I.  Books in the Mendik Library

►  Burkhart, Ann M.
Law school success in a nutshell : a guide to studying law and taking law school exams
[KF283 .B87 2008]
St. Paul, Minn. : Thomson/West, c2008.
 

►Frank, Steven J.
Learning the law : success in law school and beyond
[KF283 .F73 1992]
New York : Carol Pub. Group, c1992
 
► Darrow-Kleinhaus, Suzanne.
Mastering the law school exam : a practical blueprint for preparing and taking law school exams
St. Paul, Minn. : Thomson/West, c2007. [KF283 .D37 2007.]
 		 ►Harvard Law School
Annual examinations in law [KF292.H37 A24 Reference]
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Law School
 
 ►Dernbach, John C.
A practical guide to writing law school essay exams [KF283 .D47 2001]
Littleton, Colo. : F.B. Rothman, 2001
 		 ►Walton, Kimm Alayne
Strategies & tactics for the first year law student : maximize your grades [KF283 .W352 1997 Reserve]
South Norwalk, Conn. : Law In a Flash, c1990
 
►Dernbach, John C.
Writing essay exams to succeed (not just to survive) [KF283 .D47 2007]
New York, N.Y. : Aspen Publishers, c2007.
 		►Whitebread, Charles H.
The eight secrets of top exam performance in law school :
an easy-to-use, step-by-step program for achieving great grades! [KF283 .W45 1995]
Chicago, Ill. : Harcourt Brace Legal & Professional Pub., c1995
 
►Fischl. Richard Michael
Getting to maybe: how to excel on law school exams [KF283 .F57 1999]
Durham, N.C. Carolina Academic Press, c1999
 		 

 II. New York Law School Exam Archive on the Intranet 

The sample and practice exam archive consists of exams
released to the Library by NYLS faculty. Please note that professors are not required to release exams to the Library, and many choose not to do so. Consequently, you may not be able to find an exam for either your class or your professor.


Sample and practice exams are indexed by professor’s
name and course taught.


All exams are in Adobe PDF format and are viewed using
the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, which has been installed
on all PC's in the Library and the student computer labs.
Paper copies of sample and practice exams for the current semester only are kept at the Circulation Desk.
 

The exam archive is maintained by the Circulation Department. Questions regarding available exams should be directed to Ping Tian, Circulation Librarian at 212-431-2838 or by email: ping.tian@nyls.edu


To access the exam archive, first login to the NYLS portal:

- Click on the Academics tab.

- In the middle column, locate the Exam Information heading.

- Click on the Sample Exams link.
 

 

 III. CALI Lessons and Advice About Exam-Taking Skills 

The CALI Library of Lessons is a collection of over 851 interactive, computer-based lessons covering 33 legal education subject areas. Each lesson focuses on a specific aspect of the legal topic and contains dozens of practice questions. Please note that you must register to use CALI lessons. Registration will allow you to create your own password to use the lessons. In order to register, you will need an authorization code. If you need the access code, click here.
 

To access CALI lessons about exam-taking skills, log in to CALI, click the Lessons link on the left-hand side. Under First Year, click Legal Concepts & Skills and scroll down to the lesson(s) of your choice among the following:

 

►Ronald Eades
Exam Taking Skills, Outlines, and Advice for Law Students: Panel 1 PodCast
 		►Ronald Brown
Tips for Multiple Choice Exams in Law School Podcast

 
►Ronald Brown
Exam Taking Skills, Outlines, and Advice for Law Students: Panel 2 PodCast		►Jennifer Martin
Top 10 Tips for Successfully Writing a Law School Essay
 
►Darryl Wilson
Exam Taking Skills, Outlines, and Advice for Law Students: Panel 3 PodCast		►William Andersen
Writing Better Law School Exams: The Importance of Structure
 
►Ronald Brown
Preparing for Your First Semester of Law School		 

 

 IV. Exams from Other Law Schools on the Internet

Writing answers to professors’ old final exams is an excellent way for students to prepare for exams. It can also be helpful to look at other law school exams that are available online. A number of law schools/law libraries maintain freely available collections of their school’s exams:

►University of Arkansas►Pepperdine University
►American University►University of Kentucky
►Creighton University►University of Missouri at Columbia
►University of Dayton►William Mitchell College of Law
►New York State Bar Exam 



V. Other Resources

►Elizabeth Barrett, How to Approach and take a law school examination

►Jerry J. Phillips, Thirteen Rules for Taking Law Exams.
72 Tenn. L. Rev. 797 (2005). (Hein Online)

►Barbara Glesner Fines, Preparing for Exams►Using Study Aids in Law School
►Jurist's Law School Exams resources►A Common Law School Exam Mistake (The Volokh Conspiracy)
►Beyond IRAC: Law School Exam Taking Tips (Legal Profession blog)►Patrick Wiseman, "When You Come to a Fork in the Road,
Take It," and Other Sage Advice for First-Time Law
School Exam Takers. 22 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 653 (2006). (Hein Online)
►NYLS Evening Students' Assn Exam Tips►What Makes a Good Law School Exam Answer?
Law Profs Weigh In (WSJ Law Blog)
►Carol Nygren, Using Professors’ Old Exams To Prepare►Writing Law Examinations (Westlaw)
►Carol Nygren, Confronting Your Final Exam – Torts►OnLine Academic Assistance for Law Students (Exam Preparation/Taking)