Chapman University School of Law's Academic Achievement Program is designed to minimize the confusion and frustration many first-year law students experience and to assist Chapman law students in the mastery of the skills necessary to become successful law students and productive attorneys.

Professor Rick Faulkner, the Director of Academic Achievement, is available to meet with individual students to address their academic needs and progress. Moreover, Professor Faulkner conducts a substantial number of workshops throughout the academic year designed to help first-year students transition from undergraduate school to law school. These workshops cover such diverse topics as course outlining, stress and time management, preparation for exams, and exam writing.

In addition, advanced students serve as Academic Fellows for the first-year law courses, as well as Evidence, Federal Income Tax, Corporations, and Constitutional Law classes. The Academic Fellows hold office hours once each week in the fall and spring semesters during which they are available to respond to student questions. The Academic Fellows also lead small study groups for selected students. Participation in the small study groups is open to all first-year students in the fall semester; all first-year students will be randomly assigned a small group. Participation in the small study groups during the spring semester is based largely on first semester grades.

The Academic Achievement program helps Chapman Law School students succeed, not only in law school, but also on the bar examination. During the spring semester, graduating students are offered an Early Bar Exam Preparation Program at no cost to Chapman students.

"In baseball it's the rookie year. In the navy it is boot camp. In many walks of life there is a similar time in trial and initiation, a period when newcomers are forced to be the victims of their own ineptness and when they must somehow master the basic skills of the profession in order to survive. For someone who wants to be a lawyer, that proving time is the first year of law school."

--Scott Turow, One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School

The Academic Achievement Center offers a myriad of workshops and presentations, like the Bar Examination Preparation Kickoff for Graduating Students, How to Prepare Outlines, Time and Stress Management, and Academic Advising for 2Ls. Get your Bar Exam, class planning, and general law school achievement questions answered at these workshops.
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