This video explains tips for law students seeking to build their law school resume. Law firms and legal job employers often look beyond grades to determine whether a law student is the right fit for a job. The video goes beyond grades to discuss practical tips and creative ideas for building a strong law student resume.
Sure, grades are important. But students with high grades still [click to continue…]
Have you ever wondered what an average day is like for a law student? Check out this video. This law student created a four minute video showing a photo of him every thirty seconds throughout the day.
From my experience, this law student’s day is very similar to [click to continue…]
Law students and lawyers are increasingly concerned about the growing number of new law school graduates. Each year, law schools in the United States produce are more law students and more new attorneys seeking attorney jobs. But there may not be enough attorney jobs to handle to growth.
Still, many believe that more law students will ultimately have a positive effect on [click to continue…]
A new website called EtherPad allows you to take notes during class with a friend. You both edit the same page. You can see your friends notes and save the final version. It’s called real-time document editing collaboration. Why would you want this? Here are a couple examples. [click to continue…]
A law student from Arizona State University College of Law recently made the news when a burglar broke into the law student’s apartment.
The law student awoke, and the burglar threatened to hurt him with a baseball bat unless the law student turned over his possessions. The law student freely turned over his wallet, guitar, and other items. But when the burglar went to take the laptop, he went too far.
“I was like, ‘Dude, no — please, no!” the law student said. “I have all my case notes…that’s four months of work!”
“I’m going to smash your head in,” [click to continue…]
Want a chance at $500 by writing an essay on any topic related to legal history, rare law books, or legal archives? The American Association of Law Libraries announced its first annual Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Contest. [click to continue…]
I recently came across a great blog called Student Bloggers. It features blogs by law students and all other types of students. If you are a student who blogs, you may enjoy seeing other blogs by students.
A high school student recently asked:
Here was my answer:
Years ago, certain undergraduate degrees were preferred by law schools. Today, law schools consider all degrees to be equal, with a possible exception for a [click to continue…]
A person considering law school recently asked:
This person was concerned about her ability to pay the cost of law school. Here was my answer:
Of course, you can get law school loans to help defray the cost of law school. That’s how most law students pay for law school. Setting loans aside, law school scholarships are available to some students to help cover the cost of law school and reduce the overall size of your potential law school debt.
There are three types of scholarships: academic based, [click to continue…]
A student preparing to take the LSAT recently asked:
The LSAT is designed so students can’t prepare for it. That is, it will not test your knowledge, it will test your ability to analyze and comprehend what you read in the test. As a result, people spend far less time preparing for the LSAT than other advanced degree exams (e.g. GMAT or MCAT).
To prepare for the LSAT, I suggest you practice by taking old LSAT exams (some are posted for free on the LSAT website and others can be purchased as part of LSAT preparation books) once a week for 6-8 weeks before the exam.
This time period will help you become familiar with the LSAT’s format. Also, you should be sure you know how to write out the puzzles/games presented in the LSAT. If you need help with this, an LSAT prep book can be useful.
How long did you spend studying and practicing for the LSAT? If you have any advice, please add it here for other students.
This video begins by presenting the honest reality about the law school job hunt: you are on your own. No one is going to find the job for you, even your school’s career services office.
The video then suggests that you get your resume/CV out to as many law firms as possible. While I agree with this advice, I think students who have a lot of connections in the legal industry would be better served by first focusing time on those connections before mass-mailing law firms. For law students without connections, it is simple math: the more firms that received your resume, the more chances you have of finding an employer who likes [click to continue…]
The Trials of Law School is a documentary about the United States law school system.
The 2 minute trailer presented here gives a glimpse into the law school experience. The documentary seems to accurately capture what law school is all about. It shows a variety of law students in a variety of life experiences—along with the joys and pains of law school.
The documentary features Patrick Schiltz, Randy Barnett, Rob Miller, Angela Davis, Taunya Banks, Elizabeth Warren, Ruth McKinney, Mark Tushnet, [click to continue…]
Law school and the practice of law is very different from what TV presents and most people think.
Maybe you are wondering whether law school is right for you. This may be one of the most important decisions you will make related to [click to continue…]
Lately I’ve received a number of questions about law school. Most of the questions come from high school or college students who are considering law school.
For example, people have asked:
Law school students have less questions, but they want to exchange ideas:
For these reasons, I set up a simple way to exchange ideas, ask questions, and discuss law school: a law school forum. NOTE: I had to remove the forum because it was overrun by spammers and porn promoters, and I didn’t have time to keep the forum clean and useful for law students.
Whether you have questions to learn more about law school or want to connect with others to discuss law school subjects, start up the conversation with your thoughts or questions. I will try to respond to your post within 24 hours, so you will get a quick response. Feel free to bring up any law school subject. The forums cover three general time periods:
Join the discussion: Law Student Forum. NOTE: I had to remove the forum. For an explanation, see the note above.
I am thinking about creating a forum on this blog so I could answer people’s questions about law school.
A forum would also let readers discuss law school topics. I wondered what you, the readers, thought about the idea.
The forum would let
What do you think? Would you use it? Cast your vote here:
(POLL REMOVED.)
UPDATE: Thanks to the thousands (millions?) of law students who voted from around the globe. In response to popular demand, this law school blog now has a place for you to discuss law school topics with others: the Law Student Forum.
Legal commentators continue to discuss concerns over the increasing number of law students, the increasing amount of student loan debt, and the harsh reality that most new lawyers don’t make a six figure income.
“Poor lawyers” seems like an oxymoron, but many new attorneys will admit they are worried about their high student loan debt and struggling to find attorney jobs to repay it.
CBS recently covered the problem:
I recently had a conversation with someone who was wondering about attending law school, but had some questions and concerns. Others might have similar questions and concerns, so I have paraphrased the person’s questions and answered them here.
POTENTIAL LAW STUDENT: If I describe myself to you, could you help me decide whether law school is right for me? I’m not sure if I should attend law school and whether I would be glad I did after I graduate.
LAWSTUDENT.TV: In general, most people who attend law school are glad they did, despite how challenging it can be, because law school rewards graduates with an exceptional understanding of [click to continue…]
This article was submitted by a guest author, listed at the end of this article.
It’s that time of year again—back to school. Soon, you’ll be up to your nose in coursework, with little or no time for yourself, not to mention the lack of time and money that comes along with your quest for the coveted law degree.
No one understands the life of a law student like your fellow law students, so take a couple minutes (when you can) to catch up with some people who feel your pain. You may get some great ideas, or find solace in the fact that others are suffering more than you. Here’s a list of some blogs written for and by law students for your perusal.
1. Law Magazine Weblog: No one knows the travails of law students and lawyers like the folks at Law Magazine Weblog. For articles on the life of law students and lawyers, to news and features regarding the profession, take a look at this blog for insights from others who [click to continue…]
How does a law student blogger create two of the most popular blogs on the internet?
Even though there are blogs on every topic under the sun, relatively few law school blogs exist. Of the law school blogs available, only a handful have the high quality and popularity of Frugal Law Student.
The Frugal Law Student was created by a law student, providing tips on how to save money in law school while living a simple and happy life. Any law student can tell you that law school is expensive, not simple, and often stressful. For these reasons, Frugal Law Student met a need—and became a hit among law students and people everywhere who appreciated his simple tips and ideas for living a simple, frugal, happier life.
Why did law student Brett McKay start Frugal Law Student? How did he get into blogging? How did he find the time? What blog did he recently launch with huge success? If you are a law student interested in blogging, or if you just want to know why Brett’s blogs became so popular, you will enjoy this short interview with Brett McKay, one of the original law student bloggers. [click to continue…]
Whenever I find a law student’s blog with interesting observations about law school, I like to highlight the observations and let other law students know about the blog.
Today’s blog is from a 2L who was formerly a law student in New Orleans until a certain hurricane chased him out. Kristopher A. Nelson is currently a law student in San Francisco.
On his blog, in propria persona, Kris lists the 13 things he learned in his first year of law school. Some of my favorites include
Read Kris’s entire list at 13 Things I Learned in My First Year of Law School.
A good list of tips or advice for law students is hard to find, even on the internet. Job Profiles published this list of 100 Tips and Resources to be a Happy, Successful Lawyer. These tips and resources are a great, especially for some easy summer reading before law school starts again for the school year.
The tips excerpted below are from the tips for law school students and new lawyers. However, check out the entire list if you are interested in a number of good tips for lawyers and life as an attorney.
Someone recently asked me about how to get admitted into law school with an LSAC score of 148. The student was an adult in his 40s with strong credentials, but he was concerned about his LSAT score, which is near the low end of scores that law schools will accept today.
Many law schools would value your credentials and experience. However, law schools generally require a certain LSAT score threshold for applicants. My advice is to identify [click to continue…]
