This week’s tips focus on how you can use your time efficiently and effectively for studying during the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Be alert to your “highs” and “lows” in planning your study schedule.  Do the hardest tasks when you are the most alert.  It often helps to do the most difficult or most unpleasant task first so that it does not hang over you all day.  Do more active tasks when you are feeling more drained:  flashcards, practice questions, making graphics, etc.  Read and review outlines when you are the most focused.  Be aware of when you need a short break to restore your focus. 

This week’s tips focus on how you can use your time efficiently and effectively for studying during the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Realize that it is your responsibility to carve out the time you need for study.  Talk to your family and friends about why it is important for you to have study time during the break period to prepare for exams, to write a paper, or to accomplish whatever tasks you need to do.  If you have always played during undergraduate school on breaks, they may not understand why law study is different.  Even if family and friends do not fully understand, you need to make personal decisions that you will not regret later.  You may need to make some compromises and get up earlier or stay up later.  Do not use your family and friends as an excuse to procrastinate. 

If you are planning to take the July 2010 Kentucky Bar Exam, be sure to stop by the Academic Success Office to pick up a handout explaining the application process.  Also, mark your calendars for a presentation on January 7, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. in Room 275, regarding the Bar application process.  If you have any questions, please contact Kimberly Ballard, Director of Academic Success (Room 212).

Business Organizations is not a prerequisite for the Drafting Seminar being taught by Professor Nicholson (986-08) in spring 2010, but an understanding of business organizations is preferable.

This week’s tips focus on how you can use your time efficiently and effectively for studying during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Once you decide your priorities, plot out on a calendar which tasks you will complete each day.  Be realistic.  Mark down the actual hours you will spend on each task.  Consider the following possibilities:

• Listen to CD’s in the airport, on the plane, or while driving.
• Review outlines while in the airport or on the plane.
• Photocopy the pages you need to read for classes rather than lugging all of your books with you.
• Ask a family member or friend to quiz you with flashcards while you are at home.
• Get up earlier or go to bed later than family so that you can carve out time to study.
• Negotiate time to study when family/friends are doing other activities that do not need to include you.
• Schedule time with family and friends so that you know when you can study and they know when they will see you.
• Consider whether you can study in a different location than home in order to get time, space, and quiet for studying.
• Plan to take Thanksgiving Day off if possible.  If you have too much to do, at least take a portion of the day off and have fun.
• Use the template calendar attached.
  

If you were not able to register for any spring 2010 course because the course had reached maximum enrollment and was closed, then go to the TWEN site titled “2010 Spring - Class Schedule Discussion Forum” and download the Excel spreadsheet.  Follow the instructions you will find when you open the spreadsheet. Tom Blackburn, Associate Dean and Professor of Law,  tblackburn@louisville.edu

This week’s tips focus on how you can use your time efficiently and effectively for studying during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Create a task list for each exam course or paper/project.  Determine which tasks are your priorities to complete over your break period.  Weigh the following factors:

• Are there projects/papers/presentations that will be due before the end of the semester?
• Are your outlines up-to-date for all of your exam courses?
• Are certain courses extremely difficult for you and need additional review time?
• Are you aware that you are behind in certain courses or portions of courses?
• Do you need to make tables, flowcharts, or other graphics if you are a visual learner?
• Are there certain supplemental materials that you want to read and study to clarify certain topics?
• Have you had a chance to do practice questions for your exam courses?
• Do you need to spend more time on memorization of the law?
• Will you be meeting with a study group during the break period?
  

You should complete your registration by 4:00 pm this coming Friday 11/6/2009.  Early next week we will decide which, if any, courses must be cancelled for lack of the required five student enrollment.By postponing your registration beyond 4:00 pm this coming Friday, 11/6/2009, you run the risk that a class you want will have been cancelled.Tom BlackburnAssociate Dean and Professor of Lawtblackburn@louisville.eduMonday, 11/2/2009

The U.S. Postal Service and the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law will honor the city’s native son, Louis D. Brandeis, on what would have been his 153rd birthday.

Brandeis is featured on a new set of commemorative stamps, which also includes U.S. Supreme Court associate justices Joseph Story, Felix Frankfurter and William J. Brennan Jr. Nationally-known graphic designer Ethel Kessler worked with Lisa Catalone-Castro and Rodolfo Castro on the inspired design of the souvenir sheet that incorporates images of the Supreme Court building and a detail from the first page of the United States Constitution.

The presentation will be held at 10 AM on Friday, November 13. Prior to the event, Professor and Distinguished University Scholar Laura Rothstein will be giving an overview of Brandeis, his distinguished career and his connection to Louisville. The lecture begins at 9 AM and the public is welcome.  In addition to Rothstein, Congressman John Yarmuth, Louisville Postmaster Richard Curtsinger, and Dean Chen will present.

“It is an honor to remember such a prominent member of the Louisville community and to celebrate the many contributions he made for our nation,” said Curtsinger.

Louis Brandeis was the associate justice most responsible for helping the Supreme Court shape the tools it needed to interpret the Constitution in light of the sociological and economic conditions of the 20th century. “If we would guide by the light of reason,” he once exhorted his colleagues, “we must let our minds be bold.” A progressive, and champion of reform, Brandeis devoted his life to social justice.

“Louisville can be proud that Justice Brandeis is so connected to our community and that the values he is known for had their roots here,” said Rothstein.
 
“The principles and philosophies Brandeis is known for – including rights to privacy, free speech, curtailing big government and big business, balancing regulation with free enterprise – are timely today,” she added. “It is appropriate that his enormous contributions are recognized on this set of commemorative stamps.”

To mark the event, 153 commemorative envelopes with a special postmark — both designed by artist Leslie Friesen — will be available for sale. The envelope features a photo of the Brandeis School of Law as well as one of Brandeis’ famous quotes, “Knowledge is essential to understanding & understanding should precede judging.” The cancellation features a Corinthian capital and the numerals 153 to mark his 153rd birthday. It also features the Louis D. Brandeis commemorative stamp. Each envelope is numbered by the artist. The artist will also be on hand to sign the limited edition artwork. The envelopes are $5.

Pursuant to notices previously posted in The Docket, I created two TWEN sites for communicating with students about schedule issues:  one site for 2010 spring and one for 2010 summer.  Through the 2010 summer TWEN site, I emailed a list of nine courses that could be offered in 2010 summer, and asked students to rank those courses from one to nine, with one being the most desirable course.  In the same notice, I said I would announce the results of the rankings on Sunday evening, 11/1/2009, which I did by direct email through the TWEN site. Based on your rankings, the four highest ranked courses and the four courses most likely to be offered in summer 2010 are: #1 Estate and Gift Tax (Tuesday and Thursday, 5:35 pm - 7:15 pm)#2  Basic Federal Income Tax (Monday, Tu., Wed, and Th., 7:25 pm - 9:05 pm)#3  Advanced Legal Research (Monday and Wednesday, 5:35 pm - 7:15 pm)#4  Transactional Drafting Online (no scheduled class meetings because this course is conducted online) The classes and class times listed above are TENTATIVE.  We expect to offer these four classes, but unexpected things happen.  I thank those students who took the time and showed the interest to rank the classes. Tom BlackburnAssociate Dean and Professor of Law