Fall 2009? Law School Admission 101

Ok, it's practically August. Many of you are just getting underway preparing for the October 2008 LSAT. Some of you will start prep courses this week.

What else should you be thinking about right now?

1. Getting LORs (Letters of Rec) underway. Who will write them? What should they emphasize about you? Ask these people and give them deadlines 4-6 weeks out. Make sure to see lsdas.org for the cover form and be sure to sign the waiver. Here's more about law school letters of recommendation.

2. Your resume. What can you do to round out your experiences? Lacking work experience? Community Service? Time to get on it. Never do anything as resume filler, but if you have time to dedicate to something you've always wanted to explore, there's no time like the present. However, being a file clerk or runner at a law firm isn't the way to go... what a boring way to spend your summer, and what would this LOR say about you? "He was always on time and wore a tie." Not worth it. Better to do something that shows your true interests and passions. Here are more law school resume tips.

3. Really prepare for the LSAT. Please. Retaking in December should be a last resort; give it 100% this time around. Here's more about LSAT prep options. Here are more reasons not to "just wing it" on the October LSAT.

That's all for this Friday night. I'm happy to entertain suggestions for blog topics - so leave comments. Have a great weekend.

Tuesday's Legal Resource: Hein Online

Hein Online is one of the most popular databases available to members of the South Texas College of Law and visitors to the Fred Parks Library. This is most likely due to the variety of resources it offers in PDF.

Hein Online is well known for it’s law journal library which houses most American law reviews and many international law journals. One of the benefits to using Hein Online versus other resources such as Westlaw and Lexis is that whereas other databases provide limited coverage going back only twenty or thirty years, Hein provides full text access to most of its law reviews dating back to the very first volume, which occasionally dates back to the 18th century. One important fact to keep in mind is that most of the journal listings in Hein will not include the most recent year of publication.

Members of the South Texas College of Law community can access Hein from any computer going through the Stanley portal. They can find it in the Library tab in the Library Databases channel. There is also a link on the library homepage in the Databases list. However, this link will only provide access on computers located in the Fred Parks Law Library.

Other materials available in Hein Online are:

The Code of Federal Regulations (1938-1984)
English Reports, Full Reprint (1220-1865)
European Center for Minority Issues
Federal Register Library (Complete Through May 2007)
Foreign & International Law Resources Database
Legal Classics
Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (Editions 1-8)
Philip C. Jessup Library
Session Laws (State, Federal, Austrailia, and Canada)
Treaties and Agreements Library
U.S. Attorney General Opinions
U.S. Congressional Documents
U.S. Federal Legislative History Library
U.S. Presidential Library
U.S. Statutes at Large (1789-2005)
U.S. Supreme Court Library (Complete Coverage for Opinions)
World Trials