The Law School Playbook

Introduction: Make the Most of Your Investment

Welcome to The Law School Playbook! I’m Halle Hara, a professor of academic success and personal skills coach to law students and attorneys. I’m glad you’re here! Congrat

Case Reading Topic 1: Please Read

At the risk of sounding like a nagging parent, I implore you to please read for class—it is not optional. I know if you had your druthers, you’d mark every assignment on

Case Reading Topic 2: Think Beyond the Screen

I’m a few years older than you. When I wanted information growing up, I turned to an outdated set of encyclopedias my parents bought from a door-to-door salesman or I wen

Case Reading Topic 3: Find Your Inner Purpose

My goal is not only to change if you read but also how you read for law school. For instance, you may be reading for class because you don’t want to be embarrassed if you

Case Reading Topic 4: Energy Matters

We’ve all had those moments when we are sitting in front of a book, with our head resting on our hand, when our eyes begin to close. You tell yourself that you are “just

Case Reading Topic 5: Find Your Inner Actor

If you find yourself just getting through your reading assignments, you’re not alone. The good news is that there are easy strategies that take no additional time but wil

Case Reading Topic 6: Bring Your Knowledge With You

I was lucky enough to work in the federal trial court for a collective fifteen years. During that time, and in private practice, I saw countless jury trials. Whether civi

Case Reading Topic 7: Bring Your Opinions With You

Law students, particularly in their first year, look for truth in the cases that they read. Even second-year law students likely figure that the judge knows much more abo

Case Reading Topic 8: Talk to Yourself

Some people say that talking to yourself means you’re crazy. Other people say that talking to themselves is the only way they can have an intelligent conversation. In thi

Case Reading Topic 9: Time Matters

There is no question that time is the elephant in the room throughout the entire law school experience—there just isn’t enough of it. All law students struggle with time

Case Reading Topic 10: Find Your Inner Artist

Who says law school doesn’t foster creativity? To the contrary, an effective reading strategy involves visualizing or using imagery to picture what is being described in

Case Reading Topic 11: Recognize the Strategies

We have discussed numerous strategies that can prompt you to be an engaged, critical thinker while reading. It is important for you to recognize, however, that your willi

Case Reading Topic 12: Put It All Together

My parents were avid golfers when I was a teen. Every so often I’d join them on the golf course, although I was pretty unskilled. I’d step up to the tee and the well-inte

Reading and Interpreting Statutes Introduction: Enacted Laws Abound

The law school experience is so focused on reading and interpreting appellate cases that students sometimes overlook the central role that legislation plays in practice.

Reading and Interpreting Statutes Topic 1: Don't Grill, Barbecue

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri has said: There are two different things: there’s grilling, and there’s barbecue. Grilling is when people say, ‘We’re going to turn up the heat,

Reading and Interpreting Statutes Topic 2: In the Words of Sophocles, “Without Labor, Nothing Prospers”

So today, our work of reading and interpreting statutes continues. After the first step—slowing down—the next step is to determine how the statute fits into the big pictu

Reading and Interpreting Statutes Topic 3: Find Meaning

We are continuing our discussion of reading and interpreting statutes. To recap the steps we have covered thus far, when approaching a statute, you must: …

Reading and Interpreting Statutes Topic 4: Craft an Argument

Today, we are picking up our ongoing discussion of reading and interpreting statutes. We will discuss the final step in this episode, which is to resolve ambiguities or t

Reading and Interpreting Statutes Topic 5: Let's Practice (Steps 1 and 2)

In this episode, we will be focusing on steps 1 and 2 of reading and interpreting statutes, which we know are to: slow down (step 1) and determine how the statute fits in

Reading and Interpreting Statutes Topic 6: Let's Practice (Step 3)

We are going to pick up where we left off in the last episode, where a commercial airline pilot named Sean Fitzgerald showed up for work “rip-roaring drunk” and engaged i