writing

Grammar: It’s Not Just for 8th Grade

~ admin

Good Writing Is Good

Law school research and writing courses rarely focus on the mechanics of writing.  Instead, these courses generally devote time to discussion of law-specific material, such as legal citations and legal research tools.

Unfortunately, this approach leaves some important—very important—matters to chance.

The basics of good writing, which are (hopefully!) covered before and during one’s high school years, do not simply go away on graduation day.  These basics remain fundamental to effective written communication, and, therefore, remain fundamental to law school and bar exam essays.

If It’s Not Covered, Do It Yourself

For students who do not get a basic review of good writing in their legal research and writing classes—and that means most law students—, self-help is mandatory.  Self-help approaches include:

  • undertake a serious review of basic English mechanics and style on one’s own
  • hire a writing tutor
  • take a class on good writing, either through the university associated with one’s law school or through a third-party provider

But skipping the basics is not the right choice—even if law schools often choose that approach.

Original publication date:  August 15, 2011 (LEX))

California Bar Exam | Performance Test Tips

~ admin

1.  PRACTICE. While studying the substantive law is crucial for the essays and MBE, preparing for the performance test is all about doing.  By the time test day rolls around, the doing—performing—of the performance test should feel like old hat to you.

2.  ANSWER THE QUESTION. Sticking very closely to the assigned task is half the battle on the PT.  Read the task memo as many times as you need to read it.  Patiently.  Then simply stick to what the memo has asked you to do, doing everything required and no more.

3.  ONE STEP AT A TIME. It’s interesting how widely the model answers can vary from one another; some model answers even contain inaccurate statements of law.  This variation demonstrates that doing the tasks like a competent and thoughtful professional and presenting your work product in the right package will serve you well, perhaps even more so that having the “right” answer.

4.  STAY COOL; DON’T FREAK OUT. Part of what the PT tests is your ability to handle uncertainty.  If you can simply carve out a reasonable response to uncertainty, you can pass.  While the other portions may select for mastery of the law, the PT selects for those who can master themselves.

5.  KEEP IT SIMPLE. The easiest way to adhere to all of the above rules is to adhere to this one.  Be very simple in your approach.  If you can’t see the big picture, do a good job on the parts that you can see.  If you don’t know what the whole thing should look like, simply do whatever step you do see needs to be done.

(Original publication date:  June 8, 2010 (LEX))