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Preparing for Law School & the Law School Experience Frequently Asked Questions About Preparing for Law School Choosing a Major That being said, what admissions officials look for in applicants is that they challenge themselves with a broad-based curriculum that trains them to analyze, read, speak and write well. On the other hand, don't choose a major for which you have little ability, that is too demanding, and thus prevents you from doing well in your classes. It is important to be realistic. If you imagine yourself doing patent law later on but you find that, as an undergraduate, you have little talent for mathematics, physics, or engineering, then it is probably not a good idea to get a degree in those fields. You may have a much more productive experience pursuing a major in Psychology, English or Political Science. Also, don't take more than one major unless you have a real burning desire to do so and really can handle it. Some other suggestions: If your major is heavily technical or quantitative, you should make a point of sampling some writing intensive classes to prove that you are capable of communicating well. On the other hand, if you are a French literature major, you may want to take a couple of economics classes (for credit) to show that you are not intimidated by that type of material. Be sure to take some advanced courses while in college to demonstrate that you are capable of demanding work. Admissions officials sniff out those who take a lot of "gut," or introductory level, courses. The other thing to be careful about is taking too many "pre law" classes, i.e. in legal studies or criminal justice, at the expense of a balance of traditional liberal arts classes. Law school curricula are designed for incoming students who have no specific knowledge of the law and law schools prefer to teach them the law themselves. Pre law courses are useful in that they introduce you to broad legal principles and may aid you in deciding whether or not you want to pursue a legal education, but they are usually not taught with the same depth and rigor as in actual law schools. Taking Time Off Before Law School Many people decide to take time off before attending law school. People have different reasons: they may be tired of school, they may not be sure they really want to be a lawyer, they may want to gain work experience, they may want to travel or save money or start a family. In almost any case, taking time off would likely be seen as a positive factor, although not necessarily a major factor, in an admission decision. Time off might work against you if you just waste the time and do not do anything substantial. But generally, most substantive experiences involving work, study, or travel will be viewed as positive, enabling you to develop maturity, thus making you more attractive to a law school. Taking time off can also be advantageous because it allows you to devote more time during your senior year to academics rather than applying to law school - and thus, if your GPA needs to be strengthened, you will have the opportunity to do so. Your entire academic record will be available to law schools, not just six or seven semesters. Remember also that almost all schools will accept LSAT scores less than three years old; but generally, few will accept scores more than three to five years old. If you are planning on taking time off, then consider taking the LSAT right after you graduate, rather than in the fall of your senior year. Some students deliberately choose to delay entering law school in order to work for a year or more. This may be to earn money for law school itself, or to add to their applications by demonstrating that they are motivated to succeed both in and outside the classroom. These students enhance their own diversity through their work experience and, thus enhance the diversity they bring to the law school classroom. A strong work record in a position of responsibility demonstrates your readiness to commit to law school. An added bonus, taking time off gives you "real world" experience that will help you understand the legal controversies you will study in law school. When you get to law school you will find company in many of your fellow students who have also had a hiatus of a year or more before entering law school, and thus bring their work experience and maturity to class. Occasionally, an applicant with a weak academic record can improve his chances of getting into law school if he has distinguished herself at a job of substantial responsibility. For those applicants who aren't sure that they want to be lawyers, working for a year or two in a law firm or legal organization, may help them decide. Taking time off before law school is not for everyone. Many students are firm in their desire to continue on to law school immediately and become successful law students. If you are at all unsure, however, whether or not to take time off, speak with a pre-law advisor. Law School Survival Guide To many entering law students, the teaching methods employed in law school are likely to be as novel as the subject matter taught. • A common misperception is that law school is about memorizing laws. In fact, Cases are usually used to illustrate the application of a doctrine of law. It is this doctrine that is important, while the facts of the case and the particularities of the application are often secondary to the doctrine in general. • Narratives in both textbooks and in class are rare and students are seldom provided with an explicit presentation of legal doctrine. • Reading materials used in class usually consist of “casebooks” and other supplementary materials. A casebook is a compilation of court opinions, relevant statutory material, articles or text excerpts, and some editorial comments and explanation. • Most professors proceed by the case method, which involves interpreting court opinions for points of doctrinal interest. • Socratic Method: Usually professors seek to elicit points of doctrine from the students themselves. Generally a professor, rather than simply lecturing the class about a case or doctrine, will instead ask questions to specific students to elicit response. This technique is called the “Socratic Method.” The goal of the Socratic method is to discourage intellectual passivity and sharpen analytical skills. While your grade in class will not likely depend upon students’ responses to these questions, many students still find this technique to be quite daunting. • Legal Writing: Legal writing is very different from the type of writing required by most undergraduate courses. Although creativity may be somewhat important in legal writing, greater emphasis is placed on logical reasoning, structured analysis and concise rhetoric. Most law schools will require at least one course in legal writing. Often, these courses will also teach students how to research case law and other authority, both inside the library and on-line. Curriculum Much of the first year curriculum is unwritten, unspoken and untested. For example, students are left to assimilate many elements of legal culture and jargon often by osmosis and without explicit discussion. Although it does not lend itself to easy synopsis, this tacit curriculum is at least as important in shaping students’ understanding as the official one is. Meanwhile, an overt attempt is made to impart substantive knowledge in areas of the law that are supposed to supply necessary grounding for more advanced work. Most students in the first year will be required to take: Civil Procedure: This course is devoted to a consideration of the basic problems of civil procedure. Pleading, discovery, multi-party actions, trial practice, and judgments are considered in terms of function and technique. The course is designed to introduce the student to underlying problems such as jurisdiction, the choice of law in the federal system, and the role of courts as law-making institutions. Constitutional Law: This course is a study of basic issues of federal constitutional law. Major topics often include the role of courts in the interpretation and enforcement of the U.S. Constitution, the scope of federal legislative powers under the Constitution; how federalism policy places limitations on the powers of state and local governments; individual civil, political, and human rights under the U.S. Constitution, with primary emphasis on the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the freedom of expression guarantees of the First Amendment. Contracts: This course is a study of the legal protection accorded promissory arrangements. It deals with the reconciliation of the competing values of private ordering through consent-based agreements and of public regulation of exchange transactions. Subject matter considered includes the interpretation of contract terms, the effect of changed or unforeseen circumstances on contract obligations, and the remedies that the law provides for breach of contract. Also considered are problems of contracts negotiated by agents and the rights of third parties in contractual arrangements through assignments or third party beneficiary contracts. The Uniform Commercial Code is prominent in the legal sources studied. Criminal Law: This course examines criminal law as a device for defining and controlling harmful behavior. Attention is given to the theoretical justifications for and the effectiveness of punishment, the foundations of culpability, the basic principles of criminal liability, and the definition of offenses and defenses. The Model Penal Code is prominent in the legal sources studied. Property: This course explores the legal institution of property, primarily through an examination of possession, ownership and use of land, including adverse possession, prescription, rights in the land of another, types of estates in land, public control of land use, and eminent domain. Torts: The course develops and analyzes the basic philosophies and theories supporting civil liability for harm to the person, personality, and real property, and the rules prescribing the intentional, negligent, and wrongful conduct on which liability is predicated. In addition to these standard courses, first year students may be required to take a number of prescribed electives, often focusing on regulatory or administrative areas of law. Grades/Exams In law school, unlike in undergraduate classes, your first semester grades will depend entirely upon your performance on your final exams. Generally, the exams, typically three to four hours long, are graded anonymously. Often referred to as “issue spotters”, first year exams generally present hypothetical fact situations requiring identification and analysis of the relevant legal issues. Preparation While most students in law school will be given a passing grade for their performance on exams, preparation for class and for exams becomes very important. Briefing Cases Most reading assignments in law school will involve reading cases, written in the form of court opinions. Since court opinions are written by judges, they often consist of several pages, contain legalese and offer extraneous information referred to as dicta. In response to this, lawyers have developed a technique known as case briefing. Briefing is used to parse information from the casebooks into one or two page reference tools. Most law schools recommend that first year law students attempt this technique in preparing for classes as it will ensure that students glean the important information from the cases, rather than just simply skimming the reading assignments for lost details. Outlines Unlike tests in college or high school, most law school courses are at least partially tested through a form of open-book exam. Often, students are permitted to bring self-prepared study guides to their tests. Careful preparation of these study guides, called “outlines” can therefore be extremely crucial, and many students begin to outline their courses early on in the semester. A good course outline brings order to the vast amount of information disseminated in each class, and therefore, students often refer to hand-me-down outlines to aid in their own preparation. Commercial Outlines In preparing their own study outlines, students also rely on commercially prepared outlines, (some common commercial study aids include: Emanuel’s, Gilbert’s and Nutshells) and other study aids in addition to their class notes and casebooks. Though most professors frown on reliance upon these devices, these guides often provide a clear statement of prevailing legal doctrine which may not always be clear from attending class or self-preparation. Group Study Though tests are administered individually, some students elect to form study groups in the first year to help synthesize information. These groups may meet throughout the semester or coalesce only around exam time. Some groups divide the intellectual labor of producing outlines, while others just discuss. While some students may find it helpful to develop friends with whom they can talk about and experiment with novel legal concepts, others find that they can most effectively prepare alone. Whether a group is the best way to achieve this depends on your learning style and the personalities involved. Journal Participation At the end of the first year of law school, students are given the option of participating in a writing competition for membership on one of the various Journals or Law Reviews published at the Law School. Journals are often student run, and membership is generally determined through a writing competition held at the end of the second semester. Writing competitions may vary by school, but many include submitting writing samples and editing sample articles according to standard legal citation methods found in something called the Bluebook. Journal participation is not mandatory, but participation, especially on the school’s Law Review, is generally considered to be an honor. During your second year, you are free to take any courses you wish, although some law schools require you take certain classes, such as Professional Responsibility and Evidence. These are required in most states to meet the bar requirements. This is also the time to explore different areas of the law that interest you. Journals and Law Review Membership on a journal or law review is a rewarding experience. Although the work takes up a great deal of time during your 2nd and 3rd years, the experience is invaluable. Although journal membership is not required, it could be useful in honing writing and editing skills. Extracurricular Activities/Social Organizations After your first year, your schedule frees up some time for extracurricular activities and social organizations. Membership in social organizations and participation in extracurricular events are essential for balance in your life, but beware to not burden yourself with too many! Moot Court For aspiring litigators, or for law students interested in a simulated court experience, moot court is the way to go. Moot court is similar to high school and college Mock Trial competitions. There are various competitions that will become available to you in the 2nd year, and many students participate to gain experience in real legal practice. The competitions can be especially interesting for students interested in litigation. Despite the hard work that goes into their preparation, moot court competitions can also be a lot of fun. Grades/Ranking Many students have concerns regarding their grades and class ranking. Although important, one should not obsess over them. Grades from the 1st year can affect the student’s job prospects in the 2nd year. If, however, a student had a bad semester, then he should work hard to remedy his record rather than assume that his career is ruined. The issue of poor performance may come up in a job interview, however; a student should be prepared to explain it. Not all law schools have class ranking (Penn Law does not). A lot of law schools have a ranking system where the student’s grades serve as a basis for ranking the student and the student is placed in a performance percentile within the class. For example, if a student receives very good grades, they may be ranked within the top 5% of their class. Class ranking works very much in the same way as grades, and students should be aware of their ranking, but should not obsess about it. Apart from grades and rank, don’t forget other things such as leadership positions, journal membership, and moot court participation, all of which will boost the resume of any law student. On-Campus Recruiting/Job Interviews During your 2nd year, you are exposed to the hectic world of on-campus recruiting. With a little planning the summer before the 2nd year, your on-campus recruiting season should go smoothly. This is an important time because you are interviewing for summer associate jobs, which could later turn into permanent employment. Planning involves taking advantage of on-campus recruiting and all the services provided by your career planning and placement office. You may also contact firms not coming to visit your school on your own. This information may be obtained by searching websites and glancing through the various legal employment databases and guides. Time management is critical during the OCR process, since you are balancing numerous interviews daily with classes, schoolwork, journal obligations and extracurricular activities. Sanity is key and if you approach job interviewing in an organized manner, you will dramatically increase your chances of landing a job. Just be prepared to talk about yourself a lot and wear a suit almost everyday! Clerkships Clerkships are a great way for young attorneys to jump right into legal practice following graduation. Clerkships allow you to work directly with a judge and offer practical experience and insight into the legal profession. Clerkships are prestigious and therefore very competitive. Doing a little research on judges ahead of time will help you when it comes time to apply for these coveted positions. Applying for clerkships can be time consuming and there are a lot of steps that need to be followed. Visiting your office of career and planning office is usually your best bet as they usually guide you through the process. Non-traditional Uses of the JD Many students think that their only option after law school is limited to either becoming a litigator or a corporate attorney. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Attorneys are employed in various fields and work in different capacities. A law degree is very useful and can be utilized in many ways. Lawyers can be found in organizations such as state agencies, unions, accounting and consulting firms. Your law degree and the skills you learned in law school will be invaluable when you graduate. Conclusion Law school is a lot of work, but it can also be a lot fun. Take the time to challenge yourself and enjoy the different opportunities that will be available to you. Although law school is three years, they will go by fast. Make the most of your time during these years and enjoy the educational and social experience. Good Luck!
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