Since 1833
· · ·
An Intro to
Week One Fall Orientation at Cincinnati Law
FROM DEAN WATSON As you prepare to join the University of Cincinnati College of Law Class of 2021, I am writing to provide you with some important updates to help make your transition successful. First, enclosed in this packet you will find a list of books you must purchase in preparation for your Week One orientation programming. The first book listed (Whose Monet) is of particular importance as it will provide you an introduction to the American legal system. You are encouraged to purchase all of these books soon from any retailer you see fit. The College of Law’s Orientation Program will take place the week of August 13. A detailed schedule will be sent to you in July. However, for now, please commit 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on your calendar every day that week. Optional evening social events are also being considered and more information will be provided throughout the summer. We will also be hosting a Week One social kick-off event on Sunday, August 12. More information to follow. Please note that your first official day of orientation will be Monday, August 13th, and will serve as the start to the formal Week One program. This week-long program will focus on two primary modules: Foundations of Law and Legal Study Skills. You will also have the opportunity to complete many administrative matters before regular classes begin the following Monday. If you have questions after reviewing the information in this packet please contact the Office of Admission & Financial Aid at admissions@law.uc.edu or (513) 556-0078. We look forward to your arrival on campus later this summer! Sincerely,
E Home
WELCOM Alfred P. Watson Senior Assistant Dean and Director of Admission and Financial Aid
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TI LAW CINCINNA
IT’S NOT WHERE YOU COME FROM THAT MATTERS,
BUT WHERE YOU’RE
ORIENTATION ON DAY ONE you will begin learning the foundational skills that will underpin your studies at Cincinnati Law. Skills you will use as much on your last day of class, as you will on your first day of class. Your week-long orientation program has been carefully designed, and will introduce you to our legal system, while imparting the individual skills you need to be a successful law student.
A NEW TYPE OF ORIENTATION Your orientation experience will be different than that of other law schools. Three components comprise Orientation Week: 1 FOUNDATIONS OF LAW — A series of plenary lectures presented by faculty on the sources and functions of law 2 LEGAL STUDY SKILLS — Interactive skills development sessions 3 PEERS to PROFESSIONALS — Programming to introduce you to the law school community, campus resources, Cincinnati, and the practicing Bar 2
ORIENTATION WEEK ONE SCHEDULE* We are working to finalize your orientation program and are providing a rough concept for what to expect during Week One below.* More details will be provided in your July Orientation Packet.
» SUNDAY
Week One Kick-Off Social
» MONDAY
Welcome and Introductions
» TUESDAY-FRIDAY
A combination of plenary speakers, skills training, and optional evening social events.
» FRIDAY
Week One ends with a social event hosted by Cincinnati Law’s Student Bar Association.
*Schedule subject to change
LEARN LEAD SUCCEED 3
Getting
STARTED
ORIENTATION READING LIST >> Whose Monet? An Introduction to the American
Legal System (Second Edition)
ISBN-13: 978-1454873150 ISBN-10: 1454873159 Author: John Humbach Publisher: Aspen Publishers Amazon: Paperback - $24.49 (New)
>> Expert Learning for Law Students (second edition) ISBN-13: 978-1594605451 ISBN-10: 1594605459 Author: Michael Hunter Schwartz Publisher: Carolina Academic Press Barnes & Noble: $30.60 (New) Amazon: Paperback - $30.01 (New) >> StrengthsFinder - Top 5 CliftonStrengths Access Must be purchased digitally at: https://bit.ly/2J0e3E8 Online: $19.99 E-versions for all books noted above may be used. Listed prices as of 6-10 and may change.
NOTICE Effective July 1, 2018, all communications will be sent to your UC student email account. If you are not able to access your student account at this time, please contact the Office of Admissions at admissions@law.uc.edu. 4
REGISTRATION CHECKLIST To qualify for enrollment, complete the following requirements.
July 1 - Complete Activity Guides — Starting July 1, please Log-in to your UC Catalyst account to complete the series of designated activity guides that are required. These activity guides must be completed by July 15th in order for registration to occur. We will send instructions prior to July 1. Final Transcript to LSAC — One official, final transcript from the institution that awarded your bachelor’s degree must be sent to the LSAC Credential Assembly Service after graduation, listing both the degree and date of conferral. Applicants whose degree and conferral date is included in the transcript(s) provided to LSAC as part of the admissions process will have already completed this requirement. Applicants who sent in transcripts to LSAC prior to graduation must send in one updated, final transcript to LSAC. Final Transcript to the College of Law — One official, final printed transcript from the institution that awarded your bachelor’s degree must also be sent directly to the College of Law. This transcript must show your final grades and the date your bachelor’s degree was conferred. Original transcripts must be issued directly from the institution’s registrar to the address below in a sealed envelope with seal intact. This is the only transcript that needs to be sent both to the College of Law and to the LSAC. Would encourage you to have your transcripts to us before July 15, 2018. E-transcripts are not accepted.
University of Cincinnati College of Law Office of Admissions P.O. Box 210040 Cincinnati, OH 45221-0040
Study Abroad and Other Transcripts to LSAC — Please ensure that one official final transcript from every college or university you have attended is on file with LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service, regardless of whether a degree was awarded to you by that institution (this includes study abroad programs, graduate certificates, college-level courses earned while in high school, etc.). Original transcripts from study abroad programs must also be included from the issuing (foreign) institution whenever possible. These and other miscellaneous transcripts may not have been requested by LSAC during the admission process but are required by the College of Law prior to matriculation. Character & Fitness Updates — As indicated on your application for admission, you are required to notify the College of Law of any disciplinary proceedings or criminal convictions occurring subsequent to those listed at the time you applied. Questions? Contact the Office of Law Admissions at admissions@law.uc.edu or (513) 556-0078.
law.uc.edu/admittedstudents 5
ASSISTANT DEAN FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS & BAR PROGRAMS CONGRATULATIONS on your admission to the University of Cincinnati College of Law. I am excited to welcome you to our innovative Fall Orientation program. I look forward to meeting you all in person on August 13th.
THE QUESTION I'M ALWAYS ASKED What should I be doing the summer before law school begins?
My Advice for this Summer: The Three "R's" RELAX Law school is hard work. In fact, law school and preparing for the bar exam, and practicing law are all tough work. Take some time now to relax and appreciate your summer. Note the activities, places, and people that reliably put you at ease – you will need them to decompress. READ One of the most striking components of legal study is the quantity of reading required of law students and the quality of the reading task expected of a law student. There is a benefit to training yourself now to read for sustained periods of time. Try sitting for one-hour periods, preferably a few consecutively, to read. Read anything: a novel, a newspaper. Read printed texts, on paper. While reading, notice the urge to check your phone or move on to another task. Overcome that urge and continue reading. Legal study and practice require long uninterrupted periods of reading, writing, and complex thinking. Take time this summer to develop this discipline. REMEMBER Legal analysis utilizes inductive reasoning. Crudely described, this means that prior stories and their outcomes determine what the truth of a current story ought to be. We look to cases that have spoken to an idea or dilemma, these cases then empower us to assert how a present idea or dilemma should be categorized or resolved. Challenge yourself to review your story and take note of it. Your three years of legal training will press you into boxes and categories as it molds you to think and act like an attorney. By looking to your past – the people, experiences, and choices that have brought you to law school – you will be better equipped to discern the right outcome for yourself after law school. This summer, contact the people who have helped you arrive where you are today. Recall the experiences that most altered your trajectory. Assess the choices you have made and the bases of your decisions. Envision your life up to, during, and after law school. Equipped with this story, work to follow the narrative thread that best resolves your past experiences with your professional identity.
JOEL CHANVISANURUK, (‘06), J.D., MPA Assistant Dean for Academic Success and Bar Programs joel.chanvisanuruk@uc.edu
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(Career) Ready. Set. Go. What to expect from the Center for Professional Development (CPD) in your first year of law school.
6+2=1… let me explain the math. Ultimately you will need to answer the
question “why should I hire you?” Your answer will depend on how you spend your time at the law school. You have 6 semesters and 2 summers to land 1 entry-level job after graduation, so let’s get started. Career 360° has been created to lay the foundation of your career development and begins early in your 1L year. In order to be successful in the job market, you have to demonstrate the value you can bring to an employer. You cannot effectively do so if you do not know what you do well. Strengths Finder 2.0 can help. After taking the assessment, you will receive an electronic report listing your top five strengths. Review this information closely. I will discuss it with you during Brand University, a 1L presentation focused on creating your personal brand. By the end of the presentation each of you will have created an elevator speech, an important tool for every professional, and that is just the beginning. September will be devoted to career exploration, beginning with Practice Previews, which allow you to explore a variety of settings in which lawyers work – private practice, corporate, public interest, government, consulting and more. Learning more about these settings will provide you a better frame of reference for your job search. In October we will kick-off The Breakfast Club, a three-part series that focuses on legal professionals who work in our region followed by Table Talk, an employer information fair where you meet recruiting professionals from the tri-state area. This 1L only event will provide direct access to those who hire 1L students for the summer. This 90-snapshot is only the beginning and a strong start is a smart one.
Dean Jefferson Mina Jones Jefferson, (‘90) Esq. is the Senior Associate Dean, Chief of Staff, and Director of the Center for Professional Development. Dean Jefferson, a former hiring partner at a National Law Journal Top 250 law firm, practiced commercial litigation for nine years before joining Cincinnati Law and was one of the first AfricanAmerican women in the region elected to the partnership of a large firm. She recently finished a one-year term as President of the National Association of Law Placement (NALP). 7
“Work Smarter, Not Harder” Any time there is a lawyer on campus you should be there. You will often hear me say that attending a fifty-minute program on campus is the equivalent of six to eight hours of independent job research – work smarter, not harder by attending the variety of events that bring professionals to campus. I do not expect you to sort through the programs on your own. The CPD takes the guesswork out of what is happening by advertising events in its weekly newsletter and announcements on Symplicity, the online network that CPD uses to post employment opportunities, programs, and networking events. Regardless of whether you intend to remain in the region immediately after graduation, for the next three years you will be here and should participate in Cincinnati’s vibrant young professional community. The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce has a group just for you - HYPE (Harnessing Young Professional Energy). What you do off-campus will greatly enhance your job search. Take advantage of HYPE’s program and networking options while you are here. You can learn more at HYPECincinnati.com. Finally, learning to “think like a lawyer” should not mean that you suppress your compassion, idealism, and concern for truth and justice. The CPD will actively assist you with volunteer opportunities for transcript recognition, extern placements with public interest, and public service organizations, as well as summer placements through the Summer Public Interest Fellowship Program in the months ahead.
law.uc.edu
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Class of 2021
See you in August!