Why I Chose Temple Law
Being the first in my family to attend law school, I found the law school application process extremely intimidating and challenging. Even though I was doing all of the right things, I still worried.
Author: Amber Bethune
A Reflection on Justice
For her undergraduate thesis in criminal justice, Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve organized court watchers in Chicago’s Cook County courthouse. She hoped to create an ethnography of America’s largest courthouse across thousands of hours of interviews and first-person observations. More than a decade later – and now as Professor Gonzalez Van Cleve – she published these observations as Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America’s Largest Criminal Court. Professor Gonzalez Van Cleve spoke about her recent publication on November 9th here at the Beasley School of Law, alongside Professor Hosea Harvey of Temple University. Employing an interrogative style, Professor Gonzalez Van Cleve began by presenting some of the results of her research. As an ethnographer, Gonzalez Van Cleve pointed out that language in her field functions both as indicator and as an active, purposive agent. She was particularly interested in the way that language – specifically racially coded language – worked in court communities and the justice system itself. In this way Professor Gonzalez Van Cleve’s Crook County expands on the work of Michelle Alexander’s The …
The MPRE: When and How?
The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) is a two-hour exam consisting of 60 multiple-choice questions. The MPRE is required for bar admissions in all but three U.S. jurisdictions (Maryland, Wisconsin and Puerto Rico.) The good news is that the exam doesn’t cover a huge amount of material so studying for the exam is not that arduous, but the bad news is you have to spend a Saturday taking the exam. When to Take the MPRE? This category is really two questions, first when can you take the MPRE and second when should you take the MPRE. The MPRE is only offered three times a year so it’s something you should start thinking about early. It’s important to register early for two reasons, many exam locations fill up so you need to register early in order to secure the location that is most convenient for you. Second, the regular registration fee is $95 but the late registration fee is increased to $190. Save yourself the additional $95 and register early! Registration fees and deadlines can be …
Feminist Judgments & The Future of Reproductive Justice
One of the most memorable moments in a typical 1L student’s constitutional law class is the discussion around Roe v. Wade and the Supreme Court’s treatment of the often controversial rights surrounding reproductive health and wellbeing. On November 13th, the students at Temple Law had the opportunity to hear directly from Sarah Weddington (lead counsel on Roe v. Wade) and Kathryn Kolbert (lead counsel on Planned Parenthood v. Casey). The panel, which also featured Professors Kim Mutcherson, Elizabeth Kukura, and David Cohen, focused on the questions presented by moderator Professor Kathryn Stanchi’s book Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinoins of the United States Supreme Court. The book poses the question “what would United States Supreme Court opinions look like if key decisions on gender issues were written with a feminist perspective?” It seeks to answer this question through a series of rewritten Supreme Court opinions on issues of gender, penned by scholars and lawyers. The panel began with Professor Kim Mutcherson, professor at Rutgers School of Law in Camden and author of the book’s rewritten Roe. Professor …
Welcome Back, Law Owls!
On November 13th and 14th, Temple Law celebrated ‘Friends and Family Days.’ Our 1L students were invited to bring their loved ones to campus, and for some, this meant returning to their alma mater. Two of our part-time evening students and their fathers, also former evening students, shared their thoughts on returning to Temple Law. Gerald Clarke LAW ’00 As an alumni of the evening program, it was a thrill to come back for Friends and Family night as a parent of one of the evening division students. I was struck by the friendliness of my daughter’s classroom. It was exciting to come in as a spectator and observe the class from a perspective that felt different than the tension you feel as a student. It is obvious that the building blocks coaxed by this dedicated professor will positively benefit these future lawyers. Brittany Clarke LAW ’21 Being a legacy is one of the main reasons I decided to attend Temple Law. I was eight years old when my dad graduated from Temple, and I …
I Got Through It – So Will You!
As a recent graduate from Temple Law I can still remember exam season very well. As the Thanksgiving break approached my days were filled with stress and anxiety because I knew exams were right around the corner. But I got through it and so will you! Here are some techniques that got me through exam season. Find out where you do your best work. Now is a good time to scope out the place where you want to hunker down for exam season. It’s about this time of year that I would move from the alleyways in the Klein Library to the stacks where no one could find me. I always did my best work in the library, where there were minimal distractions. However, for some the library becomes too stressful during exam season so working from home or a coffee shop is another great option. If you are meeting with study groups keep in mind there are rooms in Barrack you can reserve on the library website. Figure out which method of studying works …
A Day in the Life of a Law Student
I think the key to success in law school is to not change your routine. If you’ve always been a morning person, then continue being a morning person. If you do your best work after 1PM, then do that.
Financial Literacy for Law Students
Congratulations! You’re almost done with your first semester of law school. Like many students, you may have borrowed student loans to cover your tuition and living expenses. I know you have a lot on your mind these days; your LRW brief, outlines, EXAMS! , but if you haven’t thought it about yet, now is a great time to create a financial plan to budget the money you have borrowed. Maintaining a budget and monitoring how much you borrow/spend during your time in law school can be a daunting task. Budgets can be difficult to stick to and hectic schedules can cause you to easily lose track of how much you spend on a day to day basis. While the Law School Financial Aid Office is here to help you with questions and needs related to financing your law school enrollment, we also want to make sure that you are getting the assistance and support you need on matters and concerns related to your personal finances. Temple Law School has partnered with AccessLex Institute, a non-profit …
Who Runs the World?
Growing up, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by amazing women – my mom, grandmothers, aunts, family-friends – they made being strong look easy. The moment I began to feel the responsibility of being a woman was when I was 9-years-old and my little sister was born. I saw her for the first time and from that day on, I wanted to be the best version of myself for her. Girls need role models to look up to. If they don’t see women in the legal profession, they might not think they are capable of being lawyers – which could not be further from the truth. Representation is key for change to occur. Women throughout history have worked tirelessly to gain many of the rights we enjoy today. I feel that it is our generation’s responsibility to continue their work and strive for true equality. While interning at Susan G. Komen Philadelphia, I saw first-hand how crucial the fight for women’s rights is and what can be achieved when women work together toward a …
Being a Prepared and Flexible Advocate
My law student partner and I recently represented a client at an arbitration hearing through the Sheller Center for Social Justice’s Advanced Social Justice Lawyering Clinic. Our client was a low-wage worker who had not been paid minimum wage and overtime by her former employer, for whom she worked for seven years. Her case had been ongoing for several years and she wanted a chance for her story to be heard — regardless of the hearing’s outcome. I was tasked with cross-examining the opposing party with an interpreter. To prepare for my cross-examination, I looked through depositions and documents, then crafted short and leading questions that I hoped would result in admissions that supported our case theory. The thing I did not anticipate was under what circumstances I would be conducting my cross-examination. Once it was time for my cross-examination, the arbitration had been in progress for approximately four hours and the panel was noticeably impatient. I wound up cutting a significant portion of my cross-examination on the spot because the witness was unable to read the documents that I’d …
