How to Be the World’s Best Law Student | Warren Binford | Willamette Univ. College of Law | ILT 2015

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This video is part of a video collection from the Igniting Law Teaching conference, hosted by LegalED at American University Washington College of Law. Responding to the calls for legal education reform, the conference -- the first of its kind -- creats a forum for professors experimenting with cutting edge technologies and techniques in law teaching with the goal of spreading their ideas to the broader community.
The talks were modeled on TEDx Talks, with each speaker on stage alone, giving a well scripted and performed talk about an aspect of law school pedagogy.
The goal of LegalED is to curate a growing collection of short videos on law school-related pedagogy that will inspire innovation and experimentation by law professors to bring more active learning and practical skills training into the law school curriculum.
This videos, and others like it, are available on LegalED, a website developed by a community of law professors interested in using online technologies to facilitate more active, problem-based learning in the classroom, in addition to more assessment and feedback.
Supported by the Uncommon Individual Foundation.

[reecehayden]

To the non-Korean kid translating his notes into Korean mid-lecture. I salute you.

[costa]

I love this : "you are completely average among the very best" It's a humbling thought

[jamesm.]

This should have been a TED talk it is actually one of the better, more practical videos I've ever seen.

[stelo]

I didnt think my short attention span would allow me to get through the entire video, but something about the frustration she carried in her tone from the beginning kept my attention lol

[liambraithewaite]

As a law student, I think this is very idealistic and not reflective of many law student's experiences

1. I use a laptop and take notes for 3 hours straight from class. Lecture notes have been the most valuable tool which I have been able to summarise again and again to make it more succinct. Notes on paper are not transferable and become a series of incomplete sentences and messy handwriting trying to keep up with the lecturer (yes that is while trying to summarise whats been said instead of taking it verbatim)

2. Lecturers should assign practical assessments to apply the material. Practice hypotheticals are a great way to cement the knowledge.

3. Teaching others? In the time it takes for me to even understand the material enough so that I could then at least teach it on a basic level to then receive the advanced understanding its basically exam period.

4. Failing low stake tests is a great way to learn? Every law unit I study is worth 1.5K. My aim is to accumulate as many marks as possible to I have as safe a margin as possible on the exam at the end so in the event (hasnt happened yet in my 4 years studying law) that I fail the exam, I have enough marks to pass the unit. Failure is unfortunately a luxury I cannot afford. Plus, with the emphasis on getting those high grades and having a high GPA in order to get a job by the end of the degree, the system does not allow room for failure.

5. Adopt a uni professor? These guys dont even know their students and you just move on.

[pondzmeme]

Bless you. I am about to go into Buisness Law as an Undergrad., and you just helped me understand how I can survive Law School. Thank you from a UK law student.

[Mileyyy]

This is incredible! Thank you so much! Greetings from a Belgian law student.

[TrueNorthTalks]

Canadian law student here. Thank you for the awesome tips!

[arjundevendrarajan]

Part 1
1. No laptops during class
2. Have physical textbook - engage mind
3. Fail a lot - to bring ago down
4. Spread out learning
5. Get confused

[Topovcic]

Bosnian law student here. Thank you so much! This is awesome!

[B_trey]

I'm halfway through this and I believe I can study law. Bless all students trying hard and bless you ma'am

[ruottii]

Italian Law Student in The Netherlands here. I’m simply astounded and astonished by your video! You are definitely one awesome professional and I, from now on, will definitely aspire to be like you when I graduate Law School!

[DavidWilliams-zkmf]

"B bombing" at Harvard is the equivalent of being the top student at every other law school that is not Tier 1. Since most federal judges went to top schools, just going to a top school increases your likelihood to make the best connections despite how skilled you actually are. Name brand bias at work.

[iammar]

Whaooo!! Nice, very nice lecture. I think we must share this video, share all this knowledge because the entire world needs the best lawyers. Can you imagine how amazing could be the world with good lawyers only? 😊😊

[greyman]

Some points were obvious however the point about teaching what you have learnt is excellent. The sleep and exercise is also accurate and beneficial.

[frankbarone]

I will play this video for my marketing class, I can't believe they come to class without notebooks or laptops...incredible.

[spicescolours]

So nice to say "fail from the being".
You are right it actually made me aware and has gone better...so far.

[nyonimpumelelo]

Awesome....from a Zimbabwe Law Student

[radhikab]

You are outstanding mam...thank you...Indian average student..

[madelinesanders]

I am preparing to go to law school at the ripe age 55 +. I decided to do it because nearly three years ago I developed a business preparing executive clemencies for incarcerated individuals, and, because I have so many requests from wrongfully incarcerated persons whose cases ultimately need to be in court, I knew I wanted to be able to represent such persons rather than referring them elsewhere. I appreciated the suggestions and will incorporate them in my preparation. If you happen to read this I would love to contact you once I finish law school & pass the bar. Again, thanks a mil