Understanding Your Law Student

We are experiencing a new level of stress 

You'd have to be here to understand what this stress feels like but trust me everyone, even the normally confident and calm student, is feeling stressed more than we ever have before. So please don't ask us about grades or a job. There's a chance we'll just scream in your face and start hysterically crying. But please do tell us that you're proud and that we're going to make good lawyers. We could use a little TLC after getting mind fucked by our professors. 

There aren't majors in law school 

Law school is set up so everyone takes the same basics their first year and then for the next two years you can take whatever classes you want. Technically yes a law student might take trial procedures and evidence if they're hoping to be a prosecutor, but they also will be taking family law and estate planning so that they're prepared for the bar. So don't ask us what we're studying in law school, because the answer is law. Literally. All of the law classes we can- from criminal to civil, from litigation to transactional. We're studying it all. 

Our readings are different 

The reading isn't fast like in a fiction book. Yes law students are typically nerds so you might be used to them finishing a 300 page book on one flight, but this isn't just reading, it's studying. We have to pay attention to what we're reading, stop and take notes over the concepts of the chapters, and commit to memory what we're learning. This also isn't like reading an undergraduate text book where you can skim through or just read the summary at the end of the chapter and understand what is going on. Most of these concepts are brand new and hard to understand when you're first learning about them. When a law student says they have readings to do, expect that it will take them several hours. 

We're obsessed with the law 

After taking 5 different versions of the same subject all semester, law is literally all they can think about now. We spend class time developing our own opinions on certain laws. We are trained to discuss a major case at the drop of a hat. We are eager to correct you when you mention that the infamous McDonald's hot coffee case was just about some greedy lady trying to make money off her own stupidity. We realize that you don't understand and don't care, but we just can't stop talking about our passion. Spoiler alert: it's probably going to only get worse so just get used to it now. 

We are not lawyers 

Legally we cannot give you legal advice. Moreover, we probably haven't yet learned about whatever your legal issue is so we have no idea. If anything, we might be just a little better at Googling it for you because we know the proper terms to search for but we have 0 lawyer experience and just can't help you. Also know that the joke about "bailing you out" isn't that funny because we're aspiring lawyers, not bail bondsmen so you don't even need us to get you out. Sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯