While searching for podcasts on iTunes last night, I found the Princeton Review's LSAT Logic in Everyday Life. They talk about logic in everyday life and supposedly help develop reasoning skills relevant to the LSAT.

The podcasts are less than 10 minutes long and are pretty interesting, whether they actually will make a difference on your LSAT or not. So they're probably worth a listen on your commute to school, at the gym, or whenever you have time. Here's the link. They are available for free on iTunes as well.

While at the conference last week, one of my colleagues pointed out that Charleston School of Law has been posting bar review lectures here on their CALI Classcaster blog.

As a pre-law student you may not see the significance of free bar review lectures. But I hope some people studying the bar right now, possibly finding this in a search, get a chance to take advantage of podcasts. More below...

Once again, it's that time of year. If you are a 1L, you are feeling the pressure of your first law school exams. Lucky for you, I've gathered some of the advice out there.

CALI Podcasts

1) Tips for multiple choice exams

2) Top 10 tips for writing a law school essay

3) Three more conversations with law professors about exams

Other Resources

1) Massive compilation of advice on Top Law Student Blog

2) Advice from Permissive Joinder Blog

3) Advice from a professor on Evan Shaeffer's Legal Underground

4) A post about issue spotting from Evan Shaeffer's Legal Underground

ADDED 12/01/06:
5) Advice from Prof. Greg Bowman of Law Career Blog

6) Advice on how to flunk exams from another law student in Chicago.

Added 12/06/06:
7) Hofstra's Law Library blog posts more exam week suggestions.

Added 12/11/06
8) 1L exam advice from a student with a blog called Shelley's Case.

Added 12/12/06
9) A Hofstra School of Law librarian's blog points to a good article on Findlaw.

Added 2/15/07
10) Professor Orin Kerr of the Volokh Conspiracy offers examples of good answers and bad answers.

That's a lot of advice and I know if you are a 1L that you probably don't have time to go over it all with exams fastly approaching. But hopefully you have some time to look through and/or listen to some of them.

If you don't keep up with CALIopolis, the blog administered by CALI's very own John Mayer, John has also linked to another one of Frugal Law Student's tips, in particular the post that advises students to speed up podcasts using methods described on Lifehacker.

I can backup John when he says that he has suggested this idea before. He even has demonstrated the method in some of his presentations that I have seen. Speeding up the podcasts makes sense for a law student. There are a lot of useful podcasts out there and limited time.

And I don't see the downside even if it does sound Chipmunk-esque. I had three Chipmunks records (that's right, records) growing up and I loved them: Chipmunk Christmas, the so rare that I can't find a legitimate website that lists it Chipmunks go Hollywood, and my personal favorite Urban Chipmunk.

California Western is producing a series of podcasts called Law in 10 with some of its law school professors. The podcasts are about 10 minutes long and topics covered involve the legal aspects of current events.

I would recommend the podcasts as an easy way to start thinking about the legal aspects of current events.

Professor Jennifer Martin has posted on her blog a podcast on the ten most common mistakes students make in taking law school exams.

Professor Martin is a professor at Western New England College School of Law and a very active CALI lesson author She also podcasts many of her classes through CALI's Legal Education Podcasting Project.

We have posted to the Pre-Law Blog several other similar podcasts with law school exam advice from professors. You can find those podcasts here, here, here, and here.

Deb has posted another great podcast over at CALI Radio. This time Douglas McFarland, an author of several CALI Lessons and professor at Hamline University School of Law offers up some advice for incoming law students.

Click here to listen to Prof. McFarland's podcast.

• A Question and Answer session with Prof. McFarland, author of several of CALI's lessons in Tort Law and Civil Procedure. Prof. McFarland has been teaching for over 30 years. His comments in this podcast about the first semester of law school focus on the Socratic method, preparing for class, note-taking during class, class participation, "riding out" that "lost at sea" feel common during the first few weeks of law school, the appropriate use of study aids, advice about law school exams, and general advice on doing well in law school.

Professor Ron Eades of The Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville also spoke with Deb on the topic of "Things to Know About Torts Class Before Class Starts - Advice for a 1L." The podcast is also available at CALI Radio.

Click here to download the mp3 file.

"Professor Ron Eades has taught Torts Law for over 25 years. In this podcast Prof. Eades offers advice on preparing for class, classroom dynamics, note taking, post-class studying, outlining, ways to measure your progress, "pitfalls" to studying Torts, what students should try and get from class. He also offers general advice for 1Ls starting law school and the study of Torts."

Related Material:

• CALI's lesson by Prof. Edward Martin on Briefing a Case
• In this podcast Prof. Eades mentions a law review article by Prof. Green; it is available from HeinOnline.org, or in paper. Leon Green, Study and Teaching of Tort Law, 34 Tex. L. Rev. 1 (1955-1956).
• Previous post with related podcast for incoming students with general study advice from Professors Brown and Grohman.

Professors Joe Grohman and Ron Brown of Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center spoke about how new law students should study in law school. Deb Quentel, CALI's Director of Curriculum Development/General Counsel conducted the interview (alternatively found at CALI Radio).

Click here to download the mp3 file.

"Professors Brown and Grohman, are the authors of many CALI lessons. Additionally, both teach 1L courses. In this podcast they share their experiences and insights on time mangement issues for law school students, preparing for class, how to brief a case, research tips applicable for 1L writing assignments (and the eventual practice of law), how to develop an understanding of the law, and techniques and tips for studying and preparing for the final exam."

Links:

1. Joe Landsberger's website.

2. Cornell University's list of study resources.

3. Dennis Tonsing, 1000 Days to the Bar (Hein & Co., Inc. 2003).

4. CALI Radio.

PreLaw Magazine is hosting a podcast designed for pre-laws called J.D. Confidential. It's full of interviews, news, advice, and attempted humor. They only have one podcast so far, but you really should check it out. I hope they keep them coming.

CALI is always trying to come up with innovative ways to integrate technology into the classroom. One of our recent projects, Legal Education Podcasting Project, just finished its first semester. This project involved 40+ professors podcasting using our classcaster system. The reaction by students has been pretty positive and I will likely post more about podcasting in the near future. Professors' reactions are being chronicled in interviews with CALI's Executive Director, John Mayer (no not this John Mayer, this John Mayer).

One can find these interviews at John's blog, CALIopolis.

Click here to listen to the moot court podcast

What is moot court?
Moot Court in law school is generally a team of 2^nd year and 3^rd year students who competitively argue mock appellate cases.

They do so as a team against other schools for some competitions, and against each other for other competitions. More below...

 (More)

Adverse possession is one of the first concepts you are likely to learn in your Property course. Adverse possession in Property Law is a fascinating rule that allows a person to gain ownership of a property from that propety's owner without the the owner's consent by going through a few legal loopholes.

On her Classcaster blog, Professor Marla Mansfield of the University of Tulsa College of Law posted a couple of podcasts that summarized adverse possession, its requirements, and its policies for her Property class. Links are below

Part One of Professor Mansfield's Summary of Adverse Possession

Part Two of Professor Mansfield's Summary of Adverse Possession

Professor Steve Bradford of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Law School Posted another great "how to " podcast on law school exams. This in-depth analysis of how to take a law school exam was recorded for his Securities Regulation Course, but is relevant for any exam.

Steve Bradford's Podcast on Exams

Learn more about how to take law school exams with the CALI Lesson "Writing Better Law School Exams."

In Contract Law, on rare occasions a court will hold a contract unenforceable when the contract is extremely unfair to one party. A plaintiff would use the defense that the contract is "unconscionable" in cases like these.

In this podcast, professor Scott Burnham of the University of Montana reviews unconscionability and reasonable expectations. The most famous case involving unconscionability is likely the Williams v. Walker-Thomas Furniture Co. case. Professor Burnham discusses Williams v. Walker-Thomas as well as substantive vs. procedure unconscionability, how to determine if a contract is unconscionable, and reasonable expectations. This podcast is a great complement to Professor Burnham's lesson entitled Unjust Terms (Unconscionability). Follow the link below to listen to the podcast.

Burnham_Unconscionability and Reasonable Expectations.mp3

Strict liability is the concept that a person/persons can be liable to another regardless of fault, no matter how careful the person who caused the injury was.

Your professor will discuss strict liability in your first-year Torts class. In this podcast, Prof. Ron Eades of Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville discusses Strict Liability with animals and ultrahazardous activities and the shifting policies in this area of the law.

This podcast discusses material that is also covered in Prof. Eades' two CALI lessons Strict Liability and Animals and Strict Liability: Abnormally Dangerous and Ultrahazardous Activities

Click here to download the mp3 file Eades Ron.mp3

In this podcast, Prof. Jennifer Martin from Western New England College School of Law provides advice to students studying acceptance, the mirror image rule and the problem of the Battle of the Forms.

As a first year student, you will almost certainly encounter these topics in your Contracts class. Prof. Martin's podcast expands on her coverage of this topic in her CALI lesson Battle of the Forms (UCC 2-207).

Jennifer Martin:UCC2-207.mp3

One of the biggest differences between law school and undergrad is the the manner in which exams are given. Most significantly, in a law school class normally there is only one exam at the end of the semester which counts for nearly all, if not all of the final grade in the class.

These podcasts will give incoming students insight on how law school exams work, how to prepare for/take a law school exam, and most importantly what professors expect from students on law school exams.

From the CALI Radio Blog:
During the week of Oct. 17, 2005, CALI's Director of Curriculum Development, Deb Quentel, spoke with six law professors about outlines, studying for class, preparing for exams, time management, and how professors grade exams. The conversations were recorded as podcasts. While these podcasts are not intended to take the place of a conversation with your professor, the professors hope that these podcasts give law students additional insight into the exam process.

Panel 1: Professors Ron Eades, John Farago, Patrick Wiseman
683-Eades_Farago_Wiseman_exam.mp3

Panel 2: Professors Ron Brown and Joe Grohman
684-Grohman_BrownExams.mp3

Panel 3: Professor Darryl Wilson
685-Wilson_exam.mp3