Bankruptcy with Pottow has been one of my favorite classes. He is really energetic, and loves the material. There can be quite a bit of reading, but its not all entirely necessary. I didn’t do all the reading ever day, and ended up with a great grade. The exam is an untimed take home, so you can have it out for days on end.
Had him for bankruptcy. He’s hilarious and very smart. The class mostly didn’t consist of talking about cases but instead of taking about the hypos in Elizabeth Warren’s case book — and there were a ton of those hypos. On the downside, Pottow talks extremely fast, and thinks very fast, so it’s very hard to follow him sometimes. I’d suggest that you still take him class, but don’t hesitate to ask questions outside class.
As a side note: if you’re planning on focusing on litigation in your career, don’t bother taking bankruptcy. In my experience, there’s approximately zero chance that you’ll somehow be able to try out both as a summer associate or in your early career. But if you’re already going the transactional route, definitely take bankruptcy, because it’s a good back up.
Had him for Bankruptcy. Best professor I’ve had. He’s hilarious. The only class I’ve taken where I didn’t spend most of it on the internet. He’s that entertaining. And format of final exam is pretty good. Short word limit so you don’t have to worry about writing too much.
The most idiosyncratic, eccentric + hilarious prof at the Law School. But, the man knows what he’s talking about. He’s an expert in Bankruptcy (having argued before the Supreme Court). He truly wants his students to learn, but I wouldn’t say that he goes out of his way to help you.
Pottow is the best. He’s hilarious and makes what could be incredibly dry material mostly interesting. He also wants to get to know his student and will invite the whole class over to his house during the semester. His exams are tough but fair.
The worst professor I have ever had. He may be an extraordinary bankruptcy attorney/professor, but he is hands down the worst at teaching contracts. He has no interest in teaching 1Ls, and spent little to no time actually explaining concepts in a coherent manner. No one in the class had any idea what was going on up until the day of the final. Thank god for Acing Contracts, but please never have him teach 1Ls ever again.
He is the worst professor I had at law school. Taking 1L contracts from him left me immensely confused, and the only material I learned was what I gleaned from acing contracts a few days before the final. No one in my class understood what was going on, and I feel like I wasted my money having taken him for contracts. Any other professor would have given me a basic understanding of how contracts operate. Now I feel like I have a huge hole in my legal knowledge that is immensely important. Hopefully the bar will teach me the basics in a way that I can understand the subject. This does not apply to his bankruptcy or secured transactions classes, which I have heard good things about.
(Bankruptcy review) Pottow is incredibly engaging, funny, and quick witted. This class was a wonderful one to have in the morning because he makes it easy to be attentive. Classes were focused on problem sets, which I loved. The casebook (written by Pottow along with some other brilliant bankruptcy scholars like Warren) was conversational and occasionally humorous in tone.
Just finished taking 1L contracts with Pottow. He’s a madman, but he’s truly an amazing teacher if you’re willing to level with him. The course has a nice logic, but it seems chaotic and confusing at the beginning. Just trust that Pottow knows what he’s doing and take the information as it comes. Oh, and do the reading, this isn’t one of the profs that will just tell you what you should have learned from the reading last night. Time in class is really about practicing the concepts and putting them together.
1L Contracts Fall 2021.
Pottow is possibly the most interesting professor (and possibly most fun) I have ever had. I have never worked as hard as I have for his class but I genuinely feel enriched for it. He is hilarious, and genuinely cares about making sure you learn contracts. But he has very specific ideals of how the doctrine should be taught, so the first month of the class causes a lot of consternation. Be patient, go to all his office hours and do all the reading, and use supplements (Acing Contract) at the beginning.
No idea what my grades will be like for the class, but loved him either way!
Had him for bankruptcy. The guy is a genius but also the class is very disorganized. He assumes you know the code so well and have read the textbook like 10 times….very difficult to follow…don’t regret taking it though but now another professor (retired bankruptcy judge) teaches the course, I heard he is much more organized.
MLaw Prof Reviews
Bankruptcy with Pottow has been one of my favorite classes. He is really energetic, and loves the material. There can be quite a bit of reading, but its not all entirely necessary. I didn’t do all the reading ever day, and ended up with a great grade. The exam is an untimed take home, so you can have it out for days on end.
Had him for bankruptcy. He’s hilarious and very smart. The class mostly didn’t consist of talking about cases but instead of taking about the hypos in Elizabeth Warren’s case book — and there were a ton of those hypos. On the downside, Pottow talks extremely fast, and thinks very fast, so it’s very hard to follow him sometimes. I’d suggest that you still take him class, but don’t hesitate to ask questions outside class.
As a side note: if you’re planning on focusing on litigation in your career, don’t bother taking bankruptcy. In my experience, there’s approximately zero chance that you’ll somehow be able to try out both as a summer associate or in your early career. But if you’re already going the transactional route, definitely take bankruptcy, because it’s a good back up.
Awesome professor- my favorite of six so far.
Had him for Bankruptcy. Best professor I’ve had. He’s hilarious. The only class I’ve taken where I didn’t spend most of it on the internet. He’s that entertaining. And format of final exam is pretty good. Short word limit so you don’t have to worry about writing too much.
The most idiosyncratic, eccentric + hilarious prof at the Law School. But, the man knows what he’s talking about. He’s an expert in Bankruptcy (having argued before the Supreme Court). He truly wants his students to learn, but I wouldn’t say that he goes out of his way to help you.
Pottow is the best. He’s hilarious and makes what could be incredibly dry material mostly interesting. He also wants to get to know his student and will invite the whole class over to his house during the semester. His exams are tough but fair.
The worst professor I have ever had. He may be an extraordinary bankruptcy attorney/professor, but he is hands down the worst at teaching contracts. He has no interest in teaching 1Ls, and spent little to no time actually explaining concepts in a coherent manner. No one in the class had any idea what was going on up until the day of the final. Thank god for Acing Contracts, but please never have him teach 1Ls ever again.
He is the worst professor I had at law school. Taking 1L contracts from him left me immensely confused, and the only material I learned was what I gleaned from acing contracts a few days before the final. No one in my class understood what was going on, and I feel like I wasted my money having taken him for contracts. Any other professor would have given me a basic understanding of how contracts operate. Now I feel like I have a huge hole in my legal knowledge that is immensely important. Hopefully the bar will teach me the basics in a way that I can understand the subject. This does not apply to his bankruptcy or secured transactions classes, which I have heard good things about.
(Bankruptcy review) Pottow is incredibly engaging, funny, and quick witted. This class was a wonderful one to have in the morning because he makes it easy to be attentive. Classes were focused on problem sets, which I loved. The casebook (written by Pottow along with some other brilliant bankruptcy scholars like Warren) was conversational and occasionally humorous in tone.
Just finished taking 1L contracts with Pottow. He’s a madman, but he’s truly an amazing teacher if you’re willing to level with him. The course has a nice logic, but it seems chaotic and confusing at the beginning. Just trust that Pottow knows what he’s doing and take the information as it comes. Oh, and do the reading, this isn’t one of the profs that will just tell you what you should have learned from the reading last night. Time in class is really about practicing the concepts and putting them together.
1L Contracts Fall 2021.
Pottow is possibly the most interesting professor (and possibly most fun) I have ever had. I have never worked as hard as I have for his class but I genuinely feel enriched for it. He is hilarious, and genuinely cares about making sure you learn contracts. But he has very specific ideals of how the doctrine should be taught, so the first month of the class causes a lot of consternation. Be patient, go to all his office hours and do all the reading, and use supplements (Acing Contract) at the beginning.
No idea what my grades will be like for the class, but loved him either way!
Had him for bankruptcy. The guy is a genius but also the class is very disorganized. He assumes you know the code so well and have read the textbook like 10 times….very difficult to follow…don’t regret taking it though but now another professor (retired bankruptcy judge) teaches the course, I heard he is much more organized.