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Professor Leah Christensen’s Book Published: “One L of a Year”

November 29, 2012

Professor Christensen: One L of a Year

Thomas Jefferson School of Law Professor Leah Christensen recently published her new book One L of a Year (Carolina Academic Press), about taking on the first year of law school and succeeding.  Professor Christensen reveals the strategies successful law students use to survive their One L year and provides tools to help the student master the skills.

“I wanted to write a book that showed students how to do the things that seem so mysterious in law school—like writing an exam, outlining or even what to do during dead week,” said Professor Christensen.  “Therefore, I filled the book with actual examples of real student outlines and essays.  I also addressed issues that we don’t often talk about in legal education—law student depression and test anxiety. These are real problems for which I want students to be prepared.”

From the Publisher: “Many books give law students advice about how to navigate through their first year of law school. This book strives to be something different. The purpose of One L of a Year is to focus on the reading, studying and testing strategies used by the most successful law students. This book is more than advice—it is a learning guide based upon empirical research and statistical correlations between law student learning and their law school GPAs.

“Most importantly, this book attempts to show you what high-ranking law students have done to achieve success during their first year. It’s one thing to read about how to take a law school essay exam—it’s quite another thing to see examples of student essays, outlines, legal memoranda, and multiple choice questions. With drive and determination, most students can get through law school. However, One L of a Year gives you the research-based skills to maximize your own success.”

Professor Christensen speaks nationally on these issues and will be the keynote speaker at the beginning of December at a conference on law students with learning disabilities at Washburn Law School in Topeka, KS.