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The Lure Of The Law: Why People Become Lawyers and What The Profession Does To Them, Richard W. MollThe Legal Career Guide: From Law Student To Lawyer, Gary A. Munneke Biography Marshall: A Life In Law, Leonard John Baker When does a student apply to law school?
"Is There Life After Law School?" The most recent employment survey released by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) reports that 89% of 35,787 (out of a total 38,894) 2003 graduates responding were employed. This figure includes both employment in legal positions and those not directly involved in the practice of law. This figure does not include those continuing their education and those not seeking employment. To place this 89% employed figure in perspective, at the same reporting point for the class of 2002, 89% were employed; for the class of 2001, 90% were employed; for the Class of 1997 90.3% were employed; and for the Class of 1996 the figure was 87.4%. All of this contrasts favorably with the 1993 figure when the overall employment rate bottomed out at 83.4%. Additional findings of the NALP employment summary for the Class of 2003 include a breakdown of the type of positions graduates selected: 77% of graduates found jobs in the same region as their law school How Much is a Good Attorney Worth?
Source: National Association for Law Placement (NALP) Class of 2002 National Summary Report. Ten Rules for Succeeding in Law School and as a Lawyer 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Learn to think analytically and clearly and to express yourself well in written form; i.e. learn to think and learn to write. The following was written by Steve Lawrence, Jr., a Duke graduate who received his law degree from the University of Chicago, The law student must be ready and willing to meet one of the biggest challenges that he will ever face. Law school is a full-time business. By full-time, I mean a minimum of 10 hours a day, every day of the week. It is quite exhaustive, particularly during the first year. There is a new vocabulary to learn, and a new way of thinking. As the faculty is fond of saying, law students also have to learn to read for the first time in their lives. In law, every word is of crucial importance; you don't read just to get the gist of the material. This point came across to me the first day of law school. I had spent four years in college contemplating such issues as truth, goodness government, religion. In the first case we had to read in Contracts the issue which Judge Henry Friendly, one of the most distinguished judges in the country, had to face is: "What is chicken?" The case turned on whether the parties to the contract meant "stewing chicken" or "fowl." The movement from considering "what is truth" to "what is chicken" symbolizes perfectly for me the movement from college to law school. Dean Gerald L. Wilson, Ph.D. |
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Questions Pre-Law Students Ask Most Often |
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Dean Wilson sponsors programs and distributes information to all students considering careers in law. All pre-law students are invited and encouraged to join the undergraduate pre-law society, Bench and Bar, which offers a variety of programs and activities for those considering law as a profession. Below are answers to a number of questions often asked by pre-law students.
There are basically two factors involved in the law school admissions decision, a student's Grade Point Average and a student's score on the LSAT (Law School Admission Test). Extracurricular activities should be a part of the student's experience at Duke, and recommendations may be required, but only in marginal cases have they any bearing upon law school admission. When should a student take the LSAT? The LSAT's should be taken either in June after the junior year or in the early fall of the senior year. In general, students seem to perform better after their junior year, and since there is no reason to take them before this time, one should not plan to take them earlier. Should a student take the LSAT once for practice? No, definitely not. Whenever any LSAT scores for a person are reported, all scores are reported. Since LSAS averages the scores, a student should plan to take test only once. If an individual does not perform well, he or she should consult the Pre-Law Advisor before registering to retake the test. Should a student take one of the commercial LSAT preparation courses? Neither Law Services nor this office sponsors or recommends any particular commercial prep course. Students who have taken such courses point out that these courses do familiarize the test taker with the format of the test and that taking full advantage of these courses may reduce the anxiety factor. Law Services does provide old tests and other preparation materials which may be equally helpful if they are dealt with seriously. What major should a student choose? Basically within the liberal arts curriculum at Duke it does not matter which major is selected. Law School Admissions Committees do not have "preferred" majors. Students should seek breadth in their undergraduate curriculum with depth in one or more areas (i.e. the major). In brief, a student is free to choose whatever major he or she wishes. Will a double-major increase a student's chances of getting into law school? No. A double-major is fine if a student wants to complete one, but it is irrelevant in terms of law school admission. Are there specific courses a student should take, or is there a pre-law curriculum? Again, the answer is no. As indicated above, a student should seek breadth in his or her undergraduate program. Some courses that students have found helpful in the past (but in no way should be construed as "required" for law school) are: Philosophy 48, Economics 1-2 or 51-52, 83, English 117s, History 97D, 177A, 197A, Political Science 91, 127, 177-178, 207s, Public Policy Studies 55 and Sociology 10D and 157. Though some law schools do not require letters of recommendation, most do require one to three letters, usually two from Professors and one from the Dean/Pre Law Advisor. In general, recommendations carry little weight unless a student is already a highly qualified candidate for admission, or the student is a marginal candidate and the letter points out some unusual or outstanding fact that is not apparent from examining the student's objective record. A student does not need to prepare a file of letters of recommendation until shortly before applying to law school. Students are advised to use the LSAT Services Letter of Recommendation Service. A final word: Letters from Duke faculty members who know the student and from the Pre-Law Advisor are basically the only ones which count. Letters from Congressmen, judges, ministers and family do not carry any weight and can have a negative impact on admission committees. Are there any books which will tell a student what law school is like and about the practice of law?
Law school and legal education Full Disclosure: Do You Really Want To Be a Lawyer?, Susan J. Bell Legal Profession Law v. Life: What Lawyers Are Afraid To Say About The Legal Profession, Walt Bachman |
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Osborne, John J., Jr. The Paper Chase. Go ahead and read it and/or see the movie. Reaction from law students is mixed; most say it is fairly accurate, a few find it overdone and a smaller number say it understates the law school experience.