Law School

Managing Family Obligations While In Law School

A trip through your local bookstore likely yields many books touting endless advice about how to successfully navigate the difficulties of law school. Unfortunately, there tends to be a dearth of guidance when it comes to navigating law school…with a family. This post hopes to help those who are taking more than just a backpack off to law school. Here, we compile our best advice for managing family obligations while in law school.

Partner Track vs. Staff Attorney – What’s the Difference?

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Partner Track vs. Staff Attorney – What’s the Difference?

Every attorney has a different path after law school. Some law school graduates have no plan to practice law. Others don’t quite know what they want to do after law school. And still, other law school graduates know precisely what they do (or do not!) want to do after law school. This leads to a question if you choose to work in a law firm: do you want to stick with the partner track? Or is a staff attorney more your style? Bear in mind that this decision is deeply personal and depends upon what you want in your legal career, your family circumstances, and your long-term personal and career goals. Here, we discuss some of the general differences between choosing the partner track or becoming a staff attorney.

Common Law School Extracurriculars and Clubs

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Common Law School Extracurriculars and Clubs

Getting into law school can be incredibly difficult. For many students, it can take years of preparation! If you’ve received an acceptance letter or two, it’s probably because you had an impressive resume stretching far beyond grades. You likely participated in some clubs, completed community service, and possibly held some leadership positions while in undergrad. Yet your motivation to join these groups was not merely about developing a resume. You probably joined these clubs to build a skill, network with like-minded individuals, or just have some fun. The same can be said about participating in a student organization while in law school. To help get you started, here’s a list of the most common law school extracurriculars and clubs. Read more

How to Improve Your Second Semester Law School Grades

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How to Improve Your Second Semester Law School Grades

The first semester of law school can be exhilarating, energizing, and exhausting all at the same time. Then those few weeks hit, where you’re likely spending time with friends and family for the holidays, but in the back of your mind, you’re just waiting to receive your grades from the first semester, eagerly waiting to see how well all your hard work paid off. The moment the grades come in may be filled with the feelings of “Wow, look at that! Maybe I can actually do this whole lawyer thing!” But for many others, the reality looks more like, “What?… How can that be?… I worked so hard!… I’ve never had a final grade this low before.” We’re here to tell you that scoring lower than expected on your first round of law school exams is not rare, and we’re here to help you improve your second-semester law school grades!

Getting Ready for Your Second Semester of Law School

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Getting Ready For Your Second Semester Of Law School

With 10 minutes left, you submit the last exam of your first semester of law school. You close your laptop and walk down to the proctor to turn in your paperwork. As you exit the exam room, a feeling of elation and relief washes over you. You did it! You completed your first semester of law school despite some back-to-back final exams. Now what? While you are waiting for your exam grades to come out, make sure to take some time for yourself and prepare for the road ahead. Here are some ideas to help you get ready for your second semester of law school!

New Year’s Resolutions for Law Students

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New Year’s Resolutions for Law Students

You did it! Another semester finished, and another calendar year behind you. Whether you are a 1L, 2L, 3L, or a night student, you likely just finished final exams and are on your way to the next semester and are feeling the pressure to do well in law school. With the new year right around the corner, we thought it would be helpful to put together a list of new year’s resolutions especially catered to law students.

Courses To Take 2L And 3L Year of Law School

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Courses To Take 2L And 3L Year of Law School

The schedule for first-year law students is fairly standard without much (if any) flexibility in selecting classes. First-year core law school classes consist of those subjects typically tested on the bar exam, and these courses also establish a baseline for students to build upon in subsequent years. Without a rigid set schedule like they experienced during their 1L year, many law students wonder what courses are best to take during their 2L and 3L years. The answer is multi-faceted. There are a few outcomes to consider, including what courses best lead to success during law school, on the bar exam, and in your career. In this post, we address which courses to take during your 2L and 3L year of law school to best set you up for success in law school and beyond! Read more

The Ten Best Majors For Law School

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The Ten Best Majors For Law School

Many people from a young age know exactly what they want to do with their career. If you always wanted to be a lawyer, perhaps you are already on the path to studying political science or prelaw as an undergraduate. Or maybe you’re not sure what path you will take, and you are thinking about law school but want flexibility with your undergraduate major in case you decide to go in another direction. Some lawyers go back to school later in life after a career in other fields, from marketing, to finance, to teaching, to medicine, and anything else you can imagine (work experience is actually a factor that law schools and law firms favorably consider!). So, what are the best majors that actually prepare someone for the rigors of law school? The answers might just surprise you!

Approaching Law School After A Career Change

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Approaching Law School After A Career Change

When it comes to applying to and preparing for law school, many available resources are geared toward recent college graduates. In this post, however, we focus on those who plan to attend law school after a career change. If you find yourself in that category, read on for tips on how you can approach law school!

Should I Study For Law School Exams Over Thanksgiving?

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Should I Study For Law School Exams Over Thanksgiving?

Many students wonder whether they need to study for law school exams over Thanksgiving, and if so, how much time they should study. The answer is fairly subjective based on your preferences and holiday plans. Generally speaking, however, you should spend some time studying but can (and absolutely should!) take time off to relax as well. Regardless of whether or not you go home for Thanksgiving, there are some key things that you can do to stay on track with your exam studies. In this post, we lay out our best advice for balancing law school studying and the Thanksgiving break—from whether to take any breaks to whether to go home for the holiday and from when to start studying to how to make (and stick to!) a study schedule.

What Are Different Types Of Lawyer Jobs?

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What Are Different Types Of Lawyer Jobs?

For most students, going to law school means working at a private law firm or obtaining a judicial clerkship after graduation. This post, however, is for those who may want to do anything but begin or continue your career in private practice. If you find yourself in that latter category, we are happy to tell you that there are definitely other options available to you! It turns out that there are many different types of lawyers than those you see depicted in television dramas and Hollywood blockbusters. In addition to actual “lawyer jobs,” there is an endless number of careers that are commonly referred to as “law-adjacent.” We talk in more detail below about alternate careers for those not interested in following a more traditional law school career path post-graduation.

How To Catch Up When You’re Behind In Law School

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How To Catch Up When You’re Behind In Law School

You open your class syllabus and find today’s date. You scroll up the page to find the most recent reading you completed. Staring back at you is the suite of readings listed for a few days, or even the past several weeks, that you have yet to complete. Looking ahead, you see that the assignments aren’t going to slow down anytime before the final exam. You may feel overwhelmed, you may feel discouraged, you may feel anxious, and you may even think about giving up. Take a deep breath (inhale-exhale). Finding yourself behind in law school is not upcoming, and it can certainly be stressful. We’re here to tell you there is almost always still an opportunity to succeed, to help you catch up in law school and find a path back to success.

What Are Law School Exams Like?

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What Are Law School Exams Like?

One of the most frequently asked questions by students considering law school and/or starting law school is, “what are law school exams like?” This is a fair question because the answer, like most law-related questions, is that it depends! In this blog post, we provide an overview of what to expect on law school exams as well as how you can excel on exam day. For additional useful tips on how to approach final exams, read JD Advising’s post about how its founder earned A+’s on 55% of her law school courses!

How To Study For Law School Midterms

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How To Study For Law School Midterms

It’s officially autumn, which means that the leaves are changing, pumpkins are plentiful, and law school midterms are right around the corner. Law school midterms can be difficult to balance. After all, students still have to keep up with coursework despite having a midterm or two that require their attention. Since law school midterms usually account for only a fraction of a course grade, this sometimes leads students to not take law school midterms very seriously or to dedicate little time to prepare for law school midterms. Our advice? Be sure to take your law school midterms seriously. Below we discuss how to study for law school midterms!

Announcing the Class of 2022 JD Advising Scholars

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Announcing the Class of 2022 JD Advising Scholars

JD Advising is thrilled to announce the 2022 class of JD Advising Scholars. After a very competitive application cycle, we are excited to have 50 scholars in the program. These scholars are first-year students attending law schools across the nation.