r/LawSchool

As a 3L, if law school has taught me 1 thing outside of the curriculum, it is that a lot of people have no concept of how the average American lives financially. I have had classmates describe salaries that are almost double anything I’ve ever made as though it is the most abject poverty imaginable. Even the fact that a lot of schools prohibit 1Ls from working at all ignores the reality that we aren’t all on the same financial footing. I knew going into this that the legal profession has a lot of financial barriers to entry, but I guess I didn’t really understand what that looked like until I spent a couple of years as a law student. Does anyone else feel this way?

Hi! I’m 19F and I just got my AA at community college and I have come closer to needing to decide what I want to do for a career, I am thinking a lawyer. That being said, I need to declare a major for my bachelor’s and I’ve read that law schools really only care about GPA.

Right now I’m really looking at psychology as it was an interest of mine when I graduated high school a year ago but then I just focused on getting my AA.

My concern is, in case I get indecisive again and don’t want to be a lawyer, I don’t want to regret going through the course of my bachelors a year or two in so I want to choose something that speaks to me, but also has a good fall back plan. I’ve read that psychology majors have the lowest salary after high school. Especially since my scholarship only covers a certain amount of credits. Fall semester starts in a week and I need to choose classes depending on my major so I’ve been trying to make a choice.

I’m asking for advice on what possible majors could stick out to me that are like psychology or poli sci, but would also help me in my career to becoming a lawyer. LMK!!

We had orientation last week and technically started 2 classes. Now we're on day 3 of actual classes. I don't know how anybody is doing all of the reading. I get through 1-2 cases well before my brain needs a break and just can't focus anymore.

And when I say break, I mean done for the day. Is this normal?

Hi everyone. Starting 1L now, and I feel emotionally overwhelmed during orientation period.

I have been obsessively on top of my pre-first class readings and buying books as soon as the syllabus drops. Recruiting timelines are super early, which has made me obsess over meeting with career advisors.

I just feel like an emotional wreck because of the pressure. My school sends between 50-60% of grads to 251+FC jobs, which is solid. I had originally hoped to end up at such a firm, but now I've convinced myself that I would be lucky to just have a job when I graduate. I've been mentally prepping myself for striking out at BL interviews and having to settle for something I really don't want, if I get anything at all.

I don't know why I feel so negative. Maybe 1L just feels so impossible, or reading things on Reddit saying it's extremely hard to be in the top 33% of your class, or working hard really doesn't matter (only taking exams well matters). I've been mentally obsessing over how many hours I need to study, whether my studying/note-taking is quality, and whether my issues & rules in my briefs suck.

I've heard of 1Ls doing very well, including getting 4.0s, while still having weekend afternoons & nights free. That seems highly implausible right now. Maybe I will be enlightened as time goes on, but not sure.

While I realize that hard work needs to be combined with "good work," wouldn't it be fair to say working hard at studying for exams would be very conducive to success?

I guess I'm just thinking law school is impossible to do well in. I had a 4.0 in college and always did well in school. I just feel so unconfident.

If anyone has genuine advice, I would appreciate it so much. Thank you.

Before everyone shits on me, I’m on a full merit scholarship, so I’m not going into a ton of law school debt over this. I was a political science major in undergrad, I’m first gen, and honestly law school always felt like the only professional career that really made sense for me. I always thought I wanted to be a litigator.

But I’m about to start 2L on Monday, I’m finishing my summer internship this week, and I feel like I’m having a legitimate crisis about whether I actually want to practice law.

I absolutely fucking hate legal writing. Like with a burning passion. I hate sitting at a computer all day researching and writing motions and memos. I hate how much of my day is spent alone staring at a screen. This summer I’ve gotten to the point where I am so checked out that I can barely make myself do anything at work anymore, and that honestly scares me.

I knew I wanted to pursue higher education and build an actual career for myself, and law school seemed like the natural path. Otherwise I felt like I was looking at graduating and taking some paralegal/legal assistant job making around $20 an hour with no clue where I was going from there. And I live in Manhattan, so cost of living is obviously no joke. I need a career where I can actually support myself here. Now I’m looking around at completely different professions and wondering what the hell I was thinking.

I really did always think litigation was right for me. I love the idea of being in court. I like people. I like being social, persuasive, competitive, active, and actually involved in what’s going on. Trial advocacy was one of the few things in law school where I thought, yeah, I could actually see myself doing this.

But obviously litigators don’t just magically appear in court all day. There’s a shit ton of writing behind it, especially when you’re junior, and I’m realizing I may have seriously underestimated how much of the actual job is the exact thing I hate most.

So at this point I’m basically like... what other careers can I realistically go into with a JD? Especially careers where having the degree is actually useful, the pay is enough to live in NYC, and my entire life isn’t sitting alone at a computer writing briefs.

I’m not dropping out. My tuition is covered, I’m already going into 2L, and it would make no sense to throw the degree away. But I’m starting to think I need to broaden my idea of what I’m supposed to do with it because I genuinely cannot imagine spending the next 40 years feeling the way I’ve felt at this internship.

If you moved for law school, don't forget to update your voter registration. The midterms are coming up!

UChicago’s official stated policy going forward is that the use of electronics, including laptops, tablets, and phones, is prohibited in required 1L classes.

Somewhat of an inside scoop (not rlly):

I start my official 1L classes at UCLA Law on Monday. The school has no official, enforced policy banning electronics use for 1L classes, and leaves it up to professors’ discretion.

However this may be the case, all four of my professors have adopted the same language in their syllabi, effectively banning the use of electronics. All the other 1L’s I’ve talked to outside of my class section have expressed that their profs have also included this same language.

One campus admin likened the emerging phenomenon as a “pilot” program. What I take this to mean is that while most, if not all, 1L profs adopt this language, admin will wait to see how this cohort does, and decide whether or not to make it official law school policy for 1L’s going forward.

Super interesting in the time of AI!!

Other incoming 1L’s, what positions is your school (or individual professors) taking?

I graduated 10 years ago from a T20 school as a math major with a 3.3 gpa (yes math was hard but I also fucked around.)

I’ve worked in corporate the last decade and hate not impactful or client facing work.

I realized about 5 years ago my dream job is a psychologist (and fits very well with my personality) but the income for therapists is insanely low (I’m first gen want to take care of my family husband not rich). I keep reading about family lawyers having to act as therapists and I feel like I would really enjoy the critical thinking aspect.

1. Would I have any chance at a decent NYC law school (Fordham/ cordozo) if I applied in a few years with a killer LSAT?
2. Would quitting my job as a PM to work as a paralegal for a year be helpful (relevancy + rec)?
3. Would getting an MSW (CUNY so it would be inexpensive but lost wages) first to boost my gpa get some relevant research experience and recs be helpful?

TYSMIA!

My boyfriend and I were doing so well over the summer, and great until his dog died in the first week of my law school journey. He broke up with me on my first day of classes and I literally can’t do anything but cry. I can’t eat, can’t sleep, barely do my readings. Another thing is that he has a successful job as a lawyer and I am really attracted to that and that’s why I want to go into big law, but I can’t get the grades right now to get there. He is a lot older than me and doesn’t treat me the best sometimes but I can’t imagine life without him. And why did he have to do it on my first day of classes. Now all my professors think I’m not optimistic, when in reality I love the law and am very optimistic but I can’t show it because I keep on crying and haven’t smiled in days. I went into school today after crying all night and started crying in the building so I went right to student services to go see someone I could talk to before class. I need help.

For context I have 5 subjects left on B./Laws online.

I started my degree at Notre dame before transferring when I moved overseas. Back in Aus but stayed at UNE.

At other unis I’ve studied at, each subject has about 3 hours a week minimum of class work, whether lectures or tutorials. Yes you had to do the readings to do well but you could get passes and credits by watching the lectures.

Law at UNE is so different. It’s maybe max half an hour of pre recorded lectures than the laziest one hour tutorial where the lecturer gives zero answers to anything. I’m redoing a unit atm (dropped out for health reasons not failed) and it’s a different lecturer but they’re reusing last years lectures.

They’re 2k a subject and it’s literally recycled content. I’m finding it really hard to keep up as each week it’s 200 pages of reading and a minimally relevant death by PowerPoint episode. My grades are slipping for sure.

Am I just a really lazy, possibly dumb student or are the lecturers just taking the piss at this point. Like what are we paying for??

Hello Everyone

I am a 1L student and I have this question for anyone who did well in 1L , what worked for you and how much did you study?
I hear so many different things and I am worried about whats to come, I am prepared to put in the work and I really am aiming to be at least in the top 20% but I also wanted to get fresh perspective of any methods, hours or ways of studying that worked for you guys.

I really appreciate any honest review or feedback.

Does anyone have any tips on how to write and structure a cover letter specifically for a judicial clerkship? Most of my experience is in plaintiff-side litigation and similar policy/advocacy work, so I'm wondering how to more effectively write for a clerkship rather than a advocacy based position. I've also done a bit of research in the environmental and public health context.

Also, I've seen that you should address to the specific judge. I think the clerkship I am applying to is just all the judges in the states appellate court, it doesn't seem like I am applying to a specific judge, so any advice there?

Thanks in advance!

It’s my first week, and I’m already spending around seven hours outside of class each day just reading and completing assignments. This doesn’t feel sustainable. I’m a really slow reader, especially when it comes to briefing cases, and I’m worried that at this pace I’m going to fall behind.
Does anyone have tips for getting through readings and case briefs more efficiently?
Also, when should I start outlining for each course, and what’s the best way to structure an outline? Should I organize it based on the chapters in the textbook, or follow the topics covered in class/syllabus?

Female 25. I am a law clerk and a 3L. My boss recently asked me if I get paid fairly and asked me make a pitch for a raise. The pitch happened recently which did not go great. I don’t want to go into all the details, but during that discussion he stated that there have been concerns with the other attorneys that I am “too sweet” and concerns that I would not be able to advocate for my client. I do transactional work and I have never really interacted with clients. I mostly do drafting and research. He said I probably have heard that many times in my life, which actually is the opposite of true. Out of work I’m very blunt and outgoing. At work I feel like I am quieter and focus on my job because I’m the youngest by far and can’t relate to any of them. I don’t think I’ve been put in the position to have to stand up for myself or a potion where I would need to be assertive. Most the time I talk to the attorneys it’s either for directions to do an assignment or reviewing my work which I appreciate getting feedback back because I want to get better. I want to make it clear I am not quiet at work. I always talk to them and ask questions. I just am not the most talkative person because I don’t have anything to say. I always take feedback very well and thank them for their time and critic. I tell them I want to get better. I don’t know what to do to remove this perspective off of me. I’ve never been called that before and everyone I talk to is shocked that they said that. I need to work on my confidence but the material is still very new to me and I am trying to learn so I let the attorneys teach me. I always dress business casual (no one else dresses super nice) but I thought about stopp wearing my colorful sweaters. I know that might seem dumb but I think that isn’t helping the so sweet narrative. I need advice on how to be taken more seriously as a young law clerk. I really like this job and I want them to hire me full time. I just don’t know how to improve this.

Okay, I need to know if I’m being dramatic because I feel like I have developed a personal beef with my dean… 😭

For context, I’m an incoming 1L and I’m genuinely excited to start. I also want to make it very clear that I don’t think I’m entitled to a scholarship or special treatment. I completely understand that scholarship money is limited and that admissions deans are busy!!!

BUT.

At admitted students day, I had a conversation with the dean about scholarships. She told me that I was more than likely going to receive a larger scholarship and specifically told me to reach back out after a certain date. She even gave me her personal phone number and told me to contact her.

So I did exactly that. The next day after the date she gave me, I called, left a very polite voicemail, and waited. Nothing.

About two weeks later, I called again. Still nothing.

Then I started noticing people in my incoming class talking about receiving emails & texts from the dean reminding them to complete their assessments. I had not completed mine either, yet I never received one. Again, I didn’t think too much of it because I figured there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Fast-forward about two months, I decide to try one more time. I emailed her through the original email she had sent me and politely asked whether there happened to be any unused scholarship funds available. I basically said that if there were, I would be grateful to be considered.

A few hours later, she responded

“Our class is full and our scholarship bank is exhausted. See you in a few days!”

I have absolutely no issue with that answer. If the scholarship money is gone, it’s gone. I wasn’t expecting her to magically find money for me. What I do find frustrating is that I was specifically told to follow up, given her personal number, followed up multiple times, and never heard back.

Maybe I’m being sensitive, but it’s hard not to feel a little 🤨 about the whole thing.

Please tell me if I’m being unreasonable because I genuinely want to know!!! still grateful but it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth

Currently in my first week of law school and none of this is even remotely intuitive to me.

Would you guys recommend hiring a tutor?

Hi all, incoming 1L here. I posted here somewhat recently about my concerns with how stressful law school will be and how much free time I will have. I mentioned in that post that I will be working part time during 1L, and quite a few people responded by telling me that I was making a huge mistake. At first I sort of brushed off these comments, but now I realize that they were probably (almost definitely) right.

My school’s orientation (which involved attending several hours-long classes, completing actual assignments, a lot of reading, and doing a practice exam, among other things) recently concluded, and that alone made me extremely stressed. Given that, I have made the very difficult decision to put in my 2 weeks notice when I next work. It is an office job where I have unique responsibilities compared to my coworkers, and I have come to really enjoy it over the few years that I’ve been here. I am unsure how to best approach this since I initially told my boss that I would be fine to work, and adjusted my schedule accordingly.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you handle it? Please don’t tell me that I “should’ve quit sooner,” because trust me, I agree. Any help is appreciated