Law School Recitation Tips + productivity tips ⚖️🤍

Hi everyone! Today we're talking about some recitation and productivity tips. So this can definitely help when you're in law school, and I know that recitations is one of the things that is most nerve-wracking about law school, but I'm one of the few law students who actually enjoyed recitations. Obviously, I didn't like it back then, but to be honest, after every class, I felt like I was coming out of a really good chess match. So let me share some tips about that. And now that I'm a lawyer, I have some pretty good productivity tips as well. If you don't know me, hi, I'm Nicole. I'm a 27-year-old lawyer based in Manila. I graduated, took the bar, and passed the bar in 2024. That means I've been practicing law for about two years now, so I know a thing or two about passing law school and being productive as a lawyer. As to recitation tips, the first one that I have is to read your materials out loud. Nothing can beat the confidence that you gain from already knowing how to say the things that you're gonna say. So for example, if you're reading a case, specifically a case digest, after you read your full text, you read your case digest, and you go through the facts, the issue, the ruling, and you do it chronologically. And so when you recite that case, it's like you're just repeating what you said out loud when you read your case digests. Because in recitations, usually, especially when you're in fourth year or when you're close to graduation, and classes are review classes and it's more fast-paced, most cases need to be quick because there's a lot of to be discussed in the class. And so basic facts, what did the court say, issue, ruling, that's all you need. And that's how a case digest is already patterned. So when you recite it, you've already said the whole thing once when you read it, and now you're just saying it again. It also helps to have been able to say the legal terms out loud. There's a lot of legal terms that are kind of like hard on the tongue, hard to say out loud. But if you've already said it, you already know the pronunciation in your head, your mouth is already familiar with saying these legal terms, it's definitely easier and it takes so much pressure off of you during recitation. So it helps you get comfortable with saying these legal terms out loud. It helps you catch yourself when you mispronounce something. And lastly, it helps you avoid overthinking your words when you're saying it during recitation. Again, because you've already read it out loud before, you've already said it out loud before, it's like a rehearsal before recitation. Tip number two is to have a one sentence doctrine for each case. So what I used to do is I would print out my case list, or I'd have it on my iPad. And beside every case assigned for that day, I'd have one sentence, the main doctrine. And the sentence needs to be short, concise, and straight to the point. And while the class is taking place, you're following along with your syllabus. And every time that a case gets called, you're able to read the sentence that you wrote down. And you have that split second before your name is called by the professor. And that split second can make the difference between scrambling and not knowing anything about the case versus at least being able to say something about it. And so even though your recitation isn't perfect, let's say it's a case that you've forgotten, but you have that one sentence, more or less, there's something you could say about it. It's a difference between getting a zero and a barely passing grade for your recitation. Next step is to speak more English in everyday life. I love Tagalog. There's so many things that is said better in Tagalog. And I know Ball because my husband is American. He understands Tagalog, but he doesn't speak it conversationally. So I speak to him in English all the time. Low key, the way that I make my videos is the way that I speak to my husband. But there is some moments where I just have to say it in Tagalog because Tagalog just hits harder. And our words are more specific in Tagalog. So I understand. And you know what? Honestly, our jokes are also funny in Tagalog. Tagalog is so funny. But we have to admit that law school is in English. Our laws are written in English. Our cases are in English. Recitations in law school, exams in law school, the bar exams, all in English. So you don't have a choice but to master your English. And how do you do that? You master your English by practicing English every single day. So speak more English in your everyday life. And you don't have to change the way you talk with your friends. But if you can, just speak more English and consume more English media. I know that Filipino TikToks, Filipino humor is just, it just hits different. But English media will help you learn to speak more naturally in English. Story time. When I was in law school around 2020, so this was during the pandemic, I listened to the soundtrack of Hamilton all day. It taught me more about vocabulary, pronunciation, juxtaposition of words. And I think it helped. Aside from that, I would watch a lot of Taylor Swift interviews. I love Taylor Swift. And I'd watch just like the way that she spoke during interviews and the way that she told stories during interviews. And I found that when I recited, I was kind of mimicking the way Taylor Swift spoke, which is kind of weird. But yeah, just consume more English media. It helps your brain process English and it helps you speak more naturally when you're reciting. Next tip is to utilize your case digests. Use it as a supplement. I know that case digests have sort of a bad reputation in law school. They think if you only read case digests, you don't have enough knowledge or you're lazy or something like that. But sometimes it's necessary. If you have 50 cases for your class and you have like three classes that day, sometimes reading the full text will just be killing yourself. So read the case digest if you have to. As much as possible, read full text supplement with case digests. But we got to be realistic. That's not possible all the time. So read case digest, but be smart about it. The way I do it is if there's a case assigned for the day, look at which topic it's under in the syllabus and then read your case digests and then go to the full text of the case and Ctrl F whatever article or whatever doctrine is for that case under the syllabus. So for example, it's piercing the veil, Ctrl F, piercing the veil. And obviously it's going to bring you to that part of the case where the Supreme Court discusses piercing the veil. That is the most important part of that case. So read that part in the full text. But the facts issue, what the lower court said, you can use the digest for that. And again, this is just when you really don't have time. And just so you don't show up with zero knowledge to your class, read the full text as much as you can. But this is just my little tip. Another story time. And this is just my real experience in law school. I had remedial law review, which is one of the hardest subjects in law school. I had it Friday night until 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. the next day, I had criminal law review, which is another one of the hardest review subjects. And I had the hardest law school professor. If you're from UST Law, you know who exactly I'm talking about. So what I would do is 6 a.m. on Saturday, I had one of my best friends from law school. He was my classmate for criminal law. And he would sit down with me in the morning and he would tell me the story of each case because he knew that I didn't have time to read it because I had a class the night before. So he would just sit me down and he'd go through each case on the syllabus assigned for that day. And he'd tell me the story of the case. All I would do is control F the doctrine of the case and the full text and read that part. So that means I would show up to class and the only knowledge I have of the cases is what my friend told me, plus what I controlled F in the full text. I'm not recommending this in any manner. I'm just saying with the reality of law school, do what you have to do to survive. And this is what I had to do to survive. Last step for recitation is don't let your recitations bring you down too much. The reality is recitation is just a small part of law school. And what I mean with that is if you look at the percentage of grades in your syllabus, recitation is usually a lot smaller than your midterms and final exams. Meaning of the three, recit, midterms, finals, recit should be at the bottom of your priority list, which I know is hard because recit is public. You do it in front of your class. People see how well you do and it kind of affects your reputation. But the reality is if you are focused on passing this class, focus more on your exams more than your recit. Your recit does not define you. Every single person who has gone to law school has had at least one bad recit. It happens to everyone. I tell you that I enjoy recitations, but there are times when I stand up in class and I say, I didn't read the case. It's the reality of it. I've remained standing for hours. So don't be too hard on yourself when it comes to recitation. Again, as long as you do well on your exams, that matters more. So those are all my tips for recitations. Hopefully that helped you guys. Let's move on to productivity tips. These are tips that I learned mostly now that I'm a practicing lawyer, but this can also help you in law school. Number one is to turn off your notifs when you're locking in. All notifs off, focus on what you're reading, focus on what you're doing. Now, make sure to also take breaks every 25 to 30 minutes so you could check your notifications every once in a while. It's happened to me before where I was so locked in with studying only to find out two hours later that it was announced that the class was canceled. So make sure you check in every once in a while, but turn off your notifs and focus on what you're Number two is to make movement as easy as possible. Everybody gains weight in law school. I am not kidding, especially during the pandemic. Those who went to pandemic law school, different breed of people. We have gained so much weight and that's okay, but movement is such an important part. Your health is such an important part. Please don't get sick when you're in law school, especially when you're about to take the bar. It's such a bad feeling to feel bad and to have to show up to class because missing one class is a big deal. I got a walking pad about two months ago. I just got it from Shopee and it has been a lifesaver. Going on the walking pad for 10 to 15 minutes a day, scrolling on TikTok, watching friends has made such a big difference with my health and just the way that I feel. But also trying to find exercise or a workout that you are really into. Something that you actually enjoy and can do multiple times a week and that you actually look forward to. For me, it's pickleball right now. I'm so obsessed with pickleball. I go maybe three to four times a week. I'm not that good, but since I go with my brother and his friends, you have people who keep you accountable and who can be with you during that time. And it's just so fun, especially when it comes to open play because you meet so many different people. And not gonna lie, there's so many lawyers who are into pickleball. Every time I go to pickleball, there's at least one other person in the legal profession or who's a law student, and it's just so fun to meet them. Next tip is to make the most out of your breaks. So I know when you take a break, the first thing you do is open your phone, scroll, watch YouTube, watch TikTok, etc. But you should be more mindful of what you do during your breaks. As much as you can, please don't brain rot during your breaks. And if you feel called out right now, I'm sorry, but it's really much better for your health to go outside. When I was in law school, my friends and I, we would all study in our org room and every 3 p.m, we'd all get up, even though we're all studying for different classes, and we'd walk out of the room, walk all the way outside USD, and we'd buy fishball. And we'd go back to the office, we'd laugh, talk, eat. And it's so good for our mental health. When we finally got back to studying, we were so into it. We got back on our grind because we had a very fulfilling break time. Now, if you work alone, work from home, you don't like seeing other people, saying hi to your pets is a really good way to kind of release some stress. Or just anything but doom scrolling, honestly. It just helps your brain kind of take a little break. Tip number four is more for the girlies. Perfect your five-minute makeup routine. It really helps to go from looking like a gremlin to being presentable in such a short amount of time. And the reality of life is, we are always gonna be judged first with the way that we look. Say what you want, that's just how the world works. So try to look presentable, try to show that you put some effort in the way that you look, and I promise it makes a big difference. Number five is to have a work uniform. So in USD, we actually had school uniforms. Even in law school, we had this blazer for girls and a white barong for boys. So this isn't as applicable if you have a uniform. But in general, just try to have an outfit formula that works well for you, so you save so much time getting ready in the morning. For me, it's a blouse, black trousers, black heels, and I'm out the door. And of course, having a good quality blazer or jacket is also a good way to spruce up your outfits. So those are all the tips that I have for productivity, and those are also all my recitation tips. If you have any other questions, things you want me to talk about, or if you want to talk to me personally, send me a DM. I will try to reply to you and give you as much advice as I can, if that's what you need. Or I could just hold your hand as we go through life together. I hope you learned something new, and I'll see you soon. Bye.