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Law and the Legal Profession > Module 5 - Admissions Process/ Personal Statement, Optional Essays, and Choosing a Law school/ Successful Lawyer Skills and Effectiveness Factors > Flashcards

Module 5 - Admissions Process/ Personal Statement, Optional Essays, and Choosing a Law school/ Successful Lawyer Skills and Effectiveness Factors Flashcards

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1
Q

Personal statement is

A

more than a list of accomplishments

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2
Q

Law schools, through your personal statement, want to be assured of

A
  • maturity despite youth
  • commitment to the study of law
  • ability to succeed in rigorous environment
  • independent thinking skills
  • understanding of the world around you
  • a feeling of duty greater than self-interest
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3
Q

Schools tend to have personal statement topics be

A

left open to your choice

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4
Q

What are the elements of a good personal statement?

A
  • interesting read without needing to rely on shock value
  • conversational tone
  • not there to show off big words
  • allows schools to get to know you in a way they can’t from the other pieces of the application
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5
Q

Essays will

A
  • remain relatively the same for all schools
  • some schools have specifications
  • only need to tailor it to specific schools if they ask to do so/ you have a specific reason for picking a school
  • most schools ask for 2-pages (double-spaced) –> keeps to length requirements; follow directions
  • brevity rules
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6
Q

Save the personal statement to

A

address something positive

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7
Q

Explain poor grades, circumstances, etc. in

A

addenda, save the personal statement to address something positive

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8
Q

Use the personal statement and other documents in the application to

A

provide a thorough glimpse on how different factors in your life overlapped and added to your perspective/experiences (ex. addenda + personal statement + diversity statement = fuller picture)

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9
Q

Regardless of topic, it is important to show

A
  • how law school fits into your goal (does not have to be in relation to an area of law to practice AKA art major who wants to represent artists as an attorney)
  • needs to tell something personal about YOU/YOUR experiences
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10
Q

Topics to Avoid

A
  • using internship unless you learned something unique
  • avoid essay revolving around high school and only use childhood experiences as context for later decisions/achievements
  • avoid study abroad
  • story that makes you a high-maintenance complainer
  • event that entire country experienced unless it intimately affected you
    childhood dream of wanting to become a lawyer
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11
Q

Start the Personal statement with

A

a relevant fact; avoid vague statements

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12
Q

Things to watch out for in a personal statement

A
  • arrogance/elitism
  • claiming a drive to help others without evidence to back it up
  • conclusions without facts
  • restating the resume
  • talking around issues
  • spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors
  • trying to be too memorable/inauthentic story
  • treatises on the importance of law in society
  • quotes not said directly to you, especially by famous people
  • being artsy
  • failure to follow directions
  • including schools name as a fill-in-the-blank
  • terms –> personally, firsthand, in conclusion, I believe, unique
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13
Q

Personal statement should end with

A

something about law school (how what you shared led, prepared, or developed interests you want to explore in law school, )

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14
Q

Standard personal essay format is

A
  • serif font
  • 12 pt font
  • double-spaced
  • header w/ name, LSAC ID, and Title: Personal Statement
  • page # (on every page of everything you upload for your app)
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15
Q

Most law school provide opportunities to write a second (or third) essay, it can be a diversity statement or optional essay and a particular topic is provided. Write and optional essay if

A

the optional essay applies to your situation and does not repeat the personal statement

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16
Q

Writing the optional essay serves two purposes

A
  • shows school you are interested/went the extra mile

- provides another opportunity to show something new about yourself

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17
Q

Two types of diversity statements for the optional essay

A
  • obstacles overcome

- how you will add to the diversity of the school

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18
Q

The why x school question optional essay is

A

important for school’s yield protection (protective of school ranking and need to be sure you’ll attend)

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19
Q

For the why x school question, you need to mention

A
  • any specific ties to the school/area (ex. family/friend who attended)
  • similarities between your campus and the school campus
  • particular focus (that is active) of the school that is evidently relevant/relates to your interests
  • you have met with someone there/visited the school
  • if applying for part-time program, explain why this is a good fit
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20
Q

Things to avoid in the why x school optional essay

A
  • claiming school’s environment the reason you’re applying without having anything in your back ground to support this
  • mentioning summer study abroad is your reason for applying (you can generally participate in any law school’s)
  • overly broad statements that can apply to any school
  • Ivy Leagues aren’t concerned with yield so don’t have to explain why that school
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21
Q

For short essays (the 250-word open ended essays)

A
  • think about each word
  • avoid repetition
  • get right to the point
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22
Q

The three kinds of law school applicants are

A
  • those tied to a location*
  • those hunting for the best law school that will take them (ranking)
  • those looking for the best value (price)
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23
Q

Once you have your LSAT and GPA, look for schools where

A

your numbers place you near the 75th percentile of admitted students

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24
Q

For applicants prioritizing location in choosing a school

A

making friends with the admission offices, attending events, and visiting campus are necessary for forming a personal connect –> will matter (especially for marginal numbers)

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25
Q

Schools that take 15% or fewer applicants with your numbers are

A

Reach schools

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26
Q

Most of the schools on your potential school list should be

A

mid-range schools where your numbers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles

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27
Q

It’s good to have _____ safety schools

A

2-4; unless you have significant weaknesses (big character and fitness issue or downward trend) then safety schools should be the bulk of your school list

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28
Q

Applicants should apply to schools that

A
  • are near a place the consider home
  • are in a place they would be happy living their lives and pursuing a career
  • are reasonably priced
  • would be their dream to attend
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29
Q

Criteria to consider when choosing a school to attend

A
  • reputation
  • location
  • cost
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30
Q

You must consider which school will give you the most access to jobs. There are two job-related factors to consider

A
  • you can go for the jobs that care about the brand name of the school you attend
  • you can choose a law school located in the city where you hope to build your career
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31
Q

What should you worry about when choosing a school to attend?

A
  • following rankings blindly (rankings change)
  • watch out for the for-profit law schools (high rates of 1Ls and take in a lot of people with low #’s)
  • be true to yourself (decision you have to live with)
  • don’t count on being able to transfer after your first year
  • when looking at job statistics, don’t only look at the self-reported employment number
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32
Q

Success requires more than

A

high cognitive ability as measured by standardized tests scores/academic achievement

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33
Q

Intelligence reigns supreme for hiring but

A

lack of non-cognitive factors causes lawyers to be fired –> inability to relate to clients/colleagues, lack of drive/passion, inability to delegate work, lack of a professional network

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34
Q

Highly effective lawyers

A

draw upon a diverse set of skills/abilities that are seldom taught, measured, or discussed during law school

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35
Q

Cognitive markers

A

have little ability to predict performance as a lawyer

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36
Q

Since the creation of the US News & World Report rankings,

A

admission offices have adopted a near-exclusive focus on LSAT scores and GPA that caps expectations of accomplishments and undervalues innovation in the profession

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37
Q

George E.P. Box model

A

high performance as a lawyer depends on three factors: intelligence/cognitive ability; motivation, drive, personality; and various non-cognitive abilities

High Performance/Effectiveness =
cognitive ability (IQ) + Personality, non-cognitive skills, drive + education, training, play time
38
Q

Cognitive ability as a lawyer

A

practicing law requires an accumulation of legal knowledge and the ability to come up with formal legal solutions (measured by bar exams, lsat)

39
Q

Law school grades are

A

a better predictor of bar passage than LSAT score (aka drive and effort a requisite for bar passage)

40
Q

The reputations of the world’s leading law school’s were

A

established before the first LSAT was administered

41
Q

Small # of university-based schools in the early 20th century began to

A

distinguish themselves based on case method, scholarly faculty, and admission criteria that required undergraduate study

42
Q

Innovations toward legal education circa the 20th century meant

A

these schools, relative to other law school, were producing better-trained graduates and became the preferred recruiting grounds for the small #of legal employers with large corporate businesses

43
Q

The condition for the original business market that privileged elite-educational credentials changed with the implementation of the LSAT which meant

A

the features of the national (elite) schools became universalized; hiring patterns did not change

44
Q

The credential-based labor market

A

cast a shadow over the incentive structure of the entire legal education hierarchy (AKA elite schools get preferential treatment for universal innovations –> slows innovation)

45
Q

Since the U.S. News and World Report started ranking schools in the mid-1990s,

A

schools have devoted enormous time/resources to increasing their standing

46
Q

What are some of the input factors that affect the composite score for schools per the U.S. News and World Report’s ranking system?

A
  • reputation scores among academics/practicing lawyers
  • educational resources (faculty:student, scholarship funds, size of library)
  • employment and bar passage rates
  • students quality (based on GPA, LSAT score, and admission selectivity)
47
Q

Admission policies can influence ranking through what strategy

A
  • aggressively marketing the school to prospective students and allocating limited scholarship money to optimize median undergraduate GPA/LSAT (AKA $$$ used to achieve highest possible median for GPA/LSAT)
48
Q

The consequence of placing heavy weight on numerical credentials in admissions is

A

little room to consider other factors (rigor of undergrad major, letters of recommendation, work experience, diversity)

49
Q

The results of the Schultz-Zedeck study suggest that

A

academic factors are under-inclusive of future lawyering potential (positive-negative correlations–>poor relationship between lawyer performance and academic predictors/law school prestige); top schools do not dominate student trial competitions

50
Q

Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI)

A

personality assessment; Adjustment constructure measures emotional stability and steadiness under pressure, ambition measures leadership and achievement, prudence measures conscientiousness and self-control

51
Q

The results of the nation trial advocacy competitions raise two questions

A
  • large # of non-elite schools in the winners circle suggest that marginally higher academic credentials are not particularly useful for predicting trial performance –> essential lawyer skill
  • the prevalence of a handful of repeat winners –> quality of coaching is key
52
Q

Long-term promotion prospects favor regional school graduates over national school graduates

A

National school grads made up 53.7% of the entry-level associates hired but only 29.4% were promoted to partner; ratio of regional hires to partner promotions is smaller than the ratio of national hires to partner promotions (AKA National law schools are overfished = lured into big firms because of credentials; less satisfied and more likely to leave)

53
Q

Availability heuristic

A

rather than undertake the rigor of gathering relevant/reliable data, the human mind gravitates to information that appears relevant and is readily available –> law firms making a lot of money from conservative business model can ignore data in order to retain hiring policies that preserve its image

54
Q

1-Analysis and Reasoning

A

Uses analytical skills, logic, and reasoning to approach problems

55
Q

2-Creativity/Innovation

A

Thinks outside the box, develops innovative approaches and solutions

56
Q

3-Problem Solving

A

Effectively identifies problems and derives appropriate solutions

57
Q

4-Practical Judgment

A

Determines effective and realistic approaches to problems

58
Q

5-Providing advice and counsel

A

building relationships with client

59
Q

6-Fact Finding

A

Able to identify relevant facts and issues in a case

60
Q

7-Researching the Law

A

Utilizes appropriate sources and strategies to identify issues and derive solutions/legal analytical thinking

61
Q

8-Speaking

A

Orally communicates issues in an articulate manner consistent with issue and audience being addressed

62
Q

9-Writing

A

Writes clearly, efficiently and persuasively

63
Q

10-Listening

A

Accurately perceives what is being said both directly and subtly

64
Q

11-Influencing & Advocating

A

Persuades others of position and wins support

65
Q

12-Questioning & Interviewing

A

Obtains needed information from others to pursue issue/case

66
Q

13-Negotiation Skills

A

Resolves disputes to the satisfaction of all concerned

67
Q

14-Strategic Planning

A

Plans and strategizes to address present and future issues and goals

68
Q

15-Organizing and Managing (own) work

A

Generates well organized methods and work products

69
Q

16-Organizing and Managing Others (Staff/Colleagues)

A

Organizes and manages others’ work to accomplish goals.

70
Q

17-Evaluation, Development, and Mentoring

A

Manages, trains and instructs others to realize their full potential.

71
Q

18-Developing Relationships within the Legal Profession

A

Establish quality relationships with others to work toward goals.

72
Q

19-Networking and Business Development

A

Develops productive business relationships and helps meet the unit’s financial goals.

73
Q

20-Community Involvement and Service

A

Contributes legal skills to the community

74
Q

21-Integrity & Honesty

A

Has core values and beliefs; acts with integrity and honesty.

75
Q

22-Stress Management

A

Effectively manages pressure or stress.

76
Q

23-Passion & Engagement

A

Demonstrates interest in law for its own merits

77
Q

24-Diligence

A

Committed to and responsible in achieving goals and completing tasks.

78
Q

25-Self-Development

A

Attends to and initiates self-development.

79
Q

26-Able to See the World Through the Eyes of Others

A

Understands positions, views, objectives and goals of others.

80
Q

Speakers:

A

FIU: Christopher Carbot; Assistant Dean for Administration and Strategic Initiatives; Director of Recruitment

UM: Katrin Hussmann Schroll, JD; Associate Dean of Admissions and Enrollment Management

St. Thomas: Jessica Fonseca-Nader; Assistant Dean for Enrollment and Scholarships

FSU: Ralph Keiffer; Senior Admissions Officer

UF: Brandon Sykes; Assistant Director of Admissions

Stetson: Darren Kettles; Director of Admissions

Ave Maria: Tabitha Canalda; Director of Admissions and Outreach

81
Q

Speakers: Character and fitness

A

Ralph: provide documentation even for traffic violations + have to show its been rectified (in general, warnings do not have to be disclosed)

Jessica: read each question carefully, schools may have variations in how they ask, provide independent explanation, if not sure disclose, when you apply you will be asked these questions and they have to match answers

Christopher: They want to know if something’s been expunged, these are questions written by attorneys, there’s no ambiguity w/ questions because they want to be clear about who they are admitting and are looking at patterns; you don’t want something coming out at the BAR level

82
Q

Speakers: Other factors

A

Tabitha: extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, professional experience all come into play for candidacy

Katrin: other piece are looked at (framework) for how you will contribute to the school and legal profession; schools want to know if you’re what they’re looking for and what you bring to the table

Darren: there is no requirement to have co-curricular

Ralph: everyone brings a different package and schools at looking at who you are (behaviors, attitudes); how to illustrate these traits –> about cultivating relationships with professors: take the time and make and effort (not looking for character, looking for people to speak about you)

83
Q

Speakers: Social media

A

Brandon: be careful, we get forwarded screenshots from platforms

Katrin: employers will also look at social media even if admissions does not

Ralph: social media could make a difference

84
Q

Speakers: Personal statements

A

Ralph: write a compelling story for the personal statement but keep it positive

Christopher: personal statement is the one opportunity to speak through your work; don’t submit the first cut (have to edit) and don’t rehash what is already on your resume

Katrin: it should show that you have taken time to grow before law school, you have grit, and have thought about your decision

85
Q

Speakers: Application

A

Jessica: make your resume look professional –> remember the application is what you CAN control

Brandon: think of the application as one cohesive document that tells one story

Darren: remember who your audience is

86
Q

(rhetorical) How do you define success?

A
  • graduate from prestigious law school
  • membership in a large firm
  • money
  • fame
    admiration from peers/clients
  • success in the courtroom
87
Q

Why do lawyers that are hired right our of law school by large firms based solely on their academic success many times get fired?

A
  • lack of work ethic
  • inability to relate to clients/colleagues
  • lack of drive/passion
  • inability to effectively supervise or delegate work
88
Q

Think:

  • What does it take to be a successful lawyer?
  • Good grades in law school?
  • Is there too much emphasis on credentials?
A

High academic credentials may get you in the door of a large, elite firm but what you do when you are there is what will dictate whether you will be successful or not

89
Q

Formula for effective lawyering

A

Intelligence/cognitive ability + motivation/drive + non-cognitive abilities (people skills)

90
Q

Intelligence/cognitive abilities is

A

legal knowledge and ability to formulate legal solutions (use what they teach you in law school to learn to think like a lawyer so you can analyze and solve problems )

91
Q

Motivation/drive/personality are

A

work ethic, organizational skills, perseverance

92
Q

non-cognitive abilities

A

ability to relate to clients, other lawyers, and others (court reporters, courthouse personnel) + humility when dealing with staff

Law and the Legal Profession (9 decks)

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