29 Aug, 2006
The Best Advice for Law Students Out There
You may remember this post from a while back that collected some of the advice around the blogosphere. I'm posting one more link to this advice from Spencer Overton of blackprof.com separately because it deserves it. Read more below...
Frankly, this is far and away the best and most honest advice for incoming 1L's I have seen out there from a professor. If you only read one blog post of advice for 1l's read this one.
The first 2 myths he notes are extremely important for incoming 1L's to understand (my comments added):
"Myth #1: If I know the material I’ll get good grades"--I've touched on this at the Pre-Law Blog post on competition and the mandatory curve in law. I can't stress it enough. It's not what you know in law school, it's what you know relative to your classmates because of the curve.
"Myth #2: I’ve got three years to do well."-- The way the game works in law school is that the big-time, high paying employers make a judgment on whether they want you straight out of law school based on one school year, your first in law school. Not a great system, but that's the way it goes in the strange world of law school.
What Professor Overton says about the above mentioned and other myths is spot on as well. So please read his comments.