Blog Article
The Neurodiverse Guide to Bar Exam Accessibility
By Ms. JD Editor • July 28, 2021 •Writers in Residence, Features, Bar Exam
It’s hard enough to study for the bar. It shouldn’t be harder if you learn differently. I always end up reflecting on some form of isolated feeling during law school. As an autistic law student, I often felt alone. I didn’t know anyone else who had a similar disability until nearly the end of my 3L year and I spent law school accommodating myself in how I studied, took notes, and navigated the law school culture. I’m hardly the only one who was neurodivergent in law school, in law practice, or in that…
Blog Article
Taking Care of Your Future Self During an 80-Hour Week
By Marisa Tashman • October 23, 2019 •Ms. JD, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Other Issues, Features, Superwomen JDs and What You Can Learn From Them
Like many young ambitious women in the wake of Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” movement, I often have to make choices between two options that are both necessary: “sleep or work out?” “meditate or call my mom?” Beginning my career as a litigator at a large law firm in Los Angeles, I’ve been forced to make these choices all too often, eventually transforming into a thought-cycle of not being balanced enough, which inevitably transforms into being hopelessly imbalanced. Layer on psychosomatic GI issues, migraines, and an unexpected back injury, I turned to a wellness “industry” filled with preachers on becoming perfectly…
Blog Article
The FDA on CBD: What to Know Before Opening Shop
By Stephanie Carr • June 30, 2019 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence
Many people assume that any and all hemp-derived CBD products are legal and can be sold pursuant to passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. But those people are wrong and could unknowingly place themselves in legal jeopardy. For practitioners looking to break into the cannabis law field, understanding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA's) position on CBD products in food or cosmetic products is a good way to start. The 2018 Farm Bill exempts hemp and hemp-derived products, including CBD, from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). But the FDA has made clear that it retains authority to regulate products…
Blog Article
Know Before You Grow: Marijuana versus Hemp
By Stephanie Carr • March 30, 2019 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Other Career Issues
Growing a cannabis law practice requires a working knowledge of the legal and botanical differences between marijuana and hemp so practitioners can interpret current laws and anticipate future laws. The following is a simplified, step-by-step guide to understanding their relationship and key differences. This information will be the primer for future posts about legal opportunities in the cannabis field. Step One: All in the Family If you’re a bourbon aficionado or have the pleasure of calling yourself a Kentuckian, you know that all bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon. The same logic applies here: both marijuana and…
Blog Article
Learning to Deal With Breast Cancer As a Law School Student
By Dennis Hung • March 29, 2018 •Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
Facing breast cancer is one of the scariest things a woman can face and the uncertainty it presents can stir a wide range of emotions. Learning to accept the condition and to confront the battle ahead with courage is not something that comes easy, but it's also not something that anyone has to deal with alone. There are millions of breast cancer survivors willing to share their advice and lend their support to help you submit to treatment and face a life after recovery. Keep a Journal One of the most important things a woman confronting breast cancer can do…
Blog Article
Part-time Law, Full-time Life: Talking About Nothing ... Says it All
By Susie Lloyd • March 05, 2017 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Other Law School Issues, Issues, •Women and Law in the Media
When I started class in the fall of 2015, I stopped eating dinner with my husband. I stopped going to the grocery store, making breakfast, or meeting friends for happy hour. On one hand, I was saving money and realizing I was eating too much, but on the other hand I stopped interacting with my husband and socializing with friends and coworkers. My weekends were consumed with reading for civil procedure and torts and when I finished the assigned readings I opened my mountain of supplements in the hope I could fit more information in my brain before I crashed at…
Blog Article
Alleviating Common Fears Associated During Your First Year of Law School
By Azin Abedian • September 15, 2016 •Writers in Residence, Law School, Pre-Law, Other Law School Issues
When you receive your first acceptance letter to law school your heart flutters with excitement. You cannot wait to share the exciting news with friends, family and loved ones. As the first day of law school draws near, your heart begins to have that same fluttering feeling, however this time, it feels a little bit different. This time, the flutter represents nerves, anxiety, and a general sense of uneasiness, as you are unsure of what the first day of school will bring. Unsettled thoughts begin polluting your mind, in no particular order: Will you fail out? How will you handle the…
Blog Article
A Parliament of OWLs (Older Wiser Learners): Don’t make me stop this car!
By Lisa Allen • September 04, 2016 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Legal Academia, Law School, Other Law School Issues
“Don’t make me stop this car!” What did my mom actually mean with this threat? Well, let me clear it up for any of you who have never been on the receiving end of it. She meant that if we didn’t knock off whatever shenanigans were going on in the back seat, she was going to stop the car and intervene. (Yes, I said shenanigans. I’m old. Get off my lawn!) Mom wasn’t actually abusive, but somehow did a pretty convincing job of threatening it. Driving the car kept her busy, and stopping it meant she would have her hands…
Blog Article
Not fLAWless but Fearless: The V Word
By Jessica Chinnadurai • April 04, 2016 •Writers in Residence, Law School, Curriculum and Classroom Dynamics
Vice? Victory? No, I’m talking about validation. That 10 letter word that pretty much all of us are guilty of seeking almost every day. One of the hard parts of law school is that we don’t really get any validation, or measurement of success, until the very end of a semester. It can be compared to actors in a play, who have to wait until the very end of their performance for a standing ovation, or a review. However, even in this situation, the audience might clap for an actor during the performance, if appropriate, or laugh at a funny line…
Blog Article
Three Years, Two With Good Behavior: C You Later!
By Heather Nicholson • March 04, 2016 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Law School, Other Law School Issues
In undergrad, it is easier to fake it until you make it with your grades. Papers can be put off, sources easily searched, and you can argue your grade for those extra few points. Law school is completely different. A ten page paper can take upwards of thirty hours to write, and the course material is too dense to try and digest only during a study period. Furthermore, in most cases your grade will be based off of one paper or one exam. If things were not already difficult, law school grades on a curve. Grading on a curve means…Connect with us
Follow or subscribe