What It's REALLY Like...

Have you ever seen The Paper Chase by James Bridges? It’s a movie based on a novel by John Jay Osborne Jr. that highlights the unique experience of being a first year law student. Although it came out in 1973, and it’s based on the experience of a Harvard Law student, there are several aspects of that movie that remain true today. While there aren’t many professor Kingsfields around anymore and the attire has most definitely changed, the personalities you find, the relationships you build, and the experiences that you go through are very similar. It’s difficult, it’s stressful, and it’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced. That being said, you’ll be thankful for every minute you’re at Quinnipiac Law.

So what should you make of all the romanticized notions of law school? Everyone hears about the Socratic Method and studying until you can’t keep your eyes open, but is that the complete truth? No. There is a lot of studying, and some professors still practice what is loosely called the Socratic Method, but law school isn’t made to break you like it was back in the 1970’s. You won’t hear any professors say, as Professor Kingsfield said to one of the brightest students in his class: “Mister Hart, here is a dime. Take it, call your mother, and tell her there is serious doubt about you ever becoming a lawyer.” If that was said to a 1L today, believe me, that student probably did something far worse than failing to answer a question!

The amount of “homework” that you have depends on the professors you have and how in-depth you’re willing to go with your studies. I say “homework” because law school isn’t like college in that we’re never given homework assignments or grades; you’re merely responsible for doing the reading, and if you don’t do the reading, you fall behind! Some professors will assign 3 or 4 cases for you to read for the next class. Now you could simply read those cases (maybe amounting to 15 pages) and call it quits for the night, but that’s not what you SHOULD do. What you should do is read all the cases, the note cases that those cases mention (at least going into westlaw or lexis and reading the major holdings of the cases), and read the related sections in your examples and explanations book (E&E), Hornbook, or Nutshell. This way you’ll know the topic of the law and not merely how it applies to just one or two cases. This, however, is not necessary… but believe me, it’ll definitely help when you’re studying for finals.

When I say “note cases,” I don’t mean every single case that is cited in the reading… that would take forever! After each case or each section of cases, there will be a “Notes” section or “Problems” section. The cases that are part of notes sections usually point out what is important about the case, so you don’t usually have to go any further than that. But problems sections, however, aren’t so generous. Normally you’ll get something like: “Adam, a PGA tour golfer, went golfing at a small town course one day and noticed a big sign from Bob’s Buick (a car dealership) offering a brand new Buick LaCrosse to anyone who could shoot a hole in one on Hole #5 that day. Adam shot a hole in one on #5, but when he went to Bob to collect his prize, Bob said that PGA tour professionals were not eligible to get the prize. Should Adam get the new car? See Player v. Dealership, 394 F.2d 123”. In order to see how the case would turn out, you should log into westlaw or lexis and find out! The court’s reasoning would also be useful to look at as well, mainly because there are some seemingly straightforward results hat have a very weird rationale behind them. And for those of you who are curious, the golfer probably wins!

If you do have problems understanding cases or concepts, the professors are always there and truly do have an “open door” policy. Most professors will give out their e-mail address at the start of the semester and really encourage students to either stop by their office or call if they have any issues. All of the professors here are incredibly genuine, and each one truly aims to shape you into someone who will do justice to the profession (no pun intended). It might be odd to think about now, but even when you have a “tough” professor, they’re probably helping you more than you know. Do you think the judges you’ll be standing in front of or your future opposing counsel will say “oh, it’s ok if you don’t know the facts of that case… I’ll tell you what you need to know”? No way! You’ll learn that you have to do the work; it will get easier the more you do it, and you will have the support of your professors and classmates when those difficult concepts arise.

Considering the classmates you’ll get to know, rest assured that you’ll be able to find people you can get along with; after all, it takes a certain kind of person to get into law school. During our first-year orientation, Dean King pointed out something that is easy to forget when you’re lost in the shuffle: we’re all incredibly bright students. We all work incredibly hard, we’ve all done incredible things, and we all belong here. So when you’re sitting next to someone new in class, get to know them a bit; I guarantee you’ll learn something new. Maybe you’ll establish a friendship that’ll get you out of trouble later!

As for the rest of your life in law school, well believe me it isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. When you’re done studying you’ll still have time to go out with your friends and family, and maybe you might have a couple seconds for yourself! The reading and research we have to do can be overwhelming unless you have a social life and something to relieve a bit of stress, so make sure you budget a bit extra for going to concerts, comedy shows, skiing, golf, shopping… whatever takes the edge off. There’s plenty to do locally, and we’re pretty close to Boston and New York as well.

For right now, just know that you’ll laugh at the LSAT’s once you get here, you’ll be just as nervous as everyone else coming in, and you’ll fit right in with the rest of us. Make sure you talk to professors and other students as much as you can because we’re all here to help you out. Every professor is willing to mentor students because, well, it’s their job! On top of that, all upperclassmen were in the position you’ll be in, and we all have lots of tips and tricks that we might be willing to share… like the ones in these posts!