free advice for future 1Ls, part 4

(if you’re new to the series, see part 1, part 2, and part 3)

Before I started law school, I got a lot of advice. I’m sure you have, too, by this stage, if you’re starting law school in the fall. Of all the advice I received, two things still stick out in my mind as being particularly useful.

1. Your classmates today will be your colleagues in three years.

It’s said so frequently in law school orientation that it becomes a cliché: “Your reputation as a lawyer begins today.” I suppose the reason it’s emphasized over and over is because it’s true. When the hellacious ride known as law school is over, you will be an attorney. And so will the out-of-control guy who showed up to class hung over more often than not, and so will the out-of-control girl who slept with 20 different guys (that you know of). You get the picture. Later, when a client brings you a problem that you can’t handle for him because he’s in a different city or the problem is beyond your realm of expertise, you’re going to want to make a referral. If you know two attorneys in Pleasanton that you went to school with, and one of them threw up on your shoes at a party every semester and regularly turned assignments in late and demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to follow simple rules, you’re probably going to refer your client to the other person, all else being equal. Just keep this little piece of advice tucked away in the recesses of your brain somewhere and it’ll serve you well.

2. Don’t take it too seriously.

At first, you might think this contradicts our first little nugget of wisdom, but in fact it’s a nice complement. You want to strike a balance between being sociable and serious, and it’s not always easy. If it’s possible to develop a negative reputation by being too sociable, so to speak, it’s also possible to develop a negative reputation by not being social enough. This is particularly true if you’re a nontraditional student (married, parent, older/career change, etc.). Don’t look down your bifocals at the “kids” and decide that you’re too mature to go out to the bar and knock back a few. If alcohol is just not your thing, what the hell are you doing in law school you can still be sociable without having to drink. Just get out of the house/library/carrel once in a while with some fellow law students and laugh and have a good time. Referring back to our hypothetical situation above, if you need to make a referral and you know two attorneys in Pleasanton who were your classmates, and one of them camped out in the library every day until 9:00 at night and never attended any social functions and was your sectionmate for your entire 1L year although you didn’t know it until the 12th week of your second-semester classes, you’re probably going to refer your client to the other person, all else being equal. Just as you wouldn’t refer someone to an attorney who was completely out of control in law school, you probably wouldn’t refer someone to an attorney with whom you had absolutely no social relationship with at all. If you discover at some point that your conversations at school are largely dominated by school-related topics, I’m talking to you. Get. A. Life.

Plus, law school sucks. Not so much because it’s hard, although that’s part of it. The main thing is that it’s just so different from undergraduate work, and the only people who can really relate to you are people who’ve either already been through it or who are going through it with you. You’re going to want to have friends in law school who will understand your silly adverse possession jokes and who will commiserate with you about your constitutional law class. When you develop ASS Syndrome, you’re going to want friends who sympathize and probably suffer from it, too, so you can sit around and collectively wonder how you’re going to get motivated to study for exams. Beyond that, though, some of the friends you make in law school can be lifelong friends, and everybody needs more of those.

So take the time to build and cultivate friendships with some of your classmates. Go out, have some drinks, socialize. Have a lot of laughs. Our section had a little dinner party rotation on Thursday nights and people would take turns hosting throughout both semesters. Form study groups. Join some law school organizations that you find interesting. Get on an intramural softball team if that’s an option. Just don’t be a study hermit.

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I may have one more of these free advice posts in me, but I’m not sure. Are there any topics you’d like to see covered or questions that remain unanswered for you? If so, leave me a comment on this post and I’ll do my best to address it.