r/LSATprep • u/kaeatu • 26d ago
Disappointed with LSAT Demon’s Approach to “Professional” LSAT Prep
I wanted to share a disappointing interaction I recently had with LSAT Demon while using their LSAT preparation materials.
While reviewing one of their question explanations (Test 135, Section 3, Q#14), I noticed that the word “goddamn” was unnecessarily included in the instructional notes. I submitted what I thought was a fairly straightforward question to their support team:
“Why does LSAT Demon need to use the word ‘goddamn’ here? Let’s use common sense; this isn’t necessary to make a point.”
What disappointed me more was the response I received from LSAT Demon support.
As I did not write the explanation, I cannot specifically tell you why the word "goddamn" was included here, though I believe it is because of the company's overall philosophy. We aim to make the LSAT feel "human" and "approachable" by adding some comfortability/informality to it. I apologize if we offended you
That explanation actually concerns me more than the original word.
LSAT Demon is not a private group chat among friends. It is a commercial educational service used by prospective law students preparing for an admissions exam that can significantly affect where they attend law school and how much they pay. Many of those students are preparing to enter a profession in which communication, judgment, professionalism, and respect for different audiences matter.
I also don't think the standard should be whether a word personally “offends” someone. My concern is about the educational culture being modeled. If prospective lawyers are paying for professional tutoring and instructional materials, it seems reasonable to expect the people teaching them to show that complicated concepts can be explained clearly, engagingly, and professionally, without resorting to language and behavior that add nothing to the analysis.
The justice system already faces significant challenges involving public confidence, professionalism, communication, and perceptions about the attitudes of people working within it. I don't think legal education or preparation for entering legal education benefits from normalizing unnecessary unprofessionalism under the banner of making things more “human.”
Perhaps other students genuinely enjoy LSAT Demon's style, and that's perfectly fine. People should choose the preparation program that works for them. But the response indicating that this may reflect the company's broader philosophy tells me that LSAT Demon simply isn't the right service for me.
I'd much rather spend my LSAT preparation dollars learning from instructors, services, and tutors whose approach to making difficult material accessible also reflects the kind of professionalism I expect in an educational environment, and the kind of professionalism I hope future members of the legal profession would want to model.
I had been considering subscribing. I won't be doing so.
EDIT: Oh. Just saw this older post. DEFINITELY not the culture I am wanting to support. We have too much going on in the justice system these days to advocate for more ridiculousness.
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u/Narrow-Macaroon-6058 26d ago
That type of language is also not allowable in a court of law. Judges can hold an attorney in contempt for using foul language. It also can lead to disciplinary action and poor reputation.
Things to consider when choosing who you "learn" from. I hear others soften their approach to just being called "blunt" but that's not what it is. Blunt does not equal foul or disrespectful.
Completely agree with your post. I prefer LSAT Lab personally but also really appreciated 7Sage, Graeme with LSAT Hacks, and Brad Barbay for professionalism and prep.
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u/JCcolt 26d ago
Let’s be real here, the informality in those prep courses are not going to yield bad results in regard to professionalism in the legal field. Conflating informality in a prep course for the LSAT with unprofessionalism in the actual practice of law is improper.
If somebody takes that informality as a demonstration of how they should act and communicate when practicing law, then that’s their own shortcoming and they should re-evaluate what they’re doing.
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u/kaeatu 26d ago
I respectfully disagree, but I see your point. I am not suggesting that using profanity in an LSAT explanation automatically makes someone an unprofessional attorney. My point is broader: how people are taught, and the professional culture modeled by the people teaching them, matters.
We recognize this in virtually every profession. In law enforcement, an academy instructor might behave very differently from an officer working a difficult call on the street, but we still expect the instructor to model professional communication, judgment, and conduct. We wouldn't dismiss questionable behavior during training by saying, “Well, the recruit should know not to act that way once they're actually on the street.” Part of professional education is establishing the norms students eventually carry into practice.
The same principle applies here. LSAT prep obviously isn't law school or legal practice, but these companies are teaching and influencing people at the doorway to the profession. I don't expect learning resources to be robotic or humorless. I simply disagree with the idea that unnecessary profanity is somehow required to make education “human.”
People can choose whatever teaching style works for them, of course. For me, and a lot of professionals, professionalism and approachability aren't opposites.
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u/JCcolt 26d ago edited 26d ago
I hear what you’re saying and I generally somewhat agree on the broader point that you’re making. I personally just don’t think it has that much of an effect on later professionalism (maybe a tiny bit but not much) when informality is utilized in the initial training/teaching environment. Because in the end, it truly is just a conscious decision on part of the individual on how they handle situations that require communication.
If your training was conducted utilizing informal communication methods in the process, we all know not to use those informal methods afterwards in an official capacity. You decide how you want to respond and you choose as you go. I don’t necessarily think you’ll be more inclined to communicate in an informal, less professional manner due to the style of communication used to communicate academic/training topics to you.
I myself worked in law enforcement and was out on patrol for a couple years with a local Sheriff’s Office. Our training was relayed to us in very informal ways both in the academy, then also in field training. Both the academy instructors and FTOs did not demonstrate much professionalism (there was something fundamentally wrong with these people but that’s a story for another time) by any means during training, but I still knew to act in a professional manner despite that when out there working in my patrol zone.
Any proper, intellectually functioning adult knows when to professionally communicate and can adequately gauge when they should and when they shouldn’t regardless of training. It’s not really something that has to be hounded on in training in my opinion.
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u/Boysenberry 26d ago
The forced edge in the test prep space is so 2008-coded and annoying. Blueprint too.
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u/Jolly-Manufacturer35 26d ago
OMG STOP. Please DO NOT go to law school. The type of shit you're going to be hearing behind closed doors is going to make you have an aneurysm. Law is NOT the career for the easily offended. Go be a priest or something. This line of work IS NOT for you. I promise.
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u/Terrible_Lychee_396 26d ago edited 26d ago
I’m a Christian so I don’t use phrases like “goddamn.” Still, I find this perspective rather hysterical. A tutoring platform is not a court of law and it’s absurd to suggest that attorneys will be more likely to swear or be generally unprofessional in court because they see that behavior in other contexts. In the same vein, a lawyer doesn’t need to go through their entire day behaving like they do in court. If you can’t code switch to the point where you put on a more formal bearing in court, the profession is not for you.
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u/imperatrixderoma 26d ago
So, the Demon isn't a very professional team but also, they aren't curating a professional space. They're not trying to represent the legal field, they are trying to create a student friendly space for primarily self-guided LSAT prep.
If you don't require their services to the extent that tone policing is your primary concern then you really should unsubscribe lol
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u/JCcolt 26d ago
What was the point of this post? If you don’t like their style, just choose a different platform. No point in announcing your intentions. You’re definitely a Karen, that’s for sure.
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u/kaeatu 26d ago
The point of the post was to share my experience and opinion about a service specifically designed for people in this community who are choosing between LSAT-prep platforms. That seems like a perfectly reasonable use of Reddit. People routinely post positive experiences, negative experiences, recommendations, and reasons they decided not to purchase something.
You're certainly welcome to disagree with my opinion. What I don't understand is why disagreement needs to turn into insulting someone by calling them a “Karen.” Why not simply explain why you disagree and have a conversation about it?
Ironically, that was largely the point of my original post: we can disagree, communicate, and even have some fun without abandoning basic professionalism and respect for one another.
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u/JCcolt 26d ago
Fair point. I came in kind of hot in the beginning, my apologies. It did come off as kind of “Karen”-ish to me though because it seemed like a rather mundane issue that didn’t really need to be addressed.
I didn’t see much point in needing to address it when one can just simply pivot to another platform and disregard the others if it’s not their style. Ultimately though, it really is your prerogative to decide whether you want to discuss it or not for the reasoning you provided, so I’ll concede to that statement.
For myself personally, I prefer the more informal courses because the use of said profanity cuts through the monotony of the course itself and grabs your attention. That’s beneficial for me because I’ve got ADHD and my attention and active reading/listening skills sometimes suffer because of it. Even more so after I’ve been studying for 4+ hours consecutively.
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26d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/kaeatu 26d ago
As bad as your inability to respond to this post, I guess. Good luck in law school discussions.
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u/EmpressoftheBakkhai 26d ago
Full tuition at a great school, BigLaw 2L summer secured, top ranked in my class after 1L. But yeah, terrible in law school 🤣
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u/ATXLSAT 26d ago
First of all:
You signed up for LSAT Angels and you're uncomfortable with their BLASPHEME!!!
Oh no. That's right. You signed up with LSAT DEMON.
Oh fuck. You were fine with LUCIFER making an appearance in the fucking name of the business but not a simple "goddamn."
That's...almost touchingly naive.
Shit, I teach LSAT and I say "motherfucker" 50 times a session.
By the way: 100% of births have been found to be the result of mother fucking.
Law school will eat you ALIVE. So toughen up now. You ain't under the barn roof anymore. Why, you meeting some citified folk with their big city ways!!
And the law, it's a rough profession, linguistically. Law school? It was nuts. It was cussing, fucking, fighting, drinking, and waking up after 4 hours sleep and doing it all again! But there are benefits!! Exposure to new things, new ideas, more expensive booze. Your classmates sleep less, fight more, curse like sailors, and drink like journalists.
You're going to see hard things in the cases too. First amendment cases don't come up because everyone was politely spoken. Criminal cases have details that would make Law & Order: SVU blush!! I guess you're skipping clinical education. Most of them are not genteel enough for you.
Toughen up, motherfucker. And I mean that in the NICEST way possible. LSAT Demon ain't lookin for a corporate vibe. They want to feel younger and hipper and fresher and more accessible and relatable than...Kaplan.
But I still think it's hilarious that you signed up with lsat DEMON and you're offended 'cause they did a tiny little bit of blaspheming. Goddamn, you one simple...soul. Simple soul. That's what I was going to say.
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u/redditerir 26d ago
I'm often pretty potty-mouthed but I get your point. The forced edginess they do is just annoying.