So you want to go to law school? Congratulations, you have now signed up for one of the most interesting educational experiences around. But before you send in your tuition deposit, here are a couple of suggestions.
Leave your ego at the door.
Law schools all over the country are populated with students who are smart, many of them smarter than you. I don't care if you graduated summa cum laude at your undergrad school--chances are there are 10 other people in your law school class who can go toe to toe with you in academics and may another 10 whose academic skills will leave you envious.
Generally, law school classes include a self-selected population of undergrad students who all graduated in the top third or quarter of their college classes, so just because you did doesn't mean you are the smartest person in the room. Because of the nature of law school classes, your law school classmates don't care about your academic credentials and here is a big tip--neither will your professors.
One last thing about egos. Don't be afraid or embarassed either. In law school, if no one cares that you graduated number 1 in your college class, they also don't care if you didn't. Stand up for yourself, make a strong argument and if you lose, stand up, dust yourself off and try again.
Be Ready to Work--hard
Law school is a grind--not rocket science. In many respects, law school is more about working hard and being willing to work hard than sheer brilliance. I have know students who, through sheer force of will and dedication to working, have done well, despite all expectations, including their own expectations.
Working to be prepared for class, doing the reading, taking notes, showing up for class. These are the successes to law school. Professors will respect the student to keeps trying, who comes for additional input or help. Most professors love talking to students (at least mine did) and welcome any chance to help a law student become a good lawyer.
In my time in law school, I have learned that the students who do well work hard. End of story.
Learn to Analyze Failures
In law school, at some point or another, a professor is going to tear you down and it will suck. In many repects, the first time it happens can mean the difference between success and failure in law school. For most of us, the first time the Socratic gauntlet knocks us cold, it can be a punishing experience because we are not used to such treatment. Until this point, we were used to being right. But law school is not about being right as much as it is about being critical. When you fail in the Socratic method, and you will, no matter what. The most important lesson is to discover what went wrong. An example.
In my Contracts class during my first year, we were talking about a case involving consideration. This was probably three weeks into my law school career. I was named in teh Socratic lottery and the questioning began. I made a rash statement about the nature of consideration and how it had to be tangible and of real value. Follow up questions soon painted me into a corner and I could see what was coming--I was trapped into a failing argument. The failure didn't come for about three more questions, but I saw it coming. My argument was based on not on real legal principles but on a mistake notion about the nature of consideration. What was the lesson--I learned that it doesn't matter to teh professor if you are right or wrong, but what matters is that you learn to think on your feet and try.
You see, law school is the place in the legal profession where you can make mistakes and the consequences are not life or career threatening. Law school is where you can be wrong and not get sued for malpractice. Teh second lesson I learned is that by being active in class, even if you are wrong, you still learn something. To this day, I have no trouble putting my hand in the air. I am not embarrased and each time I analyze what happened and what could be better. Such is the nature of law school.
Don't Try to Impress Others with Your Schedule
You never know who you are sitting next to in class. I once had a classmate lean over and tell me he was studying and going to class 12 hours a day. Because I thought he was a smart aleck who needed to be taken down a notch, I replied that I was thoroughly unimpressed. Noting that a classmate of ours had given birth a week earlier and was back in class, I said that was impressive. Any schmuck can work hard for 12 hours a day, it takes great ability to work 12 hours a day and take care of an infant.
I also told him that I was an evening division student and could care less what his schedule was when I was struggling with mine.
More to come.
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