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Guidelines for Making Legal Choices

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  3. Law Students
  4. Law Student Career Advice
  5. Surviving Law School
  6. Guidelines for Making Legal Choices

published July 30, 2013

By Author - LawCrossing
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( 1 vote, average: 5 out of 5)
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  1. CHOOSE BY PROFESSOR, NOT TITLE.

    Teachers make (or break) law school classes. Tax can be Chinese torture or dim sum-it all depends on the professor.


    Law is not easy. Because law is not easy, teaching law (and making the complex understandable) is an art. Only a few professors do it exactly right. The Socratic Method-used by law school professors everywhere-mandates a special blend of question-answer, sometimes (but not always) followed by an explanatory end-of-class lecture. Some professors never get the concoction right. They lecture far too much, question poorly, or maybe just walk up and down the aisle saying nothing. But, as any current law school student will tell you, there's something magical about being in class with a master of the Socratic Method.

    Every school has a few professors who excel at the teaching game. You owe it to yourself to find them. One might even change your career path. How many people go to law school intending to be tax lawyers?

  2. CONSULT OLDER STUDENTS AND TEACHER EVALUATION GUIDES.

    How do you find the best professors and classes? Ask older students. Older students can be an invaluable resource. They can give you old class outlines, old study guides and books, local restaurant tips, and, yes, information about the professors to sign up for and the ones to avoid.

    Also, read the teacher evaluation guides. These guides, usually put together by the student association, rate courses and professors on everything from difficulty to effectiveness to teaching style. If your school has one of these guides, use it extensively.

  3. TAKE A CLINICAL.

    One of the best ways to spice up your schedule and get some valuable real-life experience is to sign up for a clinical. A clinical is essentially working for school credit. The choices are usually varied For example, you might work for a judge, a public defender, a prosecutor, or legal services (helping those who cannot afford private lawyers). A clinical is especially appropriate for students who do not find legal work in their first summer or perhaps for students who do find legal work, but not in the area in which they want to practice. Employers like real-life experience. You might even end up working for your clinical employer upon graduation. Besides, many students say clinicals are the most fun and most rewarding experiences they have during law school.

  4. VARY PAPER AND TEST COURSES.

    I took four exam classes one semester. I loved not having to write any papers during the term, but come finals week, I was sorry. I had three finals in three days, with little time to recuperate. I should have taken at least one paper class. -TRICIA SIMPSON, FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL

    Unlike most college finals, law school finals are tough. You actually have to study for your law school finals-and study hard! Also, law school finals are draining mentally and physically. Too many finals in a row may signal disaster come grade time, especially if you are taking several hard-core courses.

    A good mix of paper and exam classes, which usually means about one paper class and three exam classes, is your best bet. During the semester, you can concentrate on your paper. Then, a few weeks before finals, start focusing on your exams.

    If you are a procrastinator, be careful. This formula does not work if you are finishing up your paper the night before your big Corporations exam.

  5. GET RID OF REQUIREMENTS EARLY.

    Most law schools have additional requirements beyond the first year. For example, some schools require Constitutional Law or maybe Corporations. Most states also require that you take a professional responsibility or legal profession course before being admitted to the bar. Don't save these courses for your last semester.

    At Columbia Law School a few years ago, third-year students protested, claiming that there were not enough legal profession courses and that many third-years could not graduate without that required course. The school added an additional legal profession course. Don't be put in that position. Figure out what you need for graduation and admittance to the bar, and make sure that you enroll in those courses early on.

  6. TAKE IMPORTANT COURSES-EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT MANDATORY.

    Even if your school does not require certain courses, most lawyers (and employers) will expect that you have an understanding of certain basic areas of law. Below is a list of important, if not mandatory, courses. You should sign up for all of these classes:

    • Administrative Law
    • Constitutional Law
    • Corporations
    • Evidence
    • Tax

    Here are some other important courses that you might want to consider, although they are not as "basic" as those listed above. If you are definitely not interested, you can skip over these courses. If you think you might be interested, sign up:

    • Employment Law or Labor Law
    • Federal Courts
    • Intellectual Property
    • One legal history or legal philosophy (Jurisprudence) class
    • Secured Transactions
    • Securities Regulation
    • Trusts and Estates
    • U.C.C. survey course

  7. GET OFF THE LAW SCHOOL CAMPUS.

    Law school can be all-encompassing. It would be easy to spend every waking moment around other law students and to fill all your course schedules with law school classes. Some law students love law school so much that they want it that way.

    For most students, however, law school will represent the end of almost 20 years of formal schooling. Once you start work, you probably will not have time to take a general philosophy course or learn a new language. Most law schools will let you take a small number of select courses at the undergraduate campus or at other graduate schools. If you have an itch for something a little different, scratch it.

  8. CONCENTRATE IN AT LEAST ONE AREA OF INTEREST.

    During your three years, you should try to take several courses in at least one area that you are passionate about or perhaps want to pursue in terms of a career. Below is a list of several concentrations and the corresponding courses that you may consider. If you are focusing in one of the areas below, you do not have to take all of the corresponding courses, but you should take many of them.

  1. Legal Jobs
  2. Legal Articles
  3. Law Students
  4. Law Student Career Advice
  5. Surviving Law School
  6. Guidelines for Making Legal Choices

published July 30, 2013

By Author - LawCrossing
( 1 vote, average: 5 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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