Letter to a Young Law Student

Don't go to law school: But if you must, take my advice.

I started law school 10 years ago this week. While you may be aware that I consider the law to be mostly very funny, I take law school pretty seriously. When I started law school I had no idea what I was in for: maybe some hybrid of debate camp and LA Law. In actual fact, for me, law school was a cross between boot camp and a cave.

Some small fraction of every incoming One-L class is comprised of people destined to take the legal world by storm. These are the people who intend to get straight A's, outline every case, make law review, clerk for a Reagan appointee, and spend the rest of their days in a leviathan corporate law firm where they will do whatever it is that's done in such places. These are the people law school was built for: people who think in zero-sum terms about everything—grades, jobs, and salaries. I wish them the very best of luck for the next three years. This advice is not for them.

This advice for the rest of you—who applied to law school simply because you took the LSATs, and who took the LSATs simply because the MCATs were too hard. This advice is for the people who graduated college with the generalized sense that they ought to be doing good works on this planet but were uncertain how to go about it. In short, this advice is for those of you who, like me, went to law school hoping that the experience would be stimulating and/or mind-expanding; a liberal-arts grad school for political people. Because you are doubtless trying to memorize the "blue book" this week, this advice is pre-outlined for your convenience.

CLEO Schedules Mid-Winter Academic Enhancement Seminar and Bar Prep Seminar for January

WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 8-10, 2010, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) will host its annual Mid-Winter Academic Enhancement Seminar for first year law students and the Mid-Winter Bar Preparation Seminar for third year law students. Both seminars will be held at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia. More than 300 students combined are expected to attend the seminars

The Mid-Winter Academic Enhancement Seminar is specifically designed to reinforce analytical, reading, writing, studying and test-taking skills that were introduced in CLEO’s pre-law preparatory programs (Summer Institute and Attitude Is Essential Seminar) for first year law students. The purpose of the seminar is to improve student retention, graduation and bar passage rates. The seminar presenters include law school professors and legal practitioners who address various topics such as: preparing for law school examinations, developing legal writing skills, time management strategies, developing good study habits and class preparation.

The Mid-Winter Bar Prep Seminar is designed for third year CLEO Fellows and Associates who intend the take the July or February bar examination after graduation. The primary objective of this seminar is to reinforce analytical, writing and test-taking skills necessary to pass the bar examination. The seminar focuses on the bar application process and the three major components of the bar exam: Multi-state Examination (MBE), Essay Questions (MEE) and Multi-State Performance Test (MPT). The seminar presenters include law professors, bar examiners and former CLEO Fellows and Associates who have passed the bar examination.
In addition to building academic skills, the seminars also provide an excellent opportunity for the law students to network with their peers and CLEO alumni from around the country. For more information about the Mid-Winter Seminars or other seminars offered by CLEO, please visit www.cleodiverCITYnetwork.org.

Both seminars are funded by the U.S. Department of Education through the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity Program.

Background:

In 1968, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) was founded to expand opportunities for minority and low-income students to attend law school. CLEO is committed to diversifying the legal profession by expanding legal education opportunities to minority, low-income and disadvantaged groups. Since its inception, more than 8,000 students have participated in CLEO's pre-law and law school academic support programs, successfully matriculated through law school, passed the bar exam and joined the legal profession.