HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR PERSONAL BEST IN LAW SCHOOL
Welcome to the website dedicated to helping law students
achieve their personal best in law school.
Welcome to the website dedicated to helping law students
achieve their personal best in law school.
How can I help you?
My name is Dennis Tonsing.
I practiced law in California for about two decades.
Since then I've been involved in teaching, writing, and law school administration across the country.
I live in Arizona, and teach online at St. Francis School of Law and JFK School of Law at National University.
I practiced law in California for about two decades.
Since then I've been involved in teaching, writing, and law school administration across the country.
I live in Arizona, and teach online at St. Francis School of Law and JFK School of Law at National University.
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HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
If you want to achieve your personal best in law school, it is imperative that you hit the ground running on day one. Why? Because the GPA you attain in that critical first semester is remarkably important with respect to the opportunities that lie ahead. A poor showing in the fall semester will take five more semesters to overcome; and irrevocably cuts off your chance to finish near the top of the class.
That's looking at the law school experience from the "grading" or "class rank" point of view; a very important consideration.
But look at it this way: each day of law school ought to be devoted to becoming the kind of lawyer you would hire if your personal freedom were at risk ... if you were accused of a felony you did not commit; if you were facing a corporate meltdown that could be avoided; or if your child were in legal trouble.
The sooner you realize that the day you graduated from your undergraduate institution was your last day of “school,” the better you will do in law school. This is a fact: when you show up for your first day of law "school," you will be entering the first day of your practice of law. Don't be baffled by demands of law school; be prepared to enter the practice of law.
Those who consider their days from law school orientation until the bar exam as merely "school" may be good students. Those who approach those 1000 days as "practice" for the real thing will be good lawyers.
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