Patricia Leary - Whittier Law School

Professor: Patricia Leary

Department: Law

College: Whittier Law School

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CRNLAW1
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

She is just a tough grader. She is very hard to read, until she grades your papers. When she grades you she writes things like "don't understand the concepts" "thats not it at all". I think she is passive aggressive because she is so nice until paper grading. She accused me of not reading in office hours she later admitted her question wasn't clear

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CONLW101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor Leary is amazing, inspiring, and brilliant.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CRMPR1
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Amazing lectures that Inspire and made me want to show up to class

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CRMPR1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

J'adore Prof. Leary! I took both crim law & crim pro classes with her and did well only because I was enthused by who she is as a person & studied for the exams with the same excitement & enthusiasm. Political correctness is not her style, and I LOVE her for that! It's refreshing to see a law prof. with fearless realness! A world-class HUMAN being!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CRIMPRO
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

PAY ATTENTION! She gives you EVERYTHING you need to now for her tests. However, go see her and make sure you know how she wants her exams written! She's a sweet lady, yet her liberalism really got in the way of her lectures some days and was a bit upsetting. She does lay out the class extremely well in a clear manner.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: TORTS
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

She's extremely kind-seeming and disarming... but wait till you see her COMMENTS on your paper. Absolutely presumptuous and devastating! She should teach you HOW to do her exam because the rest is MEMORIZATION of legal definitions and elements. She has never practiced law so it's best to learn her grading methodology and give her exactly that.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: REALPROPERTY
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

PAY ATTENTION IN CLASS! She gives you EVERYTHING you need to know; the book is pretty much useless; she does not use the Socratic method and relies on whoever is wiling to volunteer. She is super helpful and a dear sweet lady. Go to office hours, talk with her after class, she wants to help!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CONLAW
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

She's good, but sometimes lets her ideologies get in the way of her teaching the Constitution. She's very liberal, and that will cloud how she teaches. If you go to class and listen (good notes), you'll do great on her finals, that's how she does her finals - off of class. However, sometimes she gets off track, and I never really learned the 1st Am

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CONLAW
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

People think since she is nice, she is a good conlaw teacher. WRONG. She is way too biased with her teachings. She spends too much time telling us what she thinks and expects us to follow her untraditional ways on exams rather than training us for the Bar. She doesn't even get through materials which a normal conlaw class expects to get through.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CON2025
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

People that left negative comments probably scored low on her finals (which are pretty hard), in fact none even commented. She is a great Professor, who is always ready to help. A great listener and she truly loves teaching. She definitely has a political view, as does every human being, and I personally don't mind it, since she is very respectful.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: TORTS1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Hard to get assistance because she has no TA and she seemed to be talking to the same students all of the time. Use only her notes and her book. Spew out facts on the test like crazy or you won't do well. Leary acts nice in class, but she can be very mean. Her teaching method was too geared towards doing things her way rather than Bar prep.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CRIMPRO
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Only use the notes taken from her class - take the rules she gives and use them word for word. Only use the cases from the text book. If you are a conservative DO NOT let it show on your exam.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: TORTS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Love her. She's one of the kindest people I've ever met. If you get her for Torts your first year you're very lucky. She takes a topic that can be tricky and tries to explain it the best way possible. Take detailed notes in her class. Her exams are difficult but she provides practice exams that are very helpful. Definitely my favorite.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CONLW101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

con law exams are tricky. take good notes and make sure you do her old exam she passes out at the end of the class bc its usually verbatim the same on the actual final exam. Love her. TAKE GOOD NOTES...transcribe the class.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: TORTS1N2
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Funny, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable. You don't get called on in class. She genuinely cares and is willing to help outside of class. BUT don't be fooled! Just because she's one of the school's best/favorite professors does NOT mean she's an easy grader. She's particular; learn & memorize her rules/tests/elements/factors word-for-word. It helps.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: WL100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Had her for Women and the Law and Constitutional Law. Take extremely good notes. Her exams are based on IN CLASS lectures, hence using outside sources for information won't be helpful for Final Exams. Amazing teacher. Love her. Best teacher at Whittier.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CRMPR1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

One of the best professors at Whittier. She loves teaching and it shows! She ALWAYS stays after every class to answer questions and discuss the finer points of the law. Very engaging, very helpful, great professor.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CNLAW1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor Leary is very fun and very much in love with the U.S. Constitution. She loves people and is good at both teaching and listening. She allows divergent viewpoints but you must be prepared to defend your position using law, logic, and/or humane concerns and you must be respectful. Never insult anyone, expressly or impliedly, in her class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: TORTS1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I think everyone at Whittier loves Leary! She cares so much about her students and is always willing to go over things until they are understood. Sometimes this results in not getting through all the material, but the woman has the patience of a saint when it comes to students. Make sure you use the precise legal terms on the exam.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CONLW2010
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Best teacher at Whittier. Read the book and know the cases for Con Law. Had her for Torts as well. Know the rules for that and practice issue spotting. She cares a lot for the students. If it wasn't for her I would not have put the effort into the material that resulted in me earning a 96. She made me believe in myself.