it within the first couple of months. There are however a few things that you can prepare for – things I wish I knew before I started and things that I am still working on. They essentially break down into two categories – study habits and life habits.

The three study habits that I wish I knew before I started were when to outline, when to start using supplement books, and where the good study locations are. First and foremost, an outline is basically your own summary of all the material in the course that you will need to know for the final. My outline was never more than 38 pages long and should probably have been shorter than that. You can find student-made outlines from past year on the St. Thomas More website but you’ll want to write your own.

Most professors will give you advise on when to outline but, generally, you should start your outline after completing the first major section of the course, usually three or four weeks into the semester – for example for Prof. Selmi’s (fantastic) torts class you should start outlining after you complete intentional torts.

Once you start outlining you should also spend an hour every Saturday and Sunday practicing that section from Example and Explanations books (E&Es) and other supplement books. Not all supplements are created equal. Some supplements cover material that is NOT covered in your class so ask your professor if they have any preferences or recommendations. You can burrow a lot of these supplements from the library, scan the entire book with the book scanner in the computer lab, and then upload the scans directly to your personal Google Docs account. Be a good person and share your scans with friends.

Finally, the good study spots are the small study rooms in the library (I like the basement). You usually need to reserve these in advance so beware if someone ever tries to kick you out of a study room. On sunny days, there are a couple great patios on the fourth floor on Burns building where all the faculty offices are located. The views of DTLA are not bad as you can see.

Two life habits that will help you are to manage your time around sleep and make sure to give yourself time for things that make you happy. I’m still struggling with the second of these habits. Try your best to get enough sleep every night so that you are pleasant to be around. At least in 1L year this shouldn’t be too terrible but make sure that you’re not pushing all your reading or studying for Sunday night.

You also need to get outside the library and do something productive that makes you happy. I like to swim, other’s like to go to the gym or walk around Santa Monica. My study group also did game nights and Korean barbeque nights. Keep your spirits up and you’ll do great!

My first year of law school was a bit of a blur. I remember thinking about what the first day would be like. Would I get cold called like Elle Woods on her first day of Harvard Law? Would everyone be super competitive? Would I still know how to study after two years of being in the working world? While I did end up being the first person to get cold called in my Property class that semester, I quickly realized that I had just begun the biggest challenge of my educational career.

Looking back, 1L year was probably the most significant year of law school. Not only are you transitioning into a new chapter of your life, but you are also developing skills that will be the foundation of your legal career. At times it was overwhelming, and I wondered how I would ever be able to absorb all the information that was being thrown my way. However, over the next two semesters I realized that I had underestimated myself.

Law school has a weird way of making you step up to the plate. Ready or not, it’s happening. As such, I quickly realized I had to come up with a game plan. By the time first semester midterms rolled around, I found myself spending countless hours in the library reading, outlining, and preparing for exams. By the end of the week, I was tired and burnt out. You can imagine my surprise then when I got my first midterm back and didn’t do as well as I had hoped. I had studied more than ever and still did not get the results I wanted.

I must have been doing something wrong. When I told my 3L friend about my midterm, she asked me how I was studying. When I told her about my study habits, she quickly informed me that I was approaching it the wrong way. She told me to “study smart.” At first, I was confused: of course, I was studying—a lot.

How does one “study smart,” you may ask? For me, studying smart meant organizing my time better and learning how to prioritize. I would no longer get hung up on every minute detail of every topic when reviewing material or waste time creating flashcards that I would never look at again. Instead I found that big picture mind maps made the most sense to me and started scheduling my day out to make sure I got my school work done while also having time to myself.

Three years later, here is my advice to 1Ls: study smart. While I can’t give you an exact road map of what this means, I can tell you that my 1L year was much more enjoyable after I made these changes. And as always, realize that you have made it this far for a reason and soon enough you’ll be a 3L ready to graduate from one of the best law schools in the country.

Welcome back to the Jury of Peers, readers! I hope this blog post finds you happy and well!

Can you believe it?! This is the last entry for the academic year! The spring semester is coming to an end, and summer is just around the corner, which means final exams, last minute studying, and summer jobs! It’s hard to believe that it’s already that time of year again, but 2L really has gone by so so SO FAST!

I am currently in the process of attending my final lectures for the semester and getting prepared for the exams season, which to be honest is and will always be a nerve-racking and stressful time. It’s truly crunch time trying to work on and finish course outlines, finish office hours for my clinic, the Project for the Innocent, and make sure I’m on top of all my readings and assignments for my courses that are still in session.

In addition, I am also in the process of figuring out what I want to do this summer. I am currently working on the transactional tract for the entertainment law concentration and one of its requirements is experiential. So I am currently trying to decide if I want to do an externship/field placement for credit during the summer or if I want to do another form of employment or internship. I am also trying to decide if I want to take classes over the summer so I can clear up some space in my schedule during my last two semesters and take other classes that I am either interested in or think would be fun. That being said it’s a lot to think about, and to be honest, I’ve been putting the thought of it on the backburner because I’ve really been trying to focus on my classes and getting the grades I need to put me in the best position heading into 3L. Am I stressed? You bet I am. Am I worried? A little. But I’m not letting myself get bogged down by those thoughts when there’s still a lot of work to get done this semester! There’s plenty of time to worry about jobs between now and the summer, and I’m hopeful that everything will work out!

On another note, I’m hoping to find some time to relax and spend time with family and friends this summer. It’s my final summer of law school, and I think that calls for some adventures!

So until the next time readers… enjoy your summer and see you in the new year!

One of the things I love most about Loyola is their commitment to helping students network, learn more about various areas of legal practice, and connect them to established lawyers in those fields. I have found so many of the events at Loyola extremely helpful to helping me narrow down which area of law I’m interested in practicing, and helping me to make meaningful connections with lawyers who have experience with that particular area of law.

For me, one of the most helpful things that I have done was signing up for an Alumni Mentor. Prior to law school, I didn’t know a single lawyer. One of the first questions I asked my mentor was what I can do now, as a law student, to prepare myself to be a great lawyer, aside from the obvious things like studying and attending class. My mentor stressed the importance of gaining legal experience while in school, and after several conversations offered me a job at his law firm for this Spring.

As a 1L, much of the what we’re learning can often feel isolated from the “real world.” While it’s easy to relate the subject material of classes like torts or criminal law to common life experiences, it’s much more difficult to relate classes like civil procedure to things that we actually experience in everyday life. This has been one of the most useful advantages of working that I have experienced. Not only have I learned very practical skills like sorting and filing pleadings and other documents, I am also gaining real world experience doing legal research and connecting civil procedure rules to actual on-going cases. The rules of civil procedure have become less of a foreign idea and more of a familiar concept.

I’ve also attended several of the guest speaker lectures during the lunch hour and I’ve found that it’s a great way to be exposed to new and interesting areas of the law and to get perspectives that I might not otherwise be exposed to. Overall, I would strongly recommend taking advantage of as many of the programs as possible. While law school can be difficult, and the job market can be daunting, Loyola is a school that definitely does not take a “sink or swim” approach to things. They help out every step of the way.

Something that is great about law school is that you take a lot of different classes, especially as a 1L. You take the basics: Criminal Law, Torts Law, Property Law, Contract Law, and more. You get a little taste of almost every basic area of the law, and that allows you to get an idea of what really interests you going forward. For me, Criminal Law and Torts Law really stood out. Property and Contracts, not so much. So, I knew the two areas I wanted to explore further.

It is the same way for networking around campus: there is a club representing almost every area of law. They bring practicing attorneys onto campus and have them give lectures, so you start to get an even better idea of what people in that field do. You also get the chance to meet and network with those people, which is even more invaluable. So many people I know have gotten interviews or even mentors in this way or just because of a lecture they attended on campus.

Law school has been a roller coaster so far. It has been exciting, tiring, challenging, and, most of all, humbling. Sometimes, there are moments when I ask myself it it’s worth it. These mostly occur when I’m up at 7am driving to school, during a cold-call when I’m not quite sure of the answer, or when I’m working on what feels like a never-ending paper. And, occasionally, there are moments that make everything worthwhile.

They say that if you enjoy what you do, then you’ll never work a day in your life. While I’m not naive enough to think that having a passion for the area of law that I will ultimately practice will be enough to make everything exciting and fun, I do believe that passion can make the hard work, long hours, and mundanity that I will doubtlessly experience worthwhile. If you’ve been reading my blog, you’re probably aware that I have many passions. But how do I tie my passions in with the law?

That is exactly the question I approached one of my professors with. As a 1L, thinking about electives and summer jobs can be overwhelming. The law is so diverse, and there are so many areas that I haven’t been exposed to yet. In previous conversations with my professor, I had told him of my strong interest in women’s issues and how they intersect with the law. My professor gave me an incredible opportunity to join in on a conference call with another incredible student, and two fantastic ladies from the LACBA. The lawyers were interested in putting on an event at Loyola for the women law students and, after two conference calls, the idea of a mentoring event became a tangible plan complete with a name, a logo, and a date.

The end result of the event was incredible. It was one of those moments that I mentioned where all of the hard work feels worthwhile. Twelve fantastic women lawyers came and spoke to about sixty students, mostly 1L women. I’m sure that many of those discussions blossomed into mentor relationships that will help these women students navigate the often-challenging employment climate, myself included. That was satisfying.

This semester has been the semester of opportunity. From helping to organize the Women’s Law Collaborate event alongside such inspiring ladies to being able to choose my first elective, Alternative Dispute Resolution, to starting my first legal job this past January, the opportunities have seemed endless. I am grateful to have worked with such inspirational ladies, and I excited for what the future of what it means to be a lady in the legal profession. I hope to work with them and women (and men too!) of similar drive and ability for years to come!

Everyone has their expectations of what law school will be like when they get there. If you don’t have family members or close friends who’ve gone through it, those expectations are probably shaped by movies and TV. Some images are very familiar: mountains upon mountains of homework; humiliating cold-calls; classmates ripping pages out of library books so no one else can study from them. It’s all enough to make you wonder why anyone goes to law school in the first place.

Loyola definitely is not like that. (And, for all I know, neither is any other law school – I mean who, in the 21st Century, even looks at library books anymore?) Loyola is a down-to-earth place; a place for students who are ready to dig into their work as lawyers. An attorney I know who practices in L.A. – a person who did not go to Loyola – once described Loyola as “the city’s law school.”

I love that idea. I feel great when I see that idea borne out in real life. I see it manifested in many of the students, who are hard-working, unpretentious, and always willing to collaborate. A good many, it seems to me, are eager to work through law school so they can go on to join the bloodstream of this city – perhaps in public service, or on behalf of clients with special needs. In my own experience interning in both government and public interest law offices while at Loyola, I’ve met so many inspiring grads – from judges to civil rights lawyers to executive directors of nonprofits. They all seem particularly well-prepared for the avenue of service they have pursued.

I’m inspired by the idea that Loyola is where so many people who want to serve this city come to get their education. After all, it has a nearly 100-year history of educating lawyers, much of that history at its current campus adjacent to downtown, where there are so many in need of representation.

If you want to go to law school, but worry the environment will look too much like what you’ve seen in the movies, I can reassure you – that’s not Loyola. While it’s by no means easy (it is, after all, law school) it’s a supportive environment, and one that particularly speaks to the ideal of service. To call Loyola “the city’s law school” is, I think, to pay it a tremendous compliment.

There are a lot of ways to answer that, but the simplest way to put it is, “A lot!” It might seem like “love” is too strong a word, right?

WRONG. I absolutely love Loyola and all of my classes. And, to be perfectly honest, I do love Loyola. Despite, or perhaps because of, the stress, the exams, the complex subject matter, and the long hours that I have to put in if I want to learn as much as I possibly can and perform to my full potential, I absolutely love Loyola.

(Just kidding about the “despite,” Loyola, you know I love you.) It’s because of the exams and because of the long hours that I love Loyola. I love the fact that the stress, when it does happen, is the kind of stress that comes from growing as a person and a professional. I love the fact that the exams come after a semester of support and feedback that points out where I am strong and where I need to work. I love the fact that the complex subject matter is made understandable by professors who obviously care about it. I love the fact that those long hours are hours well spent. I love that fact that I know that Loyola will prepare me to be the best lawyer that I can be.

I love Loyola because I am being challenged like never before and, every step of the way, I am being given the support, both from students and from faculty, that I need to succeed.

I am one of those people who has always been shy when it comes to building relationships with my professors. Before I came to law school, the mere thought of “having” to meet with a professor outside of class made me nervous. It’s not that they were mean or anything like that, just that “I need to see you after class” were words that I never wanted to hear. They were always an indication that something was wrong, not a sign that I had an opportunity to build a new professional relationship.

Some of my reluctance came from a cycle that I think is very common – someone doesn’t understand a concept, so she or he becomes too nervous to ask about it as time goes on because, beyond a certain point, having to ask about it indicates that you are “behind” and “behind” is a place that you never want to be. Of course, that was all in my head, and the secret to getting out of that cycle was in my head as well – I had to remind myself that law school is called that for a reason and that reason is because the professors are there to help you learn.

During my time at Loyola, that is exactly what they have done. My experience with my professors has been nothing short of fantastic. They are always there when I have difficulty understanding a difficult point. They are never intimidating, and they never look down on me, but it is always obvious that they know what they are talking about, having an extensive background in their specialty, and are willing to share everything that they know with me.

That was exactly what happened during my torts class that I took last semester. I was new to law school and I was unsure how to approach all of the work in this class. After midterms, I arranged to speak to the professor about my performance in the class and find out where I did well and where I could improve. Going in, I felt worried and intimidated but, after a clear, honest, and open assessment of my performance on the exam that lasted thirty minutes, I left with a very clear sense of where I did well and where I could have done better. Because I reached out of my comfort zone, my grade on the final exam improved significantly. Needless to say, my relationships with my professors have improved as time has gone by. Meeting with my professors is now something that I look forward to, and I look forward to strengthening those relationships as time goes by.

When it comes to the everyday academic grind, I’m a loner. I don’t share notes with other students, and I hardly ever meet with classmates outside of class to go over course material. I don’t even read at the library. I like to read alone, at home, where it’s quiet, and no one can bother me.

That all changes when finals come around. I do some exam studying alone, particularly when making outlines. But I also rely – nay, depend – on my classmates for support. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t really learn anything until I explain it to someone else. (I believe that most people are this way – some are just a little too shy or self-conscious to try it.)

The hardest part, then, is finding a group you can work with. If your group is made up of students you think are ahead of you, you might get discouraged – and that is NOT how you want to feel going into finals. On the other hand, if no one in your group is prepared for the exam, you’d be better off reviewing alone. The key is to find a group of friends who don’t intimidate you, but who don’t fail to challenge you, either. After the first two or three exams, I got my group pared down to a loose collective of buddies.

I’ve taken seven final exams now, and they have all gone just about the same way. By the last two or three days before the test, I’ve made my outline. I’ve asked my professors for help with the topics that have daunted me the most. I’ve made my flashcards, and I’ve found and re-read (or, yeah, read for the first time) the cases that have vexed me the most.

The last few days, then, are basically a protracted conversation with my group. We quiz each other, diagram concepts like supplemental jurisdiction or exceptions to the hearsay rule, and verbally explain concepts from different angles. For 14 weeks out of the year, I don’t need a study group. But for that final week, it’s crucial.