Who is CALI?
The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) is a non-profit consortium of law schools that creates online, interactive learning materials. Almost all law schools are members.
What are CALI Lessons?
CALI Lessons are short, methodical explorations of a single topic. These are not just video lectures or flash cards. CALI Lessons use a variety of question types to engage you with readings and hypothetical scenarios, providing feedback along the way. CALI’s materials are created by tenured law faculty or educational experts in their area and rigorously reviewed. All 1200+ CALI Lessons are available to you as a student at a CALI member law school.
What is the Summer Challenge?
We have assembled a collection of CALI Lessons to include in this challenge, selected specifically for pre-law students. Between now and October 1, 2024, simply complete 10 CALI Lessons using the guidelines below to fulfill the challenge and gain skills to enter law school more prepared.
Get an early introduction to first-year legal concepts and the foundational skills necessary to meet the unique demands of law school. By the way, this is completely free!
Upon completing 10 lessons in line with the guidelines, we’ll give you an online certificate of completion for your efforts toward success in law school.
Participating is easy!
Step 1: Register for a CALI account on the CALI website (www.cali.org). (From this page, select Register above. Or log in if you already have a CALI account.) Contact the CALI rep at your law school for your school’s unique CALI authorization code.
Step 2: Start running CALI Lessons from this page! Follow the guidelines below to choose your lessons in each category for a total of 10 lessons. Run the lesson from start to finish, and be sure to answer any questions presented along the way.
Step 3: Track your progress. You can see which lessons you’ve started or completed by going to your CALI Dashboard and selecting My Lesson Runs.
Step 4: Complete ten lessons per the guidelines by October 1, 2024. Once you have, let us know by filling out the form here. Then we’ll email you your digital certificate!
Some Tips:
- To get credit, you must follow the links from this page. Do not access the lessons from another location on the CALI website. You're in the right place if you see this at the top:
- After advancing through the entire lesson and answering all the questions, to complete the lesson, select “Finalize this score” on the last page.
- Your answers are saved automatically. Track your progress from your My Lesson Runs page in your CALI Dashboard.
- You can exit a lesson-in-progress and resume the lesson where you left off from your My Lesson Runs page. Completed lessons are available to review. You can run a lesson as many times as you’d like. Starting a lesson again after finalizing your score will result in a separate lesson run for that lesson.
Challenge Lessons and Guidelines
Foundation - Choose any 4 from this list
- Analysis 1: Thinking Like a Lawyer | Run the lesson
- Common Law Basics: What Faculty May Assume You Know | Run the lesson
- Got a Question? Tips on How to Talk to Your Professors | Run the lesson
- Grit, Growth, and Why it Matters. Or, How to be Gritty! | Run the lesson
- Law School Lingo: How to Navigate A Brand New Vocabulary | Run the lesson
- Law School Resources | Run the lesson
- Metacognition | Run the lesson
- Mindfulness Practice for Law School | Run the lesson
- Primary v. Secondary Sources: Why Is Reading Cases So Hard? | Run the lesson
- Words Matter | Run the lesson
Class Prep - Choose any 4 from this list
- Case Briefing | Run the lesson
- Introduction to Rule Synthesis | Run the lesson
- IRAC | Run the lesson
- Mechanics of Memorization | Run the lesson
- Note-Taking in Law School 101: The Basics | Run the lesson
- Note-Taking in Law School 101: Case-Based Content | Run the lesson
- Outlining Basics | Run the lesson
- Preparing for Class 101: Preparing for Your First Day of Class | Run the lesson
- Secrets to Improved Memorization | Run the lesson
First-Year Course Introduction - Choose 1 from this list
- Battery Basics | Run the lesson
- Overview and Sources of Contract Law | Run the lesson
- Sources of Criminal Law | Run the lesson
- Statutory Interpretation | Run the lesson
Legal Research - Choose 1 from this list
- Anatomy of a Case | Run the lesson
- Introduction to Secondary Resources | Run the lesson
- Introduction to State and Federal Statutes | Run the lesson
- Where Does Law Come From? | Run the lesson
Questions? Contact Sara Smith at ssmith@cali.org.