By: Haesoo Yoon It was Monday, August 17th, and I was incessantly checking the time and converting EST (Eastern Standard Time) to KST (Korea Standard Time). Since the New Student Orientation began at 9:30am EST and ended at 6:00pm EST, I would be participating from Monday 10:30pm to Tuesday 7:00am in Korea. Little did I… Continue Reading Five Tips for Learning Across Timezones (and at Home)

By: Joe Murphy If you’re talking about the Rule Against Perpetuities – let’s hope not.  If you’re talking about the research skills, case synthesis, and memo formatting you learned in your Legal Practice Skills (LPS) course – then probably.  And if you are a judicial intern this summer or ever practice law – then definitely.… Continue Reading Will I ever use any of this stuff?

By: Harmony Decosimo One of the greatest compliments I receive from students at the end of 1L year is that because of our LPS class, they feel “so much more confident” to tackle their summer internships. And they should! The goal of the Legal Practice Skills Program is to equip our students with the practical… Continue Reading Do This, Not That! Tips for Summer Success

by Prof. Adam Eckart In the Broadway blockbuster, Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton praises Aaron Burr’s trial advocacy skills in “Non-Stop,” a song where Hamilton describes Burr as “incredible in court; succinct, persuasive.” While these attributes – and others – make for effective litigators, such attributes are important outside the courtroom too. After all, effective oral advocacy… Continue Reading Oral Advocacy: Not Just for Litigators

By: Mary Levine Beginning law school is no easy task, but the addition of a global pandemic forcing many law schools to adhere to remote learning has not make the task any easier. With that being said, law schools across the country, including Suffolk, have developed numerous programs and initiatives to ensure that your quality… Continue Reading Maximizing Legal Practice Skills Online

By: Sam Cote The best piece of advice I got from upper-level students during orientation was to create a buffer between the time I dedicated to school and the time I allocated for myself. My strategy was quite simple, don’t leave the library to go home until I finished all my work for the day.… Continue Reading Demarcate Your Day: Avoid Burn Out While Learning Remotely

By: Adam Eckart Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, many legal writing courses like Legal Practice Skills finished this past semester on-track and on-topic by discussing persuasion, submitting persuasive memoranda, and presenting oral arguments. Often overlooked by students, one important skill developed in a persuasive semester is learning how to draft advocacy letters –… Continue Reading Transferability: Applying Principles of Persuasive Writing to Transactional Matters

By: Timothy J. Duff Being a successful lawyer is difficult. Being a happy, successful lawyer even more so. One reason is that lawyers are essentially professional writers, and writing is hard work—time consuming and stressful even when done well. Fortunately, however, you can maintain your well-being as a lawyer by focusing on the writing process.… Continue Reading Maintaining Well-Being as a Lawyer by Focusing on the Writing Process

By: Emily Gold During one of my first classes in law school, my LPS professor told my class the importance of failing. She went on to explain that F.A.I.L. simply stands for “first attempt in learning”, and it is the first step towards fostering a new skill. I was at first skeptical of this advice—in… Continue Reading Learning to F.A.I.L. in Law School

By  Harmony Decosimo It’s hard to believe, but the arrival of the first few snowflakes and the panicked expressions on student faces remind us that it’s true: another fall semester is coming to an end. For 1Ls, the end of the first semester is particularly fraught because of the impending arrival of final exams and… Continue Reading More Than Grades: Prioritizing The Development of Trustworthiness

By Dyane O’Leary Associate Professor of Legal Writing Co-Director, Legal Innovation & Technology Concentration Robots (insert: fun term for computer algorithms) vacuum our homes, tell us the weather, tweet out football scores, play our favorite songs, and help us avoid last minute traffic jams. But they can’t write “like a lawyer,” right? Wrong. Algorithms can… Continue Reading Submitted By: Legal Writing Robot, BBO #55555

By Professors Rosa Kim and Dyane O’Leary We often tell law students not to expect to “get it right” the first time doing something new.  Our recent experience teaching online legal writing courses revealed just how true that is. Distance education in law schools is exploding.  The American Bar Association’s decision last year to allow… Continue Reading Teaching a Hybrid Legal Writing Course? Lessons From Two First-Timers