Esquires (not the magazine)
 

Yesterday was my first day of law school at Florida State University!! :D :D Anyhow, I have a few questions about the profession that I would like to ask any Esquires on the board. If you're up to it, pm me, email me at mizzkes@hotmail.com or reply with your email address and I'll contact you. Thanks!

Hi Soror,
Congratulations on starting lawschool!
I just tried to pm you but your box is full. Feel free to pm me later if you like. I graduated from law school in June, practicing in September. Not officially an Esquire until passing the bar exam (results in October) but licensed to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office at this point. Let me know if I can help.
SC

Re: Esquires (not the magazine)
 

*hijack*
Skee,
your PM box was full, but the feeling is most definitely mutual. Go 'head on Ms. FSU law school!!

do the thang, girl! :cool:

*end hijack*

Not a lawyer but CONGRATS on law school.

Kimmie1913 is a lawyer. :cool:

That's odd, my pm box is empty. I deleted everything yesterday. Hmmmm.

I just tried again and it's still saying PM full. But no matter cause you know we down.

Yours in "ice-cold, frost-covered ivy"....
06-08

Skee, sounds like you have old PMs or Sent PMs that need to be deleted. Check all of your folders from the very beginning.

PM Box cleaned. Thanks CT4.

Can I free legal help for a year? okay a month.

Sure. I have a whole two days worth of legal knowledge... I'd normally charge about $300 per hour, but for you my friend, it's free.

Good Luck! :D

I can wait til you pass the Bar exam. Study hard. :D

I'm not a lawyer but I know everything so folk tell me - lol

Seriously, I'm wishing you much success with law school and all endeavors.

Congrats Soror!!!
Best wish and all the luck! You better believe if i need some legal advice... your on speed dial. ;)

Hello everyone.

I'm curious to know, is the bar exam like the LSAT?

The reason for the question is that my dream has been to go to law school, but the LSAT is holding me back. I was told that the bar exam was just like the LSAT so if I couldn't get past the LSAT I would have the same problem with the bar exam.

One of my problems is concentration. I always think there's something I need to be doing, so I drift off. And those darn logic games.

Can someone offer some advice.


AND congratulations Skeephi.

Ditto on that:) Good luck to you!

From my understanding, the Bar is NOTHING like the LSAT. I think that you apply the information and knowledge that you have acquired in law school on the test. I could be wrong so those that really know can correct me.

I'm taking my last shot at the LSAT in October. I have decided to stay in the state, so I'll be applying to Loyola, Tulane, LSU, and Southern. Everyone tells me that SU has a damn good law school, so that may be where I'll be enrolled next fall (if the Lord says the same). Wish me luck!!

GOOD LUCK IN LAW SCHOOL, SKEE!!! :D

Hi SF,
I just took the bar exam so here's my take. The *material* as between the two tests is different but the need to concentrate under time pressure is the same. If concentration is your problem, I encourage you to 1. start taking Gingko Biloba b/c it helps concentration and focus 2. practice meditating for 10-15 minutes a few times a week 3. study in a room in which there are no distractions and no sounds and 4. most important - practice, practice, practice the drills and practice tests - practice will make perfect. As you move along in studying, take the timed practice tests under practice conditions and this will help you to at least be very familiar with the way that you will feel and have to re-focus yourself during the actual test. Here's one motivator that I used b/c I used to have a tendency to think that there are other things that I need to be doing: be in the moment. Even if you do need to be doing soemthing else while you are taking the exam, you can't very well get up and do it so don't worry about it. Keep a running list of all the things that you need to be doing and to write it down, schedule time for it and don't think about it anymore. Resolve w/in yourself that you are going to give 100% to *everything* that you do and that that requires FOCUS on whatever it is that you are doing at that time. If all else fails, think of the time and money and countless hours that you have invested in studying and missing time away from family and friends and try to focus so that you won't ever have to miss that precious time again.

If you want the JD (or anything else in life for that matter), don't let the LSAT (or anything else) stop you. When I was growing up and even today, my daddy used that cliche that you can do anything that you can put your mind to and it's really true so hop to it and pm me if you want to discuss further. :)


SC

Thanks for the great advice! I know I did not ask the above question, but you definately answered mine!

ETA: SkeephistAKAte, good luck to you in law school. And RefindDiva good luck w/ taking the LSAT. Hopefully I'll be where you are in a couple of years...

Hi SNS,
I'm glad that I was able to help! :)
SC

Re: Esquires (not the magazine)
 

As CT4 said, Kimmie1913, Esq. here. I will PM you or you can hit me up.

Thanks everyone! If you don't see me around for a while you know why...who am I kidding, when I look around during class lectures everyone is on the wireless network surfing the net. Thanks again for the congrats.

LSAT: I took an LSAT prep course (not Princeton Review) and it really helped. It raised my score 10 points. In conjunction with the course, I took a practice exam at least once weekly for about 6 weeks, I then increased it to about 3 times per week about 2 weeks prior to the exam. This was helpful in that it enabled me to become really familiar and comfortable with the exam. When it was time for the real thing, it had become sort of a "habit" for me. Practice makes perfect.
The games portion was my weakest portion also, but I just accepted that and tried to work harder on the other portions of the exam so that it would balance out.
Hope this helps!

I'm a lawyer, and my best advice is study your a$$ off during your first year, and get the best grades you can. Explain to your family that you will miss Thanksgiving b/c you need to study for exams. I MEAN IT!!!! Tell them now. Your job prospects are in large part determined by your grades your first year. Even jobs several years out. Some firms will NEVER take you if you're not in the top of your class. It's always easier to go to a smaller firm and less money if you want to, but once those first year grades are set in stone, your options may be limited.

Also, to the person who was having problems focusing, try yoga.

:)

Rho4Life, ska Big Sister Legal Eagle :cool:

I agree that the first year is a big sacrifice of time. I studied at my parent's home during the Thanksgiving break (so that I could be with my family) but a person has to be able to focus at his/her parent's home when the time comes to that.

I would just like to add that it is important to not study every hour of the day and to have a balance. I would say study smart and be efficient as opposed to killing yourself by working all hours of the night, every night b/c lawschool really is a marathon, not a race and it is entirely possible to burn yourself out and basically be dead by March or so.

Also, the better the lawschool that you can get into, the less you have to worry about being in the top half of your class. If you can get into a top ten, most employers don't even worry about your grades as much as long as you aren't C'ing your way through. I guess that I'd also add that of course each person has to make his/her personal choice about choice of lawschool but based on my experience and looking around at students at various schools that have a higher rate of students who didn't get jobs after graduation, I would encourage someone to (unless you are getting a full ride or something elsewhere) go to a school that is as highly ranked as possible.

SC

I went to Hastings, which is one of the top schools in the country, and the recruiters that came to our campus look HARD at grades. I didn't mean to imply that you should study 24/7, but for most people, you're going to have to study harder and smarter in law school than you've done before, b/c you're now with the cream of the crop. The slackers from undergrad are now working in random corporate jobs.


Good Luck!

Hi Rho4life,
I agree that one must study harder. I went to University of Chicago Law School, which is one of the premier lawschools in the country, so I am with you. However, for us, interviewers didn't really look to hard at our grades as long as one was not getting primarily C's.

ETA: By no means do I mean to imply that grades are not important. I agree that everyone should get grades that are as good as possible and I agree that the first year is the most important in terms of dictating the ease with which you will secure jobs after the second and final year.

Are you practicing in Cali?

SC

SKEEphistAKAte,

It's been quite a while since I graduated from law school, but I wholeheartedly concur with my fellow attorneys in saying that you must keep up your grades the first year because they determine where you'll go thereafter. I entered law school not knowing a thing other than I wanted to be an attorney. Feel free to PM me with any questions you may have. Good luck.

I concur!!!!!!!!
 

I bought some yesterday and started them today. I am goign to see what happens between today and October 2, when I test. I am going to start some prep tests next week. Hopefully, I will score big, but I am just trying to relax. I also have to start hustling my recommendations and work on my essays. I'm in it for the long haul! :D

Good Luck Sistahdiva!

Congrats to you Skee!!! One of my Line Sisters is in her last year of law school at FSU. I'll pm you her info. Good luck!!:D