Top Five Pieces of Advice For New Law Students

As I returned to Harvard Law this week, I realized that a whole new crop of 1L's had taken my place as the people walking around campus with a petrified look of fear on their faces. Now that I feel like I own the place, I thought I'd offer some advice to the rookies. My advice is tailored toward HLS but it applies to students in any law school. It concerns the initial adjustment process; we'll talk more about exams later.

1. Keep Things In Perspective
A common fear 1L's have is foundering badly when called upon in class, thus making a fool of yourself in front of your classmates and the professor. Well guess what? It happens to everyone. Half the class is probably goofing of instead of paying attention to you and the other half as well as the professor will completely forget about anything specific that happened during lecture by the end of the day. If you think about you turn to speak in terms of just one of the incredibly many little pieces that make up a semester, it's not a big deal in the scheme of things. Similarly, the syllabi and textbooks may seem huge and overwhelming at first glance, but break them down into the day-by-day assignments and they are much more manageable.

2. Get To Know What Your Professors Want
One of my first semester professors took cases as the gospel truth of law. Another professor analyzed cases heavily to determine the underlying rationale and to justify why a given holding should ever be applied in the future. A third professor relied upon cases only as historical background and various examples of application, caring much more on the doctrinal and statutory rules themselves. The moral is that the sooner you can figure out what the professor is looking for, the sooner you can tailor your preparation toward that goal and work more efficiently.

3. Plan Your Time Well
Contrary to what you might think, there is plenty of time for non-law school activities. In addition to being on top of and on time with my assignments virtually without fail, I managed to edit for a student journal, serve on the executive committee for the lecture board, serve as a section representative for the HLS social organization, attend various speaking engagements and career workshops, play intramural sports, work out regularly, watch a steady diet of football and reality television, officiate soccer games off-campus, go out with friends, and even date. The key is to manage your time. I highly recommend using Outlook or a similar calendar program which enables you to see how much time you have and how you dole it out.

4. Your Classmates Are Your Friends, Not Your Competition
It might be more the case at HLS than elsewhere, but your survival is largely predicated on how well you use your classmates for support. Whether you form formal study groups or just talk with friends now and then about specific issues that arise or just bitch about professors, your classmates are a wonderful resource. There is no class rank here and there are plenty of jobs to go around, so nobody ever needs to achieve something at another student's expense. Since you'll be spending much of your time with these people anyway, you might as well be friends with them.

5. Don't Blow Off Legal Research And Writing
The temptation certainly exists, since the class is graded pass/fail and it's only for two credits and the instructors might seem less legitimate than tenured professors and the assignments and fact patterns tend to be rather inane. But honing your skills now will make legal research a breeze once you reach the real world.

Many have survived and even thrived where you now stand. Good luck!