Second Year Recap

This is not going to be as extensive as my thoughts on the first year of law school, but I figured the second year did warrant some comments. First of all, just be prepared for lots of work. If you make it to second year, you know the drill. So it's not really a surprise, but the different classes and professors mean a slight adjustment to figure out what they want. But other than that, it is mostly just a ton of work.

I know I said before that I was told about law school-- "The first year they scare you to death, the second year they work you to death, and the third year they bore you to death." That has been entirely too true in my experience. (And in reading for Wills and Trusts, I see that the third year prediction seems to be right on as well!)

During the second year, I was not as idealistic as in my first year. Meaning this- I did not read every assignment (oh, shocking!). And I did not do a written brief for ANY case I read. Of course, I did make notes in my text books IF I knew there was any possibility I would be called on (you figure out really quickly each professor's system and don't bother wasting time reading if you know there is no chance you will be called on).

Study groups took on much less priority as well. My study group was reduced to a single study partner, and we really only got together to study a few times during the year. I think we were really more emotional support for each other. Our schedules didn't really allow for weekly study times (as my first year group had), so you just do what you can.

Because there were clinical units to be done in the second year, and the extra classes, time is really at a premium. It's not how I like to work, but really, you have to figure out what you MUST read, what you WANT to read, and what you can afford not to read. For me, I would read Con Law and Bus. Org. if I knew I was going to be called on that week. For Con. Law, the professor was kind enough to warn us the week before. For Bus. Org, you had to keep track where in the alphabetical listing the professor was and hope too many people ahead of you didn't "pass". That means you end up having to read for more weeks than you would like, but he likes to embarrass students, so better to spend the extra time reading than be publicly humiliated. I read Property every week just because I liked it and I admired the professor, so I didn't want to ever be unprepared in her class. For Crim. Law and Procedure, I started out reading every week, but the assignments were SO long that I ended up only reading when I had the time or knew I would be called on (again, with a week's notice!). For Tax, I read the first week and realized I had wasted hours doing so because after reading it I had no idea what I had just read. So I didn't read another assignment the entire semester and yet got the highest grade of my year in there! Seriously, do NOT waste your time reading tax. Email me for the class notes, and just follow along when you are in there. The final is open book, and you can write all your notes in the book and be done with it! I always read for Crim. Trial Practice and always spent lots of time preparing for that class because, even though it was only pass/fail, I wanted to actually learn this, and I found it very interesting. None of that was a waste as I'm actually going to use all of it during this year's internship at the US Attorney's office.

As a second year, you do seem to have a bit more credibility though. Some professors won't even talk to first years, since so many don't make it. So, if you can make it to second year, you have proved yourself. It's kind of strange too because at the beginning of the year the school has sign ups for on campus interviews. You're used to being an almost "non-person" as a first year, and then you're getting emails saying you should sign up. I ignored the first ones, thinking they weren't for me until I spoke to someone in administration and realized that since I hadn't interviewed for a job in about 15 years, just going through that process would be a good exercise for me. Getting my resume updated (um, I mean, constructing a brand new one) was good to do, and I did get picked to interview with 2 of the companies I submitted resumes to. I didn't make it past the first interviews, but that was all fine with me because I didn't want to practice that kind of law anyway, and with the other things that happened this summer, it would have been a disaster if I had gotten one of those jobs. So, if you are in your second year, DO consider participating in the on campus interviews. If nothing else, it will motivate you to update your resume and get some practice interviewing. If you're lucky, you may end up with a summer internship! (If you don't, don't worry, because there will be tons of opportunities for other ones later.)

It also seemed to me that most people who had no idea what kind of law they wanted to practice as a first year, had gotten some inspiration and now have direction. Not everyone, mind you, but in general, people seem to know where they are headed by the end of the second year. Try to take some electives to either help you make up your mind, or expose yourself to areas you may be considering if you're in your second year. Taking Crim. Trial Practice sealed the deal for me. There was no way after taking that class that I would consider being anything OTHER than a prosecutor.

Well, that's probably not everything, but it's all I can think of right now. BTW, I did finish my reading for the first 2 weeks of classes. : ) Tomorrow I start at the US Attorney's office. I'm so excited! I'm sure the first day will be lots of the normal first day stuff, but I actually have tons of things I need to work on for my trial next month, so I'm very anxious to get started on all of that.

I can't remember if I posted my schedule before or not (and I'm too lazy to go back and check). I will have classes Tues. afternoon and evening, Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday afternoon and evening. I'm also working 20 hours a week. So yeah, I'm going to be busy and not home a whole lot. I anticipate I'll be doing most of my reading on weekends. Oh well, a semester goes by quickly!

Good luck to everyone this year! Looking forward to seeing all my classmates again....