Law School Exams: A Guide to Better Grades

by Alex Schimel

Law School Exams: A Guide to Better Grades is the complete handbook for students who want to significantly improve their performance in law school. In most law school classes, 90% of a student's final grade is based on a single comprehensive exam that is given at the end of the semester. This book focuses on developing the one skill that can really improve a student's GPA: getting the best possible grade on that all-important exam. Law School Exams: A Guide to Better Grades offers a practical, top-to-bottom strategy that can be applied to almost any law school exam, regardless of the topic or level.

Written from the perspective of a student with a 4.0 GPA, this book offers fresh and unique insights on law school exams by stripping the exam format into a series of repeatable steps and building blocks. It also teaches students how to “prepare for exams, instead of preparing for class,” with proven time-management, outlining, and case-briefing techniques. Based on the author's highly successful seminar series at the University of Miami, these strategies have already helped hundreds of law students improve their grades. Law School Exams: A Guide to Better Grades is perfect for the over-achieving law student who is aiming for perfect grades, the struggling upper-division student who needs guidance to stay afloat, or the eager pre-law student who wants a peek at what lies ahead.

“There are many books available that offer new law students advice and strategies for success in law school. What makes this book so unique is the vantage point of its author: An intelligent, successful (recently graduated) law student writing a book for fellow law students, offering realistic insight, sound advice and tried and true strategies. The book is sensible, practical, comprehensive and . . . funny!” — Joanne Harvest Koren, Director, Academic Achievement Program, University of Miami School of Law

“These exam strategies allowed me to focus on mastering the most important elements of 1L exams. I saved tons of time and my grades drastically improved from the first semester to the second semester.” — Jeff, 1L, University of Miami School of Law

“Not only did Alex’s techniques help me ace my exams, they also gave me confidence and significantly reduced my stress level during 1L year. I recommend them to anybody.” — Dave, 2L, University of California Berkeley School of Law

“Alex does two things very well. First, he breaks down complicated questions into simple units in a way that is easy to understand. Second, and more importantly, he turns exam-taking into a system that can be used as a starting point for writing a great exam in any class.” — Brandon, 3L, University of Miami School of Law, University of Miami Law Review, editor-in-chief

Genres: Law

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Mollybeth]

Tbh I’m really embarrassed to have read this book 6 months before I even need to think about actually taking a law school exam, but I’m just an anxious 0L who found a free copy on the internet archive, so let me have my fun 😤

I guess I have no idea if this is useful information, but it did ease some of my anxiety about what to maybe expect next year. I’m not gonna give it a star rating yet; I’ll check back in January 2026 and give it as many stars as As on my transcript, so stay tuned 🤓

[Allison]

(I simply did not want to put this in my Goodreads but it's the only non-casebook item that I completed this month and I couldn't break my book a month streak.)

[Anders Furze · Rating 5 out of 5]

It does what it needs to do, clearly and concisely.

[Camila Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This great book written from a law student's perspective explains issue spotting on law school exams. It spells out for you how to write an A law school exam by taking the IRAC method o the next level.

[Pengyu Jiang · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a short book focusing exclusively on Issue Spotting Exams. I like it that it starts with the exam, and then goes on to explain how to prepare the exam over the semester. Before reading it, I have already taken 2 classes and read 3 books on law school, so basically I don't get anything new from this book, but it does confirm some ideas I had on how to do my 1L, and that is helpful as well. If this is the first book you read, keep on reading books and forums, because some professors have testing formats other than Issue Spotting Exams, and you need to know how to prepare for those.

[Oli · Rating 4 out of 5]

in general, a very helpful book.
giving it 4 instead of 5 bc no sir I refuse to spend my entire spring break studying 10-13 hrs/day crammed in an apartment room feeding on hummus and other snacks only, even if it will make me rank #1 in my entire class, just to get 6 weeks ahead on readings. Nah uh no.

[Brett Wooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is to the point, and helps to provide both a guide to effective studying to exams and an introduction to the way in which they should be written.

[Winona · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s showtime baybee

[Yusuf Hacking · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick, useful, and incisive. Will be reading again this fall.

[Maddie Blaser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Torts professor said we had to read it. I felt like it was helpful in my exams though the anxiety of testing definitely makes some of the things difficult to remember in the moment!

[D]

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