1L Review: Property I & II and Professor Ehrlich

As you read in last blog, my grade dropped significantly from Property I to Property II.  This does not mean Property II was harder or more difficult or even significantly different than Property I, as stated last blog, it means nothing.  Property I and Property II, in my opinion, are basically the same.  While most of Property I was "older" law, Property II was more recent law.

One of the things I liked about Property II was a more realistic application of some of the concepts discussed.  One of those was tenant-landlord relationships.  As most students have a landlord, comparing the concepts learned to our own "real" world experience aided in understanding the concepts.  The ability to put what was learned to use usually aids in learning the topic.

I don't feel the concepts in Property are too difficult.  And I also don't think Cal Western's curriculum over burdens the topic.  In one outside source I listened to, the professor stated property is one of the hardest topics in law because of the magnitude of concepts and topics to learn.  Although there are a lot of concepts taught, Professor Ehrlich doesn't overburden the class.  Property is not that bad.

Moving onto Professor Ehrlich.  Of our classes, his classes are closer to under-grad classes than anyone else's.  He stays behind the lectern and uses a powerpoint.  But that doesn't mean this isn't a law school class!

Professor Ehrlich has some strict rules, not as strict as Professor Bowermaster, but still strict.  Also if you ask a question in class, you had better be prepared to have the question thrown back at you.  That's right, if you ask a question, Professor Ehrlich will most likely not answer it.  You will.

Remember this is law school.  You are learning the law and how to apply the law.  The application of the law requires arguments to be made for and against how the law is to be applied.  Professor Ehrlich makes you argue an answer to your own question.  This is his Socratic method.  Once you get used to his way, the class is very enjoyable.  And the class is already enjoyable to begin with.  Property class always flew by.

Now, Professor Ehrlich is not the most human of law professors.  At times he will appear to treat you like just another number, as if he has no feelings for you or anyone for that matter.  For example, he felt the need to put in his PowerPoint the fact he has enjoyed the past year with us.  Who actually does that?  But, if you go to office hours, you find a caring professor who treats you like a human.  So don't be afraid of Professor Ehrlich.

Property I and II are similar in concepts but the second semester allows a better application to aid in learning.  Professor Ehrlich's style of teaching, though close to under-grad, is interesting and facilitates learning.  His class is over before you know it.  And so it was.

Second Semester Grade Effect

Well, grades were released last Friday.  I've had a week to digest the results.  I am not happy with three of my grades.  Of course, the comment should be said with a grain of salt because of my overall average and ranking among my classmates.

My grade actually did not change in Civ Pro or Legal Skills from first semester.  Torts is new; thus, nothing to compare this class to.  Both Property and Contracts dropped.  And these are where the second semester effect can be seen.

In Contracts I improved my multiple choice grade and my essay had "excellent" written on it.  Last semester I had "very good" on my essay.  Based on these two facts, my grades should've gone up.  Right?  Wrong!

My grade slipped a few points.  Not devastating but enough to annoy.  But what does this really mean?  How can I improve yet drop?  Simple:  everyone else improved MORE than I improved.

Remember the grade is not an objective grade.  Your semester grade is based on your performance compared to everyone else.  Answer more questions correctly, get a better grade than the person who did not.  But, isn't that how it works any way?  You answer more questions right you get a better grade?  Well yes but not exactly the same in law school.

Your semester grade is not the number of questions you got right on the exam.  Your semester grade is the number of questions you got right on the exam compared to everyone else.  Thus, if everyone else scored a 90% raw score on the multiple choice exam, and you scored 85%.  You FAIL.  That is the difference in law school final grades versus final grades for other graduate schools and your undergrad institution.

Because everyone who was below me last semester improved more than I did, many improved the overall score to be better than me.  Thus I drop in the final ranking.  But that is law school and that is the way it is.

I did worse in Property.  I stumbled while everyone else improved.  Thus I dropped even further in Property.  I dropped from #2 to #18 in the class in property because of my stumble.  Again, that is the way it is.

When going to law school, you cannot slack off the second semester.  People are gunning to improve to stay.  You don't want them to improve more than you and put you at the bottom.  You must work harder than everyone else.  No matter what your grade was the first semester.  That's the second semester grade effect.