Dear Law Students: Unsolicited Advice from an Attorney and Yoga Instructor
Transcript
Picture this: you’ve made it. You spent all of undergrad doing the most so your law school application would be top tier, you studied your ass off for the LSAT, and it all paid off. You made it to the law school.
You went in knowing it would be hard work. You’ve heard the horror stories of the 1L memos and oral arguments. You know the library must be open until midnight for a reason. And you’ve seen the syllabus that says you’ll be reading hundreds of pages per week in every single class — and you better be ready for that cold call.
What you weren’t told was that on top of classes, you might want to do moot court which you quickly learn is a massive time investment. Your career counselor tells you the legal clinics will give you the practical knowledge you won’t get in class, and you’ll end up doing over 100 hours of pro bono service before that semester ends. You find out half way through 2L year that the ethics exam, the MPRE, is not free. Oh, and neither is that state specific test you need to take before you can qualify to take the bar exam. Oh, and you need to remember to be networking and attending local bar events if you want to be employed before you graduate. Oh, and maybe you should do this extracurricular that one judge likes so you can land a clerkship. Oh, and don’t forget to have fun!….
And when was the last time someone told you it’s ok to slow down?
How about you should take more breaks? Did you eat anything today other than that one free dinner at that bar event?
Have you hydrated without caffeine?
Are you sleeping and is it quality?
When was the last time someone genuinely asked: how are you doing and is there anything I can do to help make your day easier?
Law students are often taught that the grind starts here in law school. Get used to feeling this stressed and being this busy because practice will be even worse! Next thing you know, law school is a test of endurance and quite frankly, none of us signed up for that.
Someone needs to tell you so I will: your law school experience does not have to be sleepless, a three year journey to losing who you were before law school, or a cut-throat competition where you constantly need to be on your A+ game to win.
Instead I offer you this: law school is a great opportunity to learn your limits and learn to take control of your stress and manage a busy schedule. This is the best time to learn how long it might take you to write a memo, so schedule in those breaks. To learn what fuels you, maybe how to cook some simple meals you can keep around. It’s the perfect time to invest in one of those big water bottles and fill it with water to not become to reliant on coffee.
Law school is also an excellent time to learn how to set boundaries and dare I suggest occasionally say no to opportunities that are pushing you beyond your limits. You don’t have to attend every single bar event. You don’t have to be a legal writing teaching assistant while clerking and taking 15 credit hours (this one might be personal)…
I wish someone told me being a great attorney after law school doesn’t mean you did everything under the sun while in law school. You can manage your time better by setting goals for what YOU want out of law school, not what everyone is telling you that you should want or how to reach goals that might not even be on yours.
Being a great attorney after law school is someone who knows how to live and work with balance; it’s someone who knows when to take a break to produce the best work for their clients. It’s someone with empathy and compassion and kindness in times of conflict. It’s someone who is well-rested so they can regulate their emotions. It’s someone who understands perfection is not always realistic. It’s someone who knows that shaking hundreds of hands in law school is a waste of time when you could instead be making intentional and meaningful connections by focusing on personal goals.
So that’s what I’m telling you, law students. The key to unlock the best law school experience? Set your own goals and shape your experience accordingly. Recognize your goals might change, and be adaptable by shifting your priorities to meet those goals. Because that’s what the legal practice is, it’s all about flexibility, being open to multiple perspectives, and being a support system for your clients which you can’t do if you haven’t even supported yourself.
Law school will still be hard work just like the practice of law but you can avoid the early burn out and flat out misery by not subscribing to—say it with me—hustle culture. I promise if you set goals and work towards those goals with intention, you might still have some late nights and maybe a little less sleep than ideal, but you’ll be happy you achieved what you personally wanted to in a sea of potential and opportunity to strive for too many things—many of which might not at all be what you want.
Too many of us lose ourselves in law school. You can still become a top notch lawyer and have kept your weekend hobbies. I encourage you to move through law school with intention and purpose and ignore what the external forces may tell you is the perfect way to be a law student.
