Later-In-Life Lawyers: Tips for the Non-Traditional Law Student
Author: Cooper, Charles
Date: 2012-03-15 01:00:00+01:00
Keywords: Law
Description: Law school is a scary place for any new student. For an older ("non-traditional") student, it can be intimidating as well as being ill-designed for the needs of an older, second-career student with children, mortgages, and the like. This book compiles advice from the author, lawyer-editors, and dozens of current and former law students, on such matters as dealing with families and children, the LSAT and GPAs for the older student, the law school application process and law school rankings for non-traditional students, paying for law school, surviving first year and non-academic hurdles, and th
Publisher: Fine Print Press

LATER–IN–LIFE LAWYERS

2nd Edition

Other Law Titles

Jagged Rocks of Wisdom: Professional Advice for the New Attorney

Planet Law School II: What You Need to Know (Before You Go)—but Didn’t Know to Ask… and No One Else Will Tell You

The Young Lawyer’s Jungle Book: A Survival Guide

LATER–IN–LIFE

2nd Edition

TIPS FOR THE NON–TRADITIONAL LAW STUDENT

CHARLES COOPER

THE FINE PRINT PRESS
HONOLULU

Copyright © 2006, 2012 by Charles Cooper

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote, with attribution, brief passages in a review.

The Fine Print Press

Honolulu, Hawaii
Website: www.fineprintpress.com Email: info@fineprintpress.com

ISBN: 1-888960-06-X

ESBN: 978-1-888960-06-8

LCCN: 2006923405

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cooper, Charles

Later-in-Life Lawyer: Tips for the Non-Traditional Law Student Includes index.

1. Law School 2. Legal Education—Nontraditional Students
3. Legal Profession—Practical Guides

Cover Design by Jim Oertle, Designwoerks, Wichita, Kansas Typesetting by Darleen Oertle, Designwoerks, Wichita, Kansas

Printed in the United States of America
12 11 10 09 08 07 06 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

So Why Law? Why Now?

Picking a career in law for the money

Will I be smart enough for law school?

I’ve read One L by Turow. Realistic?

Am I Too Old?

How expensive is law school?

What undergraduate degree do I need for law school?

I have a few skeletons in the closet. Is it worth reading any further?

Law school with children. Even an option?

Isn’t Law a “Do Anything” Degree?

Lawyers Are Always Miserable and Telling Me not to Bother. Should I Listen?

You know you’re a nontrad when...

Getting In

Introduction

It’s All About The Numbers...

The LSAT

Studying for the LSAT

Test Day and During The Test

After The Test

Your GPA

But I Went to College Years Ago

What About My Graduate Degree?

I Studied a Dif?cult Major. Will This Help?

What If I [or, ahem, Mom & Dad] Spent Six Figures on a “Top” Private Undergrad Education?

The Rest of the Application

The Personal Statement

The Addendum

Letters of Recommendation

Your Résumé

Applying

So How Much Will It Cost to Even Apply?

Where to Apply?

Visiting Schools

Does The Type Of Law You Want To Practice Affect Which Schools You Should Apply To?

So You’re Saying It Doesn’t Matter What School I Go To?

All About Rankings

So Rankings Are Not Important?

So They Are Important?

Is There Actually a Difference between High and Low Ranked Schools?

Attend the Highest–Ranked Law School You Get Into?

Picking Money Over Ranking?

Now I Understand the Rankings. How Do I Use Them for Choice of Where to Apply? (Or, the Basics about Reaches, Targets, and Safeties.)

How Many Schools to Apply To?

Other Considerations: Attending Full–Time or Part–Time

Money

Where Can You Realistically Apply To?

Where To Go for Help during the Admissions Process

The Mechanics: When to Apply

Paper or Online Applications?

But Regardless, it’s Still All About The Numbers, Right?

So Is There Anything Else I Can Do to Get In?

So You’ve Sent In The Applications. Now What?

More Than One Offer? What Should I Do?

Rejection

Waitlists

I Didn’t Get In Anywhere. What Do I Do?

Staying Motivated

What Would You Do Differently If You Could Go Back In Time?

One Final Thing: Where Do I Get The Money To Pay For This?

Everyone Else Seems to Have a Scholarship. Does That Mean I’m Stupid or Being Ripped Off?

Final Words Before Starting

Staying in

So Will Law School Be What I Expect It To Be?

Nervous?

Is There Anything I Can Do To Prepare For Law School Before It Starts?

Other Preparation

Career preparation

Other Things That You Might Want To Consider Doing Before Law School.

First Year

The Non–Academics of Law School: Housing

Health Insurance

Bags

Laptops

What to Wear?

Social Events

1L: an Overview

Administration: Scheduling Classes and Swapping Sections

Buying Casebooks

Class: Socratic Issues

The Professors

Participation in Class

Attendance

Jekyll and Hyde: Professors Outside Class

Notes

Workload

Briefing

Outlining

Study Groups

Study Aids

Where to Study

Working during 1L

Managing the Confusion

Working Smart, not Hard

Exams: The Basics

Exam Failure

Are Grades Really Random?

So Why Do Grades Take So Long to Arrive?

Bad Grades

Handling the Stress

Don’t Be This Person

So You’ve Made It through 1L Successfully. What Would You Do Differently?

Other Important Duties During 1L (Apart from Studying)

Talking of Getting Signed up for Stuff, What about Bar Review Courses?

Mid–1L Break (a/k/a Christmas). Should I Do Anything?

2L And Beyond

What Courses?

3L

Law Review

Didn’t Make Law Review? Don’t Despair.

Moot Court

No Moot Court Either? Try an Externship or a Clinic.

The Job Search: Get ready

A Few Thoughts About the Job Search

On–Campus Interviews

The Economy is Bad. Are There Really Jobs?

General Considerations

Dating

Thinking About Quitting

Transferring

That’s Law School in a Nutshell.

Haven’t We Forgotten Something?

Epilogue

Other Books

FOREWORD

I once received a note from a reader who wrote to complain about the title of The Young Lawyer’s Jungle Book: A Survival Guide. I thought I might reprint my response in the second edition to that book, as it might serve as a lead–in and warm up to Charles Cooper’s important and extended advice in this book:

AUTUMN ATTORNEYS

Months after the first edition of [The Young Lawyer’s Jungle Book] was published, I received an email from a moderately irate reader. She, along with others who have already lived a fair portion of their lives, faced a wall of exclusion: Exclusion of older law graduates from the ranks of the powerhouse firms. She wished that I change the title of the book to The New Lawyer’s Jungle Book, or some such. (To be honest, I had considered that title, but I didn’t think it had the same punch.) And, after much deliberation, I thought Young better, for two reasons. But first, an explanation in contrition.

A reality: it is unlikely that the older law student will be offered a position at the largest (and most prestigious, and best–paying) firms. Why? On behalf of the profession, I apologize. I think the justifications are thin, and are outweighed by what older [new attorneys] do have to offer. Nonetheless, the largest firms operate on a different model; they require the slavish dedication for which few older folks—literally—have the energy. (Even graduates entering the downside of their twenties quickly find the pace intolerably draining.)

She thus faced, in immediate and hurtful relief, a burden not faced by her younger “peers.” I sensed her irritation…though I think it somewhat misplaced. Young is better in large part as a compliment to older new lawyers: they’ve already lived life, and have learned the lessons of professional deportment. This is half the battle.

Also, older new lawyers have a somewhat different problem: while they face a higher hurdle at large firms, they generally have a more hospitable reception at smaller firms— and in government offices—which to be fair are more suited to the more mature new attorney. To be blunt, large–firm hiring folks face a difficult reality: older new lawyers will pose a different interpersonal dynamic—they will disturb the power/age equilibrium, and a good percentage simply won’t have the energy to devote eighty–to–one–hundred–hour weeks for eight–to–ten years before professional acceptance among their generational peers (and even longer before true partnership). Sadly, in practice, different equals weird, and weird definitely equals bad.

If this section applies to you, please do not take offense, or rail against the intergenerational unfairness. Instead, look ahead to the greater contributions you can make. You are better than your younger peers—not in terms of any of the variables that are distributed in varying degrees to each—but in qualities more important: experience, emotional balance, judgment, and insight.

Further, many older Young Lawyers are able to take advantage of their earlier careers to…great advantage. Three fellow first–year students were physicians. Two became medical malpractice attorneys (one for either side), and the third, and anesthesiologist, started with an intellectual property firm. Indeed, all three started while still in law school, and have done quite well. (At least one made partner early. Astonishingly early.)

In this book, Charles Cooper addresses these many questions and issues for the non–traditional law student in far greater detail than was possible in The Young Lawyer’s Jungle Book. While this near–omission might itself be seen as somewhat of a slight, it’s important to note that there is still almost nothing in print for the non–traditional law student, even ten years after the first edition of The Young Lawyer’s Jungle Book. This book is thus a valuable contribution to the legal community.

Some might object, too, to the use of the term in this book’s subtitle. “Non–traditional” always struck me as imprecise and vaguely insulting, but there doesn’t seem a better term to capture the essence of a person who enters school after having engaged in Foreword ix
activities in the “real world” beyond college. As juxtaposed against the individual who continues from high school to college to law school, the distinction is important: there are numerous and real differences between the two.

Traditional education assumes, in the case of law, 19 years of classroom continuity. Nineteen years. Aside from the questionable educational foundations of such an assumption, the result is that there remains yet a professional socialization process to take place; the new young lawyer must learn deportment and judgment along with the actual details of the law.

This is not the same with the non–traditional student, who has, usually, already gone through a socialization process, either through interruptions in study, or through an extended career elsewhere, or perhaps both. The issues facing the non–traditional new lawyer are different. In some ways they are different–better, as in the ability for most older lawyers and law students to cut through the tangential clutter to a more professional, more immediately proficient end.

The writer above was later upset with me for a second reason, in my response that, while the older new attorney would likely find a more hospitable reception at the smaller firm or agency, the reception would be different (as in different—bad) in most larger firms. Law firms are built around the traditional model, and non–traditional pegs tend to throw them. (Not always, yes, but this is true enough to be a fair, if broad, generalization.) The issues are twofold: first, there is a fairly straightforward hierarchy, corresponding roughly to age, from junior to senior associate, then from junior to equity to senior partner. Depending upon any number of factors, there is still the unwritten comfort of working with those within a certain age range. (I know, I know….) The second reason ties into the first: the modern mega–firm is built as well around the law “sweatshop.”

In response to yet another criticism —that I was supporting, even by implication—the new law industry: I wish it were not so. But, as is often said, if wishes were horses beggars would ride. Wishing it so does not make it so. And, as in The Young Lawyer’

Jungle Book, the advice herein is intended to help. We might not always like what it is we say, but that doesn’t change our moral obligation to say it.

A thought arises as well, in that the nature of the excerpts in this book—internet posts—might lead one to question their value. If this is a concern of yours, each of these excerpts was reviewed by experienced attorneys—those who have been there, and who know and care. In all, there are hundreds of nuggets of sound advice. Each, in turn, is worth the time in reading the book. Taken together, serious, silent thanks are owed to Mr. Cooper.

As always, skepticism is a healthy response; if advice or a passage doesn’t make sense—or doesn’t make sense for you, then disregard it in your discretion, and consider the value in the question asked and answered. To borrow from our colleagues in science, there is no such thing as a failed experiment.

Law school includes three of the most important years of a lawyer’s life, and while their importance diminishes upon practice, unfortunately most are misspent, both figuratively and literally. It is in this spirit that I encourage you to take advantage of Mr. Cooper’s perspective in making them among three of the best years of your profession, and perhaps life.

I welcome any questions, comments, or criticisms you may have and, in the meantime, I wish you the very best of luck.

Thane J. Messinger
Author, The Young Lawyer’s Jungle Book Somewhere over the Pacific
November 2005

INTRODUCTION

Go to law school if you want to be a lawyer. If you want to party, go get an MBA. The Rat

If you’ve picked this book up, you fall into one of two categories. Chances are, if you go to law school you’re someone who would be considered a “nontraditional” student. Or you’re a “traditional” student (i.e., a student planning to go straight from college to law school) who is looking for a different perspective on the law school game. Either way, you’ll find this book to be a valuable resource—from the initial stages of planning for law school through admissions, the first year, and right up to graduation and the bar exam.

A word on the definition of “nontraditional”: it’s not all about age. For law school, it’s more than age. Nontraditional encompasses every law student who has not gone straight from high school to college to law school. It encompasses every law student who has taken time out of higher education to work, start a family, have a career, serve in the military, travel, or do anything else that involved a significant break from the traditional path of high school through law school without ever experiencing anything but the inside of a classroom. And a mere glance at the average law school incoming class these days reveals that nontraditional students are no longer an exception to the rule.

Unfortunately, most law schools are the rule—they are “traditional” in attitude, and in structure. (Most books about law school thus take the same approach.) Law schools generally have made little effort to cater to the unique needs of the significant nontraditional segment of their student body. Other law school books focus solely on largely irrelevant factors such as rankings and employment in “prestigious” law firms. In short, while a large fraction of law students today would be considered nontraditional, there is little accurate, relevant material to help non–traditional students navigate the admissions process and ultimately succeed in law school. And that’s where this guide steps in.

If you fall into the latter group of applicants described above, then don’t throw this book back on the shelf and pick up something with a title like Snagging Six Figures in NYC After Law School quite yet. This book is a distillation of the collective wisdom and experience of thousands of law students and applicants, and probably ninety percent of the information is as applicable to traditional students as it is to nontraditional students. While much of the material for this book comes from the popular website www.nontradlaw.net, this is the guide that is truly more than a single author’s hints and tips about law school. Read this book cover–to–cover and you’ve just taken in the cream of the knowledge and advice that thousands, young and old, offer about getting into law school, staying in law school, and succeeding in and after law school. No other book takes you, in such detail and from so many sources, from the moment you seriously consider the law as a career to the day you receive a letter of congratulations from your state bar. No other book is dedicated to the nontraditional law student, weighing the good and the bad, the smart and the stupid, and separating the great advice from the wastes of time and money. So let’s dive right in.

– 1 –

SO WHY LAW? WHY NOW?

For many applicants, there is no worthwhile reason why they chose law. If you’re one of these people and you do not have a good reason to choose law, then don’t choose it. Take time off, figure out what you want to do with your life. Law is too involved, too expensive, and too tedious to jump into without a good reason. Become a teacher. Try banking. Travel for a while. But until you have a good reason to study law, forget it. There is absolutely no excuse to dump what will probably amount to a hundred thousand dollars into three years of your life without thinking it through and coming up with something more adequate than “what else can I do with a history degree?”

I want to change the world. Hell, I want to save the world. Seriously. Capri

This isn’t a bad excuse. Passionate. Ambitious. This is the kind of attitude you need to see you through three or four years of stressful, confusing, and dull classroom work.

My current job doesn’t give me enough exposure to real people, and with a law degree I’ll be working with people, not just computers and voices on the telephone. sarah

Another pretty good excuse. Law beats countless other jobs these days. There are few offices full of “cubes” in law, although you’ll still probably spend hours on the phone each day dealing with unhappy customers (clients). But if you want to interact with people, then law is a good career choice. Note, however, that most of the time, the people you deal with may have complicated and difficult issues to resolve, may ask you to perform work you find unaligned with your own moral outlook, or they may be real–life criminals with unpleasant characters to match. Still beats your average office job though.

I’m going to law school because I’m fried on my current work path (graphics, web development). I’ve been doing this or what led up to this for way too long and I don’t want to do it anymore. I wanted to go to law school years ago but didn’t have the resources. So better late than never. Livia

Because I was bored with my previous career too. Selfish? Perhaps. Regrets? None. Oldguy

A change of scenery is a good reason to go to law school. At least you have had a chance to take in the “real world” for a while, and you are not just falling into law school after undergrad for no reason whatsoever. If you are sick of your current job, then law can be a refreshing change of direction.

I am not disillusioned nor expect to be able to change or save the world: I’m pretty cynical after these past ten years. I have no desire to be a rich man. I’d just like my wife to be able to stay home if that’s what she chooses to do. Along the way, I might make a difference for someone I represent, but I might not have much impact at all. Except, I will have an impact on the most important people in this world, my children, who will have the benefit of having me be there for them as they grow up. That’s why I want to go to law school. night_knight

There is no hiding the fact that law can lead to a decent paycheck and the ability to set one’s own schedule. Law can be a wonderful career for those interested in maintaining work–life balance, setting their own hours, and playing an active role in the community and their family. But as in every other career, there is a tradeoff between money and family; in law, however, you can still earn a solid salary and work on your own terms. Maybe not straight out of law school though. It’s no secret that lawyers can earn serious cash if they put their minds to it, all while changing society for the better (again, if they put their minds to it).

I want to go to law school for a number of different reasons. One of them being to prove to myself that I can do it. I will be the first person in my family to ever attend college and when I graduated from high school (way too many years ago), my mother didn’t think I was smart enough to go to college so she wouldn’t pay for it. Now after raising kids, my husband and I decided I should fulfill my dream of going to college and go to law school. My husband’s reason is that he thinks it sounds better to say he’s married to an attorney. grannylaw

I just don’t want to sit here, rotting away while my friends back home are turning a new page in their lives. Everyone has a dream deep in heart, right? For me, it’s probably the time to dig it out to be fulfilled. richardwh

For many people, becoming a lawyer is a dream that has been developed and nurtured for many years—decades in some cases. Fulfilling this dream is a good reason to attend. We all know what it is like to look back at something and wonder, “What if?” There is no reason why law school should fall into that category. If it’s something you’ve been contemplating for a while, then go for it.

Now I am in a position to take on the challenge. My support system is in place and now I get the added benefit of being a positive role model for my daughter. UARK05

I am pursuing a legal education for the experience itself, not for any career goal. tphcc

Law school is a worthy challenge and a fantastic experience. It takes dedication, intelligence, perseverance, and buckets of hard work. If you’re looking for a mental challenge or something different from the day–to–day grind, you probably can’t get much better than law school. And for all its faults, law is still a noble profession, respected in society. Although lawyer jokes are commonplace, most lawyers are positive role models.

I am going to law school because I love the Law. I always wanted to go and never thought I could. Now I can and I want a career that will challenge me. I became a paralegal first to be sure I really wanted it and yes I do! krinannie

If this had come from the mouth of a twenty–year–old college senior, I’d doubt its sincerity. There may be a handful of twenty–year–olds who “love the law,” but most of them have little or no experience in the law outside a three–credit “Introduction to the Legal System” course they took two years ago as an elective in college. Without first–hand experience, there’s no way you know if you love the law enough to study it for three years. Of course, you don’t have to love the law to go to law school—as demonstrated above, there’s plenty of other great reasons to attend law school. But if your excuse for law school is that you love the law, you had better make sure you love the law.

PICKING A CAREER IN LAW FOR THE MONEY

Let’s get this out of the way first. What about money?

As mentioned and as most assume, lawyers can make serious cash. But if that’s your only reason for attending law school, forget it.

If I wanted money, I would have looked for it before now. Mardee

First the good news. We are all in it for the money. No one accepts the high debt, acid–indigestion inducing stress and best of all, the three or four years of monastic study of black letter, case and (un)common law so they can starve. Now the bad news. We aren’t all in it for the big money. I want to practice the law, either defending clients who need an advocate or prosecuting criminals on behalf of victims who have no other voice. The kind of law that translates into big money is often boring law. Chief

I suspect the nontrad crowd may have a broader spectrum of reasons for going to law school. The wisdom that comes with age and experience taught many of us that money is a means to an end and not the end in itself. Besides, if you really want to make money, many lawyers will tell you that you should consider being a client instead of an attorney. TXLawGirl

People often measure success by how much money is made. And while none of us want to default on student loans and live poor and destitute, money is not the “be all and end all.” If a person is attending law school (or any school) based upon the idea they will be making a six–figure income, they should reconsider the decision. These are the people who sell out and become corrupted at any tempting offers of bribery. We don’t need these people practicing law. Ephemeroptera

If your only motivation in going to law school is extra income, then don’t do it. There are plenty of less difficult and less expensive ways to make money, and there’s no guarantee of big dollars upon graduation with a JD. If, however, you have an interest in the law and feel it’s a career you would enjoy, then by all means go for it. Patriotism

It’s clear that if you want to earn some serious dollars, there’s easier ways to do it that studying law and being a lawyer. You will probably not get rich as a lawyer. Well off, if you’re lucky. Rich? Not much chance. Law is not a risky enterprise. Attend law school, graduate, pass the Bar, and you’ll end up financially secure if you don’t choose a low–paying area of law. The other side to this equation is that low risk usually equates to low return. If you’re after riches, then starting a business is probably a better path to take. Or rob a bank. But don’t go to law school.

Lecturing about money aside, the reality is that law school costs a lot of money. Those debts have to be paid off. Money has to be a consideration. Law students give up three years of their lives and three years of wages to go to law school, and in return, they take on six figures of debt and a stressful career. Job satisfaction doesn’t pay the student loans back.

Money isn’t my primary motivation, but then again, I wouldn’t bother going back to school for something that made less money than I had been making. Wren

Financial matters aside, you’ll also need to decide whether you will actually like being a lawyer. If you don’t know what lawyers do, find out. Hint…they don’t do what they do on television, and reading a book on torts or constitutional law won’t give you much of an idea either.

Call a local lawyer who went to a school you’re considering attending. Leave him or her a message explaining who you are, that you are considering law school, and would like to pick their brains for five or ten minutes. Ask them what they do on a day–to–day basis. When they call back, ask them whether they would do it again. Ask them what they like about law. What they hate. If you are considering becoming a litigator, wander down to the courthouse for a few days over a span of a few weeks. Sit in for a while. Observe. But don’t even think about wasting a single dime on application fees or LSAT prep until you know what lawyers do. And if you find out that you don’t particularly like what you find out, then thank yourself for saving a hundred thousand dollars and three years of your life. You can take your time about evaluating whether a career in law would be an appropriate move for you to make. The law schools aren’t going anywhere.

Do some soul searching. There’s nothing wrong with taking a few years to figure it out. Law school is a big commitment. kristin

I keep evaluating what an attorney does and it truly doesn’t excite me. Endless hours checking through documents seeing if every “i” is doted and every “t” is crossed so that some fat cat can kick grandma off her property and get fatter disgusts me. Teach

That written, law is a job. An involved, stressful job, but it’s still a job. As a nontraditional applicant, chances are you already know that, in general, jobs are all crap. Every single one of them. Nobody, excluding perhaps rock stars, spies, and world leaders, actually get out of bed each morning and look forward to work. And there are plenty of jobs far worse than being an attorney. You’ve probably had a couple yourself. Even if you’ve spent weeks, months even, of your life watching lawyers work, you’re still probably not prepared for the experience of law school and a career as a lawyer. But at least you’ve minimized the risks of potentially undertaking something utterly incompatible with your life needs.

If at this point you’ve spoken with lawyers, watched lawyers, read about the law, and you get the distinct feeling that you’d enjoy being a lawyer, then, sure…take the plunge! If, however, you have done your background research and there’s still no way you could ever see yourself practicing law, then forget law school. Law school is, to put it bluntly, a trade school for lawyers. If you want an intellectual challenge and nothing more, there are plenty of academic graduate programs that will satisfy your desires. Law school is for people who can see themselves as lawyers. Even if you plan to work in a field related to the actual practice of law (e.g., becoming a law professor, a law librarian, a legal journalist, etc.), make sure that in the worst case scenario, you’d still be somewhat content to practice law if push came to shove. (Unless you have a natural “in” in any of those other fields, chances are high that push will indeed come to shove.) Too, you never know what might happen with the economy, the legal job market, or your own personal circumstances, and the only position available when you graduate may well be that of a practicing attorney.

If you don’t want to practice law, stay away from law school. The Rat

If you aren’t sure you should go, then don’t. Wren

WILL I BE SMART ENOUGH FOR LAW SCHOOL

Probably. If you’ve completed a couple of years of undergraduate classes with a moderate degree of success, then law school isn’t out of the question. Law is not a “difficult” subject in itself. In most other countries, law is an undergraduate degree. Kids fresh out of high school can manage it. You don’t need to be brilliant to handle the concepts. The difficulty of law school stems from the volume of work and the style of teaching, coupled with getting used to the idea that there’s often no right or wrong answer, but it matters greatly whether and how you get it right or wrong. Learning anything new by being swamped with reading and by being thrown in at the deep end is a struggle.

Law school is not intellectually difficult (for the large part), but it is academically challenging because of the volume of work. Therefore, most of the first year of law school is not so much about anything else except finding the time. With careful and consistent preparation from the get go, you can easily manage to do law school 9–5, perhaps an hour or two in the evening, one weekend afternoon, and that’s it. Schools will differ, but once you get into the swing of it, it’s not hard to manage. Oldguy

Remember college? Those 4 hours a day max. that you put into schoolwork? Law school is about double that. You can easily get everything done working 9 to 5 solid on law school. The scare mongering is usually for the college–age kids who are used to those four hour days, and who are shocked by the adjustment to law school. Most nontrads I’ve spoken to who have swapped work for law school find it far less “hard” than the literature suggests. That part of the adjustment is fine. However, the transition from the workplace (with its salary) to the law school (with its student lifestyle) is harder for us older folk than it is for the younger kids. They are used to living in small apartments and eating crap. We are married, might have kids, and finances are a real worry. Mary

I think most people will concur with me on this. The material is definitely not hard. More than anything, it’s just the volume of work that is difficult. If you can’t get to it, you won’t understand it, no matter how easy it may seem. uke

There are few baby steps at the beginning of law school. In the United States, law school is a total immersion method of learning. Nobody sits down with the 1Ls in the first week and explains that the plaintiff is the party suing, and the defendant is the party being sued. Nobody explains what a “holding” is, or where to find it in the confusing court opinions law students quickly tire of reading. You pick it up by experiencing the discussion in class, the mistakes other people make, and the mistakes you make yourself. You hardly even have time to sit down for half an hour and look up legal words you don’t understand. But in the end, everyone makes it through and comes out looking, thinking, and acting like a lawyer—albeit a rather inexperienced one—even if the only thing that shows you’ve been through law school is the college t–shirt.

I think law school is very hard. I know some people say it is easy, but I think those people are either (i) geniuses, or (ii) fail to grasp how really difficult it is to effectively apply legal knowledge to fact patterns—not just learn and regurgitate. MaggieC

Although learning “the law” is often a simple enough process, that’s not quite what law school is about. Law school is about teaching you to think like a lawyer. Here’s a bit of news—when the law is clear, clients don’t need a lawyer. It’s rare you will have a client stroll into your office and ask, “Will I get into trouble if I steal a car?” Law school is not about teaching you that it’s illegal to kill people, that it’s illegal to deal drugs, and that it’s illegal to steal cars. Law school is not about teaching you that insider trading is against the law, or that cops shouldn’t kick confessions out of suspects. Law school is three years of teaching you, amongst other things, how to handle the gray areas of the law that people need a lawyer to figure out and explain to them. Law school is about weighing the facts, applying the law you know, researching the law you don’t know, coming up with options, and explaining those options to the client. That’s hard.

I’VE READ ONE L BY TUROW. REALISTIC

Maybe when it was written, yes. If you were a student at Harvard. But the consensus is that for most students, One L is nothing more than a good read before law school. There are things to be learned from One L, although the general lessons in the book are more useful than the specific. For instance, law school is a lot of work. You’ll end up making sacrifices in your personal life if you want to truly master the material and succeed. Professors can be a pain in the ass sometimes, particularly in class, and particularly towards you in front of your entire class at the start of your first semester. But if you’re reading One L for specifics about the kind of legal education you’re likely to receive, then forget it.

I enjoyed the book, but take it with a huge grain of salt. With very rare exceptions, law profs are not like the ones described in the book, and the overall law school experience has changed dramatically since that book was written. the oracle

While I agree that the book is dated, the fact that it still describes the emotional roller coaster of the 1L experience makes it a classic. MaggieC

If you want to know what first year at Harvard was like for someone unprepared for law school in the 1970s, I am sure it is a fine book. DorianGre

As far as stating what current law school experiences are like, I’d give it a big fat zero. tbmd96

I read One L back in high school. The same person who told me to read that also told me to rent The Paper Chase. His intent was to persuade me never to go to law school. It didn’t really work and from what I hear, neither have all that much bearing on reality anyway. They definitely appear to concentrate on worst–case scenarios, or the twisted dispositions of some Harvard students and profs. Every school isn’t like that so why psyche yourself out about it? Interested

AM I TOO OLD?

Most people equate nontraditionalness (nontraditionality?) with being older. Age is a large part of being a nontraditional student. The first, and most important, issue to resolve with respect to age is whether nontraditional students stick out because they are older. To put it simply, the answer is no. Many law students have strayed from the traditional path of following undergrad directly with law school. (Or, the ubiquitous “year working for such and such a Congressman in D.C.”…which will, after a while, make you sick of younger law student braggarts.) You will doubtless find your class contains a healthy portion of older students. To be honest, law students with significant hair loss or grayness are still the exception (although are no longer unusual), but the student body will contain a large group of students who are mid–twenties to late–thirties, often married, often with small children, and probably on a second career or beginning a career after raising children. A quick call to the admissions office of any school you are considering applying to will reveal the actual figures, but seldom will a nontraditional law student be the black sheep.

There is also a vague wariness between traditional and nontraditional students. Nontrads aren’t stuck with their own— the intense experience of law school bonds students together, and age is not usually a dividing issue. (With one notable exception: when a nontraditional student begins a comment with the words, “In the real world….”)

I think the intensity of law school removes some of the age barriers. Two of my best law school friends are more than 20 years younger than I. I have many more acquaintances who are also much younger. MaggieC

My experience has been that everyone gets along pretty well. I have friends who are older and friends who are younger. Nontrads tend to have other lives. I am married, and while some of the students may want to go out for beers after class, I’d rather go home and see my wife. But that doesn’t keep us from being friends. It all comes down to personality and chemistry. You either get along or you don’t. For the most part, I haven’t found age to be a factor at all. uke

I’m in my 50s and all of my friends at school are way younger than I am, and some of them are younger than my own children. We get along really well. No, I don’t go and party with them after class because I do have a sweet husband at home that I’d rather spend my time with. However, I do meet them for study groups and we try and carpool together. grannylaw

I had one suggestion for younger (and older) law school students—look at things from the other’s perspective. Younger students should understand that for many of us, law school is our “new” job. For many younger students, law school is a continuation of the “college experience” or a return to that environment after a year or two break. Chief

I would just advise that everyone just forget about age and treat each other as equals. I’m surprised at times how much alike I am to everyone that is younger and older than me at school. By the time the semester is half over, everyone is now buddies and classmates, not young and old students. uke

The younger students have all been so nice to me! True, I don’t belong to their study groups, but that’s my choice rather than theirs. They tend to study way late into the evening and on weekends. Me, I read at home and try to keep weekends relatively free. My “lunch buddy” though is younger than my youngest child. We get along great. Most of the younger ones are surprised that I have as many grandkids as I do but they think it’s “cool” that I’m at school. Even the guys honk and wave if we see each other driving down the road. Grannylaw

The other important issue about age and law school is the question, “How old is too old?” Again, a simple answer—anything younger than deathbed is fine. Law requires no unique physical abilities; so as long as the joints, bones, and other parts of your body can sustain sitting in a classroom for fairly lengthy sessions, you’re probably good to go. If anything, experience gained through simply growing up and living for thirty, forty, even sixty or seventy years, is nothing but an asset. (Used correctly, of course. Save the “common sense” arguments and answers for after your admission to practice law, not for the final exams where the professor’s hypothetical verges on the utterly ridiculous and a “common sense” answer will get you a failing grade.)

I’ll be 47 when I start and 50 when I finish. I don’t feel old (most of the time) and don’t feel I am too old to change careers (again) and become a lawyer. consultant

I am 54 and doing just fine. I finished 8th in my class of 95 first semester. I also have the highest average in my Legal Research and Writing section. The mental challenge is the part I enjoy the most. I have been a lifelong learner as I suspect most of you are or you wouldn’t be pursuing this. I was in the library until 11 p.m. last night and that was after getting up for work that day at 5:30 a.m. The “kids” had all gone home by 10:30 p.m., but I was on a roll and didn’t want to quit. MaggieC

At least you know what you want now and are setting out to accomplish your goal. Better to achieve your goals later than never achieve them at all. bluecanary

We’re all getting older and there is no better time than now to do what we want to do with our lives. I’ll be [loud cough to cover the next words] 49 when I graduate and I have no doubt that I will do well in school and back out in the job market afterwards. Chief

I was at the grocery store the other day wearing my law school t–shirt. The cashier and her bagger, both young girls in their early 20s, saw the shirt and started asking me all sorts of questions about law school. We talked and talked and talked, and I didn’t think they’d every let me leave. And then the cashier asked me “So what do you teach?” UF LAW

HOW EXPENSIVE IS LAW SCHOOL?

For most law students, law school is expensive. With good admission credentials (think good undergraduate GPA and good LSAT score, more about which is revealed later in this book), you can obtain scholarship money and reduce the tuition costs. By expensive, we’re talking anywhere from $5,000 per year to $40,000 per year, give or take a thousand or two, and that’s for tuition alone. Living expenses? Depends on how well you’re currently accustomed to living. For nontrads, eating rice, driving a fifteen–year–old rusty car, and living in a hovel isn’t often appropriate, especially when children are involved. Mortgages need to be paid. Children must be fed. There’s a good chance that the credit card companies will want their payments on a regular basis, too. So look beyond the tuition when examining whether law school is a viable option financially—don’t forget the costs of living, and have a brief think about how much income you’ll be losing by quitting your job and earning next to nothing for three years. Depending on how old you are when you start law school, the costs of attendance might make it an expensive decision considering the short time you will have until you retire, although the purpose of this book is not to discourage a reader from attending.

I really want to go to law school, but the idea of that much debt makes me nervous. Particularly when I’m set on going to work as a prosecutor (not exactly big bucks). But I’d rather be in debt doing something I love than not in debt doing the job I do now, which is so boring I spend the day surfing the ’net in as stealthy a way as possible! bluecanary

A useful guide may be to consider that many law students will end up at least $100,000 in debt at the end of their three years of school if they borrow the entire cost. This includes money spent on tuition, books, living expenses, and so forth. This figure can be massaged downwards by attending cheaper schools or schools that may offer scholarships, and it can be massaged dramatically upwards by taking the high–dollar route. But by thinking about what debt load you will be comfortable with early in the process, you can eliminate many schools from consideration and not waste any of your time fretting over whether to apply and ultimately attend those schools.

My strategy is to get by with as little debt as possible. With one exception, I applied to cheap public universities where I know I can pay most of the tuition out of pocket. Hopefully I won’t need to borrow too much. I won’t come out making as much as I do now, but I will come out hopefully with a more stable and more interesting career than I have currently. Right now I am making money, but I am so bored with this work that there’s no way I can do it for the rest of my life. Wren

There is no way in the world that I would take on that kind of debt. It may not seem like much now, but wait until you have to pay it back. Teach

I’m with the non–debt crowd. (I guess I should say the lesser–debt crowd.) The only way I will assume a large debt to go to law school is if I can be convinced that it will pay off for me in the long run, either in terms of cold hard cash or by giving me a shot at a job that I might not otherwise have—i.e., an academic job, an important court clerkship, etc. It is not out of the question that I will go into debt for such a reason; I just need to be convinced. Unfortunately, I’ve already asked a few schools what kind of job I might expect when I graduate and haven’t gotten answers that I’m satisfied with. What I want to know from a career services representative (not a pamphlet) is not how the average student did coming out of their school over the past few years—I want to know how people like me did coming out of their school over the past few years! We are not average students. We are nontraditional students! Hence the term! I realize that this is a little bit unfair to the career service offices because we are all individuals and I’m not going to follow another nontrad’s path exactly (nor should I, nor could I), but I do want to have some sense that at least a few nontrads have done okay coming out of their school before I commit to a $100,000 debt or some ungodly figure like that. eeler

I’m determined to incur the debt, provided I get into UVa. All of the advice I have received to date has been along the lines of “This is the most important educational investment you will make; do not skimp on it.” Ranger Rick

The way I look at law school is at least as an attorney I can find paid employment upon graduating and passing the Bar. BatDog

WHAT UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE DO I NEED FOR LAW SCHOOL?

Anything. Law is unique among professional or graduate school programs in that as long as you have graduated with a degree in something, you can apply. There is no longer a prelaw major (although political science comes close). The typical law school class will have students who majored in everything from Archeology to Zoology, the sciences, the arts, the humanities. If you study at an accredited college and get a degree, chances are that it will stand you in good stead for law school admissions.

There are a couple of points to note that may be of use if you are deciding what to major in for undergrad. First, you can pick anything you want. If you find studying math appealing, go for it. Music? Same. As long as you end up with a bachelor’s degree, you’re fine. Second, because you can major in anything and still get into law school, it indicates one important fact—schools are more interested in your GPA than what you ended up studying. GPA is the only thing law admissions offices have to evaluate applicants in terms of how successful an undergraduate student they were. So if you’re truly serious about law school being the endgame of your undergraduate degree, pick a subject that you can get a high GPA in. (While this is, taken alone, extremely poor advice—your undergraduate studies should be more than a means to obtain a single number, and more about obtaining an education—if you’re already set on law school, then pay attention to what major will get you a decent set of grades.)

As you might have guessed, because GPA is really the only way of comparing different applicants as far as undergraduate studies are concerned, it doesn’t necessarily matter where you studied, nor what you studied. Rumors abound that a degree in engineering, because grades are often lower than those awarded in other degree programs, are given “special weight” in law school admissions. Rumors similarly fly that a degree from a “prestigious” private undergraduate school carry more weight than those from the local state school. Perhaps there is some truth to these rumors, but in the section of this book dealing with legal education’s obsession with school rankings, which are partially determined by the undergraduate GPAs of the law students attending those schools, it will be made perfectly clear that a school will generally rather admit a student with a 3.5 in a “lightweight” major such as political science from an average no–name state college (sorry, political scientists from no–name state schools for singling you out, but rest assured that the author also attended a no–name state school and studied a lightweight major) over a student with a GPA of 2.5 in a “heavyweight” major (e.g., chemical engineering) from a well–known and highly– regarded university. Exceptions to the rule exist, but they are, as their name suggests, exceptions to the rule.

Schools generally don’t take your major into consideration. It’s a numbers game and they want the highest GPAs and LSATs. uke

I really don’t think what you studied matters that much as long as you did well in whatever you studied. Rachael

As an aside, since law schools tend to focus on the GPA itself, it does not matter if you went to college later in life—as long as you have the GPA they are looking for, you could have graduated with your bachelor’s degree when you were forty. (Although the flip side, which will be discussed later in this book, is that schools will generally not give nontraditional students a break when it comes to GPAs that are many, many years old and no longer truly representative of their higher–education abilities.)

I HAVE A FEW SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET. IS IT WORTH READING ANY FURTHER?

For obvious reasons, a checkered background can prevent you being admitted to the Bar. If you’ve a felony conviction in your past, or a long string of misdemeanors, or a poor record of managing your finances ending up with bankruptcy, you might want to make some discreet inquiries before you waste your money on law school. The bottom line is that before licensing you to practice law, the state Bar will probably take at least a brief look at your criminal record and credit history, employment history, education history, and personal and professional references.

This book cannot inform you about what will and will not keep you from practicing law—the standards vary among jurisdictions, and the facts surrounding each case will be considered on an individual basis by state licensing bodies. But the bottom line is that your character and fitness to practice law will be examined independently of your legal education.

If, for instance, you have a conviction for money laundering on a large scale, you might have trouble convincing any state licensing body that you can be trusted with thousands, if not millions, of dollars of clients’ money. Before wasting six figures on a legal education, think back over your life since you were eighteen. If you remember any incidents involving piles of cocaine, suitcases full of cash, a gun, a dead body, and a lot of blue flashing lights (and you weren’t a policeman), call your state Bar and ask to speak to someone who can discuss your past and whether it will be a barrier to admission. (Be careful, however, as attorney–client privilege does not apply to such discussions.)

To allay any fears that you may have over a few minor traffic infractions (speeding and the like), or the ubiquitous possession– of–alcohol–in–college related incident, these things will probably not stop you from becoming a lawyer. (You must, however, disclose these incidents in your application to the Bar.)

Law school admissions follows licensing standards —they might decline to admit someone who would be considered unfit to practice law, since the purpose of law school is to train lawyers who can practice law.

I personally know someone who had a DWI during undergrad. She was accepted at 13 out of 15 schools (the other two waitlisted her). She included an addendum with her application regarding the DWI. She talked about her past mistakes and the lessons she has learned, etc. As far as applying to the Bar after law school, that was no big deal either. She filled out the application truthfully and was admitted. There were no special inquiries related to the DWI, drinking problems or anything else. TXLawGirl

If you were caught drinking beer in college before you turned 21 (gasp!), I think they’ll yawn and move on. Even a DWI/DUI shouldn’t be a deal–breaker. However, if you were stealing from your employer, they may toss your app in the garbage. The Rat

Professionally, it need not even be mentioned that on a law school application form, it is inappropriate to withhold anything—absolutely anything—that is on your record. It is also inappropriate to demonstrate your linguistic abilities and brilliance at (re)interpreting the law with regard to arrests and convictions. The bottom line should be that if the cops came and it ended up with any notes being taken that might have included your name, you need to at least think about disclosing. If you ended up in front of a judge, disclosure of the outcome is a given. The outcome is not necessarily the important fact, but rather the fact that you ended up in front of a judge to begin with. And contrary to what you have convinced yourself is the truth, it’s highly unlikely that you ended up in front of a judge for no reason whatsoever.

As far as “arrested” v. “convicted”—read the question carefully. stratos

A brief note on educational indiscretions. If you have anything on your undergraduate (or graduate) educational record—cheating, drinking and the like—then it should be disclosed too. You will be hard pressed to find an application form to a law school that does not require you to come clean about your behavior at your prior colleges. Again, disclose.

The sole reason this subject appears so early in this book is simple. It’s not that minor crimes and an isolated incident of academic insincerity will prevent you from becoming a lawyer. The practical matter of examining your own background and discovering exactly what is on file and what is not on file should be dealt with early in the process rather than later. Schools will ask for all your information. You can bet that the state Bar will ask for all of your information. You can also bet that the state Bar knows—or can learn—more than you about your own background. Make the necessary inquiries now, because, to put it simply, the disclosure and background investigation elements of law school applications can be difficult at best, and the state Bar disclosure and background investigation requirements will be ten times more difficult than the law school’s requirements. If you don’t know what is on your record, start finding out now, well before you apply, because in all honesty, if you start now, you might just have finished by the time the information is due. Do not, under any circumstances, underestimate the magnitude of this task. If in doubt, you should simply look at some law school application forms and state bar character and fitness forms.

LAW SCHOOL WITH CHILDREN. EVEN AN OPTION?

Yes. No problem at all. There are three things to consider; first, the practical aspects of attending law school while raising children; second, your desire to attend law school; and third, the effects on your children when a parent attends law school.

First, the practicalities. Law school can reasonably be treated as a nine–to–five job. If you were a working parent before, then you can cram law school into the hours you and your children were accustomed to you working. If you weren’t working, then your only real obligation to the law school is that you attend about fifteen to eighteen hours of class per week, generally during normal working hours, and generally five days per week. It’s not overly time–consuming unless you let it take over.

Law schools don’t have crèche facilities: You might need daycare if the kids are young. If the kids are school age, then you can probably bet that your classes will be during school hours, give or take the odd afternoon class or so.

With online legal research (which Lexis and Westlaw are keen to throw at law students for absolutely no charge!), it’s possible to forego the library completely, merely attend classes, and do the reading and exercises from home. Some schools require that you also learn how to perform legal research with books, and this may take a significant chunk of time out of your first semester that must be spent in the library, but the remainder of 1L, and throughout 2L and 3L, you’ll really not need to step inside the law school unless you have class.

Second, how badly do you want to go to law school? Chances are, if you’re reading this book, you’re feeling some significant need to attend law school. Read the entire book, read other prelaw books, talk to lawyers, visit schools, and then ask yourself if you would be truly happy if you died having never attended law school. If not, then you should seriously consider whether law school is a viable option financially, and if so, then there’s really no excuse not to attend. (And if you could die without attending law school, then don’t attend. Burn this book now and never look back. It’s not worth the trouble, expense, and stress.) The bottom line for law school is that it takes a little over two–and–a–half years full–time, the entire cost can be borrowed at generous interest rates, and the intellectual energy needed to perform adequately (but not brilliantly) is modest.

Third, examine how law school will affect your children. The stress on children can be immense. While the attendance requirements are less that twenty hours per week for full–time law students, you will spend many evenings reading, studying, writing, learning, outlining, briefing, and being otherwise preoccupied with law school. It is hard work.

But again, law school can be worked around a reasonable schedule. Most nontrads can spend nine–to–five at law school, come home, clean, cook, put the kids to bed, and then study from eight to eleven. Such a schedule is enough to prepare for class, perform assignments to a reasonable level of perfection, and generally stay mentally afloat. You will have enough time to get the kids off to school or to the baby–sitter without a crazy rush in the mornings (since most classes will start no earlier than nine o’clock), and you can virtually guarantee that no matter what your workload is, you can take off between five o’clock and nine o’clock in the evening without fear of failing a class. Sure, we’d like to spend every available minute studying the law, but as nontrads, we often can’t.

Don’t give up your dream. You have to look out for yourself and your child. You may have to suffer and sacrifice now, but in the end, it will be worth it through the security you can provide for your future. uke

Don’t give up on your dream. If you want to go to law school part–time and you live in Wisconsin then yes, Marquette is your only choice and yes, it is expensive, but don’t let that scare you away. buddah

Some of the folks in school with me treat it like a job (8–5 Monday thru Friday). I approach it a little differently. I was able to morning–load my class schedule and I’m generally home by early afternoon. I hang out with my son until his bedtime, between eight and nine, and then use the evening to study. It means that I don’t get a lot of sleep if I have a lot of work to do, but it works for us. djd06

My wife and I had a baby (our third) during my first semester of 1L. It made things more difficult and I was very tired all of the time, but I made it through. No Longer Confused

You must decide what goals you wish to achieve with law school and what level of impact you are willing to inflict upon your family. It is obviously a very personal decision that only you can make. But it is important to carefully consider as that will be the starting point for the rest of your law school career. It is vital that you and your spouse agree to the level of commitment that law school will demand of you and what the expectations will be of each other in all aspects of law school and child rearing. I have a three year old and a 10 month infant and a (thankfully) very supportive wife. I, too, will be attending school part–time while working full–time. Juggling work, school, and my kids was a serious consideration for us. In the end, we decided to go forward with law school and the move with the following plan: (i) My kids will always come first; (ii) My kids come first; (iii) My kids come first. MadBran

ISN’T LAW A “DO ANYTHING” DEGREE?

In a word, no. Law school is not a generalist graduate degree. Yes, a law degree indicates that you have many skills, particularly in writing, speaking, critical thinking, and generally “cutting through the crap.” But it’s still a law degree. You can’t do everything with a law degree. It’s not like an MBA, where you learn abstract concepts. You learn how to think like a lawyer, and the (very) basics of practicing law.

If you’re not interested in becoming a lawyer, forget law school. If you’re merely interested in a vague academic challenge, then think again. Law school teaches you about law. It gives you no “general” skills. It teaches you how to use a law library. It teaches you how to write a legal memo. It teaches you how to say, “It depends,” to every question. And it teaches you little else.

If you’re interested in history, study history, even if you think that you’re interested in “Legal History.” Likewise, if you’re interested in politics, study politics, because law school doesn’t teach you a thing about politics that isn’t taught in Politics 101 at your average college. Public policy fanatic? Study public policy.

I turned down not one but two Ph.D. fellowships in English to go to law school, not because of any sense of greater security in the law market, but simply because I wanted to go to law school. As simple as it sounds, that’s how it was. I’m not much for advice—it ends up sounding hollow when I give it—but I would ensure for your own needs that you are thinking about law school because you want a legal education, and possibly want to practice as a lawyer. Law is too much of a commitment to simply be a fallback position based on that elusive “good job.” Sailingbat

Don’t even consider law school unless you are sure it is what you want to do. MaggieC

Law school is a huge commitment, even if you get scholarships (time, work, lost income, cost of living, etc.) If you don’t have a real good reason to go it’s just not bright to do so. If it’s just that you think it’d be nice to occasionally know the issues when you go to sign a lease or something, let me tell you, just hire a lawyer. It’s much cheaper. UF LAW

LAWYERS ARE ALWAYS MISERABLE AND TELLING ME NOT TO BOTHER. SHOULD I LISTEN?

You probably have a fair idea right now that law is stressful, thankless, and more modestly paid that you might have previously thought. In addition, almost every client who walks through your door will have some problem they can’t handle themselves and they want you to solve, and they will not be happy about having to spend hundreds of dollars an hour to have what they perceive to be an overpaid lawyer take too long to produce often disappointing results. Some of this will inevitably rub off onto the lawyers themselves, who are sick of dealing with people with problems, sick of people complaining that they are charging too much, and sick of people with unrealistic expectations. As many lawyers will tell you, their profession would be far more pleasant if the clients were removed from the equation.

As long as you realize what you are getting into before you take the plunge and go to law school, then you should be a happy (or at least satisfied) lawyer. The problems will arise if you attend law school expecting to spend your years in practice eloquently thrashing the opposition in wood–paneled courtrooms and in front of admiring jurors. The problems arise if you attend law school expecting a six–figure salary to be handed to you on a plate when you graduate. Minimize the risk of becoming an unhappy lawyer by researching—before you apply—what lawyers actually do.

It’s easy to get freaked out by disgruntled lawyers. The profession seems to be teeming with them. But remember to listen to their stories critically. Assess their personalities, their practices, their work conditions, their employment history, their personal lives, their goals going into law and where they stand now. Did they fully assess their career goals and how the JD would allow them to get there? Did they have realistic expectations? What factors that led to their present situation were within their control, and what factors were not? The ones you find who are happy—what’s different about them? lime

It’s been my experience that most lawyers who hate what they do went to law school right out of undergrad, either because they couldn’t find another job or because they were sucked in by the Hollywood ideal of a lawyer as a wealthy fighter for justice who spends most of the day mesmerizing a judge and jury with the brilliance of his or her arguments, and cases are almost always decided in favor of that attorney. The reality is that most lawyers spend most of the day researching and reading dull–dull cases looking for things that they (or at least initially, their superiors) can use to make the argument. Often times, even if a lawyer is representing a person or cause believing that Truth, Justice, and the American Way are firmly in his or her corner, they will lose. Law is a job, and like all jobs, a good portion of the time it sucks. Patriotism

YOU KNOW YOU’RE A NONTRAD WHEN...

I was in the book store today at school. It was packed with undergrads and their parents buying stuff for the upcoming year. I was in line and found myself “checking out” the mothers of the undergrads instead of the undergrads themselves. That made me feel really old. Oldguy

I was in a cab back to the university area. The cab driver said to me, “Oh, so you must be a professor.” Saucy Intruder

The student talking to you compliments you on your shirt and says, “My dad would love that.” Chief

You know you’re a nontrad when one of your classmates tells you her mother’s age and it’s younger than you are. grannylaw

– 2 –

GETTING IN

INTRODUCTION

Before jumping straight in with information about getting into law school, a word of explanation of the structure of this section is necessary. Although this section is divided into topics, this should be treated as a whole. For instance, your research into how much each law school will cost should not be separate from your LSAT preparation. If, for example, three schools are in the area you are limited to—two of which are inexpensive, and with an LSAT of 155 a successful application and even a modest scholarship are close to a sure thing, while the other school requires an LSAT of at least 168 and is prohibitively expensive with no chance of a scholarship—then don’t waste your time and money on a string of LSAT prep courses if you are scoring in the mid–150s. You couldn’t attend the expensive school even if you got in, so don’t waste your time or money on it.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS...

…To a point, at least. Unless you have good numbers —GPA and LSAT—your chances of admission are significantly weakened. Some schools care more about the numbers than others, but they all care about the numbers, and poor numbers are an almost universal route to the dreaded thin letter (i.e., a rejection). Some schools care a little more about LSAT, some care a little more about GPA, but they all care greatly about both. It will be an expensive mistake to ignore this most basic advice. Each application will cost the better part of $100. Don’t waste your money applying to Harvard or Yale if you do not have a strong GPA and a stellar LSAT—you will not get in. (That isn’t to say that a few risks and long shots can’t be taken. More about this later.)

I don’t think anyone cares about your age, they just want to see the numbers. Teach

A lot of law schools that look strictly at that 4 hour score are missing out on some great people. night_knight

Some schools fall in love with the high LSAT, others really don’t care that much. shannon

Most schools publish the average statistics of their incoming classes so you have an idea of whether they are within your reach or not, and you can obtain this kind of information from commercial publications such as U.S. News and World Report. Let’s dive straight in with some information about the LSAT, as it is arguably the most important part of the application.

THE LSAT

The Law School Admissions Test (commonly referred to as the “LSAT” or “el–sat”) is an admissions requirement of every law school you might possibly want to attend. It’s a multiple choice standardized test, scored between 120 and 180. 150 is average. As a rough guide, with an average GPA, you will need about a 150 to be competitive at even the least stringent law schools. For the top schools, you will need not only a GPA of at least 3.50, but an LSAT of over 165—no easy task—plus additional pluses.

There are two basic aspects of the LSAT to understand. First, a great LSAT score can virtually eliminate the negative impact of a mediocre GPA. Many schools, when presented with an LSAT that is above those of its regular applicant pool, will discount a relatively low GPA—and particularly so for the nontraditional applicant. This is great news for those who may have a GPA that’s dated, and thus rather low compared to today’s grade–inflated, failure–proof degrees. With a good LSAT, you can show, in one fell swoop, that you are far more capable than your old GPA suggests. With a good LSAT, law schools will believe you when you tell them that your old GPA is not truly representative of your abilities. Even with a recent GPA that is low, a great LSAT will make the modest GPA virtually invisible to admissions offices. Just score as high as you can on the LSAT. Most schools are total LSAT whores and will overlook the GPA in favor of an LSAT, within reason of course. uke

A high score on the LSAT can offset even the most dismal GPA. And from what I can see, there’s more schools that are prepared to admit someone with a high LSAT/low GPA combination than there are willing to admit a low LSAT/high GPA combination. Oldguy

Secondly, it’s a standardized test. It doesn’t change from year to year. It tests skills that can be learned. So do yourself a favor and be very serious about your LSAT preparation. You can bet that everyone else in that test room has prepared, so failure to prepare on your part puts you at an instant disadvantage. You simply cannot walk into that test room “cold” and hope that your raw intelligence will carry you through. It won’t. If there is one thing you gain from reading this book, it is that you must prepare for the LSAT. Everything else pales in comparison to that single piece of advice. The LSAT is the most fundamental aspect of a successful application to law school.

I’m sure not feeling very smart now as I knew how important the LSAT was and spent less than 8 hours studying for it in the few days before it was given. I don’t care what you have to do, take time away from work, pay money you don’t think you have for a prep course, the LSAT is vital, whether we like it or not. night_knight

If you are taking the December LSAT, study. I don’t care what else you have going on, this is the most important thing you’re going to do for law school. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. A high score can get you into a better school and, if that’s not your focus, it can mean scholarship money from the school you do go to. night_knight

If you don’t think you’ll be ready, don’t take the test. Your score is so obscenely important, it’d be worth waiting a year if you think it’d make a significant difference. The Rat

Obviously I was pleased because it’s a pretty good score, but I was disappointed I hadn’t studied because I felt I left scholarship money on the table. night_knight

My experience was that a good LSAT outweighed my mediocre grades. Wren

If you’re like the majority of us, it will be too late to change your GPA, but everyone can anticipate and prepare for the LSAT. I only studied a few hours a day for 3 weeks using one book—huge mistake—I could have increased my score by at least 6–10 points, which would have had a major impact on my potential school selection. When you’re barfing up LSAT answers and dreaming of logic games every night, you’re almost ready to take the test. trixR4kids

STUDYING FOR THE LSAT

This book is not an LSAT study course, and makes no effort to teach skills needed for the LSAT. There are plenty of books that do teach the skills required, plenty of commercial prep courses that will teach the skills required, and plenty of private tutors who can help. Make use of them.

Take a read of the following comments. Only you can tell what method of study works for you, and only you can tell what your wallet can withstand. It’s important to realize that with only modest effort spread over a long period of time, most students can improve an LSAT score far more than trying to “cram” right before the exam. It is also worth pointing out that cost has little to do with effectiveness—a $1,000 “live” prep course is not twenty times more effective than a $50 prep book.

The LSAT needs to be prepared for. The good news about low scores: you can dramatically improve your result with an appropriate amount of practice. If the December test is already right around the corner, you need to treat LSAT prep like a job in hours preparing per day, or wait a year. Either way, do NOT take the test until you’re ready. All this may seem obvious to you, but it seems to me that you’re underestimating the importance of your score. Your law school career begins the moment you start preparing. LSAT prep needs to be the priority. The Rat

Assume your test taking skills are suspect and practice, practice, practice the LSAT under realistic (or even tougher) conditions. Chief

If test time approaches and you aren’t scoring where you need to be scoring, it is probably worth it to take a course. They are terribly expensive, but so is everything associated with law school. A good score is invaluable in the admissions process (and can pay for itself in scholarship money). You may just have to consider it part of your cost of attending school—just like a Bar review course. Jellybean

I glanced at an LSAT book around about June, had the vague impression that it was like the SATs, and put the book down and didn’t worry about the LSAT all summer. About the end of August I looked at the book again and realized, oooh crap, this is a difficult test that I should have started studying for back in June. Wren

It’s all about practice and sweat. The LSAT is a multiple–choice test. The answers are on the page— they’re just cleverly disguised, with the added pressure of a ticking clock. Sufficient exposure will allow a person to see through the tricks and cope with the timed pressure. The LSAT is a learnable skill, like juggling or riding a bike. One helpful aspect of the LSAT is that, in every test, the test makers are trying to target the same specific logical/reasoning abilities. There are only so many ways to package a question while still focusing on the same skills. After experiencing x number of timed tests, I think a person starts to recognize patterns, routines, and habits that the test makers have. A person will know what the test maker wants by “reading the clues” and recognizing that these new problems are eerily similar to previous problems. Neatgin H

I think the “study till it hurts” advice has been well made. Just a few things on my experience: improvement was gradual, so gradual it was often frustrating. I studied like a madman for ten weeks and although improvement was obvious from beginning to end, it was not so obvious week to week. TulliusCicero

The “x” number of timed tests may vary from person to person. Some folks have an LSAT–knack—after three exams, they’ve reached their LSAT peak. [Editor’s note: Doubtful.] Other people may find the LSAT frustratingly obtuse and end up taking all 43 exams. Multiple times, even! Regardless of how many practice tests it takes before something “clicks,” the LSAT is not a reflection of your intelligence, ability, or personality. Your LSAT score is simply a representation of your ability to take the LSAT. I am almost rabid about advocating that people practice using real–life, previously administered, LSAC–designed tests. We’re trying to do well on one particular kind of test…thus, we should be practicing using only that kind of test. In fact, we should be trying to recreate *every* grueling condition that we’ll face on test day—not just the the LSAC–designed test, but also the additional experimental section, the deprivation of scratch paper, the unforgiving stopwatch, the rickety chair, the poor lighting, the parched throat, the A/C gone amok, the rustling of other people’s pages, the squinting proctors, the endless ovals to darken. Being exposed to the true ugliness of LSAT–test taking is the best guarantee of success on test day. Neatgin H

Most would agree that at a minimum, preparation includes at least one good LSAT prep book that explains the tricks used on the test, and a set of old, actual LSAT tests. These will set you back about $100, and will be far less if you get them used. (Watch out, however, for used material that have been marked—don’t buy them unless you want to spend hours erasing the marks. Even that doesn’t quite work, and you’ll find yourself copying the books…not the best use of your preparatory time.) One book repeatedly surfaces in conversations about preparation materials: the PowerScore LSAT Logic Games Bible, used to help students understand the logic section of the LSAT. The following are a few of the many unsolicited words of praise for that publication:

Get the Logic Games Bible. I wish I’d bought it before my October test. NightSchool

I must second the suggestion of getting the Logic Games Bible. It is the best tool I used by far for my studies. Shar

Buy one of those books with previously administered LSATs since there’s no substitute for the real thing. I also wish I’d known about the Logic Games Bible. Patriotism

The PowerScore Games Bible is by far the best book available for the logic games section. Their method of setup (the diagram of the rules that can make or break your score) was efficient and well thought out. Greg

Simply for the sake of reducing the costs of applying, you should start preparing early and try using one or two prep books. This will cost you far less than a prep course, and you may find that you can follow the books and you “get” the LSAT to the point of scoring a good five points above the average LSAT at the schools you want to attend. But if you’ve been using books and find that you’re still not making the scores you want to make, and you don’t know where to turn for help, a prep course can be invaluable. A live tutor will be able to explain things until you understand, in terms you understand, and will, if you have not merely reached the limit of your abilities, help increase your score.

And while on the subject of limits of abilities, not everyone can score a 175+ on the LSAT. (As a matter of fact and statistics, only a very, very small percentage can.) You might find it hard to crack 160. Or even 150. That might merely be your limit on the LSAT. You’ll know what your limit is when you have exhausted all realistic options for scoring higher—when you’ve gone through the books, taken a prep course, and then spoken to a private tutor about where you’re still slipping up.

Don’t miss the forest for the trees though —you’re taking the LSAT to get into law school. All law schools turn out future lawyers. As long as you can get an LSAT score that will get you into one law school, you can still be a lawyer. Frustrating as a lower score than you had hoped for can be, don’t let it distract you too significantly from your ultimate goal of becoming a lawyer. And knowing this, don’t throw thousands of dollars down the toilet by trying to boost your LSAT by one or two points unless you’ve got absolutely no choice but to do so (i.e., you won’t get into any suitable law school unless your LSAT score is boosted).

Prep courses vary in quality and price, and a high price does not necessarily equate to high quality. You should look for two things when searching for a prep course: First, the quality of the written materials. For the price you spend on a prep course, you don’t want to walk out of the classroom after eight hours or a weekend and be holding a thirty–page badly–photocopied pamphlet. Neither do you want a stack of glossy–yet–superficial materials that the course provider uses to justify its high price. You need materials that are simple, substantial, and well–written.

Second, you want an experienced teacher. Many LSAT prep course teachers are law students whose only credentials are a high LSAT. Great. They got a high LSAT. Doesn’t mean they can explain how you can get your highest LSAT. It probably means they’re looking for a few extra dollars to pay for beer or commercial outlines. You want a teacher who has been teaching the course with the same provider for years and years, and who comes highly recommended. Again, no specific courses are recommended, but here’s some experiences from other applicants:

I took the Testmasters/PowerScore weekend course. I thought it was very much worth the money. Because Testmasters doesn’t advertise, the class was small (me and two other women), so we got lots of personal attention. bluecanary

Self study is OK. Conventional wisdom is that the higher your test scores are, the less likely it is that you will benefit from paid study courses. NightSchool

I took Kaplan and thought it was worth every penny. In fact, I was so impressed with my instructor that I hired him as a private consultant to help me with my personal statement. But I agree that practice is critical. I did every published LSAT practice exam before taking the real thing. Sui Generis

Princeton Review, Kaplan, and other prep companies are useful, certainly. They have comprehensive books that provide test–taking tips and diagramming advice. In my case, reading a prep book and practicing on a few “fake” LSATs helped to provide foundation and structure in the beginning. Also, Kaplan, PR, and other prep companies have numerous workbooks chockablock full of mind–teasers and (their version of) LSAT problems. I practiced for hours on end using those books. I would definitely recommend that others dutifully plow through all the practice problems available. Practice is good! It keeps the brain nimble. However, only LSAC administers the real LSAT—past LSAC tests will be the best indications of what your real LSAT test will look like. Neatgin H

If you are on a budget, don’t despair —as mentioned earlier, money generally isn’t the deciding factor in the LSAT. Moderately hard work over a few months will probably put you close to your maximum score. Just remember the following few tips: start early, buy good prep books, buy actual LSAT tests, and practice under test conditions—that is, don’t take practice tests with coffee breaks, televisions on in the background, and don’t give yourself extra time. Time is the biggest killer on the LSAT—you are being tested under significant (and sometimes crushing) time constraints. Make sure you practice with those same constraints. You will get a low score if you know how to get every answer correct, but you fail to answer every question. Here’s what the following applicants have advised for study on a budget: Plan of action: read a prep book (1–2 weeks), take some tests, read another book or reread to find and fix your weaknesses. Final two weeks—do lots of practice tests. joe b

Try PowerScore’s Logic Games Bible before you pay money for a prep course. Chief

Take a practice test. Then dissect, analyze, do everything you can with the questions you got wrong. Figure out why you thought your answer was right, and why you thought the correct answer was wrong. It helps to concentrate on why the examiners think you are wrong and they are right, and not on what really is wrong or right (in other words don’t convince yourself that the credited response is correct, just try to figure out why it would make sense to the examiners that the credited response is correct). Do that with every wrong answer. Then take another practice exam and do it all over again. Do this as many times as you can. TulliusCicero

TEST DAY AND DURING THE TEST

Absent any good reason to do otherwise, you’re best bet is to close the books the night (or day) before the test and spend a few hours relaxing, making sure you have pencils, making sure you know where the test center is—drive there, park, and actually find where it is and where the bathrooms are—and generally getting into the correct mindset for the test. If you don’t know how to do, for instance, a standard logic problem on the test by the day before the test, then you’re probably out of luck and no amount of cramming the night before will solve your problems. Just do what you can to relax.

During every practice test administered by my LSAT prep company, I was completely unnerved. I thought, “What the hell am I doing to myself? I don’t need law school. I don’t need this test. The pressure is killing me.” Yet on the actual test day, I was the calmest I’d ever been. If on test day you feel as if you performed atrociously, cancel the score and gear up for a later date. You can beat this. Best of luck. buckeye1

Stop studying around midday Friday. Do something fun Friday night. (I watched the Olympics opening ceremonies.) Try to relax. Get some exercise, take a bubble bath, do yoga or aromatherapy—whatever gives you some sense of calmness. (I lit a candle, took a bubble bath and used my aromatherapy machine when I went to bed.) Read the newspaper or something before you leave for the exam (not LSAT materials) to engage your brain. Eat a big breakfast. Try not to drink too much so you won’t feel any unwanted urges during the exam (you’ll only get a short break). For said break, take a snack. Don’t forget your watch (a quiet one) and pencils/erasers/photo ID/LSAT ticket. Wear something comfortable for the exam room. I wore a Pitt sweatshirt to think good thoughts! Actually I got a little hot, so maybe a lighter sweater would be good. Try to avoid people before the exam and during the break. Take your headphones or leave the area during the break so as to avoid hearing people discuss the exam. Leave the building quickly after the test (no postmortems). If you don’t know an answer, guess. You may be right. You won’t be penalized for wrong answers. In the next few days before the exam, don’t forget to practice writing samples. Make sure you can write cogently and in an organized manner. DemoCat827

And if, for whatever reason, you screw the test up, stay until the end and keep going. You might know that you’re going to cancel immediately, but you are doing yourself a huge disservice by sitting there in what is now going to be the most realistic simulation of the actual exam conditions and pressure you will ever have. Keep taking the test as a test—for “informational” purposes if nothing else—learning what it feels like to reach that last section and have to stay alert and dig deep for the mental energy you need to keep your head straight after hours and hours. Why walk when you can at least get a good look at what you are studying for? Chief

AFTER THE TEST

You feel you did well on test day? Great. Skip to the next section of the book. You feel like you messed it up? That could be a problem. Many schools look not only at your most recent LSAT score, they will use an average of your LSAT scores. LSAT scores stay on record for a number of years (and certainly long enough to affect most applicants). The following example shows why this is a big problem for many applicants: You take the test and don’t finish a section—you froze for whatever reason, and you will probably end up with a 150. You were hoping for a 160 average, as this is what you normally scored towards the end of your preparation. Guess what. To get that 160, you will now have to score a 170, and you’ve never scored anything above a 165. Suddenly, because you didn’t cancel, you’ll struggle to come anywhere close to the score you expected and deserve.

Some schools, when presented with two wildly different LSAT scores might use the higher score when there’s a good reason accompanying it. But some won’t—and there’s no knowing which is which. (Any such extenuating circumstance, unless there was a medical emergency accompanied by bills and other evidence, will rely on your own testimony. And, as will be covered in your future course in evidence, this raises some rather significant problems of testimonial reliability. Plus which, the law school admissions committees have seen and heard it all before, leading many therein to skepticism over any unsubstantiated, self– serving exclamations.)

The bottom line for the LSAT is that it’s a one–shot deal. Hence the emphasis on preparation—it’s far simpler to put the effort in before the test and make sure you get a score you deserve than it is to try to correct a bad score after the fact.

The LSAT has an escape hatch. If, right after the test, you are not comfortable with your performance, you can cancel the score and essentially throw the test away, as if it was never taken. Because of the importance of the LSAT, if you think you messed it up, seriously consider canceling the score. Sure, it will be a few months before the next test comes along, and sure, you’ll have to shell out the test fee again, but it’s worth it in the long run. (As a side note, take the test early so you at least have the opportunity to cancel, retake, and still get your applications in on time.)

Bear in mind that the cancel option should probably not be used if you merely have a nagging feeling after the test that you might have missed one or two questions—your LSAT performance will probably vary between a range of a few points anyway, so canceling and retaking might not guarantee a better score that you will receive on the test you just took. And like investments, LSAT scores can go down as well as up—just as you had not envisioned messing up the test this time, you won’t envision messing up the test next time, and there is a chance that you’ll mess up the test on any given occasion. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If you think you scored well enough for your purposes, then don’t cancel; you have a chance of scoring slightly lower next time, just as you have scoring slightly higher.

Neither should you dwell for too long on your decision. You don’t have long from the date you take the test until the date you have to cancel, so know your plan beforehand. If you cancel, simply do it and then get on with preparing for the next test.

Find out the deadlines for canceling by reading the test materials sent to you by LSAC. If you don’t cancel and you end up with a disappointing score, then you have two choices: stick with it or retake. If your score is high enough to give you a good chance of being admitted to some schools at which you would be happy, then you can probably safely stick with it, although you lower your chances of being awarded a scholarship. If you know that you have been doing significantly better (i.e., more than just a point or two) on your practice tests, and having a higher score will truly matter in how your applications are likely to end up, then retake. If having a higher score will not affect the outcome of your applications—for instance, if you are geographically limited in your choice of schools and you have an LSAT that any of the schools you are able to apply to would be more than happy to accept—then a retake is not necessary, even if you can do better.

Bear in mind too that many people score higher on practice tests administered in private than they do on the LSAT. There is no pressure in private. It’s just not the same. You are in familiar surroundings. You can give yourself that extra thirty seconds to fill in a bubble or two. All these factors, and more besides, increase your score. All of these factors are removed when you’re sitting in that LSAT test room, and there’s little you can do about it. It’s not unusual for your actual score to be lower than your practice tests, no matter how “strict” you are with yourself, and you should consider this when debating whether to retake over a matter of a few points. Chances are, absent some obvious error or unforeseen circumstances during the test, the score you achieve on the real LSAT is very close to your real LSAT ability at that time. In other words, it’s normal to score slightly lower on the actual test, and you should expect for it, plan for it, and realize up front that everyone else is in the same boat too. Bad news aside, test takers can get lucky on test day, and you may end up scoring higher than you had expected.

If you truly believe, however, that your score is significantly less than what you had expected, then you should try, try again.

Take the test over again. If you had the ability to score higher in the past and it was consistent on the practice tests, you will be able to do it yet again on the real exam. George

But be prepared for the likelihood that you will score in the same region as your current score…and the possibility that you could score lower. More importantly, and as illustrated earlier, absent some clear emergency the odds are heavily against a substantial jump: even without averaging (see above), the chances of a 150 climbing to a 170 are remote. While ten or even five points are probably worth retaking the test for, if the numbers are any less dramatic (e.g., you score a 156 and you normally score a 159), then a retake is questionable; even with a successful retake, your score will likely only rise by a point or two.

If you are considering a retake, call the admissions office of your prospective schools (or check on their web sites) to see what their policies are. You may find that a single retake that results in a higher score will not be diminished by a prior lower score.

While it is true that schools generally average, that is a result of people’s scores generally being somewhat close together. If you score quite a bit higher, it is indicative that you really did not perform to your standards on the first test and I think the second will be given more weight. night_knight

As far as the school taking an average or highest score, from my experience, each school is different. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that one of my schools accepts the highest score. Many schools publish this on their web site so maybe it would be best to check each school. Kimba

Finally, if you took preparation seriously, if you studied your backside off, yet you still ended up with a score that is low, does this mean that you are doomed to failure in law school? Of course not, regardless of what you have been told. The LSAT measures a specific set of skills, none of which appear in large doses during law school. The LSAT does not (directly) measure hard work—the key factor to 1L success. It does not measure your ability to take in vast amounts of information. It does not measure your ability to seek out and use top quality study materials. It does not measure your performance under continued, long–term stress. It simply does not give you a realistic measure of how well you will perform in law school. It gives you an indication of how you perform on a single standardized test. Yes, on the whole, someone who scores a 165 is probably mentally better–equipped to handle law school than someone with a 145. That doesn’t mean someone with a 145 is unsuited for law school. And most importantly, it does not indicate that there is any stopping someone with a 145 from getting As on law school exams and trampling over those students who scored higher. (Yes, this happens.)

So you got a low LSAT score. So what? If it gets you into a school you want to get into, then it’s good enough, and once the students step through that door the first day of 1L, all bets are off—everyone has an equal opportunity to rank in the top 10% of the 1L class just nine or so months thereafter.

There is a lot of controversy about whether or not the LSAT measures the skills you need to do well in law school. MediaGirl

I just don’t think the LSAT is a great indicator of how well one will do in law school, and it’s a shame that schools are so number–hungry. In any event, law is not rocket science—if you have half a brain and the alacrity to kill yourself studying, you’ll do well, very well! buckeye1

Take a month off and then reassess your decision to not bother with law school because of a low LSAT. You may find you have the willpower to take the test again or find that law isn’t something you really wanted to do in the first place. Right now, the shock and emotion involved with hearing the score often times clouds the picture. TheLimit

While evidently law school performance generally mirrors the LSAT, I do not believe that it necessarily means a low LSAT performance dooms one to failure. Law school is more about hard work, the ability to stay organized and focused, and time management. If you succeed with those, you will invariably succeed in law school. Mardee

Don’t base your decision to pursue a career as an attorney on this one test result. MaggieC

Don’t let this test take away your self–esteem. ucgirl2

If being an attorney is what you really want to do then go after it. If it means taking a prep class and redoing the LSAT then do it. If you have to wait a year to apply while you improve on your score so what. It’s just a year. grannylaw

The LSAT is no real indication of how you will perform in school—it’s just a marker for schools to use for admission purposes. Some schools depend on it more than others— your job (if you decide to keep at it) will be to find the schools that rely on other things like GPA and experience. Mardee

Don’t let one bad score stop you. If it is a question of the financial ability to take a prep course and retake the LSAT in February, maybe postpone your apps to the next year so that you have time to come up with the money for a course and plenty of time to practice, practice, practice. Wren

YOUR GPA

At this point, your undergraduate GPA (which is, by the way, the only GPA that actually “counts” as far as most law schools are concerned) is a foregone conclusion. Unless you are extra–keen, you will probably have at least two years of undergrad under your belt at the time you are reading this, and it is likely that you have all but completed undergrad. If you have a low GPA, then there’s precious little that can be done. Hence the discussion earlier about the utter importance of your LSAT, which is something you can control. This book is no place to rub salt into the wounds of those readers who may have had more “fun” during their undergraduate years to the detriment of their GPA.

Many schools place more weight on the LSAT than GPA in making admissions decisions. Instead of looking at what a GPA represents (i.e., performance in a wide variety of subjects and situations over a few years), many schools look more closely at LSAT scores (i.e., performance in a narrow range of subjects and situations over a few hours). And who can blame them? There are thousands of undergraduate institutions in the United States and thousands more in the rest of the world, all of which have different standards, different courses, and different experiences; no two undergraduate degree granting institutions are the same. Some schools are, to put it bluntly, easier than others, and some degree programs and subjects are easier than others. The LSAT is the single, uniform thread throughout every law school application, and can, in theory, sort out those students who earned “easy” degrees in “easy” undergraduate schools and have high GPAs from those students who earned “hard” degrees at “hard” schools and have correspondingly lower GPAs, even though perhaps more intelligent, diligent, or otherwise deserving.

It is also worth getting one thing clear from the start: Law schools don’t really care about your major. They just want to see the highest GPA. Simply put, it doesn’t matter what you studied, where you studied, or when you studied—the weight your undergraduate studies carry as far as law schools are concerned is summed up by the GPA and the GPA alone, with a few notable exceptions.

There are, however, some common questions about your GPA that can be addressed, more to give you an idea about how your degree might stack up against other applicants. But rest assured, for the large part, a GPA is a GPA is a GPA. If you’re sitting pretty on top of a GPA of 3.5 or better, then law school admission, barring an absolute disaster on the LSAT or something in your background that would make it inappropriate for you to practice law, is nearly assured, regardless of major, age of GPA, and where you went to school. Conversely, a GPA of below 2.5 will make law school admission difficult unless you have an LSAT that puts 95% of the test–takers to shame, regardless of what you studied, where you went to school, and how many years ago you graduated.

BUT I WENT TO COLLEGE YEARS AGO

Yes, yes, we’ve all heard it before. When you went to college, it was harder to get good grades. Forget this aspect of your ancient GPA: it won’t fly. It’s also probably further removed from the truth than you think. College is still a challenge. GPAs might have risen, on average, but the effort and intelligence required to get a GPA in the high 3s is still impressive. Moreover, the competition at any given school is probably far higher than it was when you attended. So while your twenty–year–old GPA of 3.0 might equate to a modern GPA of 3.2 or even 3.5, you should also note that in reality, law schools still won’t care, and they will not make a mathematical adjustment to your GPA to compensate. They can have their pick of well–qualified students who worked hard in college and did well. Academic losers tend not to get into law school, and almost every successful law school applicant has a GPA that shows they deserve to be there.

What you might be able to argue with a little better success (but don’t count on it) is that you are a “changed person” since your undergraduate days many years ago. If you had a low GPA from way back in the twentieth century, then sufficient time may have passed for a good argument that you have gone past your days of academic mediocrity and nonchalance, and (based on recent academic achievement or a good LSAT score) you can now handle law school. Such facts would include, perhaps, a graduate degree, although remember that nobody gets below a B in graduate school, and for many courses you can probably count on an A. Further facts include some solid work experience. But don’t bet that your graduate degree or work experience will cause law school admissions staff to brush over that low GPA, although you could probably bet that all things (well, two things, the GPA and LSAT) being equal between two candidates, they would rather admit the applicant with the work experience or graduate degree over the newly minted 22–year–old college grad.

There is only one fact on your application that will show that you have truly changed—a great LSAT. No amount of work experience, graduate school, or raising children will ever, ever trump a great LSAT score. So if your GPA is low, don’t think for a minute that getting a master’s degree will help you get into law school in spite of your low GPA, and don’t think for a minute that getting a few years’ experience in the workplace will erase that GPA—it will not. Spend your time and effort negating your low GPA with a great LSAT.

I visited a school recently and raised the issue. Pretty much got shot down. The adcom person made it pretty clear that while they will take my work experience/grad school into account, they will give my GPA the same weight they do for younger students. Their decision, I suppose. But also their loss. Lynn

If you are older and you do very well on the LSAT, schools may weigh your GPA a little less. TXLawGirl

Think of it as “your LSAT counts double.” caroline

Nail the LSAT! That is even more important if you don’t have any recent coursework to back up the “Why I’m a better student now” line you are selling the adcoms in your application. brodle1

Just because a mediocre but stale GPA will be discounted in the face of a stellar LSAT score does not mean that you will be accepted. Indeed, no combination of great numbers guarantees acceptance, particularly not at the most selective schools. Tomboy

WHAT ABOUT MY GRADUATE DEGREE?

What kind of graduate degree do you hold? A standard one– or two–year master’s? Barely worth the paper it is written on in terms of making you stand out in law school, and the GPA is likely so inflated that it doesn’t carry much weight either. A degree in medicine? This will carry weight and can be used to demonstrate, with some degree of certainty, that you are smart and capable of handling law school, but if you have an MD, you probably have a solid undergraduate GPA to begin with. A Ph.D. or other, doctoral–level graduate work could again be useful, but only as part of a complete package—the doctorate and strong LSAT and undergraduate GPA. Even if the undergraduate GPA is old but your Ph.D. is from a well–regarded school, it will carry weight. It all boils down to the pressure on law schools to accept a class with a high average LSAT and a high average undergraduate GPA—to boost their position in the almighty rankings released each year. Unfortunately for students with higher graduate GPAs, the undergraduate GPAs are the only GPAs that the rankings are calculated with, and thus, for law school admissions, the only ones that count.

A grad degree, unfortunately, makes little or no difference. Law schools are only concerned with undergrad. However, if you blew your UG and did well on your graduate degree then you can use it to show an upward trend. Other than that, the only other plus for a grad degree is as a tie breaker—if you and another candidate are equal in everything else, the graduate degree would probably get the nod. In other words, it has very little overall value towards helping you get into law school. Teach

I completely finished my undergraduate degree with a bad GPA. I then went back to school and took about 50 more undergrad hours and also got a master’s degree. Law schools only looked at my bad undergrad average. However, I’ve been accepted into many of schools where my LSAT was competitive, even if my GPA wasn’t. One college told me that they lessen the impact of the GPA if you’ve been out a while. There were some number hungry schools (in my experience, the schools on the east coast) that refused me almost by return mail, which leads me to believe that they didn’t even look at my application other than the numbers. undecidedstate

I STUDIED A DIFFICULT MAJOR. WILL THIS HELP?

The “hard” major is invariably engineering. Chances are, if you did happen to be an engineering major at the undergraduate level, you will get no advantage in law school admissions based on the fact [probably quite true] that your GPA might be lower than it would have otherwise been had you studied something “lightweight.” Again, the numerical GPA is of primary interest to law schools, not the subject you studied. And again, this boils down largely to rankings and how law schools need to report the numbers: the higher the better, and media rankers simply cannot tally such nuances. Schools must do what they can to boost their ranking, and a boost in ranking results in a boost in the “quality” of students applying and in the size of the applicant pool, potentially bringing in higher GPAs, and so the cycle continues in ever–higher pressures for the best (i.e., highest) stats.

If you are seriously considering law school and you are at the beginning of your undergraduate studies, pick a major that you find interesting and that you are confident you will find relatively easy. Maximize your chances of getting a high GPA, and you will maximize your chances of getting into law school upon graduation. (Granted, you might diminish the quality of your undergraduate education by selecting courses based solely on what you think you can get an A in. It’s a balancing act to be sure, but do keep the importance of grades in mind.)

Don’t count too much into a difficult major. While everyone knows that an engineering or physics is far more difficult than some others out there, ultimately, the school is measured on the average GPA of its students, regardless of their majors. They may take into account your major if you are on the fence, but don’t expect too much force from it. uke

If you’re lucky enough to have a serious interest in law school during early undergrad, choose a major that will give you the best GPA (based on what subject is easiest for you). Forget the nonsense about taking tough, challenging courses. A couple of writing and logic courses will serve you well but don’t major in that stuff unless you know you’ll get straight As in it. A law school will often take a 3.8 basket weaving major over a 3.1 computer science major—the former helps their rankings, the latter won’t. trixR4kids

Of more importance than the major: the quality of education at the school. A school that encourages critical thinking, requires lots of writing, and has mostly essay exams and lab write–ups will prepare you better than one that uses textbooks, scantrons, and uninterested teaching assistants. Essentially, regardless of the subject you study, you need to learn to read critically, contribute in class, think independently, write technically and clearly, and discover your own information—not just rely on someone to provide it to you. Capri

WHAT IF I [OR, AHEM, MOM & DAD SPENT SIX FIGURES ON A “TOP” PRIVATE UNDERGRAD EDUCATION?

Trying as hard as possible to stop sounding like a broken record, unless your GPA is higher than that of someone who graduated from a “lesser” private school (or, goodness, a public school), you are once again out of luck. It is the raw numerical value of your GPA with which the law schools compare you against other students—not the name of the school you went to, nor the price tag. While you are probably greatly enriched intellectually from attending a prestigious institution, and while that degree will doubtless help you get your foot in the door at a myriad of banks, stockbrokers, and other fine places of employment, it will do you few favors in law school admissions. (In general, of course—a Harvard degree versus a degree from an unknown state college will result in the Harvard grad being admitted, all things, including GPA, being relatively equal.) While that Ivy League degree might win admiration from your family, friends, and employers, they are two a penny in law school and you will be disappointed to learn that the guy or girl whose application may be in the pile after yours, and who attended No–Name State School and has a GPA 0.2 higher than yours, but with the same LSAT, stands a better chance of getting into the same law school than you do. It is only in the gray area of toss–ups (those two nearly–equal applications) that such a factor might weigh decisively.

I don’t think “top UG” matters. Law schools only report GPA and LSAT. There’s nothing in it about what school people came from. blinson

I keep seeing people referring to being from a “high ranked” undergraduate school. I can’t believe that makes a difference. I have compared my undergrad experience at a state university, the number two party school in California, with people who went to Yale and Northwestern. I got a much better education. blinson

THE REST OF THE APPLICATION

Yes, it’s not as important as your LSAT and GPA. And it really should be thought of as “the rest of the application”—your personal statement, the application form itself, letters of recommendation, et cetera. Unless your LSAT and GPA get your foot in the door, then forget it. Your recommendations won’t make up for a low LSAT or a low GPA. End of story. Similarly, unless you write a personal statement that not only would win a major literary competition, but actually has won a major literary competition, it won’t stun the admissions decision–makers into ignoring your GPA or LSAT. Ever.

Significant effort should thus be placed into the rest of the application only once your GPA and LSAT are in order. Two things to remember: don’t become president of your undergraduate school’s Young Democrat [Republican, Whig, whatever] Society at the expense of maintaining a high GPA, because anything less than President (of the United States) will simply not erase that bad GPA. Neither should you spend weeks writing and rewriting your personal statement at the expense of study for the LSAT, because unless your last name is Shakespeare, your LSAT is more important and carries more weight than your personal statement.

Numbers being equal, I think [admissions committees] would choose the applicant with a grad degree, or interesting work experience, over the applicant straight out of undergrad. Of course, these extras are just that— extras. They won’t make up for low numbers, but I don’t think they’re completely insignificant either. In this limited sense, I think nontrads can be more attractive applicants. The Rat

If you have your GPA and LSAT in order, though, then the only place to turn to make your application more competitive is the rest of the application. And it goes without saying that although your GPA and LSAT are the most important things, if you send in an application with misspellings, poor grammar, or a personal statement that you clearly dashed off the night before, you will do yourself no favors. Even if your raw numbers are great, you should remember that there will be plenty of other applicants with identical great numbers who didn’t screw up the rest of their applications. So yes, your raw numbers are the key to getting into law school, but when there are so many applicants with the requisite numbers, you still need to add that “something extra” to your application and prevail in the admissions game. This is especially important for your “reach” schools. And, if you’re going the extra mile for them (as you should), why not for them all?

Admissions officers are looking for, among other things, the qualities of a future lawyer. Many of them take a respect for the English language quite seriously, and quite personally. So too should you. Don’t submit something a junior associate at a law firm would get reprimanded for and expect any lesser standard. Think of the best work you’ve ever submitted…and submit better. In a sense, this is the beginning of your legal education.

THE PERSONAL STATEMENT

As this is the place in the application where the admissions committee wants to see who you really are, here are a few practical pointers and pitfalls: You are encouraged to be creative. Show the readers not only that you can write well (in a technical sense), but also that you also have something interesting to say, and that you can say it in an interesting way. Go wild, but be positive—no one wants to read a negative personal statement. If you have a flaw in your application you need to address, write an addendum; leave your personal statement as a place to add sparkle to the you in your application. Remember that if your raw numbers are in order, you stand a good chance of being admitted, so you can afford to take a risk or two in the personal statement— if it pays off, fine, and if you slip up, your personal statement is unlikely to result in your application being thrown in the trash (barring, of course, your use of the statement to make an extreme political statement, insult the dean, or write anything obscene).

It should go without saying (but, just for the sake of coverage, I’ll add it anyway), that your personal statement should not contain an extreme political statement, anything remotely insulting, to anyone, or anything remotely obscene. Be careful. Likewise, it need not be said—but why not, I’ll say it anyway— that lying in a personal statement, while easy and (usually) unverifiable, is a bad idea. You never know when a member of staff at the law school will meet you (if you are accepted and decide to attend) and ask you about your experiences, the ones you embellished in your personal statement. It will be obvious you lied if you wrote about how you have a passion for foreign languages, yet you can’t speak a word of anything but English. While you may be lucky and not end up kicked out of school, you’ll have instantly lost any good reputation and goodwill you had with the faculty and staff. (And, if it’s serious enough or “catchable” enough, you might just find yourself explaining your lie to the state board of bar examiners…something you do not want to have to do.)

I wrote my PS about how I decided to go to law school and the process by which I decided to “take the plunge” and do it. Nothing melodramatic, no “world peace” or “feed the starving children” stuff. Just a pretty straightforward statement giving them an insight into who I was and why I arrived at my decision to go, albeit later than most applicants. Must have worked; I got in. DaveM

Don’t go over the page limit, and don’t use your limited space to address negatives. That is the purpose of an addendum. An exception, however, might be if the “negative” was an event that was life changing and you want to focus on its impact on your life. stratos

First, it’s bad form and repetitive to mention a GPA in a personal statement. Second, you shouldn’t call attention to negatives, such as your poor numbers. Focus on your impressive work experience. You must have a thousand stories to tell. Deal with the low GPA in an addendum. Rat

Be careful about wasting space in your PS by talking about negative points. I hesitate only because I don’t know the context. Is it part of an “overcoming” story, or merely “my grades sucked”? Rat

There is, however, one “lie” that countless students put in personal statements and get away with—they claim that they have a strong desire to go into public service when they graduate. Whether or not this carries any weight in admissions is debatable, since as soon as law firms start dangling generous salaries in front of law students, most throw out any desire, sincere or otherwise, they previously had for public service and run off to the money instead. It is doubtful that any member of the admissions teams at any law school believes any applicant who expresses a burning desire to enter into public service—absent some evidence of significant prior public service.

As for the length of your personal statement, the admissions staff is not easily fooled. They may have seen tens of thousands of personal statements, and at a glance they can probably tell you, within a handful of words, the word count of your personal statement. If you cannot say what the school wants you to say in the space they give you to say it, you are doing something wrong. While a slightly lengthy personal statement will still be read, it’s simply foolish to risk looking like an idiot who can’t count (or worse, an idiot who ignored an express instruction). Either way, submitting a personal statement that is fifteen–hundred words will not be looked upon favorably if the word limit is one thousand, even if you are writing about how many dozens of orphans you have saved throughout your life. A word limit is a word limit, not a word “guideline.”

Oh, and if you can’t get used to word limits this early in your career, then you’ll have trouble with your law school exams. (Some are strictly limited to a certain length, and all require a skill in focusing that mirrors that of the personal statement.) You will be a lawyer whose documents opposing counsel dread reading…and judges refuse to read. (Judges will ask their clerks to summarily return briefs not complying with the court’s rules; this is not a good way to impress a judge.)

Don’t make it wordy just to fulfill page requirements. Most schools say no longer than 3 pages. And they secretly hope maybe a page and a half. Teach

THE ADDENDUM

The addendum is not required for a successful application. If fact, if you think you need an addendum, then your application is, by default, weak. The addendum is a place that law schools give you to explain anything on your application that you would like them to consider specially, such as extenuating circumstances surrounding a bad GPA (e.g., prolonged illness, not prolonged laziness). The addendum should be thought of as a red flag alerting the admissions staff to some flaw in your application that they need to examine in more detail.

Don’t make excuses on an addendum. Don’t whine. Don’t blame others for your failings. Keep it short. Take responsibility. Stick to the facts, and don’t make things up. Don’t diminish the circumstances that required the addendum to be written. In short, think twice about writing an addendum. If you have no good reason to write one, other than you think you can trick the admissions staff with some vague excuse as to why they should admit you because “you’ve changed and your LSAT is not as good as everyone else’s but you are a really nice person and you want to go into public service and you promise that if you don’t do well that they can kick you out because that’s how desperately you want to attend their school because you wanted to be a lawyer since you were five years old and you have had dreams about attending their school and none others ever.” Tell them the problem, then tell them why they should put less weight on that. That’s it. Two paragraphs.

Law schools don’t require an addendum. If you have something to say that you must put in an addendum then just say what you need to say and nothing more. Teach

I sent an addendum explaining one academic disaster in my first semester of college and the gaps I have had during my college career due to having children. I managed to keep it to two short paragraphs. ucgirl2

Just write up something short and sweet and submit it with your apps, even the ones where it’s not required, if you think that it’s important enough. If you keep it short, it shouldn’t be a problem, even if it’s not requested. night_knight

If your academic performance one semester was completely uncharacteristic of the rest of your undergrad (e.g., a 2.00 GPA in an otherwise 3.5 academic career), I’d definitely put in an addendum. Basically, if you think a reasonable person evaluating your transcript would wonder, “Whoa! What happened here?” then you should send an addendum. AJA1971

Don’t make excuses. uke

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Even less important to a successful application than a personal statement are letters of recommendation. The only possible use for letters of recommendation is as a trap for the student who lacks even the tiny amount of intelligence needed to ask only professors who didn’t think he or she was the worst student in the world, or to trap the student who has such an unsuitable personality for life itself that they can’t find even one or two professors at all—out of the dozens, if not over a hundred professors they encountered during their undergraduate career—who thinks highly enough of the applicant to write even a few polite sentences.

It should go without saying that you should only ask for a letter of recommendation from a professor (or other professional acquaintance) who you are fairly sure will not use the letter as an opportunity to ruin your chances at law school. For instance, don’t ask a professor from a class in which you only showed up for the first few sessions and the final exam. Don’t ask a professor who has openly shown signs of disliking you. And try not to ask a professor whom you have never spoken to, ever.

If you are unsure whether a professor can give you a good recommendation or not, then ask them outright whether they feel they can give you a good recommendation. If they hesitate, then move on. Chances are, if they tell you that they will have to think about whether to give you a glowing recommendation or not, then it’s not a relationship you would want to prolong anyway, so don’t worry about offending them by choosing someone else instead. (It’s just as harmful to be “damned by faint praise” by a passive–aggressive prof who might be reluctant not to write you a letter: “Such–and–so was a competent student….” You should be able to find someone who can write something positive about you.)

The best people to ask for LORs are the ones who you think will offer the most compelling letter on your behalf (perhaps this is obvious)—for some people this will be a professor, for others it will be an employer/supervisor. If the choice is a toss–up, I would recommend going with the professor (or at least a combination of the two). One distinct advantage of having the professor write it is that they are most likely called upon to do this more often and will often have a better idea of the kind of specifics the admissions committees are looking for. stratos

Just be sure to let the person know that you understand if they decide that they do not feel that they would be the best person to do your recommendation. You don’t want an unenthusiastic rec writer. stratos

Try not to lose any sleep over letters of recommendation — they will, for most applicants, be borderline form letters, enthusiastic about how suited you are to a career in law, and will include vague details about how well you did in that professor’s class. Unless you have chosen your recommenders unwisely, they will write passable letters. A lukewarm letter will not dilute a strong GPA and LSAT; neither will a stunning letter diminish the effects of a bad GPA or LSAT. This is just one more reason not to spend countless hours each week during undergrad helping a professor with research at the expense of your studies, solely as a way to improve your chances of getting in to law school—your lower GPA will not be counteracted by the great letter that that professor will write on your behalf. By all means, work closely with professors, although if your ultimate goal is law school, then make sure that GPA is up to par before you spend your time helping others.

The main issue for nontraditional students is that they have been out of undergraduate study for so long that connections with undergraduate professors have long been forgotten. Most law schools request that letters of recommendation are written by professors, rather than employers. (This is a good place to mention the obvious—never, ever, let a family member write a recommendation for you, even if he or she is a prominent judge or lawyer.) Employers can be acceptable recommenders if you have a good reason, such as the fact that you might not have spoken to a professor during the decade since you left college. If the employer is in a better position than a professor to write a letter about your abilities, including your academic abilities, then ask them for a recommendation. If all they can write about is that you took three sick days last year, you have great telephone manner, and you have never been late for work, then they might as well send in a blank sheet of paper. (And don’t ask an employer for a recommendation if you have not yet informed them of your plans to leave and attend law school.)

Even if you think that no professors will possibly remember you, you might be surprised. Call them. They do, on occasion, have the ability to (at least act like they) remember every single student they have ever taught—whether or not they actually remember is debatable, but they will act as if they remember you. And even if they don’t remember you, they will have records they can look through to see, at a minimum, your grade in the course they taught, your grade compared to the other students, and they may have copies of some of your old papers or tests on file. You should strive to find at least one old professor who can write something nice about you. Professors will also consider being asked to write a recommendation as a personal compliment—that you think (or thought) sufficiently highly of them that you would like them to write an important letter for you.

Especially notable for applicants who have been out for a while is to make it as easy as possible for any past professors to write letters of recommendation. If they barely remember you, then at the very least, stop by during office hours and reintroduce yourself. Chat for a while about what you have been doing since graduation, and how you now plan to attend law school. Be prepared to explain why you want to go to law school. Take a packet of information for the professor—writing samples, transcripts, résumé (which you might refer to as your “CV,” or curriculum vitae, the academic equivalent to a résumé), your law school application forms, written instructions, stamps (as needed), addresses, envelopes, extra copies of recommendation forms, your contact information, the school’s contact information, etc. Make it as easy as possible for them. Remember, they’re doing you the favor. If you make it hard, the chances will increase that the recommendation is poor, late, or never done.

Going to school at night, I don’t really get a chance to get to know my teachers at all. I got letters of recommendation from my bosses, and I don’t think they’re going to hurt me. My boss (he let me read the letter before he sent it out), went into detail about how my work habits and personality to show I’d make a really good attorney and be able apply myself in my studies. bluecanary

I didn’t have any LORs from professors. I only used employers and I got in to the schools I wanted. I think that it is more important that the letter be thoughtful and insightful, such that the reader knows that the writer knows you well. uke

I too was out of undergrad for almost 10 years. I used several professional references that I had worked with. It must have worked because I got in. I just approached my recommenders and told them I was applying and asked if they could give me a rec. Both agreed. It was quite painless. FSU2005

Obviously, you should approach profs whose classes you did well in. Once they accept, consider putting together a packet to help them. It could include a cover letter with instructions, stamped and addressed envelopes, your resume, your personal statement, and a writing sample from their class. These materials will make their job easier, and prove especially helpful if they don’t know you very well. Also, your organization and professionalism should create a good impression. Keep in mind that profs write recs every year. They realize it’s part of their job. Rat

Asking a professor from a decade–old class to write a letter of recommendation is asking for a lukewarm statement unless you can give them a lot of prompting (copies of past papers—preferably with notes about your “genius” in the professor’s handwriting). The adcoms at the school I have talked with are much more flexible. They will look appreciatively at LORs from bosses and former bosses when the educational experience is in the applicant’s distant past. Chief

The employer is good if you’ve been out for a while as mentioned above, but if you are still in school, some might wonder why you don’t have any professors recommending you. LabWench

Particularly when asking for letters of recommendation from bosses rather than professors, you may run into the situation where you are asked to write your own letter, and the boss will put his or her signature on it. Ethics aside, the main problem with this is that you, having never written a recommendation before, will not know what makes a good recommendation or a bad recommendation. Be honest in the letter. Don’t start reeling off too much information about what a stellar person you are, and how you would be surprised if you didn’t end up being appointed to the Supreme Court at some point in your life. Don’t give away information that will make it obvious you wrote your own letter— keep the details to those that other people know and could verify. Don’t write a lengthy letter, since you can bet that your boss probably wouldn’t write a lengthy letter, and it’s a dead giveaway that you wrote the thing yourself. But don’t worry too much about writing your own letter; your boss probably has asked you to do it because he or she has no idea how to write one either. The only thing to really watch out for is that they read it at least twice, they sign it, and they keep a copy in their office just in case.

Make sure it lists qualities that law schools are looking for: excellent communication skills; ability to multitask; a team player; meets deadlines; an innovator; handles stress well; and anything describing your analytical and researching skills. Retired Chief

I hate it when people do this. It puts such pressure on you, and it’s not really ethical for them to put you in this position. Capri

YOUR RÉSUMÉ

Some schools require one. Some don’t. Send one unless they school specifically requests that you don’t send one. The worst they will do is throw it away. Application forms tend to limit the information you can give the school to the types of information that the average non–nontraditional students (i.e., 21–year–old undergrads) will be likely to give, and there’s little space to tell the school that you’ve done many great things (and a great many other things) since you graduated from college years ago. The résumé is a nice, neat way to tell the reviewer about you when the application form doesn’t ask the right questions.

The age–old dispute about résumé length always crops up. One page? Two pages? More? In reality, nobody cares unless you’re told otherwise, and if you’re told otherwise, then give the school what it’s asking for. If they ask for no more than one page, then deliver no more than one page.

I did mine in one. It was a vertical timeline listing each of my jobs and experiences chronologically. I didn’t waste space with references and other info that could be gleaned from my application. Teach

Bottom line, so long as the resume is well organized and focused, the one page vs. two page argument is more academic than practical. Chief

A resume’s ideal length is the minimum amount of space you need to highlight the accomplishments you want the admin committee to know about. buddha

Gaps in employment are not a problem —you’re not writing a résumé for a potential employer, so don’t worry about it too much. If you took off six months between jobs to spend time with the children, then the school will not care. Just make sure your résumé is written in a form that doesn’t draw undue attention to those three years where you skipped through eight different jobs. Even long periods of unemployment aren’t too big a deal, although you should evaluate whether or not submitting a résumé is a good idea if its inclusion will make you look less “together” than not submitting one at all.

The question is how are you filling the down time? If you are volunteering or doing something productive with that time you have nothing to fear. If you have been watching Springer and memorizing the nutritional fact label on bags of Cool Ranch Doritos, you might not want to highlight that. Chief

What you’ve done with the down time is what counts. There are a plethora of applicants in your situation. This economy and job market are part of the reason applications soared. What have you been doing during your “unemployment”? Why do you want to go to law school? How do you stand out from everyone else who has lost their job/been affected by the economy and is now applying to law school? TXLawGirl

For many nontrads who are in their late thirties onward, there is the potential for having so much work experience and other experiences that there is the distinct possibility that the space on the application form for this information is woefully inadequate, and any résumé would be three or more pages long. If you’re in this boat, then don’t be afraid to cut the junk. (In fact, be afraid not to.) Those summer jobs can be removed, as can temporary jobs, jobs you held for a matter of months, jobs during college, and anything that wasn’t a significant career position.

As a nontrad with 13 years of relevant work experience, I did not have room to list all the BS jobs I did to get through college, pay for my summer breaks, or the ones from high school. Why would they really care that I worked as an elf at a local theme park? Major Terror

APPLYING

At this point, you have your GPA and LSAT taken care of: your GPA should be in the bag, and you have either already taken the LSAT or you’re preparing like crazy for it. The rest of your application is also complete, or at least in the works. Now you need to know where to apply and how to apply, then what to do after you’ve applied.

The Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) is an organization that assembles and “standardizes” your undergraduate transcripts, LSAT scores, and letters of recommendation. When you apply to law schools, LSDAS sends a report containing this information. You must register for LSDAS, generally as soon as you have made the decision to attend law school. It may take some time for LSDAS to receive the documents it requires and process them, so the sooner you start working on your applications, the better. (Note that your LSDAS file can be completed well before you have decided which schools to apply to and attend.)

If you’ve spoken to other law school applicants, you probably know already that they are a competitive bunch of people. They all want to get into the best schools, get the best jobs, and whip each other in the courtroom (and classroom). And they’re an arrogant group. Know from the very start that no applicant will admit to having an LSAT below 170, and every applicant will pretend that they were admitted to Yale. Take it all with a huge pinch of salt. Never get discouraged because you hear about other applicants’ numbers, experience, or successes. You need only care about your numbers, experience, and success. Don’t let anyone discourage you from applying to low–ranked schools if that’s all your numbers realistically put within your grasp. Don’t get sucked into the “prestige” factor unless it’s truly important to you—any ABA–accredited law school will allow you sit for the Bar and become a lawyer in any state you choose. And once you pass that Bar exam, you will be as qualified as anyone else who has just passed the same exam, regardless of whether you attended the number one ranked school in the country or a lowly regional school. Don’t be tempted to apply only to high–ranked, competitive schools if you don’t have the numbers to get your foot in the door, because in the end, it doesn’t really matter where you went to law school unless you want a specific type of highly paid job in a large law firm. In other words, now that you have some idea what your raw numbers (GPA and LSAT) will be, it’s time to ignore what everyone else is doing and focus on what is needed to get you into law school, whether that be one of the top–ranked law schools in the country, or just a law school.

Never lose sight of two things —that you are going to law school to be a lawyer (and any accredited law school will get you to that point), and that law school is a huge investment you need to consider very, very carefully to ensure you make the correct choices.

In addition to learning that there are several thousand people in Yale’s 1L class, I’ve also learned that the median LSAT score is 170. Patriotism

We nontrads, who have worked in the real world and possess some maturity and experience, have to put our application file in the same pile as those babies, and to the adcoms (as my schools have told me) it’s all about numbers and not the individual. ThePicket

I’m looking at law school as an investment, perhaps the most important one I’ll ever make. Ranger Rick

SO HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO EVEN APPLY?

The application process for law school can be an expensive business, depending on how you prepare for the LSAT and how many applications you send out. Below are some estimates of how much it costs to go from college graduate to law school acceptee. It is a lot more than you might think, so be prepared to shell out a significant amount of cash to even get your foot in the law school door.

$2,343 Grand total! i’llgoanywhereatthispoint

$997 Grand total! D’s Mom

$2,033 total. msmoonlite

The last time I checked, it was $1,266.00. blinson

Total $754. LabWench

Total = $1,541 which doesn’t include my application fees later this year. Sam Fisher

$2,520 grand total. mikyan

$3,240. wordsi

$560. LNT

Total: $895.95. AJA1971

Accepted to school. Priceless. traveler

It makes sense to obey one simple rule when deciding where to apply: only apply to law schools that you would attend if you were admitted. It can be tempting to get so wrapped up in the process that you apply to schools that you practically could never attend (for instance, a school that is so expensive or so far away from where you currently live that when it came down to accepting or declining their offer, you would almost certainly decline). At around $100 per application, unless you have money to burn, you should begin the school selection process with this single thought in the back of your mind—never apply anywhere you could not attend if it was the only school you were admitted to.

I definitely wouldn’t matriculate if I wasn’t eager to study at a given school. Law is a tough row to hoe; it seems counterproductive to enter such a competitive environment handicapped by reluctance or resentment. You should go where you’ll be happy and do well. If there isn’t such a place available to you this year, I would suggest taking another crack at the LSAT for the next app cycle rather than matriculating someplace that you dislike. Neatgin H

I agree with the advice to not apply to any school (even a safety) that you don’t plan to attend. trixR4kids

Apply at every school you would consider attending. Yes, that’s right, every school you would consider attending. Strange things happen between the time you decide to apply and the time decisions start rolling in. If things don’t go as planned, you don’t want to be without a law school that coming fall. Apply to every school you would consider attending (which really isn’t that many), and sort it out when the decisions roll in. BillBrasky40

WHERE TO APPLY?

Be realistic. As mentioned in just about every paragraph up to this point in the book, law school admissions is all about the numbers. So while you believe you are a wonderful, rounded, experienced, and amazing person, unless your GPA and LSAT say the same thing, then as far as law schools are concerned, you’re not.

Be realistic in where you think about applying for two reasons. First, you stand little chance of being admitted to any school if your raw numbers don’t come close to that school’s averages. If one is slightly above and one is slightly below, then you will also stand a fair chance of admission. But if your GPA and your LSAT are both well below that school’s averages, then you stand very, very little chance of admission. If you set your sights too high, then you will end up holding zero admission offers at the end of the admissions cycle. Second, sending out applications to schools that you have no realistic chance of admission to is a waste of money. For instance, don’t send a “you never know” application to Harvard when your GPA is 3.0 and your LSAT is 155. Send us the money instead.

Several of the schools actively recruit people from diverse backgrounds, while others still want their “diverse people” to have 3.5s and 169s. Others are willing to turn a blind eye provided one has a decent LSAT score to back up their claims of aptitude for law school and some interesting experiences to bring to their class. scrummie2

Some schools prefer applicants with a few years of work experience. Other schools don’t seem to give any preference unless it is unusual or impressive in nature. It is worth doing a little research to see which schools prefer experience. stratos

You just have to do a little research to find schools that have accepted people in your GPA/LSAT range. vanwhalen

VISITING SCHOOLS

You are about to spend six figures on an investment that could potentially define the rest of your career. Don’t spend your money on a law school sight unseen. You wouldn’t buy a five–thousand–dollar car without spending an afternoon kicking its tires. Don’t choose a law school by the glossy brochures they send or the well–produced web sites they have. Don’t think for one minute that law schools are not in the business of selling you an education.

I thought I was alone in thinking that I was “sold” on my law school. I was also fed misleading information, although it was not “wrong.” It was just packaged and presented in a misleading way, and things that weren’t facts were presented as facts. I trusted the dean of admissions at my school when he said that there was a good chance I would be offered a scholarship. This hope was kept up by the school until I had signed my papers agreeing to attend, and then I never heard anything else about the scholarships. I am convinced—as are many other students here—that the scholarships were being used as a means to lure students in, and once we were lured in, they took them off the table and used them to lure in other students. The career office also puts out misleading (again, not incorrect, but misleading) information about the career prospects at this school. It’s a good school. But I have a feeling like I’ve just bought a new car; it might be a perfectly good vehicle, but I have the feeling that I was duped. I would suggest doing research outside the official office. Don’t speak to students that the admissions team puts you in contact with. Visit the school and talk to lots of students, particularly those who don’t look like model students. Read guides. Ask lawyers. Many admissions deans are little more than salespeople right now, since there are still many more applicants than there are places at law school. They need to sell the school to the best applicants rather than merely put bodies in seats. I would take what they say with a huge pinch of salt, and not trust them on financial information until you see the offer in writing in your mailbox. But note that their untrustworthiness doesn’t mean that it’s not a good school—it merely means that you should be careful. Schwingy McWiener

They might not try to lie to you, but their job is to sell the school, not to give you objective information. So take everything with a (large) grain of salt. public interest law

If you can afford to, you should visit at least the top few law schools on your list. You can bet that no law school will accurately depict what it’s really like to attend that school in its show books. You will see a picture of a wonderfully–stocked library on one page, whereas in reality, that picture omits the filthy carpet and rotting ceiling tiles, not to mention the dated collections and unhelpful librarians. You will read a block of text describing how accessible professors are, yet it will not show you the reality that most professors spend only a few hours in their offices each week, and spend most of that time talking to other professors instead of students. You will see pictures of the classrooms, yet until you actually sit in those rooms, you won’t have any idea that room A12 smells on rainy days, every chair in room B45 squeaks, and half the desks throughout the library lack places to plug in your laptop.

Look into the other factors that are important to you. My list includes: the swimming pool and the locker rooms; public transportation and parking; how full the library is (are there any spare desks?); how well lit and quiet the library is; where the local food joints are (where can you grab a meal during the day?; do you have to bring lunch?; is there a microwave around?; a fridge?); where to go running near the main law buildings; how happy are the administrators, especially in offices like financial aid and registration? I also like campuses that allow students to bring their dogs and have a place to tie them up during classes. But that’s me. Capri

I think visiting schools is important. It should be done early in the process so you can avoid spending time on schools you definitely don’t plan to apply to. Visiting schools will give you part of the information you’ll need to decide if a school is right for you, but it shouldn’t be the only factor you consider. Most schools have some kind of formal visit program or an open house program they steer applicants to. As for an informal look around, hand deliver your application if you feel the need to invent a pretext for a visit. I just showed up at a couple of schools and asked for someone to answer a few questions. I was never told to go away or treated like I was imposing. And the data I got was more informative than what I got at the formal events. Chief

If I could do it over I would try to visit all the schools I was interested in applying to before I sent out my applications. In my particular case I couldn’t, so I ended up getting into some schools that really didn’t “click” for me. My advice is visit, visit, visit. theduck

If you attend an open house, you’ll get a chance to ask questions of the admissions and financial aid staff (everything else is contrived and won’t give you much useful information). I suggest you get business cards or, at the very least, e–mail contact information for the director and a named assistant. If the school arranges other formal visits (most do), you can get sit in on a 1L class and you can spend time one–on–one with a student (usually chosen to match your interests or situation—evening program/single parent/fresh out of undergrad/etc.) Again, remember names and contact information. Also, see how large the class is. Your class section will be as large and class size is important. Dropping by is also good because you can see how the staff react when they aren’t expecting you and therefore aren’t on their best behavior. If you get a good feeling when you just drop by, look around the campus. Ask if they have any additional materials on the school or a program of note that you can take (get contact information and write it inside the brochure—if you haven’t already gotten it in a past visit). Knowing which school is right is the result of more than just a visit or two, but it is important to get a feeling about the campus and the students and whether or not you feel like you belong. Chief

Without jumping too far ahead, visiting schools can also be a good tool to help you decide between offers of admission later in the cycle that are too difficult to pick between on paper alone. Don’t feel that it’s ever too late (or too early) to start visiting schools, both formally and informally—it’s a tool that you can use more than once.

I would advise, finances permitting, to visit all these schools personally. You are correct that all would provide a good legal education, but each will have its own personality, if you will, and you would be wise to see if it meshes with your own personality. Granted, that’s not an inexpensive proposition, but one that you may find invaluable, especially when you consider the cost will be insignificant compared to the overall cost of your legal education. Patriotism

I scheduled several interviews with administrators and faculty so that I could grill them. I figured I would be paying a hundred grand for their services, so I should be sure it was worth it. I did no groveling—I treated them as if they were a commodity I was considering investing in. One commented on this and said, “I see that you are interviewing us. I hope we pass. We need astute, demanding people like you.” Capri

DOES THE TYPE OF LAW YOU WANT TO PRACTICE AFFECT WHICH SCHOOLS YOU SHOULD APPLY TO?

As far as a specific practice area you intend to go into, no. In reality, a JD is a JD is a JD—during the first year, you will study the same subjects as every other 1L in the country: torts, civil procedure, property, contracts, criminal law, etc. During your second year, you will be filling in some of the basic gaps that 1L doesn’t cover: evidence, criminal procedure, a couple of UCC courses, etc. You might, if you are lucky, get one or two electives in your second year that you can spend studying your “specialty” guilt–free. Generally, as long as you have a JD and positive Bar results in hand, you’re qualified for an entry–level attorney job in any field. (But not necessarily “qualified” for an entry–level position at a large law firm, as explained later.)

Don’t get sucked into law schools that advertise JD programs with a focus in International Law or a track in Environmental Law. With one or two clear exceptions, they are gimmicks designed to help the schools attract students with higher numbers than they would normally attract, merely because they fool those students into believing that they are getting a “JD plus.” 1L is the same wherever you end up attending, 2L is spent covering what 1L doesn’t cover, and 3L is where you dodge the scheduling conflicts to pick up a handful of courses you really want to study.

After graduation, employers are looking for one thing — grades. If you have good grades, you can write your own ticket coming from the top–ranked schools, and you have a good shot at good jobs from lower–ranked schools. If you have poor grades, you will not have your pick of the jobs coming from a top school, and you might face a few months’ unemployment coming from a lower–ranked school while you wait for a crumb of a job to fall from some generous (or desperate) employer’s table. Regardless of specialty. A niche employer, such as a boutique firm that handles only family law or only labor law, will still prefer a graduate with a 3.5 law school GPA over a graduate of the same school with a string of Cs and a specialty in that firm’s niche area. (Being a good lawyer is not just about what you know about the law, but how well you can find out what you don’t know, how well you write, how strong your client skills are, and how you can think out a problem. What you know is a tenth of your ability as a lawyer, and firms know this; hence their favoritism towards graduates with better grades, rather than “specialty” graduates.)

The sum total of this section of the book is that specialties some schools offer are more often than not merely gimmicks designed to attract students to schools that they would otherwise not consider. Employers generally don’t care—they just care about your grades, your personality, and your other skills. What law you learn in the classroom rarely follows you into the workplace and rarely has any direct practical use. Your writing, analysis, and communication skills matter the most, and skills are shown by a great GPA…and can be carried from one practice area to another.

SO YOU’RE SAYING IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT SCHOOL I GO TO?

With limited (but important) exceptions, yes. It doesn’t matter one bit. The two exceptions are simple. First, if you want to work in a large law firm, then you should really try to go to a top–25 law school. Failure to do so will reduce your chances of finding employment in one of those large firms to almost zero, unless you have some stunning prior experience (e.g., you were a physician or star bond trader before law school). Unless you rank at or near the top of your class at the end of your first year, large firms are almost foreclosed as a career option. More on large firms later.

The second exception is equally simple: You should not attend an unaccredited law school. Unless the ABA has accredited the school, avoid it unless you have absolutely no other options. The reasoning is that you are going to law school as a first step in your career as a lawyer, and law degrees from schools unaccredited by the ABA will make you ineligible to take the Bar exam in most states. You should also aware that there is intense competition at the lower ranks of the ABA–accredited schools for law jobs, and if you attend a non–ABA–accredited law school, you are automatically at a severe disadvantage for any law job. (This is true both within the state that allows a graduate of such a school to sit for a “baby bar” as well as for those who wish to travel to another state to practice. The odds are extraordinarily against a graduate from an unaccredited law school)

Money should not be a reason used to justify attending an unaccredited school over an ABA–accredited school, because the tuition at many unaccredited law schools is about the same as an average ABA–accredited school.

If you’re just going to law school to learn about the law, then unaccredited schools might be an economical alternative to an accredited law school. However if you want to practice law when you graduate, you’d be stupid not to go the accredited route. There are some cheap law schools out there, and there’s really no reason to go the non–accredited route unless there is no other option. It’s just not worth the trouble that you will undoubtedly encounter throughout your legal career. Mary

Neither are unaccredited schools easier or more flexible than ABA–accredited schools. If you can’t find a day or evening program at an ABA–accredited law school that fits your schedule that or you think is an academic challenge you could undertake, then forget law school altogether. You will not get an easier time at regionally–accredited or unaccredited schools, and if you can’t find the time to study at an ABA–accredited school, then chances are, you wouldn’t be able to find it at any other school.

Distance learning. In one word: No. While unaccredited law schools are thought by the ABA, employers, and clients to be lacking, distance legal education is a waste of time and money. Yes, you will graduate with a “JD” and you will have some understanding of the law, but you will have a hard time taking any Bar exam with a distance education law degree, and you will have almost no chance of finding gainful employment practicing law.

Everyone should avoid distance legal education like grim death. Rat

I think the classroom experience is a vital and indispensable part of law school. Just my opinion, but I think you’d do yourself a disservice by doing law school online. Unless, of course, your options are to do it online or not at all. djd06

I highly recommend that you think twice before signing up for an online law school. The only reason I could think of for someone doing this is if they wanted the legal knowledge, but didn’t particularly need the degree. Mardee

Run. Run like the wind! Online is fine for undergrad completion. However, law school on–line is a waste of a dream. You are very limited. An article I read recently showed that those who have chosen online law school did it for finite reasons, such as “never going to be a lawyer but enhancing a non–law career with a JD.” krinannie

ALL ABOUT RANKINGS

The annual ranking of law schools in the United States by U.S. News and World Report is the source of the majority of controversy about what the “best” law school to attend is. There are two schools of thought, and one smart path to follow between the two schools of thought, with two notable exceptions. First, a word about the rankings.

All ABA–accredited schools are ranked. The rankings give schools a numerical ranking, and also split schools into tiers (top 100, tier 3, tier 4). The top tier contains the name–brand schools you would expect—Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and friends. The process of ranking takes into account all manner of statistics about the schools, notably the GPA and LSAT of the incoming class. Other factors revolve around arbitrary concepts of reputation. Employment statistics (self–reported) also come into play.

Many law school guides claim that one should attend the highest–ranked school you are accepted to. Unless you fall into a particular category of applicant, this is universally poor advice for reasons explained below.

The rankings’ main flaw is that by assigning a number to each school, it suggests that the higher–ranked the school is, the “better” it is, and particularly, that a school ranked at, say, 85, is “better” than a school ranked “89.” This is a trap you cannot afford to fall into—literally, you cannot afford to play this game, with the same notable exception illustrated below. Falling into this trap will ensure you turn down valuable scholarship offers and that your education ends up costing you a fortune when it need not cost that much.

In brief, one group (the largest) will claim that you should attend the highest–ranking law school you get into, regardless. The other group will claim that you should ignore the rankings, and look at the school that is the most appropriate for your needs, taking into consideration a multitude of factors. The smart path is, in essence, a combination of the two: pay some attention to the rankings, and pay attention to the school that best fits your needs, including the needs of your career (i.e., where you want a shot of working).

The open secrets are that the rankings make money for U.S. News; they aren’t going away; and certain employers (namely, the large law firms) pay close attention to schools that are ranked at the top (and all but ignore the schools ranked thereinbelow). Rankings are important and should not be ignored—picking the right law school for you is too important. Even if you dislike them intensely and philosophically, it’s unwise to ignore them completely.

You should blindly attend the highest–ranked school you get into only if you have your sights set on working for a large law firm (i.e., one with upwards of fifty lawyers) when you graduate. If a top–25 law school, then, depending upon the market and firm, top–10–25% of your class should get you there. If anything lower, then you’ll need to place in the top 5–10% of your class to even get the interview. It’s that competitive (and snobbish). This is the first of only two exceptions. The second is that, if you aim to teach law, you had better attend one of the top five—yes, that’s not a misprint—top five law schools…and place among its top graduates (i.e., law review via the “grade–on,” then law review editor, then judicial clerkship, then perhaps a one– or two–year stint at a national firm).

There is, incidentally, a “reverse” exception: You might be able to get better scholarship offers from schools that are “beneath” your LSAT and GPA (as it is they who want to win you over), making the process of obtaining a legal education comparatively inexpensive for you. Again, keep your goal in mind.

Life is what you make it. Hard work, focus, and determination combined with humility and gratitude (the latter being more important than many would like to believe) will serve you better, and at many more times in your life, than a one–time designer tag on your education that ceases to be of importance after couple of years out of school. s.g.

My problem with going to a lower–ranked school is this. I want to open as many doors for myself as possible. And the fact is, a JD from a top ten school will open more doors in public interest, in policy, in academics and in government, than a J.D. from a lower–ranked school. If I just wanted to be a lawyer and pass the bar, I’d be fine with that. But I want more, and I think that choosing a lower–ranked school may curtail my options later. Prestige matters because the best public interest positions often have heavy competition. It matters because I may find that an academic law career is the way to go. It matters because prestige opens doors I might want to go through. We all know that the quality of education I might get at, say, Michigan, is the same that I’d get somewhere else. But if none of the people who are judging me believe that, I lose. Fiver

I think it is important to know what you want to do with your law degree. If a local school will suffice, then go for it. If it’s prestige, big bucks, and a panoramic view of the bay from the 22nd floor that you’re after, then maybe a 4th–tier school won’t afford you that opportunity right out of law school. That’s not to say that you can’t achieve those things with a degree from a 4th–tier school either. Then again, I still go back to the question of where do the graduates of the other ~160 law schools go? There are successful attorneys in all areas of law and from every imaginable law school. It seems problematic to place so much emphasis solely on the rankings. BatDog

I think the most important thing is doing well at whatever school you go to. But I also never wanted to feel that my choice of going to school would be an impediment in any way; i.e., I like knowing that being at the highest–ranked school I can go to will facilitate me being given the benefit of the doubt on first meeting, if you know what I mean. scrummie2

SO RANKINGS ARE NOT IMPORTANT?

No. They are important, but they don’t really have any bearing on what quality of lawyer you will end up being. You can attend the top–ranked school and end up being a useless lawyer. You can attend the lowest–ranked school and end up being a stunning lawyer. End of story. Many law applicants are arrogant, competitive, and immature—they have done nothing throughout their twenty–one years except attend colleges, and they have nothing to “compare” themselves to others in the same position with except, the prestige of their educational institutions. To someone at that phase of their lives, attending a higher–ranked school is all they have to convince themselves that they are “better” than someone who ended up at a lower–ranked school. Many prelaw types obsess over the rankings as if attending a higher–ranked school will guarantee that they become a better lawyer than someone at a lower–ranked school, although nobody really gives a damn where you went to law school after you pass the Bar—all they care about is whether you can do the job or not.

I’ve never heard of a judge or a jury stopping court to ask a lawyer where he went to school. johnny99

The tier is really irrelevant. It is the school itself, what type of faculty they have assembled, what kind of library they have, to some extent the facility. krinannie

My opinion on the ranking issue is that there are national schools (i.e., top 14 or so) and regional schools (the rest). neurosis

Don’t sweat the rankings. You’re going to learn the same stuff at your school that students learn at Harvard. Granted, the Harvard grad will have more opportunities upon graduation, but don’t automatically assume he or she will be the better attorney. Patriotism

I don’t sweat what others think about tiers and schools and so on. If someone decides to make a snap judgment based on one piece of information about me, oh well. I’ll do fine without them. Chief

SO THEY ARE IMPORTANT?

No. They are not important, except in one specific situation. In general, they are a useful tool, no more important or less important than any other tools you have to help you pick a school. They give you a good insight into what schools are the best and what schools are not thought of so highly (although even attending the “worst” ABA–accredited law school is still a stunning achievement in the eyes of most people, and even the “worst” ABA–accredited law school will give you a JD that, coupled with a positive Bar exam result, will allow you to practice in exactly the same places as those with JDs from top–ranked schools).

The only time you should pay the utmost attention to the rankings is if you have set your sights on working at a large law firm. If this is the case, then you should know up front that these firms recruit almost exclusively from the top–ranked law schools. Why? Many reasons. Harvard graduates bring in the prestige– seeking clients, and the money that follows. Harvard graduates are, almost without fail, some of the brightest law students available, and the Harvard JD essentially guarantees that you’re hiring someone very smart (although it doesn’t guarantee that they will be a good lawyer). And so on.

Does this mean that you can only fulfill your dreams of working in one of those prestigious, large law firms straight out of law school if you attend a top–ranked school? In a word, yes. Unless you can guarantee that you will be in the top few percent of your law school class at most other schools (which is something you cannot guarantee, regardless of how hard you work and how smart you are), then you stand very little chance of being hired by one of those large law firms. If this kind of job is the sole reason you are attending law school, then do not attend any law school that is outside the top 25, and think twice about attending any law school outside the top ten. Your chances of being hired into one of those positions right out of law school drop off precipitously once you start looking at the employment statistics from lower ranked schools.

Unfortunately, rankings are important, especially in the pedigree–conscious field of law. Rat

There will be slight variations from school to school, but you will get a similar type of education from each school. That being said, degrees from so–called “first tier” schools carry further because they have a more national reputation. Other people claim that since these “first tier” schools are more selective, you’ll met classmates that have more “connections.” These connections will help you land a more prestigious position. Bottom Line: The “reputation” of the school is what allows it carry nationally. TheLimit

I’m not so sure it’s the connections as much as it is the competition. If you do well at a first tier school, potential employers know that you were competing and succeeding in a selective environment. johnny99

I disagree with the contention “that no one will care after a couple of years” where you went to school. Sure, a judge won’t grill you on your school’s rank. But if you want to lateral to another firm, your pedigree certainly comes into play. Rat

Fair or not, people will look at your resume and think “that was the best school the applicant could get into,” not, “well, this person obviously got a full ride.” MediaGirl

Well, consider that one of the factors that weighs in the rankings is percentage of graduates who are hired after law school, and the median salary of graduates. The rankings are not just some kind vague opinion, and they bear directly on the issues raised. blinson

There are many students who take rankings to the extreme by placing an extraordinary amount of importance on the ranking of schools they will consider attending. To these students, a school ranked, say, 25, is better than the school ranked 26, even though the differences between the schools are negligible, and no rational person would claim that a school ranked slightly higher than another is by default the better school. Many factors weigh in to making the correct choice of school, and picking schools by ranking alone is a recipe for picking the wrong school. Here’s an example of one ridiculous (but very real) point of view that arises from a gross over–exaggeration of the relevance and importance of the rankings:

I believe that if you don’t attend a top 14, you shouldn’t bother with law school at all. There’s little prestige value in graduating from one of the non–top 14s, save the very, very few that have such incredibly strong regional reputations that locals routinely, and often with straight faces, put them on par with HLS (read: Texas, Notre Dame, et al). Without prestige attached to your degree, you will have to work extremely hard to achieve anything significant in the legal profession. You will probably never be considered “elite.” And without even the opportunity to be considered the very best at what you do, why pursue the career in the first place? Why settle for mediocrity? Chuck E. Chiva

IS THERE ACTUALLY A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIGH AND LOW RANKED SCHOOLS?

Yes. The facilities and faculties of top–ranked law schools are universally tremendous. Libraries are well–stocked and current, professors are well–published, well–respected in their fields, and are generally among the best academic legal minds. Yet having said this, the facilities and faculty at any ABA–accredited law school are adequate to get a fine legal education. Sure, every professor at a lower–ranked school did not graduate from an Ivy League law school, but does this mean they are not as smart? No. Not as good at teaching? No. There are poor teachers at top law schools, and great teachers at low–ranked law schools. You can find the books you need at top law school libraries and at low–ranked law school libraries. If all you’re after is a practical, legal education, then any law school that the ABA has accredited will suffice.

But the top law schools attract, on average, “smarter” students. At the top schools, everyone had little trouble getting a high GPA in undergrad. Everyone had little trouble getting a great LSAT. Everyone, regardless of whether or not you consider a high GPA and high LSAT to be indicative of being smart, is smart. At lower–ranked law schools, there are students who are not so smart. They don’t pick things up as quickly. They struggle with the basics in class. Are you dumb if you attend a lower–ranked school? No. But be prepared to mingle with some less–than– stellar intellects. And will these less–bright individuals at lower–ranked schools end up being bad lawyers? No. We all know that the smarter students are not always the most interesting, or the most motivated, or the most dedicated, or the best.

Some claim that the top law schools, because the students are intellectually gifted, teach a more theoretically–based curriculum, while the lower–ranked schools teach to the Bar. This may be true, but it’s not an obvious difference that you would necessarily notice from sitting in class at a top school and at a lesser–ranked school. You’ll learn what you need to know at any ABA–accredited law school, and the opportunities to go above and beyond what you need to know will be available through most professors and through legal research at any law school if you are looking for something more.

The main difference —and although this book is beginning to sound like a broken record—is that your immediate career opportunities upon graduating from a top school are more plentiful than those you will be looking at if you attended a lower–ranked school. If you want to be a lawyer, then any school will do. If you want to be a lawyer in a large law firm, then this will be an option denied to you if you graduate from a lower–ranked law school.

I also think there are substantive differences in the quality of education at the extremes—at least in many cases. Sure, the classes have the same names, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much. Generally, a top school is more likely to emphasize theory and a lower school is more likely to teach to the bar. Rat

In terms of educational quality to students, the difference is marginal across the board. And rankings don’t matter quite as much as people make them out to. However, law schools are invariably tied to one’s professional career. People don’t usually go to law schools just for the heck of it, you know? And if working at a BigLaw is your objective, rankings do play an important role. Do I like it? No. Should rankings play overwhelming role in choosing which law school to attend? No. Does it matter? Yes, depending on what you’d like to do after you graduate. Alterego

It may not be popular to say it, but really, going to a 4th–tier school is a serious hurdle in your career. The reputation of your school follows you for life, like it or not. That being said, I don’t think the quality of education varies that much at most law schools. I think the “rankings” are by and large illusory. But they do matter. Also, I don’t think going to a 4th–tier means you can’t be successful. You certainly can succeed regardless of where you go—it’s just that it’d be naive not to admit that the 4th–tier school is a hurdle you will have to work to overcome. But it is by no means insurmountable. UF LAW

ATTEND THE HIGHEST–RANKED LAW SCHOOL YOU GET INTO?

On only one condition should you attend the highest–ranked school you get into (if all else is equal): if you have been accepted into a law school ranked 84 locally, and a law school ranked 73 in City A, and you don’t want to move to City A, then attend the local law school—the difference between the schools’ rankings are so small that it’s not worth living somewhere you don’t want to be for three years. If, however, you don’t care where you live or end up working, then move—your employment prospects may be slightly better, and slightly is the operative word. But also take this approach with a dose of common sense. If the school in City A was ranked 12 and the local school was ranked 105, then moving to City A for law school would be a worthwhile move for your short– and long–term career. (Again, there’s another situation in which you should blindly attend the highest–ranked school you get into: if you are dead set on placing yourself in the running for a job in a large law firm. If this is the case, then you must attend the highest–ranked school you get into.)

The point is that rankings are a factor that should be taken into account in differing levels of importance depending on the difference between the rankings of the schools. Using rankings to differentiate between a law school ranked within a couple of points of another is foolish, but a large difference in rankings can provide some guidance as to which is better. And the rankings are just one of many factors to take into consideration.

Use the rankings as a tie breaker. Pick schools to apply to based on where you want to go, which schools are appealing to you, which schools you visited and liked, and then use rankings to determine which choice would be more appropriate if you are still unable to decide which school you would like to attend.

If you’re in your 20s, the advice of going to the highest–ranked school possible is sound. If you’re in your 30s or older, I think you need to take some more factors into consideration. I’ll be 36 when I graduate. The thought of paying off six figures worth of student loans, which will likely take a good 20 years thereby making me 56 (nine years from traditional retirement age) when I’m finally done paying off my loans literally makes me ill. Granted if I get a six figure Biglaw job upon graduation, I can likely pay them off quicker, but since I lack the numbers to get into anything but a lower ranked tier one at best, that’s by no means a guarantee, and I’m just not willing to bet 100K in loans that I can get this kind of job or would even want it should it be offered to me. That’s just me, though. Patriotism

Lawyers are snobs. They see a shiny top school on your resume and start foaming at the mouth. However, again, this is not for all top tier schools. This is primarily for Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and for the top tiers in the region you are wanting a job. School rank only follows you to your first job, unless you are H/Y/S, then that follows you for life. So yes, rank is important, certainly. But it isn’t everything. Cinnamon Girl

For nontraditional law students, rankings carry less weight than they do for the younger applicants. The 21–year–old college seniors have little outside responsibility, and they really can, if they choose, attend any school anywhere in the country. They have no houses to sell, no kids in school. They have no spouses’ careers to worry about. Nontrads have these things to consider, and thus can’t often turn their families’ lives upside down based upon a questionably–helpful set of rankings. Most other pre–law guides miss this fundamental difference between nontrads and traditional students: for the average nontrad, there are more important things that law school, and certainly more important things than rankings.

Like the rest of us nontrads, you have additional factors to consider in pursuing your dream aside from the arbitrary rankings of a magazine. Patriotism

PICKING MONEY OVER RANKING?

Law school, as you know by now, can be as expensive as buying a home. To attract at least a few stellar students, lesser–ranked schools extend tempting scholarship offers. Again, this is just one more factor that should be taken into consideration when you are applying to schools. If you have good raw numbers, then the chances are high that by applying to some lower–ranked schools, you may end up with some rather attractive scholarship offers.

Don’t underestimate these offers. While a law degree from a top school will take you far in your career, you will probably pay for it for decades, and your payments will be high enough to prevent you taking anything but a high–paying and ultra–stressful job in a large law firm. A “free” JD from a lower–ranked school will give you the priceless option of being able to work where you like, regardless (to a large extent) of pay; the freedom from massive student loans is worth a ranking you might otherwise ignore. You won’t have to worry about making the loan payments. That public service job you wanted will actually be a real option, not just a white lie you write in your personal statement. Before law school, you might think that you’ll have no trouble working in a large law firm for a decade, but heed the oft–heard advice from law students: If they knew before they decided what they learn by the end of law school, they would have taken the scholarships over the rankings. At least then they would have had the option to do anything with their degrees, including not being a lawyer at all.

But once again, if your dream is a prestigious job at a prestigious large law firm, then ignore every other consideration except the rankings themselves.

I’ve passed up countless full scholarship offers. At least ten letters have come right out and guaranteed full scholarship simply based on LSAT. I’ve chosen to attend NYU simply because the opportunities are so much greater with a degree from NYU. I mean, consider the top firms in the country (go check the Vault Guide out of your local library). It can’t get much plainer than saying that. The top NYC Firms (where I plan on practicing) recruit almost exclusively out of Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and NYU (with a few Penn, Cornell, and UVA thrown in). Sure, you can get a good job coming out of one of those other schools, but I’d rather go 150k in debt for a real shot at the real big time. skolastikos

NOW I UNDERSTAND THE RANKINGS. HOW DO I USE THEM FOR CHOICE OF WHERE TO APPLY? (OR, THE BASICS ABOUT REACHES, TARGETS, AND SAFETIES.)

Admissions is all about the numbers. End of story. So the rankings can tell you a lot about where you might get in and where you might as well not even bother applying.

The rankings themselves give general statistical information about each school that will give you a rough idea of where you are virtually guaranteed to be rejected, where you have a fair chance of acceptance, and where you will almost certainly be accepted. After you have selected a set of schools that you would like to attend, take a look at the statistics of the schools and figure out which category that school falls into: a reach, a target, or a safety. As the names suggest, a reach is a school that, based on your raw numbers, you have little chance of gaining admission; a target is where you have a fair shot of acceptance; and a safety is where the law school would be mad to reject you.

I would say anything over 80% chance of acceptance is a safety, anything under 40% is a reach, and everything in the middle is where you should end up. uke

Rankings generally mirror the LSAT and GPA of the students who end up attending each particular law school, so, for instance, if you have virtually no shot of acceptance (based on your raw numbers) at a school ranked 50, then forget applying to schools ranked far above that, even if the statistics appear to show that those schools usually accept one or two students with your LSAT/GPA combination. It’s a waste of money.

Do people ever get into reach schools? Yes. Often? No. That’s why they are reaches. But it does happen, and so you should think about applying to at least a couple of your dream schools (Almost always, admission is granted because of extraordinary factors beyond the LSAT/GPA, such as raising children through a civil war and migrating to the United States with only your children and a single pair of shoes among you.) Keep in mind that these will take even greater effort as to the application.

Woo Hoo! I got into one of my super reaches—the University of Pennsylvania! I am so unbelievably excited!! Coconut66

The obvious flip–side to this is that people generally get into their safeties. There will be exceptions, and people are sometimes rejected from schools they are numerically qualified for. But in the majority of cases, if you have above–average numbers for a particular school, you will be accepted there.

If you apply to a broad spectrum of reaches, targets, and safety schools, you will get into most safeties, a few targets, and maybe a reach. Apply only to safeties and you’ll end up holding a bunch of acceptances, but none will excite you and you’ll always end up wondering “What if…?” Apply only to reaches, and you’ll likely find yourself at the end of the application season with no fat envelopes at all. (Rejections are usually on a single page of paper; acceptances usually include ancillary paperwork, and thus are much heftier.) Apply only to targets, and you’ll end up worrying whether or not you’ll be accepted or not (although you’ll probably end up with at least one acceptance).

You may scoff at safeties, but when you get that first acceptance letter (probably from a safety, since they won’t have to think too hard about whether to accept you or not), the taste will be satisfying. That’s a lot of work, and you’ll have a “bird in the hand.” You will have in your hand a guarantee that you will be attending law school somewhere, and the relief that such a letter brings is worth every penny of the application fee. And remember, your safety will be just as impressive to the average– person–on–the–street. To them, it’s law school, and that’s what counts.

HOW MANY SCHOOLS TO APPLY TO?

First, remember the first rule: don’t send an application to a school you would not attend. Look at the schools you would attend and divide them up into reaches, targets, and safeties. Then finally, look at your wallet. Each application may take a bite out of your funds to the tune of $100 or more. (Don’t forget the transcript fees, reference logistics, and so on—in addition to the actual application fee.)

As a guide, if you have $1,000 to spend, fire off two reaches, four targets, and three safeties. Then spend the remaining $100 on a few bottles of whiskey to either celebrate or drown your sorrows. (Some might argue 2:5:2, or perhaps 3:4:1…or some such…but the more important point is not to put all of your application eggs in one acceptance–probability basket.)

If you have limited funds, then maximize your chances of being accepted somewhere by applying only to schools where you have a realistic chance. Perhaps 1:3:1. But remember that the application phase is not the place to scrimp. Unless you truly cannot afford to send out more than one or two applications, you should send out as many (within reason) as you can: safety applications, and if money allows after the sure bets have been taken care of, a couple of targets and maybe one reach (to a school for which you would drop everything, sell plasma to attend…and that you simply must apply to just so you never wonder why you never gave that dream school a shot).

I applied to two schools—one local long long long long shot, and one local good chance. I couldn’t move to go to law school either. I didn’t get the long shot, but I did get the other one. I know the feeling of seeing all these other applicants having every law school in the US open to them, whereas some of us only have one or two schools to choose from. It made me jealous before I started law school (I had the grades and LSAT for the top 14, but none were in my area). But now that I’m in law school, I appreciate it for what it is. Anon

I would increase the number of schools you are applying to (I don’t think four is enough, unless you are limited for other reasons). With the increase in the number of applicants, I simply wouldn’t take anything for granted. TXLawGirl

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: ATTENDING FULL–TIME OR PART–TIME

Many law schools have, in addition to their full–time day programs, part–time evening programs that are four years instead of three. These part–time programs are generally designed for students who work full–time, so you can keep that corner office you’ve worked so hard for and attend law school too. There are a few things that you need to know about part–time programs before you decide that that’s the best thing for you, though.

Full–time programs are relatively quick to complete, intense, and are the focus of almost all recruiting. (The exceptions might be in clinical programs, but there you’re likely to find a position, via your prof, in a smaller firm or agency that might not interview at your law school at all.) In addition, many extracurricular activities (e.g., Law Review) are tailored for the full–time students. More than that: a full–time student is an assumption. Part–time programs, even at the same school, are not often considered to be as weighty as their full–time twins, and you might find that even from the higher–ranked schools, your part–time law degree is not really going to get you that job of your dreams. (After you’re out, no one will know or care…but while you’re in, nearly everyone will.) There is a feeling that if you can’t fit just under three years of school into your life, you can’t really be committed to the law.

If you’re simply attending law school to get your foot in the legal door and have a shot at most law jobs, then part–time is as good as full–time. But if you’re looking for a shot at a job in a large law firm, then part–time attendance will be the kiss of death.

I go part–time because I couldn’t afford to do it any other way. If you have a job that pays 50K, you’re losing 150K (plus benefits) to save one year (3 years vs. 4 years) and not have to worry about working during school. The way I looked at it was that I would work 16 hour days for a couple of years out of school for 100K a year, so what is the difference if I do it now? Plus, as I am an oldie, the 4 extra years tacked onto my retirement means a lot. Teach

Law school stress will be tough enough without giving up my steady paycheck, medical insurance, and other benefits. NightSchool

I have found that all my professors are really understanding of us part–timers. They’ve even gone out of their way to let us know how much they admire our sacrifices in coming after a long day of work. uke

Like many nontrads, you may be returning to school for a fresh start, which includes immersing yourself, shooting for top of your class (you were, after all, quite the sharpie in undergrad), and not missing out on the experience of law school—something that helps shape your character as a lawyer and helps you “fit in” with the majority of lawyers who have also gone through full–time law school and know how hard it can be. Attending part–time gives you the knowledge that law school teaches you, but you will miss out on the relationships that you can build and the bonding that will take place between a group of people who are thrust together in a challenging environment for three years, full–time. Is it worth quitting that job for? That’s a choice only you can weigh. Keep in mind, however, that you will almost certainly be quitting your job in four years’ time anyway.

Part of going back to school for me is being able to fully dedicate myself to the endeavor, to enjoy learning again. That’s what I want, and I know that if I take some of the jobs out there (I’ve been offered several already) and go to school part–time, it will detract from me fully concentrating on my studies. scrummie2

So what is the workload for part–time students like, so you can make an educated decision? Part–time law students who work full–time will almost universally tell you that it is difficult to fit three years of full–time study into four years of evenings—a simple mathematical calculation reveals that part–timers must accomplish more, in less time, than their non–working, full–time counterparts. Here’s a selection of comments that might shed more light:

I take three classes per semester, plus 2 in the summer for four years. Outside of class, I spend about 15 hours studying—more when there is an exam or paper due. Grandma

I attend four nights per week with three classes during the standard school year, plus two classes in the summer for four years. Teach

I take 3 classes per semester and legal writing. I will take 2 classes in the summer to graduate in 4 years. I work approximately 38 hours per week at a professional job. I have really had to cut corners on my job. The time crunch is unbelievable. Also, anytime there is an exam or a paper due, people take off from work. If you are unable to do that, well, you see what I mean. MaggieC

I have 4 classes per semester 4 nights a week. I work 40 hours a week and it is definitely manageable. Just know that you are going to give up your weekends during the semester. I work from 8–5 and go to class from 6–10. I go home and organize my notes and then go to bed. Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, I probably spend 15 hours or so doing my reading for the next week and anything else I have time for. uke

MONEY

Law school fees vary widely from school to school. The traditional public versus private fee differential, which used to be substantial, no longer exists to quite the same extent—some private schools are cheap, some publics are expensive, and especially so for out–of–state students. (The top public law schools—such as California (Boalt Hall and UCLA), Michigan, and Texas—have, for example, gone from astonishingly inexpensive, even for out–of–state students, to not–quite–exorbitant–but–still– pricey, even for in–state students. Obviously, these Ivy League–in–all–but–name public schools are a great deal, but not quite as great a deal as before.) You should not rule out attending private schools until you have worked the numbers for those schools—make your initial list of schools to attend based on what schools you would like to attend and what schools you would absolutely not attend, not what you think you can or can’t afford. You might be surprised about the relative cost of private versus public, especially as many private schools offer substantial scholarships to many students, and substantial partial scholarships to many more students, whereas public schools must rely more on public funds to offer grants or other scholarships, and must placate more interests in the disbursement of monies.

An important sidebar: Some assume that public law schools are better (perhaps by their history or nature) than private law schools, or, vice versa, that private schools are better. Nonsense. You should not think that a private education is superior to a public education, or vice versa. Look at the donut, not the hole. To compare, say, Michigan or Texas to any but the top law schools would be silly; likewise, to compare a private school to any school—public or private—too far out of its ranking “class” is absurd. [Editor: I once heard an applicant voice a preference for a private law school ranked much lower than the public law school in the applicant’s home state. He insisted that the private law school was “better” because it was private! I was floored, and nothing I could say would convince him how untrue his assumptions were. It was fine that he preferred the private school, even at a substantially higher cost. But it didn’t mean that my evaluation of his intelligence and judgment didn’t go way, way down. Think about these factors carefully…and dispassionately; where emotions rule, understand that. This, after all, is what a lawyer is supposed to do.] Moreover, most “flagship” public law schools (usually affiliated with the main campus of the state school) are very good, because they have drawn from the resources of an entire state’s population, usually for over a century. Not just the ones mentioned, but also some surprises (to those outside the state), such as Iowa and Washington. Such long–term and broad public support is hard for many private schools to match, except at the top or with an especially loyal alumni. At any given level, law schools “know” who they are. (And most lawyers and judges know too.)

I just hope the court doesn’t find out I didn’t go to a top school. Boy would that be embarrassing, because then I would have to admit that as student at a state school, I am incapable of doing quality work or ever amounting to anything. johnny99

Does it make a difference to go to a private school? It can, not because the school is private, but because of the school’s reputation. Riparian Vegetation

As mentioned earlier, you might also find that some of your safety schools will be good sources of an inexpensive education, as many scholarships are merit–based. Thus if you have great numbers (for that school), public or private, you might find a rather nice reduction in your tuition accompanying your offer of admission.

The downside of law school is that it’s expensive for nearly everyone. The upside is that you can, in addition to scholarships, get loans to cover most or all of the costs. Of course, loans must be paid back, but with student loan rates at historic lows, it’s probably the cheapest source of money you can find, ever. Forget what your parents told you about debt—it’s not all bad. Essentially, if it’s for consumption, debt can be very, very bad. So they’re right about that. If, however, it’s for an investment— something that will increase in value—debt can be good. (Note, however, that there are few true investments out there, and one must still be careful.) Education increases value enormously; student loans are thus brilliant debt. Within reason.

WHERE CAN YOU REALISTICALLY APPLY TO?

As a nontrad, you are probably at least in your mid–twenties. You may well be married. Many of you have children. No one is suggesting that you put law school over your family commitments and rip your kids out of elementary school simply because you want to attend a law school three states away instead of a local school. So you can instantly narrow the field of schools you would even consider applying to by crossing off those schools that would require moving to a location where you would not be willing to move to under any circumstances. Take it from us—law school isn’t worth giving up a family for.

I can’t go out of town because I really don’t want to sell the house, plus the wife has a great job so I guess it’s all or nothing! DaveM

The local long shot is daytime only, which means if by some chance I did get in, I’d have to quit my job. This is not really an option, since I have a house and mortgage. Mardee

My feeling is to go to the in–state school with scholarship money. Having been moved several times as a kid (at age 7 and 16), I would not want to put my kids through the emotional upheaval of moving to another state if I had the opportunity to attend law school and stay where I am. Wren

Along the same lines: Commuting. There’s a good chance that there might not be a law school close to where you currently live, although there’s a good chance that there’s a law school within an hour’s drive or so. Anything much more than an hour and you’re probably going to end up spending so much time in the car that your studies and family will both suffer.

Some people record lectures and play them back in the car. If this is your thing, then go for it. Others use audio study aids. Again, if you’re into that kind of thing, then knock yourself out. The majority of people will just turn on their favorite radio station or put in a good CD—it’s the only time during your day that you actually get to relax. As you’re only supposed to be slightly concentrating on them—You’re driving, remember?—no audio aid will be even half as valuable as sitting down with a book and reading it or going over your notes, outlining, briefing, and other study. Just don’t count on a commute as being the functional equivalent of the library.

There are about three people in my class who commute ninety minutes each way, and so far they’ve survived. I know it’s not easy, especially when there’s bad weather, but if it’s the only option, then I think anyone can make it work, given their motivation. And at least one does tapes the lectures and listens to them in the car. Mardee

If you could find others to carpool with it might be a great idea. You could have your own little “captive” study group. I wouldn’t recommend it otherwise, but if it’s what you gotta do it’s what you gotta do. Teach

Time becomes extremely important to you in law school. Driving that distance will become prohibitive for things like attending review sessions, meeting with a study group, whatever. When you throw in the fatigue factor, you have cut into your study time a lot. Definitely look at renting a place near the law school. MaggieC

My days are long, my mood is generally not the best, and I am goddamn TIRED all the time. And it’s true, the drive is really a killer. With that said, I’m doing it, I’m committed to doing it, and although I still don’t have my last exam grade yet, it seems that my grades are surprisingly good. It’s all about how bad you want it. Just try to focus on the positive but there are gonna be some ROUGH days. ExFreewayNowJerod

WHERE TO GO FOR HELP DURING THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS

There are three places where you can go during the admissions process for help and questions. First, ask the schools you’re trying to gain admission to. As long as you’re not annoying them by asking questions that you could have answered by looking at their web site or brochures, give them a polite call and see what they have to say. They will not mind, just as long as you are pleasant and realize that they have other things to do aside from helping you over the phone. Treat them like crap and you could well find yourself at the bottom of the pile. (A good lesson to learn now— treat the administrative staff very nicely, since your paralegals and assistants in your firm after law school can help you or screw you, as can clerks of court.)

The second place is your undergraduate school’s pre–law advisor. Undergrad advisors vary from stunningly helpful to utterly useless. Unless your advisor has many years’ experience in advising or has actually been to law school, then take what they say with a pinch of salt. If they have no library of law school admissions materials, then they might not be as great as they claim to be. If it’s not too late, make friends with a strong pre–law advisor (even if it’s not someone from your school!), because they can guide you through the preparation and process of admissions. If they’re useless, you’ll know before long. Even if you’ve graduated many years ago, give them a call and see if they can chat to you for a while—they will generally be more than happy to help.

The third option is online. Please excuse the shameless plug, but sites such as this book’s parent site, www.nontradlaw.net, offer forums to connect to countless thousands of prospective law students in the same situation you are in, or who have gone through what you’re currently going through, and they can, if moderated properly, offer a great source of information and advice. Of course, you’ll want to consider how applicable any advice is to your own situation or preferences, but the guidance out there—nearly all intended in good spirit—is quite helpful.

Law school admissions consultants? There are a few around, and they deserve a word or two of caution. They are expensive. They offer the same information everyone else can give you or that you can find yourself. They essentially tell you what this book (and other law school admissions books) tell you: it’s all about numbers. They have no influence over law school admissions whatsoever, even if they claim to have connections. In essence, they are a service that provides two things—first, they tell you which schools to apply to, and second, they might proofread your personal statement and application. Great. For hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, they have told you what this or any other law school admission book tells you: namely, don’t apply where you have no realistic chance, and proofread your personal statement for typos. For instance:

Say these services cost $1,000. For that, you could get yourself three good law school prep books (e.g., Planet Law School, Law School Confidential, and one other), you could get yourself all the LSAT prep tests you need, and you could have $800 left over for some professional LSAT coaching. Don’t forget that law school is all about the numbers—if you have the right GPA and LSAT, you will get into the school of your dreams (except perhaps Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, where they have their pick of people with high GPAs and LSATs.) Before you even think about spending money on consulting services, make sure your GPA and, more importantly, LSAT ducks are all in a row. There’s nothing any admissions consultant can do for you if your LSAT is poor. Spending $1,000 on LSAT prep will be worth $10,000 spent on admissions consulting. Oldguy

I’ve contacted a number of consultants and worked with two, and I didn’t find either of them worth the money— they had serious ideological axes to grind other than helping me get into law school. Politenessman

Besides, much of what they offer is available for free. Your undergrad will have a pre–law advisor (or someone who does casual pre–law advising). Use them. Your undergrad library will have all the law school books and information in the reference section. Use it. The law school undergrad library will probably have LSAT prep materials in the reference section too. Use them. It’s all free. Then go to your school’s English department and get some help with your personal statement. It’s free. Then study hard for the LSAT. Prep books are averagely priced. Buy the practice tests—all of them—and do them under real conditions. Then learn from the mistakes. This is all available to you right now for free or the price of a couple of books. If you need help picking law schools, use books that tell you what each school is like. Then visit the schools, or call the admissions offices and ask for the e–mail addresses or phone numbers of some of their students. Speak to those students and find out what it’s really like if you can’t go to the schools. This is free. If you need help with a CV or application forms, use one of the many books that your school career services department or the reference desk at the library has. Oldguy

There. This book has saved you the many hundreds of dollars you would have spent on a law school admissions consultant. If you look carefully at web sites for admissions consultants, they often contain a disclaimer to the effect that GPA and LSAT are the most important factors in law school admissions and that they can offer no guarantee that they will get you into a school that you could not have gained admission to based solely on your GPA and LSAT. Read the small print.

THE MECHANICS: WHEN TO APPLY

Early. If for no other reason than making you take the LSAT early, giving you time to prepare and retake if you mess it up. But it does seem to be the case that law school admissions, rolling or otherwise, favor those who apply early. Apply late in the season (i.e., after Christmas), and you’re setting yourself up for unfavorable treatment, whether the schools intend it to be that way or not.

Best advice: score high, apply early. Worst advice: procrastinate and pray. Capri

Optimally, I would have taken the LSAT in June the year before I was to matriculate. This way, I could study for it without having to worry about undergrad responsibilities, and get a score back early. Apps are generally accepted from September onwards—sometimes later—and it is a definite advantage to be one of the first in line to be reviewed at many schools. So if you get a great LSAT score from the June test, you can be first in the queue when applications open up. But you are also given the chance to retake in October should the score be bad, and you will still get the score back in time to have a timely application sent in. Taking the October LSAT makes it hard to retake (you have the December test, this is right in exams, and the scores aren’t back until it is getting late in the application timeframe.) Mary

June LSAT is best. There’s also the fact that you don’t have to be studying for the LSAT and writing your personal statement at the same time, meaning you have more time to devote to both. Also you can decide where to apply after getting your score back, which can make your applications more targeted. Sarah

I took the October LSAT, and I met several people there who had taken the February LSAT and applied to our local Tier 4 during Feb./March. They felt “Oh, it’s a Tier 4, I’ll get in no problem.” Surprise, they were dinged. So there they were, another year rolled around and they were back taking the LSAT and doing their apps all over again. Wren

I took the December LSAT and canceled that score, retook this month and just sent my apps in this week. After all, they won’t look at your application until it is complete anyway. I would guess that the reports should be requested by mid–March. If we get waitlisted or dinged, so be it. Once the apps are in we have no control over it. I’ll try again next year if that happens. Sam Fisher

Your chances probably aren’t as great as they would have been if you had gotten started sooner, but I don’t think you are out of luck. Law schools keep some seats open this late in the game because they know there are qualified candidates who, for whatever reason, are not able to take the LSAT until February. Wren

I called the office of admissions and got an extension. It can’t hurt, and the worst they can say is no. msmoonlite

PAPER OR ONLINE APPLICATIONS?

Whichever you prefer. Some people remain old school and don’t want to trust their applications to technology. Some people, particularly those born 1980 and later, have never seen a typewriter. It doesn’t really matter unless the school expresses a preference, in which case you would do exactly what the school asks you to do.

Paper apps lose you the time it takes for the app to arrive in the hands of the deans, but other than that I wouldn’t say that it puts you at any sort of a disadvantage. Ranger Rick

BUT REGARDLESS, IT’S STILL ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS, RIGHT?

Absolutely. If you have the right numbers, you’re in. If you don’t have the right numbers, you’re out. It’s really that simple, regardless of how much law school admissions brochures boast about looking at the complete applicant. If you don’t have even roughly the right numbers, then send your application fee to a charity of your choice—at least then it’s going to a good cause instead of some kid’s scholarship at a school that will reject you.

Admissions is still about numbers, and if you have those, then you’re almost certainly in. Anon

Problems occur when you have split numbers —that is, a high GPA and a low LSAT, or a low GPA and a high LSAT. In these situations, the best you can do to control your fate (apart from retaking the LSAT if that’s your downfall) is to research the schools you’re trying to gain admission to and see which ones prefer GPA over LSAT. Some schools noticeably favor the LSAT in admissions, and some prefer GPA. Most, however, prefer a healthy mixture of both, and it’s unlikely that you’ll find too many schools willing to overlook that 1.85 GPA in favor of a 170 LSAT, and conversely, there’s few schools that will overlook that 138 LSAT in favor of a 3.96 GPA.

The best you can do is cast your net, apply, and see if you can reel in any of the big fish. Teach

You might have better luck if your GPA is old —as in decades old—although don’t count on it. Your GPA is still your GPA, and law schools don’t really care too much if it’s ten minutes old or ten years old. Remember that schools generally have more applicants with “perfect” numbers than they can admit, and, absent an undeniably good excuse, they have no reason to admit anyone with any numerical blemishes whatsoever.

I mentioned my concern over the GPA to one of my recommenders, and she was astonished that 20–year–old grades mean anything! Lynn

I think that the schools have so many applicants that they don’t have to be flexible. There are plenty of great applicants willing to play the numbers game. DorianGre

SO IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I CAN DO TO GET IN?

Interviewing can be a good idea if your schools of choice offer this service. Even if they don’t, it still might be a good idea to ask the admission staff whether you can have a formal interview or not. And even if they say no, you can have your own “interview” by asking for a formal tour of the school, during which you will “accidentally” meet the admissions staff and spend about an hour chatting to them all.

I had met with the admissions counselor at a law fair and she “advised” me to come visit the school. If you have had no contact with the school’s admissions office then now is your chance. Call them and let them know you want a tour of the campus and ask if it is possible to speak with an admissions counselor/advisor. Set up an interview and then go from there. I really expected my interview to be a lot more intense then it was. It was pretty laid back. We talked about college sports, she told me about her undergrad years and I discussed mine. My advice: update your resume and bring that to the interview; discuss the new skills you have and how you learned them—what has changed since you applied to law school. Be very knowledgeable about the school—read the brochure they sent you and go online. Make sure you really know the school and what it’s about. Express sincere interest in the school—the more you know about the school the more it shows you to be serious about it. asdf

The purpose of an interview is to give you the edge over someone who is merely a few sheets of paper. Schools will be more reluctant to reject you if you have interviewed, although if you really don’t have the numbers to be admitted anyway, then don’t bother requesting an interview—it won’t turn you from a 146 LSAT person into a 169 LSAT person. An interview merely puts a face to a name, and it gives you the opportunity to show that you are more than a piece of paper. It won’t be a cure for bad numbers, but it might just give you the advantage over some other mid–range candidates, many of whom will be rejected, and many of whom may be accepted.

The pool of borderline candidates is large. When it comes to picking from this pool the school will want to accept students who will actually attend. Make your desire(s) known to the school. I don’t see how it can’t help you. asdf

SO YOU’VE SENT IN THE APPLICATIONS. NOW WHAT?

Now you wait. If you had average numbers, chances are you applied to a few reaches, a bunch of targets, and a couple of safeties. Forget going to the doctor for Valium—you don’t have too much to worry about. You should get into at least one of the safeties, probably half the targets will bite, and, if you’re lucky, a reach might just take a chance on you.

I haven’t even gotten my LSAT score yet and I still oogle the mailbox every day. Chief

I call home from work every day just to see what came in the mail. Every day I tell myself that I will not give into my mailbox obsession, but who am I kidding? Coconot66

I think unless you’re an auto–admit, schools are going to put off making a decision on your application until they see what else comes in. Coconut66

If you didn’t follow the basic advice about where to apply and you applied to reach schools only (or circumstances were such that you could only apply to a single reach school), then you have lots to worry about because you may well find yourself having no place to attend law school in the fall.

If you had no choice of where to apply to school, you may involuntarily have been forced to apply to only one school, be it a safety, target, or reach. Regardless of which category, your fingernails (and the nearest surface) are still in for a rough ride— it’s not uncommon for a safety to reject even the most qualified applicants. Minimize your chances of this happening by writing to the school and explaining why you, with your stunning numbers, are applying to a school that is routinely ignored by applicants with your numbers if you didn’t already address this issue somewhere in your application.

But the bottom line is that unless you have bad numbers or you made bad decisions during the application process, you will probably be enjoying an acceptance at some point.

Congrats! It’s so nice when the first acceptance comes in...big sigh of relief! You’re going to law school! sdgirl

Don’t call schools to ask about your application except in two situations. First, you sent your application in a month ago and have yet to even receive any kind of confirmation of receipt. In this case, you are more than within your rights to call and check up on whether they received it or not. It’s not unheard of for schools to lose applications, and you would be better off calling and pissing off a secretary than you would be if you left it alone and they really had lost your application.

The second situation occurs when you have not heard a decision and the deadline for applications to arrive has passed (assuming you applied more than a few weeks before the deadline, of course.) At this point, the pile of applications is not getting any bigger, and it should be getting smaller rather rapidly (although prepare yourself for some slow admissions committees—evidently, many schools decide to give the committees a month–long vacation right after the deadline). If it’s getting close to May and you have not heard any decision whatsoever, call and ask if a decision has been made, and if not, when decisions are likely to be made. And if you have been accepted elsewhere and the seat deposit deadline at that lucky school is rapidly approaching, then tell the school you need a decision from them. Be super polite. They can, assuming you have been nice to them earlier, put a rush on your application and make sure you get some kind of decision (yes, no, waitlist) before you need to respond to other school. This can also be a negotiating tactic, but as in poker, play carefully. (Among many other factors, they know the story at least as well as you, and if you give them false information about another law school that needs an answer and they even suspect that you’re lying, what might have been a maybe could just become a No.)

My plan is to give the schools the time they claimed to need (most promised an answer by April). I’ll definitely call if I haven’t heard a reply by their stated deadline. Also, I’ll call if I need them to rush their decision so that I can make an informed choice about a potential seat deposit at a different law school. Neatgin H

As long as you are polite and don’t grill them, it’s fine to call. I called schools last year and it didn’t hurt me—in fact, one of my apps got expedited because they misplaced it and only realized the error when I called. Plum

A slight aside here —you should never think you’ve been accepted to any law school until you have a letter in your hands on that school’s official letterhead stating clearly that you have been admitted to the class you applied to. Never, ever, call a school to find out what your admission status is, get overjoyed when the secretary tells you you’ve been admitted, then send letters to all your other schools telling them that you no longer want to be considered by them. Wait until you have that letter in your hand confirming what the secretary has told you. By all means get excited when someone from the school leaves you a message on your answering machine telling you that you have been admitted, but don’t act upon it until you have it in writing.

You are not offered admission until you get the letter. jello–maker

So you wait for a couple of months. Then, with a lot of prior good judgment and a little luck, you are holding some acceptances. You may find yourself in a situation where you are holding multiple attractive offers. Be careful. Remember why you applied to certain schools and what your criteria were. Don’t get lost at this point in the game. If you applied to schools because they were cheap, and suddenly a reach offers you admission but without a scholarship and it will cost five times what you had planned to pay, watch that you don’t make a rash decision. Wait for a few days, think it over, run the figures, see how it will impact your life (and your family), compare it to the other offers you have on your plate, think for a few days more, and then decide whether or not to stick to your original plan.

The easiest factor to distinguish between or among multiple offers at this stage of the admissions game is to look at the finances. After all, you applied only to schools you’d be happy to attend, right? And as mentioned above, for all intents and purposes (except one—working in a large law firm), every school is similar academically. Look at the bottom line of each offer and reevaluate, since the financial factors are (usually) the unpredictable elements in receiving offers. You never know, prior to applying, whether you will get a scholarship or not—scholarships are the unknown after the application process—and you often have no idea what kind of scholarship you might end up with. Run some detailed calculations of the competing scholarship offers and financial packages—you might find that one school stands out as a clear winner in the financial stakes. However, although the financial side of things can often show you the best school to attend, consider all the factors in light of your situation at the time you have to make decisions, taking care to remind yourself why you want to attend law school and what you hope to get out of it.

Money is a big part of our decision. I have a nice scholarship offer at one school, but it is on the other side of the country. Still, it may be enough to get us to move. Location is also important to us. I only applied to places that we both like, so wherever we end up will be fine. Still, there is a local and non–local breakdown. In a lot of ways it will be easier for us if we don’t have to move far, my wife can keep her job, we can stay where we know people, etc. The schools themselves are important. I applied to, and think I will get into, schools from every tier. How much does prestige matter to me? Are the “better” schools really better? What about specific courses of study? What kind of jobs might I expect coming out of the different schools? eeler

MORE THAN ONE OFFER? WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Until the deadline that schools give you to make your decision and send in a seat deposit, you are allowed to hold as many offers of admission as you choose. Use this time well—you will likely be bombarded with comments from other applicants you know about how selfish you are to be holding all those offers at once. Forget what others say. You paid your admission fee, you were admitted, and the school has given you the time you need to make a decision. If the school feels that you should be given that time to decide, then use it. Don’t feel pressured to hurry simply because someone who didn’t necessarily work as hard as you wants to get their admission letter quicker.

Of course, don’t hold offers that you know you won’t be interested in. (Although there will be no offers arriving in your mailbox that you would absolutely not seriously consider, right?) But what happens when seat deposit deadlines approach?

There are two situations to consider. First, if a seat deposit deadline is approaching and you still haven’t heard from other schools, then call the school that is starting to ask for money and tell them that you’d appreciate a short extension. They will often oblige. If they don’t, then make an educated guess: Is it likely, at this stage of the game, that the school you are waiting on will come through with an offer of admission? Either way, send your seat deposit into the school whose deadline is about to pass. If the other school admits you, then you lose your seat deposit at the school you sent it to when you accept the new offer. Who cares? It’s a drop in the financial ocean of law school. If the other school does not admit you, then you’ve still reserved your place at the school to which you sent the deposit to. Win–win.

The other situation is where you are holding two firm offers and you cannot make your mind up by the seat deposit deadlines. Send in both deposits and buy yourself an “extension” until you are required to start putting down chunks of cash for tuition. Unethical? Perhaps. It will only buy you a matter of weeks in most cases, as you will have to prepare for law school somewhere, send in financial aid information, buy books, find somewhere to live, etc. But if you have a few hundred dollars and you truly can’t make up your mind, then send in both deposits and prepare to lose one in return for the privilege of extending you decision–making window. Be careful, however, of signing statements indicating that you are not holding any other offers when you send in seat deposits.

There’s no ethical problem. If a better school accepts you, screw the first school. Schools have waitlists to anticipate this very kind of thing. If the schools were truly concerned, they could make the seat deposits $10K. A measly $250 says, “Sure, I’ll enroll, unless something better comes along.” No one can seriously contend the school cares one way or another. They’ll fill the slot with one phone call and pocket the cash—the school actually benefits from your decision. It should thank you and wish you luck. Rat

I’m in the “waiting for the deadline” group of people. I am definitely not making any choices until I can weigh all my financial aid offers against each other and, if possible, work out the best deal for my top choice (one dean of a top 10 specifically told me to do this for his school). I will not however, go past the deadline to do this. Whatever your reasons for not turning down an acceptance, until you have accepted one, by all means keep the others open. There is no need to commit yourself early and something may change your mind. Law schools over–admit by a certain number every year because they know a certain percentage will go elsewhere. Declining your place will not send them immediately running to the wait list. LabWench

There are several schools I’m pretty sure I won’t be attending, but the amount of time and money that will be invested in this foray into academia means I’ll keep my options open until they are all on the table. scrummie2

If you’re a big believer in Karma, however, then you might want to bear in mind that your safety is someone else’s reach. By handing in notice that you will not be attending such–and–such a school, the school will then turn ’round and admit someone from the waitlist. You turn them down. They admit someone else instead (although not within seconds of hearing you won’t be joining them after all). Keep in mind a saying from business: Don’t “fall in love” with the salesman; you’re there to evaluate a product, and it’s the “product” (in this case, a legal education) that you’ll be taking home. Not the salesman (or, in this case, the nice admissions officers you’ve imagined have been agonizing over your application). Don’t let assumptions about the people you must “disappoint” make your decisions for you. It’s your life you’re contemplating here.

A law school occasionally makes a mistake and extends more offers than it otherwise should, as it didn’t expect as many students to accept as actually did—leaving the school trying to thin down the intake. Schools had done this in the past few years as the economic downturn caused many more applicants to accept offers than schools had expected, making waitlists stagnant and essentially deferred rejection lists.

Your safety is someone else’s number one choice. The sooner you let them know, the sooner they can contact that other individual. Teach

As far as keeping someone else from being accepted, I believe most law schools send out more acceptances than they have seats for based on the percentage of rejections they have received in previous years. MaggieC

It is good to withdraw when you realize that you aren’t interested. It saves trees, it prevents admitted students from calling you, it lets the financial aid office work on other things, etc. Neatgin H

The fact remains, though, that you have paid your money for fair consideration at each school you applied to, even if this means just waiting and seeing what might arise from your other applications even after you have all but decided to accept one offer. While highly number–dependent, there are still some surprises to be had during law school admissions seasons—you may get a great offer from a reach you really had no idea would accept you (although you had dreamed of attending this school for years, hence the application). Wait it out and see.

I’m curious on one hand to see what happens to my other applications, but on the other, I shouldn’t satisfy my curiosity at the expense of someone else waiting to get in somewhere. phoenix

I received a nice financial aid offer from a safety school that I was pretty sure would let me in but which I didn’t think would be wild about me. I also received a ding (a super–fast “we didn’t really read your application” ding) from another school that I was positive would offer me something. It just goes to show that you never know, as people are constantly saying around here. Maybe you’ll get a nice surprise if you wait, just like with your admissions offers. eeler

And remember your etiquette and manners. Don’t write a letter to a safety school you applied to, telling them that you’re attending another school and that you are glad you’re not attending their awful school. Don’t write a letter to a reach school that waitlisted you and tell them that they were stupid for rejecting you. You never know when you will cross that school’s path again, or when the record of your communications will be dug up. And don’t tell them that their school is great, the staff is great, and the program is great, and that everything that they had offered you was so great, although you’re sorry to tell them that you have taken an offer elsewhere; you have no obligation to massage their egos or apologize for your choice. (Open secret: To them, you’re a number. A check mark that will be in either column A or column B. They might not like this any more than you do, on a personal level, but it’s the nature of the admissions beast.)

Just be brief, to the point, and thank them for their time and consideration. No insults. No apologies. And don’t e–mail them— write, or at the very least, call. As in all communications, you should be professional, gracious, and honest. (Not that you would be anything else.) Just imagine some reporting getting a hold of your file before your Senate confirmation hearing for a Federal judgeship, and make sure that she would be impressed by everything in it. Capri

In cases where I had an offer of admission in hand, I just wrote a brief letter to each school, thanking them for their offer of admission (and scholarship, where applicable) and stating that I would have to turn them down as I had decided to accept another school’s offer. For the three schools where my application was still pending, I wrote them withdrawing my application and thanking them for their time. AJA1971

REJECTION

You are bound to get some rejections, even if you’ve never really been rejected from any school before in your life. It’s just the nature of law school admissions. You can do plenty to minimize your rejection pile and maximize your acceptance pile by applying in a smart, realistic, thoughtful, and careful manner, but a rejection or two will still grace your mailbox at some time.

Do whatever gets you through, not that there’s much to get through unless it is one of the only two schools you applied to that rejected you, and the other school is your reach. Or if it’s the only school you applied to. Again, if you applied in a smart, realistic, thoughtful, and careful manner, then the rejections will not be surprises and they will almost certainly be followed with acceptances from other schools—you did apply to some safeties, didn’t you? (If you only applied to a couple of schools and they all rejected you, then if you have time, fire off some more applications elsewhere if you have other options to apply to.)

My first notice was a ding, followed up with 6 straight acceptances. Good news comes to those who wait. scrummie2

Don’t read too much into a law school taking its time over giving you a decision. The school may have thousands of applications to wade through, and they will give most of them their fair share of consideration. Until you have received a letter from the school waitlisting you or rejecting you, then you’re still in the race.

You’re not out of the game ‘til they outright reject you, which hasn’t happened yet. The fact that they still have your application means they are still interested. Riparian Vegetation

A word about appealing rejections —forget it, unless it’s absolutely clear that the reason the school rejected you is because you have a 4.0 GPA, a 179 LSAT, could waltz into Harvard if you cared to, but you sent an application to the lowliest of schools that has a sub 3.0 GPA and a sub–150 LSAT and the school thought your application was a joke. (You should, however, have perhaps mentioned to the school that you were serious before it got to this point). The school wears the pants and wields the power in admissions; you have no power and do not wear the pants. Law schools have dozens of qualified applicants for each space, which means that even a minor flaw in your application (not to mention a major flaw) will be devastating in many cases. Don’t write to the school and suggest that they reconsider their decision because “although you have a low LSAT, you’re a smart person and will promise to work extra hard so they won’t be disappointed in their decision to accept you after all, yada, yada.” It won’t work.

Suck it up. Get drunk. Wait a week. Then look over your application and see what the problem was—if there even was one. You might just have been unlucky. It happens. Work on improving your application for next year so you don’t get rejected or unlucky again.

Forget it. You had your audience before the queen, and she was not interested. Perhaps you may want to retake LSAT and reapply next year. You may not think the LSAT represents your ability, but the law schools do, and they’re in the driver’s seat. Further, they may be flexible in the treatment of their enrolled students, but not so flexible in admissions. And no, you don’t go over the adcom director’s head and appeal higher up the chain. caroline

WAITLISTS

Waitlists are better than rejections, but not much. Law schools offer acceptance to many students and expect to fill their incoming class from these acceptances. But just in case more acceptees decline their offers than the school had expected, the school will keep a waitlist of students they will offer admission to if some original acceptees turn them down.

Some schools waitlist only a small number of select students, knowing that a good number of those students may be offered admission. Many schools have fairly lengthy waitlists of perhaps a hundred or so students. Some schools use waitlists as a means of letting the good, but not quite good enough (or simply unlucky) students down lightly, essentially offering a waitlist spot instead of an outright rejection. Either way, law school admissions is so competitive these days that a waitlist place is as good as a rejection. Just think of the waitlist like a teenage paramour saying, “I really like you, but...”

As soon as you are placed on a waitlist, find out two things. First, how many other students are on that waitlist. Second, is it ranked or ordered in any form. You need to know these things to determine what your chances realistically are that you might end up being plucked from the waitlist. If the waitlist is hundreds of students, then your chances are clearly one in hundreds that you will be picked—not good odds. If the waitlist is ranked, then you might be closer to the top, and thus your chance of ultimately being offered admission is greater the nearer the top of the list you are. If your chances of admission were slim to begin with, then chances are that you will not be pulled from a waitlist, so don’t spend too much time and effort writing to the admissions office begging to be let in.

I don’t want to sound negative, but I was told by a law school admissions office that sometimes they waitlist people they have no intention of letting in as a way of saying, “We really like you and you’re a great person, but unfortunately we can’t admit you.” It’s sort of a way to soften the blow. UF LAW

My suggestion is that you first examine whether you were competitive in the first place. If your stats are around those of people who are admitted, then you’re a strong waitlist candidate. If your stats are way off what their regular admitted students have, then your efforts might be better spent on things other than trying to butter up the admissions staff. If you were competitive for admission (i.e., a greater than 25% chance of admission based on your stats), then work the admissions office. But if you were a marginal candidate to begin with, you could always try to work the office, but you should plan to attend a school you have been admitted to. I spent a whole summer trying to get off a waitlist for a reach school, and in retrospect, it was a waste of time. Mary 2003

So what can you do to get off a waitlist? Not that much, really. If you filled out your application form fully, wrote a good personal statement, possibly an addendum, and included your résumé, then there’s nothing else that the school would want or need to make you look more attractive. If you are still in undergrad and subsequent to your application, you have had a stunning semester of grades, then send them to the school and make the school aware that you are now “better” than you were before, although one semester of great grades at this stage in the game will not alter your overall GPA much.

You should, however, send in a short letter explaining how you are still very much interested in attending the school that waitlisted you, that you will keep them updated of any material changes to the information they currently have on file, and giving them a complete set of up–to–date contact information. Don’t send in extra paperwork that they do not ask for unless it might be of some use to them. That is, don’t write a voluntary additional personal statement—they barely care about the first one you wrote. The school won’t care about your newfound commitment to public interest law. Don’t send in additional letters of recommendation unless they are great—in which case, why did you not pick them earlier? And don’t send in things that reduce your dignity—begging letters, gimmicks, postcards, flowers and chocolates each week, etc. Yes, you’re upset that you were waitlisted, and yes, you think that you have a chance of getting off the waitlist if you convince the school that you’re better than they obviously thought you were. But remember that the odds are simply not good at all that you will be picked, and that there is nothing you can send the school that they will really be interested in unless it’s a material change to some information they already asked for. By all means, send in regular updates if your information changes, but remember that if the school didn’t ask for a list of all your personal achievements since high school on the original application form, then don’t write one and send it in—the school doesn’t care.

Sorry to sound pessimistic, but your time would be better spent in one of two ways. Either spend it preparing to attend one of the schools you have already been admitted to, or, if you have no other applications, start studying for the LSAT again or firing off a quick application to an appropriate alternate school if you have any. The odds are simply so poor that your time is almost certainly wasted if you spend more than an hour or two in total trying to get into a school from a waitlist.

Don’t barrage the admissions office with paper and annoy them with phone calls. If they feel “rushed” to complete your application, they might be more inclined to ding you. Send in a letter, politely ask for information, then sit tight. Wait a couple of weeks, then inquire again. Deuce

You could send a “Statement of Continuing Interest.” If you don’t have much to say, research some of the profs who work in the field you’re interested in. Rat

Expressing interest is never a bad idea; the schools to which I’m applying have all encouraged that kind of communication, even though they’re flooded with paperwork from hundreds of applicants. They want to find people who are the best fit—it’s a win–win situation for everyone. Neatgin H

I am submitting a package in response to a waitlist letter and I am going to include: a letter of rec from my boss (I hadn’t told him I was going to school so hadn’t included an LOR from him the first time), an update of projects that I have been working on since I submitted my application, some materials from a presentation I am giving, and a letter summarizing and explaining why that school is my first choice. Plus, a naked picture of me holding wads of cash in subtle bribery. Rosie Mullins

There is no problem whatsoever staying on waitlists while you have not placed any seat deposits down at other schools and firmly committed to attend another school—you can stay on as many waitlists as you like while you consider as many offers as you like. But a common situation arising is when you are waitlisted at a number of schools, accepted at one, and you place down your seat deposit at that school. Can you stay on the other waitlists, hoping that one will admit you?

Yes. Law schools know what goes on. As long as you have not signed anything that says you will 100% attend the school whose seat offer you have accepted, then you can stay on other schools’ waitlists and see what happens. Just don’t publicize what you’re doing. You never know—although the chances of getting off a waitlist are slim, it does happen. You might just get lucky.

I don’t think it’s unethical—everyone knows about both seat deposits and waitlists, so it has to be fairly common for someone to place a seat deposit somewhere and still be hoping on getting off the waitlist at their higher–choice school. As long as you would attend the school that you’re waitlisted at, I think it’s legit to stay on their list. chillout

I was waitlisted. I was shocked and disappointed when it happened. I was given little hope from the admissions dean as the field was full and there were huge numbers of offers made. As it turned out, I was the last person in, called off the waitlist one week before classes began. krinannie

I DIDN’T GET IN ANYWHERE. WHAT DO I DO?

There’s little choice. You can either quit or you can reapply the next year. Quitting? You’ll probably regret it later. You might not. Reapplying? Simple. There’s one variable you can really alter that will make a difference the following year: your LSAT. You have already sourced letters of recommendation, got transcripts where they need to be, written the meat of your personal statement for the upcoming year (if you want to reuse it), and the only thing that will actually alter your chances of admission is your LSAT. Take your time, prepare properly, and take it again. You might be surprised how well you do now you’re not simultaneously finishing undergrad, obtaining letters, transcripts, researching schools, and all the other things you were doubtless doing while you were preparing for the LSAT the first time. And in reality, unless you win a Nobel Prize, there’s nothing you can do except improve your LSAT that will increase your chances of admission—your undergrad GPA is fixed, a Master’s degree won’t help much, nor will more work experience.

Law school admissions is not over until you say it’s over— there’s no upper age limit. Retake that LSAT. Wait a while until you can apply to schools elsewhere in the nation if you’re geographically limited to an area where the local schools are out of your raw number range. In all honesty, you don’t have to be a genius to get a law degree; you just have to find the “right” school.

The one thing to avoid is doing nothing to increase the desirability of yourself as an applicant during the year you reapply. If nothing else, work nonstop on your LSAT and retake it. But don’t just sit there and hope that when you roll the dice the following year, that the admissions committee will suddenly see the error of their ways and admit you. If your application is the same as the prior year, then your likely admissions outcome will be the same as the prior year, and your wallet will be thinner to the tune of a hundred dollars or so, per school.

The schools that dinged you will probably do so again, but, hell, it’ll only cost $60 a pop to try to prove me wrong. Rat

Your application should not be the same as the previous one. Enhance the personal statement, new (hopefully higher) LSAT, different letters of recommendation, something to enhance your “package.” If you offer the same as the previous year, you will likely get the same result. Pony Xpress

If you are rejected early in the application cycle ( i.e., before March), there’s still time to fire off some reserve applications to schools you might not have initially wanted to attend, but now that you’ve been “put in your place” by the schools that rejected you so quickly, you might feel that you overestimated the strength of your application and that lower–ranked schools are more appropriate. While you should think twice about attending a school that you don’t really want to be at, for many students, namely nontrads, waiting out a year is less of an option. But don’t waste your hard–earned money on applications for schools you simply won’t attend when push comes to shove in early summer.

If nothing else panned out, would you be willing to attend these last–minute schools? Or would you prefer to strengthen your app and try again next year? If you’d actually matriculate, pay for the postage and fees. (Some schools have free on–line apps, so fees may not even be an issue.) Most schools will seriously consider your app if it’s turned in before the deadline; many will truly evaluate you even if your app is post–deadline. The real clinchers are still LSAT/GPA. If you couldn’t imagine a universe in which you would happily attend a last–minute school, let it go. No point in throwing good money after bad. Also, seems silly to unnecessarily clutter the app process for others. Neatgin H

Final thoughts? Just two. First, while admissions is all about the numbers, there are always students who buck the trend and end up as the exceptions who prove the rule. You, as a nontraditional applicant, have a better chance to show the schools that you are exceptional. You are more than your numbers, because you actually have more than your numbers to offer. Offer it. Show the schools that you are more than your numbers. Be the exception who proves the rule.

If nothing else, I’ve found out persistence pays off. There are schools out there that look beyond the numbers, you just have to find them and apply early. JMC

Second, and finally, as long as you are accepted anywhere, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a reach, a target, or a safety. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a top tier school or the lowest–ranked school in the country. Nothing matters except the fact that any ABA–accredited law school is good enough for the ABA, and it’s good enough for you. Forget prestige—it’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; something you will keep chasing, but never quite get to, as someone else will always be more “prestigious” than you. Just remember the core of what you’re attending law school for—to be a lawyer. There are just under 200 schools currently in the US that will get you to that point, with the name–brand schools like Harvard and Yale at the top, and the no–name schools at the bottom. The odd thing is, though, that nobody worth having as a client gives a damn about where you went to school; they care only whether you can do the job or not.

Don’t worry about it. You are going to law school to become a lawyer, not to boost what others think of your academic pedigree. Feel good that you are achieving more (academically) than ~99% of the population in the U.S. Going to a lower–ranked school means you have to prove your abilities, rather than some who go to higher ranked schools who let their alma mater “prove” their worth. Anyway, 2nd tier schools are great, and most of them do very well in the region [in which] they are located. PMR

STAYING MOTIVATED

There is quite a lot to worry about, concentrate on, organize, and deal with during the application season. Don’t be disorganized. Don’t miss deadlines. Don’t wait until the last minute. Get a calendar. Put it on the fridge. Fill in the deadlines. Fill in your LSAT study schedule. Fill in the times you reserve to work on your personal statement. Make sure your significant other knows that you must take the application process seriously—he or she must watch the kids for that block of time on Tuesday and Thursday evenings where you have set aside three hours for LSAT study. Admission is a marathon, not a sprint. (So is law school, and the law itself.) You can’t expect to take the LSAT, send off applications, and get into law school in a week, or even a month. It will take six months or more if you are diligent, smart, and you build enough time into your schedule.

I drew a timeline and pinpointed responsibilities that my partner had at every phase: “You have to encourage me here. You have to act interested there. You have to calm me down here. You have to pressure me to stay focused there.” He was relieved to have the tasks broken down into various components (e.g., act as test buddy during this week, look at my law school chart that week). I felt very supported/loved throughout the process. It worked out well for both parties. Neatgin H

WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME?

Taken the LSAT more seriously—I know this sounds dumb, but as a nontrad with no connections whatsoever to anyone in law, law school, or law admissions, I had the wrong attitude of thinking I would just study and see how I do. My advice—don’t walk into the real thing without being solid on the incredible weight your score on this test will be given and don’t walk into the test with the flu (like me)! mystical

Focus less on the cost of education and more on the profession itself while doing my research. I was asking questions about financial aid and scholarships first. I knew how much it cost to become a lawyer before I knew what a lawyer really did. Chief

Choose all your schools based on your LSAT/GPA. Idealistic people told me, “Oh, just pick schools you are interested in attending.” Wrong. Look at your scores, don’t apply to more than one reach unless you want to lose money, and if you really are unwilling to attend those schools considered your safeties, don’t apply to them— again you will lose money and waste your time. mystical

I would have asked for my recommendations sooner, and been more vigilant about following up on whether the people had actually written the recommendations and sent them. I had one guy who agreed to do a recommendation, and when after two months I finally go the courage to ask why LSAC still didn’t have one listed, said he lost the forms, and I had to send them to him all over. At which time, it took another month for him to send them. Wren

…Asked for more advice from anyone and everyone who’s gone through the process. mystical

ONE FINAL THING: WHERE DO I GET THE MONEY TO PAY FOR THIS?

Make sure you understand what the school costs, and have the plans in place to pay for it. Make 100% sure that you can afford the schools you are applying to. I can tell you from experience that it really sucks when you have to decline a school you are really interested in because you can’t afford it. BillBrasky40

Law school is expensive. While it “only” costs $100 or so per application, you will need to have financing lined up before the end of summer. Don’t worry—it’s rather simple to get loans for law school. But do worry about it being so easy to borrow so much money; you may end up in three years owing as much money as it would cost to buy a small house, not including lost wages. Think carefully before you dive into law school, as you will be paying for it for decades afterwards. Do you want a law degree that badly?

Because of scholarship offers, for me, a degree from Vermont Law School would cost me only $15,000, and from Lewis & Clark would cost $24,000. One from Michigan over $100,000—a difference of four to six times. This is just tuition. Lost wages force me to add another $200K to the cost. Capri

Well, based on current years’ tuition, it will cost $30K in tuition for the JD at Carolina. In my mind that is a terrific bargain. Wren

If I continue borrowing the same amount for the next two years, I will owe around $55K when I graduate. I keep telling myself it’s a much better investment than an expensive automobile at about the same price. stratos

I’m pretty sure this will get ugly by the time I graduate, but oh well. Assuming I am going to GW, which I believe will happen (I don’t expect any of my reaches to come through, and they are my first choice in D.C.) it’ll be $30K on tuition/year. I don’t expect to get any merit aid with my bad GPA. Plus my wife and I still have a mortgage we have to pay. I’ll likely max out my student loan borrowing, as I won’t have to pay those while I’m enrolled. I will possibly borrow against the equity in our house, which we’ve got a lot of, to deal with expenses. Plus have a good amount of cash in the bank to pay off all other loans prior to going in, and my wife works. All in all I am expecting to be around $120K in the hole from this little adventure. scrummie2

That’s a lot of cash. Don’t worry about a mattress stuffed with unmarked bills, though. Most law students are able to borrow (and, indeed, usually do borrow) the cost of their education from various sources: the government (through subsidized and non–subsidized loans), the law school (scholarships and possibly being a research assistant later in your law school career), and private educational lenders (e.g., Sallie Mae, the Access Group). Also, potential earnings during your two summers can help defray the cost. Not having the money to attend law school should not keep you out. However, you should not equate “having access to the money” with “being able to afford”—you have to pay this money back.

Some schools offer loan forgiveness programs for the minority of graduates who actually end up working in true public interest positions (and getting paid very little for the privilege of doing so). Don’t expect the school to end up forgiving your entire six figure student loan balance, although the forgiveness program might help take some of the sting out of the payments. Most schools still don’t have any form of loan forgiveness programs though, so it’s worth checking in with your potential schools to see if this is even an option—they will proclaim their loan forgiveness program from the rooftops, so if you haven’t noticed it when reading the school’s printed applicant materials they probably don’t have it.

EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO HAVE A SCHOLARSHIP. DOES THAT MEAN I’M STUPID OR BEING RIPPED OFF?

Everyone claims to have some kind of merit aid from law schools. Fewer actually have merit aid of any substance. If you didn’t get any (and chances are that if you got into a reach or a target school, you’ll be paying full price), then don’t worry. You’re not alone. Most of your class will have little or no merit aid either.

No, you’re most definitely not retarded or stupid or any other pejorative name you want to label yourself. I didn’t receive any scholarship dollars either, and don’t feel any shame from that. I applied late, and my numbers weren’t stellar—so what? I got in, didn’t I? Democat827

Just don’t plan on getting any scholarship money —apply to schools that you would not have too much problem paying full price for. The reason for this is simple. Scholarships are rarely without strings.

Many substantial scholarships are conditioned on the recipient obtaining and remaining above a particular GPA cutoff, or sometimes a class rank cutoff. Drop below this, and suddenly that half–tuition scholarship has disappeared and you are left holding a bill for law school that is tens of thousands higher than you had expected. And because you cannot guarantee that you will remain above any particular GPA regardless of how much work you do during each semester, you should always have a back–up plan for what you will do if your scholarship disappears. Once a scholarship disappears, don’t count on it returning.

Be very wary of schools that claim if you do well enough during your first year, you might get a scholarship for your second and final years of study. It probably won’t come true. Pay only scant attention to such claims unless the policy is written (don’t accept anything that the admissions office tells you unless it is written), and it has a definite, quantifiable means of determining whether you meet the standards for a scholarship. If the policy has any “discretion” given to the dean or anyone else, then forget it—you can bet that such discretion will be exercised to deny scholarship funds to you. Scholarships are one of the traps that law schools use to reel in great students, and they won’t want to waste them on someone who has already committed to finishing their degree at full tuition; you are money in the bag by that point.

I think this is one of the great hoaxes. At my school, they throw a lot of talk around about if you do well, we’ll reward you, blah, blah, blah. The truth is, they want to use the money to attract new students, not to help the ones they already have on the hook. Not to be bitter, but there are guys who came to school on a full ride who fell flat on their nose while here. They get to keep the dough. Me, who’s done well (3.7, Law Review), has two kids and a wife to support, and does a lot of public relations work for the school gets a blank stare when I ask about a few extra dollars. It’s maddening. Bottom line? I wouldn’t count on it. johnny99

The only time you hold any cards after you’ve been admitted is if you end up in the top 10% of your class at the end of 1L. At this point, you have a good shot of transferring out to another school. Don’t think that your current school will beg you to stay, though, because if you transfer out, then there’s a queue of people who the school will admit as full–tuition paying inward transfers. The sole card you hold is that you represent the best your current school has, and if you leave, the school’s second best becomes the best. If you go to the administration, tell them that you’d love to stay but it’s getting too expensive, and you are likely to transfer somewhere cheaper or ranked higher (and make sure you have actually applied for transfer and been admitted at the transfer school), they may try to entice you into staying by offering some form of scholarship. It’s a slim chance, though, because at the end of 1L, you are simply a paycheck for the school, and if you leave, there’s a line of inward transfers who will gladly take your place. It’s worth a try, though.

I have heard that sometimes they offer scholarships if you are looking to transfer to a higher–ranked school. Of course you would have to be in the top of your class (10–15%) to be able to do this. I’m sure they would not want to lose top students to a higher–ranked school. Even if it’s a few thousand dollars, it could make a nice dent in the total. MaggieC

You can use scholarship money from one school “against” another school during admissions. If you hold two offers of admission, one with a scholarship and one without (or both with similar scholarships), then let the more tightfisted school know that you’re interested in them, but you have an attractive offer from a similar school that you find enticing as well, and you want to know whether they can match the offer. Make sure you actually have a scholarship offer from another school though—no lying. And, of course, the schools must be comparable—don’t tell Harvard that you have a scholarship from a Podunk school and expect them to match it.

I don’t think there is anything you can (or should ) do to try to force a law school’s hand, but if two similarly ranked schools are offering dissimilar aid packages, it is perfectly reasonable to see if the school you prefer will match their competitor. After all, they are giving out money to entice you to go there and raise their stats, give them diversity (race, geography, higher degrees, majors), etc. The worst they can say is that they have no more money. I like to think of it as an extension of selling yourself in the application. LabWench

If you truly want to go to a school that isn’t offering you as much money, explain to them the situation. You are especially in a strong position if you will not attend if you do not receive any money. If that is the truth, you definitely have nothing to lose or feel guilty about. traveler

I successfully negotiated more merit money from almost every school at which I was accepted. So it can be done. chloe

Law school is an expensive commitment. In the decision–making process, scholarship offers count for a great deal. And for nontrads, this usually weighs even more heavily than for college students (thanks to mortgages and families). Cinnamon Girl

Don’t be a jerk about it. Remember that you need the school more than it needs you, and this will be the case until there are more seats in law school throughout the country than there are applicants to fill those seats. Yes, you are a successful person, but you still have nothing to offer any law school that someone else can’t offer as well. In most cases, you should gratefully accept whatever scholarships they offer, but in the few cases where a school is far from what other comparable schools are offering financially, then let them know in a nice way.

My limited interaction with financial aid and admissions people so far has left me one clear impression: they want to help solve our problems with financial aid and admissions. They can’t do that if we don’t tell them honestly what they can do for us, and they’d prefer it if we didn’t try to turn it into “Let’s Make a Deal.” Chief

FINAL WORDS BEFORE STARTING

So you got into law school. Nice. You should be proud. It’s time to sit back, rest for a few weeks, then start preparing for 1L and beyond. But before that is dealt with in the second half of this book, here are a few closing thoughts on the admissions process and what you’ve now gotten yourself into.

Getting in is simple. If you’ve got the numbers and everything else is okay, you should get in. If you are depending on a local school and don’t have other options, then I’m sure that that could be stressful. However, when you are accepted, sign on to a ton of debt for books and tuition, then hundreds/thousands more for study aids, and have very little time for yourself or the ones you love and don’t have the expectancy of such for literally years to come, the realization hits you that when all is said and done it means nothing if you don’t pass the Bar. Teach

Like all law students, I have always excelled academically. In fact, academics have always been my strength. When other things were not going so well in my life, I could always count on getting good grades. If I didn’t understand something right away, I worked on it until I did understand it. I have never not excelled at an academic subject that I worked at. Until law school, that is. It really is a different world. I didn’t believe it until I got here. I had so much successful academic experience behind me. I thought people that “complained” about law school just really weren’t working all that hard. Now I know better. MaggieC

Finally, here’s a quick glimpse of what you might be up against. In law school, there are few unmotivated people, few unintelligent people, and few people you will be able to walk over, academically. Below is an example of what the standard law student’s goals are, and chances are they sound exactly like your own. Be prepared to throw them in the trash around November of your first semester: they are more unattainable than you think.

Since there was so much that I did not know about law school before I started, it was difficult to set realistic goals. But, since I am that kind of person, I did anyway, but with the understanding that modification may be necessary. First goal was to finish in the top 10% of the class, with the fallback of top 25%. This was important because I left a good job to pursue a law degree. I wanted to make sure I got the most out of the experience. To me, fourfold: One, to work hard in order to really understand the material and to have as many options upon graduation as possible. Second goal was to make sure there was at least one day a week that I did not do any law school work. Yeah, this one was not met. Third goal was to maintain my exercise schedule. Surprisingly, this was the easiest one to meet. More than enough time before, in–between, and after classes to get an hour or two of exercise 4–5 days a week. Final goal was to not let these goals become the ends instead of the means. In other words, let loose every once in awhile, have fun with friends, and make time to just goof off. No Longer Confused

STAYING IN

If you’ve read this far and taken at least some of the advice to heart, you’re probably sitting pretty on an offer you’ve already accepted.

…And so you’ve accepted an offer. That’s great. There’s one thing you should know from this point on, and stop reading now if you’re even partially interested in relaxing for a few weeks before thinking about law school again.

Law school itself is more stressful that the admissions process. Period. Don’t even think that because you’ve done well enough on the LSAT to be admitted to law school that you’re going to cruise through 1L and have a set of great grades waiting for you at the other end. Law school is not undergrad, where most of the kids there are happy to get a B after spending the semester drinking and smoking weed. Most of them are working (or unemployed)—they’re not the types to have strained as hard to get into law school. So, they’re not your competition. No, you’re up against all of the other academic overachievers. You were tops in your class? Well, keep in mind that there are…lots of classes. Ergo, there are lots of other “tops” to form the newest generation of law students. Your guard needs to stay up at all times.

There is no comparison, law school is far far more stressful than the admissions process. Teach

Hands down being in is more stressful than getting in. I’ve forgotten what 8 hours of sleep is like—what it’s like to not dream about elements of intentional torts, negligence & murder. Grannylaw

Law school is more difficult and more work overall than prepping for the LSAT. However, I have yet to see a fact pattern that can touch some of those logic games on the LSAT. On the other hand, reading comprehension on the LSAT is a no–brainer compared to reading some statutes and judicial opinions. MaggieC

As with law school “success” books, you should take the advice contained herein with a huge pinch of salt. No law school prep book, no matter who it is written by and no matter how many years of experience they have in practicing law or working in a law school, can offer you a silver bullet to slay the law school dragon and walk away with top grades—if there was such a book, then we, and everyone else, would wholeheartedly suggest that you throw this book in the trash and pick up the other one.

Here’s our advice: take every element of law school success information in here with an open mind. Read it. If you think it’s useless, then don’t bother with it. If you think it might work for you, then try it. If it actually works, keep doing it. If it doesn’t work, then try something else. You’re a smart person. You know what works for you and what doesn’t work for you.

In the end, you’ll find out what works best for you by experience. Everyone has a different style of studying, a different way of learning, and you’ll learn to to adapt that for law school. Mardee

If the advice anyone else gives you doesn’t work (including advice given to you by someone at the top of the class), then drop it. You know what is best for you. Trust yourself more than you trust others in law school. MisterThousand

I didn’t read any prep books or take any courses. Nor did I feel especially unprepared when I started. Most folks seemed to come in without preconceptions; they acquired individual styles of reading/studying/outlining after getting some exposure to law school. Some people who read prep books were frustrated when they found the info outdated/useless/inaccurate. Other people realized that the suggestions in the prep books were well–intentioned, but better in theory than practice. (Example: Multicolored highlighters rapidly fell by the wayside for most people who used ’em.) Neatgin H

Now, after telling you that nobody has any perfect advice for law school success, here’s the key to law school success—time management. If you can manage your time well, then you will do well. There’s an extraordinary amount of work to do during law school, and half the battle is simply getting it done. If you can set aside enough time each week to keep your head above water, then you will do all right. If you get behind, you will do poorly. If you have enough time to go that extra few yards, then you stand a good chance of doing moderately well. But unless you give yourself enough time to get the bare minimum done, then you will be less successful that you otherwise would be.

If you have a brain, and most people in law school do, it all comes down to time management. buckeye1

SO WILL LAW SCHOOL BE WHAT I EXPECT IT TO BE?

It’s less scary than I thought, but harder work. It’s also far lonelier than one might expect, as there’s little that caters to nontrads here. Generally, I keep myself company in the library with my books, and go home to hubby for human company. Mary

Law school is nothing like I thought it would be. I thought I’d get up every morning just excited & happy to be sitting in law school. That I’d soak up the knowledge and be amazed at how exciting it all was. Instead, I get up every morning thinking, “I’ve got to go to school again!” and if it’s a Tuesday or Thursday then I’m thinking, “Crap, contracts today!” I’ll also agree that it’s lonelier being a nontrad. I don’t “hang out” with the young ’uns much. Though my “closest” law school friend is younger than my youngest child. That said, I’m still glad I’m doing it. I’m glad that I was admitted to school and that people have enough faith in me to give me the chance. If going to law school is something that you really want to do, then I say go for it. Just realize that it’s nothing like undergrad and there’s no way you can prepare for it. Grannylaw

One of the most frequent comments about law school is that it’s like high school (or junior high school). Petty competitiveness abounds at many schools, as do cliques. Maybe it’s because of the competitive nature of law school. Maybe it’s because of the personalities that typically attend law school. But regardless of the reasoning, be prepared for some immature, petty behavior.

I am a non–trad 1L. Last semester I had a horrendous experience with a 22–year–old who started out as a friend but then something happened, and she accused me of all sort of twisted and bizarre stuff and now is not talking to me! I am a big girl and know that not everyone will like me. I also know that I could not have been successful for the past several years in my former profession and say and do the nasty things she is accusing me of. In the end though it still bothers me to have a classmate hating me so much! Now I think she is telling some of her “friends”. I have not felt this way since Stacy H. would get “mad at me” in junior high. CED

Oh yeah, law school is horribly like high school sometimes. Maybe it’s the forced association with people that you wouldn’t necessarily choose to spend so much time with or the assigned seating or whatever. The best thing that ever happened to me is growing up, but I’m not entirely sure that the average LS student has managed that yet. madlaw

I have a catty “rivalry” with a woman (also much older than 22). We’re always trying to outdo each other, very competitive situation. She has her group of friends (Moot Court) and I have mine (Law Review). I have to admit she keeps me on my toes even though I hate her. Yes, just like middle school or high school. I don’t know why, but I have this feeling we are going to end up being friends some day. MaggieC

I was too old for this stuff in undergrad, but I think something about getting lockers, sitting w/the same people all the time and having basically no–one/nothing else to talk about but law school brings you right back to high school all over again. There are several people I have developed “irrational hatred” for in my class. They irritate me on many different levels, none of which should matter. I find that I too get roped in to the whole scenario (although thank God I’m not trying to date/be single/pick up on anyone at the law school too) and it is tough to sometimes just let it go. brodle1

I don’t notice cattiness amongst the girls, because I tend to only hang out with one other girl in my class who is my age. But the guys. Holy Crap. They act like they’re in sixth grade! Two got into an argument in class, because, I swear to God, they wanted to sit next to each other in class and made a huge deal out of it. They say the stupidest, most juvenile stuff I’ve ever heard. bluecanary

NERVOUS?

After you’ve been admitted and the application phase fades, you’re bound to feel as if you’ve set in motion something huge. You have. There’s no (easy) way out, and everyone is now expecting you to go to law school and come out a lawyer.

It’s still not too late to back out. Sure, you’re a few hundred dollars down, but you haven’t quit your job or made any massively life–altering decisions…yet. Now is a good time to really evaluate whether law is for you or not. Until that first tuition check is due, you’re not committed to anything and you’ll lose nothing by backing out. Relax, take a deep breath, and spend a while examining your decision. If law is something you still want to do, then go for it. If not, back out and don’t look back.

Don’t, however, back out simply because you’re nervous about the unknown. Law school is something that, no matter how much research you do, you will not truly understand or appreciate until you actually do it. No guide book, not even this one, will give you an accurate picture of what law school is like. It has to be seen to be believed. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, it’s unpleasant at times. But it’s deeply satisfying, a great achievement, and an intellectual challenge like nothing else. Scary? Of course. But most survive, and most don’t screw it up either. Making the final choice to attend is a big step, but not one that you should necessarily be too apprehensive about making. While law school is a big step, it’s still only law school. Don’t let the hype deter you.

In my opinion, it’s completely natural to be nervous, worried, overwhelmed, apprehensive, concerned, jittery, fretful, intimidated, and disheartened. After all, law school is a major investment, with no guarantees of success during law school or thereafter. As such, it would be strange if you weren’t feeling insecure! I’m feeling excited, but also a bit wary. New things are an adventure; adventures are simultaneously alluring and a bit scary. I don’t think your feelings are a sign that you shouldn’t go to law school. Your confidence will return once you’ve been in law school a while. A few months into the semester, all the mysteries will be unshrouded. You’ll know what you’re doing and you’ll fall into a comfortable pattern of studying and learning. No worries. Neatgin H

Feeling like your drowning now is good practice for when you start law school. There will be days you feel like you’re way too deep to get back to the surface before your lungs explode. But you will be wrong. You always get back to the surface as long as you don’t give up and start sucking in water. Don’t worry, dreams are worth the struggle and the difficulty achieving them! Good luck! krinannie

You’ve got to put it in perspective: you’re intimidated about an exam for a class you haven’t taken. C’mon, I’ll wager an Art Appreciation exam can look imposing if you haven’t cracked the book or stepped foot in the classroom. You had to do well to get here. You’ll go through the same classroom experience as the other 1Ls and you’ll survive. Think back about how your elementary teachers told you that you couldn’t get through high school without working your tail off—piece of cake. Then the high school teachers told you you’d be drowning in work and have classes with hundreds of students all trying for As, yet you managed to get through it. I remember hearing how basic training would be the most challenging experience of my life and somehow I survived. Looking back, all those experiences seem relatively easy. I just needed to get through the break–in period and establish a routine. After that it was smooth sailing. Retired Chief

You are not alone. I’ve been on that emotional roller– coaster of alternately thrilled and terrified ever since I started receiving acceptances. Whenever I’m having doubts, I remember what an attorney friend told me and it helps assuage my fears. Here are the magic words: law schools are risk–adverse. They do not admit anyone who they think is incapable of doing the work. chloe

IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO PREPARE FOR LAW SCHOOL BEFORE IT STARTS?

Not really. Of course, you could get your hands on the casebooks and start reading, but the problem is, you are not sure what you’re meant to be getting out of the books until you sit in class and find out what direction the professor is taking. Forget the serious academic prep before law school—it will do you no good and give you no advantage.

There are other things you can do to prepare. Start to read regularly again. Read literature, trash, newspapers from cover to cover. Anything that will train your eyes and brain to connect, and anything that will teach your backside to sit still for two or three hours in a single session while your eyes and brain are working.

I am reading a great deal to get into the habit and recharge those long dormant brain cells. Usually it is something law related, fiction and nonfiction, more of the latter. UARK05

Other than that, your best bet is to relax in a big way. Do nothing. Take your dream vacation. Because once you start law school, you’re not doing any of that anymore. You’ll be working like crazy through the semesters, taking a busy week or two off at Christmas (during which you’ll be frantically searching for a job, in addition to preparing for Christmas), and during each summer, you’ll be going nuts at work putting in every hour you can to impress whoever was generous enough to give you a job.

My advice is to relax. Take a vacation, play golf, or whatever you do for relaxation. If you must read something about law school, keep it light. Everyone in my class who took a prelaw class had an advantage—for about a week. The school will teach you how to brief, and you’ll do it so much by the third week you can do it in your sleep. By the sixth week you probably won’t do it anyway. FSU2005

I would caution you about doing much prep at all before school starts. I did some, and it pretty much all went to waste. You have no idea what it is that you need to learn or what the professor wants you to learn. Besides that, you may burn yourself out before you start. Relax and enjoy yourself. You’ll have plenty of time to study once school starts. uke

My plans for the summer before law school include Paris and, well, that’s as far as my plans have gotten. Riparian Vegetation

If you must read anything, start with some guaranteed making–it–as–easy–as–possible–to–understand materials that will also come in handy when you’re a real law student), such as Aspen’s Examples and Explanations for your first semester courses. You should read these not for a complete understanding of the material, but for a familiarity with some of the basic terminology and a scant understanding of the direction the course will take and the concepts that will appear. For God’s sake, don’t try to learn these books or anything like that—if you come out of it knowing which side is the plaintiff and which side is the defendant, you’re doing well. (You can also decide whether you find this stuff even remotely interesting before you hand over twenty thousand dollars or more for your first years’ tuition. If you read one of these twenty dollar books and can’t find anything that interests you whatsoever, you might want to think twice about attending law school.)

The advice I got for the summer before I started was to take it easy and not worry about law school. I don’t think that’s bad advice, but since I don’t relax well when I have big plans coming up, I wish someone would have told me to get an Examples and Explanations for a subject or two. stratos

You can read E&Es at a leisurely pace, but do try to casually answer the questions at the end of the chapters. Don’t outline them, though, as I started out doing. That is a waste of time. Maggie

[Editors’ note: There is, as they say, a “split of authority” among, well, authorities on this point. As the author mentions, some who have written on the subject suggest preparation prior to beginning law school. There are perhaps three points: First, if your preference is not to prepare, let it be for more noble reasons than laziness. Law school requires enormous dedication; if you’re not willing to dedicate time now, ask yourself, seriously, whether you’re really going to “make up for it” later. Second, understand that many students are preparing. As they will be your competition in the all–important first year of law school—where absorption of the material is most difficult—do you really want to risk a do–nothing–but–relax–and–be–merry approach? Too, even if advance preparation is not entirely helpful, what if it is partially so? What if, as is likely, it just takes a few times before a legal doctrine makes sense? What if that one extra time before finals would have been the just the right number, for you? Finally, read sources with other advice, and decide from there. Among these sources is Planet Law School II, published by the same firm as this book. Aside from the publisher’s obvious self–interest, even if you read them from a library…use your own judgment, rather than simply grasping an excuse to coast. Planet Law School II (or, among the law school crowd, “PLS II”) was, by the way, the first law school book to recommend the Aspen Examples and Explanation series, mentioned above.]

OTHER PREPARATION

Commercial law school preparation courses charge hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to give you a taste of what law school classes are like, what you should be learning, and how to cope. It’s a lot of money to spend, and if you have it to burn, send some of it to the authors of this book as well. Even if these prep courses are staffed by real law professors and purport to teach how it really is in law school, it’s still largely a waste of money. If you can’t get what you need to approach law school knowing enough to keep your head above water from this book or any other pre–law book on the market, then you probably wouldn’t get too much out of a prep course.

Think about it. 99% of law students never took one of those courses and they survived law school—half of them graduating in the top half of the class. Most practicing lawyers have managed to successfully navigate law school, the Bar exam, and have had successful careers, all without the help of commercial prep courses. There is nothing in those courses that you can’t learn from prep books like this one or from actually sitting in class when you visit potential schools, and picking it up as you go. Don’t for one minute think that taking one of these prep courses will magically give you a ticket to the top of your class while every other student struggles to catch up with you. It doesn’t work like that.

Waste of money. By the time exams come around it will not have mattered if you had taken one of these summer courses. It is normal and part of the process to struggle for the first few weeks until you get it together. Paying someone gives you little to no real advantage or leg up. jello–maker

One thing you really don’t have to worry about is being up to speed as soon as you walk through the door of law school. Some people might have held legal jobs beforehand, and they will, obviously, know a little of the “language” that is spoken. And some people have read law books all summer and might know some of the concepts (or claim to know them). It doesn’t matter— everything you need to know to do well will come from attending class, reading, and making a good effort to understand what the professor is talking about. You don’t need to read the professor’s hornbook before you start the class in order to ace it. Pay no attention to those other students who may try to scare you with how much they know on the first day of class—they will shut up after the first semester grades are returned.

Having legal experience will help you in the beginning when you start classes, because you’ll understand the terminology and will know how to read cases, while everyone else is still floundering. However, after the first month or so others will catch up, and halfway through the first semester, it will all even out. The danger of having legal experience is that it can make you somewhat complacent—something you want to avoid. Mardee

I wouldn’t worry about boning up on vocabulary, either “legalese” or otherwise. If you’ve read the cases, you’ll be able to survive being called on. As time goes on, you’ll find yourself conversing in legalese quite naturally, but even if you don’t do it when called on, there’s no need to worry. DemoCat827

You should have done some research for your law school application in terms of organizing dates you were employed, names of employers, references, dates of criminal convictions/arrests etc. A worthwhile thing to do before law school is take a look at the character and fitness application forms for your state’s Bar admission—they put your law school application to shame in terms of requiring old information that may take days, if not weeks, to dig out. Now is a good time to get all of this paperwork in order, because it will, guaranteed, take ten times longer than you would expect, and once you’re in law school you can also be guaranteed that the week you set aside to take care of the character and fitness application will be the week when you are stuck with an unexpectedly difficult legal research project or paper. You don’t need anything special to jump through this important and time–consuming hoop, so do it before law school, then use your time in law school to study.

If you’re anything like me you ran out and bought a copy of “Planet Law School II” and “Law School Confidential” and started poring through them hoping to find the hidden secrets to law school. And, perhaps, like me you’ve discovered that everything you’ve done up until this point is wrong. Let it go. Those books have some valuable insights (and some not–so–valuable ones) but they seem to miss the big point. Law school, like everything else, is different for everyone. I’m sure there is an advantage to studying this early, but if you don’t it isn’t going to kill you. In some ways I’ve found that I’ve had a harder time grasping material in courses where I came in with preconceived notions or fully formed ideas. Law school is about learning things the law school way. So take this time and enjoy it because there won’t be a lot of time to relax once you get started. yerch

Recharge your batteries. Law school is more of a sprint than a marathon. You start out going pretty fast and then kick it into an extra gear at the end. There are few breaks and few chances to catch your breath. So move, unpack, find your favorite restaurant and a place to do your laundry, etc. well before you get started or it will bite you in the ass later. You want to start well rested—it will be months before you’ll feel that way again. yerch

CAREER PREPARATION

While you have a few spare minutes, another thing you might want to do before law school is get your résumé ready. Spend a while polishing it. Draft up some generic cover letters, or at least practice writing cover letters. Find a source of good paper. Make a list of all the local law firms you would consider working for, then make a list of all the other law firms, just in case. Call and ask to whom you would send a résumé.

This is the kind of thing that can consume weeks of valuable study time right before your first 1L exams in December, when firms will start to look at 1Ls for summer jobs. Your 1L exams are so valuable that you can’t afford to mess them up because you were working on job applications and sending out résumés. Line this mechanical stuff before you even set foot in law school.

If you have to do something for law school prep, I’d suggest working on your job search stuff. You can find out who hires 1Ls (or at least, doesn’t specifically reject 1Ls). You can then read their web sites, scan Martindale to see if there are alums, write personalized cover letters, etc. And you can browse through vast databases of public interest orgs to find cool non–profits and interesting volunteer opportunities. You can also update your resume, get fancy paper and envelopes ready, start rebuilding connections with old acquaintances who may be tangentially related to the legal industry, etc. Neatgin H

OTHER THINGS THAT YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER DOING BEFORE LAW SCHOOL.

Once you start classes, you’ll be bogged down trying to cram tons of legal information in your head. It will pervade your very system, and you will dream of the days you had free time to enjoy things like Harry Potter. Take advantage of your free time while you can. Mardee

Read the books you’ve always meant to read, but never had time for. This is your last chance for a while. Capri

If you have a PlayStation, play lots of it. If you don’t have one, don’t buy one because you’ll play too much once school starts. Just try to find something that you enjoy doing and do lots of it until school starts. You’ll find that the time will pass more quickly than you think, especially once July gets here. djd06

There is lots of law related reading that will add to your base of knowledge without prelearning the law. Maybe try biographies of Supreme Court Justices. UARK05

Having a good time this summer is the best preparation. Attempting to get a head start on your classes is foolish because you will not know what the prof will teach. However, if you are like most people you will do something regardless of the advice given. So, I would suggest a book (preferably one that will be assigned at your school because there is much variation) that discusses the different types of legal writing and the best way to do it. Good luck and relax. 1L will start soon enough and you will have the opportunity to learn everything you need to know to get straight As. No Longer Confused

Get your resume together now. It’s one less thing you will have to do later when you may not have time. Also start a list of possible job contacts–lawyers you or your family know. Trust me, you will need it soon enough. UARK05

At my law school, laptops for exams are mandatory. For time pressured exams, typing speed can be an advantage. You will get some practice typing, if you take notes on your computer during the semester. You may wish to consider taking a typing class. William H.

– 3 –

FIRST YEAR

You’re in! Now comes the experience of actually attending law school—which you are likely to find exhilarating, fascinating, frustrating, exhausting, sometimes nauseating, and ultimately fulfilling. First, though, there are a few logistical details to discuss.

THE NON–ACADEMICS OF LAW SCHOOL: HOUSING

If you’re planning on moving away to attend law school, then you’ll need to find housing. Start early, and forget living in student housing if you’re married or simply not into spending your time out of class in the library to avoid the college–style antics. Find yourself a nice apartment off campus, even out of town if you’re willing to take a thirty–minute drive each way to find some peace.

Avoid student housing—it’s not bad, but the constant college–kid antics can be a little annoying. Mary

While on the subject of where to live, remember that the rest of your family—spouse, kids—will have their own lives to contend with. Not wishing to make any suggestions on how you should be running your own relationships, we’ll leave it as that— just another aspect of law school that you need to plan for and think about in advance.

I would strongly discourage living apart in law school if possible. Law school is stressful enough without a major separation. krinannie

I had a commuter marriage for a while, three hour drive apart, and it was not a happy time. When you’re leading mostly separate lives, you can’t help growing apart, and it’s a real struggle to make things work. I wouldn’t do it again, which is why I only applied to places near where my husband’s company has offices. Wren

Just finished my first semester living apart from my husband and kids. Not too bad, it certainly is easier to focus on the law during the week. No distractions. My children are really well rounded and don’t really even seem to miss me much. UARK2005

Same for your kids —make sure they aren’t forgotten in your law school plans, although the consensus appears to be that kids survive better than their adult (spouse) counterparts during law school. Again, it’s mentioned here merely as something to think about during your planning.

I wouldn’t sweat it. We have a three year old and a 7 month old. Life is full, but enjoyable. Sure, you have less time to goof around, but you use the time you have more wisely. johnny99

My work is done early or at least on time because I know that I will not have the last minute, cram up all night time I had in my undergrad, no responsibilities life. Priorities

HEALTH INSURANCE

If your spouse is providing this for you, all the better. But if you are planning to quit work to attend law school, make sure you budget for solid health insurance for your family throughout law school. The reason—apart from the security of having health insurance—is that you don’t want to have poor or no health insurance during law school, forcing you to have to quit to find a job with good health coverage or pay for it yourself. (If, indeed, you aren’t excluded by a “preexisting” condition.) You might be able to get cheaper insurance through the school, but check into it. Same for the medical facilities on campus that the students usually use—they may be tailored to young–adult health, so if you have kids, you may have no choice but to use facilities off campus (and out of the student health insurance package). Once again, this is something to think about during the planning stages of law school.

Health insurance through my school is average, but be careful about pediatrics if you have kids. The on–campus facilities are adult–oriented. Mary

BAGS

It simply wouldn’t be an official book about nontraditional law students without a section discussing one of the favorite topics of discussion—bags with wheels. Always popular with the older crowd at college, bags with wheels make sense in law school. Books are heavy and plentiful, and coupled with a laptop, lunch, and all kinds of other student materials and necessities, a bag with wheels takes the strain off the older student’s weakening back. Uncool? Of course. Have they ever been cool? No. Neither will they ever be. But as a nontraditional law student, you’re beyond trying to look cool.

If you go this route, never ask why people are always snickering when you walk by. Rat

Many law schools still have nowhere to put your stuff during the day. You may be forever running back and forth to your car, dumping books you don’t need and picking up books you do need. Class schedules are tight—you may easily have three or four classes in quick succession, each requiring a good ten pounds of books. It’s hard work carrying all that stuff around. Yes, bags with wheels are way uncool, but they may well be a sign of superior intelligence.

Please heed my advice and get a rolling pack. Save your shoulders, neck, and back! DemoCat827

I don’t think any rolling packs are geeky–looking, myself! I’ve convinced several doubters to purchase them. I have friends who are incessantly running back and forth to their cars to dump books—WHY??? DemoCat827

As far as weight reduction schemes go, there are three main ways to do this. First, and like the old saying goes, the “worst,” method of doing this is to not buy the heavy casebooks, instead choosing to print out the cases for free from the online research tools the commercial research service providers try their hardest to addict you to in law school. A poor idea. You will end up with a badly–formatted case that doesn’t have the casebook butcher–style editing, it will be hard to read, hard to follow, and you won’t have the book to guide you through the many opinions you read. Often, what you print out will get lost in the piles of other things that the other students are printing out at the same time, it will take a long time to locate the materials, and you will spend far more time just administering such a system that it won’t be worth it. Buy the casebook.

I tried doing this at first, and it just did not work. You will still need the casebook for class. Too many references are made to the casebooks. If you just copy one assignment and the prof asks you to refer to an earlier note, then you’ll be out of luck. That makes me think of another point. Casebooks are arranged differently than ordinary textbooks. The notes at the end of the case are where the substantive information is. Sometimes you will have some introductory material, but other times you just have a case followed by “notes.” The notes are the important info. Skip over those (like you would in a regular text) and you’re likely to miss important points. MaggieC

Second, and almost equally as bad, is to copy the cases you are reading directly from the court reporters in the library. Again, you will end up with everything including the kitchen sink instead of what you really need to read and understand, you will have to locate the reporters, queue for a copier, then spend plenty of money making copies. Administration of this system still outweighs the benefit of not having to carry a casebook around. It has one advantage over using online services—at least you’ll learn your way around the library.

It’s still a hassle to have to run to the copier every day for every class. Time is too short as it is without having to do that. It costs money to make all these copies! DemoCat 827

The only realistic method of reducing your carrying weight is to have your casebooks ripped to pieces and rebound in smaller volumes. (By the way, forget looking after your books to keep them in pristine condition to sell them back at the end of the semester because law school books are almost guaranteed to have a new edition at least once every few years to prevent this practice. And if you aren’t writing in your casebooks, you’re doing something wrong.) Here’s how to get this done and why you should seriously think about doing this if you can’t bear a bag with wheels and you’re weak–backed:

1. The weight. Two of my first year classes were two–quarter classes using the same text—so I would have been lugging around and extra half a book (for each class!) that I wouldn’t even need for months!

2. Size matters as much (or more) than the weight. I carry my computer in my backpack, and still have trouble fitting everything in if I want to take a couple of legal pads or study aids. I can’t imagine trying to cram in huge books as well.

3. Space and convenience. A coil–bound book of any size lies flat. This is nice if you want to spread out and see two pages at once, but also helpful if you want to have only one page up (folding the rest of it underneath)—especially in a crowded class where a great big sprawling book takes up more desk–space.

4. User–friendly. I can toss one of my booklets in my purse or bag and go—it has made my study time very portable. Try standing in line for 45 minutes at financial aid juggling a whole casebook! Park, Starbucks, you name it—the booklets are so easy to carry.

5. Not all that expensive, really. Be sure to get only the coil binding (they can tell you which one is the sturdiest at each store). Also, I had no problem selling the books I wanted to sell to new students—I got some money back and they felt like they got a bargain.

6. If you just can’t bring yourself to cut your books, Kinko’s binding is still great for course supplements—last quarter my entire Crim Law text was in supplement form (i.e., a HUGE stack of photocopied pages). Also good for books that come apart—I had my Restatements re–bound when one of them split right down the middle.

7. I usually have casebooks divided into two–chapter sections. That works best for me. I also take a large black marker and write the chapter numbers on the front page so that I always make sure to grab the right one. It’s helpful to go through your syllabus and write the corresponding chapter numbers by each reading assignment—that way you can see when you will need to change booklets (or take two of them if necessary).

8. I color–code the back binding page (green for contracts, blue for torts, etc.), but the front cover is clear. Sure, it’s possible that a prof in your second semester could say in class, “Turn to page X and look at that case we read 3 months ago,” but it’s unlikely, and even if he did, and you couldn’t flip right to that page—so what? Toni

LAPTOPS

A laptop, no matter how “old school” you are, is vital in law school. No computer is a recipe for disaster, and trying to use the school’s computer lab will be more trouble that it’s worth. Using a desktop only is also a bad idea, since you will be guaranteed you’ll need a computer in various parts of the building, notably the library. In addition, if you think you don’t know how to use a computer and that a paper and pen is good enough, then you should absolutely get a computer and learn now—the practice of law these days relies heavily on computers for research, drafting, and in some cases, even filing documents. You cannot afford to be a law graduate who can’t use even the most basic word processor. Embarrassing as your computer illiteracy may be, there will be many people at your college that can offer assistance and show you how.

Laptops are expensive, and that can make the idea of not getting one attractive to the money–conscious applicant. These days, however, a laptop can be obtained from a reputable vendor at a reasonable price, and you might be able to use your financial aid to buy one. In comparison to the money you’re throwing at law school in general, a thousand dollars or so is relative pocket change.

Which laptop to get? Stick to reputable brands. Buy direct from the manufacturer or a solid vendor, not “Laptops4less.com.” Buy new. Call the school and make sure what you’re planning on buying will be compatible with the school’s network. Call the school if you’re thinking of buying a Mac, as many schools discourage them and won’t support them. Call the school for advice if you’re unsure. Check with the school to see if they have a preferred vendor, a preferred laptop, or some kind of special deal they have worked out with a vendor (most do), as this may be a cheaper way of getting a great laptop. Extended warranties? Might be a good idea for law school, since you want to make sure that you have 100% support and replacement for the next three years. This is the one time in your life when buying the extended warranty is a good idea. Check, of course, the fine print and make sure that the warranty will cover what you want it to cover.

You’re not a techno–geek, so I would suggest you keep it simple and go with what you know. What kind of computer are you comfortable using now? Does it run Windows or is it a Mac? Start with what you already know for operating systems. I would personally suggest a Gateway or Dell because of their service and support. If you’re just doing simple word processing and some spreadsheet work, almost any laptop will do. One last thing. You can link your laptop to the school’s network, so before you get to school, ask about what kind of cards/boards you’ll need to be able to link up. Chief

There are arguments for which laptops are better and everyone will have their own personal opinion, so the best thing to do is look at the web site of the law school you plan to attend and see what they recommend. At least one law school I’m considering plainly states that they have no tech support for Macs at all. Thus if you were to go there I would definitely not get a Mac. I highly doubt any will have special support for Linux either, so if you don’t like playing with computers, probably will stay away from it. In fact most law school recommend some form of Windows (now XP Professional) so that networking is easier on their end and yours (from a tech support view). LabWench

Most schools offer minimal tech support for Apples. Their web sites will typically tell you this, and if not you can call and get the skinny. If you are the kind who needs lots of tech support, this could be a problem. If you are fairly competent yourself, it’s not much of an issue. Capri

As for brands, check again with the law school, they may have some special deal with a manufacturer to get a better deal. After you check their deals go online and check different companies’ web site, you may be able to do as well or better on your own. LabWench

My advice on this subject is to call the school and ask what they recommend. If you don’t have any specific needs for your laptop other than law school, then get what the school recommends. It will save you money, time, and lots of tech support headaches. MisterThousand

Don’t forget that many schools will adjust your financial need upwards to include a laptop if you need to buy one so it can be covered by your student loans. Labwench

As for special software for law school, there are plenty of vendors that offer software tailored to law school, and which offer advanced outlining features, linking to cases online and so on. (Many also offer student discounts.) A word processor like Word or WordPerfect will be adequate for taking notes and outlining. The newer versions (that you would inevitably end up with if you buy a new laptop) have detailed outlining features. But if you think that you will need to link all your notes to the cases and create outlines “automatically,” then special software might be valuable. Bear in mind, though, that as this book (and other books) describe, the learning process is law school is firmly cemented in the outlining process, and anything that takes away the hard work involved in outlining is essentially skipping the learning and synthesizing that creating outlines offers. (See later in this book for a more detailed explanation of why outlines are so absolutely important for law school.)

The software might be extra cool, but I’m well versed in Word–creating tables and using the outline view with auto numbering/bullets, so that’s what I intend to use. Scout

Most word processors have an automatic outlining feature. Just click the button at the top of the screen, and the outline number appears in the right place, and can be indented or manipulated easily. So easily, in fact, that it takes about two minutes to learn. If you can’t work out how to do the mechanics of outlining on a word processor, then there’s no chance that you could master any other software that professes to do it all for you. Oldguy

Learning in law school comes from making your outlines. Going through your notes by hand, adding stuff from cases, other outlines, hornbooks and study aids, then organizing all of it in some form of outline. The finished outline is incidental to the learning process. If you have gone through all the info covered in the course and can organize it into an outline, then chances are you already know how it fits together. You learn the info while outlining, not from an outline. In my experience, those who try to complete an outline before learning the material often do not succeed, but those who learn the material by making an outline succeed. Back to the original point. If you use a package that makes it “easier” to outline, then you are merely taking away a great learning opportunity from yourself. If it was possible to get an A in every course by reading a completed outline, then commercial outlines would be more popular than they are, and casebooks would be unnecessary. The courses I’ve done best in are the ones where I had to struggle through the material, but ended up putting it into a coherent outline by myself. I believe that most law school outlining packages just take your notes and cram them into some outline form, or force you to take notes in outline form. They then allow you to link to online case databases (like Westlaw) and retrieve the cases you have noted in the outline. To me, this misses the point. It takes away the whole benefit of outlining—that you learn as you make it, and not from the final product. It also misses the point in that an outline is, at its finest, a simple, short, clear document. There’s no need to link to cases, secondary sources and stuff like that. It’s distracting you from the real purpose of what you’re meant to be doing. Oldguy

I use Storelaw, and I like it, but I don’t use it for actually creating my outline. I use it in class for taking my notes, then I print everything out, and create my outline in word. It doesn’t really save me time, but it keeps my class notes organized in a way I find useful. Mar

I like Case–Ace. I don’t like the “linear” organization imposed by word processing programs—with Case–Ace, I can store related bits of information next to each other by using the various tabs (brief, reading notes, class notes, secondary sources, etc.) rather than scrolling up and down to find what I want. It’s a question of organizational orientation, I guess. I am more database–oriented than document–oriented. emmdub 2004

Proficiency with a word processor is vital for legal work. It’s better to spend three years becoming 100% familiar with Word or WordPerfect (by using them for outlining) than using some proprietary software like Storelaw, then being unable to create a simple document when you hit the law office. Schwingy McWiener

WHAT TO WEAR?

You can wear (almost) whatever you want. Probably best to keep it on the smarter side of casual on the first day of orientation, but after that, just wear what you want to. If you’re comfortable in a Hawaiian shirt and flip flops (and the latitude is right), then go for it. Same if you’re a collar–and–tie person.

At all the schools I visited (none were part–time), the students all wore regular student clothes—everything from jeans and a sweatshirt to tight skirts with crop tops. (Yeah, those make me feel old.) Capri

Most people are dressed casually, except for those in the part–time program (such as myself) who come straight from work. Mardee

SOCIAL EVENTS

If you like them, then go for it. There’s a lot of alcohol thrown around at law school, so if you loved undergrad for that reason, then you’ll love law school. Just be warned:

There are no limits to the opportunities you’ll have to drink once you get to school. But if you are wise you will avoid almost all of them. yerch

Especially at the start of 1L, there will be plenty of events. Just bear in mind that you are starting a professional career, and you’re surrounded by the people who you’ll be working with for the rest of your career. Tempting as it may be to try to “fit in” with the younger crowd by drinking yourself stupid at these parties, you should try to remember that you’re probably older and more responsible that the regular law students. Now is not the time to throw up at a party in front of everyone else. Or say something stupid. Or get a DUI.

1L: AN OVERVIEW

1L is a hectic time. Perhaps not as bad as you’re expecting, but one reason it is dangerous is that it is deceptive: it drags and drags and drags, you receive almost no feedback as to how you’re doing, and after being under significant levels of stress and pressure—all of a sudden, finals. (And, the importance of first–year grades is made abundantly clear: your professional life will be tied, to a large extent, to how well you perform on these finals.) To use the old cliché, it is more of a marathon than a sprint.

You will have to work constantly for the entire year with few breaks. It’s tough, but for most nontrads, not half as tough as some jobs in the past (such as raising kids), and after it all you’re going to survive better than you think.

The first few weeks of reading/briefing were tough, until I got the hang of it. However, the workload did not get any lighter for me. Just about the time you catch on to the case thing you realize you need to start outlining or organizing the info in some way. MaggieC

If you approach law school with the dedication to treat the experience like a job—a real job, with hard work as needed, and knowing when to stop—then you’ll have few problems. If you can work efficiently, constantly, and try not to take work home whenever possible, then it’s manageable, and most people find that law school can be accomplished between nine in the morning and five in the evening, the occasional weekend, and some solid evenings nearer exams. It’s far harder than undergrad in terms of time pressure and workload, but the subject matter is simple enough once you know what you’re meant to be getting out of class and the materials.

My opinion is that first semester was easy, but extremely tedious. Mary

I was studying property & my father–in–law asked me if I was playing “Trivial Pursuit.” Told him what the cards were and he asked, “So, if you memorize everything on those cards, then you could pass the Bar?” I looked at him and told him these were the cards for only one subject, that I have five more boxes, and that they were only for the first year subjects! Trivial Pursuit indeed! grannylaw

The first year is...well, it’s an experience. There are so things you learn and go through. I am proud of what I’ve done so far and excited about next year—but I’m ready for a break and some time away. The first year is constant, constant pressure and it wears you down. amwalters

Enjoy the “stress” of preparing for 1L (and suffering through 1L) while it lasts. I can personally vouch for the fact that Bar prep is 100 times more stressful. Oh for the good old days of 1L. Schwingy McWeiner

ADMINISTRATION: SCHEDULING CLASSES AND SWAPPING SECTIONS

You typically do not get to schedule your own classes for 1L. You take what you are given. Normally, the first year class is divided up into two or more sections, each studying the same subjects, only with different professors. Unless you have a pressing, absolutely inflexible commitment that clashes with one of your first year classes, forget trying to request a section change or permission to take a class with another section. Such pressing, absolutely inflexible commitments are so rare, in fact, that the authors of this book can’t even think of one. You’re stuck with what you get. Besides, the schools reason, you knew that you had to keep nine in the morning ‘till five at night clear each weekday when you applied, so there’s no excuse for making commitments that conflict with law school in your first year. (Most schools state expressly that you should not—some insist cannot—work during first year. The only exception, of course, is for a part–time program.)

Usually, they schedule the classes for you. uke

1Ls at my school have no choice in the matter. DemoCat827

You’ll probably get a couple of bad professors and a couple of great professors per section—for instance, you may have the longtime–tenured–but–very–old–school–and–a–little–bit–sadistic professor for torts, but the new, young, and “trying to be cool” professor for property. (Careful, you’ll probably learn more from the former than from the latter.) The other section will have the borderline–psychopath for property, and the gentle, easygoing professor for torts. Everyone gets it good at times, and bad at other times. And if one section has an early class one semester, the other section will likely have it the following semester.

As for 2L and beyond, you’re generally left to your own devices for scheduling, so as long as you can stick out the utterly inflexible first year schedule, you can make your classes work around you the following two years. More on 2L and beyond, later.

BUYING CASEBOOKS

For reasons stated earlier, you have to buy the casebooks, even if you could, theoretically, photocopy the materials you need from the library (absent, ahem, copyright law) or print them from one of the online research services given to you free at the law library. Just buy the books. Yes, they are expensive. Yes, they are heavy. But you do not have the time to spend wandering ’round the library for materials or sitting in the computer lab waiting for the printers to free up. Buy your casebooks new if you can, simply because someone else will have inevitably written all over the second hand ones, just as you’re going to fill your new ones with notes and scribble. (If you can buy second–hand ones that are a recent edition and “clean,” then do so, because it will save you a little money. Law school publishers are the worst offenders of all for publishing new editions with virtually no differences to the old editions, because that’s how they preserve their revenue flow.)

Pay the money and buy new casebooks. I like to mark up my own books. (Of course, it’s easy for me to say since my husband pays for everything right now.) DemoCat827

So how much are these books going to cost you? Lots. Just for the required materials. Once you’ve added in some essential study aids (more on this later), you may be approaching four figures per semester.

I spent around $350 last semester for 3 classes, and I know some of the day students (full–time) spent over $800. However, I learned quickly that if you can start early enough, you can save a ton of money by finding your books online. Mardee

For my first (and so far only) semester, books were $650. Unpainted Huffheinz

>Last semester upward of $700, but profs had required texts besides the casebook. This semester I bought what I could online and spent about $200. 1lLawStudent

I have also had several profs put books on the list that we rarely or never used. I’ve become a little more careful to check old editions against the new ones and purchase the old ones when possible. I’ve also returned books early when it became clear the library copy (even if dated) would suffice. stratos

CLASS: SOCRATIC ISSUES

The Socratic Method of teaching sets law school apart from most other graduate programs, and what gives law school its reputation for being difficult and scary. Forget what you’ve seen from the movies and read in books—the days of a professor making a student stand up, then torturing him (yes, in those days, “him”) in front of the other members of the class have all but disappeared. Most law professors have given up on the Socratic Method as it was traditionally used, although you will still be called upon in class—more often than not, without warning.

The older professors tend to use the Socratic Method more, and those with decades of teaching experience will use it well and in its intended form. It’s the younger, more inexperienced professors who try to make a name for themselves by butchering the Socratic Method, bullying students, and generally using it as a tool to make themselves look smart and the target student look stupid. These are the professors you should watch out for.

In general, however, if you’re prepared for class —that is, you can talk reasonably intelligently about the cases set for that class and offer some insight into how they fit into the bigger picture— then you’ll be okay. It’s (usually) the students who don’t prepare for class who are humiliated in front of the class. Nothing annoys a professor more than someone completely unprepared. It’s an insult to the professor, and a waste of class time; you should strive to be prepared for class, period. Professors gently prod students who are prepared but who don’t “get” the case. Professors may take great pleasure in tearing you to pieces if they call on you and you are inexcusably unprepared, or they may just move on to the next unsuspecting student quickly, remembering to call on you again at a later date. Stupidity they can tolerate. Laziness they can’t. (They might not say a word…but don’t assume that that lets you off the hook. To borrow a military saying, there’s never any time when you’re not being observed. As applied to law school, even if it doesn’t “count,” it counts. Just think about the recommendation you might need in the future, or the gossip among your then–fellow attorneys—and perhaps judges—when the subject of you comes up.)

Having written all that, you’ll likely find that most of your law professors are pleasant, tough, but helpful in class. Some will even give you warning before you’re called on, so you can prepare (and God help you if you were warned but didn’t prepare). Some may give you the opportunity to “pass,” although they may make a note to call on your again the next class. (Even if you can pass, you really shouldn’t.)

Sure, it’s uncomfortable to be sitting in front of a hundred of your classmates and not know the answers to some of the questions the professor is asking you—and the questions will continue until there’s one you can’t answer, or, better yet, has set a logical trap illustrating the rule–and–exception nature of the law—but you’ll get over it. In fact, by your third year of law school, being unprepared for class will become a source of much amusement for you and your classmates, particularly when some of you are brutally honest and you tell the professor outright that you are unprepared, or that you were drinking the night before and you’ve forgotten what you read, or countless other lame excuses. You eventually get used to the embarrassment of not knowing what’s going on in class, or being unprepared. Not until the middle of your second year, however. Each time you’re called on during 1L will be something you will remember for a long, long time.

Handling the embarrassment becomes routine. No one cares anymore. We’ve all been put on the spot or made to look like an idiot. It’s actually a bonding experience with your classmates. Maggie

Just got called on in Criminal Procedure and didn’t get past “Umm...” when the professor moved on. He didn’t even give me time to gather my thoughts! DemoCat827

Theoretically, when you learn something constructively through your own discovery, you “own” it and will remember it. However, in practice it’s an awkward, inefficient way to learn. MaggieC

Under the Socratic Method, however, you’re forced to always be prepared, and must listen to a variety of answers and case analysis from various people. It may be frustrating, it may be scary, it may be downright boring at times (I cringe sometimes when certain students answer), but sometimes those frustrating and boring answers make me think even more. If the professor were to give a model answer, I accept it and move on. But listening to a student’s ill–conceived answer gets my brain churning as I try to come up with a better analysis on my own. Mardee

I don’t think I’ve ever been called on more than two or three times in a class during the semester—that was for larger classes though. It really depends on the professor. Some call on students at random; others go down the alphabet; one had a stack of index cards with everyone’s name on it—once he went through the whole stack he would start over. Mardee

In the beginning of the year, I was always worried that I would get called on and not have anything to say. Now I just say, “I really don’t know,” because sometimes I just don’t know or care. There’s nothing wrong with that. If it’s a class like Criminal Law, where there’s some leeway to say something outrageous, I’ll do just that. For example, the professor was asking about lawful ways to defend one’s property. He asked me if it would be okay to have a moat full of crocodiles surrounding my home. I told him that I would be fine with that, since I don’t like having company. Coconut66

Nothing unites law students more than being under the gun with a socratic prof. By second year you learn to let your friends know when you aren’t all that well prepared so in the unfortunate event that you are called on, they can jump in with the “sudden insight” while you stall. We call it the buddy system. The volunteering for a case early in class is a good strategy, too, when you aren’t well– prepared. It’s a little riskier, though, because you don’t know for sure that the prof will call on you. MaggieC

THE PROFESSORS

Professors vary greatly in their classroom style. Older professors (with more classroom experience) tend to know how to get the most important information to students, although they use various means to do so. Younger professors are often less efficient and may spend too much class time “being a law professor” rather than teaching. It depends, of course: There are old professors who have clearly lost it, and young professors who are stunning educators.

Each uses a personal approach, and in only a few weeks you’ll figure out which classes you can safely attend unprepared, which professors are random in who they interrogate, which ones go soft, which ones go for the jugular, and so forth. Learning what leeway you have for each class is important, as there will be times in the semester when you have to sacrifice being prepared for one class for being prepared for another. Make sure you don’t turn up prepared for the easy–going professor, choosing to show up unprepared for the professor who will be most displeased if you are unprepared.

Participation in class is rarely a factor in your grade, and the professor will let you know up front if they intend to raise or lower your grade based on your classroom performance. In most cases, even if classroom performance does affect your grade, it’s more a tool to punish the clearly unprepared and get around anonymous grading. Average performance, when you’ve read the cases but still don’t quite “get it,” won’t result in a lower grade…but clear unpreparedness will. In addition, your performance in class will have to be stunning and continuous to have your grade raised; it’s easier to get a grade lowered than raised. Moreover, if raised at all it will be, at most, one or two points. If that. It’s far, far better to focus on the substance, and ace your exams. In the classroom, a “Steady Eddie” performance and demeanor—not too tart, not too sweet—is the better approach.

We plan to be attorneys and the only way to get there is through the professors, either willingly or after a painful collision. Chief

My contracts teacher is very friendly but tough. He called on a girl the other day and she said she hadn’t read the case. He then informed her that her performance was “outstanding” and would save the hardest, most confusing case for her. FSU2005

I’ve never had to stand up, but we’re called on to recite facts and holding, and to analyze hypos from the cases. Some professors have a “system.” My property professor would just pick a row and then just start going down that row. Civil procedure would pick a student and stay with that student for the whole class, though he would take answers from others who volunteered. Contracts…who knew what his system was? He was the kind of professor that every law student dreads getting. Screamed a lot and always made life difficult. He would assign fifty pages of reading and then focus on one word in one of the cases. Drove me nuts! grannylaw

PARTICIPATION IN CLASS

Because professors usually prefer to pay equal attention to your classmates too, you can probably bet that if you’ve just been called on, you’re safe for a while and won’t get called on again (unless, of course, you were unprepared.) It will be apparent which professors this applies to. You can give yourself a break for a few days after you have been called on, as the chances of being called on again the next class are slim. Use this downtime to catch up with your other classes.

In addition, when someone else has just been called on and you have a feeling that your number might be up next, pay attention to what’s going on in class, and get ready. In an emergency, spend the time the professor is grilling the other student by reading ahead and refreshing your memory about the upcoming case. (Far better, however, to spend at least a few minutes before class to, at a minimum, familiarize yourself with the cases. There are rarely more than one or two cases for each class period.)

When someone is already called on you are usually safe until the next case comes up, so I look ahead to the next case. Teach

In class, you will have one of the main opportunities to gauge the abilities of your classmates. But pay no attention to those students who always have their hands in the air, wiggling their fingers and bouncing up and down to draw the professor’s attention. (Yes, just like elementary school.) Those with the loudest mouths are not always—or even often—the smartest. This holds true even if you listen to what they say and think to yourself, “Damn, that was insightful.” They probably read it somewhere instead of thinking it up themselves. Most of the time, however, comments in class from other students are, well, superficial and lacking in anything of note.

Who cares what those noisy students think? Nobody. It absolutely won’t make a difference to their grades—as they will discover when grades come in. In general, don’t take them seriously, and focus, in your notes, on the professor; ignore the comments and “insight” of your fellow classmates because it’s usually a waste of time. If the girl three seats down from you who can’t keep her mouth shut in class were grading your paper, then yes, take notes. But unless it comes out of the professor’s mouth or it’s in the casebook, ignore it. Chances are, those students so keen to impress the professor in class have spent so much time preparing for their in–class comments that they are ignoring the important things, like outlining and preparing for exams. As mentioned before, class participation is not often used to increase a student’s grade. Rather, it is used to lower it for the unprepared student.

A minor exception: You should make a quick note of anything said—by anyone—on a point that raises a doubt or thought in your mind. You should then…quickly…check on that point and include it in your all–important outline. An example might be a student who mentions a minority rule, which the prof might have forgotten to follow up on in class. You make the note, check a commercial guide, include it in your outline and then exam, and you get the extra two points. Bingo. It doesn’t matter, by the way, whether you agree or disagree, or whether the professor agrees or disagrees. All you need to do is to note that there is such a wrinkle, and that if the jurisdiction were x, the rule would be y. If you’re spending more than five minutes on it, however, you’re wasting time.

Pay no attention to your classmates. There are invariably a number of people who absolutely adore talking in class, and the sight of their eager hands shooting up into the air at every opportunity causes much eye–rolling and groaning among the more reticent among us. Some of these people will seem extremely intelligent, which will intimidate the heck out of you. Don’t let it. Also, don’t listen to comments made by poseurs who love to announce that they’ve finished their outlines by the fourth week of class and have memorized the entire Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Everyone is scared, though not everyone will admit it. Concentrate on what you need to do and not on what everyone else says they’re doing. There’s a saying that you don’t make friends in law school—you make allies. It’s true. Even some of the friends I’ve made have their foibles and will seemingly stab me and others in the back at times. Focus on your work and don’t let the other people get you down. This is your opportunity— don’t let anyone else ruin it for you. Democat827

As for questions in class, use your judgment. If it’s a question about something that you don’t get and you’re sure that lots of other students don’t get it either, then ask. You will be thanked. If it’s a question about something you don’t get and you think that it’s just something that’s not clicking with you for some reason, keep your hand down unless it’s vital that you understand that concept there and then. If you raise your hand and ask, then two things will happen. One, people will probably start snickering. Two, it’s a waste of the other students’ time for you to use class as a private one–on–one with the professor to sort out a problem unique to you. Most of the time, however, if it’s a valid question, then there will be plenty of other students with the same question. Don’t be afraid of asking sensible questions in class.

Just be mindful that everyone else has paid tuition, and class is not a time for you to clear up your understanding of the subject at the expense of the other hundred students. Office hours are the place for personal assistance from professors. Not class. You will find that if you ask five minutes of questions in every class, you will start to lose friends outside class. And if you don’t care about this, consider that you will inevitably find yourself in a situation where you will need the assistance of your (former) classmates and (future) colleagues. Assume, for example, that you’re out sick for a week and need someone to cover for you in court. Remember, you will be working in a tight–knit legal community, with your classmates, for the rest of your career.

The people who roll their eyes when someone raises their hand to ask a legitimate, thoughtful question are the ones to ignore. Use good, common sense when raising your hand—realize there are many people in the class who also have valid questions and comments, but don’t keep your mouth shut the whole semester just because you’re afraid someone will roll their eyes. stratos

Don’t raise your hand if you have nothing to say, or if you’ve just contributed something and others have their hands raised. They should be thoughtful questions that show you’ve paid attention, not ones that show you haven’t heard anything the prof has said for the last fifteen minutes. If you have real trouble understanding something basic the prof was talking about, though, better to seek him or her out during break or office hours, or via e–mail than to slow down the flow of class. chillout

ATTENDANCE

Law school is not like undergrad where you can miss all but the first and last week of class and still end up with an A. Attendance is mandatory at most law schools, and if you miss more than a handful of classes, you might face grade reductions or automatic failure. Professors rarely take attendance, but they will know when you’re there and when you’re not.

For no other reason, you need to attend class to understand the material. Sometimes class seems like a waste of time, but it is mostly a useful experience. You learn what the professor thinks is important, you learn what will be on the exam and what won’t be on the exam, and you ensure that you keep up with the reading and the pace. Miss class and you miss out on the professor’s angle on the subject, the professor’s “clues” (for instance, if you miss class, you miss out on the professor mentioning casually that he has tested defeasible estates every year since he started two decades ago, and you can bet that your classmates won’t bother to tell you this), and you miss out on the motivation that class provides.

Keep up with the reading and attend all of your classes. That is, make sure that you read for every class and go to class prepared. While in class, try to listen to the prof and not worry about writing down every word said. I found that I did not use my class notes all that much when making outlines because, by paying attention, I was able to remember what the prof stressed. No Longer Confused

If you don’t do anything else, go to class. It’s easy to get burned out and think you need a break from class. However, missing class deprives you not only of the professor’s individualized instruction, but also another means of reinforcing it. Mardee

Go to class. It really is important. You can get a lot out of the lecture/discussion in class that you can’t get out of the book. Still Cougar

Go to class, listen, and take notes. But spend more time listening and understanding rather than taking notes and missing important information. MisterThousand

JEKYLL AND HYDE: PROFESSORS OUTSIDE CLASS

As mentioned, forget using class time as your personal one– on–one with the professor to iron out your own unique misunderstandings about the material (or to build a “rapport” with the professor). That’s what office hours are for. The most horrific professors in class are sometimes those most passionate about teaching, and will gladly spend time with you outside class, examining where you’re going wrong, and explaining legal concepts to you. Of course, some professors are unpleasant in and out the classroom, but most, however unpleasant in class, are helpful teachers in the privacy of office hours. Use these office hours—you’ve paid for them after all. Even if you understand everything about the subject material presented in class (which is doubtful), go and visit a few professors during office hours and chat with them about the class. You’ll soon have an ally who will be less inclined to draw and quarter you in class. Professors truly welcome student contact during office hours.

You might even, as a nontrad, have more in common with your professors than you think—you’ll be older than some of the youngest professors on the faculty. Your profs have kids, wives, hobbies, and lives outside the classroom, and they will be happy to talk to you for a while about nothing in particular. (And, chances are, they will genuinely respect who you are and what you bring to the academic “table”—your experience and a more deliberate, professional bearing. Don’t discount the importance of this most “subjective” aspect of legal education.) Not least, it’s good to know professors. They are, once you pass the Bar, an excellent source of expert legal advice, and they are often a source for employment opportunities—when, for instance, a local lawyer is looking to take on a new associate, he may call a law professor at your school to find out whether there are any promising students in his or her class that may want a job upon graduation.

I find that you can divide professors into two groups, those who want you to learn and those who want to hide the ball. Those in the first category are usually happy to sit around and just talk and talk about the topic. The ball hiders will answer whatever specific question you have, but they’ll make you feel that you’re wasting their precious time. johnny99

I’ve not found a prof yet who wasn’t willing to help, thank goodness. In fact, several have bent over backwards to make sure I get what I need. Mardee

Some profs are very “student oriented” and will take the time to go over exams and explain how your answer could have been better. Others, are not so helpful and play “hide the ball.” I have learned to steer clear of the latter group because they can even be misleading in their vagueness. 2Ls and 3Ls can be helpful in telling you which profs are helpful if you aren’t sure. MaggieC

For the most part, professors are extremely encouraging and supportive. They’re available during office hours as well as after class and more than willing to explain confusing concepts to you. My contracts prof was telling us how much respect he has for night students. He said a lot of day students just kind of drift into law school because they’re young, they’ve got degrees in things that they don’t know what to do with, and they don’t know what else to do. He said night students are there because they really want to be lawyers. He also said there’s no other reason why people would put themselves through such hell. Of course, we do have one professor who goes out of his way to make everything as confusing as possible, who likes to call on people and then tear them apart, worrying them the way a dog worries a bone. He makes it sound like unless you want to flunk out, you must surrender your entire life to school. It is clear he has watched The Paper Chase one time too many. bluecanary

NOTES

This is a tricky area, since we each study differently, and bring differing note–taking techniques from undergrad. Some take copious notes; others rarely jot down more than a couple of words per class, preferring to rely on commercial materials instead. The general consensus of opinion is that in law school, the fewer notes the better. A gauge of how much you should be writing in class: never take notes at the expense of listening. If you find that you’re drowning in written notes and can’t remember what the professor actually said, then you’re taking way too many notes. On the other hand, if you find that your notes are so scant that you have trouble recalling what was covered in class, then a little more attention to note–taking is probably appropriate.

Your notes should be little more than a roadmap of the course, punctuated with nuggets of information that the professor has highlighted. Often, these highlights are offhand comments that add value to the casebook and other written materials. This is the true value of the professor. For example, you might be reading the 100th U.S. Supreme Court case, and your prof mentions in passing a jurisprudential tension between Justice x and Justice y. That’s important to an understanding of Constitutional jurisprudence, and something you might explore (and include in the exam). Using your notes, you should be able retrace, during outlining, to focus on what was covered in class, and the meaning of what was covered in class. Wading through page after page of notes is working hard, but not working smart—your notes need to tell you the basics.

Rarely does anything that comes out of the mouth of a fellow student warrant writing down. Trust us on this one. No matter how interesting their off–topic hypothetical, nor how much the professor appears to let everyone know that this student is brilliant, avoid the temptation of writing down verbatim what the student says. If the professor feels it’s important, he or she will “repackage” it in a better, more thoughtful, more legally important way.

Recording lectures in law school is, quite simply, a waste of time. Listen the first time in class. Listen. If you find yourself spending time outside class going over a recording of the class (complete with ninety percent inane comments from students), you are working hard, but definitely not smart. If you missed something in class, ask a classmate—don’t spend two hours hunting for it in the midst of a recording.

As far as computer notetaking is concerned, it is a good idea to get used to it from the start. Once again, it’s a matter of time management—if you spend hours transcribing your notes from paper to computer (either after class or during outlining), then you’re wasting time. If you can’t type as fast as you can write, learn. If you’re distracted by the games on your computer, delete them. If you find yourself logging onto the Internet during class, then leave your network card at home or in your locker or car. You have work to do—schoolwork.

The key to note–taking is to remember that you’re not using your notes as a source. You use your notes to remind yourself what to study via commercial materials and other sources. Reliance on your own notes to create your outline is a recipe for disaster.

You don’t take notes of any Socratic dialogue. Ever. The thing about Socratic dialogue (as butchered by law profs) is that they push the student to say the incorrect things, throw out red herrings, irrelevant hypos, and the students are as smart (clueless?) as we all are. There is nothing you need to glean from these dialogues. What you should take note of is what the professor says outside the Socratic parts of class—the explanations of the law after the dialogue, etc. There’s so much fluff in law school classes that you can safely switch off when any student is talking, because nothing your classmates say matters. Law notetaking differs from undergrad notetaking primarily because in undergrad, your notes are your main study resource—if it’s in your notes, you learn it. In law school, your class notes are of little importance, and should serve as a guide for what to learn from commercial outlines and other solid materials. Schwingy McWiener

It is true that most of what your fellow classmates say does not need to go into your notes. There are times, however, when a student leads to some important point. When the student gives the info correctly, the prof may not restate it, and just assumes that you were paying attention when it was said. That said, anything the student comes up with on their own...thoughts about the material, questions etc...has little value to others. I’ve found that my notes are most helpful to align my studying to the way the professor has taught the course. It’s true that most of the material can be better learned through commercial sources, but I had two classes my first year where a commercial supplement could not be used much at all because the professor taught the course in a completely different direction. The notes from those classes are invaluable because they are the primary source for exam prep (along with the materials you’ve read), and they also gave me an idea of the kind of policy arguments the prof is expecting. springchick

99% of people I knew in law school used laptops. I do remember a handful of paper notetakers on the first few days of 1L classes, but they soon gave up their “computers are distracting” and “I write quicker than I type” excuses soon afterwards. By 2L and 3L, there was no one in any of my classes who didn’t have their laptop in front of them. As for certain types of software for notetaking, I always sat at the back of class and I could see everyone’s screens. They all used (when they were actually taking notes and not playing games or searching the internet) a standard word processor, and I never once saw OneNote or StoreLaw being used. We all ended up fine. You may like more advanced software than a word processor, but I don’t think it will give you an advantage. My opinion is that special law school software puts you at a disadvantage— you have the ability to store too much information, and this distracts you from the core information you need to be learning. There’s no reason to link your notes to cases, and if you do, then you’re probably wasting your time. There’s no benefit in automatically converting notes into outlines, as this defeats the purpose of outlining. With an hour and a user manual, anyone can make a word processor do almost anything that expensive law school software does. And even a monkey can make outlines in a word processor and link to cases. Schwingy McWiener

While swapping outlines and other distilled materials is okay in law school, you should take special care with your classmates’ personal notes. Keep them to yourself unless given specific permission to pass them on to others.

My own rule is that I never share a classmate’s personal notes taken during class, unless permission is expressly given. You never know when there might be some personal comment in them (calling the professor or classmate something not too nice because that was a bad day or whatever). I don’t trust myself to have gone through and sterilized the raw notes prior to forwarding them, so I just don’t do it. I think it would bother me to know that my own, sometimes erroneous, class notes are swinging through the LS vines. trixR4kids

WORKLOAD

I can happily say that school is nowhere near as time consuming as I expected. It is still challenging and you will be busier than undergrad, but it can be done. Teach

1L isn’t hard if you make an effort to keep ahead of the work, and make work a priority. Mary

For full–time students, the overall pressure is, surprisingly, less that that for part–time students. Full–time students have every hour of every day for three years to complete the coursework. Part–time students have evening hours weekdays to finish the same amount of work in four years. Do the math. While the full–time student can, with careful planning, end up with at least a couple of hours each weekday with nothing to do, and can also potentially end up with most weekends free, the part–time student often works nine to five, then attends school until close to bedtime, and will have to play catch–up each weekend throughout the semester. Read what the full–time students have to say:

About 15 study hours per week per course. Then after midterms, about 8 hours per week per course, after you realize that briefing is largely a waste of time. Mary

I try to get as much done as possible during the day, that way I have evenings (mostly) free. With the exception of outlining or legal research, I’m usually done by six or seven. It’s all a trade off. Some people chose to hang out between classes and work in the evening. It’s all a matter of personal preference. Don’t be afraid to try switching your schedule around the first couple of weeks. You’ll find your groove, then it’s just a matter of settling in for the ride. FSU2005

Law school full–time is a hefty undertaking as far as workload goes. Part–time law school is arguably more work—you spend all day in a real job, then spend your evenings in class. Then you spend your weekends in the library. For four years. In comparison, the full–time program is easier; it’s a short, sharp shock rather than a drawn–out episode. It’s not wise to pick the part–time program as a way of making the process less stressful, unless, of course, you don’t work full–time during the day.

But part–time school, full–time work, and family commitments are manageable: If you are able to organize your time efficiently and if you’re prepared to plan far ahead and make sacrifices when appropriate, you can fit it all in. And if part–time evening school is the only way you have of getting a JD, then it’s the only way you have—time to suck it up and get it over with.

I work a full–time, forty–hour–a–week job while attending an evening law school program. Most of my class works full–time, and I don’t know anyone who could take off the summer from their real job for a clerkship. It seems it’s not even really an important issue, it’s just not something most of us could do, and I don’t know anyone who is concerned about it. It’s obviously not crucial to clerk to get a job on graduation. lawhound

Most professors realize that part–time students have a lot of demands on their time and try to do what they can to accommodate us. Jellybean

It’s hard, but definitely doable. I work at a stressful job (40–50 hours per week), and go to school three nights a week, and managed to achieve a class ranking of 6 out of 85 at the end of the first semester. You really have to be both motivated and dedicated, but if you put your mind to it, it will work. Mardee

Be prepared for the fact that you will not have much of a social life, but do sneak in leisure time when you can. Otherwise it’s too easy to get burnt out. And it really is about time management. I don’t read when I get home from class around 10 p.m.—that’s my time to relax. But I do read, study, and write every night I’m not in class and always spend at least one day of the weekend studying (and usually the full weekend as it gets closer towards exams and legal writing deadlines). Mardee

Part–time students tell a tale of trying desperately fit it all in. No doubt, it’s easier for traditional part–time students who have little else to do except go to work and then go to school, but for the nontrad, the part–time schedule is not the blessing in disguise that many think it is. They will often end up waking up at six to get the kids ready, then spend a full day at work, followed by an evening of law school. Exhausted, the parent/employee/student crawls into bed, not having spent nearly enough time with the kids (or spouse), and knowing that the weekend is going to be spent in the library catching up. It may, in reality, be simpler to borrow the funds to attend law school full–time instead of trying to work your way through law school part–time. Here’s what the part–timers think:

It is time–consuming and grueling. My school only requires us to take 3 classes at night, then we take a few in the summers to make up for it. I do wind up with some free time, mainly because I set myself on a schedule, and allow time for it (although mostly my free time is eaten up by stuff like laundry, grocery shopping, etc.). If you’re married, and your spouse is willing to take on those chores, so much the better. Mardee

Nightschool is a lot of work, but definitely manageable. As far as school selection goes, choose the school in the area you want to practice in. The lower ranked the school, the smaller the area you want to work in should be. uke

From what I’ve seen of my own schedule and others, part–timers who work doing the day and go to school in the evening have little free time. And what little I have, I have to plan for carefully. I’m hoping it gets better next year, because right now my schedule pretty much sucks. uke

BRIEFING

Briefing is the process of taking a judicial opinion and reducing it to a shortened form, highlighting the legal point of the case. That is, by briefing a case, you essentially summarize it, writing the summary in a form that makes it easy for you to recall what the case was about and answer questions on the case in class. Most briefs are organized into sections, such as the facts, the decision (or holding), the judge’s reasoning behind the decision, and perhaps a more in–depth analysis. And that’s about all you need to know about briefing. You will undoubtedly see plenty of briefs in your first few weeks of law school, and that’s enough to pick up the skill of briefing.

There are three things to remember about briefing: First, briefing is like outlining (more on this later) in that it’s used as means to ensure you are reading the cases and learning how to pick out what you need to know. You need to know who won, and why. If you just read the case without briefing (at least, at the start of the semester), then you run the risk of not following the “formula” that a brief sets out for picking up what you need to be picking up from your reading of the case. In essence, briefing is a tool used to teach you how to cut through the crap of most judicial opinions, get past the judge’s ego, and get to the point of the opinion. (This is not just flippant, by the way. Legal opinions are not written by law professors for law students: they’re written by judges—for other judges. They also contain many issues, while you’re almost always focusing on one. This distillation process is thus a vital skill. You need to learn to brief, at least in the early stages of your legal education.)

Second, you don’t brief to create a permanent record of the case for your notes. You should normally take away a handful of sentences about each case. Anything more and you’re studying hard, but not smart. You rarely refer to cases by name on an exam (except for Constitutional Law and a few cases in Civil Procedure). You do need to understand the legal meaning of the main cases. Don’t spend too much time creating beautiful, detailed briefs with the thought that they will come in handy later in the semester for your all–important outlines. They won’t. What you need to know from each case will be taken down in the form of notes during the class—you will not need to refer to briefs again for any reason, and if you are referring to them, again, you’re doing something wrong. They are disposable, and they have little or no use beyond the class in which that particular case was discussed.

Third, it is important to learn to brief properly at the start of the first semester. Briefing is an important—but simple—skill. Spend the first few weeks briefing cases fully, making sure you are comfortable picking out what you need to know and understand. After that, start cutting back on the briefing—they can get shorter, you can rely more on your notes you take in the casebook as you’re reading (a process called book briefing), and you can spend the time you save doing more useful things, such as outlining. (Outlining is vastly more important than briefing. If there’s even a thought where you should spend your time, spend it on outlining.) That written, don’t dismiss briefing as unnecessary—it is a vital skill. It is, however, a skill that takes little time to master, and if you’re spending most of your time briefing cases halfway through the semester, something’s wrong.

Different colored highlighters for briefing? That can be summed up in one word: no.

As you learn to become more concise, you’ll eventually be able to brief a case in a few paragraphs. Mardee

I think briefing each case after the initial month or so is a waste of time unless it works for you. However, you absolutely should brief cases at least for the first two months. It not only helps to hone your legal writing skills, but also helps you to actually read a case. Mardee

If you’re concerned, you can find samples online. It’s not something to worry about. Rat

Once you’ve briefed the first few cases in each class, you might want to minimize your briefing to a few key words that evoke the case and what black letter law was brought out in the case. Book briefing is okay for class–preparedness, but if you want to use your cases in your outlines, you probably want to write down a sentence or two on each case as you come to it and save work at the end of the semester—trudging through the case books is not the most rational way to study for your exams. chillout

I did full briefs for a while but that grew tiring and seemed like a waste of time. Once I figured out how to read a case and why we were reading it, I simply did a capsule brief. This is nothing more than a short paragraph (for each issue) discussing the issue, holding and reasoning of the case. These ended up being the backbone of my outline. No Longer Confused

Take notice of the facts, holding, issues, and analysis. If you get these things in every brief, you’ll never end up in class (like I did) having a lovely brief prepared containing great analysis of the court’s detailed legal reasoning, but forgetting the basics like who the court ruled in favor of. Believe me, if you want to look like an idiot, then all you have to do is umm and ahh when the professor asks, “Tell the class which party prevailed in X v. Y?” Oldguy

You will get faster. The ability to pull the right information out of the cases (and fact patterns on exams) and write in in a coherent, accurate manner is useful when exam time comes. And that skill is only developed by repetition. Toni

Canned briefs —those prepared by various commercial study aid publishers—vary in quality. Substantial ones (i.e., more than a few paragraphs) and those linked to a particular casebook are the ones to buy if you feel you need them as a back–up. Then you can look up your case, read about it in detail, and you’ll be set. (Note, however, that canned briefs should never be used as a substitute for at least occasional briefing on your own—you do need to learn how to brief and pull information out of a larger piece of writing, as that’s what your exams will be like.) Those that are thin on the word count and are not linked to your casebook are the ones to avoid. There are bad canned briefs: they are easy to create and easy to publish. In particular, forget online brief services or those contained on CD–ROMs for your computer—they are generally of inferior quality.

Chances are, once you start law school, you’ll be bombarded with offers from various companies trying to sell you their study materials before you realize that you don’t actually need them and you’ve been ripped off. As a general rule, stick with the premium companies for your study materials, and if you can buy materials keyed to your casebook, all the better. The more generic you go, the less helpful they will be. You may find that you’re better off spending five minutes scanning the case you haven’t briefed instead of spending two minutes reading a badly–written canned brief. (You should also take the time, before you buy, to compare canned briefs for a common case that you’ve just read. In fact, re–read it a few times—both in the casebook and in the various commercial books—which will help you both in choosing the better book and in honing your briefing skills.)

To save on expenditures, by the way, you might agree with your study group to each buy canned briefs for such–and–so casebook. (You’ll all have the same classes, and so will be able to share.) This way, everyone will have ready access to the briefs, but your costs will be minimized. As they’re not an essential resource, there’s no harm if you don’t get to them all. Again, outlining is far more important.

Canned briefs can be an absolute lifesaver when you haven’t been able to do the reading for a class. No matter how organized and diligent you are, there will be times when you won’t be able to get to the reading. MaggieC

OUTLINING

This is quite simply the single most important method of learning the law during law school. An outline is a synthesis of your notes, the casebook, commercial study materials, and whatever else helps you understand the material, all organized into a simple, concise, and accurate outline of the course. You will, by creating an outline, distill the entire course into a (relatively) short document.

An “outline” is just notes, really well organized. Tomboy

So why create an outline? For one reason: To learn the material in the context of the whole. Or, restated, to learn the legal rules (and legal exceptions to the legal rules) in the context of “the law.” Can it be learned as you go through the course? Not really. While in most undergraduate courses, the progression through the material is linear (that is, you learn it from the logical starting point—the beginning—and stop once you reach the end), in law school, there is no real start and end point. There are few “basics” that form the logical starting point from which to progress. Often, you’ll find concepts taught at the start of the course that actually make little sense until something else has been studied in the middle of the course. It is also true that some material won’t make sense until you study it (again) during a Bar review course…or until you’re actually practicing law! So the process of creating an outline not only highlights the material you need to know, but it highlights where that material fits in the grand scheme of the course, and it allows you to see both the big picture and the small picture in one document, instead of having to flip among notes, the casebooks, hornbooks, commercial materials, and so on.

You may be thinking that outlining is duplicative of what you already have on file, and you may think that not outlining is studying smart, and outlining is making the fatal mistake of studying hard. You would be quite mistaken. The process of outlining is iterative: you will start with a lengthy jumble of material, and through the physical process of organizing and the intellectual process of reorganizing, you will begin to understand the subject. Then, as you realize that you no longer need to waste two pages describing the elements of negligence because you know them, you can cut those sections down to just a few lines. You’re on your way! The process of trimming and revising the outline allows you to remember significant chunks of information, and what isn’t stuck in your head remains in the outline. Done effectively, a good outline is concise, not because you are being superficial or because you’re missing huge chunks of the course, but because what isn’t in the outline is etched into your brain through the process of creating the outline, and you don’t need it written down anymore.

The shorter the outline, the better (assuming, of course, that you didn’t start with a mere three pages of notes because you missed half the classes). If you have to start rooting through a lengthy outline during an exam, you’re wasting valuable analysis and writing time. If the outline is short, then you already know what you need to know for the exam, and the outline is a “mere” memory jogging tool. One technique is to prepare a full outline (which might be 30, 40, or more pages), and then create a second version: the mini–outline. The mini–outline should be, at most, 2–3 pages. Max. It should be something that you have, literally, committed to memory. Every word—because every word stands for a rule of law that is essential to the course. You should be able to shred the physical document…and recreate it, from scratch and from memory. This is hard to do. (Emotionally more than intellectually.) Try it. Once you are able to do this, then you’re ready for the final exams.

But, as with everything else, if you have a more effective means of learning the material other than creating an outline, then do so. Dismiss outlining at your peril, however, unless you’ve tried and found another method that really does work better.

What’s different is that it’s necessary to have some way to organize the course material in law school. Most people use an outline, but I know a few successful students who do not. One 2L friend uses 5X8” index cards and writes the important points on one side, examples on the other. She is on Law Review, so it clearly works for her. Some people wait until the end of the course, then create an outline. I start from the beginning outlining. When I first put something in an outline I include in–depth explanations, case names, examples. I keep refining it as the semester goes along and shortening it. After a while, I don’t need the in–depth explanation, so I take it out. My final outlines ended up being around 30–40 pages, which could have been shorter but I like to use a lot of blank space to make it easier to read. MaggieC

You must make your own outlines. As mentioned above, the process is the true benefit of outlining, rather than the physical pieces of paper. If you use outlines that others have done, then you miss the crucial benefit of making one yourself. Sure, look at other outlines to get a feel for what an outline is, for filling in the gaps in yours, and for emergencies (for example, you’re so far behind that outlining is a lost cause, and you simply need something to learn the basics before the exam—so that you don’t fail). As should be obvious, outlining is an intensely personal process. Don’t neglect it.

Of course, don’t take this advice to extremes either. You don’t need to write every single word yourself. You don’t need to slave for weeks to determine the optimum structure for the outline. Use common sense—if you’re 100% clear on a subtopic, then copy someone else’s to use as a memory aid or simply omit it. If you’re 5% clear on a topic, then you do need to outline that section yourself to learn and understand it in the process.

To outline, you need the source material. Don’t try to make the process difficult by referring only to the casebook and your class notes to determine what “the law” is. Refer to commercial outlines (but first only for the structure—this is not a copy–and– paste exercise or, more correctly, it’s not just a copy–and–paste exercise). Use hornbooks, casebooks, others’ notes, guides, and whatever else you can. You can’t create a good outline unless you’re using well–organized, and correct, information.

You can gain the preparation benefits without starting from scratch. For example, to save time, you can replace the language in someone else’s outline with your own, which rams the info into your long–term memory. Too many people waste time fiddling with formatting issues making their outlines, making them look perfect. Using a pre– prepared, basic structure won’t hurt you in the average class as long as you supplement with class–specific information—primarily your notes. In the alternative, you can use this same process using an upperclassman’s outline from the specific professor’s course. Reinventing the wheel is a waste of time. Rat

On the subject of making sure your initial source material is correct, be wary of other students’ outlines. Unless they received an A for that class, be careful. You don’t want to use someone else’s outline if that got that student a B (or worse). Cross–check the outline with commercial outlines (written by graduates and tried by thousands of students, making sure the errors are ironed out). Use your own notes and what your professor tells you as a veto—if your professor tells you emphatically one thing, yet the outlines tell another story, go see your professor. If he or she can explain to you the difference between what his understanding of the material is and what the commercial material states, then go with what the professor says. (Note that commercial outlines are generic and not specific to any state, and some professors are keen to teach the law of the state the law school is located in— thus, commercial materials can be “wrong” sometimes, depending on what the professor is teaching and whether your state is a “minority rule” jurisdiction.) After all, your professor is the person grading the exam, so you need to learn what he or she wants you to know, not what a commercial outline wants you to know.

Don’t feel you have to do everything from scratch. I felt it was important that I outline everything myself. However, I kept coming across outlines from others that were better and more useful, and wound up incorporating those into my own outline. In the long run, better information is more important than coming up with it on your own. Try to find outlines from 2Ls and 3Ls who actually had your professor and start early! Then use their information to make your own outline. Don’t just photocopy it—you need to actually work on it yourself. That’s the best way to get it ingrained into your head. Mardee

There’s no need to start from scratch. However, it is important to tailor the outline to your own casebook and professor. I used the Emanuel outlines to study for exams, but I found them too different from my own texts to be of much help. Once you get to school, you’ll find scads of outlines floating around from 2Ls and 3Ls, and well as the SBA, etc. You can also find them online—just do a search for outlines using your casebook. I found those to be helpful, especially when I knew the person who created it had done well in school. Once I have an outline, no matter where I get it from, I supplement it with my own notes, etc. Not only will it help to make sure you’ve got all the material covered in class there, but it does help refresh your memory as you’re typing. Mardee

Definitely get outlines from other students who have taken the specific class with your prof recently. But use them along with your own stuff and a good commercial outline to make your own. This is what makes you learn the material. Simply reading and memorizing someone else’s interpretation of the class will not be as effective as doing it yourself. No Longer Confused

You might as well forget outlines from 2Ls—they will be full of errors and unless you get the outlines from a law review editor, then they will be the outlines of a B student, not an A student. Don’t touch them. Johnny100

Since outlining is an iterative and reductive process, the result should be concise. This, however, will depend on your personal comfort level with conciseness—if you think that you can fit it all into five pages, go ahead. If you feel that reducing it below twenty pages will miss vital information, then don’t cut it below xx pages. (See the above advice, however, for creating a “mini–outline.”) Some can remember things and just need a memory device, and some can’t remember anything and need a lengthy outline that they can quickly and easily scan. Shorter is better, but only to the point that you’re not neglecting the vital rules of law.

Try not to make your outline more than about 20 pages— at least your final product. It’s fine to do more extensive outlining of specific sections of a course if it helps ingrain it into your memory, but your final course outline should be short. chillout

Some people put everything but the kitchen sink into their outlines and come up with 150 pages of gobbledygook. What needs to be done after this is weed the outline down to the points you think might be tested. Have all the black letter law down, as well as some concrete examples and reasoning. I think each of mine last semester was about 30–40 pages. Some people also recommend doing a one–page checklist as a reminder of the major topics the profs are likely to cover on the exam. DemoCat827

Towards the end, I condensed mine down to a one page outline of mostly keywords, although I continued to study from my main outline till the bitter end. Our exams are not open book, so I wanted to make sure I could rattle off everything in my mind. There’s nothing worse than forgetting an element at the last minute. Mardee

So how, exactly, do you outline? It’s one of those areas where you just have to sit down, look at what you have, what you need, and dig in. If you’re utterly stuck, then look at a commercial outline table of contents or your casebook’s table of contents, and use that as a starting point. It will organize the whole course for you, and you’ll get an idea of what you need, at which points. You’ll find that most casebooks, commercial outlines, professors, and student outlines follow the same basic organization, and the professor will have covered the subject in a similar order. Consequently, your notes will be surprisingly correlated with any commercial outlines you might want to refer to. Here are additional outlining tips:

I construct my own outline using the table of contents of the casebook that my prof is using, following the syllabus of the course. I then use an outline from a 2L who had the same prof to fill in areas I missed. I also compare my outline with those in my study group. I use a commercial outline to supplement. I constantly rework the outline and update it. I start it in week one in the course. It’s proved to be a great study aid for me. I don’t get too hung up on making it pretty, but I do make sure it is neat and easy to read. MaggieC

Don’t use just one outline to go from. For my contracts outline, I used two outlines plus my own notes, and for torts, I wound up using four or five various outlines. It may seem confusing, but that way I was able to get the best material and make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Mardee

I always seemed to learn better through my fingers (either by writing or typing the information). Must be something to do with the thought processes of having to run the information from my eyes, through my brain, through my fingers, and then back into my eyes and brain. I figure if it passes my brain twice then maybe it sticks better. HR Guy

Do your own outlines. Use the commercial outlines to fill your holes. Do as many exam hypos as you can get your filthy little hands on. Anybody who tells you not to do your own is not giving you good advice. Commercial outlines are good tools, but they are not tailored to your professors. You may pass the class using someone else’s outline, you might even get an A, but you won’t learn the material. johnny99

STUDY GROUPS

There is, as is said in the law, a split of opinion on this subject. Love them or hate them, there seems to be not much in between. If you prefer to rely on yourself to learn the material, then forget study groups. If you prefer to bounce ideas off others, then study groups are the way to go.

The advantages of study groups are many. You get to know a group of your fellow students—future colleagues—rather well, especially if the study group meets regularly and takes its purpose seriously. You get easy access to others’ notes. You will get help from the other members of the group, and you will also get to help others and build respect and relationships that will serve you well in your career. Problems will be bounced off each other and worked through. Outlining may be delegated throughout the group, enabling detailed outlines to be circulated, critiqued, and reduced in group format. In essence, you won’t be alone. If you’re struggling with a topic, chances are that someone in your group will be having the same problems and others in the group will be able to help. One can truly test the depth of one’s own understanding when it must be explained to others, so study groups can be beneficial both to those who understand the material and those who don’t.

The downsides are, perhaps, equally troublesome. While the benefits are real, they apply to the well–functioning study group—the group where members arrive on time, are motivated, do the work beforehand, contribute, and focus. In reality, this rarely exists. Here’s a common scene: the first half–hour is gossip, settling down, and getting coffee. This is followed by unfocused and downright obscure questions from the unprepared majority, and incorrect answers and explanations from the “prepared” who actually know little of what they are lecturing about; the blind leading the blind.

There is a happy medium —individual study, with “casual” acquaintances in your classes who you can call upon informally to get missing notes, discuss topics, iron out misunderstandings, and generally support one another when things get rough. This way, the hours are not wasted in study groups, but you still have access to other students when you need them. And if you need “expert” advice, go to your professor instead of a student who claims to “get it,” because that student has been studying the subject for the same time as you (i.e., weeks, not decades) and is not the expert they would have you (and everyone else in the class) believe.

If you do proceed with a study group, do not form one hastily. Wait a few weeks (working diligently on your own work in the meantime, including the beginnings of your outlines), and observe others in the class. Talk with everyone—not in class, but outside of class, in one–on–one or small sessions. Listen. This is far more telling to the attitudes and behaviors of your new colleagues. Choose very, very carefully: Make it clear that you will take the process seriously (as, indeed, it’s assumed that you will), and that you expect the same from everyone. Make a compact. And, if anyone violates—by violating the rules that you lay down up front, then “fire” them. That’s right. Lay down the law, live up to it yourself, and enforce it as a group. This is the path to the magical study group. (And, indeed, to the successful practice of law.) As hinted above, if you can pull this off, as a group, it will be worth it.

Large study groups can be a waste of time because it’s difficult to keep a large group focused for long periods of time. Also, the larger groups tend to have a higher number of slackers who are just along for the ride and don’t contribute much. It’s not a good idea to abandon study groups altogether because it’s important to have at least one other person to kind of talk through the material with and help you bounce ideas around. If you stay totally on your own, you won’t know if you’re completely missing a point or if your logic has taken a fatal wrong turn. Hannah

I have made friends with a couple of people at law school who I can rely on to answer my questions if I need them to, and I answer their questions when they have them. I hand–picked these friends from those who I knew were on the same level as I was. They also “get” the material to the same extent I do, so I am not constantly pestered by them and nor do I constantly pester them myself. It’s not as rigid a formation as a study group—it’s more like a safety net. If I don’t get something, they can explain it to me. If they don’t get something, I’ll return the favor. It is an efficient way of doing things. Mary

All the law school books spend so much time on study groups, but at my school, I don’t know of any. Of course people get together now and again, but the whole “Paper Chase” style study group seems nonexistent. So if study groups are your thing, you might be disappointed. Oldguy

Don’t feel you have to get into a study group—some swear by them, and it works for a lot of people, but I know of a lot of people for whom it doesn’t work. Do what works for you, don’t feel pressure to do anything a certain way. You’ve gone through undergrad and maybe more—you already know how to study, so start with that and adjust as necessary. divgradcurl

Forget relying upon your classmates. This means no study groups, and pay no attention to what any student ever says in class. Don’t even rely on other students’ notes when you miss class—they will be full of mistakes. Use Emanuel outlines for notes when you miss a class. MisterThousand

Even if you decide against an ongoing study group, the best way I’ve found to prepare for exams is to get together with a few classmates, find some old test questions, take fifteen minutes to sketch out an answer, and then discuss. johnny99

[Editor’s note: We disagree with this last point, strongly. Studying for exams is crucial, and cannot be done well in “fifteen minutes to sketch out an answer, and then discuss.” Poppycock. It is important to find old tests…and work them with excruciating diligence. That means following the test conditions, exactly. If you have no relationship with study group partners beforehand, you’ll not develop one in any serious way to work tests effectively. You’re either in or you’re not.]

If I can’t understand the material, then I’m not going to seek advice from someone who has no more idea about law than I do. I’ve found that study aids are almost always the best way to understand topics, as they spell it out simply, accurately, and in a way that I can understand it. Oldguy

In study groups, you study at the speed of the slowest learner or the biggest chatterbox. Study groups also ensure that the “good” students who understand the material have to spend their time explaining it to people who don’t understand, giving the “good” student no benefit while the “poor” student gets all the benefit. Study groups are beneficial only to those who don’t “get” law school, or the lazy who don’t want to work on their own outlines and want to piggyback on the work product of others. Study groups are not studying smart in my opinion. If I’m being really honest, I think that joining a study group is a recipe for failure in most cases. Oldguy

I lieu of a study group, I would recommend that you make friends with two or three people in each class you’re taking, and then when they miss class, offer them your notes without them having to ask. This will set up the “note sharing” system whereby you will be in a position to get the notes of someone you trust in case you miss a class. You can also casually discuss the content of the class with them. Oldguy

[Editor’s note: Some of these comments miss the point: Study groups are not about finding the “miracle” teacher in a fellow law student; they are about working “hypos,” or never–ending hypothetical scenarios, until you understand in your bones the rule–and–exception nature of the law and of the subjects being studied. In this endeavor, the give–and–take of educated dialog is exceedingly helpful. Note the qualifiers: it must be a give– and–take (i.e., not lecturing from one student to the other), and it must be educated (i.e., participants who respect themselves and each other enough to actually read the materials they’re studying, beforehand). No one can learn the law for you. But your fellow students can be instrumental in helping you to learn the law—and you, them.]

STUDY AIDS

Absolutely. Buy at least some commercial study aids for each class. The reason is simple: Casebooks are full of cases, and it takes time to distill “the law” from casebooks (if it’s even possible to do so). Your professor’s lectures, and your resulting notes, will be rushed, full of holes, misstatements, and misunderstandings. There’s not much in–between. A commercial outline, such as any by Emanuel’s, fills the gap—it’s what you need to know without any “hiding the ball” and without any information you don’t need to know. Other materials, such as Nutshells and Aspen’s Examples and Explanations series (E&E) fill the gaps, although since they’re not in outline form, it’s sometimes harder to pick out what you need to know. However, Nutshells and E&E are perfect when you need a source to explain the material, and you don’t necessarily need it for outlining—they go into greater depth and have more explanation.

There are countless study aids. You can buy them all online. But first, you should visit your local college bookstore and browse. They will, if reasonably well–stocked, have outlines from all the major providers. (Even Borders and Barnes & Noble carry many of these study aids nowadays.) You can pick which style you like, which seem to be best correlated with your casebook and professor, and which seem to fit the level of detail you want. The same goes for other study aids, such as canned briefs, E&E, various hornbooks, and so on. Take your time. Then make sure you buy them early—when exam time approaches, you’ll be hard pressed to find any study aids in the bookstore as the other students panic and buy them all. (Not least, it’s hardly helpful to spend a zillion dollars on reference books the weekend before finals; it’s too late.) Don’t panic, yourself. Be prepared: buy early. And use them early.

If you’re investing in books more substantial than throwaway commercial study aids—for example, a big name hornbook—this will cost far more…and be far less effective. Work smart, not hard. Check your library first. Chances are, they will have a copy on the shelves. If not, check to see if it’s on reserve—or order it through an interlibrary loan. (An older, non–reference edition will be fine for your purposes.)

While we’re on that note, by the way, use hornbooks only to confirm your understanding of a narrow sub–topic in the law. (And do not spend more than five minutes—yes, you read that correctly, five minutes—at any one time doing so.) A hornbook has far too much detail for your purposes. Moreover, you need to work up to a fast study pace. In general, if you’re buried in hornbooks, you’re wasting time. Indeed, if you cannot find what you need in five minutes through any source (including the internet, your online library, or Lexis/Westlaw, which would be astonishing), then make a note of it and move on. You do not have time to waste.

The library, though seemingly full of musty old books no one has checked out for decades, will probably have the most current E&E and Nutshells, usually on reserve and subject to more restrictive borrowing terms. But it can save you hundreds of dollars if your library does have these books. Invest in a commercial outline for each course (or share among study group partners), then supplement this with library materials instead of spending your money on books you will almost certainly not use. Just be careful around exam time, as other students check the books out, leaving you high and dry. (You should, however, have done your outlining—including checking on any legal rule, sub–rule, exception, or exception–to–the–exception—well prior to this. You should already have worked and re–worked your outlines throughout the semester. Your last weeks should be spent solely on working and re–working old exams.) This, again, is reason to start outlining early.

In terms of suggesting which study aids are the “best,” that depends on you. The bookstore is where you can find the answer to this question. And once you know which brand you prefer, you can order them online before the start of the semester, save money on shipping, and have them on hand from the first day of classes.

Like so many who have gone before us say, law school is about studying smart, not hard. While there are students who can get through law school with no study aids (i.e., by slogging through the material and making it a real “learning experience”), this isn’t normally possible for us nontrads who have kids and lives outside school. We have to study smart, and if this means using a commercial outline to find out things in five minutes that would take five hours if you read all the cases, then that’s a good thing. There’s a time and a place for studying like the professors think you should, and that time is the first half of your 1L semester. That’s when you learn to brief, learn to cite, and learn to “think like a lawyer.” After that’s done, it’s all about learning the material for the exam. Johnny100

Gilbert’s commercial outlines are great (especially the one for property). I use Casebriefs and Casenotes, but I have heard Legalines are great. The Examples and Explanations are very good for getting a good conceptual basis of the subject matter. Maggie

My favorites so far have been High Court Case Summaries. They’re geared toward the casebook like Legalines but give a great summary & analysis of each case. I have Legalines also but like these so much better. I also have the flash cards; so far they look good also. grannylaw

I found that a commercial outline for each class is a good buy in 1L. They are not that expensive (about $20–25 each), and they provide a good way of checking if you’ve got certain core concepts correct. If you’re lucky, you can find one that’s keyed to your casebook. The law school bookstore should have a good assortment—take an hour off school a few weeks into 1L, and go scan through some outlines. Find one that kind of follows the course outline and what you’ve done so far. All commercial outlines are generic, so none will fit perfectly. Just go with the best one or the one with a style you like. Johnny100

I do recommend getting commercial outlines & black letter law books, and Examples and Explanations, and using them right from the beginning of the semester. chillout

I use E&E for all my first year subjects. They’re good. I read a section that correlates to whatever we’re studying in a particular class before I start reading cases and such. They have good questions that test your understanding of what you read. grannylaw

Some people, for what ever reason, prefer one brand of outline over another. Some go for Emanuel’s, some go for Gilbert’s. Go to the bookstore and leaf through a bunch. Find what you like. In the front of all of these, they’ll have a list of texts that each one is keyed to. Try to find one that covers what your book does. Every teacher is different and every text book is as well. You’ll get more out of your outline if you buy one that covers the same cases your text does. johnny99

But of course, everyone learns differently. My thing is I wouldn’t go out and get supplements until a few weeks into school. Then you’ll have a better idea of what is going to work for you and you haven’t wasted a bunch of money. UF LAW

Nobody is suggesting that you learn the material from the study aids. As their name suggests, they are aids, not primary materials. You should read the cases (or at least scan them), read the notes between the cases, go to class, converse with the professor, and work to understand the material. But when things get tight, and they will get tight, a study aid is a useful means of understanding something that is important, and study aids are invaluable for catching up when you fall behind. Although many study aids are in the library, you should probably own a commercial outline, merely because it is a cheap and effective “mini library” that explains the concepts, explains key cases, and organizes the material for you. Keep it in your office, your locker, or your car. Then when you’re studying, you can refer to it when things get difficult (or boring, and you just want to get it finished). Johnny100

Note that, as ever, if the whole study aid thing doesn’t work for you, forget using them. If you find you learn better when you pick the material up on your own, then go for it. Remember the key rule about all advice, whether law school advice or not—if it doesn’t work for you, don’t use it.

Don’t think you necessarily “need” any study aid at all. Some people get by fine without any. UF LAW

Study aids are expensive. To outfit yourself with a solid batch of study aids, you can count on doubling your book–buying budget. For your first year courses, however, you don’t necessarily need the latest and greatest editions, the reason being that generally, the law in your first year classes isn’t changing much. Torts? Stays the same from year to year. Civil Procedure? Largely the same. Real Property? Hasn’t changed for decades as far as the average 1L is concerned. Yes, at the fringes of the subject, there are changes. But your first year courses are about learning the basics, the fundamental concepts, and getting you used to “thinking like a lawyer.” If it’s a choice between no study aids and last year’s editions, then go for last year’s editions—they will be 99%, if not 99.99%, identical. If you’re uncomfortable with this, then go to the library and find and old edition and a newer edition. Scan them for a few minutes side by side. They will be the same.

I have a lot of hand–me–downs and they work just fine. The real help to me is just the going over of patterns, watching the elements at work and getting used to spotting them in their various forms. If you listen to your prof, you will see if something is outdated and can then adjust. krinannie

If you’re smart, you’ll purchase your 1L first semester commercial study materials as soon after the start of the semester as possible, as long as you have an idea of what materials would best complement your course. After that, for your second semester and subsequent years of school, just buy the things before school even starts—buy them as soon as you’re sure what courses you’ll be taking. Once you’ve found a brand you prefer, stick with it and buy early.

You should seriously consider buying prep materials before you attend law school, because they do run out of stock within a few weeks of law school starting, and you will find yourself unable to get your hands on them. I got mine through Barrister Books online. They ended up being cheaper than everywhere else. MisterThousand

WHERE TO STUDY

Wherever you feel comfortable. Note, however, that the library will often be the only secluded, quiet, and mobile–phone– free area, complete with large tables, no televisions, and nothing to do except study. If you’re ever finding yourself spending most of your study time watching television, chatting on the phone, or attending to other things, then make time for the library.

Go to the library if you have trouble focusing. If I tried to study at home, I would never get anything done. Too many distractions. If I’m home, the TV will call to me, the fridge will beckon me, and my wife will talk to me. All bad things when I have homework that has to be done. In the library, I get a study room and lock myself in it and get to work. I can’t begin to explain how much more efficient I am when I am there. uke

WORKING DURING 1L

If you’re a part–time student, forget this section —skip onwards, since your law school program is generally designed for students who work full–time during the day. If you’re a full–time day student, then read on.

Earlier in this book, it was made clear that for most students, the entire costs of your schooling can be borrowed. That means no real–world work while you concentrate on your studies. Now, it’s clear that for many students, particularly nontraditional students, taking three years off work isn’t a good idea—the mortgage still needs to be paid, as do the health insurance premiums, credit cards, and so forth. Three years off work can be financially devastating for students whose financial commitments are more than paying off that two thousand dollar credit card balance the parents are bugging you about that you racked up throughout undergrad.

Strike a balance. You have to get good grades, as they are key to getting a job after you graduate. This cannot be overemphasized: Good grades mean earlier (and better) employment. But you have to temper this with the need to stay afloat financially during law school. The ABA sets guidelines for how much a law student can work during full–time law school, and they set them for a reason—namely, full–time law school is something that is hard to concentrate on properly when juggling the law and a job. But if you have to work, then you have to work. And it’s worth knowing that nobody checks to see if you’re working or not. Just don’t work somewhere the dean of the law school is going to see you every day and you should be fine.

My advice to you is to work through law school if it is necessary, but not to work in the type of job that will be so important to you that it can’t be put aside for a summer job. The summer job may lead to full–time employment. But if working through law school is the only way you can get through law school, then summer jobs at law firms might have to go. Remember that many law schools offer clinical placements in the second and third years, and these placements might also lead to a job upon graduation. Lots of students don’t get jobs through summer law jobs, so I think it will only be a problem if you want to have a so–called “biglaw” job waiting for you when you graduate. Mary

If you don’t absolutely have to work, I think it’s better not to—at least for 1L. You should concentrate on getting the best grades you can without distraction. Working part–timers bemoan having to compete against people who can study full–time. It doesn’t seem wise to put yourself in a similar position voluntarily. Rat

This is precisely why there are full–time and part–time programs. Teach

A girl I worked with, who went to law school full–time at night (and did very well) was “prohibited” from working more than 20 hours a week. However, from working with her, I knew she was actually logging about 50 hours a week. I asked her how they got around it and she said she just did. She said when it came to putting food on the table for her 5–year–old (and she was single), she didn’t really care about ABA rules as long as she could keep up with her studies. I think it just depends on what you can handle, but damn, did she look worn out a lot. bluecanary

I would recommend going jobless for at least the first semester, then see how things go. Patriotism

Can you work? Sure you can. Is it tough? Not really. Just be organized and don’t waste the time you have. Can you work, study, and party? There you have a problem. Pick two out of the three. johnny99

MANAGING THE CONFUSION

You’re going to be confused for the first few weeks of law school. No matter how much you prepare, and no matter how much of the law you know before you set foot in the classroom, you will be confused. For the first week, everyone will openly act confused. After that, even if they’re wildly confused and bewildered, they won’t show it. But rest assured, they are all still as confused as you are.

It’s only confusing because it’s new. Once the material, the in–class style, and the pressure get a few weeks old, you’ll wonder what you were worrying about. The best thing to do with law school is let yourself get used to it before you panic. After the midpoint of the first semester, you should have some idea of where the courses are going, some idea of the fundamentals the courses are teaching you, and how to find your way around the buildings and the library. If you don’t know all this stuff at the end of the first week, who cares? But if you are absolutely lost after six or so weeks, it’s time to evaluate your progress.

It’s just like any other skill. You start off slow and awkward, then as you practice that skill more and more, pretty soon you’ll be wondering what all the fuss was about, and plowing through the cases like you’d been reading them forever. Mardee

Make sure you attend every class and take good notes, and you really should be fine, even if you still find the cases somewhat confusing. Though, again, they should get more clear. Alexander

Don’t worry you are surrounded by lots of people who are new to this method of learning. It is overwhelming at first, but much like you learned to ride a bicycle—the Ah–ha! moment will happen. So dig in and read those cases, then back again as many times as needed until you understand. What you don’t fully understand will probably be covered in class. There have been no reports of untimely deaths in law school classes by students who didn’t answer all the prof’s questions correctly. I think I can rest my medical reputation on the fact that you won’t be the first. Sealsea

I think most profs recognize that we’re all in a preliminary stage here, and won’t expect that we become brilliant legal analysts in the first week. Scout4444

Two problems can potentially arise out of the initial confusion. First, if you don’t recognize that everyone is confused, that it’s normal to be confused, and that you will, eventually, understand the material, you might try to adjust what is a perfectly good study routine in favor of something inappropriate and eventually disastrous in an attempt to correct something you believe is a problem, which is, in fact, normal. For instance, if, after three weeks, you think that you should know everything, you may end up staying in the library until closing time five nights a week, spending every weekend working as hard as humanly possible, and you still won’t get it. You’ll just burn out. Let the initial confusion wash over you for a while, and then see if it clears with some moderately consistent, hard work. Don’t throw out your study methods until it’s clear that the study methods are the cause of your confusion.

Second, and more devastating, is the desire to quit after the first few weeks. After all, everyone else will appear to understand what’s going on, but you still feel hopelessly lost. Your hope of grades in the top ten percent of the class fade, that dream job seems as if it’s slipping away, and you worry that you’re about to throw another hundred grand after the fifteen you’ve already parted with for the first semester. Don’t. There is a valid time to reevaluate and decide whether law school is truly for you, and that time is at the end of the first year, when your grades for 1L are in the bag, and you’ve had time to settle in, make friends, and learn about the profession. Until you’ve completed your first year, had a little time in the summer to recuperate, and evaluated your performance in light of all your grades, stick with it. Quitting before you’ve even given yourself a chance will be something you will regret.

WORKING SMART, NOT HARD

Easier said than done, we’ll be the first to admit. And don’t let the phrase deceive you into thinking that law school isn’t hard. It is. But there’s no need to make it harder than it should be. Even when working smart, you’ll feel the pressure. Perhaps working smart, not hard, can be equated to not doing more than absolutely necessary to succeed. While this book doesn’t advocate being lazy, as laziness is a recipe for disaster, it does advocate the position that you can do less than some insist is necessary.

To work smart, you need to see the big picture. Early on in the semester, consciously look to see it. Look at the endpoint of the semester—the exam. Go to the library and find old copies, or grab them online, or if you can’t find them anywhere else, ask the professor. Look at what you need to know. Ask upperclassmen what they feel you need to know. The bottom line is that if you know where you are going, it’s easier to get there. If you don’t check what the exams are like and you have some strange misconception that you need to remember every case you have ever read, you’re setting yourself up for failure unless your professor wants you to remember every case and be able to provide cites on your exam. If you see the past five years’ worth of exams and they all concentrate on certain topics, then concentrate your studies on these areas before moving on to the finer details. That is, if strict liability has been tested on every torts exam for the past five years, then forget learning about damages for wrongful death until you’re confident that you know strict liability.

Studying smart also means not reinventing the wheel. Yes, you could torture yourself by making yourself create your outline solely from the casebook, but why? (And there will always be some idiot who thinks that he or she needs to spend a whole weekend in the library reading cases to understand a small topic instead of looking it up in a commercial outline and understanding it—with hypos—in an hour. Don’t be that idiot.) Take shortcuts when appropriate. Rely on commercial study materials. If it’s a choice between spending the whole weekend in the library, or using a commercial outline and Restatement to grasp a point of law and spending an afternoon with your family…take the shortcut.

It’s tough at the start of 1L—you really do have to read everything just so you get your reading speed up and get your knowledge of the fundamentals in place. But after that (during the second half of your first semester onwards), you find your pace and you start know how to distinguish between what you have to read and what the professor would like you to read. Most people read for about two or three hours a day, every day, once they get into a rhythm. There’s way too much scare mongering about 1L. Sure, it’s hard, but it’s not that hard. I guess is just makes law students the “center of attention” when people think that they are going through the toughest academic program there is, and we all know how much many law students want to be the center of attention. I would put no weight in claims of 70–hour weeks in law school. Law school is about working smart, not hard. Sure, there’s probably a handful of students who don’t “get it” and end up working that hard throughout the semester, but for the average–to–motivated law student, it’s probably about half that. Two thirds during the busy times, more during exams, but during the regular semester, you can put in about 20 hours a week of reading and stay current. (Note that these figures are based on real work, not work where you get up every ten minutes to check your e–mail, answer the telephone, and get a cup of coffee. 20 hours a week is book time, not “study time.”) MisterThousand

One thing you’ll experience in law school is how many professors are so “into” themselves that they will do almost anything to basically boast about how cool they are. The ones who tell everyone that law school is the most intense academic experience ever, and how you must give up everything else to succeed. Bullshit. I think that nontrads have to take advice with a huge grain of salt. What the professor recommended might be a good method for a 22–year–old who has nothing else to do, but for a 35–year–old with a family, perhaps a part–time job, and a life outside law school, it’s simply not realistic. Most students get by with keeping up with the reading (but skipping the fluff), keeping up with outlining, and studying about one hour for each hour of class. This doesn’t include class prep time. I managed to get good grades with about 30–40 hours a week, including class. But when I wasn’t in class, the time I spent studying was really studying, not chatting or reading extraneous materials. Law school is all about studying smart, not hard. You’ll get a feel for what you have to learn and what you don’t have to learn pretty early on, and it might feel “uncomfortable” to not read every page of every assignment, but it will give you the time you need to get to grips with the important information. Just going to class is half the battle in law school. The other half is using your time wisely. Study hard when you’re studying, then play hard too. Watch television. Play with the kids. Do the part–time job. It’s law school, not a prison camp. For most of us, it’s the last time we’ll ever set foot in a college again. Make the most of it. In ten years, we’ll all be lawyers and nobody will care what our class rank was. We’ll all have reputations in the legal community. Schools and grades don’t matter then (for the large part.) You’re not meant to enjoy law school, but you’re not meant to hate it either. Finding a balance between enjoyment (i.e., too little work) and hatred (i.e., too much work) is probably a great guide to the right amount of work for you. Oldguy

In addition to making sure you’re not concentrating on the distractions, red herrings, and professorial ego–trips, you need to make sure you work consistently smart. Don’t think that you can do the standard undergrad trick of waiting until the couple of days before the exam to crack a book. In law school, you will fail if you do this. Attend every class, keep up with your reading, and start outlining. Soon. Once you’ve completed a section of the book, outline it. Outlines take weeks to prepare, and cannot be done over the weekend before the exam. The weekend before the exam is used for ironing out minor areas of misunderstanding and cementing the knowledge, not starting to learn the subject. If you keep the pace during the entire semester, then you’ll have time nearer exams to ramp up the pace and start reviewing material from earlier in the semester. Slack off during the first half of the semester and you’ll find yourself swamped—you’ll be in damage control mode rather than polishing your knowledge.

You absolutely must keep up with the pace. In that I mean, it is key to force yourself to not only keep up with the reading during the week, but also to review and outline constantly throughout the year. PLB

Constantly keeping up is the key. Not just in the reading, but also in your understanding and outlining. It might be easier to concentrate on a course week–by–week, but I found that maintaining an understanding of the material from the start of the semester helped enormously during finals. Mary

I’m not done with 1L yet, but I have to say, I haven’t even gotten close to losing my confidence. It’s a marathon. Some people burn out too fast, and others don’t turn it on soon enough. If you can maintain for the whole race, you’ll feel just fine, and know that this is where you’re supposed to be. uke

Prepare yourself mentally to dedicate your life to the law. People will say “balance” is important. They’re suckers. You can strive for “balance” later. 1L performance is so obscenely, absurdly important that school should become your life. Studying heavily on weekends is a great way to make the workload manageable. It allows you to use the weekdays to review and tackle your writing assignments with less pressure. Law isn’t rocket science. Law school is one big exercise in time management. Rat

Yes, you must be dedicated to succeed. However, those who say that they have to ignore everything else because this is so important are the same people who are going to say that about a case they are working on. Remember, school and jobs are not your life. It does have to be high on your priority list, but I just don’t think you have to give up on everything else. stratos

Whether you’re part–time or full–time, you’re going to spend much of your time reading. Cases, outlines, notes, study aids. At the start of your first year, you’ll be swamped with reading, all of which, you are convinced, is vitally important and you have to read and understand every word of it. You’ll get over this, and soon enough, you’ll be skimming most of the reading once you know what you’re looking for. You’ll get a feel for what is important and what is just busy–work. Law school is about working smart. As long as you remember it as your underlying philosophy, you’ll be on the track to success—or at least, not the track to failure.

Working smart is about time–management; in particular, the realization that there is only a finite amount of time you have to study effectively, and concentrating on what is important during that time. For example, you could, if you were not smart, spend twenty hours a day reading materials set for class. Do this and you’re working hard, not smart. You will burn out quickly, and you won’t necessarily be in a better position for exams than someone who worked smart and studied only what was necessary. The smart student would skim–read for an hour, re–read in detail the important parts in another hour, add a section to the outline for 15 minutes, read the section of a commercial outline to get the bottom line in another 15 minutes, perhaps cross–check this against a student–edition Restatement for 30 minutes, add a few extra notes to and refine the outline in an extra 30 minutes, and then…relax. (Note: That’s a lot of real work accomplished in just a few hours. Study smart.)

You don’t need to read everything thrown at you in class and listed on the reading schedule. You should probably scan most of it—flick through the book at a minimum. Read what is important. If your professor focuses only on the main cases in the book, then read them. Forget the notes afterwards. If your professor barely touches the book, then you should barely touch the book and spend more time listening to what he or she says, taking moderate notes. Spend time evaluating your professors to see what you can get away without doing, and then don’t do things you can get away with skipping until you’ve done everything you can’t get away with skipping, if at all.

This might sound lazy, but it isn’t. Even if you do the bare minimum in law school, you will still find yourself hard–pressed to find a spare minute during the day. Outlining, reading, attending classes, and writing all take up a huge amount of time, even if you’re focusing on only the necessary parts of the curriculum.

The point is that in both part–time and full–time programs, you’re able to make it more manageable by working smart. There is an almost–insurmountable amount of reading thrown at you, and the sooner you understand that you’re after the “big picture,” not the million details, the better. (In law practice, the details change. The big picture doesn’t.)

During the first year, the actual quantity of reading is not that much. At least that was my experience. On any given day I averaged about 30–50 pages of reading. The hard part is that you are almost reading an entirely different language. There are all kinds of new words and ideas thrown at you. Plus, there is the added stress of not knowing what the hell you should be getting out of it. That problem is especially acute during the first semester. All this means that reading during your first year takes a good deal longer than any other kind of reading you might do. During the second year, it was my experience that the reading load is almost doubled. But by that time you are trained to read much more efficiently because you know what is important and what’s not. It doesn’t take nearly as long. Guigsy

In the first semester we had 20–50 pages per class per day. Most of the classes met twice per week and each day had at least two classes. So, on any given night, the reading assignments could be from 40 to 100 pages. However, it was rare that we had a long assignment for both classes on the same day so the workload was more like 50–60 pages a night. For second semester, it seemed like the amount of reading doubled. For one class it was approximately 75 pages per class and for another around 50. So, 100 pages a reading a night was not uncommon. Once you get the hang of how to read a case, it goes by quicker than you would think. In fact, it is not the reading that takes up so much of your time. It is the outlining, briefing, and study guides that add to the hours. I went in to law school after being told that to earn A’s required 3 hours of studying for each hour of class. In hindsight I think that is a correct estimate of study time if one really wants to master the materials. No Longer Confused

If you, after a couple of weeks of class, are still reading every case fully, spending hours briefing and preparing for class, and are not finding yourself with spare time, then you’re doing too much reading. Remember that few professors use class participation in the final grade. Who cares if you look like a mediocre student in class? You’ll have more time to spend on studying and prepping for what really matters—the final exam. Schwingy McWiener

EXAMS: THE BASICS

This is where it all counts. At this point, it doesn’t matter that when you were called on in class, you sounded like the village idiot, while everyone else who was called on sounded like they were putting the professor in his place. That doesn’t matter now. For most schools, the final exams are all that counts towards the final grade. Even if you’re incapable of stringing more than three words together orally and your tongue knots up every time the professor asks you something, as long as you’re well–prepared for the finals, you have as good a chance as anyone else in your class of achieving those all–important top grades. In–class performance doesn’t really matter (unless you showed up unprepared, several times, after the professor made it clear that that was unacceptable). What and how you write is the be–all and end–all of law school.

So no matter how badly you’ve done throughout the prior semester, you can redeem everything with a good exam performance. It’s that simple. Everything will turn on that three– or four–hour exam in December or May. If you remember this, then you’ll have no trouble letting the disasters in class wash right over you. Who cares if, when the professor asked you something, you said the stupidest thing ever heard? What matters is what’s written, at the end of the semester, on that exam.

This is good news, until you realize that the exams are hard. Very hard. Since everything rides on the exam, the professor isn’t going to let you off lightly. Expect to be tested on a diverse selection of the material covered in the course. You might be able to tell which areas of law the professor tests by looking at old exams, and you can probably bet that these areas will be tested again and again: Exams are generally about the basics. But most students taking the exam will know the basics, so the professor will put in additional things that you would only know if you attended class regularly, and things you would only know if you studied more than the basics. The professor might also add a few traps—including basic traps—set for the unwary (or unprepared). That is, you can pass the exam by knowing the basics, but to get a top grade, you have to attend class (to pick up on the comments the professor makes that will obviously be used to test whether the exam–taker has regularly attended class), and you have to at least have a familiarity with the slightly more obscure aspects of the material, as the professor will want to test to see who has gone above and beyond their classmates in terms of learning. And you must keep your wits about you.

Just take the LSAT and multiply it by ten. However, that’s still not a good comparison because you know what to expect on the LSAT. MaggieC

A 3L friend told me writing out one practice exam question can be worth 3–4 hours of conventional studying. This way you can quickly identify the holes in your knowledge and fix accordingly. Just reading over the same materials is boring. Start trying to apply the knowledge. Maggie

I know we have all heard it before, but there is no substitute for practice, practice, practice. Maggie

As an educator, I know that the kids that prepare for tests in a systematic way perform better. It only makes sense. What’s always interesting to me as a teacher is that the kids who are already doing well are the very ones who take advantage of the review sessions, extra help, test prep, whatever. The rich get richer, I guess. Maggie

I can’t believe the stress I’m feeling now! Mardee

Most classes have no tests during the semester. Your entire grade consists of one three–hour final. Some classes, if you are lucky, will also give you one midterm worth 20–30% of your total grade, but still, your final is the big daddy. Kind of sucks, but it’s reality. uke

They say if you walk out of there feeling confident, you probably missed something. If you walk out of there feeling like you bombed, it’s because you spotted how difficult it was. uke

So how do you prepare for exams? Two things to focus on: First and most obvious, know the material before you go into the exam. Sounds stupid, but you’d be surprised how many of your classmates you’ll overhear after the exam telling stories of how they figured the professor wouldn’t test such and such a topic, so they didn’t bother even learning it. If you don’t know the material, then you’re playing with fate, and you can bet that the professor is making damn sure that the students who toss the dice will be caught out. (Too, there’s a good chance you’ll need it for the Bar exam, and…duh…it might, just might, come up in law practice. I doubt your client would be amused that you lost a case because you were too rushed to ever learn a basic issue of law.) Even if you figure that a certain topic won’t be tested, at least study its general contours so that you can write something sensible if it does crop up.

Second, use prior exams as a guide for what to learn and what to skim. While this appears to contradict the above advice to some degree, it actually makes sense. Your professor will have a pattern of testing, and this pattern can be revealed by looking at prior exams. Even if your professor has no prior pattern, this fact can be learned by looking at prior exams, and you can adjust your study schedule accordingly to compensate for the need to learn everything. But in general, your professor’s pattern can be discerned by looking at prior exams. Make sure you figure out what he or she likes to test, and make sure you learn what he or she likes to test. Even if the professor breaks from tradition and tests only two of four perennial favorites, you still win because you’ve learned the material for two out of the four questions. And combined with an overall understanding of the material, you’ll be prepared.

In short, if your professor has a pattern, learn it. But don’t neglect the remainder of the subject. If this sounds like you should learn everything inside and out, you’re partially correct. But if you attend class regularly, you’ll know where the professor is likely to break from tradition. The professor isn’t trying to catch anyone out except those who really didn’t go to class and haven’t done the work. The bottom line is that even if the exam catches you off guard, if you’ve studied properly, you’ll be prepared to give a respectable answer to most questions. (Remember, of necessity the exam tests fairly basic legal knowledge.) And the curve will save you regardless.

On one of my prof’s old exams, I couldn’t find the issues. I just looked at another one and there are so many issues (the hypo is two legal size pages long) that I don’t know how I could possibly write them all in the page limitation he has, which is one bluebook, skipping lines, writing on one side of the page. Maggie

Go by what your professor has stressed; chances are, he has shown his hand already. uke

Think about what your teacher spent the most time on— that’s what she’ll want to hear about. johnny99

I will definitely be cutting back on my class preparation for this semester and doing more practice exams earlier in the semester. I really didn’t do any practice exams until two weeks or so before finals. Should have started that sooner. MaggieC

The testable skill in law school is knowing what issues are raised in a fact pattern. You do not get good at this by briefing cases, yet law profs will tell you “brief every case” when you ask them for exam advice. This is misleading. Law schools grade on a curve, some have a B curve, some have a C curve. The only way law profs can create a curve among bodies of smart people who all work their tails off is to complexify exam patterns so that students who have not directly practiced the testable skill will miss enough issues to get low grades. You can’t analyze an issue if you don’t spot it. The only way to get good at issue spotting is to practice it. Last semester, the first practice exam I did in contracts, I missed half the issues. By the time I did the sixth practice exam, I realized this prof always tests the same issues. You just have to look for them in the fact pattern. People are under the impression that if you dutifully prepare for classes by writing briefs and outlining, you will magically be prepared for exams. There is no magic. You have to practice exam–writing. MaggieC

One book I would recommend is How to Do your Best on Law School Exams by John Delaney. I found it very helpful, especially for the first year. It can be hard to get sometimes, as it’s not your typical law school self–help book, but it’s worth making the effort. It includes invaluable tips on writing exams. One feature I especially liked were the hypos with separate A answers; B answers; etc. One other thing you can do is to write as many practice exams as possible. Start now while you still have time, and write out sample answers to old exams. Then take one that you think you did well on and ask the professor to look through it and give you feedback. I don’t know of too many professors who would not do this for a student, as long as you don’t ask too often. Mardee

It’s worth noting that some exams are open–book and some are closed book. Don’t be conned into thinking that you don’t have to prepare as hard for open–book exams. It’s a seductive trap. You do have to prepare hard for them. Open–book exams can trap the unwary student who thinks that they will have their study materials to use during the exam. Chances are, your open–book exam will be difficult because of the volume of questions and complexity of issues you must address. The professor knows that you’ve got your materials in front of you in an open–book exam, and they have to find another way of separating those who have done the preparation from those who haven’t. Instead of making the exam difficult in terms of the scope of the material, they will make the exam difficult by using complexity and time to apply pressure. If you waste time referring to materials for anything more than refreshing your memory, you won’t finish the exam. Open–book exams are little different: if you don’t know the material going into the exam, chances are you’ll still not be successful.

I study just like I would if we were not allowed to have the outline. During the three–hour exam last semester I only referred to my outline two or three times. If you have to keep going back to your outline, you don’t know the law well enough to spot issues. MaggieC

Don’t let “open book” fool you. You still have to know the law because the exams are so time–pressured that you don’t have time to do more than glance at your notes. For the most part, my outline and my case book are little more than security blankets. There’s just no time for them to be anything more than that. Coconut66

Stick with the basics: IRAC+. Issue, rule, application, conclusion, then additional stuff that differentiates you from everyone else. To write a good exam, you need to know how to spot issues, which law to apply, how to apply the law, draw conclusions, and then take your answer to the next level. And to even manage IRAC, let alone IRAC+, you need to be adept at briefing, have attended class, and have practiced exam writing. Remember the Karate Kid? “Wax on, wax off?” Yup. It’s the same with law school. You think briefing and reading cases is a waste of time? It’s not. It’s like the whole wax on, wax off thing. A waste of time until you get that it’s teaching you how to read, spot issues, and provide good analysis and conclusions.

The one piece of advice I could give would be to practice exams over and over. Also, when you’re taking the exam, stay till the end! I was really surprised at how many people left with anywhere from 15–30 minutes to spare. To me, that’s cheating yourself. Mardee

Use IRAC+, not IRAC. While IRAC tells you the minimum that the professor wants (and what every other student will give), IRAC+ allows you to give the professor something more than everyone else. IRAC+ consists of going to class, talking to the professor, taking his or her old exams, talking to students who have taken his class, and generally getting a feel for the way the professor thinks. Then you apply this as a gloss on top of the basic IRAC, and you end up with an answer that touches on policies that the professor has hinted at, gives conclusions that the professor likes to hear, and gives the professor what he wants. IRAC+ is going that extra step during the semester and during the exam. It is essential because everyone does IRAC, and doing IRAC well merely puts you in the same league as every other student—hence average grades. IRAC+ gives you those two or three extra points on the exam that can catapult you up the curve significantly. Remember the LSAT curve and how a mere point or two can be the difference between a 167 and a 175? It’s the same in law school. Schwingy McWiener

Don’t fall into the trap that professors are looking for arcane expositions on obscure points of law. Get all the big stuff on the table first. Even if, especially if, it just seems obvious. Most exams are graded with some sort of checklist. They’re glancing at the answer, one of a hundred or more maybe, to see if you have all the big stuff in there. I know a lot of people who got a lower grade than they expected because they didn’t mention the obvious, thinking they would distinguish themselves with the details they saw in the fact pattern. Get the meat and potatoes on the table. Then worry about the gravy. johnny99

Use the midterms as an indicator of how well you are doing. As mentioned throughout, you need to determine what works for you. This book gives you only some intelligent suggestions about what has worked for other students. If you follow the above advice about exams and do poorly in your midterms, then do something else. Discuss the exam with the professor who is grading it. Even if your midterm grades are merely average, chances are that you can make up what ground you’ve lost by hammering the final.

EXAM FAILURE

It’s going to happen. You were hugely successful during undergrad, where a B was disappointing and probably unusual. But in law school, the grades are usually “on a curve.” This is great because you are almost guaranteed that you won’t fail; if you do badly and many others also do badly, you’ll end up with an average grade instead of a poor grade. But it’s not great because it almost guarantees that you won’t get a string of A grades, either. If you write a great answer and everyone else also writes a great answer, you’ll get an average grade. Depending on the curve, chances are that most of your grades will be around the median. If your school has a B curve, then expect B’s. Shoot for A’s, but don’t shoot yourself when you get B’s (or worse). An additional challenge in law school is that you’re not up against the average undergraduate class of one–quarter achievers, one–quarter losers, and the remaining half just there for the parties and the experience. This is one of the hardest things for new law students to grasp. Law school is populated (in general) by the academic high achievers, and even the academic superstars. Nearly everyone is really, really smart. There are few (academic) losers to rely on keeping you above the middle of the curve. If your GPA and LSAT are below the medians for admitted students at your law school, then you are, until you prove otherwise, presumed to be one of the losers. That said, you go into your first class of 1L with a clean slate, and you have as much opportunity for success as the person holding the full tuition scholarship.

Returning to the point, you should approach law school grades with the knowledge that your performance is relative compared to the rest of the class, and that you’re working in a different system to that which you’re used to. Grades at or above the curve midpoint are cause for moderate celebration. Grades that are slightly below the curve midpoint are part of life. You’ll win some, you’ll lose some, and unless you’re aiming for a job in a large law firm, you’ll have no trouble finding employment of some type if you’re merely average in law school.

I got my last legal memo back and bombed. I was so sad. Way below the average score. I almost threw in the towel. And then I remembered that my writing is good and this bad grade is the opinion of only one person. Albeit the person who assigns the grade. I’m not going to let her define me though, so I’ll just do better next time. grannylaw

What’s the worst thing that could happen? You fail. What’s the consequence of that? Either you have to take the course again, or, horror of horrors, you find that you really don’t want to be a lawyer and you take your talented self into another field. This ain’t 1966 and this ain’t Red China. They’re not going to haul you outside and put a bullet in your head because you couldn’t memorize the first three chapters of Mao’s Little Red Book. Remember how happy you were to get into law school. Hold onto that feeling. Remember that before law school, you had self–worth. johnny99

My first midterm was a disaster. I got a C–. I went to the prof and asked to meet and go over it, and he was more than happy. This meeting, even though it was only about half an hour, was the best thing I ever did to help my grades. He went over the questions step by step, telling me what I had missed, what I had hit, and what I got muddled up. It also gave me a great look at what he wanted. I felt afterwards that I had at least now got a clue what was expected in an exam, and I sneakily felt that I had a significant advantage over the other students who didn’t take advantage of this opportunity. Professors are educators. Well, most are educators—some are merely slackers who don’t want to actually practice law. The educators are passionate about helping their students succeed. When the students succeed, it means the professors have succeeded. They will sit down with you if they are worth their salt. Most will expect you to have gone over the exam alone first so you know the basic mistakes you made, but after that, they are willing to explain their reasoning and help you do better in the future. Oldguy

I do think that it’s important that you go over the exam with the instructor to find out what went wrong. That way, not only will you learn from your mistakes, but you’ll be able to answer the inevitable, “Whoa! What happened here?” question you get from interviewers. Tomboy

If you bombed it bad enough to repeat a course, then you suck it up and repeat the course, and keep putting one foot in front of the other until you get to where you want to go. Toni

It is rare for students to fail so badly that they are required to retake a course. Yes, 1L courses are hard (because they are dealing with completely unfamiliar subject matter and concepts, and you’re thrown in at the deep end). Yes, the curve means you’re probably not likely to get a string of A’s. But absolute failure—the kind that not even a curve can save you from—is reserved for those law students who do absolutely no work. (Even more rarely is the student who simply has absolutely no ability when it comes to law. This is rare to the point of non–existent, however; the dedicated law student is almost certain to pass, even if barely.) When you think about it, you really have to put your mind to it to fail. Surprisingly, however, there are a few. A handful of students will be in law school simply to continue their student life. A handful will have solid aptitude for their chosen undergraduate major, but no aptitude for law (despite what their LSAT says). Again, this is rare. It is, almost always, an utter lack of interest in the law. A handful will have skimmed under the radar through college and received a set of good, but lucky grades, and they will have, perhaps, gotten lucky on the LSAT. Law school has a habit, however, of making one’s luck run out.

If you work moderately hard, attend class moderately frequently, and have a moderate understanding and grasp of the material, then the curve will ensure that you pass. If you’re worried about whether you will fail or not, chances are that this worry will spur you on to study the material, understand most of it, and commit it to memory. If you’re not attending class, not reading the materials, and planning to study an outline a couple of days before the exam, your confidence in your abilities is putting your ability to actually pass the course in jeopardy.

Curves are frustrating for 1Ls everywhere, and you will hear much sniping after first semester grades come out. Don’t let it worry you too much. After the first semester, you sort of figure out that as long as you are around the mean or a little above, you’re fine. Cinnamon Girl

If you do really good work, but others do even better work, a curve might force you to a lower grade which you would perceive as downward. But if you do poor work, the curve might protect you. public interest law

ARE GRADES REALLY RANDOM?

You’ve probably heard the stories by now. Somewhere on the Internet, you read that someone worked hard all semester, understood everything, and wrote a perfect answer…but ended up with a B–. And someone else who goofed off all semester and screwed up the exam ended up getting an A. You’ve heard that grades are awarded by a professor throwing the exams at a flight of stairs, assigning grades to each step, and having the whole process complete in ten minutes. Don’t believe a word of it.

If you write a good exam, you’ll get a good grade. If you write a poor exam, you’ll get a poor grade. But remember the curve. Even if you write an answer that is 98% correct, you’ll get an average grade if a significant portion of the class write answers that are 99% correct. And if you write an answer that is 20% correct, you can, in theory at least, end up with an A if most students in your class write answers that are only 15% correct.

The key to getting a grade that reflects the work you put into the course is to attend class. With moderate study, anyone can get an average grade. But paying attention in class, picking up on what the professor feels is important, and listening to what the professor likes to say, you’ll arm yourself with the tools to write not just a good answer, but an answer that appeals to the professor. You can understand the material perfectly and still end up with an average grade if you don’t give the professor the “+” in IRAC+.

Most professors actually spend a lot of time reading the exams. This is the “official” reason that your grades are often delivered a few weeks into the following semester, although the more cynical will claim that grades are delivered late (and after the deadline to receive a tuition refund for the upcoming semester) to prevent students from withdrawing. In fairness, however, the grading of exams is exceedingly time–consuming and tedious. Professors read the exams, probably re–read or re–scan many exams, and check for consistency. (Note, however, that an experienced professor can usually nail a grade fairly quickly at either extreme of the curve. As with the law school application process, these papers are usually put to the side—as they’re the easy ones—with the focus on the finer differences among very–much–alike exams.) You won’t end up with a bad or good grade because you were graded first or last in the pile.

Your grades may feel “wrong” in relation to the work you put into the course and how you felt the exam went, but you really have nothing accurate upon which to base your suspicions. You don’t know how the rest of the class performed. Even if your classmates were honest with you about their performance—and most will be, although you’ll encounter the perpetual braggart and the perpetual understater in every law school class—they have no way to gauge how they performed and you just have no way of accurately finding out how the rest of the class really did. You are graded against how the class as a whole performed. Grades might seem random, but they are unlikely to be.

As a brief and obvious aside, a good set of grades gives you some indication as to where your performance is in relation to the remainder of the class. Good grades mean that you’re up there with the best of the class. Bad grades mean that you’re down at the bottom of the class. Don’t confuse inability to predict your grade with grades being random. You can’t predict your grades; this doesn’t mean they are random.

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that no one can predict grades in law school? I mean, is that BS or what? Don’t get me wrong. I know what people mean. I know you cannot predict grades. I am still waiting on grades, and even though I worked harder than I ever have academically, I have no clue! I mean, seriously, I have always had a clue as to what to expect for grades. Until now. I just don’t think it should be this way. It’s like the lottery or something and it should not be that way. It’s sick. MaggieC

I couldn’t predict my grades either—I was sure I had flunked out of law school one week before grades were posted. However, I wound up with an A in Contracts, a B+ in Torts, an A on the Legal Research exam, and an A on my Legal Writing memo. Of all those, I thought I had done the worst in Contracts, so I was surprised at my grade (but I’ll keep it!). Mardee

The forced curve can make the big difference in law school, which is why grades can seem so screwy. If you thought you had the final “in the bag,” rest assured that other members of your class had the same thought. Same goes for the final that you thought you did the worst on. It’s a seeming paradox of law school that you may get a better grade on an exam on which your performance is actually worse than what you performed on an exam in another class, because you’re being compared to the class. MaggieC

SO WHY DO GRADES TAKE SO LONG TO ARRIVE?

After learning that professors do actually read each exam and spend significant amounts of time grading them, it’s no surprise that professors are given a generous time in which to get the grades to the registrar. Too generous? Perhaps. Still, this is the system. Your first semester grades, for example, will probably be released weeks, if not months, into the second semester. Not only do the professors have the entire Christmas break to grade the papers (and with the portion of your massive tuition bills that end up in the pockets of these highly paid professors, you’d expect them to do at least some work outside normal class hours), but they have weeks into the following semester to get their act together. Perhaps for the most complicated subjects and difficult, lengthy answers where the number of exam takers is close to a hundred or so, they could be forgiven. But for many classes where the exams are basic, formulaic, answers limited by a word count (or even “fill in the bubble” multiple choice exams), and the number of students taking the exam is small, this delay in inexcusable.

The professors would like you to believe that they really need all that time to grade the papers. This is probably untrue. The likely reason for the delay is that it is universally after the deadline to withdraw with a tuition refund. Think about it—law schools are expensive to run and often need full classes simply to pay the outgoings each month. Your tuition is probably keeping the school in business, rather than the school relying solely on the endowment. If they lose many students, things will get tight financially. And because so many law students go to law school intending to be at the top of their class (as they want the high–paying large firm jobs that are obtainable by the top of the class only), there is a good chance that when half the class has a GPA below the 50th percentile after grades are released, there would be many students tempted to call it quits and walk—their shot at those top paying large firm jobs suddenly disappears once those bad grades are in. In addition, because the grades are curved, half the class will be forced into lower–than–average grades, so the school is virtually guaranteed that half the class will be severely annoyed and disappointed (if not despondent) when grades are released.

Schools, however, would prefer that you believe the professors really need the time to get the papers graded, and that the tuition refund deadlines are a mere coincidence. If this were so, then this book dares any law school to demonstrate its good faith by allowing law students to withdraw with a full refund of the upcoming semester’s tuition for one week after exam results are released. Don’t hold your breath.

They wait to release grades until you have registered and paid for the second semester and the 100% refund if you drop is gone. grannylaw

I think the real reason is so people will not drop out and the university can get the money. MaggieC

The waiting isn’t made any easier when the profs say things like, “I was disappointed in the grades but know that you will turn them around.” Yikes, how badly could we have done? grannylaw

I think it is difficult for 1Ls to make effective adjustments in study habits or to even know if adjustments are necessary when 1st semester grades are received so far into the next semester. MaggieC

BAD GRADES

The curve ensures that for at least your first year of law school, someone will be getting bad grades, regardless of effort and ability. Even though you’ve probably been accustomed to receiving nothing less than a B for the past few years, maybe throughout your life, you may be getting a whole string of them in law school. Someone has to. Your competition will be formidable, so prepare yourself.

As a brief aside, because of the likelihood that you will be average in law school, don’t go to law school “planning” to be in the top ten percent of the class. Sure, go there hoping to be at the top, but don’t base your entire career plan on being at the top (i.e., you intend to work for a large–city law firm and nothing else). 90% of the class, by default, will be below the top 10%.

Plan on how you’re going to deal with “poor” grades before you go to law school. If it’s something that you can’t handle, then go to business school instead. And remember, they’re just grades—you’re still the solid intellect and person you were before you set foot in law school.

I know it’s been said, but I thought I’d say it again. As someone who looks back on the agonizing period surrounding those first grades with no nostalgia at all, I thought I’d remind you of something. No matter what your grades are, no matter if you got a B in Contracts or a C in Torts or a D in Con Law, you’re still the talented person you were before you came to school. And grades don’t make the lawyer. Experience does. Don’t get too high or too low. There’s a long way to go before graduation. Enjoy it as best you can. johnny99

One prof told us only two people got Ds, thinking that would relieve everyone. Of course, it did not. Now everyone is afraid maybe they are one of the two that got the Ds. I never really believed law students when they said they had no idea how they did on an exam. I do now. It’s amazing that you can feel so clueless as to your performance on a exam. Everything just depends on how everyone else did. MaggieC

HANDLING THE STRESS

It’s going to be stressful. You can’t escape it. Law school is, at least for the first year, a massive amount of work, uncertainty, and pressure. That adds up to enormous stress. There’s no way to get around it, and if you find yourself breezing through with no stress whatsoever, you might want to take a look at whether you’re doing the correct amount of work or not—chances are, you’re doing far less than you should be doing if you’re finding it that easy. (Or you’re a genius, but you’d probably know that by now.)

Think of 1L like a trip to the dentist to have a cavity filled. There’s not much pleasant about it, but you get through it nonetheless. There are things you can do to make it less unpleasant; for instance, don’t bite the dentist, don’t clench your teeth together, relax, think “happy thoughts,” etc. Yes, the shot in your gum hurts, no matter what the dentist says. So does 1L. The drilling isn’t that nice either. Again, neither is 1L.

You can develop a set of “coping techniques” for your stress, and you should make sure you do pay attention to developing and using these techniques throughout law school. Some obvious examples are taking every Saturday off, regardless. Or always spending between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. each weekday with your family, doing regular family things like watching television, reading, kicking a ball around, or whatever you and your spouse/kids like to do. Just be warned—if your idea of relaxing is having a beer or other alcoholic drink, or enjoying some recreational drug use, you might want to find something else. The stress is intense and lengthy, and if you rely on alcohol or drugs to relieve that stress, by the time exams roll around, you’ll be knocking back half a bottle of whiskey when you get through the door in the evening every night, or spending your non–school time smoking or otherwise ingesting more illegal substances than an 80s rock star. Try to pick a non–intoxicating stress reliever. And if you plan on quitting smoking, do it before law school or during a vacation. During the semester, you’ll have enough on your plate without kicking the habit.

The key, however, is realizing and accepting that law school, especially 1L, is often a miserable experience. It’s highly stressful, so take steps to minimize the stress. Just like the trip to the dentist.

In my experience, don’t worry about your confidence. Worry more about maintaining your mental health and not feeling overwhelmed. Once you feel like you are starting to lose it, do something about it. Sui Generis

For god’s sake, relax! Too many people I know get psyched out by the experience itself. Law students, at least the top bunch, are generally competitive and neurotic as hell. If you fall into their mind games, you’ll have trouble. Just try and concentrate on learning the law, not on Law Review, or grades or things like that. johnny99

I’ve been studying so much that I wake up in the middle of the night with visions of negligence dancing in my head! I’ve never had so much trouble sleeping in my life. Mardee

The practice of law is infinitely harder and more time–consuming than the study of it. If you don’t learn to balance now, you never will. johnny99

It’s okay to freak out once in awhile and very often during the first year, you will believe you’ve made a huge mistake coming to law school. You haven’t. Freak out, eat some ice cream, get back to the books and you’ll be fine. Still Cougar

It’s entirely normal to feel overwhelmed the first couple of days. This feeling will pass, as soon as you get your Bar exam results. Greg

Below are some comments students have made about surviving the 1L stress, and it all boils down to maintaining balance and perspective (a.k.a.: time management). 1L is important, but not more important than your health, your family, and your general well–being. Keep it in perspective—it’s just law school. Important, of course, but not at the expense of your significant others, finances, and so on. A few years out of law school, you’ll see that it was just law school, and while it seems like the most important thing ever when you’re a 1L, in the long run, it isn’t worth throwing you life away for. When your spouse wants to be taken out for an evening, go for it, and remember that the curve will ensure that you won’t fail if you take a little time out of law school for more important things.

Who says you can’t have both? I think too many people put an emphasis on the difficulty of law school. It’s all about time management. A’s are a lot to hope for, no matter what, but top 20% and having a life aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s about balance. If you do that, you’re a step ahead of the game. uke

Stress management is extremely important to performing well in law school. That means exercise, sleep, eating well and having loving, supportive relationships in your life. Burning the candle at both ends leads to a stressed–out, brain–dead person who cannot possibly perform at their peak on several 3–4 hour exams. You can have it all. You will more likely have it all if you have a balanced life. MaggieC

I found that while the workload was heavy and constant, there was always time for a workout. In fact, I was able to exercise for 1–2 hours 4–5 times a week, no problem. This changed a little during final exams and when a memo was due. Also, there is time to go to dinner with friends, spend time with family or just goof off a little. Go in with an open mind and a commitment to work hard and you will do fine. No Longer Confused

In my experience, I do not have much personal time, and the personal time I do get comes with the knowledge that my classmates are getting ahead of me. But I do go to a school with a reputation for being especially demanding. Hopefully you will be somewhere more humane. Lola

Do not be afraid to ask for help. Law schools are full of people who are there to answer questions, to offer advice, and to give you support. A lot of it will arrive unsolicited, but it may not be keyed to your needs. Make sure you get the help you need. I do not just mean help with the subject matter. I mean help with anything. Nontrads have less of a natural support/social system than traditional students; I love my classmates, but after spending approximately 8 hours a day with 22–24 year olds (many of whom really are children), I really craved adult company. I am single and have moved to a new city to go to law school, and 1L didn’t afford much time to develop a circle of friends outside of school. Anyway, there are people in school to discuss stuff like this as well. Do not isolate yourself. Tomboy

Don’t let law school define your self–worth. It’s far too easy to begin measuring yourself against the accomplishments of others. If you play that game, you’ll drive yourself nuts. Don’t do it. johnny99

Work hard when you’re at school. That means not going to lunch every day with your buddies. It means working in the library outlining and catching up instead. The flip side is that you should not work hard when you’re not at school. Don’t get tapes of classes to play in your car. Listen to the radio and relax (probably best for safety reasons anyway— you want to concentrate on the road, not a contracts class). At home, spend time with your family, perhaps do some casual reading, but relax so you can work hard when you go back to school. MisterThousand

Law isn’t just three years in school, it’s your life. And being kind now will follow you into the real world. Believe me, I will remember the people who were helpful and the people who were hateful, once we are all out of here. You never know who you will someday be in front of in court or have to ask for a job. Cinnamon Girl

The flip side to the whole balance and perspective issue is that you should expect it to be difficult, stressful, and it is important. Law school performance can, in some circumstances, have a profound and long–term effect on your career—namely if you want to get a job in a large law firm. You’ll need the top grades for this, and if that’s your goal, then focus on it. There’s also something to be said for spending every possible moment on your studies, since you’re paying a huge amount of money to do so and you only get one shot. There’s no retaking classes in law school to get better grades—you’re stuck with what you get the first time around. (As if anyone sane would dare to go for a second round.) Here are some alternative opinions.

Get the A’s. You can do the personal growth thing later. Even if you’re not interested in large law firms, better grades means more opportunities. 1L is only a year long. You should do everything possible to get the highest grades you can. “Balance” is the buzzword of the bottom half of the class. You have one shot at law school. Don’t blow it on books you can read later. Rat

Sure, I’ll have the occasional beer out with the fellas and go to dinner with my wife and kids, but when it comes down to brass tacks, it’s not just me who’s affected by my performance in law school. My family is depending on me to perform at my best so that I have the maximum number of opportunities after graduation. Opportunities don’t just equal money, they equal freedom. Ranger Rick

[Editor’s note: A chapter in Planet Law School II is devoted to and expands upon these opinions. You might read its chapter 15, titled “Winners & Losers, Whiners & Doers.”]

Make sure, too, that your perspective isn’t distorted by the irritating handful every school has: the gunners. These are the students who are always talking in class, not to show the professor that they know the material, but to show the rest of the class that they know the material. They are always in the library…probably hiding books. Don’t let them fool you into thinking that they are as smart as they hope you believe. Forget them, and forget what every other student in your class tells you about how hard they are working and how well they understand the material. You need to make sure you understand the material. If you’re doing this, then you should not give a damn what anyone else is doing. If you can learn the material working three hours a day outside class, and you see some other students spending five or six hours a day in the library, don’t think that they are learning more or better than you or that they are taking their studies that one one step further that will ensure they beat you in exams; they might be studying hard, but foolishly. Your only competition should be you.

The gunners and game–players create anxiety during the first semester when everyone’s on the same level and no one has gotten any grades back yet. You do have to work hard to ignore the puffing that goes on. It gets a little better in the second semester after the first semester grades come out. Apparently most of the players were so busy telling the rest of us about their killer outlines from the 2Ls that they forgot to study them. Of the 10–15 gunners and players in my section, maybe two made the Dean’s List. The people at the top end of the class are the ones who don’t play games and stay focused on their own work, instead of telling everyone else what others gave them. hokiestone

Do not get freaked out by your classmates. There are always going to be people who try to psych you out. These people are jerks and every group everywhere has them. Compete with yourself, not with your classmates. It doesn’t matter what they are doing, it matters what you are doing. Remember that. Something I’ve always kept in mind when classmates of mine were shouting from the rooftops about their preparedness and wonderful outlines and study aids and so on is, “I don’t have a lot to say, I have a lot to do.” In other words, if those people really were doing a lot, they wouldn’t be saying it. The people who end up with the top grades are very often the ones who are working hard, not the ones who are talking about how hard they work. Still Cougar

Remember that there are people in law school who want to see you fail. Learn who they are, then work around them. MisterThousand

[Editor’s note: the same applies to law practice.]

Avoid the competitive mindset. Focus on yourself, not what others are doing. I always share outlines, materials, info, notes, whatever I have. I have found that my sharing has come back to me in some of the nicest ways. Don’t get into the attitudes of hoarding outlines or practice exams. Some of my best learning has been the result of the time I took to explain something to someone else, or when two of us figured out something together. MaggieC

DON’T BE THIS PERSON

Don’t be the gunner. Don’t waste people’s time in class by asking questions that are off–topic or that would otherwise be best addressed one–on–one, with the professor, during office hours. Don’t use class as a personal dialogue with the professor. If you’ve already voluntarily answered one question in a particular class, don’t answer another question unless the rest of the class really has no clue. Don’t roll your eyes when people say stupid things in class. In essence, don’t be a jerk. Don’t boast about how hard you’re studying—to make yourself look better or to show how smart and wonderful you are—as that’s a red flag for your own emotional immaturity and psychological insecurity. You should have outgrown such nonsense in grade school. Early grade school. Share your notes when someone asks. Help someone out if you can. Don’t hide books in the library. (This ought to be grounds for exclusion from the Bar.) Keep your political opinions to yourself. In fact, keep all your opinions to yourself in class: If you have an urge to start an answer with “In my opinion…,” please don’t say anything. Don’t argue with the professor. He or she knows, perhaps, just a little bit more than you do about the law, and anything you say in contradiction is 99% likely to be incorrect or just plain silly. You get the picture.

Oh. For nontrads with “life experience,” nobody really cares about a comment you might want to make that starts with the phrase, “In the real world….” Even if it’s true. Keep your experience out of the classroom and save it for law practice.

You’re allowed to ask stupid questions—don’t worry about what your classmates think. Asking a question doesn’t make you a gunner. Tomboy

A gunner is someone who thinks that class is a dialogue between him or herself and the professor. Tomboy

Unfortunately I have made the mistake of sitting next to a major gunner. The seat you choose the first night is your seat for the rest of the semester. Since I frequently forget to wear my glasses, I chose front row. Mistake. Girl came in, looked at my laptop and immediately started going on about how she didn’t need a laptop, and wasn’t going to buy one until they at least came with a CD writer in it (which mine had). Then, every time the professor asked any kind of question, she waved her hand frantically in the air, started volunteering information like the following, for example: “Jurisdiction means ‘spoken law’ in Latin.” The professor looked at her like she had escaped from a mental institution. It got to where he would ask a question, take a look at her frantically waving hand, and look around saying, “Does anyone else have an answer?” in a desperate way. bluecanary

Not only would he raise his hand on every question, he would frequently interrupt others while they were speaking. It got so bad that a group in the back started writing down how many comments he would make each class—one night he got up to 68! Mardee

The biggest gunner so far is a middle–aged woman who is starting her “second career.” Nothing against that, but she seems a little too self–important. Maybe she’s insecure about being around so many kids. I just wish she would shut up—her comments are unimpressive. Also, she sits there and nods her head “yes” or “no” so vigorously that it’s clearly visible across the room in my peripheral vision. Very distracting. Oh well, it could be worse. Up

The most annoying person in our class was the oldest nontrad. He spoke every single class, several times. He was obviously intelligent, but often he would challenge the professor, shaking his head and rolling his eyes if he wasn’t convinced by the professor’s points, wandering off–topic, sticking on one small point and not letting it go. It was just plain annoying. Mish Mish

Good rules of thumb: Don’t raise your hand on every question, even if you know the answer—probably most people do. Don’t try to pose questions to the prof that further the discussion or clarify a point that was muddled. Don’t ever start your question with “What if...”—creating needless hypos agitates everyone, including the prof. The hypos the prof gives will be sufficient for your understanding. There is no need to create a five–minute hypo on your own and try to “trick” the professor. If you feel like doing this, hit the office hour. Don’t make a statement just to hear yourself talk. If your sentence begins with, “Well, in MY opinion...”—stop yourself right there. No one cares about your opinion. They care about the law. Cinnamon Girl

SO YOU’VE MADE IT THROUGH 1L SUCCESSFULLY. WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?

Even the best of the best law students gain a different outlook at the end of 1L than they had at the start. They have honed their techniques, changed study habits, wasted good advice, and would do things differently if they had the chance. And here’s your chance to read what a few ex–1Ls said that they would do differently, and how things change between the first semester and the second semester of 1L, and how things change between 1L and 2L. But as with all advice, take it with an open mind and a pinch of salt. There are, however, consistent themes: Most mention, for example, the importance of learning black letter law, and the different and more serious approaches they might have taken.

I will continue to attend all classes. (I know some find this unnecessary, but I found that what was emphasized in class, appeared on the exam. Too important to miss.) I will take notes on my laptop in class. I switched back and forth this first semester between laptop and handwriting, but found the laptop notes easier to incorporate into my course outline on an ongoing basis. Speaking of laptops, I will make arrangements to take spring finals on laptop. I was scared off because of problems with the exam software at my law school in the past, but it looks like the bugs have been worked out. I will brief no cases. (I will read cases, make notes, use canned briefs, get the black letter law down.) I will participate less in class and spend more time getting the black letter law down so it is in my outline. I will ask questions after class, joining the little group down at the podium. I caught on to this late in the first semester. This is a great way to get extensive answers to questions, clear up confusion, discuss hypos, etc., with the prof. I learned as much from the other students who asked questions as I did from my own. I will join the group even if I don’t have a specific question that day. I will do more practice exams and use the multiple–choice questions in my study aid books. I thought these would not be helpful since exams are essay, but I found them very helpful in studying for exams (should have been using them all along). MaggieC

I will review what I’ve read and keep up with my outlines each week! It’s so easy to get behind if you don’t stay on top of it. I will review once a month with my study partner, so that once exams hit, we’re not starting from scratch again. I will continue to make friends with 2Ls and 3Ls, and hopefully reap the benefit of their experience. I plan on keeping my outline on my laptop, which hopefully will make it easier to incorporate my notes into it each week. Last semester I took all my notes on my laptop, but kept it separate from my outline until the end. I will eat healthy, exercise, and try to keep the stress out of my life. I’m planning on listening to some meditation tapes before I go to bed. And ditto on the class attendance—I don’t see how people manage who don’t attend class. I’d be scared to death to miss one. Mardee

I will continuously memorize the UCC and Restatements for contracts, and all the elements for the various torts and whatever criminal law throws at me, throughout the semester so that when finals reading week comes, I can spend it fine–tuning my knowledge rather than developing it! uke

I will go over my class notes each week and incorporate them into my big outline, and work on a short black letter law outline as I go along. I usually hang around the podium listening to people’s questions during break and at the end of class and found it helpful, so I will continue to do that. I will pick up my exams from the registrar and go over each of them with my professors, regardless of the grade (or how embarrassed I am)—I want to learn from them for the next round. I will use the study aids throughout the semester, not just sporadically, then in a rush at the end. Although I tried not to miss class, I did have to a few times because of work. I am going to try to schedule things better so that I don’t miss class or come in late. (Often, some of the most important things are said in the first 15 minutes—not to mention the handouts.) Do whatever I can to go to bed early enough that I am functional the next day. chillout

I am struck by how important it is to know the black letter law. You have to know it forwards/backwards, six ways from Sunday…and you have to know all of it. That’s how you spot the issues in the exam. If you don’t spot the legal issues, you can’t possibly do well on the exam. If you spot the issues, but get the black letter law wrong you get dinged, no matter how brilliant your analysis. MaggieC

After all of the terror and excitement of beginning law school, it seems like there is a definite second semester slump. Some people have already managed to not show for half of the allowable misses and it’s only three weeks into the semester. Pretty much everyone is only mildly accepting their grades, somewhat of a letdown from all those A’s in undergrad. madlaw

OTHER IMPORTANT DUTIES DURING 1L (APART FROM STUDYING)

The majority of this book dealt with being at law school to study, and there being more to law schools than lots of similarly–looking books, plenty to read, hazardous classmates, and some daunting professors. It’s college, after all, and law students are just a different brand of graduate student. And like most students, law students like extracurricular activities. You’ll find, however, that most extracurriculars at law school are of the résumé–boosting type. After all, there’s no way on earth that people are truly interested in most of the tedious–sounding (and even more tedious–belonging) societies that vie for your attention during your first year of law school.

As a nontraditional student, your life is full of quite enough activity already—a spouse, kids, a job, hobbies, and friends—that, coupled with the work you will do to maintain the pace at law school, you’ll be lucky not to injure the relationship with your spouse, kids, job, and so on. But if you’re one of the few who has a few available minutes during the semester, you might consider one good extracurricular activity.

During your first few weeks, social events for 1Ls are sponsored by various groups. Fliers attempt to lure you. Don’t rush; these organizations rarely have a set window for joining, and you should take a step back, wait a few weeks, and then evaluate whether you have enough time to join and contribute. In addition, you’ll be able to see which organizations are a waste of time and which are worthy of your time. Remember that it’s easier to join at a later date than it is to leave something to which you’ve already committed yourself.

You might also want to consider foregoing these altogether. They may be a deceptively large drain on your time, particularly as the 1Ls will often do the work while the 2L and 3L “senior staff” or leadership takes the glory. Think carefully about what will get you a good job: good grades. Poor grades coupled with having “Member of the Legal Policy Society” will not trump grades under any circumstances. There are two groups that will get you places: Law Review and Moot Court. The rest are wannabes. Don’t let membership in any organization distract you from your studies until 2L and beyond. Your 1L grades are so vitally important that it’s simply not worth it. But even later, it all depends on what you feel you can handle. Just don’t expect any membership to get your foot in the door at a potential employer. Only Law Review and Moot Court have the power to do that. (And, of these two, Law Review is by far the more powerful. And another “and”—it is powerful because for most it signifies…good grades.) So, as if it’s not been stated enough: Grades are everything, and should be your primary, if not sole, focus during first year. (Please do not email us with complaints about how this should not be the case. We didn’t make this so, but it would be negligent of us to sugarcoat the truth. Moreover, one of the most important lessons in law school is learning the distinction between the “is” and the “ought.” This is an is, and neither you nor we can change this.)

The key is to make sure that you let the books come first, but you can and probably should join something your first year. The thing is that your second year is likely to be as busy or busier than the first because you’re still taking a full load plus you’re going through the interview season and maybe writing for your school’s publication(s) and any other activity you decide to pursue. djd06

Lots of people say don’t join. I think if you don’t take on any responsibility in the group they can be a great release from the stress. UF LAW

Quite frankly, I find most student groups a waste of time. If you’re looking to put your skills to work, there are plenty of actual advocacy groups in the real world that will be happy to accept your help after first semester. johnny99

I don’t think ECs necessarily guarantee better job opportunities. It’s more a reward in itself: striking a better life balance, becoming a more well–rounded person, plugging into the community (whether the school community or the geographic community or the legal community), helping others, learning about oneself. Neatgin H

During 1L, you should focus on studying. Grades are by far the most important thing, especially 1L grades that pretty much determine whether you’re in the running for a formal summer position with a firm. That said, if you have room in your schedule, then ECs can be useful—to a point. Some are more useful than others. For instance, the Student Bar Association is good (generally). Anything else that is in some way linked to a distinct practice area or the local Bar is good, even if just for cementing your interest in that area or networking. Things that have a public service aspect are good. The Sports and Law Society, if all it consists of is a weekly drinking session, is not a good idea. Time is scarce during 1L. Most of it should be for studying. If you could fit in one good EC, then that’s fine. But no employer is going to be fooled by someone with five or six ECs on their resume—they have all been through law school too, and know that you’re either not putting enough effort into the important things like studying, or not putting enough effort into your ECs that you committed to. Oldguy

Finally, don’t join a group with the intent to line up a job through that group. Among other thoughts that might cross the average law student’s mind is that such groups often have contacts with the practicing bar, and perhaps invite guest speakers now and again. So what happens? These practicing attorneys get inundated with pleas for a job. Attorneys thus grow wary of having any involvement, because it’s so annoying to be used like this. Don’t be guilty of such gauche behavior. Appreciate their time, and, if you join, do so for a genuine interest in the group’s mission. Who knows? Something might work out. But don’t bet on it—and don’t be a parasite. Far better, if vocational interests are in mind, to find a good outside group to join, as johnny99 mentions, and simply…do good work. Let them come up with the bright idea to hire you.

TALKING OF GETTING SIGNED UP FOR STUFF, WHAT ABOUT BAR REVIEW COURSES?

You’re going to law school. Chances are, you want to be a lawyer. (If, at this point, you merely want to learn about the law, read some books about it. Goodness! Why throw $100,000 at law school if you have no desire to ever practice law? If, by the way, it’s to teach law, think very, very carefully; you must be a top student from a top law school. This is measured in top students, not percentages. And, as to law schools, it will need to be among the top five—yes, you read that right—top five law schools.)

So, you’ll need to pass the Bar exam. You will find, during your first year, that that there are 2L and 3L student “reps” of the main Bar review prep course providers selling locked–in tuition for the review course you’ll take in just under three years’ time. They will require a small deposit, which might even be refundable. Chances are, in two and a half years, you’ll be signing up for a Bar review course whether you like it or not, so locking in your tuition can save you a little cash.

Ask around. Talk to some young lawyers if you can. The school’s administration and faculty will probably also be able to give you some advice on which one to pick. This book’s advice is simple. If you can sign up for BarBri, do so. It’s the undisputed king of Bar review prep courses. Forget self–study courses—the Bar exam is hard, and tackling it by yourself will be a nightmare and unnecessarily risk failure of the most important exam you will take in the next decade. Forget “no–name” courses. By the time you graduate, you’ll have probably spent that $100,000 on your education—what’s a couple of grand more for the BarBri course? If you get a job with a decent firm, chances are high that they will pick up the tab, and even give time off to study for the bar exam. (This is Reason #782 to get good grades.) Even if not, you should consider a prep course a “cost of doing biz”; it’s just part of the (enormous) cost of a legal education.

If you’re not comfortable signing up this early, you can wait. There will always be a seat for you (despite what they say), as no service provider gives up a few extra thousand dollars, at no real cost to them. You can probably sign up well into your last semester of 3L and still have your pick of locations. Just don’t get pressured into putting down a deposit for a course you’ve never heard of. Most law students take BarBri—the reason being that it is actually quite good. Walk quickly away from the rep from “Dave’s Online Bar Review & Automotive Repair Course,” even if it comes with a 100% money back guarantee. You want to pass the Bar, not get your money back.

There may be other supplemental courses that you can sign up for early, but these require more thought. Most law students are successful with a review course alone, and don’t opt for expensive mini–courses that deal with one part of the Bar exam, a state–specific section perhaps. These extra courses you really can wait to sign up for when you know whether you need them or not. Most do not.

MID–1L BREAK (A/K/A CHRISTMAS). SHOULD I DO ANYTHING?

Relax. You’re cooked. Enjoy the feeling of going home at five in the evening and not having to do anything except turn on the TV and put your feet up. Careful though—two weeks or more and you’ll be in danger of getting used to it. This is not a law–friendly addiction. Try to keep the brain active. Read a non–law book that took your fancy during the semester, but which you didn’t get the chance to read.

My last exam is 12/19 and school starts again on 1/6. I am going to read a trash novel—Danielle Steele or something—nothing to brief, no need to care what’s going on; pure brain junk food! No, maybe I’ll veg in front of the TV or sit at the beach—just something that doesn’t involve analyzing or thinking like a lawyer! grannylaw

Apart from that, there’s just one thing you might want to concentrate on that is directly related to law school—trying to find a 1L summer position in a legal office or organization. If you followed the earlier advice and did your employment research before you started law school, wrote drafts of cover letters, got your resume in order, and bought your materials (paper, new printer cartridge, etc.), then you would have had time to look for a 1L summer position about two thirds of the way through the first semester and beat the rush. You can bet that every other 1L who didn’t get their employment act together before 1L is using the Christmas vacation to do so. If you wait any later than the start of the Christmas vacation to begin sending out letters, then you’ll be behind the employment curve and left with the crumbs of the 1L summer jobs search (which is, incidentally, the crumbs of the 2Ls job search). But more on the 1L job search later.

After you’ve already had one semester of 1L, the second semester is more of the same (except that you’ll be less nervous and better organized). You’ll study the standard, compulsory subjects you didn’t have during the first semester, and they will be taught in the same style. By this stage of the game, you’ll know what to expect.

– 4 –

2L AND BEYOND

2L itself is different in one way —it’s more work. Not only do you have to contend with a full schedule of classes, but you’ll be involved with at least one valuable extracurricular activity (Law Review, Moot Court, a clinic, or a useful minor journal), and you’ll be looking frantically for a 2L summer position.

WHAT COURSES?

1L includes six to eight core Bar topics, all prevalent on the Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”) portion of the Bar exam too. Torts, Property, Contracts, Civ Pro, Crim Law, Con Law. These might be split up into two–semester courses, since some are huge topics. But the average Bar exam covers far more material than these courses. (For example, some Contracts profs barely mention the UCC, which is essential to the Bar and MBE.) You’re now faced with a dilemma when picking 2L and 3L courses: should you pick courses that are on the Bar exam, or should you pick courses that are interesting? For instance, your state Bar exam might cover Wills, Trusts, and Estates…but you really want to study Entertainment Law. What do you do?

It should be remembered that a JD without a Bar exam pass is as good as worthless if you want to practice law, so while you could, in theory, spend your entire second and third years studying only what you wanted to practice instead of what you needed to pass the Bar, your chances of Bar exam success is compromised. Yes, you learn the law you need to pass the Bar exam during your eight or nine week Bar review prep course during the summer after you graduate, but when you spend three hours—total, not credit hours—per subject (that normally take a semester to even get half a grip on) in a Bar review course, you have little chance of taking it all in. The reason it works (usually) is that it truly is a Bar review: it’s a recap of what you’ve had before, but might not have fully grasped. Bar review courses should be refresher courses, not courses where you get your first taste of critical subjects such as Evidence or Criminal Procedure.

So, as a general rule, try to avoid the extremes: taking only Bar review courses but not any that you’d like to take—or taking only courses you’d like to take. You should, instead, take the major topics that were not covered in first year, from exceptional instructors if you can, and enjoy one or two or three fun electives without fear. Indeed, the quality of the professor should be a greater determinant than which course you take, and when. Usually, you have two or three chances to take the biggies— evidence, criminal procedure, the UCC—so spend some time finding who’s really good, and who’s not. If an exceptional prof is teaching a Bar course, then be first in line to take it! If, conversely, an exceptional prof is teaching a “fun” course, then take that—and then, the following semester, find a good prof teaching one of the Bar courses. In all of this, follow the Eastern way: Balance.

3L

In your third year, you might fill in a handful of core courses that you had to miss during 2L because of scheduling conflicts, and you have a handful of courses to pick from in your specialty. You would, if you progressed through law school with one eye on the Bar exam and one eye on a specialty, probably end up with four of five courses (assuming your school even offers four or five courses) in your main subject area. Hardly a specialty. Not surprisingly, it’s usually only in the largest law schools that any “specialty” is really an option. And, again, the hiring partners will not care: they know that you will learn the specific law you need once you’re on the job. They want to know, instead, what your grades are.

It is also worth remembering that when you graduate from law school and even when you pass the Bar exam, you’re still absolutely green in terms of legal skills, and you still probably have absolutely no idea how to file a document with a court, request a zoning variance, and so on. Regardless of “specialty” in law school, you will have zero knowledge of any use to anyone, let alone someone looking for someone with a niche area in law. The only exception to this is the law graduate entering patent law—and they are useful not because of what they learned in law school, but because of what they learned before law school in their respective technical or scientific fields. (In almost all cases, a patent attorney has an engineering or science degree (bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate), plus experience, or even an M.D. or like professional degree, plus experience. Many earned their technical degrees prior to attending law school.)

One guideline is to evaluate whether you’re good at cramming. If so, then you could survive the Bar exam by learning new subjects as they are covered during the Bar review course. If not, then you might want to take courses that are covered on the Bar exam while in law school, using the Bar review course as more of a refresher.

This is often a moot point, however, as the realities of scheduling come into play. You will find that many courses you want to take conflict with other courses you want to take, and you’ll have to pick between the two. In some cases, picking your number one choice means that you have to take a dull choice for scheduling reasons. In addition, your newfound ability to schedule your courses around that “day off” you’ve been wanting each week might also prevent you from picking certain courses.

Suffice to say that if you’re interested in pursuing a career in a particular field of law upon graduation, you should take at least the basic courses relating to that field. Love tax and know that you want to be a tax lawyer? (Perhaps you’re already a CPA, and already know that you love looking at Internal Revenue regulations, opinion letters, tax newsletters and so on. Anything short of that, however…beware. Don’t assume that you’ll practice in any specific field.) If you do love taxes, then take Federal Income Taxation and whatever other tax courses are offered. In addition, if there are other courses that sound fascinating to you, then take them. After all, while it’s not undergrad and you’re in law school for a purpose, you’re still free to pick courses that aren’t directly related to your ultimate goals if they appeal to you. Law school is probably the last time you’ll be in full–time education, so make the most of it. But remember that you are there for a purpose—to pass the Bar exam—so take some serious courses (i.e., those that aren’t called “Law and ...”). You’re also free to avoid the awful professors and pick classes taught by the good professors. Don’t make 2L and 3L a continuation of the miseries of 1L.

If you’re interested, check into one or two courses taught in another graduate school of the university—perhaps the business or public affairs schools—as you can almost always get permission from the dean to take a course outside of the law. Obviously, it should be something you love, and should also be something that fits in some way to a legal profession. Avoid anything that would require in any way an explanation to an interviewer as to why you took “Andean Flute Music of the Early 17th–Century,” unless you have an MFA and absolutely know that you will work in that field (and thus be interviewed by those who might just love to hear your whistled rendition of early 17th–century Andean flute music). Within limits, enjoy your relative freedom during your second and third years.

Finally, many schools offer foreign studies programs, and all law students can find a program somewhere whose credits the student’s law school will accept. For the nontrad, this is almost always a non–starter, as you would be abroad for a summer or full semester—and they’re usually quite expensive. If you can swing it, however, and if you and your family would truly enjoy it…go for it. It will be one of the best trips you ever make. As always, however, this is viewed in light of…your grades. If you have excellent grades (and you pass the Bar, on the first try), your new employer could not care less what courses you took in your third year. If, however, your grades are marginal, you’ll have two things to consider: (1) you’ll have to spend time to find a job—a lot of time—which all but precludes foreign study; and (2) it will be harder to explain to an employer why you just had to go to Greece when you really, truly want to be in a law library for 60–plus hours a week.

As a 1L going into 2L, here’s what I’m looking forward to: No more Torts: Too squishy. No more Civ Pro: Too expensive—prescription migraine medicine costs quite a bit on my plan, and due to the prof and the material I went through quite a few pills. Only a year and a half left: I’m trying to accelerate, and ready to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. Not being a 1L: Not that there’s anything wrong with it. Lex Loci

2L, in general, is a lot more work than 1L. You’re not scared anymore, since you know what to expect, and many profs abandon the Socratic method altogether after 1L. However, there is usually more reading to be done and a lot more to learn, especially in some of the more specialized classes. divgradcurl

It does get better. The first year is very difficult, but it does end eventually. The second year gets more boring, but I think it’s harder work—be prepared. The whole job search coupled with the classes and the journal work piles up, although the 1L pressure and uncertainty is off. The third year is dragging very, very slowly right now. Oldguy 2004

LAW REVIEW

This is arguably the best extracurricular activity you can be involved with during law school. It’s simply unmatched for impressing prestige–hungry employers. The reason for this is simple: only the best of the best (in terms of grades or writing skills) are invited to join Law Review.

Law Review is drudge work. It’s tedious, involved, nitpicky, boring, and thankless. In your first Law Review year, as a 2L staffer, you’ll check footnotes. And, er…that’s about it. Hundreds of footnotes. It’s called “cite checking.” You’ll also “find authority” (essentially, doing the author’s job for them), and you’ll find more authority: Footnotes, footnotes, footnotes. Many will be available in your school’s library or online, but the rest will, depending on the author, be located elsewhere or be so obscure that you spend a week trying to find one in some library, somewhere. Then you Bluebook the footnotes. (The Bluebook contains rules for citing and formatting citations. You’ll be sick of the Bluebook after two weeks of your 1L legal writing courses. Think of how sick of the Bluebook you’ll be when you spend your entire 2L year scouring it for formatting rules relating to obscure materials that authors like to use.) Then you’ll Bluebook some more: Bluebook, Bluebook, Bluebook. Are we having fun yet?

If you perform these thankless tasks well, gratefully, and you don’t make too many mistakes that cause the 3Ls to have re–do your work (and thus cause them to miss reruns of their favorite show), you may end up being a 3L editor. Not much of an upgrade—still the same thankless, boring, tedious, nit–picky footnotes and Bluebook—but you can push much of the uber–tedious work off onto the new staffers.

Law Review articles are dull. Dull, dull, dull. They are so incredibly dull that until you actually see one and attempt to read it, you have no idea how dull dull can possibly be. On a scale of dullness where zero represents something pretty fun (say, riding on a nice day in a convertible) and 10 represents a pre–suicidal trance, law review articles often approach infinity. Imagine having to spend hour after hour after hour reading the same article again and again and again. It’s painful.

So why do people do this?

Simple. It tells every single employer two things: First, you’re very, very good at the law school game. The two words Law Review on your résumé tell any employer that you’re one of the smartest in your class in terms of raw academic legal ability—the ability to think like a law prof, at any rate—and it also tells them that you can write. Law Review equals “smart with writing ability.” Employers like smart people. Employers like good writers. Employers like smart people who can write well even more. They just look for the words “Law Review” on your résumé. That says enough.

Second, Law Review tells the employer that you understand the game—the law practice game. (Although you might not know it.) If you are willing to work long hours on boring tasks and not complain—you are ready for a career in the law. (Sorry to be the ones to break it to you, if you hadn’t already realized, but most legal jobs fall into the “long hours and boring tasks” category.) That is, not to be too sarcastic about it, the raw truth. Law review confirms absolutely the two essential elements that painfully risk–averse legal employers must see: you (1) “have what it takes”; and you (2) “get it.”

When on–campus–interviewing (OCI) time rolls around (2L fall semester, 3L fall semester to a far lesser degree), you will find that the Law Review staffers get whatever interviews they want. In fact, they get the lion’s share—meaning that everyone wants to hire them. Only some interviewers (i.e., those who can’t afford or attract the law reviewers) are willing to “look further” down the spectrum, on a steeply decreasing slope. That’s how important Law Review is. Agree or disagree with its actual value, Law Review provides the employer with an instant, objective “seal of approval”: assurance that you’re smart, effective, hardworking, detail–oriented, and dedicated.

Law Review is the single most prestigious thing you can do in school to help you get a job. uke

Reason is there are only two ways to get on Law Review. You have to “grade–on” (be in the top 5–10% of your class) or “write–on,” which means you have research and writing skills that are so superior you could already be a published legal writer. No wonder firms want to hire them. Teach

Since nobody dares mention their grades or asks another student about their grades, Law Review is the badge of honor. If they are on Law Review, you just know they kicked ass. Teach

At many schools, Law Review membership is based on grades alone, so only the top students make it; at other schools, it is both grade–on and write–on. At some schools, like mine, it is strictly write–on, although you do have to maintain a certain minimum GPA, and a higher GPA for senior board positions. The result is that Law Review membership is associated with high grades and high class rank. divgradcurl

99.9% of the time, Law Review is the best journal to work on. The only time you might pass on Law Review is if you’re doing lots of Moot Court (successfully), or you’re just too busy. The busy excuse doesn’t really impress employers though, since they are looking for people who have no problem being busy. Working on a journal doesn’t really get you enormously involved in that journals’ subject area. The 2Ls (and 3Ls who don’t make the editorial board) cite check. That’s about it. There’s no real input into the subject matter of the articles. You are Bluebooking. The editorial board has, in reality, very little authority on the subject matter of the journal beyond picking which articles to publish. Professors rarely like to give up control of their work, some of which has taken years to produce, to a bunch of 3Ls. Journal work is mechanical, not creative. The benefits of being on a journal—Law Review in particular—are not that you gain an in–depth knowledge of the topics the journal publishes. The benefits are that you demonstrate that you’re at the top of your class, you can write well (since you often have to write–on to Law Review), and that you can stick out a boring proofreading task (which is what journal work really is). Putting “Law Review” on your resume is shorthand for “top of class, good writer, hard worker.” It’s no accident that employers at my school would normally interview the Law Review members for jobs, and that Law Review members got the jobs. Being at the top of your class is not as good as being on Law Review. You should always try out for Law Review first. Then if you don’t get on Law Review, try the other journals. Oldguy

In my conversations with current lawyers and those who have done Law Review, the general consensus seems to be that it’s a huge time commitment that adds virtually nothing to the educational experience of law school, and is utterly irrelevant to the actual practice of law. That being said, it’s something that looks very good on a resume, and there are many firms who refuse to even look at candidates who were not on Law Review. Patriotism

My Law Review review experience has turned out to be pretty good, despite my hesitation in the beginning. I am working on my comment right now. At first the work is overwhelming, cite–checking is very tedious, but it gets easier. MarD

[Editor’s note: As a former law review editor, law practitioner, and educator, the views in Patriotism’s note warrant comment: It is a common perception that law review is make work, used (or abused) for all the reasons mentioned above, but either meaningless or actually harmful to a “real” legal education. This misses the point, for several reasons. First, the practice of law requires both careful thinking and diligent confirmation of precedent. This is an essence of cite checking. Thus, it is an essential advantage of Law Review. Second, judges and their clerks are often former law reviewers themselves, and in any case will immediately recognize and often reward…careful thinking and diligent confirmation of precedent. Third, the same is often true of senior partners. Fourth, while many students disparage the usefulness of Bluebook citation form itself, it is, when properly used, a powerful tool as it requires both…careful thinking and diligent confirmation of precedent. Fifth, law practice is often tedious. Many law students really aren’t ready for the reality of law practice; law review signifies otherwise. Sixth, for the nontraditional student, the fifth reason is usually not in doubt, but law review addresses the other element of Cooper’s two points: there is no question that a law reviewer understands well the basic principles of first–year law, and can write about it. Finally, yes, there is the element of snobbery. Of this there is no doubt. Yet it is a snobbery in the sense that a medical residency leads, rightly or wrongly, to a battle–hardened sense of accomplishment and, yes, arrogance. While we might wish the latter were not so, it does no good to discount the former, too. For all of the above reasons, Law Review is not worthless, and should be seen, for those lucky few who are offered admission, as a genuinely valuable learning experience. The Young Lawyer’s Jungle Book: A Survival Guide, published by the same press as this book, delves into further detail on this topic for those who might be interested.]

Below are listed some individual experiences of what a Law Review write–on competition is like. But regardless of the hassle involved, most agree that unless you have a compelling reason not to compete, you owe it to yourself to attempt the write–on competition for law school, and to give it your undivided effort.

The writing competition at my school was a hellish nightmare from which I thought I’d never emerge. It was three days long, from 9 am to 7 pm, and consisted of an 8–page edit chock full of some of the most imaginative Bluebooking errors anyone could think of. We had to correct citations of all different kinds of treaties, foreign newspapers, crazy web sites, and freaky magazine articles. They even threw in English madrigals from the fifteenth century. How the hell do you cite those? I don’t know from where or how they came up with this stuff, but man oh man it was brutal. There were so many errors in that edit that a lot of people didn’t finish it. It was really an awful experience to go through right after final exams. Hopefully, the writing competition at your school won’t be crafted by sadists like the one at my school was. We also had to write an essay based on stack of materials compiled by the journal editors and a personal statement, both of which were due a week after the end of the editing portion of the writing competition. Coconut66

I think for the write–on competition, the length of the note is 8–10 pages. The cases are given to the write–on contestants and no further research is permitted. There is about a two–week period after finals to write the paper. Grades come out in about the middle of the period. I started working on the write–on competition b/c I didn’t think I would grade–on, but as it turned out, I was able to grade–on. What’s funny is that most LR people who graded–on didn’t think they would, so most of us had started the paper. As I recall, the Bluebooking skills were not weighed very heavily in the competition. It was more based on your ability to write. MaggieC

The write–on competition for our law review was a note–writing competition. The competition assignment gave a case and asked you to form a specific type of argument (i.e., does this fit with established law, or is it a departure). There was a limited universe, and a list of available citation sources was distributed. There were many cases, a few law review articles, and a couple of approved background sources as the topic was one we did not cover in 1L. I don’t remember the specifics, but the page requirement was somewhere around 25. They gave a LOT of time, though. The packets were available around spring finals (mid–May), and the completed paper was due July 1. soonerborn

Our write–on competition had some of the standard bluebook exercises (that are simple—they just take a little time and care to do well, and are easy if you look at old law review articles and see how other people have done them), but the meat of it was a note. This is a 20–30 page article explaining some recent case that was selected by the law review staff. Again, it was simple to do—just make sure you footnote everything, and copy the style that a few other student writers used in recent issues of the law review. If you can turn out a piece that looks and feels like something that’s already been published, then you stand a good chance of being selected. When I was on law review, it was obvious that even average effort on the note would all but ensure you were selected for law review—so many of the notes handed in as part of the competition were badly–written, had no footnotes, had no substance, had spelling mistakes, formatting errors, or just completely missed the point. A few tried to make an “extreme” argument to try to look clever, but they were not selected since the point of a note is to explain the case, not to draw any odd or outrageous conclusions that nobody really cares about because they come from the mind of a 1L. Just make sure you spend enough time on it to do a good job. Do plenty of research, and cite to that research. Don’t hand in something that isn’t polished, well–structured, and almost perfect. It’s not so much about what you write, but how you write it. If it reads fluently, looks like it was researched properly (i.e., lots of diverse sources), and follows all the directions to the letter, you can’t go far wrong. Be assured that half your classmates will screw it up, so you’ve already narrowed the field by 50%. And be assured that if you stick to the rules and play it safe, you’ll have a great chance of being selected. Oldguy

DIDN’T MAKE LAW REVIEW? DON’T DESPAIR.

Law Review is the undisputed king of journals at every law school. But nobody likes to be left out, and each school generally has one or more other journals to work on if you’re interested. They will often cover a specific area of law—you might work on the Journal of International Law, or the Environmental Law Journal, for example. Don’t, however, be tempted to think that because you’ve got an interest in an area of law that your school has a minor journal in, that you should forgo Law Review (if Law Review is a reality for you) and work for the minor journal instead. Even though the minor journals cover specific areas of law, your job will be the same as any other journal worker—cite checking, boring busywork, and menial clerical tasks. You will not develop a specialist knowledge in the area of law the minor journal covers. Start at the top—Law Review—and if you don’t get that, then and only then consider a minor journal. (Of course, if you’re at HLS, every journal is generally a solid journal, but if you’re at, well, anywhere else, a second–tier journal has 1/100th the punch. If you’re offered a slot at a journal that is only sporadically published online with a five–year–old web site that looks like a middle school communications project, then don’t bother. It’s not a serious piece of résumé–building material, and, more importantly, it’s a distraction to more important work.)

This is not to say that every minor journal is not worthy of working on, or that every minor journal is not a good addition to your résumé. They are, and they certainly beat having nothing to put on your résumé. But there is a pecking order with journals, and Law Review is the best use of your time, period. If you don’t get invited to join the Law Review, then you should consider working for a different journal.

Bear in mind that some minor journals at some schools are truly awful—they scrape the bottom of the barrel for authors (if they get submissions worthy of publication at all), they have no faculty or professional oversight, and they are more of a burden than a benefit, to both the law school and the journal’s staff. (They survive only because academic law libraries have to have them.) You should strongly consider another extracurricular activity if you can’t get on a reputable journal. Two that spring immediately to mind are: (1) Moot Court, and (2) getting some practical experience via a clinic or an externship.

I know this will sound elitist, but there is a pecking order among publications. It’s just true. Usually, the review that carries the school’s name is the most prestigious and the only one that carries weight. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t participate in a non–Law Review journal; I think the experience itself is valuable. However, there is a marked difference between your peer group and the quality and quantity of the work you’re given. johnny99

Other journals range from decent to downright awful. My school has five journals. Law Review is great. The others range from average to so bad that they often don’t publish because they have no submissions. The fill their pages with badly written, badly edited student pieces. Online journals are useless. Avoid them. They don’t generally get good authors, good work, or good staff. You end up being the hardest worker on a team of people unsuited for journal work (and, in some cases, academic work in general), and it’s a mess. Lots of the lower journals, especially online journals, will take anybody with a pulse, so it’s not necessarily competitive or prestigious. My general philosophy is that if the journal is in print (i.e., book form) and publishes regularly (and is listed on Lexis and Westlaw), then it’s worth working on. But if the journal is a mere resume padder—and employers know when you’re padding your resume in this business—then forget it and concentrate on grades. Like all other activities in law school, don’t get sucked in to the bottom level—aim for the top. The best activities are the ones that are hard to get on—Law Review and Moot Court team. And if you can’t get to the top level, then think long and hard about how to organize your time, and whether working on the occasionally–published Online Journal of Internet and Education Law is actually worth bothering with, especially if you are pressed for time as it is. Oldguy

MOOT COURT

Moot Court is roughly the equivalent of Law Review for litigators. If you want to demonstrate to an employer that you’re not incompetent in public speaking and courtroom behavior, then Moot Court is the way to show that. It’s a difficult organization to become a member of, and open to only the best future litigators at your law school. Thus it’s a fair substitute for Law Review if you don’t make Law Review, and it can often be done in conjunction with Law Review, providing the “double whammy” of résumé builders. (If you’re on Law Review and Moot Court and you can’t find a job, then perhaps you forgot to remove the “1962 to 1998— Serving time for double murder following extortion and embezzlement scheme, which I freely admit I did” entry from your résumé.

Moot Court is more “fun” than Law Review. You will participate in competitions against other schools, you’ll prepare and write documents (some realistic, some not), you’ll get experience under pressure in a semi–courtroom setting. Employers like this. (But note: they don’t like it as much as Law Review.) Moot Court is a useful skill, and if nothing else, it will give you two years to get over being pant–wettingly nervous as soon as you step into a courtroom and talk to a judge.

Some will say that Moot Court is more prestigious than Law Review. (Nonsense.) Others claim that the true pecking order is the other way around. (Yup. Even for a litigation firm, and especially for the large litigation firm, they would rather see Law Review. This is so because not all Moot Court exercises teach the right courtroom skills, and, more importantly, the first years for a litigation associate are…memos and cite checking.) Either way, you should think long and hard before turning down an offer from either Moot Court or Law Review—both are résumé builders that truly help you get the good jobs.

I just know that when I looked at the bulletin board outside the career development area, there seemed to be more firms that were asking for students with Moot Court experience than Law Review. Mardee

Law Review’s always been an empty prestige thing, it seems to me. Moot Court participation seems much more likely to provide useful skills. Rat

NO MOOT COURT EITHER? TRY AN EXTERNSHIP OR A CLINIC.

Most law schools offer some form of legal clinic —a semester or two where you will spend lots of time actually working with real clients on real problems in front of real judges. They will often be low–income clients, you’ll be working for free, but unlike most law students, you’ll graduate actually knowing how to do something useful instead of merely knowing lots of theory but having no knowledge of how to apply that theory to get useful things done.

While working for a clinic (or taking an externship, which is essentially a clinic but supervised by an outside practitioner in the workplace rather than a professor in the law school) won’t appeal to large law firm employers—they are interested only in high–paying clients and don’t generally deal with low–income individual matters—it will be valuable experience for job seeking in the small firm market. Small firms can’t spend thousands of dollars training and supervising you; they want someone who can hit the ground running and be brought up to speed quickly. And getting some real–world experience in a clinic is a good way to do this.

Again, you can, time permitting, combine clinics with Law Review or Moot Court, and you’ll often get academic credit for clinics and externships. Clinics and externships can be substituted for classroom studies, and while they are harder work, you’ll be rewarded with at least a modest handful of credit hours (and, usually, no final exam). Moot Court and Law Review, on the other hand, will give you a nominal credit hour reward, if at all.

Externship programs are diverse and give you countless opportunities to work in fields that interest you. If you don’t want to work for the local tax office, you won’t have to. You can work for a judge, a legal aid organization, whatever the program allows you to do—or that you create. And your law school’s office or professor in charge of externships will often be open to suggestions regarding what kind of externship you want to pursue. If you can find a supervisor in the field, then as long as you follow the program regulations for turning the work into academic credit, you’ll be set. This can be a terrific way to get out into the field, get law school credit, build contacts and experience, and have fun in the process. (Don’t think, however, that it’s not hard work. It is.)

Job finding is often about networking for those students who aren’t the cream of the crop for OCIs. Externships and clinics are ways to get your name known by attorneys in the field you want to work in, and you will have your foot in the door with many firms and practitioners who know you personally and also know the quality of your work. It’s not guaranteed to get you a job, but if nothing else, you’ll become known to local attorneys and you’ll be able to ask for their advice when you are looking for work.

THE JOB SEARCH: GET READY

You’re in law school to get a job as a lawyer. You should be thinking about employment long before you even set foot in a law school classroom. Think about what kind of lawyer you want to be, where you want to work, and how the school can help get you to that position in three years’ time.

When deciding which school to attend —yes, way back at the application stage—pay close attention to the school’s career office and placement in local, regional, and national firms. Look at employment statistics. If the school doesn’t have that information on its web site, call and ask for it. A good career office will give you all the information you’ll need. A bad one will hide information from you. If you can’t get straight answers to the most basic questions (such as, “How many graduates were unemployed six months after graduation?” or “Can you send me a list of local firms that hired graduates from last year’s class?” or “What firms interviewed at your campus last fall?”), this is your red flag.

Career offices at schools will be the first to tell you that they are not there to “find” you a job, but that they are there to “guide” you. Sure. But if they’re not out there wooing firms to come on campus and if their first words are “It’s not our job to get you your job,” then this should be another red flag. Get a feel for the career offices—they are important. Some law schools have proactive career offices that are truly work for their students and graduates. Other law schools have career offices populated by “Us? Get you a job? You must be kidding!” people. Find out whether the staff of your school’s career office is active or whether it’s a dumping ground for incompetents before you attend.

Bear in mind, however, that it really isn’t their job to get you a job, but it’s their job to do everything possible to assist you in getting a job. If they don’t offer résumé services, mock interviews, networking sessions, a career library, salary information, databases of graduates and where they work, information on other cities, law career fairs, access to commercial employment services (print and online), relationships with career offices in other schools across the country, and even minor things like a stock of emergency résumé paper for those times where you just have to get one out within the next five minutes, then you have been warned.

Don’t blame the career office for your inability to get a job if, in three years, you are still unemployed. But don’t let them shift the blame either. It’s a collaborative effort: they provide the assistance and contacts, and it’s your job to follow up and get the job. The only time jobs are handed to you on a plate is during OCIs.

When you get closer to the decision point of choosing a school, talk to some recruiting coordinators/hiring partners at firms you would like to work for (or the equivalent size/location). I did this and found it to be helpful, and somewhat surprising with the responses I received. I also chose who to talk by noting that they didn’t interview at the schools I was considering so they wouldn’t have as much of a perceived conception of what the schools were like. tbmd96

The goal of this is a job that you want. That’s why we are going to law school. tbmd96

AM FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT THE JOB SEARCH

First, the 2L summer position is the key to the permanent position after you graduate—2L summer is the only time firms can spend a while evaluating potential new hires in the workplace, determining whether they are a good fit or not. These jobs will largely be obtained by those students who had great 1L grades, since interviewing takes place during the fall semester of 2L, and 1L grades are all you have to show. Thus, the extreme importance of first–year grades. If you mess up 1L, you start a chain that leads to disappointment; you can’t get a 2L summer position in a firm, and thus you won’t get a permanent position in that firm when you graduate. Simple.

But not as scary as it sounds. This applies mainly to large firms—they have the formal 2L summer programs that make up the lion’s share of the 2L on–campus interviewing season. Smaller firms tend to recruit later, often well into 3L. Still–smaller firms will often recruit only after you’ve graduated, and many will require that you have passed the Bar before they will consider you. Government positions also generally require positive Bar exam results in hand. So all is not lost if you fail to get a coveted 2L paid summer position with a large firm.

Getting a 2L summer associate position, in my opinion, is crucial. I clerked for a firm all the way on the West Coast for my 2L summer, but I am glad to have had that experience. PittJD

Second, be careful what you wish for. While it seems that nearly all of your fellow law students will do anything to get a 2L position in a large firm, the reality of actually working in one isn’t all that appealing (apart from the cash). Large law firms are professional sweatshops that aren’t so much in the practice of selling legal services, but the practice of selling junior associates’ time. You will be faced with a minimum “billable” requirement you must meet or risk being let go, and many of these billable hour requirements are close to 2,000 per year. (In the largest firms, the number is even higher.) “That’s not so bad,” I hear you say, “That’s only 40 hours a week for 50 weeks, with two clear weeks off each year.”

No so. In reality, you’ll not bill with 100% efficiency —if you do, then a client will be paying for your lunch, your call to your wife or husband during the afternoon, even the time you spend sitting on the toilet. You will probably bill two–thirds of your time each day, and that’s if you’re busy enough to do so. You’ll bill even less when you’re just starting out because you spend so much of your time getting up to speed.

Suddenly, you’re looking at 60–hour weeks, with two weeks vacation (maybe) to meet those requirements. Add in some time for CLE (“Continuing Legal Education”), illness and healthcare appointments, goofing off, getting stuck in traffic, meetings, other commitments, and suddenly you’re looking at 60–to–70 hour weeks to meet those goals, not including the time it takes you to get to and from the office each day. Want to exceed your billable requirements for the bonus? That’s even more work.

Some firms aren’t so harsh, but many are. Some weeks, you’ll work 40 hours, and some weeks you’ll work 80. It’s a brutal existence, particularly for nontrads with families. It’s one thing for the average 25–year–old law grad—and all the more power to ’em!—yet another for those who cannot be footloose and fancy free.

I have always been amazed at the hegemonic convention in law school that a big law job is the pinnacle of success. I can’t think of anything that I would want to do less than join the pyramid scheme that is biglaw. These firms bill their clients at greater than $250/hour and pay their new associates less than $100/hour. The new associates dream of the day they can be partners and participate in the spread. It’s Amway with Italian suits. It seems the proponents of it always emphasize the money and not how fulfilling it is. jtesla

[Editor’s note: Actually, by the hour the pay for even the top law graduates is usually just $40–$50 per hour, when you factor in a realistic 2,500–3,000 hour actual work year. The firm’s costs are high—oak–paneled offices and a library atrium on the 40th floor—but even so, it’s a rather sizable markup.]

Just consider: if you’re a nontraditional law student, such an intense lifestyle might be neither appropriate nor sustainable. If you can make it work and want to do it, go for it. If not, then remember that there’s no shame in not setting your sights on the largest law firm you can find. Large law firms don’t have a monopoly on exciting legal issues to work on, they don’t have a monopoly on experts in various fields, and they certainly don’t have a monopoly on earnings potential. Smaller firms offer a lower initial income, but, if you choose carefully, you could find yourself working decent hours for a true expert in the field (and perhaps someone whom the large firms call for advice once in a while), and you’ll have the opportunity to progress more quickly in your career. You’ll assume earlier responsibility for your own clients, and, in fewer years, you can be a partner at a smaller firm and take control of your own income depending on how much work you bring in and how much work you perform, all while maintaining sane working hours.

I personally don’t know anyone over the age of 35 who would be happy starting out in a large firm. I think that people just don’t know what those places are like until they actually get in the door and start working. It’s fine for the 25–year–olds who have no wife and kids and mortgage. But I couldn’t do it. Half of me is upset that I didn’t get interviews with the big firms, but then the realistic half of me kicks in and tells me that it’s a blessing in disguise—I’ve spent the best part of $100,000 on law school, changed career specially to practice law, and the last thing I want is for some asshole partner in a large law firm to knock my passion for law out the window within three years. Oldguy

Large firm jobs are notorious for long, excessive billable hours requirements and thus a very low quality of life. There’s a ton of large firm associates out there who absolutely hate their jobs because of that—no time for family, no time for recreation. Also, there’s the fact that if you go into a large firm, you’ll likely be working as a glorified paralegal for several years. You’ll be the errand boy/girl for partners. You’ll end up doing a lot of work that isn’t your job because you’re on salary, you don’t get overtime. So rather than pay the office staff overtime to stay over the weekend working on something, often they have the junior associates slog it out making copies, filing, or other nonsense that needs to be done. In short, I think “most” (I realize this is a broad generalization) nontrads are old enough and have spent some time in the working world not to be awed by the big money. They’re more likely to look at the whole package than just the number they slide across the table for you to look at. And of course, nontrads are more likely to have families they won’t sacrifice by working 80 hours every week. That being said, there are those happy with large firm life. Even some nontrads, I’m sure. UF LAW

ON–CAMPUS INTERVIEWS

This is where the large firms with summer programs come on campus to interview the students. Usually, there are a few medium–size and some local firms that interview as well, depending upon the location and prestige of the law school—and strength of the job market. That’s really all there is to it. You want a job in a large law firm? You get it through OCI. For all other jobs, you’re largely on your own.

Unfortunately, OCI isn’t for everyone. It’s only for those students with the better grades. If you’re wallowing at the lower end of the GPA spectrum at the end of 1L, then you’ll get few if any OCIs. If you’re at the top end of the GPA spectrum, then you’ll get lots of OCIs, and you stand the best chance of being offered a 2L summer position. For top–ranked schools, there are more OCIs to go around and most students get a chance to interview with plenty of firms. For low–ranked schools, there may be a handful of OCIs that are hogged by the Law Review staff. The numbers game doesn’t end once you’ve been accepted to law school unfortunately—it will come back to haunt you during OCI.

As a general rule, grades and the reputation of your school matter most when you’re a law student and progressively less as you advance in your career. Still, some firms have strict cutoffs. Neatgin H

Yes, the truth really is that OCI interviews tend to go to the students with the top GPAs. At a top tier 1 school, everyone has a name brand law school and gets jobs through OCI (or stands a good chance of getting one). But for schools from low tier 1 on down, OCI doesn’t work well. Only a handful of firms interview with any intent of hiring. At one tier 2 I am familiar with, they had about 20 OCIs from large firms. The firms ended up hiring about 10 students, all LR and top 10%. Remember that even if firms come on your campus, if they also go on campus at higher ranked schools, they would generally rather hire students from that other higher ranked school. Big firms are prestige hungry—no name–brand degree or Top 10% or Law Review and you’re unlikely to get one of those jobs. Sure, there are exceptions, but remember that they are exactly that—exceptions. If you go to a tier 2, 3, or 4 school, you can generally forget about a job in a large firm unless you’re one of the top students. Even then, you’ll only likely get a job in a “local” big firm (which is good if you’re in NYC or some other big city, but bad if you’re in a small regional city). Schwingy McWeiner

While there are some “white–shoe” firms out there that won’t even look at an applicant outside of the “top 14,” they are the exception and not the rule. uke

Check with career services to see if the firms have any hiring criteria. At my school, OCI really is for the top students, but at least we get a list showing the GPA and class rank requirements of each interviewing firm. Some interviewers can be kind of hostile to interviewees who slip through without meeting the criteria. theduck

From what I’ve heard, OCI jobs do tend to go to the top of the class when it comes to tier 2, 3, 4 schools. And this is coming from recruiters I’ve spoken to in addition to the career services people and other students. One interviewer I know from a big firm only interviews the top 10 people—that’s the top 2.5% where I go to school. That said, remember what you are: nontraditional. That does give you more on your resume than the average out–of–undergrad student and may pique the interest of a potential employer during OCI. It certainly gives you more to talk about. This is not to say it is the golden ticket, but I know at my school the employers only get to choose 80% of their interviews—the other 20% get assigned by the career services office (randomly), so if your school does this too, you have nothing to lose by signing up and hoping for the best. Once you get in there—there’s no telling what could happen. Right? khaos

One important note about OCI is the potential for age discrimination. Perhaps not specifically “age discrimination,” but discrimination against nontraditional students and the baggage that many nontrads have that conflict with the pressures large firms put on their new associates. 25–year–old unmarried law grads have few responsibilities outside the workplace. 35–year–old married law grads with kids have significant responsibilities outside the workplace, and they are responsibilities of the type that, when push comes to shove, take priority over those boxes of documents to review into the early hours of the morning. Whether or not these responsibilities are flexible and compatible with large law firms, the large law firms would often rather hire someone without the potential for other things competing for their employees’ time.

Again, this is a broad generalization, and some large firms are family friendly. But many aren’t. And even if they don’t state outright that it will be a problem to work for them if you have a spouse and young children that need picking up from school, the doctor’s office, and daycare once in a while (or more than once in a while), they will often be thinking it. (Remember, many of them have kids too, and they are well aware of the multiple pressures— and of the even greater demands on associates’ time. Many might honestly feel that they’re doing you a favor to pass on your earnest application to their mega–firm.) This might show if your grades are in the top 10% of the class and you’re on Moot Court, but you fail to get even one callback from any of the twenty firms you interviewed with via OCI.

There’s not much you can do about it. It’s mentioned here just so you’re aware that you might not be as successful during OCI as an equally–qualified younger law student. Prepare yourself. Experiences during OCI vary, and if you’re lucky enough to get interviews, then you’ll often have a shot at getting the job. Don’t blame every rejection on “age” though—there are many other ways anyone can fail to impress an interviewer, and chances are, if you don’t get a callback, you probably just didn’t interview as well as someone else did.

Biglaw? Forget it if you’re over 30 and you’ve got no useful skills (like a Ph.D. in physics that you can use for IP law). MidLaw? The chances are better that over 30, you can get a nice job. SmallLaw? You might find a firm willing to take you on, but forget paying those loans off anytime soon. Solo practice? You are essentially giving yourself a job, so there’s a real problem if you can’t find employment. Oldguy

Biglaw is interested in GPA, Law Review, and class rank. Other than that, if you don’t throw up in the interview, you’ll get offers. I’d say at least half of those who landed the big jobs at my school were well over thirty on average. johnny99

Discrimination because of age—we have to fight it and play to our strengths. Who would you rather have planning your will: a 50–year–old or a youngster named Tyler or Meghan who look as though they are barely out of the pimple cream stage? These young kids may be doing all of the behind–the–scenes work at large law firms, but the small firms prefer folks who are a little more, ahem, mature, with some life experience for client contact. Dad

As far as employment opportunities, I don’t feel that employers look at age, but at grades and personal qualities. DemoCat827

THE ECONOMY IS BAD. ARE THERE REALLY JOBS?

Yes. Jobs are out there. They might, however, be in areas you hadn’t considered before. There is always a shortage of lawyers who are willing to work for low salaries (which are still average salaries compared to everyone else). Public defenders, legal aid lawyers, state and local government lawyers, and small (and tiny) law firms all need staff. Most law grads find law–related work. Most law students, before attending law school, dream of the money they’ll make as a lawyer, but you should be prepared for the distinct possibility that you’ll not be working in one of those jobs. If you’d be happy as a public defender for a while once you graduate, then go to law school. If you’ll shoot yourself if you don’t get a six figure job in New York once you graduate, then think of something else to do before you waste your time on what you’ll consider to be a useless degree if that dream job doesn’t pan out.

There will be jobs. But, instead of working at Skadden, you might end up a public defender, or in the agriculture department, or working for an insurance company, or writing headnotes at West Group. Greg

Be persistent if you aren’t OCI material —there will be much work to do via other means to secure a job. Send out lots of résumés, send them to every place you’d even barely consider working. Don’t insist that you’ll never work for the insurance industry during 1L, then find that at the end of 3L that even the jobs in the insurance industry have already been taken by other students and you’re left holding nothing and regretting the day you deliberately avoided them. Nothing against the insurance industry, by the way—it was an example only. (Besides…do you know, first hand, what working in insurance is like?)

This isn’t to say that you should work for organizations you find morally offensive. (For example: big tobacco, the NRA, the ACLU, depending on your stance). Just don’t set those moral boundaries too tight, because the economy is sometimes even tighter.

It’s hard work to find a job, but don’t cut corners in the process. If you don’t know how to make a convincing form letter and perform mail merges in your standard word processor, learn before you go to law school. You’ll be printing out countless résumés, researching countless firms, and doing lots of scut work. Don’t let your standards slip—every résumé should be on proper paper, every cover letter should be mistake–free, sent to the correct person, and for the correct position. Don’t send a letter to a generic “Human Resources” or “Hiring Manager”—call and find their real name. Don’t send a letter to a firm that does only tax work, stating you want to practice family law. Don’t send anything that you haven’t proofread, even if it’s a form letter. Don’t e–mail or fax a résumé unless you are specifically instructed to do so.

For me, the best way to apply for most jobs would have been to print out the resumes, scrumple them up, and put them all in the trash myself. But if you have to send a resume to a firm, send it on high quality resume paper, one page, laser printed, with a cover letter directed to the person who is responsible for hiring law students. Faxing or e–mailing won’t work (unless the firm asks for resumes to be sent in that manner). Oldguy

– 5 –

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

DATING

Law school is occasionally used by young female students to find a husband rather than a legal career. After all, if you dream of marrying a lawyer, then what better place to find one than law school. (And there are probably many male law students who are in law school to find a smart wife who will earn lots of money too). Some younger and single law students treat law school like undergrad, and one of their goals is clearly hooking up with as many classmates as they can.

The whole dating scene in law school for nontrads is a little different. If you’re 35 years old and in law school, chances are you’re not interested in the average student who would be a decade or more younger than you. There will be slim pickings for older students in terms of potential partners their own age. Professors are out of bounds. Really. Besides, the workload will be intense, time for relationships sparse, and you might want to resign yourself to the fact that for the next three years, if you’re not already married, you’ll be single.

I was 34 when I started law school. Unless you like the 22–year–old “boys,” you’ll probably be out of luck. But don’t dismay, after a while you won’t care. You won’t have enough time or emotional energy for dating. Love at law school? Not at my school. But hey, good luck to you anyway! You never know what could happen. Karyn99

Hey all you older women. I like someone with experience. See ya there! I am TCNJ

Do not hook up with anyone in your section. It’s a bad idea. It’s assigned seating. You still have to sit by them on Monday. Remember that. ipse dixta

THINKING ABOUT QUITTING

You’ll think of quitting at some point, whether it’s during the first semester of 1L and you’re just not “getting it,” whether it’s after grades come out and you’re disappointed, or whether it’s during 2L and you can’t bear the thought of working in such a dull profession anymore. If you’re just sick of the work and the pressure is getting to you, take a step back, take the weekend off, and get back into it after a good rest. Don’t do anything rash such as officially withdrawing on the spur of the moment. Those decisions should be made only after you’ve taken time away from school to evaluate why you went there in the first place and whether or not it’s living up to your expectations. If you actually applied to law school and decided to attend, you were passionate enough about the law at the time. Remember why you decided to go to law school. Remember that it will end. Remember that curved grades will stop you failing unless you’re truly awful.

You can whine, you can bitch, you can moan. But you cannot give up. You’ve already made it too far to do anything but finish. Chief

I know it’ll be tough, and I may even hate it, but at the end, I think it’ll be worth it. I also think it sets a good example for my son to see me so doggedly pursuing something worthwhile. And I can’t help it, I’m a snob. I’d rather hear him tell his friends, “My mom is an attorney,” rather than “My mom is a paralegal who gets bossed around all day by morons.” bluecanary

I’m going to weigh in on the side of “finish the degree if you can.” When you look for a job later, I think it will hurt you to have two out of three years completed, but no degree. I think you can easily spin “After 3 years, I knew it just wasn’t for me,” but if you stop after two, people will assume you couldn’t hack it, regardless of your stellar class rank. MediaGirl

No, I don’t hate it and don’t regret my decision. It’s true that the workload can be daunting and exhausting, but it’s a means to an end. When you keep your goal firmly in mind, doing all the work becomes much more tolerable. I think if you don’t go into law school expecting to work hard you’ll be in for a rude awakening. DemoCat827

It may help to speak to a faculty member. In front of the class they seem remote and cold but often they are supportive in a private setting. jd2bn2005

Before you leave, ask yourself if it’s jitters or if you’ve had an epiphany. If you’re nervous, give yourself a few more days. If you’ve had a knot in your gut since you decided to apply for law school and all throughout the process, well, let it go. Get back what you can in terms of tuition and walk away. egfmba

I would give law school at least a semester. The first few days are just not a reliable indicator of how things might go later on. I was stressed out for the first week or two, but after that school became much more enjoyable. phoenix

Don’t let the stress get to you either. Law school is stressful — even more stressful than many legal jobs. Bear in mind that law school is of finite length, broken into chunks by decent–sized vacations, during which you’re not obligated to do anything. Keep the end in mind, be it Christmas or the start of summer. If you need to step back and take a day off to de–stress, then do it. At the time, it will feel like you’re missing so much by skipping a day of class, but you can catch up on what you missed by reading a commercial outline for a half–hour. Sure, that’s a Band–Aid, but it’s sufficient. And your mental health is more important.

If you’re really over–stressed, take a short time to evaluate what you’re doing that’s making law school so stressful. If you’re briefing every case and taking half an hour to do each one, then that’s probably a large cause of your stress. If you’re reading every word in your casebooks and trying to make sure you understand it perfectly, then that’s probably a large cause of your stress. Work smart, not hard. Working (too) hard leads to (unnecessary) stress. Working smart leads to lower stress and better stress, with no adverse effects on your grades. (If you’re already working smart, and are still stressed to the point of physical disability, try working less instead. That’s right. It’s better to finish law school with average to low grades than it is to quit because you’re too stressed out to even make it to exams. And who knows? You might just get the hang of it and let the stress go—but keep the law.)

Things will get better. The days are short now, it’s getting cold, finals are coming up, it’s your first semester of what is agreed is the worst year of law school. Greg

Considering where we are in the semester, I can’t help but think this is merely the stress talking. This is probably your only shot at the JD. If you think there’s a possibility you might regret dropping out, stick with it, and look forward to the holiday break—it really is just around the corner. Rat

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with quitting if you have come to a final, well–thought decision that law school is not for you. In that case, you should feel good about leaving now before you spend more money. And isn’t it better to have tried and found out something wasn’t right for you, than never to have had the chance? That being said, I am hearing a lot of people feeling depressed as you are. People from all over the country at many different law schools feel the same way. In fact, at my orientation, a professor gave us a speech telling us that along about October, a lot of us will be feeling depressed and angry. What you need to figure out is, is what you are feeling the normal 1L blues, or is it a realization that you do not want to be a lawyer? Wren

If you simply find classes boring or you just hate being a student, then don’t instantly drop out. The classes are, for the large part, boring, and sometimes it’s simply not any fun to be a student. Again, think of why you went to law school in the first place: to be a lawyer. Law school is three years that you must get through to get to that goal. Every lawyer did it, most thought it was awful, and they eventually made it through. After 1L, you can choose the classes you want to take and the professors you want teaching you, so you can temper the mind–numbing nature of the following two years to some degree. Rest assured that the actual practice of law is less boring than studying it in school, and at least you’re getting paid at that point.

It should be noted that 1L classes are not typically the most exciting courses of law school. You can find professors and classes that suit your learning style after you’ve finished with these mandatory courses. Neatgin H

Law school really isn’t anything like practicing in the real world. There are lawyers who hated law school but love their jobs, and vice versa. Therefore, it might help to shift your perspective and take the long view. Do you want to be a lawyer? If so, you can just consider law school the price you pay for the opportunity to have the career that you want. Neatgin H

Bad grades can be the source of many a student’s dreams (or, perhaps more correctly, nightmares) of quitting. Don’t be one of these students. How do you avoid being one? Easy. Don’t go to law school with a single goal that absolutely requires top grades. Then you won’t be disappointed. If your only reason for going to law school is to be a lawyer in a mega–large firm, then you will need top grades. You have a good chance—really, a fairly high probability—of not getting those top grades. Thus your dream is smashed to pieces if you don’t do as well as you had expected. If you go to law school content to work in whatever legal capacity you can once you graduate, then you’ll never give that much of a damn that you get bad grades. You’ll still be annoyed, of course, but it won’t destroy all hope of what you set out to do. A dose of realism before you set foot in the door of a law school solves many potential problems relating to thoughts of quitting.

Unless you completely tanked your first semester grades, and I mean really, really tanked, I wouldn’t walk away after the first semester. It’s a learning process and part of it is learning how to write a law school exam. As you probably discovered, it’s a completely different process from writing an undergrad essay exam. Unless, of course, you’ve discovered that you really hate law school and it’s not what you want to do. Then, maybe, it may be a good idea to decide to walk away. However, I don’t think I would base my decision to quit only on my first semester. grannylaw

I would wait for another semester before making such a decision. First semester is so weird and difficult that I don’t think it’s representative of law school as a whole. Plum

If law school is just not what you thought it would be, then bear in mind that it is merely a means to an end, the end being you practicing law. There’s no way around it: you either suck up the three years of misery and then enjoy a life of practicing law, or you quit. If it’s law school you hate, then keep plowing through—practicing law is far, far removed from law school. If it’s the law itself you find yourself hating, then you may want to consider getting out while you can, as the law, unfortunately, is the common thread between law school and practicing law. But again, if you enjoy one or more subjects but despise the rest, then there’s hope for you since you can always practice law in the field you enjoy. (Many practicing lawyers are surprised, however, at the fields that they find themselves liking. Most would never have guessed it when they were in law school. Talk with some!)

I have two kids, a full–time job, and go to school part–time days. More often than not, I feel overwhelmed, and worse, annoyed when professors think we all have nothing better to do than read extra stuff for “fun,” or that we can attend impromptu make–up classes with little advance notice, etc. But it’ll get better. Soon, we’ll be able to choose some electives (and our professors) and that, I’m hoping, will make things a little more interesting. Try sticking it out at least ‘til next semester. But if you feel you need to quit, you shouldn’t feel bad. Three or four years is an awful long time to do something that you aren’t enjoying. iamtired

TRANSFERRING

It is possible to start out at one law school, then transfer to another law school for the remaining two years of your degree, graduating from the transferee school, not the original school. (It is also possible to visit a different law school for your final year of studies, except you still graduate from the first school. This is only a really useful move if you want to visit a drastically cheaper school to save money, or there’s something at the school you visit that you simply must study.)

Transferring allows a lucky handful of students to correct a “mistake” that they made by attending the first school. The mistakes that are generally corrected are poor undergraduate GPA and LSAT that truly misrepresented the abilities of the student (causing the student to be rejected from various target schools that are more desirable to attend), or simply correcting the mistake of attending a school that turns out to be the “wrong” school for whatever reason.

The option to transfer is really only open to a handful of lucky students because you need to be at the top of your class to transfer after 1L. If you get below–average grades during 1L, then forget transferring to a different school. The only possible exception to this is if you have a compelling reason to transfer (e.g., your spouse is in the military and has been transferred to a different state), and even under these circumstances, you’ll not transfer into any school that you wouldn’t have been qualified for in the first place. That is, you’re not going to transfer into a higher–ranked school unless you’re right at the top of your class at the end of 1L. (This can be measured in numerical, rather than percentage, ranking. So, if you placed number 2 in a class of 212, for example, you have a shot of jumping from a Tier 3 to a Tier 2, or possibly a Tier 1 law school. One “step” up, probably. Two steps? Maybe. Anything more than that, however, or an actual performance short of the above, and forget it. Moreover, your LSAT and GPA do not disappear completely from view, even if your grades are stellar.)

This raises the immediate issue of attending a school with the intent to transfer out at the end of 1L. As explained earlier in this book, you cannot plan on being ranked at the top of your class after 1L, regardless of how smart you are. Everyone at your law school is as smart as you (or certainly within the same realm of smartness), and everyone wants to be at the top of the class after 1L. Competition is strong—stronger than any law student thinks, initially—and you have, for the sake of argument, a 10% chance of being in the top 10% of your class. That means, if our stats are right on this point, that there’s a 90% chance you won’t be. These are not good odds.

This is best illustrated by example. Say you scored a 170 in every practice LSAT you took, but on the real exam, you scored a 155. This was good enough to get you into a safety school (with an average LSAT of 150), but not your dream school (which required about a 165 to get in). What do you do?

The smart thing to do is to retake the LSAT, score the 170, and then you’ll have an average LSAT that is close to 165—good enough for a fair shot at your dream school. The dumb thing to do is to attend the safety. Why? Because although you think that if the average LSAT of the safety school class is 150 and that you’re far smarter than they are because of your near–perfect practice LSATs of 170, you’re mistaken. You still have only a 10% chance of being in the top 10% and transferring into the dream school after 1L. Take the year off, retake the LSAT, and get into the dream school to start with.

In addition, even placing in the top 10% of your class is no guarantee that you can transfer—it just opens up the possibility. You will still compete for an exceedingly limited number of transfer places (often single or low double digits) with many other students who also graduated in the top of their classes from many other law schools, and there’s a good chance that they will be accepted instead of you. All in all, if you have your heart set on a particular school, your best bet is to work to attend that school from the start, rather than attending a school you don’t really want to be at with the intention of transferring out. Your chances of a successful transfer are slim.

In order to transfer between law schools, you need finish at the top of your class after your 1L year. This is hard considering your grade is usually based on one test and you will be learning in a style completely foreign to you. Yes, it can be done. But it is a big risk and you should be aware of it. What happens if you get sick around finals, pull a C, can’t transfer, and are stuck are your lower ranked school, when you could have been at a better school from the beginning? Just something to think about. chupacabra

If you’re attending a school you’re happy at and you just happen to luck out and place in the top 10% of your class after 1L, then you’re in a good spot. You can either stay where you are, or you can try to transfer. Send out five or so transfer applications to a range of schools that were out of your reach based on your undergrad GPA and LSAT, and you may find yourself graduating from a school that didn’t think twice about rejecting you before 1L. The choice is yours. But to reemphasize the main point, attending a school you’re not initially happy at with the intention to transfer out at the end of 1L is a recipe for continued unhappiness, disappointment, and resentment.

The transfer process is a pain. Most transfer applications involve a fully filled–out regular application form, complete with essays, LSDAS report, statements, transcripts, and such. In addition, you’ll be required to write a statement setting forth your reasons for wanting to transfer, and you’ll need letters of recommendation from current law professors. The statement of reasons for transferring is simple—just don’t mention that you want to transfer solely because the target school is higher–ranked than your current school. Do some basic research about the school and find out that they have, for example, a great set of international law courses and an international business law externship, and cite that as your reason for wanting to transfer. Find a few professors at the new school who teach unique courses in the area you want to practice and use them as the excuse. (Be very careful about this, however, as the internal politics of an academic environment are worse than any commercial office.) If you used to live near the target school and your current school is five states away, say you want to transfer to be in your home state again. (The school will know that these reasons are 90% false, but at least you made an effort to disguise the fact that you’re transferring to get a shot at a great job from firms that don’t recruit at your school, or that you want their name on your diploma.)

The letters of recommendation are trickier. Find a couple of professors whom you know somewhat well and who are easy–going. If possible, find one who attended the school you want to transfer to and make an appointment to ask him or her about what it’s like there. Some professors take it as a personal insult to the school they work at and that you study at if you tell them that you want to transfer—in their mind, you’re essentially telling them that it’s not good enough for you. But most professors are cool about it—they know the realities of the law school game and the legal profession, and if you’re on fairly good terms with them, they will be happy to help you succeed. This is, incidentally, a good reason (and just one of many good reasons) to get to know professors during office hours.

It’s hard to transfer. In addition to the grades, you have to get recommendations from your current law profs. However, I have heard some successful transferees say that the law profs were understanding about writing a recommendation for them to go to another law school. I think if you are not happy at your law school, you owe it to yourself and to the law school to try to transfer. Maybe in the process of trying to transfer, the current law school will be able to find a way to meet your needs so you no longer want to transfer (just a thought). Then, some people transfer just because they want to attend a higher–ranked law school and this is their chance. There is nothing wrong with that in my opinion. MaggieC

Transferring can be a great move, if you have the grades. From a tier 2, tier 3, or tier 4, you probably need to be top 10%. The number of transfers taken varies. Some schools fill only vacancies (if any), while others reserve spots for transfers. The process is similar: application, fee, LSDAS, law school transcript, dean’s certification, 1–2 recommendation letters from law school profs, and a personal statement (sometimes called a statement of reasons for transferring). On this last element, some schools say they expect their transfers to have an “urgent need” to transfer—such as a significant other living in the area. There are tradeoffs. If you have the grades to transfer, you’re giving up an enviable class rank (your old GPA isn’t used to calculate your class rank at your new school). Any friends you made are lost, and you lose out on the bonding your new classmates had as 1Ls together. Transfers often aren’t eligible for scholarships during 2L. On the other hand, most schools give transfers a shot at writing on to journals, including Law Review. They are also eligible for academic honors. Rat

Most schools look primarily at your first year grades. Law professor recommendations and your personal essay for why you want to transfer are other factors. piper

First, you have to be near the top of your class. That is, top 10% is considered minimum, although it depends on your school. Remember that you have a 9/10 chance of not reaching this goal, because every other student admitted to your law school has about the same chance of getting good grades as you do, no matter how much work you put in. Second, you have to get great recommendations from your current professors. This can be a challenge in itself, because many take it as a personal insult for the school they teach at to not be good enough for you. You’ll need a compelling reason to get good recommendations, because approaching a professor and telling them that you want to transfer merely to attend a higher–ranked school will probably result in a lukewarm recommendation at best. Third, you have to actually apply to transfer. This is a pain in the ass, because all law school applications are a pain in the ass. You will have to write a new personal statement, and many schools specifically want to know why you want to transfer. Again, uncompelling reasons need not apply. Unless you can show them that the school you’re at now doesn’t suit you, but their school does, then forget it. Forget the stories about the top 10% writing a transfer ticket to any school in the country. It isn’t true. Just about every student who ends up in the top 10% at the end of 1L will consider transferring, even if they don’t mention it to anyone. I bet that half the students in the top 10% of every school probably take steps towards transferring, and probably a quarter actually fire off applications to their dream schools. Most schools accept only a handful of transfers, if that. Many schools are overfilled right now, and losing a few 1Ls doesn’t necessarily make space for 2L transfers. And unless you can show a damn good reason why they should take you, then forget it. Transferring, as one can clearly see, is not something you should plan on doing, but it is something that you should consider if the dice fall correctly. It’s kind of like winning the lottery—most sane people don’t plan on winning it, but when they win, they take the cash and run. Transferring can be a real good career move in many cases, but for 99% of us, if we’re not happy where we currently go to school, it’s better to drop out and reapply to those dream schools next year rather than plan on transferring. Oldguy 2003

There is one great advantage for transferring —you get to benefit from the kinds of opportunities that graduates of the new school enjoy. There are many disadvantages. You’ll lose whatever scholarships you held at your current school (if you actually transfer, of course—they would be unlikely to punish you by taking your scholarship away if you applied to transfer but didn’t actually leave.) You’ll lose your friends, and you’ll be the “new kid” at the new school. Your grades may not transfer, which means that for OCI purposes, you might not get invited to many interviews as the employers can’t select you based on your grades. You might miss out on Law Review, Moot Court, and other such opportunities for which membership competitions are held in the final semester of 1L or during the summer. (Many do have competitions in the early fall, however. Check.)

If you’re in a position to transfer out of your current school, you’re one of the best students. If you stayed, you’d get the cream of the OCI interviews, you’ll probably be on Law Review, and you’ll be a big fish in a small pond. Transfer and you are no longer at the top of the pile. You may find that your employment opportunities are better if you stay than if you leave to a higher–ranked school. Again, it all depends upon what you truly want.

Unless you’re transferring to a so–called top law school, then you’re better off staying where you are. Transferring to a high tier 2 or low tier 1 school will not give your employment prospects a boost (unless you’re moving from a school with no local jobs to a school with lots of local jobs). There’s really not a huge difference between, say, the school at the top end of tier 3 and the school at the low end of tier 1. If you transfer, your employment prospects won’t rise. If anything, they will fall. You will lose your scholarship, your class rank, and your Law Review chances. You will gain nothing, especially if working for a large firm doesn’t appeal to you. Besides, you need more than a good GPA to transfer, so it might not even be an option. Don’t second guess your decision. You thought long and hard about where to attend, and you passed up some of the schools you want to transfer to now. Stick with it where you are. If you end up ranked in the top 5% when you finish your first year, then try to transfer to a top top school if you really feel the need, but otherwise, stay put. Oldguy

THAT’S LAW SCHOOL IN A NUTSHELL.

At this point, you know how to get into law school and what law school is like for a nontraditional student. Go and read the other law school prep books for other perspectives—they all generally say the same core things though. (One exception: Planet Law School II is a bit radical. You might like radical or you might hate radical. But don’t say we didn’t warn you!) The only thing to do now is put this book down, find a good LSAT prep book, and scour the Internet for the web pages of law schools that might interest you.

The best thing about law school? Someday it ends. It’s been interesting I guess. I’ve gotten to do a lot of things, from visiting clients on death row to hanging out in trials to doing meaningful work. I’ve gotten to help people and educate some, I think, about what I think the law is. The worst thing? The anxiety. The competition. The nagging self doubt. Realizing how much crap and bad law you just have to live with. Realizing that the law, our best achievement, isn’t half of what it could be, a tenth of what it should be. johnny99

Had my last class yesterday. Two exams and that’s it. How weird. Good luck to everyone. It does end. johnny99

HAVEN’T WE FORGOTTEN SOMETHING?

Oh, of course. There’s one last thing, although it’s not exactly law school. The Bar exam. Our advice? Sign up for BarBri, spend all summer in the review course and studying outside the review classes, and you should do fine. Your law school performance gives you some idea of how well you’ll do on the Bar exam; if you were at the bottom of your class, really spend every minute you can studying for the Bar exam. It’s the one exam you can’t afford to fail. It’s the one thing between you, as a recent law graduate, and being a bona fide lawyer. Likewise, if you’re at the top of your class in law school, don’t slack off when Bar time rolls around. It can bite even the best students in the butt once in a while (and it has bitten even some Law Review butts!). It’s simply too important to rest on your laurels and risk failing. You may have a string of A’s from a top law school, but unless you’ve passed the Bar exam, the guy or girl from the bottom of the lowest–ranked school who passed the Bar is more of a lawyer than you are, and of more use to employers than you are. Take a week or two off after graduation, then study until the Bar is over with. Then you can relax.

If you think law school sucks wait till you get to study for the Bar. There is nothing better than being in debt up to your ears because you invested in your education and then taking a practice exam based solely on what you have dedicated the last three years of your life to and just bombing. Except when the BarBri rep tells you that most people get less than half right. Why the hell did we have to endure law school if it doesn’t actually teach you how to pass the bar? Frustrated! savannah

Just looking at the 3–foot–high stack of Bar review materials in my office is enough to give me the willies. divgradcurl

You don’t need to start studying for the Bar while you’re in law school, unless you’re at the lower end of the class. See what’s on offer as supplemental Bar prep at your school for 3Ls, and grab those opportunities. If you picked your courses wisely in law school, you’ve probably covered a good portion of the subjects tested on the Bar exam.

Studying for and taking the bar is a lot more of a “cram” exercise, and is really less suited for sustained study than is law school. divgradvurl

Just found out I passed the Bar exam. Add me to the steadily growing list of Nontradlaw regulars who have made it through. Oldguy

Good luck.

Epilogue

It has been four years since the first edition of Later-in-Life Lawyers hit the shelves, and a good six or seven years since the manuscript was researched and written. It should come as no surprise that the nation is in the grip of an almost-unprecedented economic downturn. This has dramatically affected the legal profession, and so the time has come to make much-needed modifications to LILL to reflect the current economic climate.

The easy news is that the fundamentals of law school have not changed. Legal education remains itself despite the recession, and the overwhelming majority of information and advice contained in the book and on the discussion boards at www.nontradlaw.net remains as valid as it did seven years ago; indeed, the countless threads posted on the discussion boards over the years reveal clearly that despite all the negativity about the economy, law students are still experiencing the same trials and tribulations as did law students in good economic times. All is not lost.

It is thus important the reader understands that the additional information presented in this edition of this book is in the form of a supplement rather than a revision. That is, this supplement adds information tailored to these extraordinarily unusual economic times rather than alters the advice presented in the original edition, which has stood the test of time and been demonstrated as solid by thousands of law students. The poor economy highlights the importance of this advice and presents additional challenges for prospective law students; it has not changed the nature of law school itself. The economy has not, for example, changed the law school application process, nor the manner in which law school exams should be approached, nor the value of law review and moot court.

It is the author’s hope that once the economy improves—and it will, although undoubtedly with new opportunities in a different legal marketplace than that which preceded the recession—this supplement can be removed and we can forget that it was ever necessary. For the foreseeable future, however, the effects of the downturn will continue to affect law students and graduates, often severely. And so this supplement seeks to provide a fuller picture of what law school applicants are likely to come up against during the four or five years it takes to apply to, be accepted in, and graduate from law school, followed by the bar exam and finding a job—the job—and beginning your career in the law.

Later-in-Life Lawyers prides itself on being one of the foremost sources for telling the average nontraditional law student (and a large percentage of law students are nontraditional, whether they like it or not) exactly what law school and the legal profession is like. While many other law school guides (other than LILL’s sister books from the same publisher) are more interested in selling books by giving law applicants an unrealistically rosy picture of law school, LILL has chosen to address the economic downturn and how prospective students should now approach law school with increased caution. This information, incidentally, is not specific to nontraditional law students; all law students will benefit from taking heed of this up-to-date advice.

The two issues this supplement will address are (1) financing law school in an economic downturn, and (2) the state of the job market in and following the economic downturn. To put it simply: debt and jobs. Both are vitally important concerns now that the expense of law school cannot be taken lightly, particularly considering the challenges grads face once they emerge from law school and enter a tumultuous legal marketplace.

For the sake of author integrity, it is also worth mentioning that I am no longer a practicing attorney. The economy has been especially rough for lawyers, myself included, and I now work in a profession allied to law as a result of downsizing at my prior firm. I do maintain a close interest in all matters related to legal education, the legal profession, and in particular, careers that are open to law grads who do not wish to practice law in a traditional setting. I remain a member of my state bar and have not left the legal world, but rather have taken an unexpected detour from the traditional route of a practicing lawyer. (Does that make me twice as nontraditional as before?) To be perfectly honest, now that I have seen first-hand the very worst the economy has thrown at the legal profession, I am more convinced than ever that this supplement really does add information and perspective simply not offered by any other law school guide.

*          *          *

After months of thought, months of drafts, and months of redrafting, it’s obvious that the two main issues to be dealt with in this supplement—debt and jobs—are inseparable. This created a practical problem: writing is a linear process, and it must start somewhere. With these two issues so intertwined, however, there is no natural starting point; debt is important because of the very few traditional law jobs at present that can service the debt in a reliable, predictable, and sufficient manner, and the increasing reliance on massive debt to fund law school makes getting (and keeping) such a job more important than ever. A chicken-and-egg scenario, if you will. So forgive the arbitrary decision to start with a discussion of debt, before moving onto the job market. Please don’t take this as a signal that avoiding debt is more important than finding employment.

DEBT

For most students, a law degree represents a massive investment of time and money. The amount of time needed to successfully navigate law school has not changed, of course, and law school will, as it always has, require an intensity of commitment few other degrees require. What is worse is that, in the years following original publication of this book, the quantity of money needed to pay for law school has risen dramatically. The law school I attended, for example, raised its tuition by nearly 60% between 2001 and 2010. (Inflation over the same period was approximately 22%). Worse still, there are few barriers limiting future tuition increases. Tuition currently ranges from the high teens for in-state tuition at many public institutions (a relative bargain), all the way up to some $50,000 per year (at the time of writing) for the most prestigious, name-brand schools in the nation—and, amazingly, for some non-top schools too. Be careful not to fall into the trap of equating an expensive education with a good education, nor a private college with a good education: there are low-ranked schools that are extortionately expensive, some high-ranked bargains that should not be overlooked, some flagship state schools that are still exceptional deals for in-state students, and some private institutions that fail to deliver.

Tuition costs do not include the costs of living, nor books and other essentials, which can add another $10,000–$20,000 to the overall cost of each year of law school. Three years of law school, for those not receiving substantial scholarships, will cost between about $70,000 and $200,000. And as Thane Messinger points out in Law School: Getting In, Getting Good, Getting the Gold, the money you don’t earn while attending law school adds a substantial, hidden amount to even these staggering sums. Figures like these simply cannot be ignored, especially when the traditional route to paying for law school—a giant load of debt—will follow you throughout your career. (As you will learn, these debts cannot be extinguished even in bankruptcy. Death is about the only avenue to avoid repayment, and, for most of us, not a good first choice.) Moreover, and to reconnect our two strands, counting on working at a large law firm (or even stable employment at a medium-sized or smaller law firm) has become chancy.

The reasons tuition has risen so quickly for law school are murky, debatable, and beyond the scope of this supplement. The author, for what it’s worth, feels that the bottom line is simply that schools have realized demand is such that students will attend no matter what law school costs, and schools have consciously chosen to raise tuition to take advantage of the price-inelasticity of demand; law school tuition levels have nothing to do with how much it actually costs to educate a new lawyer, and everything to do with how much students are willing to pay.

Soapbox aside, the practical consideration (which is the purpose for this book—useable advice rather than mere opinion) is how law students actually pay the costs associated with a legal education, and most nontraditional law students are well beyond the stage in their lives where their parents are expected or expecting to pay for graduate education for their grown-up child. That is, most nontraditional law students foot the law school bill themselves.

For most, the costs of attending law school are well beyond the scope of savings. A few readers may be approaching law school as a second career following financial success in a prior career, although such fortuitous circumstances should not lessen the significance of truly analyzing the financial aspects of this particular course of study. The costs, for most students who are not independently wealthy, are met by borrowing enormous sums of money from the federal government, and then borrowing even more from private student loan companies. The days of being able to pay for law school through grants, subsidized loans, and perhaps the occasional part-time job are long gone.

Debt is now a centrally important issue to consider when choosing a law school. Long after the bar exam, long after your first (second and third) jobs, and perhaps decades into your legal career, many lawyers face continued debt payments for their mountain of law school student loans.

Law students must—must!—have a plan in place before attending law school: how will you pay off your law school debt? Many students will borrow a solid six figures from various sources, and this debt cannot be brushed off as something that you’ll worry about when you graduate. The days of being able to casually brush tuition costs aside because of their relative insignificance are long gone.

Given the obstacles older law students face, I just have a feeling it wouldn’t be worth the risk. I could end up in debt for the rest of my life. lithium

It is not just the amount of debt that is important, but also the type of debt that is being incurred. In days gone by, prior to the current economic downturn, debt for education—even significant debt—was considered acceptable, even encouraged. Student loans were considered “good” debt, as the odds were heavily in favor of a degree paying off in the long run; good jobs were available to most students, law jobs that paid a salary that could comfortably support the student loans. Now that the amounts of debt many law students incur is reaching stratospherically high levels, and in light of the fact that jobs are relatively scarce now, and that student loan debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, the financing aspects of attending law school should take a prominent place in a prospective student’s mind.

In fact, prospective students are wise to consider—before applying—whether they can afford law school at all. Other major purchases are made in this fashion: one typically decides whether one can actually afford the purchase before signing on the dotted line. A sensible purchaser does not walk into a car dealership, for example, choose the most fancy vehicle they like, and then decide how to finance it regardless of how much it costs. Purchasers typically have some idea of what they can afford, and avoid walking onto the Mercedes dealer’s lot when their budget is clearly in the Ford-Chevy-Dodge range. The same goes for a house: the first stop is more often than not the mortgage broker rather than the real estate agent. Indeed, most real estate agents prefer not to waste time on buyers who are not already prequalified for a loan they can afford. Yet with law school, many students try to figure out how to pay only after they have decided which school to attend, and choosing a law school often has little to do with cost and everything to do with less-important factors such as ranking, location, facilities, clinics, and so on.  Cost should be a primary concern, and until the applicant has determined how to pay for law school, there is little point in worrying about anything else.

Also, applicants should not confuse the ability to borrow sums of money sufficient to cover tuition and living expenses as a sign that the lender is confident the degree is a good investment.  Lenders are repaid whether or not a student can repay a federally or state-insured student loan. Financing a degree is thus not akin to financing a house or vehicle in which the lender considers the value of the purchase as part of the loan underwriting process.

Perhaps the following will help illustrate why student debt should be considered very carefully. When buying a house for, say, a quarter of a million dollars (which these days can be the cost of law school and passing the bar exam, soup to nuts), the average buyer might lose sleep over the amount of debt being incurred. After all, a house is a huge investment—and an emotional one. Even so, if the worst happens and the buyer can no longer afford the house, the house can be sold and the debt can be paid off: the house is a tangible asset with value, even if it’s less than the buyer paid or, worse still, less than the value of the mortgage. If circumstances turn really bad, the matter is dealt with through foreclosure or a short sale, and when the dust settles, the borrower no longer has the house, but also no longer has the debt (usually). The borrower can start afresh, sort of, while the lender is annoyed but recoups at least some money in the initial interest payments, closing costs, and sale of the collateral/house itself.

When spending a quarter of a million dollars on a legal education, however, it is worth remembering two rather significant differences: First, the law degree cannot be sold or returned, or otherwise cashed in to cancel the debt. That is, it has no value to anyone but the degree-holder; it’s not like a house that has a value regardless of who owns it. Second, educational debt cannot be discharged through bankruptcy. Once tuition has been paid for with student debt, there is no going back. Nothing short of death will relieve you of paying for that degree. Even if you cannot afford the payments—if you have no job, no assets, no resources whatever—you will nonetheless be expected and legally obligated to pay back your student loans, and you will be subject to all manner of judgments, garnishments, and penalties until you have either paid off the debt or died. Make no mistake—lenders (and their guarantors) know how to protect their interests. They expect their money back.

Putting this into practical terms, even if the law grad cannot find a decent job that will cover the loan payments, the law grad will still have to pay back the student loans, one way or another. Yes, there are forbearance and deferment programs. These are, however, temporary and can increase the overall debt through capitalized interest. The result is that very little (other than a solid income) will relieve the borrower in the long run.

Debt payments for law grads today can easily be four-figure payments each month. This is more than a mere financial burden: the days of walking out of the bar exam and into a six-figure job are long gone. In fact, when the law job obtained by many law grads pays about as much as they earned in their prior careers, going to law school to better oneself financially isn’t a particularly good reason anymore.

If I am 43-44 graduating with 90k debt…that’s at least a small mortgage payment each month…now I must tack on car, apartment, etc.…I do not want to have to take any job I can…just to meet the financial obligations. FrankieGalvin

It used to be that law students spoke of “golden handcuffs”: jobs that paid so well that the hapless employee-drone would remain in the tedious, unsatisfying, and mindless position simply because that huge paycheck was too huge to turn down. Those handcuffs are now replaced with “regular handcuffs”: the even more uncomfortable, unpleasant, unrewarding situation in which someone has to take a meaningless, undesirable, mediocre job simply to make student debt payments. For many, a hefty paycheck is no longer keeping them chained to a desk; debt is…and there is no option to walk away.

To take a short detour to economics for a moment, there was a time, not that long ago, when a law degree was a nearly risk-free investment. After putting in the requisite time in the classroom and studying for the bar exam, a newly-minted lawyer would, at worst, find a stable, reliable, and semi-lucrative career waiting. The bar looked after its own. Further and not unimportantly, law degrees were not so expensive. In the good old days, the expected return on investment was sufficiently attractive for nearly anyone with the credentials to be accepted into law school and, upon survival, to do sufficiently well to make it all pay.

Three key things have happened since the good old days. First, the costs of attending law school—tuition, living expenses, books, legitimate fees, silly fees—have risen, sometimes dramatically. This means that many more law students are forced to borrow their way through law school, leading to lower net incomes following law school as the costs of repaying the student loans eats into each paycheck. Second, the number of law schools (and thus law graduates) has risen, with obvious supply-and-demand consequences: there is certainly no shortage of new graduates in today’s marketplace. Salaries are stagnant, if not dropping, as law jobs are harder to come by. When there are lots of lawyers, high rates are harder to justify (or collect). These two factors combine to require that the prospective law student consider short- and long-term career plans, finances, and alternatives with ever-greater seriousness.

These issues of costly education and limited jobs are not unique to the legal profession, of course, although the legal profession seems to be leading the way. I am not arguing that a dedicated prospective lawyer be deterred from attending law school because it costs more than it did years ago, or because there are fewer jobs today than before. There are many noble reasons for attending law school, but “to make a lot of money” is no longer a viable justification, if it ever was. Those truly passionate about certain causes and subjects should, of course, continue to pursue careers in law if law is the right way of making a difference, but those whose primary motivations for a legal career include making lots of money—and I’ll be honest here…my own hand is, or was, up—should consider other means to get rich quick.

There is a third factor that throws an unhealthy measure of uncertainty into the mix: the crippling recession in the U.S. economy has thrown the legal world into turmoil. Even in light of the aforementioned factors—higher costs and fewer job prospects, both of which would have happened with or without the recession—law students had some measure of predictability in their choice of career. A job—perhaps not a dream job, but a job—would await most law students. Since the recession, however, hiring has frozen in many firms and other offices heavy with lawyers. Many firms have laid off lawyers (associates and even partners)—or closed their doors permanently. Furthermore, many recent college grads have tried to “wait out” the recession by enrolling in, yes, law school. Not surprisingly, competition at all levels—admission, first-year, clerkship, job—is intense.

I need to come to terms with the notion that this is an investment that’s gonna’ pay off. I need to think positive. Not Pollyannish, but sensibly positive. OldFlorida

Even when the economy picks up (which will almost certainly be at a restrained pace), legal hiring will more than likely lag behind the general recovery. Think about how we used to use credit cards, and how much debt we carried: it was, in retrospect, far too many for far too much. Burned by the recession as sources of income were lost or cut, we are now cautious, and some have vowed never to charge anything ever again—or at least to be more careful.

This translates to the legal industry: firms were also burned. Too many associates billing clients too many hours for work that a trained monkey could have performed, thinking that the fat and happy days would never end. But those days did end, and suddenly firms had to cut back. They did so, often aggressively, by firing unsupportable associates and by becoming more realistic in their business models. Law firms are now as reluctant to hire new associates as people are reluctant to put that European vacation on credit. The future is uncertain for everyone, and everyone is treading carefully. But the future does hold a place for lawyers, and new lawyers will be needed. Some in traditional firms, and many in positions and careers yet to emerge. It is the students of today who will be at least partly responsible for determining where those new positions and careers will be.

Back to the original point. A law degree is no longer a return-on-investment no-brainer. The bottom line when considering the finances of law school are simple: think about this early, and think about law school as you would any other major investment. Brush aside for a moment those dreams snagging that high-powered “biglaw” job, or of setting up a low-income law clinic. Think about the whether you can afford it in the first place.

Emotions, as any competent advertising executive will tell you, are extremely important when selling a product. (And don’t for a moment think that law schools are not becoming experts in selling students a “product”—their law school.) Think about law school as if you were investing six figures in the stock market, mutual funds, pork bellies, a business opportunity, or whatever boring, sensible investment springs to mind. Think spreadsheets, interest rates, calculators, percentages, anticipated returns, etc. Once law school works for you on paper, then (and only then) allow your emotions, dreams, and desires back into the equation.

Do the math—and figure out what your salary needs to be in order to make things work—and then determine if you think you can get that type of job. While there is no guarantee that it will pan out, being prepared and fully understanding what you’re getting into going in is 90% of the battle. brodle1

Borrowing for law school is different from borrowing for a vacation. Law school is an investment. Just as buying stocks on margin is more risky than buying stocks with cash, paying for law school with loans introduces an element of risk that should be considered. Take a good hard look at starting salaries. Much has been written about the bimodal distribution of salaries. In plain-speak, this means that a small number of law school grads make the big bucks. The cold hard truth is that the big bucks go to those at the top of their class in first-tier schools. Set aside our own sense of self-worth and assume that you won’t be one of the superstars in law school, that you won’t get into a top-tier school, or both. Look at what the salaries are for the bulk of new graduates and see if you can support your loans and family in the style to which they are accustomed. Jon

You have to really examine the opportunity cost of making this choice if you are going to assume over $100K in debt given the reality of the law business today. Make no mistake, law is a business and law school is an investment in that business. Flaw

Perhaps even more importantly, think particularly carefully about whether a career in law is what you actually want. At this point, it goes without saying that a career in law is nothing like portrayals of lawyers on television. Under the current economic conditions, lawyer incomes are dropping, decent jobs are hard to come by, the marketplace is flooded with an excess of lawyers (and unemployed law grads and just-downsized associates), and the professional reputation of lawyers is at an all-time low and sinking by the minute as the general population suffers first-hand through unpleasant interactions with aggressive lawyers involved in debt collection, bankruptcy, foreclosures, health insurance disputes, employment issues, and all manner of other unhappy problems in which lawyers and individuals interact in a depressed economy. The prestige of the profession has never been lower.

Don’t go into debt unless you’re absolutely sure you can put up with a lot of mundane, socially isolating, stressful work. If you like business, get an MBA. If you want to help people, get a Masters in Social Work or work in a non-profit. Less debt, higher probability of happiness. Oh, and if you want to be like the actors in TV legal dramas then, well, pursue a degree in theater! Lawbot

If part of the reason why you’re considering law school is because you like Law & Order (like over 50% of my legal writing class said during our first week of law school) then you’re set up for disappointment. The point is—think about what you’re getting into before you take out a pile of loans. brodle1

Well, I think most people hate the practice of law because they have no concept what the practice of law is when they enter law school. They’ve seen some TV or read some books, and they get the impression that it’s that exciting, when in actual fact, most legal jobs just aren’t what you’d call exciting. Maybe slightly more are interesting. Forthguy

Make sure you investigate your decision thoroughly, because it is a huge commitment. Much more than you can really imagine at this point. You may think you have an idea about what it will take . . . you are wrong. Until you get into it you will not know. Flaw

The average American, over the past couple of years, has taken a step back and reconsidered what is important in life. Financial stability, family, community, and security are paramount, while “prestige,” high incomes, fancy cars, huge houses, risk and reward (i.e., the unspoken reasons many lawyers become lawyers) no longer seem as important as they once were.

Do you actually want to be a lawyer? Really, truly?

Think. The cost of becoming a lawyer is reaching stratospheric levels. For some people, law is absolutely the right career choice. For some, it is absolutely the wrong career choice. Take the time to be sure that you are not part of the group who should not attend law school, despite wanting to. A law degree is an expensive mistake to make, if you realize later that it was a mistake.

Don’t limit your thoughts to whether you can get into a good law school, or whether you can handle the pressures of law school. Think about whether you are prepared to do this for the remainder of your working life, and whether you can handle the day-in, day-out tedium and stress of most legal positions, because the days of being able to go to law school, work for a few years in a well-paid job, pay off your student loans and then decide to change career and do what you really wanted to do are no more. Attending law school today, with the extraordinary debt incurred, is a long-term commitment that could span decades. Be sure you want it to.

I’m not sure the debt is worth it. I like my job, but I’m making less than in my pre-law career, and I’m saddled with large debt. The job market for new graduates is pretty bad all over the country right now. I would say think long and hard about how much you want to be a lawyer. Do you still want to be a lawyer if you end up working for low wages and long hours? Think about the worst-case scenario, not the best—if you picture biglaw salaries and glamorous TV-type courtroom experience, of course it’s going to sound appealing. Instead, picture yourself in a small firm with low wages, or maybe trying to scrape out a living on your own, or maybe working at legal aid for very little money, helping clients who are not always grateful and not always that sympathetic. Do you still want to do it? If the answer is yes, then it’s worth it. iamtired3

I have several friends who have gone through law school recently and are unemployed or underemployed. They are, ahem, not encouraging. One tweeted me, “Run AWAY from law school! Faster! Srsly. RUN. #somuchdebt #nojobs”. On another level, even in a great economy, I would have to deeply consider whether this commitment is the right thing for me. XanderHarris

So what can be done to offset debt for those who decide—after all this—that law school is the correct choice? Scholarships are a great place to start, bearing in mind the information in LILL regarding scholarships and the inevitable terms and conditions that are attached to “free” money. In many cases, scholarship dollars means attending a school lower in the rankings than the student is capable of attending. Schools are offering scholarships to attract stellar students to boost the school’s stats, and the student is accepting a lower-cost education in return for a less prestigious law degree than could have been obtained at full price elsewhere. It’s a trade-off, and potentially a symbiotic relationship where both parties benefit. That said, in this economy a free law degree is far better than a law degree that costs the graduate a six-figure total and a four-figure student-loan payment every month for at least a decade. It’s hardly this easy, however: do you want to attend a less-prestigious school in return for less debt, or do you want to scrape the bottom of the law school barrel for a free ride, or how about somewhere in the middle?

Another source of money—and valuable experience—is working throughout law school. Law schools will tell you that working during law school is discouraged, if not absolutely prohibited (and especially during first-year). The savvy law student will ignore that advice in the current economic environment. In an ideal economy, jobs are plentiful and law students are well-advised to focus their energies entirely on studies, great grades, and getting a great job at the end. In the current, awful economy, focusing on law school alone can be a bad idea. Working during law school has many benefits: an income (less debt), networking (getting to know people who may give you a job in the future), and relevant experience (also, jobs). If the reader is looking for the best bang for his or her law school buck, working a part-time law job is the best advice this supplement can give. The possible reduction in law school performance (which may be a half-grade per semester, if that, as it takes 50% effort to achieve 90% results in law school) is far offset by the income, networking, and job experience that is obtained in return. It’s likely, too, that working will improve your exam performance: you’ll see “thinking like a lawyer” in action, and you’ll get advice on how not to waste time when learning from those who have gone before you—and succeeded.

I knew several non-traditional colleagues who not only earned good money during their second and third years, but were light-years ahead of the rest in understanding what was going on (because their work reinforced the discussions in seminars, etc.), and because of their direct contacts with partners and others. To a person they were much better insulated from the recession. ThaneJMessinger

Another way to reduce the cost of law school is to attend part-time. This will extend your program from three years to four, and it can still be extremely expensive in terms of tuition, but the great benefit of attending part-time is that the student can legitimately work full-time during law school, thus earning cash for tuition and living expenses, instead of borrowing it. Other benefits include keeping one foot in a prior career to hedge against the job market still being flat at graduation, and also possibly having the employer pay for law school under a tuition-reimbursement program. It may be the case that with an accommodating employer, part-time legal studies are the way to go. It also allows the law student to test the waters before plunging straight into law school full-time, especially if the school allows transfers from its part-time program to the full-time program.

Maybe you could find a part-time evening program and continue working during the day. Do that for at least a year or two and then take the plunge and switch to full time and live on loans for a shorter amount of time. Oldlawgirl

So what is a sensible debt load? The answer depends on each individual’s circumstances—financial, family, career, etc.—but care should be taken to be realistic about the two aspects of law school and law careers that this supplement is concerned with. First, it’s expensive. Attending law school, absent wealthy parents or a full scholarship, will require a significant financial outlay, probably far more than initially expected. Most of this money will be borrowed, and borrowed money needs to be repaid, with interest. Getting out of law school with your wallet and bank account intact is a difficult task (although it can be done). Second, the legal profession is going through significant changes. With the economic downturn a major catalyst, opportunities for new lawyers are far harder to come by than in prior years. This might change; it might not. No one has a crystal ball, but that shouldn’t stop us from making educated guesses. What is certain is that the legal employment landscape will never be the same as in the “good old days,” although this is not to say that opportunities will not return in the future—or indeed aren’t there right now, for the right person. Yet for most, the new opportunities might not be in traditional lawyer roles again.

The market is tough out there right now and student loan debt is brutal. I’m making my first payments this month and they are painful! brodle1

THE JOB MARKET

In the past, law students could expect, at the end of their studies and passing the bar exam, to have a position as a lawyer waiting for them in a law firm, or certainly be able to obtain a comparable position relatively quickly. Some students had other plans—government work, prosecution, public defense, public service, etc.—but even those taking such a career path were reasonably assured that the jobs were available.

Of course, those graduating from top-ranked law schools had a far easier time, and the author himself remembers a time, in the seemingly distant mid-2000s, when students at top-ranked schools had more six-figure job offers than they could shake a stick at. Students at lower-ranked schools have always had, and will always have, a more difficult time obtaining employment. But even so, most graduates of most law schools could find some reasonably decent law-related position, if not a great one.

And then, as we all now know, in the late 2000s, the economy fell off a proverbial economic cliff. Waves of corporate failures, mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, financial negligence and fraud—all led to a near-collapse of almost every sector. The legal industry was no exception: law firms ceased hiring, in many cases laying off large numbers of lawyers in order to cut costs, fat, and sometimes muscle too. In the early-to-mid 2000s, an ever-expanding cadre of law schools continued their perennial flooding of the marketplace with new graduates, but the booming economy could just about absorb enough of those graduates for few to claim that law school was not a decent career bet. Once the economy collapsed, however, not only were schools continuing to flood the market with law graduates who could no longer be absorbed, but the market was flooded with experienced lawyers who had just been laid off and who were also desperate for jobs. In short, far more applicants were searching for far fewer jobs.

My advice, as someone who is “living on loan payments” post-graduation, is to make sure you completely understand what your debt load will be, before you begin law school, to make sure that when you are done you will still be able to support your family. brodle1

School ranking and class ranking are important to employers, of course, regardless of whether they are or are not good measures of how well that particular graduate will perform as a lawyer. While top graduates of top-ranked law schools are usually still able to find employment (albeit perhaps not multiple six-figure offers), nearly every other law student looking for a job since the crash has faced a harder time—sometimes a much harder time—while graduates of lower-ranked schools are often shut out of the job market. In other words, the hardships are felt most at the lower end of the rankings rather than at the upper end—despite the fact that many lesser-ranked law schools are also extremely expensive institutions to attend. Repaying a six-figure student loan as a six-figure employee is one thing. Repaying a six-figure student loan while working at a low-end job for relative peanuts—or not working at all—is another thing entirely.

In hard economic times, and particularly when considering a “prestige-intense” profession such has law, those with name-brand law degrees will generally have the first shot. Clients are comforted by fancy law school names, a predilection unlikely to change. The typical jobs markets for most lesser-ranked law grads are small firms, local or state government jobs, public interest work, state courts, and solo practice. A lucky handful (if that) of lower-ranked law school students get biglaw interviews, and fewer still end up with biglaw jobs. Now that there are fewer legal jobs available overall, traditional employers of low-ranked law school graduates are finding the equivalent of “résumé creep”: mid- and top-ranked grads and even experienced associates are creeping into the pile of applications for those entry-level jobs. In a normal year, these employers would more often than not toss the fancy résumé into the trash, as without a compelling reason to hire an out-of-region candidate flaunting a top degree, it would be assumed that such an applicant was unemployed for a good reason—i.e., perhaps by poor work habits or caustic personality they weren’t just unemployed but unemployable, or would use the job as a place-filler and would disappear as soon as they had found a better one.

Hiring costs time and money. Small firms have little money and even less time to waste on hiring someone who will change jobs as soon as something more “prestigious” or better-paying comes along. Now, however, these smaller and more local firms realize that when they see résumés from top law grads, chances are good that those grads are “hungry,” and thus serious about employment. They’re not waiting until something better comes along; there is nothing else that will come along. Employers know that times are hard, that jobs are scarce, and that many grads, even from the big name schools, are desperate for any meaningful work. And as law is so deeply rooted in prestige, employers find hiring grads from famous law schools attractive, because clients look at the schooling of a lawyer as a guide to the breadth and expertise of that law firm.

In short, grads from top law schools now look for jobs in markets and areas normally the sole domain of grads from local or regional law schools. Those top grads are reaching ever-deeper into the barrel of legal jobs (which itself seems filled less and less), to the severe detriment of everyone else. Public defender positions in secondary markets are no longer effectively limited to grads from local law schools; mid- and top-ranked grads are applying for, and obtaining, these positions. Tedious jobs in tedious state and local government offices are no longer limited to hiring from the local schools; top grads are applying for, and obtaining, these positions too. Grads from the best law schools in the nation are now forced to compete too, and they’re crowding out the jobs for everyone below. After all, when looking at a pile of applications, the deck is stacked heavily in favor of the top law school grads.

It’s not good, guys. Not good at all. Most of these grads have enormous debt and no chance of getting a job that will make law school financially worthwhile. Sorry to pass on some bad news, but there’s a good chance that if you don’t do very well in a tier 2, 3 or 4 school, you will never practice in a firm bigger than three people, or you’ll be a low-level local government attorney, or you’ll work as a temp attorney for a few years until you give up. tier2grad

So what does this mean for those seeking jobs now?

Cast a wide net—far wider than necessary before—because competition for any position involving the practice of law is intense. The oversupply of law graduates is huge, although this will change once the economy stabilizes and firms recover, needing manpower to recover to handle an increased load and running too lean from layoffs and attrition. Because graduates from top-ranked law schools are also casting a wider net, venturing into secondary markets that were typically the “home turf” for local law grads, networking or part-time work during law school is vitally important to ensure that local employers know you and your abilities. This will make it easier for them to choose you over the impressively credentialed outsiders pounding at the door.

The word “network” kind of gives me the creeps. I tend to think of forced small talk with ulterior motives. I have compensated for this by volunteering for causes I believe in. I tend to meet really interesting people, the conversations are more organic, and I feel good about the work. Since my interests are civil liberties and mental health issues, I also meet a lot of attorneys and judges. We’ll see if this helps with the job prospects, but this is where my summer internships have come from. Sinclair

Lots of people are finding little demand for their degrees and the need to be flexible and good at selling themselves. The added debt of law school, of course, makes it worse. backbencher

There is another concern for unemployed (or underemployed) law graduates. It remains to be seen how employers view a “stale” JD—that is, a law school graduate who, subsequent to graduation, gained no legal experience and instead worked a string of non-law positions. Will employers pass these unlucky individuals over, preferring to hire brand-new, “fresh” law graduates, or will employers still consider these stale graduates for entry-level positions?

Sadly, the former will almost certainly occur, resulting in a cluster of graduates who received their law degrees in the late 2000s, who were never able to obtain meaningful legal positions, and who find themselves still unable to obtain meaningful law work once the economy regains its footing. Only time will tell, but the good news is that this—becoming stale—is something that can be avoided.

To avoid this danger, job seekers can no longer afford to be picky. In the good old days, law students had the luxury of being able to choose what area of law they wanted to practice, and tailor their job search to that end. Students wishing to practice intellectual property law, for example, could limit their search to firms with strong IP departments, and could tell firms wanting to hire them, but not in an IP capacity, that they were not interested. Students wishing to focus on labor and employment litigation could likewise limit the scope of their job searches, avoiding even applying for jobs that had no labor and employment nexus. Even in the typical rises and falls of the economy prior to the recent collapse, many law students at least had the luxury of choosing broadly between transactional law and litigation, or becoming a prosecutor, or working for the government or private industry.

The state of the economy today is such that jobs in which the new lawyer will actually be practicing law are so few and far between, so hard to come by, that if offered any position, the new lawyer should accept and be extremely thankful that someone has given them the opportunity to use their law degree for the purpose intended. Grads from top-ranked schools may have a little more leeway, of course, while grads from lower-ranked schools may not receive even one offer. At the very least, accepting the position will allow you to gain some experience, claim that you are indeed a lawyer, and your degree will not go to waste by working in a non-practicing capacity. Any job involving the practice of law is better than a job unrelated to law, assuming that practicing law is your career plan. There is nothing to keep you from continuing your job search for your dream position, but in this economy, take the first legitimate law practice opportunity that comes along and thank your lucky stars that you won’t be floundering, hoping for something, anything, that allows you to gain experience as a lawyer. As the old saying goes, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Sound advice.

Further, you may be able to turn the job you have into the job you want; attorneys are expected, and encouraged, to develop practice areas that strengthen or expand the reach of the firm. CLE courses enable the new attorney to develop their own niche practice area, adding to the breadth of services the firm offers, while not taking work away from established attorneys in the firm. It’s not as hard to migrate between practice areas as one might believe, as the same core legal skills are common across the spectrum; one need only read the Jagged Rocks of Wisdom series of books by Morten Lund to realize that effective lawyering is less to do with specific knowledge of an area of the law, and plenty to do with developing strong practical, research, writing, and negotiation skills. In many cases, CLE classes and a good mentor will help in a new practice area, provided the attorney has a sound grasp of the underlying core skills. In addition, most firms are predisposed—financially and otherwise—to assist an attorney seeking to add a viable practice area to the firm.

The job market getting out is tough. One of the things that law school employment “statistics” hide is the fact that salaries for graduates actually present in a bimodal distribution rather than the normal curve implied by school brochures. In this distribution, your $55k is likely the mode of the lower curve with folks in a $30-65k range. The work available at the lower end of the pay scale is often not the kind of work graduates want to do. Doing hourly contract work reviewing documents in the basement of some building isn’t what many people envision when they go to law school. It’s also entirely likely that even if you find a permanent gig, it will be in some field that you have no desire to practice in. Social worker, concerned about the exploitation of the working poor? Welcome to insurance defense. Not that you have to take the job, but…. iceborer

Remember—it’s not just about average starting salaries—it’s also about if you can get a job. brodle1

For those grads who do not end up getting a traditional position as an attorney, there are two options. Three options, if “cutting losses and taking any job, even one that has nothing to do with law” is included, although that option should be treated as a last resort if and when the hope of paying the bills via the practice of law expires.

The first option is solo practice. This could take one of many forms—an office-share arrangement, a true solo practice, or a kitchen table. Becoming a solo practitioner requires self-discipline, a substantial investment of money, long hours, being a jack-of-all-trades, expert sales skills, a great mentor, and a large pinch of luck. Sales skills are crucially important. You need to convince clients that you can handle their legal problem—which you can if you put in the extra effort and draw upon the advice of experienced attorneys to make sure that you actual can handle a legal problem.

You are essentially opening a small business—one selling legal services. You will run into the same issues encountered by anyone starting a small business, from the easy stuff like choosing letterhead and printing business cards, through marketing, finding clients, closing the deal (literally and figuratively), paying the utility bills, troubleshooting technology issues when the printer decides to stop working, and cleaning the toilet floor after a prospective client who came in to discuss his will has trouble with his aim. Keeping this all in order—while learning how to practice law, and actually practicing law—is a mammoth task.

It’s a gamble, and I think you need to treat it as such. You know your capabilities, your willingness to market yourself, beg for work, network, etc. In the end, you need to balance that awareness and the money against a real chance of failure (because of or in spite of your own efforts). Iceborer

There are upsides and downsides to solo practice. The upsides include being your own boss, choosing clients and matters you are willing to work on (well, sort of), and having the opportunity to own your business, generate a good reputation, and earn a healthy, autonomous income. The downsides include being your own boss, running your own business, the costs, the cash to support yourself for the first year or two while you earn next to nothing, the abject terror of having no practical training and having to fumble through every matter (risking malpractice claims and, when not nearing malpractice, countless hours spinning your wheels), the extraordinary effort needed to generate minimal income, being responsible for everything, being the salesperson, printer fixer, and toilet cleaner, trying to compete in an already-saturated market, trying to compete with online legal service providers that have made inroads into the bread-and-butter practices of small firms and solos, and potentially having absolutely no clients and net-negative income for all your efforts. For those interested, there are books on starting and running a small business that can explain the risks and rewards in more depth, and a number tailored specifically to starting and running law practices (although many are dated at this point, and fail to address the realities of such an endeavor in such a poor economy).

The days of being able to “hang out a shingle” in the legal works are long gone for a number of reasons. First, new law grads make incompetent lawyers—the practice of law is not learned from a book, a bar exam, and it’s certainly not learned from listening to law professors for three years. Law professors, if I remember correctly, have generally never practiced law, and if they did, it was something from many years ago, out-of-date, and for perhaps a year or two. So as a fresh grad, even one with a law license, is seriously a disaster waiting to happen. The best you could possibly hope for would be low-end clients (a/k/a freeloaders who don’t pay their bill and who nobody else wants as a client) needing basic criminal representation, and even then, you’d be completely incompetent to undertake that work.

There is no such thing as simple legal work anymore. It all requires experience. While doctors are technically licensed once they graduate from medical school and pass their USMLE exams, it would be malpractice for them to practice medicine on you without supervision for a number of years. The same goes for law. Second, the legal market is saturated. Ridiculously saturated with experienced attorneys clawing for every bit of paying work out there. You, as a new lawyer, would be competing against lawyers who have slashed their fees and who have significant experience. You would have to work for free or $25 per hour in order to get clients to retain you. Why would any client come to a new attorney when for the same price they can go to an experienced attorney? Answer: the experienced attorney won’t represent them because (i) they are a malpractice complaint waiting to happen, or (ii) they don’t pay their bills. Sorry. You can’t win. DoneWithLaw

Can you build a practice over the first 18-24 months and afford to earn $0.00? Spartacus

An individual who has just a few years’ experience (much less, none) is absolutely out of their element in representing others. Aside from the ethical question of causing harm to one’s clients, there’s the stress, financial disadvantage, and simple logistics of being a bad lawyer. (Note: All new lawyers are bad lawyers. This should shock you, as “bad” carries connotations implying ethical lapses…but a cursory glance at our rules of professional conduct tells us that incompetent counsel is unethical counsel. And a reality of early practice is that extensive, and intensive, guidance is a must. This is so for Harvard grads as much as anyone else. The difference is that the Harvard grad will get that coaching. The question is whether and how everyone else arranges it.) ThaneJMessinger

In other words, starting a solo practice after graduation is not, in the current economic climate, a sensible idea for all but the hardest-working, business-savviest graduates. It should not be considered as a “backup plan” for anyone.

The second option is seeking work as a temporary attorney. In the good old days, armies of young lawyers in large firms enjoyed lucrative positions in litigation departments as full-fledged junior associates, spending their days conducting document review and due diligence work in preparation for trial. High salaries, full benefits, offices with windows, the works. Large-scale court cases include millions of pages of documentation that must be read and “coded” for privilege or relevance before release to the opposing side. During the economic collapse, clients involved in large-scale litigation, no longer flush with money, came to the (obvious?) conclusion that there was little need for “real” biglaw associates, at hourly rates in the hundreds of dollars, for each and every tedious hour, where the intellectual task of document review barely requires a even college degree. Firms responded by firing litigation associates by the thousands, then “rehiring” them as temporary attorneys—paying them a fraction of their prior wages, minus benefits. The upside to the clients: legal bills were reduced. The upside to the law firms: clients were retained, internal costs were slashed, and the work could still be performed in a profitable manner. Everyone won—except junior associates and law students relying on these relatively-plentiful positions as a means to justify and service their law school debt.

Temporary legal services employment agencies are found in every city, tasked with supplying bodies to firms for “document review.” (Note that many such projects make extensive use of non-lawyers, who are cheaper. The work often doesn’t require that the temporary staffers are actually licensed to practice law, and even when it does, a “supervising” attorney can suffice.) These document review assignments can range from a few days to many months.

The good thing about these jobs is that they provide some real income for a recent law graduate. The bad things about these types of jobs are numerous. They are not lawyer positions, and provide no legal experience. They involve extraordinarily tedious work for ever-decreasing hourly rates, no benefits, awful working conditions—and absolutely no chance that one can convert such a position into a full-time real associate lawyer position with the firm that is ultimately responsible for the work. In fact, many firms have separate locations, far away from the firm itself, where temporary attorneys are (ware)housed. There is almost no contact with attorneys who actually work at the firm. Chances are, if a firm is looking for a new full-time attorney, the last place it will look is in its temporary pool. To add insult to injury (and reduce attempts at badgering), temp assignments often expressly state that such a role will not lead to a permanent position with the firm.

As more and more new attorneys flood the market and find it difficult to find permanent positions, the demand for temporary assignments remains relatively brisk. Temp agencies and law firms have consistently lowered the hourly pay for these assignments. No matter how low the pay goes, how bad the working conditions get, and how unstable such employment becomes, there will be recent graduates (and more than a few recently unemployed associates) who need the money badly enough to accept. (For an analogy, re-read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Besides being a great book, it is eerily relevant.)

Perhaps the best way of describing the life of a temporary document reviewer is by way of the following first-hand account:

The first few hours of doc review aren’t that bad. I thought it was kinda cool that I was learning about privilege, and I enjoyed reading many of the documents, which were a mix of technical docs, emails, and just assorted contents of file cabinets. But after the new wears off, which is very quick, the work gets very tedious. For example, looking at every page of a 500 page spreadsheet full of meaningless numbers, just to be sure that there isn’t a place where an attorney has written a few notes that might cause it to be privileged. And then looking at that same spreadsheet again, because it was forwarded as an attachment to someone else. And then again, because it was forwarded to someone else. And then again, and again, and again, and again, and again, all because it was an attachment to an email chain that was circulated back and forth and back and forth. Each day, I have about five minutes where I come across something interesting—usually a personal note about how someone’s vacation was, nothing too spicy—mixed in with the piles of chain emails. I also sit for those 8 or 10 hours. The real lawyers who run this show are fairly hardcore, and will often circulate emails about how we should be not counting time we spend making coffee or visiting the bathroom, and how we should really be working more than we do right now, because we were hired because we “committed” to working at least 50 hours per week. Nobody dares submit a timesheet showing less than 50 hours. The chairs are old and cannot be adjusted, and the armrests on my chair (which is one of the fancier chairs) are way too high and I can’t scoot up to the table properly, so my shoulders hurt from stretching and my eyes hurt from staring at a screen that is slightly outside my comfortable reading range. The computers are not on desks, but folding tables like you would expect to see covered with a paper tablecloth at an outdoor picnic or barbeque, and they are not the correct height for working. We are also crammed in so tight that my elbows must be pinned against my sides in order to avoid touching the “weight-challenged” guy who sits next to me. The heating is set way too high, and the room is like a sauna. The thermostat is locked up with one of those plastic see-through cases, and we cannot adjust it. Evidently, it controls more than just our room, and some of the real attorneys who have offices nearby like their offices warm. That means that our doc review room is hot. It must be at least 80 degrees, probably warmer. The air circulation is pathetic, and by lunchtime, the room stinks of body odor, microwave meals, and fart. Yes, fart. With about 50 people in the same room, there’s lots of fart in there that never goes away. You get used to it when you sit in it all day, but when you get the chance to take a piss and then come back into this room from the fresh air in the rest of the building, it’s disgusting. We can’t chill out either, because the number of documents we code per hour is monitored. And if we get documents coded wrongly (or if we just click away mindlessly because being that alert and diligent for 8 hours in a row is impossible without a break), we get a talking to from a supervising attorney, who happens to be a kid who hadn’t even graduated from college by the time I had finished law school. You’ve been on a plane, right? Well, doc review is like sitting at the back of coach when people were still allowed to smoke on planes, and when you are eight hours into a twelve hour long-haul flight, and when the air conditioning isn’t working properly and you are surrounded by a bunch of very stinky travelers and food and trash and suchlike. And then imagine being forced to sit there and read the most boring book you’ve ever tried to read, over and over and over, and have to answer questions on it, and you have to read a certain number of pages absolutely accurately for hours and hours and hours. And your chair is uncomfortable, your ass is numb, your back hurts, your eyes hurt, you haven’t been able to stretch your legs, and you just wish you were anywhere else than where you are right now. That’s doc review. DoneWithLaw

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With all of the above—heavy debt, few good jobs—the reader will hopefully take away the simple fact that law school is not something to be entered into as lightly as might have been true in the past. But the additional analysis needed to determine whether, on paper, law school is a smart decision for you should be tempered with a little thought to what drew you to consider law school in the first place. Don’t lose sight of that spark that initially made you think, “Man, I should be a lawyer.”

Don’t over-think the process. Yes, time spent determining whether law school is the appropriate career move should include a greater analysis of the financial and employment aspects than in the past, but not at the expense of remembering what inspired you in the first place. Yes, the career prospects for law graduates are worse than before (or merely different, depending on whether you are a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty person), and yes, the costs of law school are higher than in the past, but that should be tempered by the fact that a legal education is still something of an achievement.

Law school can be an intellectually rewarding, personally satisfying experience. The majority of law students graduate with a solid understanding of our underappreciated American legal system; an understanding that many of our population lack. Law graduates are trained in critical thinking, communication, writing and analysis—all useful skills for a variety of professional tasks.

A law degree is still something a little bit special—something to be proud of. Don’t let the lack of jobs or the huge debt stain what a law degree is. Equally important, don’t fall into the opposite trap of thinking that a JD qualifies you for all manner of jobs outside those directly related to law, especially in this economy; it doesn’t.

Your research has probably told you all that you need, and really can, know. brodle1

Do your homework and make your best guess—I think that’s the best you can do! Worrying about the unknown really will just give you unsightly wrinkles!! brodle1

I have a very large amount of student loan debt (think six figures/mortgage type debt) and for me, it was absolutely worth every penny. I have not paid it off, not even close. I will do so over the next 10-15 years, though since I am structuring my budget for that kind of payment after I finish my M.A. The loans are at low interest rates and I consolidated after graduation so that helped. Whether it’s worth it or not is a personal choice and a lot depends on how much you can reasonably pay back in the time in which you’d like to pay it off. It truly is much like a mortgage for me in that I have to think of it as long term debt that I will make payments on. Still Cougar

For me, it has been worth it because I love my job, and I make enough money that I’m still living better than I was before, even with the loans. I don’t think I would have been able to say this, however, had I stayed at my former school. I started at a very nice, respectable, T2 law school…I loved the school, and I had some scholarship money that made my debt a bit more manageable (still big—but not full-time private school big), but I also figured out very quickly that the job market…combined with the lack of name recognition/ranking of my school…was going to make it very very tough to get a job where I wouldn’t be actually taking home less money than I was before law school when you put the loan money into the picture. So I gambled, and transferred to…a top 20 law school (but not with any kind of name recognition like a top 14 has)—and took on the big big loans. I’m ever so glad that I did, as I’m sure I would not have the job I have today if not for the school I attended (and I know this as I have confirmation from the powers that be who do the hiring at my firm). I have massive debt—so much so that I literally could have paid off one of the two houses that my husband and I own with money left over. brodle1

If we all did our research we might never try or do anything new. backbencher

That said, no one has a crystal ball. Law schools, many of which are clearly in the business of selling legal education, will continue to state that the glass is half full. Some might continue to assert that the glass is filled to the brim with opportunities, which, sadly, is not true.

I take a more middle-of-the-road approach, and attempt to highlight the good and the bad. Various commentators and bloggers state that the glass is completely empty and has no chance of being refilled. No one really knows what will happen, of course, and we have only our own experiences to draw upon in giving advice to others. A successful new law graduate will see the opportunities the JD has opened, while a graduate who has been unable to obtain meaningful legal employment will see only the failures of the legal education system and the legal profession.

This particular guide is unique in that it draws upon the advice and experience of thousands of law students, not just one or two, and provides advice and experience from all viewpoints, not just those that push a particular agenda as loudly as possible. There will always be law students who “make it” and law students who don’t, although the thrust behind this supplement is to address the clear problem that there are an increased number of law students in the latter category. Whether and when the economy recovers fully, and whether and how the legal marketplace recovers, is unknown. Particular care should be taken when listening to extreme advice suggesting that things are permanently broken, or that things are as really much better than they appear. Negative opinions appear across the Internet, even on nontradlaw.net’s message boards, while the overly-positive opinions tend to come from the law schools themselves.

Much of the negativity stems from a perceived over-stating of employment statistics published by law schools, which some suggest led them to attend law school not knowing that the legal marketplace was nowhere near as robust as the schools had suggested. Law schools are extremely reluctant to release the behind-the-scenes data upon which they base their employment statistics, although to many commentators, law schools are clearly overstating their graduates’ employment prospects to fill seats and continue to justify tuition increases. Aside from statistical arguments, use caution when accepting data at face value, even if from a supposedly trustworthy source such as a name-brand law school. Anecdotal evidence has some value, even if not plotted on a graph. Remember that law schools have an interest in tweaking the statistics to make their degrees look as rewarding as possible, and those who failed in the legal profession have an interest in blaming outside influences rather than themselves.

The average or median salary is a terrible statistic to use in trying to gauge your prospects for future employment because of the bimodal salary distribution mentioned earlier. Assuming this economy doesn’t significantly change things, odds are that your first job will be >$100K or <$50-60K. There isn’t a whole lot in between. Tiburon

What I do know is the number for “employed within 6 months of graduation” is completely out of line because if you have a job at Taco Bell, that counts as employment. Of course 96% of graduates are working 6 months later…the real question, that remains largely unanswered (at least when I was graduating), is how many of them are working in the legal field, or better yet, as attorneys? Additionally, schools only figure the salary numbers on those who are willing to report their income to the school (and let’s face it, those who make more are more likely to report than those who don’t). brodle1

I may have made a different decision if I truly understood how skewed the salary distribution is. I looked at the median salaries and figured that things would be fine. Tiburon

Which grads are more likely to report? Which ones ARE NOT more likely to report? Shame and fear of stigmatization are keeping the unsuccessful ones from reporting. cryonicsDude

As of this writing, a number of law schools have admitted to falsifying statistics so as to appear stronger in the rankings than they really were, and law schools are now getting sued by recent graduates for what amounts to fraud: overstated employment opportunities and salaries upon graduation that never materialized and would never realistically have materialized. These issues are ongoing and the outcome is unknown, but extreme care should be taken by applicants when relying upon employment data provided by law schools themselves—which includes nearly every aspect of data published. What should be looked at instead are the relative indicators among law schools, where particular graduates are likely to be employed, and overall trends. As has been in Later-in-Life Lawyers for many years, applicants should perform their own due diligence by speaking to recent graduates, investigating the local job market, and determining on their own whether or not a law degree is a good choice, rather than relying solely on data provided by the schools.

We don’t know what will happen in the future, but we do know that the economy is feeble, traditional job opportunities for law grads are scarce, new lawyers flood the marketplace each year, and the cost of attending law school is high and increasing. You, the reader, are now burdened with the unenviable task of analyzing your own financial situation, career goals, and aspirations for the future; researching the legal market in your local areas, speaking to attorneys to ascertain whether they anticipate hiring in the future, and analyzing what your chances of obtaining legal employment will be; determining the costs of attending law school; figuring out a realistic salary you might expect following law school, and what to do if you don’t get that kind of job; how much you can afford to borrow, and whether you want to take steps to minimize your borrowing; and so on.

For many law students, a career in the law is a calling rather than a cold, emotionless career decision. If nothing else, be sure there is some realism in your decision to attend law school. As mentioned, it is my sincere hope that in a few years, this book can be reprinted without this supplement; whether this ends up being the case is anyone’s guess.

I think we are still waiting to see what happens in the legal employment market. Right now my sense is that most current students see this as a temporary downturn and, as the economy recovers so will the jobs for new lawyers. If this is not true I fear it could be years before it sinks in that law school may be no more worth the risk and expense than a doctorate studying dead languages. Backbencher

It’s tough out there, and while attending a “better” school makes the job search easier (at least that was the case for me), there is no guarantee that you will get one of the high-paying jobs due to sheer availability. brodle1

Don’t put too much weight on the market today. The market in four years will likely be no better than muddling through a recovery, but it will almost certainly be different. It’s tricky enough to predict next month, and trickier still years hence. More important are the personal variables; those who push themselves carefully tend to find luck. ThaneJMessinger

Law can be great, and law school can be fun, but don’t dismiss the employment realities your friends are sharing with you. Ask yourself: is the fun and satisfaction really worth $100K and the possibility you will end up exactly where you are today? Backbencher

I think most prospective law students are aware of the market. If not, they . . . deserve what they get. Flaw

WE WERE WRONG: ON PREPARING FOR LAW SCHOOL

Of all the sections of the original book, the advice regarding preparation for law school stands out as in need of a rewrite. It is, in retrospect, completely wrong. While Later-in-Life Lawyers is a distillation of the advice of thousands of nontraditional law students, I feel that on this particular issue, those students got it wrong; a strange outcome, considering that they have got everything else pretty much right, although perhaps this is nothing but my personal opinion creeping in.

As LILL is essentially a student-driven publication, I am reluctant to address this issue by amending the body of the book—this book is not the opinion of an author, but a compilation of advice that seems to have worked well for thousands of students, and will likely work for the current reader. The advice given by the law students themselves is valid. But, with regard to preparation, it is wrong. Here’s why.

Having just written an entire supplement urging prospective law students to fully research the financial aspects of law school, to make sure it is the absolutely correct decision for their future, and to appreciate the gravity of their career choice, it seems somewhat odd, after one has spent months fretting over such matters, to simply turn around and say, “Oh, now that you’re going to law school, sit back and relax until school starts.”

The work doesn’t end after being accepted into a law school. This is where the work begins.

In fact, doesn’t it seem even more odd that a law school preparation guide contains information telling the reader that preparation is unnecessary? It’s akin to publishing a cookbook, and then telling the reader that recipes are a waste of time, and that the reader should simply wait until they get hungry and then order takeout food instead.

The general consensus in LILL, and many other pre-law guides, is that academic preparation for law school is unnecessary, and preparation efforts would be far better spent getting one’s life in order prior to law school. I agree with the latter, but not the former; being prepared for law school does require one’s personal and mental affairs to be in order. Absolutely, one should be preparing for law school in non-academic ways: reading newspapers on a daily basis, relaxing, cleaning the house, taking care of health care appointments, ensuring that the car has had its oil changed, pre-addressing Christmas card envelopes, etc. One should enter law school refreshed and without distractions to the fullest extent possible. But not at the extent of making sure you are prepared for what law school is in fact about—learning at least a little bit about the law.

Much of the advice about academic preparation is based upon proofs in the negative. For example, many say that reading about first year substantive law is impractical because you might learn the wrong things, might get hopelessly confused, might have a professor who teaches something completely different. Looking back on law school, I can conclusively state that such excuses are baseless.

(It should be noted that this advice/opinion is exclusively for first-year courses, which by definition are entry-level and require no prior knowledge. I am not for one moment suggesting that any pre-law try and prepare for a third-year trial practice course, or an advanced estate planning and tax law class, in advance. That would be silly. That written, the first-year courses are the course that count: civ pro, contracts, con law, criminal law, torts, property.)

Law school admits students from all types of undergraduate programs, many if not most of whom have absolutely no background in law whatsoever. It follows that the first year of law school, certainly the first semester of law school, requires no pre-existing knowledge of the law. This is another reason many suggest that no preparation is needed. In a sense, they are absolutely correct. No preparation is needed; 1L is a beginner’s guide to law. That is not to say, however, that preparing is futile or lacks any benefit whatsoever, and it certainly does not suggest that preparation is damaging. Further, many suggest—and I agree—that the first year of law school is not actually that difficult in terms of concepts and black letter law, and that it is fairly easy for a diligent student to understand. But again, this is not the same as saying that one cannot gain an advantage by hitting the ground running.

Particularly in light of this supplement, which cautions strongly that law is extremely competitive and only the best and luckiest succeed, far more so than in prior years, I cannot sit back and suggest that pre-laws ignore academic preparation for law school, missing out on a potential advantage, necessarily over their classmates. In this sense, first-year is regrettably a zero-sum game, and all law students should treat this as seriously as they treat the financial analysis above. Please remember that curved grades in law school mean that at the higher and lower ends of the scale—getting an A instead of an A-, or an A- instead of a B+—can be a matter of a few percentage points, or even fractions of a percentage point. These grades will be used by employers to judge your suitability to work for them. Small differences do matter.

It is true that a student of modest academic abilities will likely survive the first year of law school: they will follow the material, take most of it in, survive the stress, and be able to regurgitate the material during law school exams. But looking at it from a different angle, the basic nature of the material also means that a 0L (a pre-law student) can also follow the material, take most of it in, and start to gain an understanding of the material before setting foot in law school. In other words, there is no reason why a law student should be seeing the material for the first time in a law school classroom.

No one is suggesting that students hit the classroom prepared to take the final exam. That too is silly. But as with most things in life, a little preparation goes a long way. Stepping into situations cold, as it were, is foolish in nearly any circumstance. When there are simple ways to prepare, and when the stakes are so high, not preparing is worse than foolish.

Law school requires an inordinate amount of self-study. In fact, it’s fair to say that law school is self-study. The Socratic method is so inefficient at transmitting information from professor to student that self-study is the only means a law student actually learns the material; class time is taken up with fluff, showboating by professors and gunners, wrong turns, unprepared students and silly questions. There is precious little “here’s what you need to take away from this case.” Both before and after class, students will spend hours discussing the material, re-reading the cases, and reading outlines, casenotes, and hornbooks to understand and digest the material. One does not need to attend class to learn the material, or at the very least, to learn 95% of the material (the other 5% being the professor’s “…and remember this for the exam” nuggets given to encourage attendance).

There is no reason a diligent pre-law cannot cover an entire first-year course prior to getting to law school, and probably understand the majority of the material fairly well; after all, a few months following acceptance to law school, that same student will be expected to self-study the same material anyway, and not much changes in one’s academic abilities during those few months. Again, I’m not suggesting that anyone try to learn the material before attending law school to the point that they try to pass a first-year exam (although I am now convinced that most could). I am suggesting that pre-laws are intelligent, capable, and that the material is not of such a high level that they cannot digest it until they are actually law students.

But what to learn? How does a student obtain the material needed to read a first-year course, and know that he or she is not learning the “wrong” material? Easy. First year courses at almost every law school are virtually identical, regardless of jurisdiction. In fact, the 1L year is so universal that any good commercial outline or basic primer will cover the necessary material, and wondering if you will learn the “wrong” law is like wondering if you will learn the “wrong” way to add two numbers together, or the “wrong” chemical formula for ethanol—there isn’t a whole lot of leeway. Nor is there when it comes to basic U.S. law: i.e., the universal first-year law curriculum. Although law is not a science, and there is famously no single answer to any question of law, don’t let this mislead you to believe that there is no answer, or that only a law professor can guide you through the material. The first year of law school is about the basics. Your task is to learn well-settled law—universal concepts that apply as much in New York as they do in California, Illinois, or Texas. You simply cannot learn the wrong material, if you study from a 1L source.

Where does this material come from? Commercial outlines, student outlines, online sources, Nutshell guides, even casebooks and hornbooks (although the latter two are more than you need at this point of pre-law preparation). Even if you pick the “wrong” commercial outline for a pre-1L review of, say, Contracts (that is, one that is keyed to a casebook that your professor does not use), the material covered will still be nearly 100% identical to the material covered in your first-year contracts class, and it will cover the concepts of every contracts class more than adequately.

In all first-year classes, no matter what your professor’s teaching style, no matter what casebook you use in class, and no matter which law school you are planning to attend, the material covered and necessary to succeed in the class is available in advance, and available in easy-to-understand publications, cheaply (or even for free). You will not accidentally learn some strange and foreign body of law that is irrelevant to the respective class in the first-year curriculum, as that kind of law simply does not exist. You cannot go wrong, even if you are the unluckiest person in the world or deliberately try to learn the “wrong” kind of law, which is the point of this brief injection of my explicit opinion. There is literally no harm you can do to yourself by reading up on 1L courses beforehand. Absolutely none. In short, a 0L student is intellectually ready to learn the material, and by picking up a commercial outline or a more readable summary of a first-year law school subject, will be learning the correct material.

Working smart, not hard, is the key to law school success, as LILL points out on many occasions. Unless you are the President of the United States, you do have time—plenty of it—to take a few hours each week and start reading first-year materials. Start small, with perhaps a free downloaded outline for each course, just to get an overview. Then buy a handful of used Nutshells or commercial outlines on eBay. Or check them out in the library. Post an ad on Craigslist for materials. If you live in a town or city with a law school, there will be hundreds of ex-1Ls looking to make some money back from their materials, and they are likely happy to toss in their own outlines—an added bonus—as they will no longer be threatened by a competitor-colleague.

The point is: you do have the time to prepare, you have the materials to prepare, and it’s such a simple and beneficial task. The material is not difficult, especially when the pressure of being questioned in front of the entire class isn’t looming, and it’s foolish to miss this opportunity.

There’s yet one additional benefit deserving its own paragraph: you might just find that you find the material outrageously, inconceivably, unacceptably dull. If so, this will be the cheapest lesson you ever have. Decide then and there to forget law school. Save yourself a very costly mistake.

*          *          *

Yes, this does go against the grain of commonly-accepted wisdom, but I believe that many pre-laws draw the wrong conclusion when hearing other law students and lawyers say that no preparation is necessary. Do not “sit back and relax” before law school. There is a golden opportunity to get a head start on law school by going above and beyond what many other law students will do by way of preparation.

And after reading this, perhaps the general advice will change, and perhaps the next edition of LILL can contain a fully-revised section in which law students fully endorse pre-law preparation as the best practice.

Until then, please be careful.

And a final thought: congratulations on being a non-traditional student, and on taking a step toward a brighter future for yourself and your family. Whatever you decide and however you decide to get there, your life experiences will help, in ways large and small.

Good luck.

OTHER BOOKS

NON-LAW ADVENTURES

GRAINS OF GOLDEN SAND: ADVENTURES IN WAR-TORN AFRICA,
by Delfi Messinger

Hardcover 978-1-888960-35-8,
391 pages, US$21.95
Softcover 1-888960-33-4,
391 pages, US$15.95

Grab a ticket for the adventure of a lifetime: meet a woman who protects rare apes by painting, in blood, SIDA (“AIDS” in French) on a Kinshasa wall to keep rampaging looters at bay.

Her mission was to save a small group of endangered great apes—the bonobo (or “sexy” ape)—from the grip of civil war in the heart of Zaire. She made this her mission, and after eight harrowing years the reader will be breathless with amazement in her struggles to get the endangered animals to safety.

TRAINING WHEELS FOR STUDENT LEADERS: A JUNIOR COUNSELING PROGRAM IN ACTION,
by Autumn Messinger

ISBN 978-1-888960-13-6,
US$21.95

A reference for the engaged parent, founded on the premise that, if given the opportunity, mentoring, and guidance, even young children can work together to solve (and resolve) their own problems. They can work towards their own, common, cooperative goals. They can build genuine self-esteem.

In two very different schools hundreds of students achieved far more than they, their parents, their teachers, or the administrators ever thought was possible. This will improve performance and (real) self-esteem, it will make true counseling possible for overworked school staff, and it will connect students to their community. Parents should demand this, while administrators should support a program that produces truly astonishing self-reliance and self-motivation among students.

THE INSIDER’S GUIDE TO GETTING A BIG FIRM JOB: WHAT EVERY LAW STUDENT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT INTERVIEWING,
by Erika Finn and Jessica Olmon

ISBN 978-1-888960-14-3, 130 pages,
US$16.95

While law school teaches many things, how to get a law job is not one of them. In law school, the competition for top jobs is intense—and the special needs of law firm recruiters are unknown to law students. This book is an insider's look at the secrets of landing a dream law firm job.

LATER-IN-LIFE LAWYERS: TIPS FOR THE NON-TRADITIONAL LAW STUDENT, by
Charles Cooper

ISBN 978-1-888960-06-8, 288 pages,
US$18.95

Law school is a scary place for any new student. For an older (“non-traditional”)student, it can be intimidating as well as ill designed for the needs of a student with children, mortgages, and the like. Includes advice on families and children; the LSAT, GPAs, application process, and law school rankings for non-traditional students; paying for law school; surviving first year; non-academic hurdles; and the occasional skeleton in the non-traditional closet.

THE SLACKER’S GUIDE TO LAW SCHOOL: SUCCESS WITHOUT STRESS,
by Juan Doria

ISBN 978-1-888960-52-5, 162 pages,
US$16.95

It is easy to fall into a trap of assuming that that one either strives and succeeds or slacks and fails. Enjoying three years of law school is not the opposite of learning the law. There’s also a tendency to follow a herd mentality: the assumption that there’s just one right way to do something, or just one way to study the law. Too often, this involves too much make-work and too much stress. Do law school right: success without stress. (Or at least with less stress.)

LAW SCHOOL: GETTING IN, GETTING GOOD, GETTING THE GOLD,
by Thane Messinger

ISBN: 978-1-888960-80-8, 367 pages,
US$16.95

Finally a book for real law students. From the time you decide that law school is for you, to the process of taking the LSAT and getting into the right law school, and on to succeeding in law school and in your career, this guide will be your silent companion and mentor. This book focuses on skills that are readily fine-tuned, with practical advice that is workable with today’s ultra-busy lifestyle.

The key in successful law study is a minimum of wasted effort and a maximum of results. Still outlining cases? A waste of time. Failing to use hypotheticals? A dangerous omission. Preparing a huge outline? A dangerous waste of time. Don’t waste your time, and don’t neglect what’s truly important. Learn law school techniques that work. Once you’re in, Get Good, and Get the Gold!

PLANET LAW SCHOOL II: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW (BEFORE YOU GO)—BUT DIDN’T KNOW TO ASK…AND NO ONE ELSE WILL TELL YOU,
by Atticus Falcon

ISBN 978-1-888960-50-7, 858 pages,
US$24.95

An encyclopedic reference for each year of law school. Examines hundreds of sources,and offers in-depth advice on law courses, materials, methods, study guides, professors, attitude, examsmanship, law review, internships, research assistant ships, clubs, clinics, law jobs, dual degrees, advanced law degrees, MBE, MPRE, bar review options, and the bar exam. Sets out all that a law student must master to excel in law school.

FOR THE NEW ATTORNEY

JAGGED ROCKS OF WISDOM: PROFESSIONAL ADVICE FOR THE NEW ATTORNEY,
by Morten Lund

ISBN: 978-1-888960-07-5, 94 pages
US$18.95

Written by a real-world mentor at a national law firm, this no-nonsense guide is a must have guide for the new associate. Its “21 Rules of Law Office Life” will help make the difference to your success in the law: surviving your first years as an attorney, and making partner. Beware.

JAGGED ROCKS OF WISDOM: MASTERING THE LEGAL MEMORANDUM,
by Morten Lund

ISBN: 978-1-888960-08-2,
US$18.95

This book focuses on one of the most complex aspects of professional work for a new attorney: researching, drafting, and refining the crucially important legal memo randum. Lund breaks the process of the legal memorandum into “21 Rules,” through which the mysteries of the perfect memo randum are revealed.

THE YOUNG LAWYER’S JUNGLE BOOK: A SURVIVAL GUIDE,
by Thane Messinger

ISBN 978-1-888960-19-1, 231 pages,
US$18.95

Advice on law office life, including working with senior attorneys, legal research and writing, memos, contract drafting, mistakes, grammar, email, managing workload, timesheets, annual reviews, teamwork, department, attitude, perspective, working with clients (and dissatisfied clients), working with office staff, using office tools, and yes, much more.

Recommended in the ABA’s Law Practice Management andThe Compleat Lawyer, as well as in numerous state bar journals.