I am a practicing attorney who also tutored English Composition at U.C.L.A. and am available to tutor both law students and students who need help with advanced composition techniques.
By way of background, U.C.L.A.’s Composition Tutoring Lab hired me as a tutor. This was a distinct honor because only students who received an “A” in the English Department’s Advanced Composition course were hired to work there. I had the privilege of tutoring many of my fellow students, including foreign students for whom English was not their primary language. I graduated from U.C.L.A. with a Bachelor’s degree in English.
After U.C.L.A., I attended the McGeorge School of Law, famous for having a better pass rate on the California Bar than Harvard Law School and for having a Constitutional Law professor on the U.S. Supreme Court. While there, the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists published my winning law school essay. Participation in Moot Court further refined my writing skills, and the quality of my briefs led to my selection to the McGeorge Moot Court Honors Board.
After passing the bar on my first try in 1985, I entered private practice and was an attorney for the plaintiff receiving the country’s highest wrongful termination verdict for 1990 ($13.5 million). I have served as President of the Asian Pacific Bar Association of the Silicon Valley and was a Trustee of the Santa Clara County Bar Association, which is actually larger than 10 state bar associations. I developed a solo practice in appellate law, which primarily consists of legal research and writing legal briefs.
I am now semi-retired, and split my time between select cases that interest me, and my first love, acting. Because I set my own hours, my schedule allows me to help a few select students.
Under my tutoring methodology, we will devote the initial session to getting to know one another and setting goals. If you are unclear about setting your initial goals, I can help with that process too, but it may take more than one session.
I will also inquire into the client’s current knowledge base, study habits and environment, and if appropriate, conduct an evaluation. In some cases, I might make recommendations. For example, I will refuse to work with any client who believes that they can actually work productively with the television on, even as background noise. Studies have shown that instrumental music, such as light classical, can help with studying (although it actually interferes with rote memorization, which should not be an issue).
I will often ask a prospective client to fill out a questionnaire (or answer e-mailed questions) prior to the initial meeting, and we might discuss the client’s responses at the initial meeting.
Subsequent sessions will generally follow the agreed goals, but we can adjust on the fly by mutual agreement.
I will also recommend the purchase of helpful learning references, such as Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style (4th Edition).
In sum, like anything else in life, when it comes to learning, the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. I am looking exclusively for self-motivated students who want to improve. If you need motivation from your parents or a tutor or any other external source, please find another tutor. On the other hand, if you really want to learn how to sharpen your ability to think and to communicate those thoughts, I can help.
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