On October 7, 2009, as a part of the University of Louisville's homecoming celebrations, the Brandeis School of Law held it's annual alumni banquet. The celebration, which was held at the Seelbach Hotel, provided alumni with an opportunity to reconnect with friends and faculty, and to honor some of their fellow alumni, who were being recognized this year.

Those recognized this year included:

• Alumni Fellow - Justice Lisabeth Hughes Abramson
• Lawrence Grauman Award - Robert L. Ackerson
• Distinguished Alumni/ae Award - Mary E. Barrazotto, Ronald E. Meisburg, Judge Geoffrey P. Morris, Kathleen Pellegrino, Shelton R. Weber
• Recent Alumnus/a Award - Demetrius "D" Holloway
• Dean's Service Award - Thomas M. Williams
• Excellence in Teaching Award - Kathleen S. Bean

We thank all our alumni who joined in the celebration and hope to see all of you next year.

More photos are available at Flickr.

The Louisville Law Dining Guide contains reviews of the law school community's favorite dining establishments in the city and sourrounding area. It's by no means exhaustive, but it is informative, especially for those of you that are new to town.

The Student Bar Association's favorites include: Third Avenue Café, J. Alexanders, Ramsi's Café On the World, Spinelli's Pizzeria, El Mundo and the Irish Rover. Dean Chen, Michael Ben-Avraham, Scott Campbell and Professors Knowles and Hilyerd each recommend the Santa Fe Grill.

See the dining guide for more reviews, details and directions. 

Please see the attached document for registration days and times. 

Pre-registration forms for ALL students must be returned to Student Records by 4:00 p.m., Thursday, October 29, 2009.

Registration materials will be available in Student Records on Tuesday, October 20, 2009.

Congratulations to Jim Becker! His entry, "Melinda Becker's Deer Chili", won for the second consecutive year. Following by just a 1/2 vote, was Becky Wimberg's award-winning southwest chili, aka "Becky's Kickin' Chicken Chili".

Thanks so much to all who purchased a meal! A grand total of $317, which will be split among the five charities of the UofL Cares campaign, was raised.

Other tasty entries included:

• Kathy Bean's "Cleveland Art Museum Tomato Basil Soup" and her husband's "Bombay Bob's Vegan Red Lentil Soup"
• Tom Blackburn's "Turkey Chili"
• Becky Wenning's "Homemade Beef Stew"
• Vickie & Leslie Tencers' homemade "Cream of Mushroom Soup"
• Kimberly Ballard's "Vegetarian Chili with Whole Wheat Pasta"

Many thanks to the following individuals who also contributed: Charlene Taylor, Janet Sullivan, Rita Siegwald, Debra Reh, Peggy Bratcher, Jina Scinta, Brandon Hamilton, Brenda Hill, Ariana Levinson, Grace Giesel, Barbara Thompson, Jodi Duce, Kathy Urbach, and Angela Beverly.

If you haven't already made a pledge, we hope you'll do so now.  To make a pledge on-line or to print out a form to contribute by mail, visit UofL Cares.  

Everybody is sliding into “studying for exams” mode.  Time becomes a critical variable now.  It is important to find time for all of your tasks.  It is also important to be productive with that time.  This week's tips will focus on how to get more time out of each day and be more productive during studying.

Tip #1:  Evaluate your day for “lost” time.   Look for time wasted in the following ways:  unproductive time between classes; assignment time stretched to 3 hours when with more diligence it could have been finished in 2 ½ hours; delay in starting a project because “I have all day;” inefficient and scattered errand running or other non-school tasks; completion of chores or other non-school tasks during prime study time.  If only ½ hour is captured each day of the week, it nets 3 ½ hours of extra study time.

Bad advice:  You can’t do any practice questions until right before the exam because you don’t know enough.

Why this advice is bad advice:

• Exams are all about applying the concepts and law that you have learned all semester to new fact scenarios or legal problems.
• You wouldn’t go on a black diamond ski slope without lots of practice.  Why would you go into an exam without having worked on several practice questions throughout the semester?
• A multitude of practice questions are available that test your knowledge on sub-topics and topics and not just entire courses.

Alternatives:

• Do some practice questions at the end of each sub-topic to test your application skills.  Can you spot the issues and sub-issues?  Can you apply the concepts correctly?  Can you apply the rules and exceptions to the rules?
• Practice your approach to questions:  how will you analyze the question; how will you marshal the facts; how will you organize your answer; how will you write the answer in the most concise way.
• Become more adept by starting with one-issue questions, then progressing to two- or three-issue questions, then progressing to more extensive questions.  Once you can organize and answer shorter questions, you can practice your organization for longer questions.
• Use multiple sources of questions:  ones handed out by the professor; questions in study aids; questions you and your study partners write and swap; questions from prior exams.  
• Schedule practice question time each week for each course so that you do not forget to practice or put off practice too long.

This week’s tips focus on bad advice that is often given out by well-intentioned students.  Critique these pieces of advice carefully and consider the alternatives.

Bad Advice:  You don’t have to study as hard for an open-book exam because you can look up anything that you want.

Why this advice is bad advice:

• You will have very little time to look up anything during the exam.  Open-book exams are traps for the naïve.
• If you are only generally familiar with the material, you will not have in-depth knowledge to spot all of the issues and to support your arguments.
• “Open book” may have a very limited definition (Ex. code book but no outlines or notes).  "Open book" may have a very limited value-added component (Ex. you may not write in your rule book that is allowed in the exam).

Alternatives:

• Treat an open-book exam with the same reverence as a closed-book exam.
• Study the material so well that you “own it” rather than being generally familiar with it.  Then, you will not need to look up much.
• If it is a code/rule course, you want to have a solid memory for at least a “condensed” version of a code section or rule because you will not have time to look up and read every code section or rule during the exam.
• If a code/rule book is allowed, make sure you have extensive practice in using that source so you are efficient in its use if you must look something up.
• Know exactly what the professor will allow you to bring to the exam and any restrictions on writing in books, etc.  Then, plan how to use those resources most efficiently and effectively and only when necessary.
• Make good and creative use of tabs for code/rule books if allowed by the professor.

This week’s tips focus on bad advice that is often given out by well-intentioned students.  Critique these pieces of advice carefully and consider the alternatives.

Bad advice:  When you have someone else’s outline for the course, you don’t have to make your own outline.

Why this advice is bad advice:

• Having the outline of someone else who did well in a course does not mean that you will do well in the course.  You will only do well if you know the material in-depth and understand it and can apply it.  Having an outline from an anonymous source is even less positive because you do not even know if the student who created it did well in the course.
• An outline matches someone else’s learning styles and may not match how you learn material.  It also does not tell you how to apply the material to new fact scenarios – the very essence of law school exams.
• Outlines of other students are shortcuts that avoid your having to process the information yourself.  Processing the information through your own outlines increases understanding and retention of material.
• Outlines from prior years may not include changes in the law, changes in the professor’s approach to a subject, and changes in textbooks.  Unless you are carefully taking notes and outlining, you may miss important changes since the last time the professor taught the course.
• When each member of a study group outlines one course and then gives her/his outline to the other study group members, the same type of problems can result.  Each study group member will know the course s/he outlined very well.  Each study group member will only have a partial understanding of the other two or three courses.

Alternatives:

• If you have not already done so, begin NOW to process material and make your own outlines.  Use any outlines you have depended upon up to now only as comparisons.
• Consider whether you can condense material before you put it in your own outlines so that you will not have to condense your outlines later.
• Be efficient and effective in making your own outlines: do not include everything – include the important things that give you the bigger picture and inter-relationships.
• Consider whether flowcharts and other visuals will be helpful for you as a way to condense the material and understand the “big picture” of the course.
  

The seasonal flu shot will be available AT THE LAW SCHOOL!  Free to all students today, Wednesday, October 14, from 11:30-1:30 and from 3:30-5:45.  The shots are free to ALL students and ALL full time faculty and staff.  Part-time faculty and staff (<80%) will be asked to pay $5.00.

Campus Health Services will be giving seasonal flu shots to students, faculty and staff beginning September 21, 2009. Seasonal flu shots are free to all UofL full-time students, Graduate Medical Education Residents & Fellows, and UofL faculty & staff who are at least an 80% FTE. All UofL part-time employees and retirees may get their flu shot for $5.00. ID's are required for free and discounted flu shots. All others may purchase the flu shot vaccine for $20.00 (no insurance claims will be filed).

Shots will be provided at the law school on October 14 from 11:30 AM-1:30 PM and 3:30 PM-5:45 PM.

Refer to the schedule for a complete list of times and locations.

You must complete the necessary form and take it with you in order to receive a flu shot.

This week’s tips will focus on bad advice that is often given out by well-intentioned students.  Critique these pieces of advice carefully and consider the alternatives.

Bad Advice:  Save up your absences and use all of them the last two weeks of class so that you can focus on exam studying.

Why this advice is bad advice:

• Important topics are often covered at the end of classes because the topics are more advanced than some of the material you have had previously.  You will be dependent on another student’s version of the material if you cut classes.
• Your professors are likely to tie the course together in the last weeks of class.  You will be dependent on another student’s version of the course if you cut classes.
• Your professors are likely to talk about the exam in more detail during the last weeks of class.  You will be dependent on another student’s version of the exam instructions, tips, and study guidelines if you cut classes.
• You will go into exams with less personal understanding of the material covered at the end of the semester.  Some professors emphasize material covered at the end of classes very heavily in the exam questions.
• If you follow this advice, you will also not be reading your cases.  You will only be more behind in understanding the course than you were previously.

Alternatives:

• Plan your time management for the coming weeks so that you get all of the tasks done that are necessary for success – including going to class prepared.
• Do not stop reading your cases.  You need to understand the material through the last class.  Become more efficient and effective in your reading.
• If you do not know how to structure your time for the remainder of the semester to get each task done, visit the Academic Success Office for help.