First Year of Law School:
Opportunity and Challenge

A law student’s performance during first year—and first semester, in particular—can have a significant impact on the remainder of his or her legal career. Law review eligibility and summer associate opportunities, for example, depend largely on first year grades.

While maintaining good study habits during first year is crucial, the fact remains that, to a degree, everyone is in the same boat once classes begin: so many concepts, so little time. Most students will not be able to improve their basic skills during this highly demanding experience.

Photo: law school bootcamp. A supportive and collegial environment facilitates learning.

LSAPP^® Law School Bootcamp Overview

One way to increase your odds for a good first year is to be as prepared as possible before it arrives. That’s why we created the Law School Academic Preparation Program^™ (LSAPP^®). It's the class we wish we'd had ourselves.

This “law school bootcamp” is a six-day, eight-hours-per-day (plus one hour for lunch) workshop that takes place over six consecutive days in the summer.

• Legal Writing
• Constitutional Law
• Contracts
• Civil Procedure
• Criminal Law
• Real Property
• Torts

Students will also have one take-home assignment for each of the first five days. Each student will receive one-on-one feedback on his or her writing from the professor.

We’ll also touch upon some basics of the law school experience to give students a broader sense of what’s ahead.