Launchpad to Confidence and Leadership

Berkeley Law’s Academic Skills Program (ASP) empowers students not just to survive law school, but to thrive in it. From a weeklong pre-orientation for 40 to 45 1Ls, including those from underrepresented backgrounds, to tailored training throughout the school year, students acquire concrete tools to succeed.

“We continually see our pre-orientation students take on leadership positions,” ASP Director Diana DiGennaro ’06 says. “This is a robust year-round program that sets up students for success.”

Six of the past nine California Law Review editors in chief participated in pre-orientation, as did five of the six Student Association at Berkeley Law co-presidents over the past three school years.

In the fall semester, nine upperclass student tutors, one for each mod, hold weekly “labs” that introduce case briefing, rule analysis and synthesis, outlining, and exam-writing. In the spring, a smaller group of tutors help students continue practicing and refining these skills.

The tutors — often former pre-orientation participants — also hold office hours, provide individual feedback on practice hypotheticals, and answer questions about law school and study strategies. In addition, Berkeley Law’s curriculum offers numerous courses that focus on honing skills essential to academic and professional success as well as teach the relevant substantive law.

Tutor and former pre-orientation member Celeste Gomez, now a 2L, says that the ASP is grounded in community values, fuels relationships centered on mutual trust, and fosters an inclusive environment that helps students gain comfort and confidence.

“I aim to do the same during every lab,” she says. “I also make sure to hold some space for the things students love outside of law school and try to connect with them on a more personal level. Law school is about much more than learning how to read cases and take tests.”

Adnan Toric ’21 relished meeting peers who had similar foundational questions and first-generation backgrounds.

“There’s a special comfort in beginning law school with a group of people you can lean on,” he says. “Law school is tough, but the pre-orientation program allows you to feel like you belong at Berkeley Law before classes even start.”

Toric later became an ASP tutor, an editor at two Berkeley Law journals, and directed the student-led Academic Empowerment Program. After two years as a federal judicial clerk, he is now an associate at Cohen Milstein in Philadelphia.

In January 2020, the program received a note about Toric from an anonymous student, which read: “I just wanted to drop off a quick thank you for your program. Before ASP I had no clue what a case brief or outline were. Many accolades to my mod’s tutor — Adnan Toric — for his infinite patience helping me to discern the differences between holding/judgment/rule and what the heck an ‘issue’ was. His encouragement and down-to-earth advice were linchpins to my success last semester. Give the guy a raise! Sincerely, an appreciative student.” — Andrew Cohen