March 8, 2010 – 10:30 am
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In Plato’s book The Republic, there is a famous chapter called “the Allegory of the Cave.” In the story, Socrates leads his pupil Glaucon through a cave and they discuss what they see. In the cave there is a group of prisoners chained on benches and bound to look forward to a wall. Behind them are puppeteers, hidden from sight, who operate marionettes in front of a fire, which projects a play that appears on the wall in front of the prisoners. The prisoners cannot see the puppeteers, and having been locked in the dark cave for their whole lives, the shadows are not shadows at all. For them, these ghostly figures are very real.
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March 5, 2010 – 9:52 am
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The first year of law school is famously competitive. Or so we are told. People camp out in the library for 15 hour days. Gunners hide key textbooks from classmates in trap doors. Did you hear about the One L who knifed the tires of the curve setting students the early morning before an exam? On and on the stories go.
But hold on friends, before you get too worked up, let me let you in on a little secret. The Paper Chase was fiction. It didn’t really happen. None of the legendary nonsense actually takes place in law school. It’s a big fat lie. Turow claims his book was a true account of his One L year at Harvard. Maybe it was, but I can assure you it has absolutely no relation to the ordinary life of a law student today.
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March 3, 2010 – 2:08 pm
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Approaching law school is a lot like approaching heart surgery, or entering boot camp, or jumping off a bridge attached to a bungee cord. Outsiders may have a vague sense about what the experience may be like, and yet very little is actually known to outsiders about it. Only insiders—those who have been through it—really know. As a result, going to law school is like walking down some unfamiliar stairs alone in the dark. The footing is unsure, there is nothing to grab onto, and who knows what we are going to find at the bottom.
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October 30, 2009 – 10:30 pm
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I am starting to see it. One Ls all over the place with that look. The “its coming too fast” look. The “I am getting pretty scared about now” look. The “its 6 weeks from exams and why do I feel like everyone else is ready but I am not” look.
There is plenty of time if you work smart. If you feel like you are behind, you aren’t. Get the book and jump to the “Ninja Outlining” and “Exam Prep” chapters. Then do what I say. You will be in great shape, and if you take the “miracle drug” you will be the most prepared One L in your class.
The Sensei
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October 21, 2009 – 10:46 pm
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The book is now available through Amazon.com. Go buy your copy today and don’t forget to write a review on Amazon once you’ve read it.
Thanks!
October 20, 2009 – 3:29 pm
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The book—Law School Ninja: An Unconventional Strategy for Outsmarting Law School– is just about out. My publisher has uploaded the print ready files to the printer, and the printer is putting together a proof copy of the book as we blog. We will see that in a few days. Once we give it the green light, the book should be available on Amazon.com, at BarnesandNoble.com, and most other places .com. You can already buy the eBook version if you can’t stand the wait. An audio version is also in the works. Stay tuned.
As you may know, the book is a quick and dirty version of a seminar on how to outsmart law school I have been teaching my One L students for about 10 years now. People who have had the seminar have been telling me that it has really helped them (1) understand what is and is not important; (2) devote themselves to the right things in their One L year, and (3) get a serious edge in exam prep over their classmates. Several students have told me: “You ought to put that in a book.” I finally got around to doing just that.
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October 13, 2009 – 2:25 pm
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I spend a good deal of ink in my book telling potential law school ninjas that one of the important steps to beating the curve in law school is clearly understanding what is important–and what is not important—in law school. One thing that is not important? Briefing cases.
I know, I know. The conventional wisdom is that briefing cases is the most important thing you can do to succeed in law school. POPPYCOCK. If you think that is true, just go up to ANY 2L you see tomorrow and ask them to see one of their case briefs from last night’s studying. They will laugh in your face. Why? It took them a year to figure it out, but they figured it out: briefing cases is a moronic waste of time.
Here is an excerpt from the book where I discuss this a little more: Read the rest of this post…
October 11, 2009 – 11:01 pm
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Right about now, everyone is hating law school. I know, because I have seen it in my students’ eyes. I see it every year.
I have been noticing that the mood on all the One L blogs I read is the same: worn out and depressed. Everyone is feeling it about now.
Why? Well, there are probably two reasons. One, the reading and briefing load isn’t slowing down. Two, legal writing is hitting you hard about now. Add them together, and the One L year feels like you are dragging around a water-soaked sleeping bag.
And I suppose there is a third: many of you have just gotten your first memo’s back and found out that your legal writing adjunct is happy to let you know that you are not exactly John Grisham just yet.
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