What I Wish I Knew Before Law School By: Kathleen Elliott Vinson “If only I had known that before law school” students often lament with regret.  It may seem like some students have inside information, depending on their prior experience, education, or network.  To level the playing field and start off law school in a… Continue Reading What I Wish I Knew Before Law School

By Hanna J. Ciechanowski When I first started law school, my dad strongly encouraged me to take as many writing classes as possible.  “It’s the most important skill,” he argued, “since effective legal writing is needed for every position you’ll apply for.”  At first I thought this was the best advice I had received—I was… Continue Reading Talk It Out – The Importance of Practicing Oral Advocacy

By Hunter Wildrick When I stepped into the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office on the first day of my summer-after-1L internship, I was filled with emotions.  I was nervous, excited, and questioning whether I would be prepared for the job.  As I sat down at my desk, I was presented with my first task: writing… Continue Reading Skills that Count From the Classroom to Practice

By Clarissa Brady Michael always says ‘K-I-S-S.  Keep it simple, stupid.’ Great advice.  Hurts my feelings every time.” Dwight Schrute I learned that this advice is not only great for paper sales, but also for legal writing.  The natural instinct in the first attempt at legal writing is to add legalese or unnecessary detail.  Whether… Continue Reading Simple is Key

By Kathleen Elliott Vinson & Shailini J. George “I am anxious, stressed, and tired all the time.  I have a headache and my body aches. I feel stupid.  I’m not good enough. Why am I the only one who doesn’t get it?  I’ll never get all this work done.  I feel so overwhelmed.  I feel… Continue Reading Educating The Whole Lawyer: Mind, Body, and Spirit

By Adam Eckart Many students dislike group work, but group work is a key aspect of law school. Group work provides many benefits, such as learning from others, hearing different perspectives, and challenging your own ideas. Although law students are prohibited from working in groups on independent projects or assessments, group work can aid student… Continue Reading The Power of Group Work

By Sabrina DeFabritiis Learn the Law. Practice the Skill. These are two key pieces of advice that anyone who has prepared for the bar exam has heard over and over again.  In order to pass the bar exam, a law school graduate must have a strong understanding of the testable areas of law and must… Continue Reading Everything I Know About Surviving the Bar Exam I Learned from Running.

By Adam Eckart When I meet with students to review a paper, students often react to our discussion with an “aha” moment or with a comment similar to “I don’t know why I wrote that.” While these realizations are important in the writing process, having them at a conference with a professor is often too… Continue Reading Revising Your Way to an A

By Carol Didget Pomfret It is November in New England and as the last of the leaves are falling from the trees we see nature’s clear indications of change.  Days are shorter and temperatures steadily fall, moving from green plants and 70 degree days in September to bare branches and snow by Thanksgiving.  But autumn… Continue Reading Change is in the Air

By Colin M. Black Prior to teaching LPS, I practiced law with a mid-sized Boston firm. Part of my responsibilities included facilitating professional development courses, including a course on advanced legal writing.  While developing that course, I surveyed senior attorneys for their biggest writing pet peeves. Here are a few of the top violations. Wordiness… Continue Reading Legal Writing Pet Peeves—From the Trenches

By Anya Richard Coming into law school, I knew that legal writing and oral advocacy were two key aspects to being a well-rounded lawyer. It was not until I had to face my fear of public speaking during my Legal Practice Skills oral argument assignment, however, that I realized that it is impossible to truly… Continue Reading From Mock Oral Argument to Real-World Jury Trial: Getting Over My Phobia of Public Speaking

By Dyane O’Leary Technology has always helped lawyers — just think of typewriters, fax machines (remember those?!), and e-mail.  But technology is no longer just helping.  It’s doing.  In some ways, technology is just as much a part of lawyering in 2018 as legal analysis or client counseling. So why, then, aren’t law schools teaching… Continue Reading 1Tech Year

By Samantha Moppett When we stand—hands over our heart—to say the pledge of allegiance, we pledge allegiance to a nation with “liberty and justice for all.”  Yet, in the United States, all people do not have access to justice as there is no constitutional right to counsel in civil cases.  Although legal aid agencies exist… Continue Reading Research Blitz to Address the Access to Justice Crisis

By Karin Mika On a cold, weekend February day, I was doing my usual weekend thing of running errands and listening to the Moth Radio Hour on NPR.  The final story that day was “Love Wins,” told by Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges. Although I was familiar with the case, I knew… Continue Reading The Power of the Podcast

By Sarah J. Schendel When I decided to go to law school, it was partially because I wanted a profession where I was “always learning.” After 3 years of law school and a few years of practice I remember thinking: when does the learning stop? When will I just know everything? Law is a rewarding… Continue Reading Smart Students Ask For Help