In addition to formal classroom instruction, LMU Law provides students and graduates with other opportunities to enhance their performance in law school, on the bar exam, and in the legal profession.
Dean’s Fellows Program
The Dean’s Fellows Program is designed to help facilitate first-year students’ self-regulated learning skills, by focusing on studying strategies, organization, time management, and exam preparation for their first-year courses through scheduled workshops, drop-in office hours, and one-on-one tutoring sessions. The program is primarily run by Dean’s Fellows, who are upper-level students who have demonstrated the highest potential for leadership, academic achievement, and a diversity of life experiences. These additional learning sessions provide 1Ls with an informal but invaluable opportunity to ask questions and further dive into independent learning skills and exam strategies.
Workshop Series
LMU Law conducts a series of workshops primarily during the first semester. These workshops are designed to complement the skills discussed and practiced in the required Legal Foundations I course that all first-year students take fall semester. Sessions have included providing tips on creating an effective study schedule, developing course outlines, writing law school essays, taking multiple-choice questions, and maintaining a positive and healthy mindset throughout law school.
Individual Tutoring
Students who need more attention in a specific area may meet one-on-one with particular members of the LMU Law faculty for further instruction and assistance.
Writing Specialist
LMU Law also offers students the opportunity to meet with a writing specialist so that they may become more effective writers throughout the academic year. The writing specialist has office hours during the week to meet with students about any law school-related writing, unless otherwise indicated by a professor. This may include briefs, memos, papers, review notes, resumes, and cover letters. The writing specialists can also advise on issues of grammar, clarity, argument structure, and rhetorical strategies.
Post-Graduation Supplemental Bar Preparation Program
LMU Law’s support for bar preparation continues after graduation. Graduates taking the bar exam in February or July may participate in the law school’s supplemental bar assistance program, which is offered after graduation in the winter and summer and creates opportunities for more simulated practice, written feedback, and individual counseling. As part of the program, LMU Law’s bar preparation faculty conducts additional workshops to supplement and emphasize the information provided by the commercial bar review course and assigns more practice writing assignments than graduates would otherwise be assigned through their commercial bar review courses. As a supplemental program, LMU Law’s postgraduate program is designed to work with the commercial bar review course’s personal study plan rather than to add work to it.