First-year law students, here’s the key adjustment I made to go from the bottom 50% to the top 10%: I stopped spending valuable time reading for class during the final stretch. Instead, I focused on: - Memorizing each class’s skeleton outline. - Reviewing as many practice tests as I could get my hands on. - Using every opportunity to rest and recharge to stay sharp for exams. - Practicing applying the law to facts and analyzing both sides of any fact pattern. Don’t stress about knowing every word in the casebook—that’s not what you’re tested on. You’ll absorb the essential issues through reviewing hypothetical exam questions and sample answers anyway. It’s crucial to have a mental outline of each class, so you can easily recognize what the professor is testing on the exam based on the fact pattern. But don’t think you need to read every word of the casebook to achieve this. That’s nonsense, and even if professors imply otherwise, it’s simply not true. Focus your time on high-return activities, even if that means taking a mental break. Saving brain power for the exam room is essential, so concentrate your energy on activities that maximize your study efficiency. Here’s my strategy for the final months before finals: 1. Use resources like Quimbee and other case-briefing tools instead of pouring over the book. Use the time saved to focus on finals prep. 2. Spend any extra time resting, not rereading the casebook. 3. Aim to take at least one full practice test per day and review as many hypothetical fact patterns as possible. Who cares if you get cold-called and don’t know the answer? If anyone judges you, that’s on them. Your focus should be on the exam, not each class. Do you have any advice for law students nearing finals? Sharing it might help someone you know.
AmLaw 5 Associate → Headhunter | President of Pathfinder Legal Placement
First-year law students, here’s the key adjustment I made to go from the bottom 50% to the top 10%: I stopped spending valuable time reading for class during the final stretch. Instead, I focused on: - Memorizing each class’s skeleton outline. - Reviewing as many practice tests as I could get my hands on. - Using every opportunity to rest and recharge to stay sharp for exams. - Practicing applying the law to facts and analyzing both sides of any fact pattern. Don’t stress about knowing every word in the casebook—that’s not what you’re tested on. You’ll absorb the essential issues through reviewing hypothetical exam questions and sample answers anyway. It’s crucial to have a mental outline of each class, so you can easily recognize what the professor is testing on the exam based on the fact pattern. But don’t think you need to read every word of the casebook to achieve this. That’s nonsense, and even if professors imply otherwise, it’s simply not true. Focus your time on high-return activities, even if that means taking a mental break. Saving brain power for the exam room is essential, so concentrate your energy on activities that maximize your study efficiency. Here’s my strategy for the final months before finals: 1. Use resources like Quimbee and other case-briefing tools instead of pouring over the book. Use the time saved to focus on finals prep. 2. Spend any extra time resting, not rereading the casebook. 3. Aim to take at least one full practice test per day and review as many hypothetical fact patterns as possible. Who cares if you get cold-called and don’t know the answer? If anyone judges you, that’s on them. Your focus should be on the exam, not each class. Do you have any advice for law students nearing finals? Sharing it might help someone you know.
The secret weapon in law school isn't having the "perfect" outline from last year's top student. It's making your own. As a first-gen law student, I used to panic when classmates bragged about scoring outlines from their 2L and 3L connects. I didn't have that network. But what felt like a disadvantage became my edge. Creating my own outlines—then condensing them until only the essentials remained—taught me to think like a lawyer. I know partners who prefer to write their own argument outlines for every hearing, despite having decades of experience. Why? Because there's no better way to master the issues. Those hours wrestling with material, deciding what matters most? That's not just study technique—that's lawyering. Law students: Don't take the shortcut. Build your own outlines. Your future self will thank you.
“I don’t know where to get materials to study as a student” In my 100 level as a law student , I was completely lost - it felt like law was another language on its own , although I could understand what my lecturer was saying , I found it really difficult at some point to remember and be able to reproduce it and this is because I did not know where to get materials to read further asides from my “Abiola Sanni” and although the book did a wonderful job with explaining some key terms , they’re also various places I got materials from that seemed unlikely but were a great help and I thought to share : 🌟| YouTube : Yes , you read correctly, I spent so many nights watching videos on various topics on YouTube , I found Diekolola Daniels’s channel enriching and I had so much fun learning while watching Bar talk with Ola (definitely check it out) They are also animated series explaining cases on YouTube - just type the name of the case in the search bar! I hope to even start my own channel where I can explain some law concepts to help students soon! 🌟| Quizzlet : This is a study tool (app and website) that allows you create digital flashcards to help you remember and recall key concepts! You can also study sets that have been created by others and some of them have valuable materials. You should definitely check them out because they helped me out so much in my LLB journey. 🌟| LinkedIn : Most people are not aware that articles can be posted on LinkedIn , if you were one of them - well , welcome to the light ! Professionals and researchers have taken out time to write articles and have posted it here on LinkedIn , all you have to do is search it ! I read Ufuoma Madagwa ‘s article on law of the seas for my public international law test and I aced it. You should definitely consider searching the articles here on LinkedIn and see what you can find. I’ll stop here for now , but they’re so many other sources of information and materials , If the usual “google search” isn’t doing it for you , consider checking the above mentioned sources and I hope you find what you’re looking for. I hope this helps , thank you for reading this far! #studytips#lawstudentdiary#studymaterials
“I don’t know where to get materials to study as a student” In my 100 level as a law student , I was completely lost - it felt like law was another language on its own , although I could understand what my lecturer was saying , I found it really difficult at some point to remember and be able to reproduce it and this is because I did not know where to get materials to read further asides from my “Abiola Sanni” and although the book did a wonderful job with explaining some key terms , they’re also various places I got materials from that seemed unlikely but were a great help and I thought to share : 🌟| YouTube : Yes , you read correctly, I spent so many nights watching videos on various topics on YouTube , I found Diekolola Daniels’s channel enriching and I had so much fun learning while watching Bar talk with Ola (definitely check it out) They are also animated series explaining cases on YouTube - just type the name of the case in the search bar! I hope to even start my own channel where I can explain some law concepts to help students soon! 🌟| Quizzlet : This is a study tool (app and website) that allows you create digital flashcards to help you remember and recall key concepts! You can also study sets that have been created by others and some of them have valuable materials. You should definitely check them out because they helped me out so much in my LLB journey. 🌟| LinkedIn : Most people are not aware that articles can be posted on LinkedIn , if you were one of them - well , welcome to the light ! Professionals and researchers have taken out time to write articles and have posted it here on LinkedIn , all you have to do is search it ! I read Ufuoma Madagwa ‘s article on law of the seas for my public international law test and I aced it. You should definitely consider searching the articles here on LinkedIn and see what you can find. I’ll stop here for now , but they’re so many other sources of information and materials , If the usual “google search” isn’t doing it for you , consider checking the above mentioned sources and I hope you find what you’re looking for. I hope this helps , thank you for reading this far! #studytips#lawstudentdiary#studymaterials
Child of God. I contribute to academic excellence by sharing effective study tips based on research and experience. Final Year Law Student. Human Rights Law Enthusiast. Goal driven.
If you want to ace your exams with an A grade, then you must do this. In my 200 Level, I took a course I genuinely loved—Family Law. Though tricky and bulky, I studied the course outline thoroughly. But when exam time came, I was in for a shock. Out of the three questions in Part A, I couldn’t understand a single one. The problem questions were confusing and complicated, and the essay questions were tangled in legal jargon I just couldn’t grasp. I ended up writing whatever came to mind. When the results were out, I scored my lowest that semester—40 out of 70. I’m certain it was the tricky Section A that pulled my score down because I did well on the straightforward Section B. The same lecturer was set to teach us Family Law again the next semester. This time, I took a different approach... ...I focused heavily on past questions. I devoted myself to solving and analyzing past exam questions from the same lecturer. This helped me understand his style and how to tackle the tricky exams. When the exams came, the questions were just as challenging, but I was ready. I confidently answered the problems and essays. The results? I scored the second highest in the course—57 out of 70, an A grade. So, how can you effectively utilize past questions for academic excellence? 1. Start Early and Practice Regularly Use past questions well before exams to familiarize yourself with question styles and spot weak areas. 2. Simulate Real Exam Conditions Practice under timed, quiet settings to improve speed and reduce anxiety during the real exam. 3. Switch from Open-Book to Closed-Book Begin practicing with notes, then move to timed closed-book sessions to strengthen memory and application. 4. Review and Reflect After practice, analyze mistakes to understand errors and improve your answers. 5. Target Weak Areas and Use Variety Focus on frequently tested topics and practice different types of questions. 6. Collaborate and Discuss Study with peers to gain different perspectives and deepen understanding. I hope you find this helpful, if you do, react and leave your feedback, feel free to share to your study groups. I'm Uduak Wisdom, a final year student dedicated to sharing lessons from my academic mistakes to aid your academic excellence story. Attached is a photo of my family law exam, if you understand it, let me know. 🤣
Child of God. I contribute to academic excellence by sharing effective study tips based on research and experience. Final Year Law Student. Human Rights Law Enthusiast. Goal driven.
If you want to ace your exams with an A grade, then you must do this. In my 200 Level, I took a course I genuinely loved—Family Law. Though tricky and bulky, I studied the course outline thoroughly. But when exam time came, I was in for a shock. Out of the three questions in Part A, I couldn’t understand a single one. The problem questions were confusing and complicated, and the essay questions were tangled in legal jargon I just couldn’t grasp. I ended up writing whatever came to mind. When the results were out, I scored my lowest that semester—40 out of 70. I’m certain it was the tricky Section A that pulled my score down because I did well on the straightforward Section B. The same lecturer was set to teach us Family Law again the next semester. This time, I took a different approach... ...I focused heavily on past questions. I devoted myself to solving and analyzing past exam questions from the same lecturer. This helped me understand his style and how to tackle the tricky exams. When the exams came, the questions were just as challenging, but I was ready. I confidently answered the problems and essays. The results? I scored the second highest in the course—57 out of 70, an A grade. So, how can you effectively utilize past questions for academic excellence? 1. Start Early and Practice Regularly Use past questions well before exams to familiarize yourself with question styles and spot weak areas. 2. Simulate Real Exam Conditions Practice under timed, quiet settings to improve speed and reduce anxiety during the real exam. 3. Switch from Open-Book to Closed-Book Begin practicing with notes, then move to timed closed-book sessions to strengthen memory and application. 4. Review and Reflect After practice, analyze mistakes to understand errors and improve your answers. 5. Target Weak Areas and Use Variety Focus on frequently tested topics and practice different types of questions. 6. Collaborate and Discuss Study with peers to gain different perspectives and deepen understanding. I hope you find this helpful, if you do, react and leave your feedback, feel free to share to your study groups. I'm Uduak Wisdom, a final year student dedicated to sharing lessons from my academic mistakes to aid your academic excellence story. Attached is a photo of my family law exam, if you understand it, let me know. 🤣
Bestselling Author, “Dear 1L: Notes to Nurture a New Legal Writer.” Legal Writing Coach for Lawyers and Law Students. Pre-Law Advisor. Big Law Alum. Law Mom.
No law student wants to spend a holiday weekend at school— —on an empty campus, —away from family, —eating dining hall food. But for many, that’s the plan. —Home is hours away. —Exams are not far away. —There are only so many hours in a day. And so, students stay. If that is you, please know that I see you; I will be thinking of you this weekend; 👉 Here’s an exam-prep tip just for you: Don’t just memorize outlines of rules. Instead, read practice problems to learn and memorize the material. Having black-and-white lists in your head isn’t enough. You need the color of the stories for the abstract concepts to cement. Now I’ll admit: I used to be scared of practice problems. I’d read them, be clueless, and get defeated. But I learned to treat them as short stories, not “gotcha” tests. I stopped approaching them like a challenge, and started just reading and retyping the answers. —By recopying the stories and explaining why the answer came out the way it did in your own words, you will internalize the stories. —And by learning the stories, you will learn the material. Doing this was a major differentiator for me. I hope it might work for you, too. 💌 Amanda #Dear1L P.S. If you’re a law student who has followed “Dear 1L,” the book, today is a really good day to RE-read chapter 7 on exams! P.P.S. Did you spend 1L Thanksgiving weekend on campus? Any tips for current students who are trying to make it through the weekend?
Georgetown Legal Practice Professor | How I Lawyer Podcast Creator | vLex Fastcase 50 Honoree | ✍️ I write and speak about what lawyers do, why they do it, & how they do it ethically and effectively.
Reupping my most important advice for law students: To do better on your exams? All you need is one word. That word is BECAUSE. Every semester I read 100s of pages of student writing and I find myself giving the same advice over and over: tell me why. What LAW? What FACTS? And one way to force yourself to do that and to tell the reader why is to use the word because. Without using the word because it is easy to make conclusory arguments (my least favorite law school word). Where you just say the law is met or worse that the law is met because the definition of the law is met but don’t identify the key facts. Bad: John battered Sam. Better: John battered Sam because his fist touched him. Best: Battery requires physical contact. John made physical contact with Sam because John punched him on the playground. You can always remove the “because” or write it out for style (I call this the “implicit” because) but writing it first makes you show your work. Think of it like high school geometry. You only get credit if you show your work to get to the answer. Because forces that! You don’t get credit in law school (or in law for that matter) by making your reader figure out WHY. That is your job. Saying “because” forces you to show your work and that works for law school exams because the professor needs to see the connection between law and fact and conclusion. You got this (because you’ve worked all semester).
Georgetown Legal Practice Professor | How I Lawyer Podcast Creator | vLex Fastcase 50 Honoree | ✍️ I write and speak about what lawyers do, why they do it, & how they do it ethically and effectively.
Reupping my most important advice for law students: To do better on your exams? All you need is one word. That word is BECAUSE. Every semester I read 100s of pages of student writing and I find myself giving the same advice over and over: tell me why. What LAW? What FACTS? And one way to force yourself to do that and to tell the reader why is to use the word because. Without using the word because it is easy to make conclusory arguments (my least favorite law school word). Where you just say the law is met or worse that the law is met because the definition of the law is met but don’t identify the key facts. Bad: John battered Sam. Better: John battered Sam because his fist touched him. Best: Battery requires physical contact. John made physical contact with Sam because John punched him on the playground. You can always remove the “because” or write it out for style (I call this the “implicit” because) but writing it first makes you show your work. Think of it like high school geometry. You only get credit if you show your work to get to the answer. Because forces that! You don’t get credit in law school (or in law for that matter) by making your reader figure out WHY. That is your job. Saying “because” forces you to show your work and that works for law school exams because the professor needs to see the connection between law and fact and conclusion. You got this (because you’ve worked all semester).
Providing Practical Legal Advice to Clients | Partner at Renno & Co | Co-Founder at 4L Academy | Founder of The Authentic Legal Professional | SMB M&A | Tech | Crypto/Blockchain | Neurodiversity Stuff
Most people struggle with law school exams. But there's a formula to doing well, and it's time for that formula to stop being a secret. As part of my ongoing goal to reduce stress and anxiety for law students, we've put together the most comprehensive 'how to write law school exams' resource out there. It's free. It's publicly available. And it's yours to leverage as you see fit. We start things off with a detailed list of best practices. Then we give you links to some really important resources, including a recording of us running through the sample exam answers included in the guide. And then we provide actual examples of both good and bad exam answers and walk you through a framework to write law exams. I've run multiple exam prep sessions for 1Ls at Canadian law schools in the past few years, but I wanted to make sure we got this resource into the hands of as many people who could benefit from it as possible. The usual disclaimer applies - listen to your profs' advice and take everything in our resource as merely a suggestion. We can't guarantee success - but we are incredibly confident that if you follow our advice, you'll be better set up for success if you're a law student studying at a Canadian law school. #lawyers#legalprofession#lawstudents
Cloud AppDev @ AWS | 7x AWS Certified | Top 21 Cloud Creators Worldwide | LinkedIn Top Voice | ID&E | Women in STEM | Award-Winning Industry Mentor | Thoughts are my own.
The #AWS cert that changed my career! 3 years ago, I was googling: “Which AWS cert should I do first?” I didn’t know much about Cloud back then, just curiosity and a dream. That one decision changed everything. I chose the AWS Solutions Architect Associate, passed it, and it opened doors I didn’t even know existed. It helped me land my first AWS job, and truly kickstarted my Cloud journey. Here’s exactly how I prepared 👇 ✅ 1. Understand the Exam Curriculum Start by reviewing the official exam guide. Know what AWS expects. It gives direction to your study plan. ✅ 2. Learn from the Best Enroll in video courses that break down concepts visually: - Stéphane Maarek (Udemy) - A Cloud Guru - Adrian Cantrill ✅ 3. Apply What You Learn Don’t just watch. Build. Deploy real workloads, experiment with free-tier projects, and make mistakes. That’s how real learning happens. ✅ 4. Read AWS Documentation & Whitepapers AWS docs and whitepapers are gold. Whenever you take practice tests, explore the docs linked in answer explanations, they’re straight from AWS experts. ✅ 5. Take Practice Tests (and Review Every Mistake) Aim for 80%+ on three or more practice exams. Don’t just memorize answers, understand why you got them wrong. ✅ 6. Schedule the Exam Once you’re consistently scoring well, book the test. Stay calm, trust your prep, and go for it 💪 Certifications aren’t just badges. They’re confidence boosters. Proof that you can learn fast and deliver value. Your first cert might just change your career too. #aws#awscertification#cloudcomputing#awscertified#awsSolutionsArchitect#motivation#careerdevelopment Amazon Web Services (AWS) AWS Training & Certification Amazon
Cloud AppDev @ AWS | 7x AWS Certified | Top 21 Cloud Creators Worldwide | LinkedIn Top Voice | ID&E | Women in STEM | Award-Winning Industry Mentor | Thoughts are my own.
The #AWS cert that changed my career! 3 years ago, I was googling: “Which AWS cert should I do first?” I didn’t know much about Cloud back then, just curiosity and a dream. That one decision changed everything. I chose the AWS Solutions Architect Associate, passed it, and it opened doors I didn’t even know existed. It helped me land my first AWS job, and truly kickstarted my Cloud journey. Here’s exactly how I prepared 👇 ✅ 1. Understand the Exam Curriculum Start by reviewing the official exam guide. Know what AWS expects. It gives direction to your study plan. ✅ 2. Learn from the Best Enroll in video courses that break down concepts visually: - Stéphane Maarek (Udemy) - A Cloud Guru - Adrian Cantrill ✅ 3. Apply What You Learn Don’t just watch. Build. Deploy real workloads, experiment with free-tier projects, and make mistakes. That’s how real learning happens. ✅ 4. Read AWS Documentation & Whitepapers AWS docs and whitepapers are gold. Whenever you take practice tests, explore the docs linked in answer explanations, they’re straight from AWS experts. ✅ 5. Take Practice Tests (and Review Every Mistake) Aim for 80%+ on three or more practice exams. Don’t just memorize answers, understand why you got them wrong. ✅ 6. Schedule the Exam Once you’re consistently scoring well, book the test. Stay calm, trust your prep, and go for it 💪 Certifications aren’t just badges. They’re confidence boosters. Proof that you can learn fast and deliver value. Your first cert might just change your career too. #aws#awscertification#cloudcomputing#awscertified#awsSolutionsArchitect#motivation#careerdevelopment Amazon Web Services (AWS) AWS Training & Certification Amazon
I’m a teacher as well as an attorney, and I used to tutor bar examinees. Here is my #1 tip for studying for the bar exam: Generate outlines from scratch for every subject. These outlines should mainly include rules you haven’t mastered. Draw your outlines’ content from Adaptibar or a similar source of practice questions accompanied by explanations. If you get a question wrong, gather all the rules of law needed to answer the question correctly and discard incorrect answers, and add these rules to your outline in your own words. For essay questions, use Mary Basick’s book “Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam” — at least if you’re in California, though I suspect it would be useful for other jurisdictions that require essays. More tips here (https://lnkd.in/gtqrvn-P) and here (https://lnkd.in/gBGfVUe7). #barexam#lawschool#lawyers#law