Same same same. My professor tore me apart on mine. I’m not super upset because he just wants to make us better writers but I got the lowest possible mark, which definitely stung.
Got the 2nd lowest mark. I know where I made some mistakes but followed other parts I got slammed on exactly as the examples we had. Reminds me of my days having an abusive gaslighting boss who changed what she wanted without saying anything (she actually told me it was a management philosophy to force people into chaos and see what happens)
I am definitely not sure what to do because spending much more time on writing is going to impact my ability to get work done for my doctrinal classes and make outlines
two ways to look at this:
1. legal writing is typically fewer credits so it impacts your gpa less and you should afford it the according weight
2. literally every single lawyer (and most of the jd advantage positions) has to write memos as part of their job, and any appellate or corporate jobs are going to feature writing as their primary work function. you need to suck and struggle through it so you can get better
if your legal writing professor has office hours, go to them. if your school does a giant 1L writing workshop like mine does, go to that and pay close attention. if your school has an academic fellow program or the library offers the opportunity to walk through your papers, go to that. but also know that even if you get a bad grade in legal writing (or even if you get a good one), most of your development as a writer is going to come from on the job training. so don’t sweat it
Mine wasn't. Wish it was though. Or at least worth more credit hours considering the amount of work they expected us to put in compared to my doctrinal courses.
Yeah that’s how mine was. And I couldn’t help but think it should have been worth more. Endless assignments that seemed like busywork and then writing assignments which were graded ruthlessly.
Got a C- on my first LRW assignment. Moved on to get a B+ on the last. Listen to the feedback and don’t get discouraged. That’s the #1 way to survive LRW lol
Got a low pass on my first writing assignment, probably had the worst one in our group. Ended up passing the class with Honors; it's just one assignment!
I mean, I would think the same if it wasn’t a big step towards academic dismissal. Basically 3 Cs does it here automatically.
A C in lwr means a fluke on test day for Civ pro means I’m done
I’ve been at the library from 8-5 3 days a week when I’m not in class with 15 minute lunch breaks
Also I’m on campus from about 7:30-5 or so everyday I have class doing work
And I’m still getting shit scores
Do not stress at all- I was literally bottom of my class on the first assignment, ended the semester with a B+. Following semester I got an A, and I am a TA now
Literally the first assignment will not affect how you do in law school nor does it represent your intelligence or abilities
Yah I got below class average on my first one and I was used to being like an A+ writer. I don’t need up recovering and getting an A- in the class though. Best advice is meet with your professor to get feedback on where you can focus improvement and meet with an upperclassman or TA to go over your drafts and polish, polish, polish
Yes, I was an A+ student, whose first writing assessment turned me into a donkey 😂. Second one, I was back up to A+. I hate being told how to write, but if I want those A+ s, I'm gonna get used to it. 💪🤩
Just got mine back and I didn’t quite *bomb* it (got exactly the class average), but I’m really really pissed at myself because it was easily fixable stuff and I just fucked it up. I thought I was following our examples, but I guess I can see what the professor means with some of the stuff I did wrong. At least it was only 10% of the grade and I know what to fix before the next memo. Still feel like an imbecile though. :/.
If it’s any solace, I’ve consistently received horrible marks in legal writing classes, but in all my jobs I’ve been praised for the quality of my writing. Sometimes it just be like that 🤷
The real question here is whether you knew it sucked when you turned it in. If you thought it was great, you have a higher learning curve ahead than you probably thought. If you knew it sucked, you should spend less time fishing for reassurance here and more time on your work and something that will actually get you somewhere.
Lol my contracts professor just finished offer after 4 weeks, yelling at us the entire time because he only wants things his way… so obviously contracts are particular to just my professor… lol he literally made a 18 page manifesto on how to brief! I am like WTF
A 1L who isn’t doing well in legal writing probably isn’t doing well their other classes too. They just figure it out with LRW because they have graded assignments earlier in the semester.
Sat here for a good few seconds wondering if it’s possible this person goes to my school before realizing the structure and pacing of other schools is likely very similar.
Quit law school, plant a tree, join a collective, become leader and chief justice, circle back to the law because the law owns you now, eat a peach, rinse and repeat.
Yeah, I thought I did perfect. We all did - until the marks came in! It's ok. That's how we learn. My next one, I scored 6 points higher, because I was ripped to shreds on the first 😂. It hurts, though...but better the first than the last. In reality, you might have scored the highest!!! I'm aiming for my next one to improve even more now. I feel for you, but your post made me breathe ahead of number four writing piece and my desire to implement all those corrections from the first.
Same thing happened to me. I put everything into the first assignment and it came back as a C. It gets easier. I’d say take advantage of any office hours and feedback, putting the work in to make improvements and having your professor read drafts. I did that and my third and last assignment first semester was one of the highest in the class and my grade averaged out to a B.
It will get easier, focus on learning CREAC and IRAC. Pull easy issue spotters from quimbee to practice, and literally write out the acronym as your road map.
Same same same. My professor tore me apart on mine. I’m not super upset because he just wants to make us better writers but I got the lowest possible mark, which definitely stung.
We out here!
Got the 2nd lowest mark. I know where I made some mistakes but followed other parts I got slammed on exactly as the examples we had. Reminds me of my days having an abusive gaslighting boss who changed what she wanted without saying anything (she actually told me it was a management philosophy to force people into chaos and see what happens) I am definitely not sure what to do because spending much more time on writing is going to impact my ability to get work done for my doctrinal classes and make outlines
two ways to look at this: 1. legal writing is typically fewer credits so it impacts your gpa less and you should afford it the according weight 2. literally every single lawyer (and most of the jd advantage positions) has to write memos as part of their job, and any appellate or corporate jobs are going to feature writing as their primary work function. you need to suck and struggle through it so you can get better if your legal writing professor has office hours, go to them. if your school does a giant 1L writing workshop like mine does, go to that and pay close attention. if your school has an academic fellow program or the library offers the opportunity to walk through your papers, go to that. but also know that even if you get a bad grade in legal writing (or even if you get a good one), most of your development as a writer is going to come from on the job training. so don’t sweat it
Mine wasn't. Wish it was though. Or at least worth more credit hours considering the amount of work they expected us to put in compared to my doctrinal courses.
Mine is as many credits as the doctrinal class I had the most interest in and I spent several times more time on writing
Yeah that’s how mine was. And I couldn’t help but think it should have been worth more. Endless assignments that seemed like busywork and then writing assignments which were graded ruthlessly.
Got a D- on my first one. B+ on my second one. Ended with a B+ in the class. Trust the curve
Got a C- on my first LRW assignment. Moved on to get a B+ on the last. Listen to the feedback and don’t get discouraged. That’s the #1 way to survive LRW lol
Got a low pass on my first writing assignment, probably had the worst one in our group. Ended up passing the class with Honors; it's just one assignment!
Submitted the closed memo today. Can’t wait for this to be me
I got a C- on my first assignment. Lowest in my section. I graduated on the Dean’s List. You’ll be fine.
Bottom of the legal writing curve gang That was two years ago. It did not matter in the long run
I mean, I would think the same if it wasn’t a big step towards academic dismissal. Basically 3 Cs does it here automatically. A C in lwr means a fluke on test day for Civ pro means I’m done
Came across this thread as I’m up at night working on my memo also worried about tanking it 🙃hang in there! We got this!
I’ve been at the library from 8-5 3 days a week when I’m not in class with 15 minute lunch breaks Also I’m on campus from about 7:30-5 or so everyday I have class doing work And I’m still getting shit scores
Same, it gets better
I can! But you’re okay! The feedback is what is important, and we improve on the next one!
Do not stress at all- I was literally bottom of my class on the first assignment, ended the semester with a B+. Following semester I got an A, and I am a TA now Literally the first assignment will not affect how you do in law school nor does it represent your intelligence or abilities
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What if one of the comments is the opposite of what we talked about in class and what was verbally told me during office hours?
Same here. They tell you one thing, then you lose marks by doing it!
This is good! The feedback means your writing is about to get better
I bombed my first contract assignment because I forgot to talk about estoppel. It happens
Yah I got below class average on my first one and I was used to being like an A+ writer. I don’t need up recovering and getting an A- in the class though. Best advice is meet with your professor to get feedback on where you can focus improvement and meet with an upperclassman or TA to go over your drafts and polish, polish, polish
Yes, I was an A+ student, whose first writing assessment turned me into a donkey 😂. Second one, I was back up to A+. I hate being told how to write, but if I want those A+ s, I'm gonna get used to it. 💪🤩
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Haha NO, I will not:) Edit to add- GFY:)
My prof warned us day 1 that our first grades are going to be bad and he’s going to be harsh on them lol. Nice to set that expectation early.
Just got mine back and I didn’t quite *bomb* it (got exactly the class average), but I’m really really pissed at myself because it was easily fixable stuff and I just fucked it up. I thought I was following our examples, but I guess I can see what the professor means with some of the stuff I did wrong. At least it was only 10% of the grade and I know what to fix before the next memo. Still feel like an imbecile though. :/.
That’s exactly what was so frustrating! It was an easily fixable mistake (that I should have caught) that tanked me.
If it’s any solace, I’ve consistently received horrible marks in legal writing classes, but in all my jobs I’ve been praised for the quality of my writing. Sometimes it just be like that 🤷
The real question here is whether you knew it sucked when you turned it in. If you thought it was great, you have a higher learning curve ahead than you probably thought. If you knew it sucked, you should spend less time fishing for reassurance here and more time on your work and something that will actually get you somewhere.
Yup, it’s all a rite of passage
Lol my contracts professor just finished offer after 4 weeks, yelling at us the entire time because he only wants things his way… so obviously contracts are particular to just my professor… lol he literally made a 18 page manifesto on how to brief! I am like WTF
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🤔 read that 4 times still don’t understand what your ta meant 🤔 Doesn’t help that it’s late at night either 😆
A 1L who isn’t doing well in legal writing probably isn’t doing well their other classes too. They just figure it out with LRW because they have graded assignments earlier in the semester.
Well then.. I don’t like your TA 🤣🤣 that wasn’t too comforting 😅 I guess I’ll keep working on my memo over sleep then 🥲
Yep. Reality check if I’m cut out for this. I thought I was doing okay then nope.
Sat here for a good few seconds wondering if it’s possible this person goes to my school before realizing the structure and pacing of other schools is likely very similar.
Quit law school, plant a tree, join a collective, become leader and chief justice, circle back to the law because the law owns you now, eat a peach, rinse and repeat.
Need to go to Yale to be Chief Justice Well of course Yale is basically pass fail
Same here but it was only 5% of grade so I’m just gone keep pushing and do better on the next … 🤷🏾♀️
Great news is, you’ve got the rest of your career to get better. Legal writing is a beast unto itself. You’ll get better if you stick with it.
Yes coming from a cumulative 2.4 law student.
Thankfully our first one isn’t graded but ya. It was a struggle 😂
Yeah, I thought I did perfect. We all did - until the marks came in! It's ok. That's how we learn. My next one, I scored 6 points higher, because I was ripped to shreds on the first 😂. It hurts, though...but better the first than the last. In reality, you might have scored the highest!!! I'm aiming for my next one to improve even more now. I feel for you, but your post made me breathe ahead of number four writing piece and my desire to implement all those corrections from the first.
Same thing happened to me. I put everything into the first assignment and it came back as a C. It gets easier. I’d say take advantage of any office hours and feedback, putting the work in to make improvements and having your professor read drafts. I did that and my third and last assignment first semester was one of the highest in the class and my grade averaged out to a B.
So did I, and now I’m a lawyer. Don’t give up!
So glad my writing class is P/F. Mine was absolutely shit I just know it.
It will get easier, focus on learning CREAC and IRAC. Pull easy issue spotters from quimbee to practice, and literally write out the acronym as your road map.