Opportunities To Study Law – The Trend Is Your Friend
Opportunities To Study Law
Most people go to law school because they want to become a lawyer. Pre-law students spend much of their time asking the answerable question of: what are the chances of getting into law school? Furthermore, they worry incessantly about Canadian law school rankings. Yet, many pre-law students in Canada are unaware of the range of opportunities available to them. The purpose of this post is to (at the very least) make you aware of the range of opportunities available to you. It is NOT to give specific advice about programs. Remember that the “trend is always your friend”. Think about my predictions. A global legal practice is becoming the rule rather than the exception. Read more
Character And The Practise Of Law In Ontario
Becoming A Lawyer – It’s A Question of Character
When people think of becoming lawyers, they typically think of:
- law school
- LSAT
- grades
- law school letters of reference
- law school personal statements
It is important to also consider character.
How does one become a lawyer? The requirements are in an Ontario statute called “The Law Society Act”. There is only one statutory requirement (the Law Society makes up the rest in the form of regulations). That requirement is a requirement of “character”. To be specific that S. 27(2) of the Law Society Act states that: Read more
Career suicide with social media
Career Suicide via Twitter
Is it wrong to tweet something personal on your workplace Twitter account? Social media have blurred the line between your work life and your private life. How are corporations handling the changes?
The reckless and irresponsible use of social media has the potential to result in irreparable damage to lives, careers and yes – law school admissions. This issue has recently been canvassed on the blog of a pre-law advisor. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Enjoy the following video. Also, check out the comments to this post.
John Richardson Interviewed – “Law School Bound”
In late March of 2010 I was interviewed about my “Law School Bound” book by Steve Schwartz (the publisher of “LSAT Blog
“). What follows are the questions and answers.
1. You published Law School Bound back in 2006. What new advice do you have for law school applicants today?
Law School Bound was designed to guide people from the decision to attend law school, through the application process, through the bar admission process and into a legal career. The book was designed to “stand the test of time”. Therefore, I wouldn’t give any different advice in 2010. Read more
Planning and Achieving “LSAT Happiness”
Planning for LSAT Happiness – People don’t plan to fail, the fail to plan
Living with the LSAT – Your LSAT Life Cycle
Although the LSAT is not the most important part of your law school application file, it is the single most important test. The LSAT generates more stress than any other part of the law school application process. As you go through life different considerations become important at different times. Similarly, as you go through the LSAT stage of your life, different considerations are important at different times.
Life has stages. Your “LSAT Life” has different stages What follows are the stages of your LSAT life and information about the considerations that are important at that stage. Please note most links are to the Law Services site. They and they alone control the rules and regulations surrounding the LSAT. Hence, you should get your information direct from LSAT.
This LSAT blog post is just an attempt to identify the factors that are most important and where to find them. You LSAT life will have a beginning, a middle and an end. What follows are the factors that are most important for each stage.
The Beginning of your LSAT Life – What you need to know Before registering for the LSAT
The Middle of your LSAT Life – What you need to know During the period between registering for the LSAT and taking the LSAT
The End or your LSAT Life – What you need to know After you have taken the LSAT (It’s Over!)
Let’s begin! Read more
Thoughts on LSAT Preparation – How To Choose LSAT Answers
How To Choose LSAT Answer Choices – Different Strokes For Different Folks
This blog post was motivated by a discussion with Kyle Pasewark of Advise In Solutions.
When it comes to LSAT Prep, are you better off:
“Working hard” or “Hardly working”?
When it comes to LSAT preparation, some people “work hard” and some people “hardly work”. The horrible reality is that often the people who “hardly work” do better than the people who “work hard”. This seems unjust. There are a number of possible reasons for this. It is important that you not only work hard but that you work effectively.
In the first of this series of “Thoughts On LSAT Preparation“ posts I introduced the “READ” objective. Because the LSAT is a test of reading and reasoning, the LSAT should be thought of as the “READ” test. “READ” is an acronym that stands for:
“Reading Effectively And Deducing”
In teaching my own Toronto LSAT preparation courses I have noted that people have more trouble understanding information than reasoning with that information. Read more
Thoughts on LSAT Preparation – Categorization of LSAT Questions
The categorization of LSAT questions and the “READ” objective
The categorization of LSAT questions is the “rage” in LSAT preparation books and LSAT courses. The prep industry behaves as though the goal is to complicate the LSAT. The “National Anthem of LSAT Prep” is:
“The more categories of questions you can identify the higher your LSAT test score.”
According to conventional wisdom (much of it reinforced by the official LSAT publications) there are:
- four categories of LSAT Logic Games.
- a large number of specific types of LSAT Logical Reasoning questions including: assumptions (both necessary and sufficient condition types), inferences, parallel reasoning (conditional statement based and others), flawed arguments, verbal exchanges, necessary and sufficient conditions, etc.
- approximately six categories of Reading Comprehension questions Read more
Thoughts on LSAT Preparation – Simply, Simplify, Simplify
“READ Effectively ” – “LSAT Simplicity is virtue”
In my last “Thoughts on LSAT Preparation” post I suggested that the LSAT should be called the “Read” test. “Read” is an acronym for:
“Reading Effectively and Deducing”
In this post I will suggest the most important principle for effective reading on the LSAT.
I received the following email from a student in a recent course:
“Hi John:
LSAT school was a blast. It helped me improve one of the areas I had been struggling w/ at the start my LSAT preparation – logic games. But the most important lesson I learned from you course was that when it comes to answering the questions, LSAT simplicity is virtue.”
When it comes to the virtues of “simplification”, Kyle Pawewark points out on his LSAT Blog:
[...] Your preparation should be focused on simplicity, which will increase your accuracy and your efficiency. See our blog post, “Three Keys to Success on the LSAT: Simplify, Simplify and Simplify.” [...]
http://advisein.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/success-on-the-lsat/ Read more
Thoughts on LSAT Preparation – Let’s call it the “READ” test
Renaming The LSAT – Let’s call it the “READ” Test
Principle: The best acronyms should be descriptive acronyms!
What does the acronym “LSAT” stand for?
LSAT is an acronym that stands for “Law School Admission Test”.
The LSAT is:
- a four letter word;
- a barrier between you and the law school of your choice (or perhaps any law school)
- a standardized test (every test taker gets the same questions);
- a multiple choice test (rewarding answer identification first and understanding second);
- a long test;
- a test administered under strict time constraints;
- an important test Read more