Mail Bag

Recently, I have actually been receiving some "fan" e-mail about this site. Maybe the rest of you bloggers have been getting e-mail for awhile, but to me this is kind of cool. Of course, most of this "fan" mail has been coming from Minnesota 0Ls who want to know what law school is going to be like¹. Anyway, some of the same questions are coming up, and many of them are generally applicable, and some of Minnesota specific. But I thought I would take some time to publicly answer them and see if it helps anyone else out there.

How competitive is law school?

My answer is probably specific to Minnesota, since I have no idea exactly how other schools are, but I didn't think law school was that competitive. Sure, there are gunners² that feel the need to show they are superior, but they generally get knocked down a few pegs by the end of the first semester (and if not, finals are excellent for peg knocking). But gunners are easy to deal with (in my experience), every time they raise their hands, I just secretly laugh at them because they think their public displays of their superior inferior legal knowledge helps their grade because they haven't figured out that law school exams are blind-graded. Ha Ha! Note: Here's a quick tip regarding gunners/tools... If after the first few weeks you look around the classroom and can't figure out who the gunner is, it's probably you. STOP IT!

Anyway, some level of competition is inevitable when you concentrate a large number of Type A personalities and tell them they will be graded on a curve, but I didn't find it oppressive (at least at Minnesota). However, I do think your school's ranking has something to do with how competitive your school feels because, practically speaking, the higher your school is ranked, the less well you have to do to get a good job.³ Thus, there is slightly less pressure to be the best. Yes, you don't want to suck, but I can be in the middle of the class here at Minnesota and still get a pretty good firm job in Minneapolis. If I was middle of the class at William Mitchell or Hamline (the other accredited law schools in MN), there would be slim pickin's for jobs here in Minnesota, and the pickin's wouldn't exist outside of the Twin Cities. Just my observation, and it may not be true at other high ranked schools.

How is the workload?

I won't lie to you, the workload in law school is very tough to deal with. I thought I would make a fairly smooth transition after working 50-60 hours/week in "the real world," at a law firm no less, but all the reading for law school still smacked me in the face (and then it kicked me in the balls). The biggest surprises for me were 1) the amount of reading, and 2) how challenging the reading was (at least at first). Each class gives anywhere from 20-40 pages per class hour, multiply that times 4 classes, and then 3-4 class hours per week for each class, and that works out to as much as 560 pages per week (although it probably averaged much less than that, say around 200-300).

Not only that, but the actual reading is difficult enough that my reading pace slowed way down. If I was reading at my "normal" pace (i.e. when I'm reading a novel) I can probably crank out at least 50-60 pages in an hour (maybe more... I've never really timed it). But during the first few weeks of law school I probably didn't top out above 10 pages per hour, and even when I became more efficient I was still only around 15-20 pages an hour. Part of the reason for this is there is a lot of legal jargon in the cases that you've never heard of and that is generally not in use anymore. Also, many people (me included) took notes on what they were reading to help remember it if they got called on in class, which adds even more time.

Thankfully, the workload starts to feel more manageable as your first semester goes on and you start to get into a groove... so it only sucks for a little while.

Speaking of getting called on in class, what's that like?

It is hard to adequately describe the Socratic Method (which is really what you are asking, hypothetical friend), but I think this is the best I've been able to describe it. The first time you get called on it is terrifying, and you feel like the stupidest person on the planet... and you feel like you sound way stupider than anyone else in your section. Afterwards, someone will tell you "Good job," and you'll say "No, I sounded like a moron." But, when it is that person's turn, they'll sound really smart, and you'll tell them "Good job," and they'll say "No, I sounded like a moron." That's when you'll realize that it's all in your head... and that's pretty sweet.

Is there any social life?

Yes Virginia, there is a social life at law school... although at first, it is mostly forced. But remember, at every law school I've ever heard of, you are put in a section with the same 50 or so people who you take every single class with during your entire first year, so you are going to get to know some people very well.

Also, just about every law school has what's called "Bar Review," a clever little word play on the hell that recent graduates are going through. But, this "Bar Review" is all about going out to (also known as "reviewing") a different bar (also known as "a bar") each week and getting drunk with your classmates (hence the "Bar Review.") It is just one of many drinking opportunities you will probably share with your classmates. We may all be law dorks, but we know how to party like geeky Business Schoolers.

Did law school live up to your expectations?

Um, yes. Wait, no. I guess so. It was about what I expected, but with worse grades and fewer women throwing themselves at me when they hear I'm a law student (still just my wife that does that... and now she only does it when I talk about res ipsa loquitor and what not).

The weather really sucks, doesn't it? (U of Minnesota Law School Specific... or at least northern law school specific)

Why yes, it does get a little chilly in Minnesota during the winter. But I love it up here. That just means I get to do winter activities (a whole lot of winter activities) AND summer activities. Plus, the summers are usually absolutely gorgeous around here, so it's a fair trade in my book. Look at it this way, even if you hate the cold, you're going to be shut up in the library for much of the winter anyway, so why would you want it to be wonderful outside when you can't enjoy it anyway?

That's about it for now. Wow, that was a long post! If anyone else has any questions (either general, or Minnesota specific) just ask. And if any of my classmates have anything to add, what do you think the comments are for?

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¹ To be a 0L again. Anxious for law school to start, and excited for the future. Ah yes, I remember it well.
² a.k.a. "Helium Hands," a.k.a. Dorks, a.k.a. (my favorite) Tools, a.k.a. the dreaded "Power Tools"
³ Don't believe me? I ask you this, where would you rather be... at the bottom of your class at Harvard Law School, or at the top of your class at a Tier 4 school? Most sane people would chose HLS, because even the bottom at Harvard will be able to get a great firm job somewhere.