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Article by Guest Author

The Case for Liberation

We were in the fifth hour of intense negotiations. My throat was dry and sweat accumulating on my eyebrow started running down my face.

“Counselor, I think we have ourselves a deal.  Wait… is there consideration?”

“Um… There’s no consideration… I must have forgotten…”

“DAMN IT! HOW COULD YOU FORGET THE MOST BASIC CONCEPT OF CONTRACT LAW???”

I sat up quickly in my bed, terrified. “Another law school nightmare—wonderful.”

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Article by guest author, Josh, 1L

Before I started my first semester of law school, I had collected a wealth of advice from many different sources, including students, practicing attorneys, and a 300 page insider’s guide.  Although I appreciated their advice, law school is something you have to figure out on your own—and quickly.  Otherwise, you might get lost in the endless amount of work.  Now, after completing my first semester of law school, here are some things that I realized that were not so plainly obvious at first.

1. Only use commercial study guides if you absolutely need to

What do I mean by commercial study guides? When you first start school, you will hear various terms thrown out by 2L’s and 3L’s that will be like a new language to you: E&E’s (Examples and Explanations), Emmanuel’s, Crunchtime, etc. These are all commercial study guides published by outside sources that have an extremely helpful bank of knowledge corresponding to every first year course across the country.  But heed my warning now: some of them are expensive and there will be discrepancies between them and what your professor has specifically taught you. By all means, use them to understand some topics that you might not understand, but only after you have spoken to the professor or a study group (we’ll get to that later) to try and figure it out yourself.  My belief is that they should only be used as a last resort.

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So, you made it to the infamous summer before law school. Before you start panicking about what is next on your ever-growing list before classes begin, take a moment to congratulate yourself on getting this far. You have most likely graduated from your undergraduate institution and committed to a law school which has both accepted you and offers a program that interests you in some way. Therefore, allow me to offer my sincerest congratulations! You are about to enter a professional school, filled with (mostly) professional people. It is an exciting and nerve-racking time, but for now, my advice to you is to take it all in. The summer before law school should be spent preparing your mind, while taking care of pre-orientation tasks that your school will undoubtedly require. Oh, and don’t forget to relax! It is summer, after all.

In order to help you along the way, I have narrowed down two Do’s and two Don’ts when it comes to the summer before law school that will be sure to ease the tension and reduce the risk of being overwhelmed a week before orientation.

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Every law school student can recall a time when they have been paying attention for about ten minutes in class and suddenly “that guy” comes into the room late. He quietly walks down the steps of the lecture hall and then cautiously sneaks by a few people to get to his seat, thinking he got away with being late. Two minutes later, a blaring Windows startup sound reverberates through the room and everyone, including you and the professor, turns to look at him disapprovingly.

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This is a video that everyone should watch, especially law school applicants and current law school students who will one day have to survive the scrutiny of the the “Character and Fitness” process before they are admitted to the bar.