LEEWS--when to start?

[JackInTheBox]

Is this something you start before law school, or shortly before exams? 

[carrie]

I have heard good things about it but what exactly is LEEWS?

I've heard many people say this program was a waste of money and even a few that said it harmed them rather than helped.  I'm more inclined to believe that there is no "trick" to writing a law school essay other than knowing your stuff, being able to verbalize it, and perhaps using the prof's model answer as a guidepost to how he/she likes answers written.  Oh and practicing writing exams and answering hypos.  Across the board I have heard this.  Work your outline, do practice exams and hypos over and over and over again, read old exams by your prof and other prof's, practice writing answers to those, too.  That's pretty much what I'm gathering.

Oh and don't rely on commercial outlines.  Make your own outline but it's ok to use commercial outlines to check against yours so you don't miss anything.

So I personally would not take LEEWS.

BUT if you are insistent, I think it's better to take it before school starts.  You won't have time later.

My .02

[JackInTheBox]

From what I gather, an exam-prep.

[jdohno]

Well I used Leews last semester and got straight As. Go to the Leews website and read the things for yourself. You are supposed to read Leews before school. He has things in the book about how to organize your outline, etc. You have do these things in Leews throughout every week in law school (read the book to understand that). In Leews, he has a smart way of doing briefs. I didn't waste time like my classmates writing elaborate briefs to be recite in class. I also used Delaney's Exam book. I pretty much used the PLS method during school. I got straight As fall term and looking to repeat in a couple of weeks. I already have my transfer application in at Georgetown.

Leews teaches you not to dive into the whole essay exam and instead approach it in a piecemeal way. It's a lot of work on your own. You can't just read the book and get all the answers to an exam. I have had a couple of people in my section who bought Leews and tried it and didn't use it. You have to do Leews exactly the way Miller says. They also claimed it was a waste of time. They got mostly Bs and Cs on their exams. The great thing about Leews is that it kept me calm durng finals. Leews teaches you to prepare for your exams through your outline, etc. It also teaches you how to break down the exam into hypos.

You're right doing hypos and practice exams are important. Most professors don't give model answers and the ones they give have been written at a nice long pace. You don't have to get all the issues in the exam but just the big ones and small but important ones. But the key thing is knowing how to write your answers in a concise and organized format. IRAC doesn't help you do that. It's too limiting. Leews gave me the structure. Now Leews isn't very good on policy and Civ Pro exams which is why I used Delaney's Exam book. Either way, betwen those two books I had about 6 or 7 different variations on how to write my exam answers.

In my Ks class, the professor likes to use the students' answers as "model answers." Grades weren't out yet when we got back from the break. He put my answer up on the screen and in the handouts and said it was one of the best answers he has seen on an exam. He went through it pointing out how to the point it was and how it isolated issues in separate paragraphs, etc. And he said that it was an "A" answer so that's how I founded out I aced Contracts. The next answer he put up was also an "A" answer but it was a mess, all over the place. The professor said my answer was a fresh breath of air after going through a series of unorganized answers. It was so hard to sit there and not scream out with joy. I owe everything to Leews. So look before you decide. I don't know if this board is the right place to get your only opinions. I shake my head with some of the things I read on here. But I don't read this board a lot either. Maybe there is good stuff too. Well that's my opinion. Back to prepping for spring finals. Good Luck.

[JackInTheBox]

Thanks a lot for

Well I used Leews last semester and got straight As. Go to the Leews website and read the things for yourself. You are supposed to read Leews before school. He has things in the book about how to organize your outline, etc. You have do these things in Leews throughout every week in law school (read the book to understand that). In Leews, he has a smart way of doing briefs. I didn't waste time like my classmates writing elaborate briefs to be recite in class. I also used Delaney's Exam book. I pretty much used the PLS method during school. I got straight As fall term and looking to repeat in a couple of weeks. I already have my transfer application in at Georgetown.

Leews teaches you not to dive into the whole essay exam and instead approach it in a piecemeal way. It's a lot of work on your own. You can't just read the book and get all the answers to an exam. I have had a couple of people in my section who bought Leews and tried it and didn't use it. You have to do Leews exactly the way Miller says. They also claimed it was a waste of time. They got mostly Bs and Cs on their exams. The great thing about Leews is that it kept me calm durng finals. Leews teaches you to prepare for your exams through your outline, etc. It also teaches you how to break down the exam into hypos.

You're right doing hypos and practice exams are important. Most professors don't give model answers and the ones they give have been written at a nice long pace. You don't have to get all the issues in the exam but just the big ones and small but important ones. But the key thing is knowing how to write your answers in a concise and organized format. IRAC doesn't help you do that. It's too limiting. Leews gave me the structure. Now Leews isn't very good on policy and Civ Pro exams which is why I used Delaney's Exam book. Either way, betwen those two books I had about 6 or 7 different variations on how to write my exam answers.

In my Ks class, the professor likes to use the students' answers as "model answers." Grades weren't out yet when we got back from the break. He put my answer up on the screen and in the handouts and said it was one of the best answers he has seen on an exam. He went through it pointing out how to the point it was and how it isolated issues in separate paragraphs, etc. And he said that it was an "A" answer so that's how I founded out I aced Contracts. The next answer he put up was also an "A" answer but it was a mess, all over the place. The professor said my answer was a fresh breath of air after going through a series of unorganized answers. It was so hard to sit there and not scream out with joy. I owe everything to Leews. So look before you decide. I don't know if this board is the right place to get your only opinions. I shake my head with some of the things I read on here. But I don't read this board a lot either. Maybe there is good stuff too. Well that's my opinion. Back to prepping for spring finals. Good Luck.

You sold me.  Thanks for the information and examples of how it helped you; it is refreshing from the usual Yay or Nay answers I get.  Thanks for telling me when I need to start it too.  Hopefully, I will follow suit in your tradition.

[jdohno]

No problem. I bought my copy last year on Ebay. There are a few people selling their copies right now. I love it when 1Ls sell things that they didn't use during the year. I got my E&Es on Ebay and half.com last year well below cost and almost all of them were new. The sellers just bought them out of panic. People do that a lot in law school. They buy things and don't use them. It's weird. If you buy Leews on Ebay, make sure you get the book, the illustrations and the tapes/or Cds. You can't read the book by itself and get Leews. You have to listen to the tapes and illustrations.

You want to read the Leews book about 2 to 3 weeks before school starts. You want to look at the chapters again on outlining and briefs right before school starts. Leews shows you that you have to prepare for your exams from day one. But again, I also used Delaney's How to do your best on Law school exams, to make up the difference in Leews. Leews isn't very good for Civ Pro and policy exams. You won't know if you have a policy heavy professor until you start school and talk to people or figure it out yourself. I also used PLS2. It was a lot of work. But As are not common in law school and it felt good that all my hard work paid off. I now get a chance at some great schools thru transferring.

As for the Yeas and Nays on this board, it's weird. People tell you not to do something but don't disclose how they themselves did. I read one thread where this 1L guy was trashing this book that has helped me out in school. And none of the pre 1Ls bother to ask the guy what he got first semester. If he got As, he would have said so instead of just saying he did well. People think doing well in law school is surviving exams and maybe getting a B. Law school is too much money to me to be that random. I was calm during finals while my classmates were trying to figure out how to organize their answers. Leews and Delaney require a lot of reprogramming on your part. But it was worth it. It took everything in me not to run out of my contracts class and let out a hugh shout of joy. And then to find out that I did well across the board. It's just a great feeling. I hope you are able to experience the same thing. Good luck again.



Thanks a lot for[quote author=jdohno
You sold me.  Thanks for the information and examples of how it helped you; it is refreshing from the usual Yay or Nay answers I get.  Thanks for telling me when I need to start it too.  Hopefully, I will follow suit in your tradition.

[Kelly]

Go to-

http://www.lawstudentparadise.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1391&highlight=leews

http://www.lawstudentparadise.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2505&highlight=leews

Is this something you start before law school, or shortly before exams? 

[carrie]

Cool!  I'll check those out too!!

Go to-

http://www.lawstudentparadise.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1391&highlight=leews

http://www.lawstudentparadise.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2505&highlight=leews

Is this something you start before law school, or shortly before exams? 

[sharmaine73]

I have heard good things about it but what exactly is LEEWS?

I've heard many people say this program was a waste of money and even a few that said it harmed them rather than helped.  I'm more inclined to believe that there is no "trick" to writing a law school essay other than knowing your stuff, being able to verbalize it, and perhaps using the prof's model answer as a guidepost to how he/she likes answers written.  Oh and practicing writing exams and answering hypos.  Across the board I have heard this.  Work your outline, do practice exams and hypos over and over and over again, read old exams by your prof and other prof's, practice writing answers to those, too.  That's pretty much what I'm gathering.

Oh and don't rely on commercial outlines.  Make your own outline but it's ok to use commercial outlines to check against yours so you don't miss anything.

So I personally would not take LEEWS.

BUT if you are insistent, I think it's better to take it before school starts.  You won't have time later.

My .02

I changed my mind. 

[bkbk5]

Cool!  I'll check those out too!!

Go to-

http://www.lawstudentparadise.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1391&highlight=leews

http://www.lawstudentparadise.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2505&highlight=leews

Is this something you start before law school, or shortly before exams? 

These links to the lawsutdentparadise.com discussion on LEEWS are the polar opposite of everything I've read on this site about LEEWS.  Are these people just bitter because the bit-the-weiner and are looking for a scapegoat?  Or, did LEEWS really screw them up?