A study in 2007 found the average person encounters approximately 174 newspapers worth of data every day.  With all of that information coming in, we are constantly making decisions about what is and is not worth remembering, and the information comes at such a steady pace that we cannot focus on any one item for too long.  I don’t know about you, but after a while, I felt like my brain had turned to mush; I couldn’t remember anything unless I immediately wrote it down, and my attention span was not what it had once been.

I searched for a way to improve my memory; that’s when I found Lumosity.  Lumosity is a site that creates cognitive games intended to improve your memory, speed, problem solving, flexibility, and attention.  There is a free version that includes games in all of the categories, but if you want to be able to unlock all of the games and see which percentile you fall within for your age group, then you need to subscribe.  I’ve been using Lumosity for almost a month now, and I am seeing improvement in my game performance.  I think it may be improving my memory outside of the games as well, but I’m not sure if that’s just a placebo effect.  Regardless, the games are fun, and I feel less guilty about playing them because they’re for self-improvement.  If you want to improve your memory, or are interested in free games, give Lumosity a try.

If you’re taking the bar exam this summer, the thick books are probably already at your house.  Hundreds and hundreds of pages, how are you going to learn all of that material?  Answer: you’re not.  The key to not getting overstressed about the bar exam (although you probably will, especially the week before the exam) is remembering that you don’t need to know everything on the exam.  It’s okay if there are a couple of MBE questions that you have no clue on because you do not need to ace the bar exam; you only need to pass.

I took (and passed!) the Massachusetts Bar Exam last summer.  I studied for the exam using Themis while working full time.  I was a little nervous about the online-only format of Themis, but if you are self-disciplined, it is fine.  With the bar exam experience relatively fresh in my mind, I have a few pieces of advice to share:

1. Do not over-rely on the practice essay questions provided by your bar prep company.

My experience was with Themis, but I have heard this is true of BarBri as well: the practice essay questions are not always representative of the length of a real bar exam essay question.  I am not saying ignore the practice essay questions; they are definitely useful tools to practice analyzing fact patterns and writing bar exam essays, which differ somewhat from law school exam essays.  However, make sure you also look at, and preferably practice your timing on, real past bar exam questions if you have access to them.  The Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners posts past essay questions on its web site.  If you spend some time practicing with real questions, you won’t be surprised when you receive 9 single-spaced pages of morning essay questions to answer in 3 hours.  Avoiding surprises will improve not only your bar exam performance, but also your emotional well-being.

2. Read the exam information and follow the rules!

I know this should be common sense, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t follow the rules, even when something as important as passing the bar exam is hanging in the balance.  In Massachusetts, you’re not allowed to have a backpack in the exam room.  People who brought bags to Hynes Convention Center on the first day of the exam were expected to check them.  Some test takers decided not to check their bags, and instead hid them in the convention center before going into the exam room.  The bar examiners announced right before the beginning of the exam that they had done a sweep of the convention center, picked up these unchecked bags, and if one of them was yours, you would have to go talk to them during lunch.  They’d then decide your fate after you’d already taken half of the MBE.  I can’t imagine that knowledge enhanced the affected individuals’ test performance, so please, read the instructions and follow the rules.

3. There will be external things that happen.  Don’t let them psych you out.

I felt like I was surrounded by bad external forces.  The girl behind me was talking about how she failed the exam the last time.  The guy in front of me left every portion of the test 30 min. – 1 hour early.  One of the guys in our row had to hand write the morning essays because he failed to properly install the test software.  These things happen; just remember that you’re prepared.

Good luck on the exam!  If you’re looking for supplemental bar prep resources, check out our past bar exam posts.

The first citator was published by Frank Shepard in 1875. Shepard initially published his citation lists in the form of “adhesive annotations” that were pasted directly to the first page of the case in print. The annotation listed other cases citing to and impacting the reported case. Eventually, Shepard would publish his citations in printed volumes specific to individual jurisdictions. Shepard’s product was so successful that his name was turned into a verb, “to Shepardize,” which describes the act of updating. Today, Shepard’s is available in print and online through LexisNexis. A picture of those original adhesive annotations is below.

As finals are coming to an end, you’re starting to look forward to the summer.  Whether you’re going to be a summer associate at a fancy firm or an intern for a non-profit, a little voice in the back of your mind may be nagging, “Am I ready for this?”

If you don’t respond to this question with a resounding YES, don’t worry.  It’s normal to be nervous and feel your future employer thinks you’re smarter than you believe you are.  However, this may be a form of impostor syndrome, where one believes s/he is a fraud and does not deserve the success s/he’s achieved; all success is attributed to luck or other external forces.  Of course, this is completely untrue, but it often impacts those who are high achievers, like Joseph, the university professor, whose story details how every achievement was another opportunity for others to discover he was a fraud.

If you find yourself having these thoughts, what can you do to remind yourself that you’re an intelligent person who has earned each achievement based on your own merit? Make a list of all of the things you’ve accomplished in the last year.  What did you do that you were really proud of?  Surviving a tough class, writing a well-researched seminar paper, or arguing in Moot Court?  Surviving the first year of law school is a huge achievement in and of itself.   Many people also find it useful to share their doubts with a trusted friend or family member.  These people know you well, and in addition to validating your abilities, they might also be able to help you think of positive ways you can prove to yourself that you are in the right place and capable of doing the job.

Impostor syndrome is very self-focused, so one way to combat it is to help others.  Not only will helping others give you an opportunity to share your expertise with others, but it will remind you that no one is perfect or completely self-sufficient.  Therefore, it’s ok if you don’t have the right answer all of the time either.  A final suggestion is “Fake it ’til you make it.”  Suspend your belief that you’re not good enough and pretend you belong.  Then act like it!  This doesn’t mean be arrogant; humility is still important, but you want to assert your knowledge and capabilities instead of keeping a low profile because you’re afraid someone will discover you don’t know something.  For more information on banishing impostor syndrome, see this blog post from gradhacker.

At the BU Law commencement on May 19, the featured speaker will be one of the most prominent lawyers in the United States, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr.

Verrilli has served as the Solicitor General of the United States since June 2011. He replaced Justice Elena Kagan at OSG. Previously, he was Deputy Counsel to President Obama and as an Associate Deputy Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to his government service, he practiced law at Jenner & Block for over 20 years.

Some of the Verrilli’s work can be viewed at government web sites, in the numerous briefs and oral arguments in which he has represented the U.S. government before the Supreme Court.  He is also the author of many scholarly articles focusing on Supreme Court. C-SPAN provides video clips that highlight the audio recording of Verrilli’s oral arguments before the Court and his frequent participation at panel discussions on legal issues.

LexisNexis offers study aids/outlines for the basic legal courses.  According to LN:

These outlines provide an overview of the essential topics of a legal subject and can be used to prepare for class, organize your notes, and study for exams. For comprehensive and treatise-like coverage of these and other legal subjects, see theUnderstanding series.

These Area of Law Outlines are now available for free viewing and downloading:

Constitutional Law		html | word (512k) | pdf (428k)
Contracts		html | word (548k) | pdf (334k)
Criminal Law		html | word (315k) | pdf (364k)
Criminal Procedure		html | word (772k) | pdf (256k)
Evidence		html | word (585k) | pdf (317k)
Property		html | word (275k) | pdf (381k)
Torts		html | word (448k) | pdf (425k)
Trusts and Estates		html | word (503k) | pdf (482k)

Studying for law school finals isn’t fun under the best of circumstances, but when it’s sunny and 70 out, sitting in the reading room, listening to the constant clickety-clack of your classmates typing their outlines or the construction going on outside, it can feel interminable. If the free earplugs at the Circ desk aren’t doing it for you, try White Noise Lite.

White Noise Lite is a free app, with 15 white noise sounds on a loop (10 come with the app, and an another 5 can be donloaded from their website) to help you block out all those distractions and focus on your Corporations reading.   Download it at the iTunes App Store for iOS devices, or Google Play for Android. There’s also a version available for your Mac laptop.

The theme for this year’s Law Day is Realizing the Dream: Equality for All.  What does true equality for all really mean, and what steps do we need to take as a nation to get there?  President Obama’s Law Day Proclamation looks historically at the strides that have been made, yet acknowledges the mission has not been accomplished.  ABA President Laurel Bellows also reflects on equality during the Law Day 2013 Message.  In addition to reflecting on the theme, Law Day is a great opportunity to remember how fortunate we are to have the rule of law, our unique knowledge of it, and the ability to help others navigate the legal system.

The Makers project highlights the contributions of prominent American women by providing interviews that explore the personal as well as the professional in these American lives. One the the featured pioneers is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The interview with Justice Ginsburg is here (after a sponsor’s ad), with extended segments that highlight her experiences: as a student at Harvard Law School, being rejected by law firms, her marriage, her work for the ACLU womens’ rights project and women and the law.

Other interviews in this series feature dozens of women from many different fields. The pioneers in law include: Sandra Day O’Connor, Maddy DeLone, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Catharine MacKinnon and Sarah Weddington.

Guess what? Summer is literally just weeks away!  

Shortly your final exams and papers will be a distant memory as you begin your summer jobs and clerkships. Starting in May, however, several of our subscription-based  legal research resources restrict student access over the summer, to help avoid the use of nonprofit educational passwords at paid summer employment. However, each service treats summer access a bit differently, and there may be further variations for continuing vs. graduating students. Here’s your guide to summer database access:

• Bloomberg Law accounts are valid between school terms and for 6 months after you graduate. Your BUSL Bloomberg account may be used for both academic and employment-related purposes, including full access to federal court filings . If you do not already have a Bloomberg Law account, you may Request A Law School Account with your BU email address.
• LexisNexis this year will provide unlimited access this summer to Lexis Advance, its next-generation research interface.In June, Lexis will be moving entirely to Lexis Advance.   That means that all current law school  home page (Lexis.com) ID’s will no longer work.  If you currently have a working Lexis Advance ID and password (http://advance.lexis.com) then you are all set and need to nothing.  If you use your old Lexis.com ID only, you need to ensure that you are registered with your Advance ID.  Please contact, Michael.campion@lexisnexis.com, to obtain that ID.  You will be able to access Lexis.com, and the law school home page with your Advance ID only.   The Lexis.com interface will be available for academic (non-commercial) use only until July. 2013 graduates will have full access to Lexis Advance through July 31; continuing students will have unlimited access until August 31.
• Westlaw offers extensions of your Law School password for academic work, including: summer classes, journal work, projects for faculty, moot court, unpaid/non-profit public interest internships or externships, or a pro bono project that is required for graduation. Commercial use of your Law School password (such as at a law firm summer job) is strictly prohibited. May graduates can also extend their Westlaw passwords to obtain 10 free hours of research time for bar exam study. If you qualify for a summer extension of your Westlaw password, log in to the extension page and follow the instructions.
• Other Law Library Databases: Access to Boston University databases for continuing students is available over the summer with your BU username and password. Recent graduates will find that their off-campus, password-based access to other subscription databases (such as HeinOnline and LegalTrac) expires very quickly after graduation. Alumni may access many University and Law School subscription databases on-site via the reading room computer terminals.
• Click HERE for more information.

For more information about access to library resources for the graduating class of 2013, bookmark our guide to Law Alumni Services.

Summer hours for the Pappas Law Library following graduation begin May 20th and will be from 9-5 Monday through Friday.

Wishing you a restful and productive Summer!