That curve will not get me!”

—(an incoming 1L actually said this to me last week)

ME: (sigh)

1L: “What’s wrong? I know it sounds onerous, but I don’t mind.”

ME: (longer sigh)

Yesterday was Day 2,190.

Six years, to be exact.

Yet somehow, hotels still put me to the test.

They don’t come at you all at once. They poke you. They prod.

First comes the lobby.
Warm smile.
Small talk.

They:
—read the question;
—identify the issue;
—try to figure out the answer; and
—write an essay to justify that answer.

Instead, the MUCH better way is to:

—identify the issue;
—write one side’s best arguments;
—write the other side’s best arguments; and
—explain why one side has the better arguments.

For today, I thought we’d start with some podcasts recommendations.

Here are 5 that I think you’ll like:

1️⃣ How I Lawyer. Jonah Perlin

This one is hosted by a buddy of mine, Jonah Perlin, a lawyer turned Georgetown law professor.

{—And I’m sorry if that’s not progressive enough for you, but it was 1993, and I was hell-bent on NOT ending up as a spinster.}

You see, I never wanted to be a lawyer.
My dad was a lawyer.
He hated it.
I wanted to be a high-school teacher.
Like my mom.

How I hate how my hands have been tied. Alas—

I have created a new self-editing checklist for you.

It includes the 40 most common mistakes I’ve seen 1Ls make over the past 5 years since I’ve been reviewing these briefs after-the-fact, and the items included cover the major points I would otherwise be helping you with individually.

I got straight A’s.
I followed all the rules.
And I never got into any trouble.

“The last of the sweet and innocent,”
the high-school yearbook dubbed me.

That was in 7th grade, but by 9th, my goody two shoes fell out of vogue.

My best friends started resenting me.

Step away and write the table of contents (TOC).

I swear this saved me in so many briefs.

It’s very common to get lost in the weeds of the details of the cases; you can spin yourself round and round.

You need to step back.
You need to consult the map.
You need to get away to see the big picture.

“But Amanda,” you say, “many lawyers—even judges—use ‘find’ generically all the time to describe the actions courts take.”

 —I know. You are right about that. But that does not make using “find” right.

🔹 An appellate court doesn’t “find” anything. It renders conclusions of law, not fact.

Greta.

23.

Just released her first single on Spotify.

“Baby Fat”

I have chills.

I’ve listened to 1,000 times on repeat,

I’ve spent the last five years entrenched in this subject, and I’m convinced our current system is not working.

I’d start with law schools, but I have ideas for law firms, too.

For law schools:

🔹 Align writing with doctrine. Legal writing should reinforce doctrinal learning, not compete with it.

triple-stressing ❗️

It’s way harder than planned, too, prompting:

—what’s wrong with me?
—why’s it taking me so long?
—is anything I’ve done right?
—does this mean I don’t belong?

So far, they've all called about their sons.

They’re starting law school in the fall.

And they’re “really smart.”

But they “can’t write.”

“It’s their schools’ fault.
They didn’t train him well.”

🔸 “I forgot how ‘green’ they are.”

This is something more senior layers say after working with summers and first-year associates. “Green” means “inexperienced.”

“10-6-2023: Total failure.
There are too many law school books already.
Some winners. Most losers. And I have no desire to add my book to the losers’ list.”

Today, that book has officially crossed 2,000 copies sold on Amazon.