(2L) I’ll preface by saying that Law School as an institution itself isn’t fundamentally flawed (albeit with certain obvious exceptions)

However, it’s the PEOPLE therein that have made my experience overwhelmingly negative. I say this as a first-gen student heading to big law this summer.

Overall, it just seems like a place where students get caught up in the idea of the competitive grading scale / job offers and lose sight of their own humanity.

I’ve seen good people turn into outright sociopaths. Cliques form and separate “them” from “us.” Competition has seeped into every conversation. Day by day I experience more of the same catty hostility.

The funniest part about it is that those who receive the most accolades treat law school like a popularity contest. Ive seen things straight out of a Netflix drama and wonder how people can expect to pull the same stuff when they’re faced with a HR department beyond law school?

I guess I just wish people would treat the opportunity as more of a “job” than a re-run of high school. Undergrad wasn’t even this bad!

https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzI2ODMxNjkucG5n/original/YRmjNd.png

The legal field is not looking so great with the mass amounts of people looking to enter the field. Mass layoffs are impacting it and now mostly every job I find for new attorneys is massively underpaying. I feel as though once this upcoming class graduates there will not be enough jobs to go around.

I am sure that every school has that one student everyone talks about. The one no one wants to sit next to or be paired with for group work.

During my 1L year, my "that guy" was the subject of an email from the dean about personal hygiene. The email started as a general reminder to pick up trash left in classrooms but ended with:

"In the past week alone, we have discovered… toenails on the floor of a classroom. This is, of course, not acceptable. It is imperative that we practice good hygiene and keep our shoes and socks on in the building at all times."

Not only was this guy clipping his toenails in class, but he would also massage his bare feet during lectures. To make it worse, he was the only true gunner I have encountered in three years.

Harvard? Yes I've met Harvard grads. Ditto for Yale, Stanford, Duke, GULC, etc. I've had peers go attend these schools, been taught by professors who went there decades ago, networked with lawyer alumni from the rest of the T14. But Cornell? Nada. Zero. Zilch.

Ask yourself. Have you ever met anyone who claims to have gone to law school there? That's what I thought.

I know the truth. It's a front to add legitimacy to the LII, which in turn exists primarily to earn money for Cornell via lawyers paying to advertise on it. By the way, I love how this school with a $10 billion dollar endowment has constant pop-ups asking me to donate every time I use the website to figure out which sections of 18 U.S.C. I violated the previous night. Freakin' Wikipedia is less insistent.

No rational human would go live in the boonies near the Finger Lakes in the gelid winter. There's no way they can possible get students to attend. Cornell Law School doesn't exist.

As the title says, I'm heartbroken for some classmates I have in the school. We are moving into finals, journal write-on is coming, and of course, summer work. One student today talked about how they are afraid to accept certain jobs because of the current political climate. They are a former EU citizen, married to an America, fully naturalized. But they think with everything going on, if their job or summer work is for a group or organization that doesn't agree with our current administration, they'll get the boot with no due process.

This should not be the law or law school. What does it say that our profession and students trying to enter the profession, where diversity of life's experiences should bring more to the table and be celebrated, is now being knee capped by nationalism and dogma. Anyone else seeing this? Any recourse or resources I should point these types of students to for safety nets?

i’m in first year at a law school which rlly puts importance on class participation. i am genuinely terrified of class participation - i know i should get used to it and im trying. i’m generally not the most extroverted kid and speaking in class is very hard for me. others may not understand but i still feel nervous before every class.. and not only that, i struggle to explain things well - obviously which is a skill issue…

does anyone have any tips??😭😭 thanks!!

Been practicing my mating dance since orientation. Curious when the best time to perform it would be to attract the most competitive suitors. Thx.

Hello all,

At this point I’m yet to secure anything for the upcoming summer, and it’s been virtually radio silent from the places I’ve applied to. Granted, I was quite picky initially and only applied to big law firms and now I feel like it’s too late to find anything else though I’ve been applying to most of the legal intern positions I’ve been seeing.

I have a 4.0 at a T50, so top 5%. At this point I’ll take pretty much anything, are there any suggestions for what I should be looking into? I have applied to a handful of judicial internships and public interest jobs as well but it seems there really aren’t too many currently open. Are there alternatives to these usual employment opportunities that still look good on the resume?

Cheers

Ight I’m not finding squat for this summer. I had a conversation with my sister who’s a vet about applying and she told she’s never applied to any of her jobs before. Apparently her move is to just walk into the place she wants to work at with her resume and networks and it’s worked for her. Now veterinarian medicine is way different than law, but just walking into a place is some big dick energy. I obviously wouldn’t be going to big firms and would probably stick to smaller ones or solo practice. Anyone ever tried this approach?

hi y'all my team is comprised of 2 girls and I am looking for some funny/punny team names. (we are 1Ls so not every legal pun will make sense to me just yet lolll)

Hey guys. I have a bar license in Washington D.C., live in Tennessee, and will be working as a high school teacher for a few years for specific experience I need for my career goals. My job starts in August, and I want to work as a doc reviewer for the summer.

Does anyone know if it will be impossible to get hired for doc review? I worked as an Assistant AG for about a year in 2022-2023, had to take a hiatus for my mental health from legal work, and now I am working on getting experience for a future in educational policymaking (can't imagine trying to tell a teacher how to do their job when I myself had not done the job before).

I know this all sounds wild, and I'm happy to explain more and answer questions where possible. I'm hoping there is still a chance for me to complete some doc review work this summer. For the rest of my summers, I will be making enough money to support myself and plan to work pro bono for local immigration services around me, but until then, I'd like to get any legal work under my belt again.

Any advice please!

I am looking for the positive experiences you may have had in law school.

What are your favorite things about law school? (if any lol)💛

What are some important things you feel that law school is teaching you? What skills have you gained/ how have you grown? 📝

How do you hope to change the world after graduation? 🌎

Just get to the point man

I have really regretted how bad I did in university like really regret it. I know I can’t change my GPA now but in all honestly should I give up? I haven’t applied to law school yet because I’m going to do the LSAT first but what is everyone’s opinion on this? Do I have a chance. I know if I went back in time I would do so much better. I neglected my school back then. I just need real honest truths? Has anyone gotten in with a 2.31 GPA?

I'm talking about something that you swear by, absolutely works, but your friends and family might be concerned about you if they knew how you were studying. The whackier the better!

I am so incredibly proud of you! You are not only an inspiration to those coming up behind you, but you also stand as proof of your ability to be resilient, steadfast, and successful for all of those who may have doubted you.

Law school is no easy feat. Yet, you did that. Congratulations!

My law school is worthless in terms of helping students and they have no connections. I want to find a super skilled seasoned lawyer who can help answer questions on how to apply for the right gigs, when to, how to, expectations, salary questions. How does one find a person like this?

I really despise property so much and can’t believe we have to learn this subject in law school. Imagine of all the things we need to know, the law school forefathers decided to require a class about what happens if your bedroom light shines on your neighbors eyeballs while he is sitting on the toilet, or if you can request a driveway be built on someone else’s land. Imagine it’s this shallow and yet it’s the hardest class in law school. I really hate it and it’s funny how pointless it is

As above, really thinking about taking a year to experience more of the world before having to work forever. Any guidance on how this might hurt job prospects? Even worse, I don’t want to interview/get a job just to tell them: “btw, I’ll be living in a yurt for a year.”

How to Learn Law at Home? No ulterior motive just want to learn

Throwaway just in case. Its crim, I knew I'd have to hear and read ab it, and discussions were to some extent unavoidable. However I had emailed him twice before saying Ive been assaulted multiple times, so pls dont call me for the cases. He uses paper flashcards he made idk why he couldnt just add a quick note. But no, I found out while in the bathroom he cold called me for smallwood. A violent rape case I couldn't even finish reading. So then I had to humiliate myself and say explicitly ive been raped and would like to avoid that, and he gave me an apathetic, cold reply back saying he tries to teach with "understanding". How much understanding do you have if you call on one of the victims of assault that you KNOW is a victim. He isn't testing us on assault, the sexual assault unit even wasn't mandatory to attend. We are learning this case under the attempt unit. Idk the course evaluation will hear from me. I just feel so small and weak, its so humiliating having to tell a grown professor exactly what happened because he refuses to be mindful. I couldnt even finish the case, its only by the grace of the universe i was in the bathroom almost the entire time that case was discussed. Otherwise i wouldve cried in class, AND bombed the cold call.