That was me in Oct. 1993, and I thought the world was going to end.

To be sure, like most all 1L midterms, it was merely a “practice” exam.

But to me, it was devastating.

“Have I done enough?”

Follow these 7 Steps to make sure you don’t miss a key case.

🔹 1. Find, pull, and skim 3 relevant cases (found from secondary sources, sample briefs, searches under keywords & headnotes, etc.).

It’s easy to make it. I did.

It was fatal.

Here’s what happened and 3 lessons learned.

***

RULE:

In addition to the obvious (that you must capitalize “court” whenever you write out its full Bluebook citation), there are only 3 other instances that require or permit capitalization:

1️⃣ CAPITALIZE SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States)

🔷 PRIMER

🔸 Most 1L exams (and all bar exams) present a hypothetical fact pattern followed by a general “Discuss” prompt (or a set of questions that identify which issues you are to discuss).

I’ve noticed that many of you start posts with the word “As,” as in:

“As a lawyer,”
“As a law student,” or
“As an [anything].”

⚠️ Doing that is dangerous. In fact, you need to watch out for any sentence that starts with “As a . . .”

But it does.

And I’m not just talking about Bluebook cites. I’m talking about your prose.

Here’s the deal: Lawyers need to use 2 commas when other writers don’t.

Just learn them now: the Oxford Comma & the TICTAC Comma.

Here’s the built-a-business side of the story.

1️⃣

In 2016, I got laid off from a BigLaw firm. I can’t lie: that stung.

In the intervening years, I “tried on” many roles. None quite fit.

THIS is what it’s all about.

The comment on my post from a 2L made my day. It stands for everything I longed for when I started Dear 1L®.

Thank you to every member of my community.

Some gunner with a briefcase asked me that during my very first week. I didn’t even know what an “Outline” was.

Here’s what I wish I knew then:

🔷 It’s not the Outline itself that matters.

I can’t wait to dive in.

What’s on your reading list today?

💌 Amanda

But be careful after a negative verb: “because” causes ambiguity.

Here are some examples:

1️⃣ She was not promoted because she is female.

—Was she promoted? That isn’t clear.

My goal is to help you learn what those terms mean and, hopefully, if we get good comments, to learn about some different practice areas and how real lawyers actually spend their time.

1️⃣ “Transactional” lawyers work on deals.

Some of these lawyers’ functions include:

Dear 1L,

If you’re “beyond confused,”
If you think you’re “the only one” experiencing self-doubt, or
If you worry everyone else “gets” it, when you don’t:

🔷 I am sorry you’re experiencing these feelings. The cases at the beginning of law school can be bewildering.

From Lindsey Avalos.

Everyone’s 1L experience is different, but I always found it comforting to hear stories from students who had just been through something new that I was about to start, so I’m sharing in the hopes of reaching more of you.