Law Student

Wonder how much you can earn when you graduate from law school? NALP surveyed law school graduates from 1992 to 2006 and published what the average attorney was paid.

The numbers are interesting. In 2006, the average starting salary for an attorney at a small firm (2-10 attorneys) was $50,000. The average starting salary for an attorney at a large firm (over 500 attorneys) was $135,000.

It is worth noting that the survey covers a large geographic area, so some adjustment is necessary for your local region. If you are in a small city, rural area, or city overpopulated by law schools, the average salary for your area may be less than the survey average. If you are starting in New York, or some other top paid city, the average salary for your area may be more than the survey average.

I suppose the results could be further criticized for being unscientific in one way or another. However, as a general guide to new associate salaries, the survey results are enlightening.

To see the survey results, visit NALP’s What Do New Lawyers Earn?

11-23-07 Update: This article has been updated. Please read Many Law Graduates Disappointed: Few Jobs, Low Salaries, High Stress. For help finding the law job that is right for you, visit our law jobs section.

A note from a reader:

Law graduates always prefer to attend the traditional educational institutes in a hope to get high salaries in the market than are offered to the graduates holding online degrees. Although a traditional academic experience is matchless but, online learning resources such as 000-253 are a valuable means to enhance one’s skills. Online certifications in a technical area, such as 000-415, not only grant the educational qualifications but also shape one’s career. Some of these certifications like 000-664 even enable the students to work at top notch laboratories to have an on hand experience of the technical details. Once at a competent level, professional can keep up with the latest tools and techniques (000-730) to aid in their progression.

 Here are some more useful resources for first-year law students (1Ls):

• Exams and Other Fun Topics
• General Study Skills Sites
• Courses in the First Year
• Research Tips and Guides
• Study Strategies
• Property—How the Law Student’s Tackle It
• Managing Law School Competition
• New Law School Students’ Most Common Questions
• Recommended Study Aids & Commercial Outlines (or get free law school outlines)
• Law Student Computer Buying Tips: 1. Buy a Laptop
• Law Student Computer Buying Tips: 2. What Size Laptop Should I buy?
• Law Student Computer Buying Tips: 3. Should Law Students Consider a Tablet PC?

Best wishes in your 1L year!

Here are some good resources for first-year law students (1Ls):

• Adjusting to Law School Life
• Best Law School Books
• Law School Subject Outlines
• Should I Make My Own Outlines?
• How to Outline a Law School Class
• Best Study Aids for New Law Students – Part 1: Case Summaries
• Best Study Aids for New Law Students – Part 2: Subject Guides
• Best Study Aids for New Law Students – Part 3: Nutshell Subject Reviews
• Dictionaries
• Citation Guides
• Class Preparation
• De-Mystifying the Tools of Legal Research

I’m impressed that you have time to read ways to improve your law school performance considering all the law school case readings you have. Best wishes in your first law school year!

To get good grades, do you have to read the cases? How much should I use law school subject outlines? These are questions that many law students wonder.

Curious about these questions, I did an informal poll » FULL STORY

Welcome to school first-year law students!

You are about to experience a surge of conflicting emotions: excitement, fear, insecurity, intrigue, stress, pride, and ultimately, relief when it is all over. The worst part may be not knowing how to handle every challenge that is thrown at you.

However, the reason law school is like this is probably because the practice of law is like this to some degree. That is, practicing law, at least most areas of the law, requires constant learning. The bad new is, some people do not enjoy life-long learning. The good news is, the longer you work, the more you have learned and the more valuable you become.

But if you don’t like law school, don’t give up hope, because most attorneys agree that law school is much less enjoyable than the practice of law. In fact, law school is down-right painful, especially around the time of law school exams.

As you begin your law school journey, congratulate yourself for having made it this far. To equip you for the ride, here is a large collection of good law school tips and a few law school blogs that might be of interest to new law students. I also recommend these law school books.

Law school tips:

• Things I Wish I’d Understood on Day 1 of Law School
• First-Year Law Students: Resources for 1L’s
• Tips for 1Ls From Around the Blogosphere
• Tips and advice for the newest law students
• Law School Goal Setting
• 1L Question: Do Smart Law Students Sit in the Front Row?
• Free Law School Outlines – 1L, 2L, and 3L
• 1L Advice: Ways a 1L Can Prepare for Law School
• Terms and Phrases New Law Students Must Know
• New Law School Students: Frequently Asked Questions
• Law Students Share Their Tips and Advice
• Tips and advice for the newest law students II: Outside
• Tips for Pre-Law Students Preparing for Law School
• More 1L Law School Tips

Law School Blogs:

• Law Student (The site you are currently reading)
• The Rising Jurist (Be sure to check out this humorous post: The Most Interesting Cases You Will Read as a 1L)
• New at Law
• Mac Law Students Blog
• Old Law Guy
• Legal Andrew (he graduated from law school in 2007)
• The Frugal Law Student
• and check out the other blogs listed in the right column under “Law School Blogs”

Want to wear some law school apparel? It’s not easy to find clothes with a law school theme. But find these shirts and countless others at Cafe Press:

Often, law school apparel is not the most stylish (but as we all know, that isn’t a problem for most law students). But these clothes are funny and interesting, and are sure to amuse family and friends, and maybe make a law school professor smirk when she sees them.

» FULL STORY

Pre-law students are getting ready for their big day, the first day in law school. Here are a few tips to be prepared for that first day of law school.

Before law school starts, learn a few things:

• Learn How to Make a Good Impression at Law School Orientation
• Learn How to Read a Case for Law School
• Learn How to Outline a Law School Class
• Learn Important Terms and Phrases
• Listen to Audio CDs to Preview Course Subjects
• Learn How to Cope with Law School Stress
• Consider Take a Law School Prep Course
• Read: New Law School Students: Frequently Asked Questions
• Read: Advice about law school preparation: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• Read: Ways a 1L Can Prepare for Law School

Buy what you need for law school:

• Buy a Backpack and buy stuff to put in it
  
• Save Money Buying Law School Books Online but don’t get Old Casebook Editions
• Buy Essential Law School Books
• Consider Buying Law School Study Guides
• Consider Buying “Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams”

Prepare for your computer needs:

• Buy a Laptop, Select the Right Sized Laptop, or Consider Buying a Tablet PC
• Buy the best Law School Notetaking Software (for PC)
• Mac Law School Students Check Out These Great Resources
• Prepare a Computer Backup Plan and Consider Free Online Backup Options
• Set Your MySpace Page to ‘Private’
• Reduce Your Time Online with an RSS Reader

Once you start law school:

• Get the CALI CD in your law school library
• Consider Whether to Join a Study Group
• Learn to Use WestLaw and Lexis
• Prepare for Legal Writing in Law School
• Learn About Free Law School Outlines – 1L, 2L, and 3L
• Get Free Lexis Study-Aid Outlines
• Get Advice from Upperclass Law Students and Law Students Online
• Make a Schedule to Prepare for Law School Exams
• Read More Law School Tips Here

Now is a great time to consider ways to improve your law school performance. Legal Andrew identified some good ideas on law school goal setting for this coming next semester.

A note from a reader:

Goal setting and targeting a specific exam area has become exceedingly convenient by online examinations such as held for 000-229. Rather than taking one or two year long course at some polytechnic institute, a more preferable option is to go for online resources and get a recognized 000-237 certification .For other research based qualifications, some other options such as 000-253 certification may be availed of more preferably than a relatively more time consuming 000-415 certification .

Here is a great new blog for students who are new to law school or other law students interested in law school tips: What I Learned in Law School. In particular, check out this list of tips: Law School Rant.

There are a couple ways to save money when buying law school casebooks and study aids.

First, buy used law school casebooks and study aids at places like Amazon.com, Abebooks.com, eBooks.com, eCampus.com, Buy.com, and eBay’s Half.com.

Second, see if some of your friends have taken your upcoming law school course and buy or borrow their books.

In addition, here are a few coupons:

• Buy.com: $5 off $50 All Stores Coupon! New Customers Only – See Site for Details! exp 7/31/07
• Buy.com: Get $10 FREE when you use Google Checkout for the first time! Over 2 million items to choose from
• eBooks.com: eBooks.com Buy One, Get One Free!

The Volokh Conspiracy published tips from a number of readers on topics of interest to law school students:

• Tips for Law Students Who Are Writing Articles on Legal History?
• Tips for Law Students Who Are Doing Empirical Research?
• Reducing False Positives in Lexis/Westlaw Searches
• How Research Librarians Can Help Law Review Article Writing

See also Law School Legal Research Tips and How to Improve Legal Writing in Law School.

Law students often wonder if they should keep their law school textbooks and study aids. They think they might be useful for the bar exam or a helpful reference once practicing law. Law students may also feel bad that they are getting rid of textbooks with so many helpful notes in the margins. This article explains why law students should not keep their old books. » FULL STORY

After my first law school semester, a friend tried to convince me to leave Microsoft Word and instead take notes with Microsoft OneNote 2003 (Old Version). I refused. Finally, I decided to give OneNote a try as a 2L. I had no idea it would be this good.

OneNote has every feature that a student would use in Microsoft Word plus so much more!

Record Your Professor Synchronized to Your Notes. One of the coolest features is how it can record your professor while you take notes. Then later when you click on a note, you can play the audio of your professor talking exactly when you typed that note. So on take-home exams, you can just scan your notes for key concepts on your exam and re-listen to your professor discuss those concepts.

Search Your Audio Recordings. The new version, OneNote 2007, includes a feature to scan your audio recording for » FULL STORY

During the summer, some law students listen to Sum & Substance CDs to prepare for fall classes. Others let their ears take a complete break from the law. For law students who find themselves somewhere inbetween, here is a list of some thought-provoking lectures from some of America’s top law schools. They are available for download to listen on your computer or iPod.

For more information on podcasts or podcasts of interest to law students, visit these articles:

• How and Why Law Students Use Podcasts
• Law School Blog Posts You Might Like #1
• Law School Blog Posts You Might Like #2

A note from a reader:
The summer listening at Law Schools is the integration of computers and the academic curriculum. These pod casts are a blessing for those who are willing to peruse their studies via online means. The same degree of culmination of the combination of technologies is seen in the online certification 000-078 whereby students are connected with learning through technology. The online teaching institutes are designing innovative courses like 000-190 certification to incorporate in their existing lines of specialization. The online certification 000-222 fulfills the needs of the individuals eager to learn the key area concepts and skills the same way as does 000-228.

UPDATE: Real Lawyers Have Blogs says that one law school graduate landed a job with a large firm by blogging.

NOTE: If you are a law student or attorney with a blog, please see the offer to promote your blog at the end of this post.**

As blogging becomes more popular, it is inevitable that law students will increasingly become bloggers. Still, this may be a little surprising considering the immense time pressures that law students face. However, maybe it is exactly that pressure that entices law students to have a blog. That is, maybe writing to a blog is a release of tension, much like journaling used to be.

Marketing
Blogs can also be a form of marketing. For example, Andrew Flusche started his blog, » FULL STORY

Law school isn’t supposed to be about memorization. Unfortunately, most law students encounter at least one closed-book exam that requires memorizing various elements (e.g. criminal law), standards of review (e.g. constitutional law), rules (e.g. property), or other information. Sometimes a student merely wants to memorize a checklist of key issues to spot.

If you are facing a closed-book exam like this, have no fear. The solution is using common memorization tricks that can help you store massive amounts of information, at least, for a few days.

These aren’t late-night television infomercial tricks. And you don’t have to pay for them. These are mnemonic methods frequently taught in bar exam preparation courses.

Just spend 2-3 minutes reviewing the techniques, and select the best one for your law school exam: Mnemonic Techniques and Specific Memory Tricks to Improve Memorization.

Law students, like lawyers, have busy lives and a shortage of free time. That’s why this little tip to save time online is so helpful.

You may have wondered what RSS or this symbol means. It means the website you are reading has an RSS feed, which can be read by Google Reader or another RSS reader. But what is RSS? Watch this short and entertaining video explaining how an RSS reader will save you a lot of time on the web. » FULL STORY

Tired of reading your law school cases? Or maybe you just want to reinforce what you read. Now you can listen to cases on your iPod. Just download the audio file of cases in your law school casebook at AudioCaseFiles.com.

Even better, AudioCaseFiles.com has case briefs, so you can listen to an overview before you read a case, or you can listen to the case briefs as a review for final exams.

The quality of the audio files is excellent, with professional voices that make for easy listening—which is quite an accomplishment for boring cases.

This is a great tool for law students seeking to utilize time while driving, exercising, or sitting on a bus.

It’s exam time again. Here are a few law school exam tips we previously published.  You may also want to do some law school practice exams.

Want to send a cell phone text message (SMS) from your computer? It’s easy, and free! And you can do it here.

Imagine you are sitting in your law school class. You think of something you need to tell your friend, and you want to send a quick message to your friend. The friend may not check e-mail for a while. What do you do? Send a text message using Google’s free “Send a Text Message” service. No login is required. Just go to the website and start typing your message.

A similar service is provided by Teleflip, but Teleflip can log your email address. WithTeleflip, you can send an email that shows up on someone’s phone as a text message. Try out this email to text message service.

In addition to these free computer-to-cell-phone text message services, here are 5 more free SMS services.

Losing your class notes before law school final exams could be tragic. Law students interested in free backup solutions can go here: How to Backup Your Documents Online for Free. Scroll to the bottom of the page for a current list of free online backup services.

In the old days, a cowboy could ride into town and no one knew if he was honest or a bank robber. Today, anyone can Google someone’s name to see what has been written about or by the person, and possibly learn about their involvements.

AELR Blog recently discussed this when mentioning a Washington Post article, Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web: Law Students Feel Lasting Effects of Anonymous Attacks, which discusses how one Yale law student’s job hunt was stunted by what was written about her online.

Even more concerning is a website called The Gorb, which allows people to rate and review other people. The reviews are available online like an Amazon.com book review for anyone to see. This site has been criticized by internet commentators. It also raises questions about how libel and defamation laws will be applied.

It will be interesting to see how the reputations of law students, lawyers, and other professionals are affected by the “information age” being applied to personal reputations.

UPDATE 1: Read what one blogger has to say about the legal implications of criticising people online at the Life is Risky blog here: Defamation of Character.

UPDATE 2:A website similar to The Gorb is Rapleaf, a site for rating buyers, sellers, and others.