These are 10 things I learned about in 2022 via LinkedIn (Part 1):

1️⃣ Be careful when “building on rented land.”

If you build up a following on a social media platform, remember that you don’t own it. Everything could be stripped from you in the blink of an eye. Even if you did nothing wrong.

1:  WORK THE PROBLEM.

    Don’t rush to try to figure out the conclusion to an essay question. You need to “work the problem” first.

    When you’re brainstorming and outlining before you start writing, go through each claim element (or legal-test factor) one-by-one; consider all hypo facts that favor each side BEFORE reaching any conclusions about anything.

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.

I’ve read about law students pre-writing their “Rule statements” for use in their essay answers.

{In other words, they pre-type paragraphs that state & explain each possible Rule, then on an exam question giving rise to the Rule, they simply plop in the pre-prepared “R” part of their IRAC essay.}

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.

For some of you, these decisions will come at an age where, for the very first time, you’re making “adult” choices all on your own, too.

What kind of law will you practice?
At what kind of employer will you work?
And in what city will you live?

✏️ 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.”