Here’s what you don’t want to happen: you devote three years of your life to attending law school, you spend countless hours studying, you sacrifice time with your family and friends, you take on tens of thousands of dollars in student debt, and then, you finally graduate! But, after all that time, effort, and money, you don’t have a legal job or even any good leads on a legal job. You have a J.D. and a student loan payment coming up, but no legal work. Or, perhaps the more common scenario, you have a post-graduation job lined up, but it’s just something you took to pay the bills and isn’t a job that has set you down your preferred career path.
So how do you avoid this scenario? Recognize that law school is, in some respects, a means to an end. Yes, it’s a chance to challenge yourself intellectually and explore new concepts, but law school is about preparing you for a legal career. Most people go to law school because they believe it will allow them to attain a more rewarding job. But to land that rewarding job you need to make a focused, concerted effort during law school to set yourself up for it. Fortunately, you don’t have to go it alone! The career services office at your law school exists to help you achieve your professional goals and building a relationship with that office can have huge benefits.
[Read more…] about The Value of Building a Relationship with Career Services
The way you begin your day can have a big impact on how the rest of the day goes. If you get off to a good start you are setting yourself up for a productive work day. If, however, you get off to a rough start, or a late start, or a hectic start, you’re more likely to find yourself playing catch up the rest of the day. In law practice, where you must consistently and efficiently turn out quality work, starting your day right so you can stay on track will be particularly important. To prepare you for that challenge, you should start developing your own morning routine in law school. Here are five tips to help you establish a good morning routine so you that can conquer the day!
When the proctor at your last final exam calls “time,” it means the fall semester is officially over and winter break has begun. The feeling of relief that comes when the exhausting grind of finals weeks finally comes to an end is usually quickly eclipsed by the welcome realization that you now get to enjoy four whole weeks (!) away from law school. Take advantage of the break and enjoy your (temporary) freedom from regimented reading assignments, outlining, and cold calls – rest, relax, and let yourself have fun. There is no changing the results of your exams at this point, so compartmentalize any anxiety you have about your grades and allow yourself to enjoy this brief respite from law school. Don’t, however, assume that the responsibilities of being a law student and pursuing a legal career are completely put on pause between semesters. While you should decompress and enjoy a change of pace over winter break, there are also some important tasks to complete if you want to set yourself up for a successful spring semester. To make the most of winter break, make sure you invest (at least a little) time and effort into the following: 
When you reach the halfway point in the semester, you want things to start clicking. Your study schedule should be consistent, you should be familiar with your professor’s teaching style and their expectations, and you should have enough of a handle on the substantive concepts that you can create effective outlines. But what if you’re several weeks into the semester and you feel like you still haven’t found your groove? Don’t despair – there’s still plenty of time to turn things around before final exams, but don’t make the mistake of assuming that things will improve on their own. Instead, take action! Identify what you’re struggling with and put a plan in place to address those issues. Below are some common mid-semester struggles that you may be experiencing and some suggestions to help you overcome them so that you can feel confident going into finals week! 
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There can be a sharp learning curve in law school. The style of teaching and testing found in most law schools is different from other educational experiences, and it will require you to modify (or sometimes completely abandon) many of the study habits you relied on during undergrad. To do your best right from the start and give yourself a shot at the top of the curve, you not only need to quickly develop effective law school study skills, but you also have to avoid the ineffective strategies. Read on to learn about 10 common study mistakes new law students make so that you can avoid them during your 1L year.