Academic Support
The practice of law begins with your first day in law school. One of the most important tasks for incoming law students is to understand and master the transition from their prior experiences in higher education to the unique demands of a law school curriculum. Cleveland-Marshall's Academic Support Programs complement the law school curriculum by focusing on the process involved in developing the skills that are necessary to succeed in law school. These skills include the ability to understand, organize, and apply the law in a law exam and bar exam setting. Our Academic Support Programs also address time and stress management, effective study methods, and different value systems in the law and legal education.
We recognize that students have different learning styles and experiences that can affect their learning process and performance in law school. For these reasons, Academic Support uses diverse teaching methods including small group discussions, large group training, and one-on-one assistance.
Our fundamental goal is to take the mystery out of succeeding in law school and the practice of law. Additionally, Academic Support fosters an academic community to assist students in their adjustment to law school and the legal profession.
Questions? See Frequently Asked Questions
Academic Support Programs
Academic Excellence Program I
This program involves small study groups of 10 to 15 first-year students who are invited to participate based upon various criteria. The groups are divided by section and meet weekly under the supervision of a Teaching Assistant who regularly attends the section's contracts class. Weekly discussions are held to enhance students' analytical reasoning skills using contracts law as a foundation for the discussions. Regular practice in analytical and writing skills is offered in the form of mock exam questions. Students who have participated in this program achieve, on average, a grade point five tenths higher than those who are invited but choose not to participate.
Academic Excellence Program II (Analytical and Exam Writing Skills)
Because of the success of AEP I, AEP II was developed to offer analytical and exam writing skills training to the entire first-year class. The course includes lectures on time management, case briefing, course outlining, exam preparation and exam taking.
The focus of AEP II is the same as AEP I, practicing analytical skills through weekly mock legal essay exam writing. Exam answers are individually critiqued and class time is used to compare good answers to poorer answers. The class discusses why the good answers are good and how to make the poorer answers better.
From time to time, Professors who teach first-year courses come to speak on the process of dissecting law school exam questions and presenting an acceptable legal analysis of the issues.
To view the Power Point presentation used in Dean Williams's lectures, click one of the bulleted links below: (Please note that the PowerPoint presentations have been converted to HTML to make viewing them easier.)
One-on-One Assistance
One-on-one assistance is offered by appointment with either our Manager of the Academic Excellence Program, Daniel Dropko, or our Director, Bar Exam Preparation, Gary Williams. Our Teaching Assistants in the AEP I Program are also available to all first-year students during their office hours.
Bar Exam Preparation
Once students complete the rigorous course of study leading to graduation from law school, there remains one more essential hurdle before assuming a legal career: the Bar Examination. One of our most successful programs is a 3 credit hour bar preparation course which begins the semester before the bar exam is given. The emphasis is on analysis, style and form. Test subjects are coordinated with the lectures given in the commercial bar exam courses. Exam answers are individually critiqued. In class, good answers are compared to poorer answers, and advice is given as to how the poorer answers can be made better. Special emphasis is given to the MPT. One-on-one assistance is offered by appointment to help hone students' writing skills. This past year, our Bar Exam pass rate was 84%, an improvement of 12% from the previous year, and 9% higher than at any other time in Cleveland-Marshall history.
The practice of law is a noble and honorable profession.
Cleveland-Marshall has a long tradition of educating attorneys who embody those high standards, and who render outstanding service to our community. If we can help you along the way, all you need do is ask.
Please contact us: Gary Williams, Director, Bar Exam Preparation, LB 144, Gary.Williams@law.csuohio.edu, 216-687-2297; Daniel Dropko, Manager, Academic Excellence Program, LB 140A, Daniel.Dropko@law.csuohio.edu, 216-687-2226.