The Declaration of Intent to Study Law

Last week I was sitting in class with a fellow transfer student when he started asking me about the Dec. His previous law school wasn't in Texas and I found out that apparently we're the only ones that have to do it. If you're not studying in Texas, congratulations you just saved yourself a bunch of paperwork. If you're a 1L in Texas, the Texas Board of Law Examiners probably came to you during your orientation to talk about the Dec. Hopefully if this applies to you, you didn't forget about the Dec because it's due this week!

What is the Dec

The Dec is you telling the TxBLE that you'll be taking the Bar soon. You start this process now so that they have two years to do a serious background check on you and then have time to fix any problems before you take the Bar. For example, if you didn't list an arrest when you were applying to law school and thought it was okay because the law school didn't find out, the BLE will find out and you'll have time to explain that arrest before you take the Bar. Texas BLE is really big on honesty to make sure they're not licensing any sleezy lawyers. 

What goes in the Dec

Where you've lived - Start thinking about all the times that you've moved in your life. This includes before and during college. You'll need to already have a list of every city and state that you've lived in since you turned 18.

Where you've worked - Again since you were 18, you'll need to list all of your past employers, not just the last few like what you do on your resumé or a job application. You'll need to remember the names of your bosses and a contact number for them.

When you've got in trouble in school - This is everything from getting caught plagiarizing to flunking out of school and everywhere in between. The BLE is serious about looking in to all of your permanent records so make sure that you don't try to hide anything. 

When you've got in trouble with the law - Anything worse than a traffic ticket needs to be listed. Even if your charge was settled and there's a non-disclosure with it, you still need to name it. The only thing you don't have to list is anything that's been expunged (but you should get a copy of the expunction to make sure). You'll need to get copies of police reports and tickets for all of these too, so get on that if you haven't because it could take a while for the police department to mail you the copies. Hopefully you were honest on your law school applications, but if you weren't you'll need to let the BLE know that there's a discrepancy. 

Who you know - Lastly, you'll need like 6 references. These aren't like your law school references of old professors that will be like she's a great learner! These are your personal references who will be like oh yeah she definitely won't steal money from her clients! Make sure you find the best number for your contacts because if the BLE can't get a hold of someone, they'll make you have that person get ahold of them. 

When you've been sued - This probably won't apply to most of us because we haven't had enough life experience to be in a lawsuit. This includes bankruptcy, landlord/tenant disputes,  or personal injury claims. If you were part of a lawsuit and there was a non-disclosure, you probably will have to list it but if you're not sure call the BLE with the specific details.

When you messed up your taxes - If you didn't file your taxes one time, the BLE will find that because seriously they check all of your records. Or if you filed your tax return and it came back that you owe more in taxes, you'll need to let the BLE know if you still owe on that. Because ya know, the BLE doesn't like those hidden Swiss banks accounts.

What you'll need to do for the Dec

Just a fair warning, the Dec takes like hours to fill out all of that paperwork. If you thought your law school application took you forever to fill out, just wait for the fun that is the Dec. If you haven't started yet, really get on that because I promise you can't finish this in like 30 minutes. You'll also have to sign up to get fingerprinted (and pay for the fingerprinting). Your school probably will have a time where someone comes to your school and does all of the 1L's fingerprints at one time. 

Luckily for y'all, from now on you can fill out the paperwork online. I definitely had to print out all 20 pages and then go down and pay like $10 to get the most secure mailing option. That was on top of the ridiculous $190 fee that make you pay for filing the Dec. One last thing, make sure you send them a certified copy of your birth certificate because I sent in mine from 1992 and I just found out that it is now permanent property of the BLE :/

The Difference Between Being a 1L and 2L in Law School

Sorry I've been terrible at keeping up with my Sunday, Wednesday, Friday blogging schedule! It's only been 2 weeks and already the days are flying by. I swear for as fast as college flew by, law school is soaring by even faster. When I was walking to my last class, it dawned on me that after this semester I will be HALFWAY through law school already! That's just too soon! I'm definitely not ready to face the Bar and job market yet :/ Anyhoo, thought I'd write a little post about the transition from a 1L to a 2L.

I think the best description of law school is that your first semester 1L year is like freshman year all over again, your second 1L semester is like a sophomore year, and by the time you get to a 2L you're already a junior. I say this because that first semester is really the most stressful adjustment that I've experienced so far. New school, new professors, new learning techniques, new classroom structure, new grading style. It's all just so new and can be really overwhelming at first. But when you come back from Christmas break, it's no longer new. You're still getting adjusted, but by then you're in the swing of things. As a 2L I really do feel like so much older and wiser compared to how I was as a 1L. 

The Good

One great thing about being an upperclassman is that by now I've got this whole law school thing pretty much down. Last week it only took me 2 hours to thoroughly read 50 pages worth of text and cases. If I was still a 1L getting used to the amount of readings that law school requires, this probably would've taken me an entire afternoon. The only upside to reading this much so often is that you get quicker at it.

Related: How to make a study schedule

Another plus about being an upperclassman is that the curve actually gets easier after the first year. I'm sure this is to weed out all of the people who either don't seriously want to be lawyers or just don't have the dedication to do all of the assignments. At my old school, the curve as a 1L required that the average grade be a B- and for 2L's it was a B. Here, the curve for 1L's was a C and now it's all the was up to a B. I've survived the curve for two semesters so I'm not really scared of it anymore, but that is very comforting to know.

Related: All about the law school curve

It also seems like there's more opportunities as a 2L. A lot of clinics or positions aren't even open until after your 1L year because that year is supposed to be dedicated to getting used to law school. But now as an older student I get preference for these over any 1L's, because of my experience and that they know I won't flunk out if I take on another project.

Related: Law school clinics

The Bad

Obviously the most stressful thing of being a 2L is that now it's really time to get serious about getting a legal job. Non-law-related jobs aren't really an option any more because I always need more job experience. And now I'm competing against people who clerked last summer or are even still doing it. I'm fortunate that firms usually prefer a 2L, but I still feel the pressure to get something lined up already.

Related: How to find a legal job

An unfortunate downside to transferring is that I'm kinda behind. I know a lot of people who are officers in their organizations or write for a journal, but I wasn't here last spring when these positions were available. I also missed out on all of the scholarships because their due dates were before I was even accepted. So now I have to go to all these info sessions with the 1L's to try to catch up.

Related: What it's like to transfer law schools

Overall

I think the reason why being a 2L isn't nearly as bad as a 1L is that you have so much more confidence. As a 1L I constantly felt like I wasn't good enough and that I was just faking being smart. But now I've passed a full year with pretty decent grades so I have the been-there-done-that confidence. That's not to say that I'm invincible, though, because I still spend all class hoping that I don't get called on even though I read the cases because it's so nerve-wrecking trying to answer the professor's trick questions. I know this post wasn't long, but this is all I've noticed these past two weeks. But I'm sure there will be a lot more new experiences that I'll face as a 2L. 


Related: 2L year in review

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