To my complete shock and surprise, I did really well:

Contracts: A-
Torts: A
Criminal Law: A
Civil Procedure: C+

Not thrilled about the C+, but I rationalize it by noting that that class was my first final. I hadn't been able to sleep the night before and I was nervous as hell. I walked out of every one of my tests thinking that I'd be lucky to get a passing grade at all, and I think that sense of resignation actually helped to stave off the worry after that first exam.

I don't have my GPA yet, but it's going to be high. The class I got the C+ in was only worth two credit hours. Torts and Contracts were worth four each, and Criminal Law was worth three.

I may actually survive the next two and a half years and get a decent job. That means lots of new toys in the long run. If things continue to pan out, I'll probably be able to go Class III one of these days, and actually be able to afford to shoot the damn things.

Anyway, I was actually posting to express my gratitude to all the board's legal minds who were kind enough to provide advice to me when the semester started. It did me a world of good.

Thanks!

You have done well.

I got a C my first exam, too, first sub B I got since Hight School.

Now that you have the testing format down, you're in the powerband.

I got so within a week or two, I had determined what each professor's "catch phrases" were.  Form there, I just had to figure a way to use them in the final.  

SkullFarmer: Congrads you survived the first semester.  Sounds to me you're off to a pretty good start, but I won't it will be harder as you get to more advanced classes? I'm not a lawyer and never was and I only took one law class when I was in college 25 years ago, and that was business law, never got to the more advanced contract law.

Another one sells their soul to the devil.

Quoted: SkullFarmer: Congrads you survived the first semester.  Sounds to me you're off to a pretty good start, but I won't it will be harder as you get to more advanced classes?

Everyone says it actually gets easier -- getting the fundamentals down is supposed to be the hard part. I've already noticed that the workload seems lighter now than it was in the fall.

I just have to be sure to keep plugging away.

Congrats!!  The first semester is the hardest.  

Quoted: Another one sells their soul to the devil.

No.  The selling comes later.  He's simply putting himself into position to get a good price.

Quoted: Another one sells their soul to the devil.

It's all in the contract, Bama...

Study that Rules of Court and memorize it.  Good job !!!

Quoted: Study that Rules of Court and memorize it.  Good job !!!

Actually, that CivPro class was jurisdiction and nothing more. I've got Federal Rules of Civil Procedure this semester and I already seem to have a better feel for it.

I thought a B- was the lowest grade you could have in grad school and still be considered to have passed the class?   At least that's how it is for every engineering PhD program I've looked into, C+ or lower and you must repeat.

Kharn

Quoted: I thought a B- was the lowest grade you could have in grad school and still be considered to have passed the class?   At least that's how it is for every engineering PhD program I've looked into, C+ or lower and you must repeat. Kharn

That's the case with only one specific class here. Research and writing. You pass with a C, repeat with a C-.

Quoted: Quoted: Another one sells their soul to the devil. No.  The selling comes later.  He's simply putting himself into position to get a good price.

Its what do you call it ? Implied contract doesn't that mean enforceable?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Another one sells their soul to the devil. No.  The selling comes later.  He's simply putting himself into position to get a good price. Its what do you call it ? Implied contract doesn't that mean enforceable?

Implied contracts usually only come up in cases where unjust enrichment is claimed. I'd never sell my soul to the devil. Maybe a lease or something...

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Another one sells their soul to the devil. No.  The selling comes later.  He's simply putting himself into position to get a good price. Its what do you call it ? Implied contract doesn't that mean enforceable?

Preliminary nonbinding negotiations.  Sale is not final until first day of work.  

congrats! god knows we need more lawyers in this country! hahahahahaha

Another thing: I've already got a job lined up for summer (while all my classmates are struggling with writing samples, resumes, and trying to work in job interviews between classes).

Granted, it's with a small, four-person firm. But I think it might offer a better learning opportunity than a bigger firm might. Besides, I know one of the lawyers there, and she tells me the atmosphere is great -- it's a very friendly place to work.

Hardcorps, one of my classmates may intern with the NRA this summer. I'd like to, but I really can't afford to go to Virginia to do it. He has family around there, I think.

Don't know how your school is but my law school had incredibly tough grading.  It was set up so that the average grade in a class was 78, or a C, with maybe 5 percent A's, 10-15 percent B's, 10-15 percent D and 5 percent F's.

At the start of school they spent a lot of time lecturing the class on how we'd all made A's in undergrad but most of us would now be C student's, and that was OK.  We still had a fair number of people drop out because they couldn't handle not being A students.

I was lucky, my GPA in law school was much higher than my undergrad GPA.  Having only one 4-hour test was better for me than trying to turn in homework twice a week.

Quoted: Don't know how your school is but my law school had incredibly tough grading.  It was set up so that the average grade in a class was 78, or a C, with maybe 5 percent A's, 10-15 percent B's, 10-15 percent D and 5 percent F's. At the start of school they spent a lot of time lecturing the class on how we'd all made A's in undergrad but most of us would now be C student's, and that was OK.  We still had a fair number of people drop out because they couldn't handle not being A students. I was lucky, my GPA in law school was much higher than my undergrad GPA.  Having only one 4-hour test was better for me than trying to turn in homework twice a week.

My school uses a pretty strict C curve. Not a problem for people staying in the state after graduation, but tough for those who try to go out of state where they're competing with people from schools that inflate grades. Luckily, I have no plans to go out of state.

ETA: I got the same lecture...

Congratulations ... as others have said, it is the first semester which is the hardest.

Now all you have to do is look forward to second semester finals THEN the write-on competition for Law Review immediately afterward!    You'll feel like your head is going to explode after that marathon session.

Quoted: Another thing: I've already got a job lined up for summer (while all my classmates are struggling with writing samples, resumes, and trying to work in job interviews between classes). Granted, it's with a small, four-person firm. But I think it might offer a better learning opportunity than a bigger firm might. Besides, I know one of the lawyers there, and she tells me the atmosphere is great -- it's a very friendly place to work.

Very good indeed.  It is a rare opportunity for any 1L to get a job at a law firm for his/her first year summer (even better if it is paid, hehe).  At my law school a scant 25% got paying jobs in our 1L summer; the rest generally worked at non-paying clerkships.