Law school is often described as a transformative experience—one filled with academic rigor, high expectations, and a steep learning curve. But many attorneys will tell you that some of the most important lessons aren’t in the casebooks. They come later, through experience, hindsight, and reflection.
We interviewed a range of successful attorneys—partners, in-house counsel, public defenders, and BigLaw associates—to answer one powerful question: “What do you wish you knew in law school?” Their advice can help law students and early-career professionals make more informed decisions, avoid common pitfalls, and better prepare for life beyond the classroom.
Your Grades Matter, But They’re Not Everything
Ask any law student what their biggest source of stress is, and chances are they’ll say grades, especially during 1L. And with good reason. Your GPA often determines eligibility for On-Campus Interviews (OCI), Law Review, clerkship opportunities, and even summer associate roles. Top grades can open doors at elite law firms, government agencies, and federal courts.
But while academic performance matters, it’s not the only—or even the most important—determinant of long-term legal success. Many top attorneys say they overestimated the role grades would play in their careers and underestimated the importance of relationships, self-awareness, and practical skills.
Why Grades Matter Early
- OCI and Hiring Filters: Many firms and employers use GPA cutoffs to decide who gets interviews.
- Scholarship and Honors: Academic performance often controls access to Law Review, moot court, and academic awards.
- Transfer and Clerkship Applications: Competitive programs—like transferring to a higher-ranked law school or clerking for a federal judge—require top grades.
Why They Matter Less Over Time
Once you’ve landed your first job, employers start to care more about your performance, judgment, and communication skills than your 1L Contracts grade. As your career progresses, you’re evaluated on:
- How well you write and analyze complex issues
- Your ability to manage clients and deadlines
- Your professionalism, reputation, and emotional intelligence
- The relationships and trust you build within your team and among clients
“I didn’t make Law Review. I wasn’t even in the top third. But I worked hard, built strong connections, and learned how to make myself indispensable.”
— Partner at national litigation firm
Striking the Right Balance
- Do your best academically, especially during 1L. But remember that grades are just one piece of your professional puzzle.
- Utilize your strengths outside the classroom—such as writing, leadership, and networking—to build a well-rounded profile.
- Don’t let one bad semester define you. Employers care far more about your trajectory than a single data point.
Grades can open doors, but they don’t build your entire house. Focus on excelling where you can, but don’t neglect the skills and relationships that will carry you through the decades ahead. The most successful attorneys combine competence with character, and that goes far beyond your transcript.
Build Relationships—Not Just a Résumé
In law school, it’s easy to fall into the trap of measuring success by credentials—grades, journals, internships, and titles. While these things are important, many top attorneys say their most meaningful and career-defining opportunities came not from bullet points on a résumé, but from genuine relationships built along the way.
The legal profession is as much about who you know and how you engage with them as it is about what you’ve achieved on paper.
Why Relationships Matter More Than You Think
The legal community is surprisingly small. People you meet as classmates, professors, summer colleagues, or networking contacts often reappear throughout your career—as opposing counsel, clients, co-counsel, or hiring partners.Top attorneys often reflect on how:
- A professor became a long-term mentor or clerkship recommender
- A peer referred them to a job opportunity years later
- An informational interview led to an unexpected career pivot
“Some of my closest referrals come from people I went to school with. I didn’t realize back then that classmates would later become GCs and partners.”
— Partner, boutique corporate law firm
Relationships Outlast Résumé Lines
While journal membership and honors look great during OCI, your interpersonal reputation lasts far longer. Employers often ask:
- What’s this person like to work with?
- Would I trust them with a client?
- Would I want them on my team at 2 a.m. before a deadline?
Learn How to Think Like a Lawyer—Not Just Memorize the Law
One of the most common misconceptions new law students have is that success depends on memorizing rules, cases, and statutes. While knowing the law is important, top attorneys agree: the true goal of law school is to learn how to think like a lawyer.
This means developing the ability to analyze complex issues, reason critically, spot nuances, and craft persuasive arguments—not just recite black-letter law.
The Pitfall of Memorization
In undergrad, high performance often came from studying lecture notes, recalling definitions, and reproducing information on exams. Many students carry that habit into law school, only to realize that memorization alone doesn’t work on a law school final or in real legal practice. Many of these lessons are easier to internalize if you begin preparation early—check out 10 essential tips to help you prepare for law school.Law exams and actual client problems are rarely about knowing the answer—they’re about how you approach the problem:
- Can you identify the relevant issues?
- Can you distinguish between similar precedents?
- Can you reason through ambiguity and argue both sides?
- Can you apply a legal principle to a novel set of facts?
“I spent my first semester trying to memorize every rule. What helped me click was understanding how the rules fit into a bigger strategy—how to argue from them, not just recall them.”
— Appellate litigator, former federal clerk
What It Means to "Think Like a Lawyer"
- Analytical precision: Lawyers don’t just identify issues—they dissect them. They break down fact patterns and parse language with care.
- Structured reasoning: You learn to build arguments in logical steps, using rules, exceptions, and evidence to support conclusions.
- Perspective-taking: You’re trained to argue both sides of an issue, anticipate counterarguments, and defend your position under pressure.
- Problem-solving mindset: Thinking like a lawyer involves looking at legal problems from a solution-oriented angle—what’s the best path forward for your client?
How to Develop This Skill in Law School
- Focus on understanding doctrine, not just memorizing it. Ask yourself how and why a rule applies—not just what the rule is.
- Practice writing out analyses. Use IRAC (Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion) or similar frameworks to build fluency in legal reasoning.
- Engage with hypotheticals. Professors use cold calls and Socratic questioning to sharpen your ability to reason on the spot. Embrace that challenge.
- Join study groups that emphasize discussion, not just review. Talking through fact patterns with peers helps you learn to approach problems dynamically.
- Seek feedback on your writing. Legal memos, briefs, and even exams are the training ground for sharpening your thought process.
Clients don’t hire lawyers to recite the law—they hire them to interpret it, apply it, and craft strategies that protect their interests. Judges don’t want regurgitated rules—they want persuasive reasoning.
The best attorneys aren’t just libraries of legal knowledge—they’re strategic thinkers and confident problem-solvers.
Learning how to think like a lawyer is the most important skill law school teaches—and the one that will serve you for the rest of your career. Don’t settle for memorizing outlines. Strive to understand how the law works, how to use it, and how to think your way through uncertainty. That’s the mindset that separates students from future leaders in the legal profession. Complement this advice with strategies to maximize law school success to set yourself up for a strong career launch.
Focus on Writing—It’s the Skill That Sets You Apart
Legal writing is one of the most undervalued yet most essential skills in the profession. Law school may be full of lectures, readings, and discussions, but the one thing nearly all successful attorneys agree on is this: your writing will define your credibility, your opportunities, and your future.
It’s not just about writing clearly—it’s about writing precisely, persuasively, and professionally in high-stakes environments where your words carry legal weight.
Why Legal Writing Matters So Much
Your ability to research and write isn’t just something you develop in Legal Writing class—it’s something you’ll use every day as a lawyer:
- Drafting memos and client updates
- Writing motions, pleadings, and briefs
- Creating contracts, agreements, and policy documents
- Preparing summaries for partners, judges, and in-house counsel
- Communicating via email with precision and clarity
“The partner I worked for didn’t care what my class rank was. He told me straight: if you can write clearly and persuasively, you’ll always have a place here.”
— Senior associate, Am Law 100 firm
Writing Is the Ultimate Differentiator
In a sea of law students with similar GPAs and resumes, writing is often the tie-breaker. It's what:
- Wins job offers after writing sample reviews
- Makes partners delegate higher-level tasks to you
- Builds trust with clients, judges, and opposing counsel
- Drives thought leadership and professional credibility
How to Sharpen Your Writing in Law School
- Take Writing Seriously—Even in Small Assignments
Every memo, email, and class assignment presents an opportunity to improve. Don't treat writing courses as throwaways—they’re your foundation. - Seek Feedback Early and Often
Don’t just settle for a grade. Ask professors and TAs for detailed feedback on structure, clarity, tone, and argumentation. Writing is a skill you refine, not a talent you either have or don’t. - Read Great Legal Writing
Study appellate briefs, court opinions, and top student notes. Observe how skilled writers frame arguments, cite credible sources, and guide the reader. - Practice Across Formats
Get comfortable with multiple writing styles: objective memos, persuasive briefs, concise emails, and long-form analysis. Each context demands a different tone and precision. - Join a Journal or Write Independently
Law Review and other journals sharpen editing, attention to detail, and bluebooking. Even if you don’t join one, consider writing a note or blog post to develop your voice.
Writing Doesn’t End at Graduation. Once you’re practicing, your writing becomes your reputation. Clients and colleagues will judge your competence by the quality of your work product. Partners will notice if they can provide a draft for you to revise, or if they need to rewrite it themselves.
The lawyers who advance fastest are often those whose writing makes others' jobs easier.Law school can make you feel like grades, networking, and prestige are all that matter—but writing is the long game. It's the skill that underpins almost every task in legal practice. If you master it early and treat every assignment as a chance to grow, you’ll not only set yourself apart—you’ll be better prepared than most of your peers for the demands of real-world lawyering.
Explore Practice Areas Early—Even if You Think You Know What You Want
The truth is, your legal career will likely evolve in ways you can’t fully predict during 1L. That’s why top attorneys recommend one thing above all when it comes to planning your career: stay curious and explore broadly—even if you think you already know what you want.
Why Early Exploration Matters
Law school offers a rare window of time where you can try out different areas of law without long-term consequences. Once you graduate and start practicing, pivoting becomes harder, not impossible, but more complicated due to specialization, firm structures, and market expectations.Exploring early helps you:
- Discover practice areas you may have never considered
- Identify the work environments and cultures you thrive in
- Learn which skills and strengths match which types of law
- Avoid long-term dissatisfaction from choosing a field you “thought” was right
“I came into law school convinced I’d be a prosecutor. I took a clinic in environmental law on a whim and ended up making that my career. I’m so glad I stayed open.”
— In-house environmental counsel, Fortune 500 company
How to Explore Practice Areas in Law School
- Be Intentional with Electives
Don’t just pick classes that sound impressive or are considered easy. Choose courses that expose you to a variety of legal frameworks—contract drafting, administrative law, criminal procedure, tax, IP, international law, etc. - Attend Panels and Info Sessions
Law schools frequently host practice area panels, alumni talks, and employer spotlights. These give you direct insight into what lawyers in various fields actually do day-to-day, and whether it sounds appealing to you. - Try Different Internships and Clinics
Utilize summer jobs, externships, and legal clinics to gain practical experience. You might find you love transactional work, enjoy the courtroom, or thrive in policy-focused roles—all things you can’t learn from a textbook. - Talk to Practicing Attorneys
Conduct informational interviews with lawyers across a wide range of specialties. Ask them how they chose their field, what they love about it, and what they wish they had known. - Follow the Legal News
Pay attention to trends. Areas like privacy law, ESG, AI regulation, cannabis law, and fintech are emerging rapidly. Reading about developments can spark interest and help you get ahead of the curve.
Don’t Let Early Preferences Box You In. Even if you’ve always dreamed of being a litigator or an M&A attorney, it’s worth testing your assumptions. Many students are surprised to learn:
- Corporate law isn’t all deal glamor—it’s late nights and fine-print diligence
- Litigation isn’t just about court—it’s years of discovery and negotiation
- Some niche areas offer better lifestyle balance, creativity, or purpose
Exploring different practice areas doesn’t mean you’re indecisive—it means you’re smart. Law is a vast profession, and the best attorneys are those who match their values, skills, and personalities with the right kind of legal work. Try more, ask questions, and stay open. You might confirm what you already suspected—or discover a completely new passion you never saw coming.
Take Care of Your Mental Health and Well-being
Law school is often described as a marathon, not a sprint. Between the intense academic pressure, competition for grades and jobs, and the emotional weight of high expectations, it's no surprise that many students struggle with stress, anxiety, and burnout. What’s surprising is how little attention these challenges get until it’s too late.
Top attorneys frequently reflect on one major regret: not prioritizing their mental health and overall well-being earlier. Many wish they had treated self-care as a non-negotiable part of professional development, not as an afterthought.
The Unspoken Pressure in Law School
The culture of law school often celebrates overwork and a perfectionist mindset. Students often:
- Normalize late nights and poor sleep
- Compare themselves to peers constantly
- Ignore signs of burnout or emotional exhaustion
- Feel guilty for taking breaks or setting boundaries
“I wish I had known that taking care of myself wasn’t a weakness—it was what allowed me to succeed long term. I burned out early, and it took years to recover.”
— Former BigLaw associate, now career coach
Why Mental Health is a Career Asset
The legal profession is demanding. If you plan to practice law for decades, you need habits and support systems that are sustainable, not just during law school, but throughout your career. Attorneys who learn to manage stress, process failure, and create balance are better equipped to:
- Think clearly under pressure
- Build stronger client and team relationships
- Avoid burnout and career fatigue
- Stay resilient through setbacks and transitions
How to Protect Your Mental Health in Law School
- Set Boundaries Early
Decide when you’ll unplug each day. Choose how many activities you can realistically commit to. Learn to say no when needed—your time and energy are limited resources. - Prioritize Sleep, Nutrition, and Exercise
You don’t need to be perfect, but getting enough rest, moving your body, and eating well will have a dramatic impact on your ability to focus, retain information, and stay emotionally grounded. - Find Supportive Communities
Surround yourself with classmates, professors, and mentors who support collaboration over competition. Peer support groups, affinity organizations, and student wellness initiatives can have a significant impact. - Use Your School’s Mental Health Resources
Most law schools offer free or low-cost access to therapists, counselors, and wellness programming. There’s no shame in reaching out—mental health care is a strength, not a liability. - Normalize Breaks and Joy
Make time for hobbies, friendships, and things that remind you who you are outside of law school. Even small breaks can help you return to your work with more focus and clarity.
The Ripple Effect of Taking Care of Yourself. Students who manage their mental health not only perform better academically, but they also set the foundation for healthy, sustainable legal careers. You’ll carry these habits into your clerkships, firms, or public interest work, where the pressure may only increase.
Colleagues, clients, and supervisors can tell when someone is grounded, self-aware, and emotionally resilient. Taking care of yourself isn’t selfish—it’s a professional strength.
Your legal mind is only as strong as your emotional foundation. You can’t advocate for others if you’re constantly running on empty. Success in law school and beyond doesn’t require sacrificing your health—it requires protecting it. Treat mental wellbeing as part of your career strategy, and you’ll be better equipped not only to survive the journey but to thrive in it.
Know That Your Career Path May Not Be Linear—And That’s OK
One of the biggest misconceptions law students have is that there’s only one “correct” path to success: excel in law school, land a summer associate position, secure a post-grad BigLaw job, and rise steadily to partnership or in-house counsel. But the truth is, very few legal careers unfold in a straight line—and that’s perfectly normal.
Top attorneys across all sectors consistently say the same thing: your first job does not define your entire career. In fact, the most successful lawyers often pivoted, experimented, or even stumbled along the way before finding the right fit.
The Myth of the Perfect Path
Law school culture often pressures students to define their path early and stick to it. There’s a constant sense of urgency:
- “What’s your intended practice area?”
- “Are you going to clerk or go straight to a firm?”
- “Do you want to go in-house someday?”
“I started in BigLaw, burned out, moved to a nonprofit, then found my sweet spot at a mid-sized firm doing meaningful work with work-life balance. None of it was planned—but all of it mattered.”
— Partner, regional firm
Real Careers Have Twists and Turns
Some of the most respected attorneys didn’t start with top grades, a spot on the Law Review, or a job at a BigLaw firm. They:
- Transferred schools, took time off, or changed practice areas
- Left jobs that weren’t the right fit—even prestigious ones
- Switched from litigation to transactional work (or vice versa)
- Moved between firms, government, nonprofits, and academia
- Discovered passions years into their careers that they hadn’t considered in law school
How to Embrace a Nonlinear Path
- Be Open to Change
What you want at age 25 may not be what you want at 35. Allow yourself to explore and evolve. - Learn from Every Role
Even if a job isn’t your dream job, it can teach you something: how to work under pressure, how to lead a team, what you don’t want, and what you do. - Let Go of Comparison
Everyone’s journey moves at a different pace. Some peers will land high-profile roles early, while others will find their niche later. Don’t measure your success by someone else’s timeline. - Stay Curious and Keep Building
Whether you’re in a firm, a government agency, or just starting, continue learning, networking, and refining your skills. It all counts. - Reframe Setbacks as Strategic Redirection
Didn’t get the clerkship? Switched jobs after one year? That’s not failure—it’s growth. Your career is a long-term project, not a single exam.
| See Related Articles: |
Final Thought: Law School Is Just the Beginning
Law school is important—but it’s not everything. The attorneys who thrive in the long term are those who combine legal skills with emotional intelligence, strong writing, relationship-building, and self-awareness. If you can shift your mindset from “just survive” to “strategically grow,” you’ll be far ahead of the curve.Let the lessons from top attorneys guide your journey—not just through law school, but into the kind of legal career you truly want to build.
