Dear 1L,

Here is a tip for writing advocacy briefs this semester.

✏️ Write to a 4L.

The person you ultimately need to persuade is the judge. But the judge may never read your brief. The gatekeeper is the law clerk. That clerk will make a recommendation to the judge about which side should prevail.

That law clerk just graduated from law school—likely is a 4L—not much different than you. That is your Reader.

Here is how to fix it and why you should.

A. THE FIX - Reorder Words

When self-editing, examine each sentence individually. Identify the Subject, Verb, and Object.

—I know this may be bringing up memories of 8th grade language arts class, but bear with me, because you all seem to have forgotten.

Dear 1L,

I have been conducting mock Zoom interviews of law students during the past two weeks. (I play a lawyer at a global law firm in NYC.) Now having seen two dozen students, I offer these takeaways that may help you in your own interviews.

1. BE YOURSELF. The best job interviews proceed like a normal conversation.

🔹Do not recite rehearsed answers. Have a natural conversation. Relax and talk to your interviewer just like you would a colleague of your parents or some distant relation who is a lawyer.

I thought now would be a good time to share how I organize my research results to start sorting through cases for use in writing (such as your spring advocacy briefs).

My focus is Procedural Posture. These are the steps I follow.

FIRST.

Answer these questions about each case:

Break the semester up in your mind.  Don’t think about everything you must accomplish by May. That is too large a mountain to climb. Focus only on March 1 as a goal. Pretend there are midterms then. They count for half your grade.

Would you be ready to write an A+ exam on the Jan-Feb content by March 1?

Dear 1L,

January is hard. How do you find motivation? With grades in, but summer employment still uncertain for most, how do you become energized to re-engage this semester? Try this.

Break the semester up in your mind.  Don’t think about everything you must accomplish by May. That is too large a mountain to climb. Focus only on March 1 as a goal.

Dear 1L,

I have been trying to think of more ways you might change things up this spring, should you be disappointed with fall grades.

Here are two to consider.

1. Here you tried taking class notes by hand? Here’s why it might work better for you than that laptop note-taking.

✏️ Write to a 4L.

The person you ultimately need to persuade is the judge. But the judge may never read your brief. The gatekeeper is the law clerk. That clerk will make a recommendation to the judge about which side should prevail.

That law clerk just graduated from law school—likely is a 4L—not much different than you. That is your Reader.

I confess, I was terrified.

For me, there were two camps when it came to Con Law. In one, were the PoliSci/U.S. Gov. majors. And their friends: the read-the-newspaper-every day types. They assembled in the library lounge to read each day—the library’s hard-copy subscriptions. They then gabbed about politics. I stayed away.

I was out of my league.

Dear 1L,

I have been trying to think of more ways you might change things up this spring, should you be disappointed with fall grades.

Here are two to consider.

1. Here you tried taking class notes by hand? Here’s why it might work better for you than that laptop note-taking.

Dear 1L,

How are you feeling about Con Law?

I confess, I was terrified.

For me, there were two camps when it came to Con Law.

In one, were the PoliSci/U.S. Gov. majors. And their friends: the read-the-newspaper-every day types.

Dear 1L,

I hope you are ok. Everyone is in some state of reeling, it seems, this weekend.

My message is that you did nothing wrong. It is just the brutal curve. 90% or more of you will not be in the top. You are, in no way, alone.

I do not fully understand why law schools grade this way, but that debate is for another day.