Time limits and law school exams

For the second time this semester, I took an exam that I could have used at least another half hour to complete. Professors write exams where most students write until the very second time is called. As a result, I usually submit answers that are formatted poorly, and that include either too much information, or not enough.

I am a "ponderer." I like to think things through and determine the best course of action, not just a "good" course of action. This personality and law school exams are like oil and water. They just don't mix. This means that I take exams in areas of the law that I am familiar with and enjoy, but give the professor the impression that I am clueless about them in the end.

Why can't they just give us more time on the exams? If they are worried about those students who write too much, they can give us a word limit. That won't hurt anyone. I welcome it actually. The real skills they should be testing are those that apply to the real world. In real life, a client doesn't ask your opinion and expect a thorough response in 3 hours or less. They want an idea of their options during the meeting, and a well thought out response later. What we really should be asking of students is that they THINK about things and keep written work to a reasonable length.


What do you think?
Discuss.

Further evidence I am clueless

Further evidence that I am somewhat clueless will be provided on Monday morning. I decided to put some more time into studying evidence (even though I have already studied more for this exam than for ANY 2 of my exams last semester). I still know almost nothing. I feel like I could object if I heard a leading question, or if there was some really blatant hearsay, but other than that, I just don't know.

Many of my classmates are taking this class pass/fail. Despite what it's called, pass/fail is really a way for those with high GPAs to protect them from "damage" and it doesn't help that much. If you get a C, C+, B- or B, your transcript shows "Pass." If you get anything else, it shows the actual grade. In my case, I really would be very happy to get a B, so using a pass/fail is foolish.

I want future employers (especially those familiar with this odd little system) to see that I wasn't afraid of this class. That I was there to learn, not to get a grade. That I honestly wasn't 100% of what the heck was going on, and threw caution to the wind.

Oops! Well, I probably don't want them to know that last part, but you'll never tell, will ya blog audience? You have been great so far, so don't screw me over now! LOL!

My family law "exam"

The exam is in quotes because it was more like a series of trick questions. Rather than give an essay exam about how we would advise a client who came in with a certain issue, the exam asked us to pick the best answer out of 4. We had 150 minutes to answer 40 questions. That's not even 4 minutes a question. Each question had a long paragraph of facts and then four two or three sentence answers to choose from. Just reading each question took a couple minutes. That left no time to ponder an answer or think through anything.

What does this teach us?

In practice, if a man comes in for a divorce, I am not just going to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. I will consider carefully his options and maybe look at the statute. Why wouldn't our exam encourage us to do just that?

While I don't intend to practice Family Law, I do intend to practice a kind of law that involves me and a client. I don't intend to practice "dartboard law" and I don't enjoy being tested that way.

I have started totally not caring about grades and wanting to just be a good lawyer. What a novelty, huh?

1L exams are over

So....my first law school exams are over. I don't think I did as well as I could have, had I prepared. My mama told me that I should have started outlining earlier, but I just never did. Mama said that I should study hard, but I just studied....a lot.

I have always been a fly by the seat of her pants kinda girl, and this is no exception. Despite my good intentions of getting my exam prep in order early, I ended up doing what I am best at - waiting to the last minute and winging it.

Hopefully, this baby bird learned to fly. Otherwise, there is gonna be a big splat! under my tree when grades come out!