July 18, 2008 Dear…

                                                 July 18, 2008


Dear Members of the Class of 2011:

        Greetings from the Office of Student Affairs, and congratulations on your decision to
attend Duke Law School! I look forward to your arrival on August 18 for orientation, "LEAD
Week 2008," and to getting to know you during the course of your education. We have an
exciting line-up planned for LEAD Week, which is based on the Duke Blueprint and features
nationally acclaimed speakers, dynamic alumni and professors, and interactive exercises planned
by leadership experts and our cadre of student LEAD Fellows and facilitators.

        Hopefully you have already heard about the Duke Blueprint, and you surely will hear
more about it during the course of your legal education. The recipient of the American Bar
Association's top award for professionalism, this set of principles defines the Law School
community and serves as the foundation for our efforts and activities in and out of the classroom.
Of the many Duke materials you will receive in the coming days, the Blueprint is among the most
important.

        The LEAD Week website http://www.law.duke.edu/students/orientation contains all you
need to know to prepare for your arrival at Duke. Several issues bear highlighting:

    ·   LEAD Week Schedule and Assignments: As the schedule reflects, orientation
        programming spans the entire week. However, time has been designated to allow you to
        purchase your books and explore Durham. You have two LEAD Week assignments that
        you should complete before your arrival. You can download these assignments from the
        site--hypotheticals for the "Where Do You Draw the Line?" exercise and Professor
        Doriane Coleman's primer on "Making the Most of Class: How to Read a Case."

    ·   LEAD Groups: You will be placed in a LEAD group and assigned an upper-class LEAD
        fellow during orientation. You will be doing activities with this group throughout LEAD
        Week, and your LEAD Fellow will continue to act as an advisor and plan social
        programming for your group throughout your first year. To read about the interesting
        backgrounds of your 25 LEAD Fellows, see http://www.law.duke.edu/students/lead/bios.

    ·   Computers: We strongly recommend that you own a laptop computer that satisfies Duke
        Law School's technical specifications--namely, a computer that runs an appropriate
        version of Windows and has a DVD player. Equally important, students who wish to take
        their exams on computers must use exam software that operates only on Windows-based
        PCs--either a native Windows PC or a MacBook with Leopard and Windows installed
        through BootCamp. Students without such computers will be required to handwrite their
        exams. For more information about our specifications and pre-LEAD Week online
        laptop configuration, please see the memo from Assistant Dean for Academic
        Technologies Wayne Miller, who will address all pre-arrival computer questions.

    ·   DukeCard: This card is your primary form of campus identification and will provide
        access to University facilities and function as a debit card for on-campus purchases and
        off-campus food delivery. This form can be downloaded from this site. Please complete
       and submit the required passport photograph to the DukeCard office before August 1;
       cards will be delivered to the Law School and available on Monday, August 18.

   ·   Health Insurance: All Duke students are required to have medical insurance, either
       through the Duke-sponsored plan or a comparable U.S. medical insurance plan. For more
       information, please visit: http://healthydevil.studentaffairs.duke.edu/insurance/.

   ·   Mentors: You soon will receive an e-mail from the Duke Bar Association with a link to
       a web form that will allow the DBA to match you with an upper-class mentor. I
       encourage you to participate in this worthwhile program and am confident your mentor
       will make your transition to Duke Law School a smooth one.

   ·   Attire for Orientation: Attire is generally casual, except for Monday's daytime
       programming and Wednesday's evening reception, which are business casual. The
       directory photo shoot requires business attire from the waist up. (The picture is only a
       "head shot," and most students change before and after the shoot.)

   ·   Fall Courses: This fall you will be assigned to one of several "small sections" and will
       take three of the six required first-year courses, plus Legal Analysis, Research and
       Writing. You will have two writing classes during LEAD Week, but your other classes
       begin on Monday, August 25. You can find your schedule on ACES in early August;
       booklists will be available at http://www.law.duke.edu/curriculum/booklist.

   ·   Parking: Parking passes should be purchased online before your arrival; those
       purchased before August 1 will be mailed directly to you; thereafter, you may pick them
       up on-campus. See http://siren.auxserv.duke.edu/parking/Permits08/gradstud_2008.htm.
       As an incoming 1L, your parking lot selection is the Green Zone. For the first two days
       of LEAD Week, August 18-19, you may park in the Chemistry Lot. As the enclosed map
       indicates, this is near the Law School, just behind Gross Chemistry off Towerview Road.

         Be prepared for an action-packed LEAD Week! On behalf of the Office of Student
Affairs, I look forward to introducing you to the Duke Law School community, and I wish you a
safe journey to Durham.

                                                Sincerely,

                                                Jill S. Miller
                                                Associate Dean for Student Affairs