The two logical reasoning sections account for 50% of your overall test score. For this reason, logical reasoning should be considered the most important activity on the LSAT. The questions in this section are designed to test your ability to interpret and evaluate logical arguments, as well as draw correct inferences from them. These arguments [...]

Can you tell your Chardonnays apart from your Tuscan reds? The facts of wine every lawyer should know. Wine, like great books and a full collection of Coltrane discs, is one of those things a person of the world needs to own. There are clients and bosses to impress. Dates to woo. Toasts to toast. [...]

The idea that “you can’t study for the LSAT, because it is like an IQ test” is a common misconception. As a matter of fact, it has been demonstrated that you can improve your performance on standardized IQ tests. Similarly, with the proper preparation methods, you can definitely raise your score on the LSAT. The [...]

Clerk at the Place Becoming one of the 36 Supreme Court clerks—the so-called shadow justices—remains the single best move for those who aspire to one day cast their own shadows (three of the current justices—William Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens, and Stephen Breyer—did clerk duty). Riding shotgun for the Supremes is the first step toward a [...]

Most law schools allow second and third-year students to select their own courses. These courses usually cover topics in greater detail than those in first year. Although these upper-level courses still demand a high level of in-class discussion, the Socratic method is less likely to be used. Students are often given extended research assignments and [...]

Predictions about Supreme Court appointments are about as reliable as predictions about who will win the manual recount in a presidential election: They tend to be based on no empirical evidence at all. But although it’s hard to say whom President George W. Bush might nominate to the Court when the next vacancy occurs (Justices [...]

There are probably as many different teaching styles in law courses as there are law professors. However, most first-year law classes are run according to the “Socratic method” of question and reply. Unlike undergraduate courses that normally use a lecture format, professors of first-year law classes direct their questions to individual students regarding decisions made [...]

Being selected to serve as a law clerk to a judge is among the most prestigious and career-enhancing honors a graduating law student can receive. The higher the court, the greater the prestige, with the Supreme Court topping the list. Naturally, these elite clerkships are extraordinarily competitive, not only among law students but also among [...]

You may write the test as many times as you like, but you cannot take the LSAT more than three times in a two-year period. Some schools average all of the scores, while others take the most recent or the best score. Check with the regulations of the schools where you are applying to find [...]

Seen one chick judge, you’ve seen ‘em all Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg may not look like twins, but male lawyers arguing before the high court have a tendency to confuse the two. Attorneys Laurence Tribe, Walter Dellinger, and the late Bruce Ennis have all made the faux pas. The mix-up happens [...]