Simple Solution to Improve 1L Grades

What is measured is improved. It is not rocket science that getting feedback helps you improve your performance. For some reason law schools get this concept when it comes to legal research and writing and legal clinics. However, when it comes to the substantive courses, a firm grasp on this concept is nowhere to be found.

Imagine that your law school class was split into two groups. One group was evaluated based on a variety of measures including weekly quizzes, a classroom presentation, a report, a group assignment and a final exam. The other group was evaluated only once, the day of the final exam. This group did not take the quizzes, prepare a classroom presentation, write a report or complete a group assignment. When both groups sit for the same exam, which group will perform better?

It would not be a wild prediction that the first group of students would not only learn the material better but would perform better on the final exam because they were measured or evaluated while learning and throughout the semester.

The truth is that law schools are not incentivized to create fair evaluative systems for students. The reasons are simple. You don’t have to be fair when you have a monopoly on entry to the legal profession. Inside the profession there are only so many highly desirable jobs but at the same time law schools have many high salaries to meet. To meet their multi-million dollar budgets, law schools fill classrooms with one well-paid professor ($250,000 and up) and as many students (tuition dollars) as possible, evaluate them once at the end and rank the students for top employers. With such high student-to-teacher ratios in first-year classes and the demand to enroll enough students to meet their budget, one professor cannot be expected to evaluate nearly one hundred students more than once a semester. The ranking system works well for employers but is disappointing for underdog 1Ls.

The top employers (private firms or top government positions such as the Department of Justice), judges and law schools are the captains of the legal industry and, outside of students with connections, only hire students at the top of the class. This is why you will notice that the most prestigious judges and high profile attorneys tend to come from the same few Tier 1 law schools. Sure there are exceptions, but again, too few to mention.

What we have at most American law schools is a grading system designed to benefit top employers (private firms, high profile government positions and judges) and students with certain backgrounds and learning styles.

We can’t expect law schools to make meaningful reforms any time soon but we can take command of the immediate circumstances. My clients and I have a schedule of quizzes and exams we take throughout the entire semester. We build in a method for measurement and feedback where it doesn’t exist. Because my ratio is small (I only take on ten students per semester) all of my students receive detailed feedback on their performance. As a result, their exam skills and performance improve throughout the semester because their ability to apply rules, analyze facts and synthesize case law is constantly tested and evaluated as a function of my consulting services.

A True Story

Two years ago I worked with a student attending a first tier law school. She had a partial scholarship and had attended a law school prep program called Law Preview. We did not work together first semester but kept in regular contact. The week of exams she sent me a practice exam she’d written. Concerned, I sent her back detailed feedback explaining how to improve the structure, formatting and analysis. She ended up performing well above median fall semester.

The following semester she decided to work with me. A few weeks into the semester I had her writing essay exam responses with a focus on organization and analysis. Before long she was writing essays few of her peers could compete with. Spring semester she improved her GPA, which was impressive since her fall GPA was already very competitive.

Because of her GPA she was able to interview with the top firms at the beginning of her 2L year. She came out of the on-campus interview process with five offers.

This fall, she started her 3L year and we ran into each other on campus the first week of classes. She told me that she had accepted the offer from the top firm where she had spent her 2L summer. I was so proud. But the coolest part was that her grades had actually improved again during her 2L year. Although she credits my approach, I know that it also had a lot to do with her incredible work ethic.

Aside from moral encouragement and insight, the most valuable service I provide to my clients is exam feedback. Since the law schools fail students on this front my role is to offer an alternative to this broken part of the law school pedagogy. Even without working with a 1L consultant like me there are other free alternatives like professors and helpful 2Ls or 3Ls. Whatever your method, try a strategy this semester that helps you get more exam feedback.