Guest post by Mary Campbell Gallagher.
Studying for the bar exam is stressful. But it is also your chance to take control and bring together the scattered threads of law that you learned in law school. To succeed, you must plan your life, as the old saying goes, and live your plan. You want to walk into the bar exam knowing that you have done what you set out to do. The results are in the hands of the gods. I assume you’ve read Five Tips for Early Bar Exam Prep. So you’re ready. Let’s go.
Guest post by Jeff Cohen.
For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories. – Plato
As a law student or newly minted lawyer, you have utilized the Socratic Method to unravel mysteries such as discerning the rule of law we get from Pennoyer v. Neff. (What the hell was the rule we got from Pennoyer v. Neff by the way? Sorry, it’s been a while…)
Well, regardless, let’s dust off good old Socrates and use his methodology to ask ourselves three questions indispensible to crafting a successful career. Answering honestly may be difficult, but we owe ourselves the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want. – Mark Twain
Alison Monahan, writing at Ms. JD, certainly thinks so. As the father of two little girls, I’m on high alert for anything that could get in the way of them being whatever they want to be. But as I reflect on my own law school and law practice experiences, I have to admit I’ve seen evidence of attitudes that could lead to the kind of sexism and harassment Monahan has experienced.
While women who find themselves in such situations do have some options, men can make a big difference just by speaking up when we see these attitudes and behaviors on display: “Hey dude. Not cool.”
Guest post by Mary Campbell Gallagher.
Whether you are taking the bar exam in three months or three years, the bar exam is one of life’s big events. You need to plan ahead.
Many law students think the bar exam tests on every minute detail of every law school subject. Fortunately, that is not true. What the bar exam tests is whether you know basic law and can do basic analysis.
The level of importance placed on law school grades is difficult to overstate. To the grade achievers go the BigLaw jobs, the federal clerkships, and the professorships. The 90 percent of the class that is not in the top 10 percent finds its collective future considerably more narrow, and much less lucrative.
But what skills do these all-important tests actually measure? Do they really separate the best future lawyers from the worst? If they don’t, why do they matter so much? In other words, how did we get into this mess?
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When she farms sheep, the sheep spin the wool. When you think she’s acting, she’s just being herself. She coaches polo while playing poker. She doesn’t always go to law school, but when she does, she goes to Michigan Law.
She’s the most interesting lawyer in the world.
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If you are a lawyer and married to someone in the military, how do you stay licensed with all the moving involved? The Military Spouse JD Network wants to make it possible by dropping bar examination requirements for military spouses, and it is making progress. In February, the ABA decided to support changes in state licensing rules for military spouses (PDF), and the Idaho Supreme Court became the first state to adopt a rule to that effect (PDF).
You work in sales if you are an attorney at a law firm, regardless of its size. And how you feel about working in sales will largely determine both your level of success and your level of happiness.
So if you’re considering hanging out a shingle, partnering up with a friend, or joining a law firm where there will be a sales expectation, i.e., that you will immediately or eventually bring in clients, consider this question: when you think about what it takes to do well in sales, do you see yourself as similar to supersaleman Zig Ziglar, or more akin to loveable slacker Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything?
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People talk a lot about burnout. It’s one of the most over-used terms that’s tossed about when discussing work and family responsibilities. Lawyers are particularly prone to and concerned about burnout. But how do you know if you are in fact burned out and not just tired and under stress? And if you are burned out, what do you do about it?
While “burnout” is over-used, it has a legitimate meaning in psychology, dating to Dr. Herbert Freudenberger’s book, published in 1980. The book laid out the symptoms someone suffering from burnout typically experiences.
If you want to get a sense of how it feels to be inside a law school bubble as it bursts, JD Underground is a website you should visit. It’s a mess of contradictions. It’s not just a scamblog; it’s much more than that. It’s a scruffy community of law students and lawyers that are simultaneously nasty and kind, despairing and defiant, fascinating and dull. It’s a unique destination for anyone interested in spending some time hanging around the metaphorical back alleys, park benches, and fleabag apartments frequented by less-fortunate new members of our noble and learned profession.
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