| Do Attend Class | Ultimately its the professor who grades you and you need to know her
expectations.
Synthesis requires you to integrate into your analysis - policy and values with the law. Class is where you will get many of the policy issues and discuss how they affect the law. Finally, some professors have an attendance requirement. Failure to
attend class can result in a failing grade in the course.
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| Do be prepared for class | Do focus on the reasoning in the assigned cases.
Do be prepared to (at a minimum) discuss:
Essential Facts
Trial Court decisions
Appellate Court Decisions (where appropriate)
Issue(s) on Appeal
Holdings or rule of the case
Rationale or gist of the court's reasoning
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| Do Make Your Own Judgment about the case | Do not take the cases as gospel. Judges are people too;
their reasoning is subjective and tailored to get a desired result. Cases
in books are often picked: for purposes of comparison and criticism.
Do consider the decision with healthy skepticism.
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| Do Make Practical and Fair arguments | Don't' challenge a decision with generalities or loose talk
Don't disagree "as a matter of principle" or because the "decision doesn't make sense" Do articulate the principles that the decision ignores; Do articulate why the decision doesn't make sense. Do consider the social, political, economic impact of the decision. The law is inherently practical, subjective and value orientated. Do avoid arguments that would impose an unconscionable hardship or lead
to obviously unfair results.
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| Do answer the Professor's hypos using the court's Reasoning not the rule. | The purpose of hypos is to test just how far the rules in assigned
cases can be extended. You are expected to determine whether the various
facts in the hypos are sufficiently similar to the facts in the assigned
case that the same result should be obtained.
Don't jump to conclusions. See if you can discover if it would be inconsistent with the reasoning to apply the rule. |
| Do actively participate | Class participation helps you to develop your ability to do analyze and argue orally. |
| Do anything that will help you on the exam, that will help you become a better lawyer, make you a better person; Ignore anything that will not! | Failure to understand what is going on in the classroom can undermine
your success.
Be prepared mentally and emotionally for the entire exam!
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| Do Stop Worrying | Do Stop wasting time worrying about class participation. Do remember
that the exam not the classroom is the only meaningfully opportunity
to show that you have what it takes to be a lawyer.
Don't worry about how you sound; about what you don't know.
Don't worry about what other students might think.
Don't worry about what the professor might think. |