reasearch and writing grade...

[nate]

so i got my first legal research and writing memo back. 12 people in the class, given one of three grades (A-, B+, B) and i was in the bottom group of 4 people. the class isn't graded, and i can think of more important things to worry about in law school, but i still feel like i messed up big. should i not care and move on? or should i take this as some sign of how i'm going to do in law school? annyone have any advice or similar experience?

[jacy85]

I don't know that you should take it as a sign of how you'll do in law school, but you might want to try talking to your prof when you get a chance.  Writing's vital to being a lawyer, so perhaps just for your own peace of mind, you should at least take 20 minute or so and really look through you comments, and see if you made mistakes, or what other problems you had.

Also, I'm not sure if any firms that hire 1Ls for summers want writing samples, so maybe a 2 or 3L can answer that, but on the off chance that they do, you have some additional motivation (perhaps) to go talk to you prof.

[Krisace]

Don't worry too much about it.  But as stated abpve, writing is vital for one's career.  But it will also come in time...  A B is a good grade anyways, and I imagine that you go to a pretty good school if no grades are assigned for the class.  At many schools, grades for LRW are assigned as if one is putting out work as a first year associate,according to ABA standards, and a B is actually pretty good, with most students getting in the C+ to B- range.  For example in my class last year I got a B and had the 8th highests score out of 24.

[Coregram]

You should find out why you did poorly in relation to the rest of the group.  A B isn't a good grade when it puts you in the bottom third of the group.

If the problems were stylistic (i.e spelling, grammer, citations, etc.) then I wouldn't take it as a sign as to how you will do.  But you should work on improving those areas as the other posters have pointed out.

But if the problems were more substantive, such as not finding the correct law in the research materials or doing a poor analysis relating the law to the facts and drawing a conclusion from the analysis, I would take it as a sign of areas to improve on before you have to take your exams.  These skills are very much the ones you need in preparing for and writing your exams in the substantive classes.

[T. Durden]

dude

it's a pass no pass class

furthermore, after the first memo (unless you really blew it) it was made abundantely clear to the adjuncts that no one should be out of the running for a high pass in lrw

you got a B, yes - the bottom 1/3, but not anywhere near the realm of "no pass" or even "low pass" for that matter

yes, admittedly it's going to be difficult for you to high pass LRW now .. but then again, who really gives a flying f? no employer is oging to know aobut your high pass unless they explicitly ask about it - your first sem. gpa on the other hand, now that is paramount

[lawgirl]

so i got my first legal research and writing memo back. 12 people in the class, given one of three grades (A-, B+, B) and i was in the bottom group of 4 people. the class isn't graded, and i can think of more important things to worry about in law school, but i still feel like i messed up big. should i not care and move on? or should i take this as some sign of how i'm going to do in law school? annyone have any advice or similar experience?

Go through your memo and then go to the prof to figure out where you went wrong. Trust me, it will pay off in the future.

[Melinda]

My LWR is graded, and it seems that grades are directly related to how much time ppl. put into.  the competition is rough, and so is trying to balance this class w/ my substantive classes, at the same time as competing w/ someone who spent 60 hours on the memo while ignoring all over classes.

[dbgirl]

I officially hate this class.
I honestly believe that my teacher simply likes some of my classmates better than me and that's why they're getting better grades. I busted my @ss and it didn't matter.
Anyway, I've decided not to cry about it anymore.

The 2Ls keep reminding me to prioritize. LW&R is NOT more important than my regular classes -- no matter WHAT my LW&R teacher says.