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First year law students

18 January
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Stay In Touch With Your Mentors!

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Continuing Legal Education, First year law students, Internships & Mentors, Training
Stay In Touch With Your Mentors!

The California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) places great emphasis on the role, contribution, and importance of mentors. The CDTA encourages all members of its student body to seek and find someone to mentor them as they pursue the knowledge and experience to become effective attorney-advocates. Beyond law school, it is important to maintain contact with your mentors and continue to build this valuable relationship. It may be challenging to stay in touch with those professional mentors who have substantially made a difference during a law student’s time at law school. After all, anyone who has the qualifications and attributes to mentor...

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01 September
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Best Film Depicting Law School – The Paper Chase

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, First year law students, High Pressure, Internships & Mentors, Studying, Substantive Law
Best Film Depicting Law School – The Paper Chase

Arguably, there are simply not that many movies about lawyers that depict their experiences in law school prior to practicing law. Perhaps because films with Paul Newman as a sole practitioner suing doctors defended by big firm-lawyer James Mason in The Verdict or Spencer Tracy as a judge hearing cases of heinous war crimes in Judgment At Nuremberg are just a bit more compelling. Spencer Tracy was also in one of the most interesting films about lawyers, playing a character patterned after Clarence Darrow in Inherit the Wind. The Paper Chase always seems to be at the top of the list...

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12 August
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Law School Myths And Reality: Law School is Nothing But Reading

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, First year law students, Hard Skills, High Pressure, Studying
Law School Myths And Reality: Law School is Nothing But Reading

There are many myths perpetuated by law school, whether from the public’s general perception of lawyers or the way that law school is portrayed in television shows and movies. Of course, the latter is limited since there are not that many true portrayals of law school in tv and film since perhaps law school as a setting and subject is not the most compelling. Nevertheless, those who have never attended law school tend to accept and believe the prevailing myths, although the reality is quite different. The image of a typical law student tends to be shrouded in the image of someone who...

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07 July
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COVID-19, The Summer Of 2020, And I’m A Law Student

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Distance learning, Distance learning law school, First year law students
COVID-19, The Summer Of 2020, And I’m A Law Student

The COVID-19 pandemic is having significant life-altering effects daily. As a result, the world in flux may cause fear and anxiety for many, especially those who are in the middle of their academic careers. Anyone who just completed their first year of law school and endured the spring of 2020 when the pandemic gained strength, most likely has an endless list of questions and concerns about what the future holds beyond the summer of 2020. Whether you are a student, professor, partner, associate, legal support staff member, or legal technical professional, the COVID-19 pandemic has had some effect on you. However,...

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29 June
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Studying Sample Answers May Save Time

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, First year law students, High Pressure, Studying
Studying Sample Answers May Save Time

Many state bar associations post former bar exam essay questions and sample answers on their websites. These model answers are valuable for studying for both the bar and final exams. It is also easy to search online for sample law exam answers as most samples are available for free. Studying sample answers may save some precious time studying, allowing you to utilize it for other test preparation. Of course, this involves working with sample questions and makes the question and what it specifically asks also a very important component of this process. When working with sample answers and questions, it is...

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23 June
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For First Years – Not The Way You Exactly Envisioned Your First Year Of Law School Ending

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, First year law students
For First Years – Not The Way You Exactly Envisioned Your First Year Of Law School Ending

The first year of law school typically ends with final exams (of course) and then the realization that you truly made it through a year of law school followed by some celebration. It may then turn to thoughts about a summer internship and the opportunity to practically apply what you learned during your first year. Completing the first year of law school is certainly a time to be excited about your professional future. And then there was COVID-19. . . There is still a level of uncertainty about the future despite what the politicians may say. After all, their goals and...

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19 June
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Last-Minute Baby Bar Tips

Posted by cdtalaw
in Baby Bar Exam, CDTA, First year law students, High Pressure, Studying
Last-Minute Baby Bar Tips

The California First-Year Law Students Examination, otherwise known as the “Baby Bar” is scheduled for June 23, 2020. Whereas the Supreme Court of California, on April 27, 2020, postponed the summer California Bar Exam scheduled for the end of July to September 9th and 10th, it chose to carry on with the summer Baby Bar as scheduled. Here are some last-minute Baby Bar Exam tips. CDTA students study and prepare for this test regularly, using weekends to focus their development on test-taking skills. CDTA students have a 65% FYLSX pass rate, one of the highest pass rates in the State of...

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03 June
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Identify Your Time Thieves

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, First year law students, High Pressure, Studying
Identify Your Time Thieves

While time efficiency is a daunting subject to any person, it is especially intimidating to law students. At the undergraduate level, time efficiency was less important as it related to making it to class and completing each assignment. Students improvised, adapted, and muddled through. For law students, it is important to identify those habits, tendencies, inclinations, and - whatever else you want to call them - that expend, exhaust, waste, and - whatever else you want to call it - our precious time. The idea is to identify those things that take, like thieves, our valuable time that may never be...

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15 May
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Simple, Useful Memorization Techniques For Use In Law School

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, First year law students, Legal Research, Studying, Training
Simple, Useful Memorization Techniques For Use In Law School

Of course, answering an essay question on a law school midterm or a bar exam requires applied knowledge more than rote memorization. Law students must use critical thinking and connect or apply the information they have learned to a set of facts, recognize issues, and solve problems. But before tackling the rigors of a law exam essay question, students must genuinely know the information. Here are some tips for effectively memorizing information: Record notes for later listening When I was in law school, I sat next to a former legal secretary who knew shorthand. She would take all her class notes in shorthand,...

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06 May
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Checklist For 1st Year Law Students, Part Two

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, First year law students, High Pressure, Studying
Checklist For 1st Year Law Students, Part Two

The following is the second part of a checklist for first-year law students: Consider group study. While study groups are not for every law student, they may be a productive and efficient way to learn and prepare for a course, in the short-term, i.e., classes, and long-term, i.e., final exam. Discussing legal concepts outside of class in a different environment may increase a student’s understanding and retention of course topics. If interested in a study group, seek and find those students with whom you share similar study group goals. Time spent away from class and solitary studying is most precious, do...

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CONTACT INFORMATION

California Desert Trial Academy College of Law
45-290 Fargo Street
Indio, CA 92201
(760) 342-0900

Call: (760) 342-0900

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Statement of Nondiscrimination

Consistent with sound educational policy, CDTA College of Law does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, ancestry, religious creed, national origin, disability, medical condition, age, marital status, political affiliation, gender identity, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

California State Bar Standard and Required Disclosure

The method of instruction at this law school for the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree program is principally in physical classroom facilities.

Students enrolled in the J.D. degree program at this law school who successfully complete the first year of law study must pass the First-Year Law Students Examination required by Business and Professions Code 6060(h) and Rule VIII of the Rules Regulating Admission to Practice Law in California as part of the requirements to qualify to take the California Bar Examination.

A student who passes the First-Year Law Students Examination within three (3) administrations of the examination after first becoming eligible to take it will receive credit for all legal studies completed to the time the examination is passed. A student who does not pass the examination within three (3) administrations of the examination after first becoming eligible to take it must be promptly disqualified from the law school’s J.D. degree program. If the dismissed student subsequently passes the examination, the student is eligible for re-enrollment in this law school’s J.D. degree program, but will receive credit for only one year of legal study.

Study at, or graduation from, this law school may not qualify a student to take the bar examination or to satisfy the requirements for admission to practice in jurisdictions other than California. A student intending to seek admission to practice law in a jurisdiction other than California should contact the admitting authority in that jurisdiction for information regarding the legal education requirements in that jurisdiction for admission to the practice of law.

Copyright CDTA California Desert Trial Academy College of Law. All rights reserved. The Desert’s first and only Law School. Proudly serving all of Southern California; accepting applications from Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties.

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