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41 lines
3.2 KiB
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41 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: On Law School
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tags:
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- essay
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- incomplete
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date: 2023-09-20
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draft: true
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---
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I have a lot of thoughts about law school, both as an institution and the type of culture it creates in the workforce. These include my experiences as a student and as an observer. Places and names will be altered to preserve anonymity as well as the school that I'm attending. [[#Homework/Further Reading|Prospective law students, click here]].
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## Applying
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I was one of the lucky ones that knew I wanted to be a lawyer right out of the gate.
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With law school, a substantial minority of applicants are on their second career ("nontraditional students"), or view law school as a backup plan after job prospects from their recent degree didn't pan out. Teachers and aspiring history professors are plentiful in this degree.
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- Sidebar: I will say, teachers being present makes study sessions very helpful, and icebreaker parties significantly more fun!
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For the uninitiated, law school as a process usually looks like this:
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Take the [[Misc/lsat|entrance exam]] $\rightarrow$ apply $\rightarrow$ first semester $\rightarrow$ 1L job offer $\rightarrow$ Second semester $\rightarrow$ 1L summer job $\rightarrow$ 2L job offer $\rightarrow$ second year $\rightarrow$ 2L summer job $\rightarrow$ career offer $\rightarrow$ third year $\rightarrow$ career.
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Sometimes, the timing of job offers will be delayed, as it depends on the type of employment that you're pursuing. I talk about this more in the [[#Job Prospects]] section.
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In this process, it feels like every step is more daunting than the last.
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There are a lot of equitable concerns and shady dealings with law school applications, as well as a lot of conflicting opinions.
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## Your First Year
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### Detour: Constitutional Law
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## Job Prospects
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### "Big Law"
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### "Public Interest"
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## Ethical Obligations
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## Homework/Further Reading
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For those considering law school, I'd like to suggest two resources to you.
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During my undergraduate studies, I stumbled across an excellent account by Rhett Campbell, a retired energy bankruptcy attorney. At the time I found these (and presumably when they were updated), he was the CEO of a nonprofit called the Terry Foundation. A lot of his opinions hold up, and I've uploaded them here as PDFs at [[Attachments/why-not-to-go-to-law-school.pdf|Why Not to Go to Law School]] and [[Attachments/law-study.pdf|Guide to Making Good Grades in Law School]]. All credit goes to Campbell for these resources. If you only take two things from these documents, let them be "**law school is hell**" and "**outline early, outline often**."
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- Sidebar: I do agree with Campbell's view that there's a certain "fire in the belly" that you need to be a lawyer. I think I satisfied this because reading these documents made me excited, not stressed.
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- Sidebar x2: The resources he recommended weren't that helpful. The real value of his writings is his firsthand experience.
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During the application "cycle," I also enjoyed Kathryne Young's book How to be Sort of Happy in Law School, and I think it provides a realistic expectation of what it means to be a law student while also being a person. Some of what I talk about in the [[#Detour Constitutional Law|detour on con law]] comes straight from her book. |