« Request: What's a spouse to do? | Main | Hoya Slapsa!: Use this form... »

August 26, 2005

Law School Woulda Shouldas

Professor Berman points to this great list of responses to the question: “If you could go back and attend law school again, what opportunity do you wish you had pursued?” Professor Berman also offers an answer, as does Professor Hurt at Conglomerate Blog.

Most surprising to me on the list are the couple of comments from people who wish they'd gone to a higher ranked school. From the other regrets we might distill the following advice:

  1. Don't just go for the money in your job search; explore all the possibilities first and consider clerkships and other opportunities, too.
  2. Get to know your classmates. You're going to school with amazing people and it would be a shame to finish w/out really getting to know them. They'll also be great for networking later!
  3. Spend more time talking to professors. They have a lot to offer.
  4. Even if you work through law school, see if you can find a way to do a legal internship somehow.
  5. Don't waste your chance in your first year to get feedback from professors on your exams so you can improve in later rounds.
  6. If you're at a university where you're allowed to take courses in other disciplines, do it—that non-law knowledge could come in handy later.
  7. Don't worry if you don't make journal; there are plenty of other opportunities and many of them might be more useful to you in the long run.
  8. Law review is a big deal. Try to get on it at all costs. (!?)
  9. Do your homework and get as much as you can out of classes
  10. Ask her out.
So ok, some of it's contradictory and goes to show that everyone's experience is different, but still a bunch of things worth considering...

Posted by mowabb at August 26, 2005 11:19 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://mowabb.com/mt32/mt-tb.cgi/4476