Top Law Schools by Specialty Area

I was surfing through google and found a site that had a list of top law schools based on specialty areas. Although the list is from 2002-3, it is pretty useful.

For example, I am planning on studying law and literature,
According to leiterrankings, the best schools for that area is Cardozo Law School (never heard of it), Stanford University, and University of Michigan. The site gives you a list of "Excellent" schools and "Also Strong" schools.

I am also interested in corporate law.
Excellent: Columbia University, Harvard University, New York University, Stanford University, University of Chicago, University of Virginia, and Yale University.

Here are the list of specialties:

• Administrative ad environmental law
• Business law areas: corporate, securities, commercial law, bankruptcy, etc.
• Constitutional Law
• Criminal Law and procedure
• Critical race theory
• Feminist legal theory
• Health law
• Health law--bioethics
• International law
• Intellectual property
• Jurisprudence/legal philosophy
• Labor and employment law
• Law and literature
• Law and religion
• Law and social science
• Legal ethics
• Legal history
• Moral and political theory
• Tax

Here's the link to the website: lieterrankings (the links to take you to the list of schools don't work, but the all the lists are on that page so use ctrl+f to find the list you want.)

What specialties are you interested in?

10 Strategies for LSAT Reading Comprehesion

So I have posted example logical and reasoning questions, but the reading comprehension I skipped because of its length.
I found this list from lsatblog.blogspot.com the creator is an LSAT tutor and he posts tips for taking the LSAT so you should check it out!

10 Strategies for LSAT Reading Comprehesion
1. Look for the key words that indicate degree of certainty
    Watch for words like some, never, all, always, etc. And careful with plurals.

2. Keep an eye out for the passage's main idea
     highlight/underline/circle as you read the passage. Mark evidence, summaries, etc.

3. Look at the relationship between the evidence and conclusion in each paragraph
     What is the argument of each paragraph? Based on what evidence?

4. Question types in Reading Comprehension:
    Main point/ main idea-Save this for last even if it's the first question asked. It will be easier to answer after     going through the other questions.
    Specific/ "according to"-Most straightforward-types, asking about author's argument.
    Inferences-Asks you to make predictions based on reading. Example: "The author would agree with..." Examine the tone and argument of author.

5. How to deal with Comparative Reading passages
    The LSAC included this section after 2007. Instead of the regular 4 passages, there will be 3 with two shorter ones relating to the topic. Tip: try to practice with reference books dated after 2007.
     Start with questions that focus on only one of the two passages, then tackle the second.

6. Question types in Comparative Reading
    Common issue/ Main idea/ Main idea in longer passages
    Agree/disagree
    Method of reasoning/style
    Analogy

7. How to avoid those tempting incorrect answer choices
    Wrong answers usually have the following:
          Extreme statements not supported by evidence
          Irrelevant info
          The exact opposite of argument
          Minor changes to to info
          Illogical or random combinations of the passage's arguments
          False attributions of individuals' POV

8. How to take notes in Reading Comprehension
     Don't take too much notes, you don't have time to write it or read it.
     Instead of focusing on content, focus on the flow and structure of the passage as well as the author's tone/argument.
     Don't circle/underline/highlight too much
     Practice practice
     When you come across a giant paragraph, chances are, it contains a lot of info. Break up the paragraph as you read through it.

9. Words to look out for
     Advocates, critics, opponents, others, proponents, supporters
     Artists, engineers, politicians, scholars, scientists, writers
     All, always, every, most, never, some
     First, second, third,
     Other transitions
     Argue, claim, criticize, oppose, reject, support

10. If you just know you won't be able to do every passage
     Start with passages with the most questions and save the ones with the fewest questions for last.


These are awesome tips for Reading Comprehension, if you want to get more tips with the LSAT,
visit lsatblog.

Happy studying!...if that's possible
Credits to: lsatblog

LSAT Question #7

Logical Reasoning

There is a clear evidence that the mandated use of safety seats by children under age four has resulted in fewer child fatalities over the past five years. Compared to the five-year period prior to the passage of laws requiring the use of safety seats, fatalities of children under age four have decreased by 20 percent.

Which one of the following, if true, most substantially strengthens the argument above?

A. The number of serious automobile accidents involving........children under age four has remained steady over the.........past five years.
B. Automobile accidents involving children have decreased..........sharply over the past five years.
C. The use of air bags in automobiles has increased by...........30 percent over the past five years.
D. Most fatal automobile accidents involving children under...........age four occur in the driveway of their home.
E. The number of teenage drivers has increased by 30...........percent over the past five years.





the answer is....





A-The number of serious automobile accidents involving.......children under age four has remained steady over the.......past five years.

First, I eliminated C,D, and E. Unfortunately I picked B. I believe it is because of the statement "sharply over the past five years." and the first statement of the answer was already stated.

How did you do?

Credits to bestsamplequestions.com

Paying for Law School part II

SCHOLARSHIPS AND GRANTS!!

FAFSA-government financial aid program, apply for it!

Look through the scholarship/grant page in school web sites.

If possible, apply to all of them.What do you have to lose? I have heard of many experiences from friends and families applying for scholarships they were skeptical about on their qualifications but were chosen.

Search online.
One site I found was the Online Education Database, it gives you a list of law school scholarships ranging from $1,000/year to $15,000/year. Although the choices are limited, it doesn't hurt to skim through.

I found a website with a list of public schools that award the most financial aid: grad-schools.usnews

Example: University of Baltimore-Median grant: $22,136, 20.4% full-time students receiving grants
University of California-Berkeley-Median grant: $16,369, 62.3% full-time students receiving grants
Indiana University-Bloomington-Median grant: $14,420, 88.5% full-time students receiving grants

You can sort the list by specialty, ex. healthcare law, legal writing, intellectual property law, etc.

Even with scholarships you should budget your money. Scholarships should be received with a grateful and humble heart, they are saving you from loans and debts.


Image credit:http://www.scholarshipsforwomens.net/

Paying for Law School

Think about your dream law school.
Got it? How much is the tuition?
Expensive? How are you going to pay for it?

I've heard a lot of people say that debt from college (especially graduate school) is "good."
...Well the reality is, DEBT IS DEBT.
It's awesome to have the words "Harvard Law School" on your resume, but how long would it take for you to pay off the loans?
Instead of just choosing law schools for their reputation, make your decision based on what field you want to study, and the average salary of that field.

For example, jdadmission.com stated that if you want to be a public defender, a less expensive school would be a better choice.

The bottom line is, debt is debt. Heike Spahn, assistant dean at the University of Chicago Law School said that law school debt is " like having a second house, with no house to live in."

So what should you do?

Be realistic!
Think about what you really want to do with a law degree and look for a school that most fits your goal.
Nowadays, it doesn't really matter the name of the school you went to. The economy is expected to continue to be...well...kind of horrible and the demand for lawyers are pretty high.

Don't be impulsive
This is thousands of dollars on the line. You literally can't afford to impulsively pick a school.

Be smart with your money
If you choose to get a student loan, practice good budgeting.
Spahn also said: "If you live like a lawyer when you're a student then you'll live like a student when you're a lawyer."
You're not a lawyer making six figures just yet. Look for cheaper apartments (you're gonna practically live in the library on campus anyway), commute if possible, find a part time job, don't splurge on material things (actually don't splurge at all), etc.


Think about it, three years of suffering for a financially secure career? A pretty good investment if you ask me.

Fields of Law Part II

Here is part two of Fields of Law:

Health Law-Lawyers in this field are involved in representing "hospitals, physician groups, health maintenance organizations, or individual doctors, among may others." The medical industry has one of the highest numbers of lawsuits, so a demand for lawyers is very high in this field.

Immigration Law-This fields are involved with "legal issues a policies relating to the legal right, duties, and obligations of foreign nationals, including the application processes ad procedures involved with naturalization of foreign national who wish to become US citizens" etc. It is predicted that by 2050, Caucasians will be the minority in the US. Just something to think about :].

Intellectual Property Law-This field handles legal issues with inventors, protecting their discoveries, creations, identifying marks, etc. According to discoverlaw.org, lawyers in this field will specialize in a particular area. For example, if you had special knowledge in technology, patent law would be right for you.

International Law-A range of job opportunities come with this field, including national governments, international institutions, and corporations. If you are fluent in another language and have extensive knowledge of a different culture, this could be for you.

Real Estate Law-Real estate lawyers help decide who owns land and the buildings in it ad who has the right to use the land. They are also involved in cases between tenant and landlord; and anything else relating to real estate.

Sports and Entertainment Law-Sports law has two categories: amateur(university level) and professional. Sports lawyers abide by the rules of the NCAA( National Collegiate Athletic Association). At the professional level, the lawyers handle contract and antitrust issues. Entertainment lawyers as the name states, handle issues dealing with the media.

Tax Law-The federal, state, and local taxes are so complex it created its own field of law. Another reason why is because tax laws are always changing. To be a part of this field, you need to keep to date with every new laws passed involving taxes.

Law deals with issues that everyone is involved in, which is why a lawyer is one of the "safest" career to work towards in terms of job openings.

Are you interested in any of the fields that is explained in this post?

Credits: DiscoverLaw.org

Fields of Law

There are so many different fields of law. Here is a list of some common fields provided by discoverlaw.org

• Civil Rights
• Corporate and Securities Law
• Criminal Law
• Education Law
• Employment and Labor Law
• Environmental and Natural Resources Law
• Family and Juvenile Law
• Health Law
• Immigration Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• International Law
• Real Estate Law
• Sports and Entertainment Law
• Tax Law

Civil Rights-This field deals with balance of governmental power and individual rights. Lawyers in this field works with nonprofit organizations, public interest law firms or as part of larger firms with diverse practices. Examples of issues they work with are employment discrimination, education, voting, etc.

Corporate and Securities Law-This is the field that I am interested in. Lawyers in this field help people build businesses according to the law. They can also be involved with "contract, intellectual property, legislative compliance, and liability matters."

Criminal Law-You know the lawyers that you see in court in shows like Law and Order? You could be doing the same thing if you choose to be a part of this field. Criminal defense lawyers represents those accused of a crime. You can also be aspire to be a district attorney through this field, in which case, you will be representing in the interest of the public.

Education Law-"A school law attorney may provide advice, counsel, and representation of a school district or other educational agency." As the name states, you will work closely with schools.

Employment and Labor Law-Again, the name says it all. Lawyers in this field will be involved in issues such as  unfair wages, hours, child labor, discrimination based on gender, race, age, etc. You can represent a group of people, or on individual, or even a whole company.

Environmental and Natural Resources Law-Those striving to raise awareness to go green might be greatly interested in this field. You get to work with issues relating to "air and water quality, hazardous waste practice, energy, trade regulation, water rights," etc.

Family ad Juvenile Law-Those interested in social work will most likely choose this field to work in. This field are involved in issues concerning family or domestic relations. They also include adoption, child welfare, etc.

The next post will continue to explain the last three fields.
Does this post have the field/s you might be interested in?

Credits: DiscoverLaw.org

LSAT Question #6

Logical Reasoning
Recent dental research shows that bacteria around the gum line produces a substance that in sufficient amounts induces preterm labor in pregnant women and clogging of arteries, both of which add to payout by health insurers to medical-service providers. In response, one health insurance company has begun to provide additional dental benefits, including coverage for one additional cleaning by a professional hygienist or dentist each year, to pregnant women and to people proven to be at high risk of developing heart disease.

The insurance company's response described above would be most likely to minimize the company's payouts to medical-service providers if which of the following were also true?

A. Accumulation of the substance that induces preterm labor ca be prevented by daily use of certain inexpensive mouthwashes.
B. It often takes at least a year for the substance that induce clogging of the arteries to accumulate to a dangerous level.
C. The daily dental-hygiene habits of pregnant women and heart-disease patients, as a group, are similar to those of the general population.
D. The risk of developing heart disease is greater for individuals with a family history of heart disease than for those with no such history.
E. The medical costs associated with preterm labor are generally less than those associated with heart disease.




And the answer is...




"The correct response is (D). Providing additional benefits to a particular “high risk” group in order to reduce payout risk later works only if the insurance company can identify who is in the group to begin with. That’s why (D), which tells us that it’s easy to identify individuals at high risk of heart disease, lends support to the company’s response (assuming, of course, that the company wants to minimize payouts, which is given in the argument). "


I honestly did bad on this question. I chose E. After reading the answer, I realized that I misread the question.


Remember, practice makes perfect(or close to perfection)!


How did you do?


Credits: West.net

LSAT Question #5

Analytical Reasoning
Buses 1, 2, and 3 make one trip each day, and they are the only ones that riders A, B, C, D, E, F, and G take to work.

Neither E nor G takes bus 1 on a day when B does.
G does not take bus 2 on a day when D does.
When A and F take the same bus, it is always bus 3.
C always takes bus 3.

Traveling together to work, B, C, and G could take which of the same buses on a given day?

A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. 3 only
D. 2 and 3 only
E. 1, 2, and 3





and the answer is...




C. I got the answer because of the last sentence: "C always takes bus 3."

For further clarification, here's what Petersons.com said:
Bus 1: If B, then no E or G
Bus 2: If D, then no G
Bus 3: C always
Bus 3: When A and F take the same bus.

How did you do on this one? Again, I feel like the questions sometimes give too much information to throw us off, but with practice I'm sure we will be able to discern the right information to answer the questions!

Credits: Petersons.com

Law School Ranking

Don't know which law school you want to go to? Here is a list of top 2010 law schools in the US.

2011 USN Rank	2010 USN Rank (April, 2009)	Law School	Gourman Report	Educational Quality Rankings	2008 GPA 25th-75th Percentile	2008 LSAT 25th-75th Percentile	2008 Student/ Faculty Ratio
1	1	Yale U (CT)	3	1	3.82-3.96	170-176	7.3
2	2	Harvard U (MA)	1	2*	3.76-3.96	171-176	11.0
3	3	Stanford U (CA)	6	4	3.77-3.97	167-172	8.0
4	4	Columbia U (NY)	7	5	3.60-3.81	170-175	10.1
5	6*	U Chicago	4	2*	3.63-3.84	169-173	9.5
6	5	New York U	11	6	3.57-3.86	169-173	9.4
7*	6*	UC Berkeley (Boalt)	5	7	3.68-3.95	165-170	11.4
7*	8	U Pennsylvania	9	11	3.57-3.90	166-171	10.7
9	9	U Michigan-Ann Arbor	2	8	3.55-3.84	167-170	11.3
10	10*	U Virginia	16	10	3.54-3.92	165-171	12.6
11*	10*	Duke U (NC)	8	17	3.60-3.84	167-171	9.7
11*	10*	Northwestern U (IL)	14	14*	3.40-3.81	166-172	8.8
13	13	Cornell U (NY)	10	14*	3.50-3.80	165-168	10.0
14	14	Georgetown U (DC)	17	12	3.42-3.79	167-171	12.4
15*	15*	UCLA	13	14*	3.57-3.88	164-169	11.3
15*	15*	U Texas-Austin	12	10*	3.54-3.87	164-168	11.3
17	17	Vanderbilt U (TN)	15	18	3.50-3.96	164-169	14.4
18	18	U Southern California	27	12	3.47-3.71	165-167	12.4
19	19	Washington U (MO)		29*	3.30-3.80	161-168	10.7
20	28*	George Washington U	32	22*	3.41-3.86	163-168	14.2
21	23*	U Illinois (UIUC)		22*	3.20-3.90	160-167	13.1
22*	20*	Boston U		19*	3.50-3.83	164-167	12.1
22*	20*	Emory U (GA)		29*	3.37-3.68	165-167	10.5
22*	20*	U Minnesota-Twin Cities	19	21	3.30-3.85	160-168	11.9
22*	23*	U Notre Dame (IN)	18	46*	3.36-3.74	163-167	10.9
26	26*	U Iowa		19*	3.43-3.81	158-164	15.5
27	23*	Indiana U-Bloomington		40*	3.26-3.83	156-165	9.5
28*	26*	Boston College		32*	3.34-3.68	163-167	13.2
28*	28*	William and Mary (VA)		37*	3.42-3.77	161-166	15.7
28*	35*	UC Davis		32*	3.23-3.72	160-165	11.6
28*	35*	U Georgia		31	3.40-3.80	161-165	12.2
28*	30*	U North Carolina		32*	3.43-3.73	157-164	15.4
28*	35*	U Wisconsin-Madison		22*	3.31-3.76	156-163	12.7
34*	30*	Fordham U (NY)		26*	3.37-3.74	162-167	13.6
34*	35*	Ohio State U	8	32*	3.49-3.81	158-164	13.3
34*	30*	U Washington			3.47-3.80	160-166	10.0
34*	30*	Washington & Lee U		32*	3.28-3.73	160-167	9.4
38*	55*	Arizona State U		40*	3.34-3.78	158-163	8.5
38*	30*	U Alabama			3.32-3.90	159-165	10.2
38*	45*	U Colorado-Boulder		40*	3.42-3.78	160-165	11.5
38*	40	Wake Forest U (NC)			3.20-3.70	160-164	9.8
42*	41*	Brigham Young U (UT)			3.52-3.85	161-166	17.3
42*	41*	George Mason U (VA)		26*	3.21-3.83	158-165	13.2
42*	43*	U Arizona (Rogers)		40*	3.34-3.71	159-163	12.6
42*	39	UC (Hastings)	11	29*	3.39-3.71	161-165	16.5
42*	45*	U Utah			3.41-3.76	156-163	8.1
47	51	U Florida		46*	3.42-3.85	158-163	15.4
48*	45*	American U (DC)		46*	3.13-3.56	158-164	13.4
48*	49*	Southern Methodist U			3.24-3.84	155-165	14.9
48*	45*	Tulane U (LA)		40*	3.34-3.75	160-164	14.1
48*	43*	U Maryland			3.21-3.66	159-166	11.7
52*	55*	Pepperdine U (CA)			3.43-3.79	160-163	16.0

For more, go to http://www.top-law-schools.com/rankings.html
You can click the name of the schools to get more information.

For example, my first choice of school is Brigham Young University which is currently ranked 41. I am also Mormon so going to a school with other Mormons would allow me to be surrounded by others with similar standards. However, for those who are not Mormon and does not know that BYU has an honor code, this information can be pretty important.

The web site also goes in depth about the school's admission and tuition, academics and curriculum, quality of life, employment prospects and bar passage, etc.

If you do not have the time to read everything, a synopsis and quick reference is also provided at the bottom of the page.

Is your dream school in the list?