ADHD and Law School Success

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This article is written by 1L success consultant Franklin Sims. If you are planning on starting law school soon or want help landing a job out of law school contact Franklin for law school success tools that work.

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Having an ADHD diagnosis is difficult in any academic setting but it is especially tough in law school. In my experience working with law school students with ADHD, there are ways to transform their diagnosis into an academic advantage. Here are a few ways you can turn your ADHD diagnosis into a material advantage in law school.

Testing Accommodations

Some students have such a fear of being labeled by their peers that they do not take advantage of testing accommodations. It's important to recognize that because of your diagnosis the extra time on exams does not give you an unfair advantage. You’re permitted the additional time because you are entitled to be on an equal footing with all other exam takers.

Extra Time Isn't Everything

Extra time on exams can be helpful for students with ADHD but extra time alone is no guarantee. For some students with ADHD extra time on exams creates a false sense of security. Unless you apply other strategies, aside from the extra time on exams, your learning style may still be at a severe disadvantage in law school.

One such strategy is early exam prep. ADHD symptoms include difficulties with remembering information, concentration, organizing tasks and time management. It’s important to use strategies throughout the semester to improve final exam performance. I detail several of these strategies later in the article but the most important is to pre-write sections of the analysis so that you are clear on what to address along each step of the analysis. This is different than an outline. It is more of an exam skeleton that tells you exactly what to write and in what order once the issue is spotted.

My objective with clients is to use testing accommodations as a tool but not a crutch. Having testing accommodations doesn’t mean we can afford to enter the exam any less prepared. It only means that we have more time to demonstrate our level of preparation. Like all students you must find any opportunity to make the best use of the time you’re given. For my clients we prepare for the exam as if we do not have extra time. By this I mean that if the exam is open note or open book, we prepare for the exam as if it were a closed book exam. Additionally, it's a good idea to prepare pre-written answers to highly tested exam topics so that final answers are polished and awarded high points.

Get Your Supporting Documents Together

Over the spring and summer prior to law school I assist clients in getting all of the necessary documents and paper work in order to qualify for testing accommodations. It's important to take the steps toward finalizing your accommodations before the first days of law school. The best approach is to get in touch with the Dean of students. Either the dean or someone supervised by the dean is tasked with handling accommodation requests.

Each law school has their own set of requirements for procuring accommodations. While most will require a doctor's diagnosis, there are varying degrees of documentation requested across law schools. I've seen some schools accept a prescription. Others required a Doctor's written conclusions or proof of LSAT accommodations. Find out what your law school requires as well as what sort of accommodations they offer. Remember that while the default accommodation is an extra time and a half on exams, double time is also an option you should discuss with you physician.

What ever the case, get things squared away before the semester begins. The last you need is the stress of no knowing whether your accommodation will be approved during the academic semester.

It’s also worth noting that it is a good idea to establish testing accommodations in law school so that when you sit for the bar you can avoid taking the exam in a huge room with hundreds of anxiety ridden state bar examiners. Don’t take this advice lightly because it’s very difficult to apply for bar testing accommodations if you did not have accommodations in law school.

The Bigger Picture

Often students with ADHD are far better at seeing patterns and understanding abstract concepts. In law school this skill is a material advantage. Because so much of the law is taught through long case readings it is common for students to waste a lot of time stumbling over the mountains of irrelevant details. However, the advantage many of my ADHD clients have is that their “disability” requires them to use time more efficiently. As a result they are rather adept at not being bogged down with the details and have developed techniques to synthesize information into systems.

Despite the fact that the readings in law school are exhaustive and in-class lectures tend to go into multiple tangents law school exams test on an entirely different skill set. On an exam professors expect takers to be concise, to synthesize laws and facts into careful legal analysis within a short window of time. While students with traditional learning styles often excel in case reading and classroom lectures, clients with ADHD can have the upper hand on exams because their learning style preference is to synthesize complex information into manageable systems from the outset.

Practice Exams

Whether or not my client has ADHD our approach is always to be exam focused and to help them take more practice exams than their peers. Research shows that the number-one way for students with ADHD to study with tools that allow them to apply the information. This technique works especially well for my ADHD clients in law school because their learning style often pairs better with the sort of hands-on application that comes with taking practice exams. So not only do ADHD students benefit from practice exams because of their learning strengths but taking practice exams is the greatest advantage law school students with any learning style can take.

Slowing down the Clock

Additionally, because so few law school students have time enough to take practice exams our approach gives my clients a competitive advantage on exam day. As the saying goes, what gets measured gets improved.

Law school curriculum is designed so that there is not enough time to learn the information tested. This system creates an environment wherein professors can more easily assess which students perform the best when there is too much information and too little time. Our approach defies this hazing process because I implement tools to slow down the clock and give my clients more time to absorb the content and master their ability to write exams.

How do we do this? My first step is to begin teaching my clients the law before law school begins. This not only puts them ahead of the curve but it also reduces anxiety and stress which can be a huge road block for clients with ADHD.

My second step is to create a unique schedule for my client that taps into their learning strengths. Typically the schedule we adopt puts us on an accelerated schedule and utilizes more diverse methods of learning law school course content aside from the traditional archaic text book. For instance, my clients have access to videos specifically designed for their learning style. This way, they can take breaks and manage their time more efficiently for the way they learn best.

The third step is to test my clients along the way. In most law school courses students never get practice and the information professors teach is rarely put into a clear working context where the entire picture is visible. There is simply one exam at the end of the semester that determines your entire grade. There are also no assignments or quizzes to help students measure their progress. This is a recipe for disaster for learners with ADHD who often have difficulty managing given tasks but are at an even greater disadvantage when there is little structure at all. Because I create clear and manageable learning goals centered around their learning style we are able to measure where we are and improve along the way.

Law School students with ADHD can enjoy wonderful career opportunities as the result of implementing strategies that lead to top grades. So don’t let your diagnosis block you from seizing an academic advantage.

#ADHD #LAWSCHOOL