Advice to a 0L
Note:The following is the text of an e-mail I sent to someone who may start law school next academic year. He had asked for "any other good advice you may have for a 1L." I suppose I might be a bit presumptuous, writing like this with only one semester under my belt--but the piece reflects a number of things I know now that I wish someone had told me before I started law school.
As far as general 1L advice:
First, a threshold matter: Are you REALLY sure you want to go through with this? Law school is not for the faint of heart. This is an ugly, unglamorous profession. Do not come to law school because you think you might want to do "something" with a law degree. That is delusional. Come to law school because you want to come out and become a practicing attorney. Before you think of accepting any of those offers, I STRONGLY URGE--INSIST-- that you get in touch with a family friend who is an attorney and talk to him about the profession.
If you're still sure you want to do this:
Warn your friends, family, and loved ones. You are about to embark on an experience that will likely consume most of your time, energy, and passion. It is also an experience that almost none of your close friends or family will remotely understand, unless they themselves have gone to law school (or maybe med school). Even so, DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR NON-LAW-SCHOOL/NON-LAWYER FRIENDS. They will keep you sane--and sanity will be in short supply.
Work:
The work is not intellectually difficult. It is, however, demanding. The style of instruction you will encounter may be somewhat different from what you have been accustomed to up to this point. It will seem, often, that your instructors are willfully obfuscating. That is part of the game. Your first job--indeed, in 1L, arguably your ONLY job-- is to learn to play that game. Be prepared. Answer the questions put to you in class. Do not be afraid to fail spectacularly if you are cold-called in class--this will not usually be held against you, and may teach you a thing or two, if you take the loss with good humor. And, above all, pay attention: no matter what anybody else will tell you (especially if they're trying to sell you hornbooks), the most important source you will have for the exam is the professor.
Treat law school like a job. Go to work in the morning. Put in a full, honest days' work. Go home, and rest. The fact that you've been out "in the world" for a while is a huge benefit. Your sectionmates (who may not even really want to be in law school, but are using it as a way to escape the real world for a few years) will not have the coping skills that you will have developed outside school.
On Legal Writing:
Legal Research & Writing is the worst flashback to high school English class you will ever have. This is normal. Treat your LRW prof. like the senior partner s/he would be in real life: try to adapt as well as you can to the style s/he imposes on you, the Junior Associates. This more easily said than done. Take comfort in the fact that NOBODY likes Legal Research & Writing.
On exams:
Americans tend to view examinations as instruments of torture, or as holdovers from a less enlightened, elitist age. They view terminal assessment as basically unjust, privileging a single day's performance over a whole semester's hard work.
Law school evaluation is un-American. Not only are examinations terminal assessments--your whole grade is in a single exam-- but the grades themselves are awarded on a fairly inflexible curve. No matter how good you feel about your exam, no matter how well you think you know the law--that doesn't matter nearly as well as how well or poorly your section-mates did on the same exam. Like it or not, you are going to be ranked according to your performance on a single arbitrary problem that will test your ability to apply "the law" to a ridiculous set of hypothetical facts.
If you are in Japan, talk to your Japanese colleagues about "exam hell" and their experiences with juku. That is the world you are about to inhabit. Be warned.
This will suck. But you can learn to love it. Terminal assessment actually makes the day-to-day learning a little easier, because your minor daily or weekly faults do not count against you. Focus less on RESULTS and more on PROCESS. Get your PROCESS right, and the RESULTS will take care of themselves.
Finally:
This type of letter would be nothing without a disclaimer. All of the foregoing are my personal observations three-quarters through my 1L year. Once again, I URGE you to talk to your lawyer friends about what you're about to do. Law school can be a wonderful experience on the way to a meaningful vocation in the Law--but it is not without its indignities. You owe it to yourself to go in with both eyes wide open.
As far as general 1L advice:
First, a threshold matter: Are you REALLY sure you want to go through with this? Law school is not for the faint of heart. This is an ugly, unglamorous profession. Do not come to law school because you think you might want to do "something" with a law degree. That is delusional. Come to law school because you want to come out and become a practicing attorney. Before you think of accepting any of those offers, I STRONGLY URGE--INSIST-- that you get in touch with a family friend who is an attorney and talk to him about the profession.
If you're still sure you want to do this:
Warn your friends, family, and loved ones. You are about to embark on an experience that will likely consume most of your time, energy, and passion. It is also an experience that almost none of your close friends or family will remotely understand, unless they themselves have gone to law school (or maybe med school). Even so, DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR NON-LAW-SCHOOL/NON-LAWYER FRIENDS. They will keep you sane--and sanity will be in short supply.
Work:
The work is not intellectually difficult. It is, however, demanding. The style of instruction you will encounter may be somewhat different from what you have been accustomed to up to this point. It will seem, often, that your instructors are willfully obfuscating. That is part of the game. Your first job--indeed, in 1L, arguably your ONLY job-- is to learn to play that game. Be prepared. Answer the questions put to you in class. Do not be afraid to fail spectacularly if you are cold-called in class--this will not usually be held against you, and may teach you a thing or two, if you take the loss with good humor. And, above all, pay attention: no matter what anybody else will tell you (especially if they're trying to sell you hornbooks), the most important source you will have for the exam is the professor.
Treat law school like a job. Go to work in the morning. Put in a full, honest days' work. Go home, and rest. The fact that you've been out "in the world" for a while is a huge benefit. Your sectionmates (who may not even really want to be in law school, but are using it as a way to escape the real world for a few years) will not have the coping skills that you will have developed outside school.
On Legal Writing:
Legal Research & Writing is the worst flashback to high school English class you will ever have. This is normal. Treat your LRW prof. like the senior partner s/he would be in real life: try to adapt as well as you can to the style s/he imposes on you, the Junior Associates. This more easily said than done. Take comfort in the fact that NOBODY likes Legal Research & Writing.
On exams:
Americans tend to view examinations as instruments of torture, or as holdovers from a less enlightened, elitist age. They view terminal assessment as basically unjust, privileging a single day's performance over a whole semester's hard work.
Law school evaluation is un-American. Not only are examinations terminal assessments--your whole grade is in a single exam-- but the grades themselves are awarded on a fairly inflexible curve. No matter how good you feel about your exam, no matter how well you think you know the law--that doesn't matter nearly as well as how well or poorly your section-mates did on the same exam. Like it or not, you are going to be ranked according to your performance on a single arbitrary problem that will test your ability to apply "the law" to a ridiculous set of hypothetical facts.
If you are in Japan, talk to your Japanese colleagues about "exam hell" and their experiences with juku. That is the world you are about to inhabit. Be warned.
This will suck. But you can learn to love it. Terminal assessment actually makes the day-to-day learning a little easier, because your minor daily or weekly faults do not count against you. Focus less on RESULTS and more on PROCESS. Get your PROCESS right, and the RESULTS will take care of themselves.
Finally:
This type of letter would be nothing without a disclaimer. All of the foregoing are my personal observations three-quarters through my 1L year. Once again, I URGE you to talk to your lawyer friends about what you're about to do. Law school can be a wonderful experience on the way to a meaningful vocation in the Law--but it is not without its indignities. You owe it to yourself to go in with both eyes wide open.