A student's guide to law school What counts, what helps, and what matters

The movie The Paper Chase and Scott Turow's One-L (1977) are the standard cultural images of law school as grueling and exhausting. But if a student makes wise decisions and maintains balance, including a social life, it can also be joyous and transforming, according to Ayers, who survived law school and went on to a career as an appellate lawyer. Drawing on his experiences as a top-ranked student, a clerkship with then-judge Sonia Sotomayor, and his early years practicing law, Ayers offers a practical guide to budding lawyers. Lamenting the reality that law students are judged on the final exam (so all coursework should be treated as preparation for the exam), he cautions that good grades alone don't make a good lawyer. Still, the skills required to do well on the exam distilling basic legal concepts, developing a sense of what matters, and making strong arguments and counterarguments are all skills needed in a legal career. Ayers offers strategies for studying and test-taking and advises that day-to-day choices made during the semester, including reading, class discussion, notes, outlines, study groups, and law review, will prepare students for the exam.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2010 Booklist