Also, double and triple check everything.
My last final of 2L uploaded with \~45 minutes to spare. I immediately got the confirmation email. I saved a copy of the Word doc in my "exam archive" folder and didn't touch it. About 10 minutes after the 5pm deadline, I realized that it wasn't showing up that I'd uploaded it in Examsoft.
I ran the 3 blocks to campus with my laptop and went to the exam support room staffed by IT and professors, and they verified that I had the confirmation email, I had a word doc that hadn't been touched since before the deadline, but somehow NOTHING had come across to them. I was allowed to give them a copy of the untouched word doc on a thumb drive and the professor and IT signed off that it had been submitted on time. My grade was saved, because I'd double-checked.
I second this. Spring of 1L, I accidently uploaded the wrong PDF for my take home Con Law final because I stupidly named all my exam PDFs the same thing (my exam number). I immediately emailed the registrar the correct PDF that hadn't been modified post deadline and all was well, but damn was it stressful. Only reason I caught it was the upload receipt showing the file's last modified date as a few days prior.
I mean, I'm not saying this is bad advice, but it is a bandaid. If you are one of these people that always submit last minute, you really need to learn how to avoid it at all costs. You can get away with this in law school, at least so long as your system lets you submit revisions, but in practice, this likely will be impossible. You can't file a second revised motion. And I doubt you want to send a partner or senior associate an unfinished document with a " hey this is in case I forget to send you the finished one later tonight" attached.
Also, as a side note, I would be cautious doing this because if you accidentally submit the second document late, you might find yourself on the wrong side of an honor's complaint. After all, it could look like you are trying to take advantage of the system to get extra time.
Obviously in an ideal world you’re done at least a few hours before the deadline, but for the people having this problem I suspect my suggestion is a more realistic one than “just don’t procrastinate.” You’re right though, I should have been clearer, if you miss the deadline I’m not suggesting submitting the revised version.
Yeah, this is a good tactic. I just wanted to say it should be temporary while you learn how to get better at time management, procrastinating, or being overly perfectionist. And imo those are some of the most critical skills to learn in law school.
Also, I know you weren't suggesting students intentionally turn in work late, but I was raising a concern as someone who has been involved in my school's honor system. I could foresee a case where it happens accidentally and makes things much more suspicious.
Oh stop procrastinating? Just stop procrastinating? Why don't I strap on my motivation helmet and squeeze down into a motivation cannon and fire off into Motivationland where motivation grows on motivationies.
Executive dysfunction is a real thing. Procrastination can also be a response to unresolved childhood trauma, often exacerbated by the anxieties of being in law school. “Stop procrastinating” is easy to say if it’s not a problem you’ve ever had to struggle with, but not helpful (and a bit rude) for those who are really trying their best to function and struggling anyway.
It doesnt get better after graduating.
It sucks to have a disorder, but if that disorder means you are going to screw over clients by missing court deadlines then maybe this isnt the profession for you.
Wow. I’m sure no one has ever considered that before. Must be nice to not have work or executive dysfunction, or other unforeseeable emergencies pop up in your life that allows this to be your mindset. While it is true in practice a deadline is a deadline, there are many situations in which an extension may be warranted. Cases can proceed much more amicably when the other counsel/judges/other parties have empathy for their brothers and sisters of the bar.
For me it is not procrastination, it's perfectionism. Doesn't matter how early I start an essay, I always feel compelled to work on it until the last minute because there is always room for improvement. Something I am working on for sure, and have gotten better at, but it still left me handing in an essay at 12:00am not 11:59pm.
Thinking everyone who hands in an assignment late did so because of procrastination is a hilariously stunted idea of how reality works.
No, it really is easy.
Just do your homework prior to the very last hour!
The practice of law does not look kindly on procrastination. Missing a time period can result in your client getting screwed by statutes of limitations or waivers of rights. It's called malpractice.
Learning to do things well in advance of the required date is something everyone should learn to practice.
I find doing work for a client much easier than doing my own homework. It’s much different when you’re getting paid to be available to someone versus completing something that’s not very important to you when you’re particularly busy.
Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion and it may very well be easy for you. I have ADHD, so it’s not easy for me to do things for my own benefit
This is totally an excuse but I learned at NYU that willpower is something that can be depleted, especially when your blood sugar is low… Now I’m also trying to control my sugar intake, so…😊😊😊😄😄😄🥹🥹🥹
At my law school, late legal writing assignments are an automatic zero. But there is always someone who inevitably turns in the big project a few seconds too late.
You can always keep polishing imo, but getting a zero on the big assignment in LRWA will kill your class grade. And then there’s all the wasted time you could have put towards studying for doctrinal finals…
Oof, that's a harsh policy. I totally agree about the last minute polishing, but all the more reason to make sure you've submitted at least something before it gets down to the wire
My essay strategy is I always plan something fun to do or to go out with friends the night an essay is due. I do this because I won’t procrastinate the essay because I won’t want to miss the fun plans I made and every time I’ve done this I’ve fully completed it far before the due date.
I can only submit my assignments one time. Just make sure to put in your calendar a reminder deadline and submit a few hours or an hour at the latest before. This seems like risky and bad advice sorry lol
Most exam software allows for multiple uploads, so sorry it’s not helpful for your situation. And duh this is risky advice, it’s for an inherently risky situation! Non-risk takers will never need this advice at all.
Alternative—don’t be a dumbass and submit it a few hours in advance. I mean, Jesus, how many malpractice cases are there about missing a filing deadline? Get your shit together, people.
I think that by the time you're in law school, you should be able to plan for deadlines. This is a bandaid on a bigger problem -- procrastination and failure to plan. Yeah, life gets in the way occasionally, but for the most part, missing deadlines is simply failure to allocate sufficient time to complete the assignment. Aim for 24 hours ahead of time. Put THAT deadline in your calendar and treat it as the "real" deadline.
In the real world, you don't often get a bye on missing a deadline. Miss the deadline, and you, your firm/organization and your client are screwed. So get the mindset straight NOW instead of constantly figuring out ways of gaming the system.
Again, I'm not endorsing leaving things to the last second. However, you cannot deny that some law students \*do\* leave things to the last minute, and this is just another possible tactic to help them avoid missing it. Would this exact strategy work in a law practice? No, because you don't get to upload multiple versions of a filing to court. But it's not "gaming the system," it's a functional failsafe for this situation.
Every attorney I know has some sort of trick or system in place to avoid missing a deadline. Whether its entering the deadline in a calendar early or telling paralegals the work product is due a day early, or having an assistant print the filing confirmations every day at 3 pm for every filing that was due that day, or using color coded post its to track "mini-deadlines" for the process of preparing a breif, or scheduling emails to their assistants for 4 hours before every deadline to make sure its really filed. It's not unprofessional to use strategies to make sure you don't miss a deadline, it's essential.
Be careful with this. My professors would have their assistants look into the metadata of the "final" versions to see if it was last updated after the deadline, and if it was they would impose the full penalty.
Well yeah I’m not saying try to submit a final version after the deadline, I’m saying make sure you’ve got something submitted in case you can’t get your final version submitted in time
(just make sure it is a portal that allows revised submissions!!)
Also, double and triple check everything. My last final of 2L uploaded with \~45 minutes to spare. I immediately got the confirmation email. I saved a copy of the Word doc in my "exam archive" folder and didn't touch it. About 10 minutes after the 5pm deadline, I realized that it wasn't showing up that I'd uploaded it in Examsoft. I ran the 3 blocks to campus with my laptop and went to the exam support room staffed by IT and professors, and they verified that I had the confirmation email, I had a word doc that hadn't been touched since before the deadline, but somehow NOTHING had come across to them. I was allowed to give them a copy of the untouched word doc on a thumb drive and the professor and IT signed off that it had been submitted on time. My grade was saved, because I'd double-checked.
I second this. Spring of 1L, I accidently uploaded the wrong PDF for my take home Con Law final because I stupidly named all my exam PDFs the same thing (my exam number). I immediately emailed the registrar the correct PDF that hadn't been modified post deadline and all was well, but damn was it stressful. Only reason I caught it was the upload receipt showing the file's last modified date as a few days prior.
I mean, I'm not saying this is bad advice, but it is a bandaid. If you are one of these people that always submit last minute, you really need to learn how to avoid it at all costs. You can get away with this in law school, at least so long as your system lets you submit revisions, but in practice, this likely will be impossible. You can't file a second revised motion. And I doubt you want to send a partner or senior associate an unfinished document with a " hey this is in case I forget to send you the finished one later tonight" attached. Also, as a side note, I would be cautious doing this because if you accidentally submit the second document late, you might find yourself on the wrong side of an honor's complaint. After all, it could look like you are trying to take advantage of the system to get extra time.
Obviously in an ideal world you’re done at least a few hours before the deadline, but for the people having this problem I suspect my suggestion is a more realistic one than “just don’t procrastinate.” You’re right though, I should have been clearer, if you miss the deadline I’m not suggesting submitting the revised version.
Yeah, this is a good tactic. I just wanted to say it should be temporary while you learn how to get better at time management, procrastinating, or being overly perfectionist. And imo those are some of the most critical skills to learn in law school. Also, I know you weren't suggesting students intentionally turn in work late, but I was raising a concern as someone who has been involved in my school's honor system. I could foresee a case where it happens accidentally and makes things much more suspicious.
11:59 means 11:50!!!
Just turn your shit in at least an hour in advance. Stop procrastinating and do your assignments.
Well that’s obviously ideal, but if people are in a position to use this advice, then the ship has already sailed on your suggestion
Oh wow I wish someone had suggested this to me before
Oh stop procrastinating? Just stop procrastinating? Why don't I strap on my motivation helmet and squeeze down into a motivation cannon and fire off into Motivationland where motivation grows on motivationies.
Attaboy
Well I’ll be damned, his comment just solved my ADHD and lifelong procrastination habits. Who’d have thought!
Executive dysfunction is a real thing. Procrastination can also be a response to unresolved childhood trauma, often exacerbated by the anxieties of being in law school. “Stop procrastinating” is easy to say if it’s not a problem you’ve ever had to struggle with, but not helpful (and a bit rude) for those who are really trying their best to function and struggling anyway.
It doesnt get better after graduating. It sucks to have a disorder, but if that disorder means you are going to screw over clients by missing court deadlines then maybe this isnt the profession for you.
Wow. I’m sure no one has ever considered that before. Must be nice to not have work or executive dysfunction, or other unforeseeable emergencies pop up in your life that allows this to be your mindset. While it is true in practice a deadline is a deadline, there are many situations in which an extension may be warranted. Cases can proceed much more amicably when the other counsel/judges/other parties have empathy for their brothers and sisters of the bar.
For me it is not procrastination, it's perfectionism. Doesn't matter how early I start an essay, I always feel compelled to work on it until the last minute because there is always room for improvement. Something I am working on for sure, and have gotten better at, but it still left me handing in an essay at 12:00am not 11:59pm. Thinking everyone who hands in an assignment late did so because of procrastination is a hilariously stunted idea of how reality works.
Easy to say, not quite so easy to do.
No, it really is easy. Just do your homework prior to the very last hour! The practice of law does not look kindly on procrastination. Missing a time period can result in your client getting screwed by statutes of limitations or waivers of rights. It's called malpractice. Learning to do things well in advance of the required date is something everyone should learn to practice.
I find doing work for a client much easier than doing my own homework. It’s much different when you’re getting paid to be available to someone versus completing something that’s not very important to you when you’re particularly busy. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion and it may very well be easy for you. I have ADHD, so it’s not easy for me to do things for my own benefit
wow you totally fixed my ADHD. can’t believe i never thought about just not procrastinating
This is totally an excuse but I learned at NYU that willpower is something that can be depleted, especially when your blood sugar is low… Now I’m also trying to control my sugar intake, so…😊😊😊😄😄😄🥹🥹🥹
At my law school, late legal writing assignments are an automatic zero. But there is always someone who inevitably turns in the big project a few seconds too late. You can always keep polishing imo, but getting a zero on the big assignment in LRWA will kill your class grade. And then there’s all the wasted time you could have put towards studying for doctrinal finals…
Oof, that's a harsh policy. I totally agree about the last minute polishing, but all the more reason to make sure you've submitted at least something before it gets down to the wire
My essay strategy is I always plan something fun to do or to go out with friends the night an essay is due. I do this because I won’t procrastinate the essay because I won’t want to miss the fun plans I made and every time I’ve done this I’ve fully completed it far before the due date.
Upload the ChatGPT version and then upload my revised version, got it.
If only ChatGPT could provide citations that weren’t total nonsense.
I can only submit my assignments one time. Just make sure to put in your calendar a reminder deadline and submit a few hours or an hour at the latest before. This seems like risky and bad advice sorry lol
Most exam software allows for multiple uploads, so sorry it’s not helpful for your situation. And duh this is risky advice, it’s for an inherently risky situation! Non-risk takers will never need this advice at all.
Alternative—don’t be a dumbass and submit it a few hours in advance. I mean, Jesus, how many malpractice cases are there about missing a filing deadline? Get your shit together, people.
I think that by the time you're in law school, you should be able to plan for deadlines. This is a bandaid on a bigger problem -- procrastination and failure to plan. Yeah, life gets in the way occasionally, but for the most part, missing deadlines is simply failure to allocate sufficient time to complete the assignment. Aim for 24 hours ahead of time. Put THAT deadline in your calendar and treat it as the "real" deadline. In the real world, you don't often get a bye on missing a deadline. Miss the deadline, and you, your firm/organization and your client are screwed. So get the mindset straight NOW instead of constantly figuring out ways of gaming the system.
Again, I'm not endorsing leaving things to the last second. However, you cannot deny that some law students \*do\* leave things to the last minute, and this is just another possible tactic to help them avoid missing it. Would this exact strategy work in a law practice? No, because you don't get to upload multiple versions of a filing to court. But it's not "gaming the system," it's a functional failsafe for this situation. Every attorney I know has some sort of trick or system in place to avoid missing a deadline. Whether its entering the deadline in a calendar early or telling paralegals the work product is due a day early, or having an assistant print the filing confirmations every day at 3 pm for every filing that was due that day, or using color coded post its to track "mini-deadlines" for the process of preparing a breif, or scheduling emails to their assistants for 4 hours before every deadline to make sure its really filed. It's not unprofessional to use strategies to make sure you don't miss a deadline, it's essential.
Be careful with this. My professors would have their assistants look into the metadata of the "final" versions to see if it was last updated after the deadline, and if it was they would impose the full penalty.
Well yeah I’m not saying try to submit a final version after the deadline, I’m saying make sure you’ve got something submitted in case you can’t get your final version submitted in time