One hat was pink for the plaintiff (P). The other, denim blue for the defendant (D).

I defined each party to an issue in the hypo as P or D.

When brainstorming my answer, I first put on P’s hat. I played P’s lawyer. I examined the hypo for every possible fact that could help P. I circled them in pink.

Sometimes, when a final (or bar) exam was just days away, I was still trying to (re-)master a lot of concepts and then memorize rules. I just didn’t have it in me to take practice tests. So I didn’t try.

I just read a lot of model essay answers. I hardly looked at the hypos. I just read the answers passively.

Seeing how essays were written on hard topics brought things into focus.

1️⃣ Brainstorm and outline your answer before you start to write.

If I had allotted 1 hr. for a question, I’d typically spend at least 15 minutes thinking about, planning, and organizing my essay before starting to write.

The more disciplined you can be about this pre-writing work, the more organized and thorough your final product will be.

🔹 First, I’m holding free office hours: Friday, Dec. 2, 1-4pm EST.

If you’d like to talk to me during that time, please let me know. I’ll accommodate as many as I can. (I can also answer questions sent in writing.)

🔹 Second, I know the calendar flipping to December can come as a shock. Exams are almost upon you, and you have a ton to do.

✏️ When I started practicing in 1996, I did labor arbitrations and NLRB proceedings. There, the gloves really came off. We threw around terms like “baseless,” “specious,” and “outrageous” to describe our opponents’ arguments.

—Those words were effective there (or so my partner-supervisors told me), but federal judges, I’ve come to learn, generally loathe these types of invectives.

💌 Dear 1L,

I really don’t want to raise this topic with you before exams, and you still have time, but this past week, I’ve started to see postings for 1L summer jobs on LinkedIn.

—A simple search for “1L” under “Jobs” here also reveals dozens of new listings. Although many pertain to diversity scholarship jobs at big law firms (which may or may not be an option or interest for you), there are other, interesting-looking postings, too.

The below is simply one approach of many, but it’s based on what I used in law school—as honed during the process of taking and passing three different state bar exams over the course of my career, coupled with feedback from 1Ls who have found success with it after working with me.

That said, there are, of course, many ways to approach and write a successful law-school exam essay.

✏️ Rewriting the same sentences over and over again.

If that happens to you, try this:

🔸 Revisit your outline.

—If you didn’t make an outline at the start, definitely make one now.

✏️ Legal writing always takes so much longer than you think it should.

In an effort to help, I share 4 things for the memo that many 1Ls aren’t clear about.

1: Check your capitalization of “court.”

I am WAY outside my comfort zone, but I know you all are too.

Aiming to spread cheer and extra energy to help carry you through the crunch time ahead.

Fondly,

💌 Amanda

One thing that’s hard is that you don’t get to talk to many people in person during the day.

And so, it was especially nice to have someone drop by my house today—@ Monica Muehsam. If it hadn’t been for posting on LinkedIn, we never would have met!

Monica is a paralegal who recently went out on her own. She’s going to be helping me with a few projects.

�� Most say it’s a fool’s errand to try to keep up with the LinkedIn algorithm. That’s probably
sage advice, but I admit I get curious!

And so, when the great Richard van der Blom published the 2022 Algorithm Report yesterday, I read it.

There’s a ton to unpack, but here are my top ten takeaways:

Dear 1L - Spotlight

Today I introduce Amelia Hamman, an immigrant from South Africa by way of Canada, who credits her work ethic and adventurous spirit to the sacrifices her parents made to give their children the best possible future.

Here’s some backstory:

▫️ Amelia grew up speaking Afrikaans before she spoke English.