About the Authors

Scott A. Hatch, JD, and Lisa Zimmer Hatch, MA, have prepared thousands of teens and adults to excel on standardized tests, gain admission to the colleges of their choice, and secure challenging and lucrative professional careers since 1987. They’ve taught paralegals and other legal professionals on a live-lecture, online, DVD, and independent-study basis through more than 300 universities worldwide. Scott and Lisa have a special place in their hearts for the LSAT because they met when Lisa took one of Scott’s LSAT prep courses. Together they’ve authored numerous law and standardized test prep texts, including GMAT For Dummies, 6th edition, ACT For Dummies, 5th edition, SAT II US History For Dummies, SAT II Biology For Dummies, SAT II Math For Dummies, Catholic High School Entrance Exams For Dummies, and Paralegal Career For Dummies (Wiley).

Lisa is currently an independent educational consultant and the president of College Primers, where she guides high school and college students through the undergraduate and graduate admissions process and prepares students to excel on entrance exams through individualized coaching and small group courses. She graduated with honors in English from the University of Puget Sound, received a master’s degree in humanities with a literature emphasis from California State University, and completed UCLA’s College Counseling Certificate program. Scott received his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado and his Juris Doctorate from Southwestern University School of Law. He was a contributing editor to the Judicial Profiler and The Colorado Law Annotated and has served as editor of several national award-winning publications. His most recent books include A Legal Guide to Probate and Estate Planning and A Legal Guide to Family Law, which are inaugural texts in B & B Publications’ Learn the Law series.

Amy Hackney Blackwell is a scientist, a writer, and a former attorney. She holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a Ph.D. from Clemson University, where she is a research associate at the botanical garden. Her fields of research include international laws on the collection of biological resources, intellectual property issues related to genetic materials and cultural artifacts, and historical botany and ecology.

Dedication

Scott and Lisa dedicate LSAT For Dummies to Zachary, Zoe, Alison, Andrew, Dan, Paige, and Ryan. Our family demonstrated patience, understanding, and assistance while we wrote this book, and we’re very blessed to have them in our lives.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

This book wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of Julia Brabant, Zachary Hatch, and Zoe Hatch, who provided material for and tested practice questions. We also acknowledge the input of the thousands of students who’ve completed our test preparation courses over the last 30 years. The classroom and online contributions offered by these eager learners have provided us with valuable information about the test preparation process.

Our project organization and attempts at wit were greatly facilitated by the editing professionals at John Wiley & Sons. Our thanks go out to senior project editor Alissa Schwipps, copy editor Todd Lothery, executive editor Lindsay Lefevere, and technical editor Saira Pasha for their patience, guidance, wise insights, and attention to detail throughout the process.

Finally, we wish to thank our literary agent, Margo Maley Hutchinson at Waterside Productions, for her support and assistance and for introducing us to the innovative For Dummies series.

We thrive on feedback from our students and encourage our readers to provide comments and critiques at info@hatchedu.com.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

Executive Editor: Lindsay Sandman Lefevere

Senior Project Editor: Alissa Schwipps

Copy Editor: Todd Lothery

Technical Editor: Saira Pasha

Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery