Intentional Torts Outline — Chamallas

Torts Misc Outline – Chamallas

Torts Reproductive Rights Exam Outline

Anyway, my efforts paid off and I ended up in the top 10% and on law review — probably the two most important measures of law school success. Since I did well I want to share the wealth. There were so many assets out on the internet that I used during the year that I feel like it is necessary for me to give back to the community.

Each outline is the final version that I used during my exams. I also had other outlines too but those are probably not the most useful. Generally, I would make a huge outline for each class. Then a month before exams I would rewrite each outline while simultaneously condensing the materials. Once my short outline was complete I would begin to shorten it even more by removing stuff that I didn’t find coming up on practice exams. I was better at this in some classes than others but the general idea was to try and get the outline down to the shortest possible form.

You will find that I put the grade I revived in each class in the outlines. I did this not to brag or anything stupid like that. I decided to do this so you have some idea of what your looking at and if you can trust it. I wouldn’t trust my outlines 100% if I were you but my guess is they are probably more trustworthy than someone who didn’t do so well. During the school year I was always annoyed when people would post their outlines but not how well they did. I wanted to know I was getting something I could trust.

There are a few suspect outlines that I am posting. For example, my legislation outline is not that great. This class was not my favorite and there weren’t many practice exams out there that I could use to narrow it down/turn it into an exam tool. You might also wonder about my contracts outline. Even though I didn’t do so hot in the class, I still stand by it. I think my low grade in that class was more a function of the exam (very weird) than my actual knowledge. In fact, contracts was perhaps my favorite class and definitely was the one I spent the most amount of time doing hypos for.

One last note — the outline don’t represent my views or really anyone else’s views. They are really just a form of highly organized notes designed to help me do well on my exams. Since they are notes for school you would be absolutely insane to use them for legal advice.

Torts Exam Outline – Chamallas

Property Exam Outline – Cohen

Legislation Exam Outline – Tokaji

Crim Exam Outline – Federle

Contracts II Short Exam Outline – Cardi

Con Law — National Power and Federalism – Zipkin

Con Law — Indv Rights – Zipkin

Civ Pro – Fairman

Rayman's Schedule

Generally, I am very pleased with my schedule, as it suites my personal preferences quite well. One thing that I like is that no class starts before 9:10am. This is great for me because I like to work out in the mornings. I also feel like it will be nice to do a little studying prior to class. With this schedule both working out and studying are possible before class.

There is also a nice one hour and a half block in there for lunch. I see myself using this time to either study or eat lunch with my wife. I feel like a lunch date with her could make for a very pleasant afternoon.

I have read some complaints of TLS people about the one Friday class. Some have said, “why not go longer on Thursday and have a three-day weekend.” I, on the other hand, have never been a fan of the no class Friday. I think having one class is perfect because it is enough to make me take the day seriously while also providing ample out of class study time.

In the end I think that my only real disappointment — even though it’s not listed on the schedule above — is not having Professor Dressler for Criminal Law. I was really hoping to get him, since he is a pretty well-known legal scholar and I have enjoyed his blawg in the past. Oh well, I guess I could always just listen to his Sum and Substance lecture series.

Now, if orientation could only hurry up and get here…

Now that it is behind me, I feel weird. First, I felt my mind rebelling against quitting. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to quit, it’s just that I have been doing it for so long that quitting seems to go against who I am. For some reason I feel like the next two weeks are going to intensify that feeling. It is as if I am straddling two worlds — one where it is my life as I have known it for the past two years and the other where I am in my new life as a student.

I wish that it was permissible in the professional world to just send an email and stop showing up. For me that would make things a lot mere pleasant. Not only would I shed these strange feelings of quitting, but I would also not have to sit in an office for two weeks answering questions about why I want to  go to law school. I know that will be what every one will want to know on Monday. Maybe I should make things a little easier and come up with a canned response now.

Why cant I just be back in Columbus already?

Suggested Reading List

I have compiled a short list of optional summer and fall reading material. Some of the selections provide good background information for the concepts you will need during your first year of law school. Other material focuses on the emotional and social aspects of being a law student. Yet other material is simply interesting reading. The list is by no means comprehensive, nor should you endeavor to read it all.

IMPORTANT: Every law student should have a Legal Dictionary (Preferably a recent Black’s Law Dictionary) that they can carry with them to the library, to class, etc. The first semester of law school is quite similar to your first semester of a new language the vocabulary can be strikingly unfamiliar and even familiar words, when used in a legal context, may have unfamiliar meaning.

Law School and Legal Education

Aldisert, Ruggero J., Logic for Lawyers: A Guide to Clear Legal Thinking. 3rd ed. South Bend: National Institute for Trial Advocacy, 1997

Barber, David H., Winning in Law School: Stress Reduction. 2d ed. Dillon, CO: Spectra, 1986

Calamari, John D. and Joseph M. Perillo, eds. How to Thrive in Law School. Pelham Manor, NY: Hook Mountain Press, 1984

Deaver, Jeff., The Complete Law School Companion: How to Excel at America’s Most Demanding Post-Graduate Curriculum. New York: Wiley, 1992

Feinman, Jay M. Law 101: Everything You Need to Know About the American Legal System. Oxford University Press, 2000

Fine, Toni M., American Legal Systems: A Resource and Reference Guide. Anderson Publishing 1997

Guinier, Lani., Becoming Gentlemen: Women, Law School, and Institutional Change. Boston: Beacon Press, 1997

Hegland, Kenney F., Introduction to the Study and Practice of Law in a Nutshell. 2d ed. St. Paul, West, 1995

Kuklin, Bailey and Jeffrey W. Stempel., Foundations of the Law: An Interdisciplinary Approach and Jurisprudential Primer. West Publishing Co, 1994

Levi, Edward., An Introduction to Legal Reasoning. 1948

Llewellyn, Karl N., The Bramble Bush: On Our Law and Its Study. rev. ed. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications 1981

Rapoport, Nancy B. and Jeffrey D. Van Niel, Law School Survival Manual: From LSAT to Bar Exam. Aspen Publishers 2010.

Shapo, Helene S. and Marshall Shapo, Law School Without Fear: Strategies for Success. Foundation Press 1996.

General Reading

Davis, Michael D. and Hunter R. Clark, Thurgood Marshall: Warrior at the Bar, Rebel on the Bench. New York: Birch Lane Press/Carol Publishing Group, 1993

Griffith, Kathryn. Judge Learned Hand and the Role of the Federal Judiciary. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1973

Harr, Johnathan, A Civil Action, Vintage Books 1996

Irons, Peter. The Courage of Their Convictions: Sixteen Americans Who Fought Their Way to the Supreme Court. New York: Penguin, 1990.

Kahlenberg, Richard D., Broken Contract: A Memoir of Harvard Law School. University of Massachusetts Press 1999

Stern, Gerald M., The Buffalo Creek Disaster. Random House 1976

Tribe, Lawrence H., God Save This Honorable Court: How the Choice of Supreme Court Justices Shapes Our History. New York: Penguin/Mentor, 1986.

I value dean Northerns opinion. Clearly, she knows a lot about law school. However, the law school and legal education list leads me to believe that law school prep books are outside of her scope of knowledge. I have done an extensive amount of research on law school prep and can honestly say that I have heard of very few of these books — three perhaps.

More surprising than the books included are the ones omitted. I figured that the list would at least include Law School Confidential. Even though I consider the advice of the latter basic and common sense, a lot of people appreciate it and find its advice useful. Of course Getting to Maybe should be on any law school prep list as well. But that too is absent.

Sure, I can see why the dean may have wanted to leave off PLS II. If I were a law school dean I know that I wouldn’t appreciate the views of Atticus Falcon. I can even understand that the dean may be under some political pressure to promote certain books over others. What I fail to understand however, is how the dean can fail to include one major book that the law school prep community(is there such a thing?) stands behind (read Getting to Maybe).

I have no major problems with the “general reading” list. Indeed, I have even read parts of the Thurgood Marshall bio and found it a good read. I wish that the list had a little more books though. A couple additions not about the supreme court would really balance out the list. Don’t get me wrong, the supreme court is great, its just that there is so much more to the legal field than the supreme court.

At the end of the day, I suppose it is good to have some alternative input. So moving forward I may “endeavor” to get and read a few books off the list. But we shall see.

So, since my last update I have finished reading my Civil Procedure E&E by Glannon. It was a good read…honestly. I really appreciate Glannon’s writing style. On the surface the study of civil procedure doesn’t really seem all that engaging. Somehow, though, Glannon brings the study to life and illustrates how elegant the federal system of civil procedure is. While I was reading it was cool to see how all of the little — sometimes insignificant feeling — rules came together to form a completely integrated system of law.

My favorite aspect of civil procedure was learning about all of the various forms of preclusion doctrine like Res Judicata or Collateral Estoppel. I thought that it was neat how all of the principles interacted to fill in spaces where other principals fell short.

With civil procedure now behind me, and a mere month and one-half remaining, I now turn my focus to the study of constitutional law. I will be reading the E&E Constitutional Law: National Power and Federalism by May and Ides. My impression of constitutional law is that it is important. Other than that, I really don’t have a clue beyond basic civic knowledge. I guess this is one reason why I want to get an early start on this law stuff; Unlike some of my future colleges, I have zero experience with the law.

As of this writing I have read one chapter in my constitutional law E&E. The verdict so far? The law itself seems interesting enough, however, May and Ides are no Glannon. The collective writing of May and Ides seems a little dryer than that of Glannon. I also do not like the way the book is laid out as much as I have with other books in the E&E series.

On the bright side, the book is only 400 or so pages. So, if my initial objections really do end up bothering me a lot, I will be done in a few weeks.

I will be sure to keep you updated…

One of the nice things about having a wife in law school (beyond the emotional support) will be her income. My wife’s income coupled with the affordability of the Columbus real estate market has given us the opportunity to purchase our place to live. Our new place is a two bedroom, two bath, condo located in the heart of short north neighborhood.

For those unfamiliar with the Columbus area, the short north is a hip, artsy, young, urban area of town. It was recently featured in the N.Y. Times in a short travel article titled Columbus Cool. The area of the short north is perfect for my wife and I. It is packed with bars, restaurants and art galleries. It is also about a mile from both the law school and the arena district (another cool Columbus area).

So, beyond the area that our place is located, the house itself is great. It has parking, a yard and was recently remodeled. The main living area takes advantage of a modern open floor plan. Which will be perfect for those (perhaps limited) times when my wife and I entertain. The living room blends seamlessly to the beautifully redone kitchen where the cabinets and tile nicely contrast with the lightly colored bamboo floor.

Another great feature is the space. Currently, my wife and I are living in a 600 sq ft apartment and things are just a little cramped. Our new space is nearly double. I really don’t think I will know what to do with all that space! I’m sure we will find a way to fill it.

Only two months and 15 days (yes I am counting the days) till the big move!

Last week I finished property and started on civil procedure. Property has been my least favorite subject thus this far. Not that I hate it or anything. Some parts were, in fact, quite interesting. It is just that it didn’t flow quite like torts or contracts did. Property also seems kind of segmented. There isn’t as much of a uniform theme like with torts or contracts. It is just kind of like, oh heres personal property, then real property, then land lord tenant…you get the idea.

I am also did not read the examples with procedure. When I started reading property I thought that it was a good idea, so that I would have some fresh hypos to study during school. In retrospect I now realize that reading the examples is an important aspect of my prep. I found that not reading them reduced my retention of the information dramatically. This is probably because the examples make the reading more active than passive. I guess you live in learn — in the future I will read the examples.

So, now it is onto civil procedure. I have read about a hundred pages so far and I am surprised to report that I enjoy it. Granted, I am 1/7th of the way through. I just find it fascinating that there is this completely separate dimension to the law going on in the background of all the rest of law. It is as if you could be the best negligence attorney in the world but if you don’t have the basic procedures down, you could lose every time.

I feel like I huge nerd for liking civil procedure. Maybe, that’s because I am a huge nerd…or at least am becoming one.

Background information: I’m a junior at a top-10 school, ~3.80 GPA in a major of medium difficulty, good at academics across the board (dabbled in everything from English to math). I don’t have a LSAT score yet but feel confident in that area.

On paper I look good, but in all the soft areas I am very different (in a negative way) from other students at my school looking at law school.

I’m a slow thinker. This is relative, of course, but I seem to operate one gear lower compared to my pre-law friends. They can read a book a day, I take a whole week. They can write papers in a few hours, I take a few days. The quality of my work is solid, but it takes me a long time. I also can’t keep up in conversations or class discussions. I don’t mean to sound like I’m left drooling on my notepad, but I notice my mind overheat working to catch up. Lawyers should be sharp and quick on their feet, right?

I have bad speaking skills. Naturally, my slow thinking speed already has a negative impact on my speaking ability. However, I should mention that my speaking ability is independently quite bad. Though I consider myself a good writer, I find it difficult to communicate in speech (poor voice quality, monotone, thoughts get jumbled). Thus, while my GPA is good due to my essay writing, I mostly sound like a moron in class. Even when I have something good to say, the presentation kills it. Lawyers should be eloquent and persuasive, right?

I’m not very social. I’m introverted and far from outgoing. I do a lot of peer tutoring and find myself exhausted by the experience, mostly the social aspect of meeting many new people. Law always struck me as a profession for those confident and outgoing. Of course this one characteristic of mine ties in heavily with the other two.

Well, what do you guys think? I have (or expect to get) the stats for a top law school. But all my personal qualities make me almost the exact opposite of what one would expect of a successful lawyer. Comments, advice?

When I started to read that original post scary thoughts began to creep into my head like “OH NO…Did I write that in my sleep?” Seriously, this person shares a fair amount of the same insecurities that I have. I myself am an introvert and have, in the past, wondered if my personality was a good fit for the legal field.

In contrast to the OP, I have never spent too much time worrying about these insecurities. There are two primary reasons: 1) I have always looked at my decision to become an attorney as a vehicle to help me to overcome my shyness / lack of confidence and 2) As I have learned more about the legal profession, I realized that most lawyers are actually quite far from the flamboyant trial lawyer stereotype.

After I was done reading the OP’s post I was preparing myself for the über critical TLSers to swoop in and destroy the OP. I was however, pleasantly surprised. The majority of the responses were very positive. Sure, there were the typical TLS responses like “you know the LSAT is timed, right?” But, generally the posters encouraged the OP that an introverted personality is complementary to a lot of legal work.

Here’s an excerpt from one of my favorite responses:

Introversion doesn’t mean you don’t have social skills or don’t like ppl, it just means that you feel drained by too much socializing. Extroverts are the opposite, they get energy from being around ppl. Think about this in the context of the work you might do as a lawyer. A lot of lawyering is solitary–writing, researching, reading, etc. This is the case in law school and practicing in most areas of law. A lot of very extroverted ppl who go into law have trouble with this bc they get tired and drained if they engage in too much solitary activity. I think you’ll find that a lot of law students and lawyers are actually pretty introverted ppl. You can learn the networking, the team work, etc. None of that is impossible simply because you enjoy your solitude. You might not be the life of the party all the time, but you don’t need to be. I really don’t think you need to worry about this.

As for the feeling that you think and operate slower than other ppl, it’s possible that you’re just around a lot of blowhards that brag about how quickly they get shit done to seem smart. You’d be surprised how many ppl do that. It’s also possible that you are something of a perfectionist and it takes you longer to complete your work because you’re placing an emphasis on it being extremely thorough and flawless. If that’s the case, you’ll grow out of that. A lot of ppl have to learn in law school to do a “good enough” job where good enough is all that’s needed. If you do the very best job on everything, the work doesn’t get done. It’s a hard skill to learn for perfectionists, but you can do that.

I agree pretty much all of that. The part about operating slower really resonates with me. There are many times when I feel a little “slow” but really I think it’s just that I am very methodical. I am definitely not an “off the cuff” kind of guy, I like to make my words matter. Conversely, there are people who just say whatever is on their mind. Which is fine, it makes the world more interesting. It’s just, when I say something, I want to be certain, I want to think about it.

Anyway, if you have some time, read through the whole thread. It touches on some issues about law school that are not often discussed.

Assuming this leak is correct you can see that Moritz Law’s new rank is 34. Considering only numbers, this is a one number improvement. Alright!

EDIT: It appears that the leak was for real because the real rankings were realased yesterday (4/15) and they match up.