No matter what the job market looks like, law school is a tough slog. But don’t worry, we’re here for you.
Start with Randall’s excellent How to Succeed in Law School. And before you get to finals, check out our guide to law school exams.
You should also take some time to optimize your legal resume, polish up your networking skills, and learn how to improve your performance in job interviews (including OCI).
Or, if you are interested in hanging your own shingle, we have lots of information about starting your own law firm.
Oh, and we’ve got lots of great bar exam study tips if you are between graduation and lawyering.
Finally, join the Lawyerist LAB, where we have specific forums for law school, careers, and law practice.
Yesterday, I sat in on the ABA Young Lawyers Division council meeting in Minneapolis. The council was considering a resolution to recommend to the ABA House of Delegates that would require law schools to teach business skills to law students.
Better-equipping law students to practice law ought to be the job of law schools, after all. But, I can’t help thinking, what makes anyone think law schools would be any good at teaching business skills?
For students who are generally successful in their academic endeavors (read: law students), a B may be acceptable, but a C might as well be an F. It doesn’t matter that there are two more letters to go; C means you’ve slipped to average, and average is not what future CEOs, politicians, doctors, and lawyers want to be.
That’s why Professor Joshua Silverstein, of the William H. Bowen School of Law, wants to go ahead and make C the new F by revising grading curves upward to a B-. He gives two reasons.
It’s that time again. Time for 2Ls (and a few lucky 1Ls) to join the ranks of the employed in the hopes of landing a permanent gig post-graduation. Of course, the substance of your work matters (a lot), but landing a full-time position from a summer associate gig requires more than just doing legal great work. What else do you need to do? Keep Reading ⇒
US News may be the big deal in law school rankings, but there are competing rankings from Above the Law, Cooley. ATL’s rankings may not be likely to overtake US News, but the outcome-based approach is more useful. Still, ATL is pretty focused on BigLaw [see the “prestige” BS Elie talked about the other day).
If you just want to know which law school will do the best job preparing you to go solo or work at a small or medium-sized firm, try the new rankings tool from the Institute for the Advancement of the Legal System.
At the end of this Bloomberg Law video, Above the Law’s Elie Mystal predicts law schools will split into two tiers, one for law students who are aiming to become white-shoe law firm partners and Supreme Court justices, and another for law students aiming for a middle-class existence in smaller markets.
A few law school gunners have come under fire lately for sending obnoxious emails to law professors and classmates. One guy emails his entire class 1600 words of unsolicited advice on job interviews, and another explains that he left his professor’s class early because the pace was too slow.
Gunner-bashing ensues.
At the end of my 1L summer, I took a job at the ACLU of Maryland. I loved my work, but felt fairly useless for most of the summer—I just didn’t know how to add value. Desperate to feel helpful, I was delighted when someone would apologetically ask if I could make copies or help put together a mailing. Finally! Tasks at which I could excel and add some real value (I am a wiz at putting together mailings faster than a speeding bullet). I earned some real points for enthusiasm, but I don’t think I impressed anyone with my legal prowess. My 2L summer, I worked at a large D.C. law firm. With another year of law school under my belt, I found myself able to contribute substantively in the legal arena for the first time. I praised the gods and didn’t over-analyze my growth at the time, but, in the interest of sharing, here’s what Dorothy learned.
One rainy Saturday, in my first year of law school, the Career Services Office had a big Career Day event. One of the presentations was by a lawyer who had recently gone solo after working first at a large firm and then at a mid-sized firm.
I’ll never forget it. The man laid out, in no uncertain terms, what life is like for a new associate. I still owe him thanks for that. He came across as an arrogant jerk. But one can forgive that if the jerk tells you important truths.
This is what I learned from the Man in the Grey Suit.
Keep Reading ⇒
Randall’s how to succeed in law school is a nice broad post on exactly that, and you should read it.
But here’s my personal take on law school success. It’s the law school do-over, written as a kind of internal monologue, and most of it is framed in the negative: no, stop, and don’t. It’s not for all law students, but it’s what I would do if I had a law school do-over, and if you’re headed to law school or working your way through now, remember this:
Being a law student does not make you a Jedi.
These are dark days. While law schools and Biglaw continue business pretty much as usual, the good people at Law School Transparency continue to track how the lost generation of lawyers with no real job prospects grows every year.
Steven J. Harper, a Harvard Law grad and 30-year litigator at Kirkland & Ellis, has weighed in on the problems and suggested some solutions in The Lawyer Bubble. It’s the perfect book for a terrible time.
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