Monthly Archive for November, 2006Page 2 of 10

Two Rules For Less Stress and Worry in Your First Year of Law School

Published
by
Michael Law
on November 26, 2006
in 1L and Law Students
. 0 Comments

From Taco John:

I have two basic rules for getting through the first year of law school with as little stress and worry as possible:

If you know 100% that you want to be a lawyer and hate school, then by all means, focus on the job search. Involve yourself with internships, clinics, practicums, etc. But if you find that you enjoy learning about the law, questioning things, figuring out the nooks and cranies of something that is mind-bogglingly complex, then don’t let jobs, employers, and especially the law school administration tear you away from that.

  1. If it feels good, do it.
  2. If it feels wrong, stop and think about it.

The first rule does not mean give into every little bit of pleasure that comes your way. It means that if your gut is saying what you’re doing is the right thing, it’s much more likely to be right than the nagging voice of worry in your head. If deep down you feel like joining a study group would be worthless but the little worrying Spidey-Sense we all have is tingling, tell it to shut up.

The second rule means that if you are doing something, and it’s satisfying the little voice but your gut doesn’t seem to like it, step back. For instance, you’ve been slaving over an outline, based on what a professor says your outline should look like, but your gut keeps telling you “Every time we go over this again, you can’t remember anything. You’re not learning.” The little voice is probably saying “Yes, exactly what the professor said. More work!” Trust your gut. Stop working on it. Review it, and ask yourself how you can change what you’re doing to learn better.

Remember this at all times, especially in the beginning: you’re very successful. About 1% of Americans will get any type of professional degree. If you’re in law school, you have excelled in school for at least 16 years (assuming you didn’t skip grades). Law school is not fundamentally different from other types of school. Do not get suckered into thinking you need to start over and rethink everything you’ve ever done. Do not reinvent the wheel unless you’re 100% positive that it’s broken. Law school is harder than college, and the work is different, but at the end of the day, it’s still school. If you never took notes in class, and preferred to just sit there and listen, just writing a couple things down over the course of an hour lecture, do not let the constant typing in a law school classroom get to you. It is true that very few people’s study habits in law school are “good enough.” But that refers to quantity much more than quality. “Not good enough” does not mean “wrong.” Some people do have terrible study habits, and will need to change what they were doing. You can be successful in school using smoke and mirrors. I should know, I did it for a long time. Luckily for me, high school was the wake-up call, long before law school. But don’t let people trick you into thinking that your past experience means nothing once you step into a law school. It’s true, you won’t know what you’re doing or how to do it, but you’re a lot closer than you think.

All of this holds true for exams. I read Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams and found it very helpful. As always, your results may vary. Law school exams will likely be unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. But that difference comes from the details, not the core. At it’s core, law school is an essay test. If you have natural test taking talent, it does not say “A law school exam? No way chief, I’m outta here.” If you’re good at essay tests, you will have a slight advantage. If you’re terrible at essay tests, you have a little challenge.

Enjoy these three years. Law schools put so much focus on the next seven years of your life after you leave the law school that the three years of legal education get lost in the shuffle. If you’re applying to law school, you’ve probably heard about the couped-up, prison-inmate feeling that a lot of 3Ls have. I personally believe that the law schools themselves are more responsible for this than anyone. A lot of people say employers are pulling students out of the school too soon, but I disagree. Law schools are shoving them out with as much force as they can. [The] point here is that you should enjoy the learning as much as you enjoy the training.

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Three Myths and Facts About Law School

Published
by
Michael Law
on November 25, 2006
in Law School and Law Students
. 0 Comments

From Jeremy’s Weblog:

1. The People Who Say You Should Only Go To Law School If You Want To Be A Lawyer Are Right. And Wrong. I’ve told a bunch of people (and surely written on here before) that coming into law school I had no idea that afterwards almost everyone goes to work for a law firm, or what a law firm was even like — I hadn’t thought about what people do after law school, I hadn’t done my research, I thought I was going to law school to avoid looking for a job for three years, not to put myself on a track toward a law firm life I knew nothing about. I mean, I just didn’t do my research. It didn’t even cross my mind that this was different from college in this respect — I didn’t go to college having any idea what I wanted to do when I got out, and so I didn’t think about it at all before getting to law school. Which is why I was surprised when a month in they start talking about resumes and job fairs and dark suits. Some people have been kind of baffled when I’ve told them this. They think I was negligent at best — a moron at worst — for not looking into this stuff before I applied. And I’ll admit I was negligent. But, really, it didn’t cross my mind that this was something I had to think about. I’m not entirely upset about that. I don’t know for sure that I would have come to law school if I knew what the career paths looked like on the other end. But I’ve liked law school, and I’m glad I’ve spent these past three years here. It’s benefitted me, intellectually, socially, and in terms of career opportunity creation. I don’t have any regrets about it. Which is why I’m completely torn about the merits of the standard advice you hear that law school is to train lawyers and if you aren’t sure you want to be a lawyer, don’t go to law school. It’s good advice. Sort of. It’s true. Sort of. But it’s also kind of stupid. As much as anyone wants to argue that law school is of value primarily if you want to be a lawyer, it’s hard to deny that the law degree has value beyond that. It’s a set of skills. It’s a credential that sets you apart. If you go to a "name" law school, it’s another name on the resume to help impress, it’s another set of alumni and possible connections, it’s an education that can help in a whole variety of fields — government, policy, even just being an informed citizen — not just the law. I don’t want to say these are reasons to go to law school. But they’re reasons why I think you can make really compelling arguments for why it’s not wrong to go to law school even if you don’t want to be a lawyer. I think you want to know what you’re trying to get out of law school. You want to have a story to tell for why law school makes sense. But if you can make that story make sense — if you can satisfy yourself with your story — I can’t say I think law school is a bad choice. I didn’t do my research. Maybe I should have. But maybe it’s okay that I didn’t.

2. The People Who Are Miserable At Law School Are Doing It To Themselves. I feel like I either know lots of people here who are miserable, or lots of people who enjoy the idea of being miserable. People don’t love it here. And I partly get it, but not entirely. If you’re miserable here, it’s your own fault, because whatever is making you miserable is probably something you can stop doing. Exception for the weather. If the weather is making you miserable, you should transfer. But if the schoolwork is making you miserable, this is kind of pathetic and speaks terribly of the education we receive, but you can stop doing it, basically. There are people here who don’t go to class, don’t buy their textbooks, and spend the day before each exam studying, and do fine. It doesn’t take a heck of a lot to pass. This is sad and unfortunate, and is something that’s wrong with legal education at least here, but it’s true. So the schoolwork is a lousy reason to be miserable. If you’re miserable because you haven’t met the right people, maybe you just need to meet new people. I have trouble seeing how law school can be more miserable than having a job, any job — except for the money part. But if money is the determining factor as to whether you’re happy or miserable, then maybe that’s the thing you should work on, and not why law school is making you sad.

3. Go To The Best Law School You Get Into. Or Not. Again, advice that’s kind of good. The better the law school, the more firms come and recruit, the easier it is to get a job, the more weight the name carries if you’re looking to do something else…. But, again, maybe there are reasons to go somewhere else. If you know you want to do something that you can do equally as well coming out of law school A, better ranked but really expensive, and law school B, lower ranked but they’re giving you a full ride, why not choose B? It’s all about that story you’re telling yourself about why you want to go to law school. If you want to clerk for the Supreme Court, go to the best school you can (probably). If you want to impress your grandma’s friends, go to the best school you can (probably). If you want to open a solo practice doing divorce law, I’m not sure it matters as much.

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How to Catch Up With Law School Classes When You’re Behind

Published
by
Michael Law
on November 24, 2006
in Law Students
. 1 Comment

From Legal Andrew:

Catch Up

How do you catch up with school or work when you have been away? That’s always the dilemma we face after a trip. I’m currently in that situation, so I thought I would share my thoughts on the subject.

Make a list

I love lists. How can you know what you need to do, if you don’t have a list? I suggest that you make a list of everything you need to do to be caught up through tomorrow. Do it on your computer, a notepad, or toilet paper. Whatever suits you. Once you have a list, you can begin crossing things off (that’s half the fun!).

Stop getting behind

The next step is to do whatever needs doing so you don’t fall further behind. For example, as a law student this usually means that I need to read for my next classes (thus, you need your list to include tomorrow). The idea here is that you can start to close the gap on your behind-ness by keeping the gap from getting bigger. Plus, you get to mark things off that list!

Get caught up

After you have today and tomorrow’s work done, you can start to work on past tasks. This is when you prioritize the old tasks on your list and do them in order of priority. Thus, you will be getting the most important old things done first. Be sure you don’t forget about the less important old things, but you won’t, since you have a list!

Burn the list

Once everything is marked off your list, you can revel in your new caught-up-ness. Now is the time for your ceremonious burning of the list. Ok, maybe you should just throw it away. If you need some therapy, try shredding it. Better yet, make a paper airplane or some origami. You deserve it.

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