The First Year of Law School - 7 Things to Know

Author: S. Sheth

The first year of law school is going to be a whole new experience for you. But cherish the moment. You spent countless hours studying for the LSAT, writing personal statements, arranging your college transcripts, filling out law school applications, and not to mention worked your butt off for four years to get good grades in college. You are going to meet new people and make great friendships with those who will go into the trenches of law school with you for three years, though some may drop-out of law school, some may be kicked out of law school and some may transfer to another law school after the first year.

What You Can Expect

1. Don’t show up to the first day of law school unprepared. Generally, law school professors will post reading assignments prior to the first day of class. Be sure to complete the reading assignments and be prepared to answer tough questions on the first day, questions designed to get you and your law school classmates to start thinking like a lawyer.

2. You will be enrolled in the basic first year law school classes – contract law, tort law, criminal law, property law, and civil procedure – not to mention legal research and writing. These first year law school classes will lay the foundation of the rest of your law school experience. You will learn the law in each area based on analyzing court opinions

3. Be prepared to pay a costly price for your law school books. You may very well be able to find used books at a cheaper cost, but it may not be worth it if the books are already highlighted and marked up.

4. Be on the lookout for law school study groups. One of the best ways to prepare for law school exams is to create outlines for each law school subject. Law school study groups are a great way to collaborate with other law school students to create a master outline and be sure that nothing goes untouched.

5. Law school exams generally consist of one final exam at the end of the semester. This can be quite different than what you were used to in college. Your entire grade will be based on this final exam, which will generally consist of the entire matter covered during the course of the semester. These law school exams are generally essay-based and require you to take a complex factual story and identify legal issues and defenses.

6. Think you did well on an exam, but still only managed a B plus? Well, in law school, most professors will only hand out so many A’s and so many B’s. So essentially, you are competing against your fellow law school classmates.

7. Don’t worry about your first summer legal working experience. Spend the first semester studying, studying and studying and trying to maximize your grades. Generally, employers will start interviewing and accepting resumes from first-year law students for internships or clerkships in winter semester, and will offer interviews based on your first semester law school grades.

Sonny Sheth is a licensed Michigan attorney with the GL Law Group, PLC and a former legal journalist that now writes on various legal subjects and maintains a learn Spanish website. If you need a Michigan DUI Attorney or a Michigan Car Accident Lawyer, contact the GL Law Group, PLC to set up a free case review. The GL Law Group offers free attorney referrals based on years of research and experience in various areas of law and has identified the best of the best in several legal fields of specialization. The best way to find a lawyer is to be recommended one by a legal expert that understands what a client should look for in a good attorney.

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