Your 2L Year and Beyond!

I know it's tough to imagine right now, but you will survive your 1st year and you will have to begin your 2nd before you know it. The benefits that come with your second year are similar to the benefits of being an upperclassmen in college - you get to start picking classes that you WANT to take, you're beginning to learn the in's and out's of law school, and you're starting to build a bit of confidence. Unfortunately, for those of you who want to be successful after graduation, the old adage should hold true: in your first year, they SCARE you to death... in your second year, they WORK you to death, and in the third year, they BORE you to death.

As a side note, I say "those of you who want to succeed" because you could, if you so desired, choose to take the "easy A" classes (if there is such a thing in law school) and squeak by while learning the least and posting a high GPA. I trust that most of you, however, are not in this class of individuals as you more than likely want to ENJOY being an attorney!

Now then, back to the adage. You will, believe it or not, have MORE READING to do in your second year, and you will no doubt begin to feel the pressures of the class ranking system, GPA's, on-campus interviews (OCI's), job searching and short/long papers (discussed below) bear down on you. It will feel quite overwhelming at times, but trust me, that's what you have friends and family for!

As strange as it may sound, this is what you WANT to happen. The reason is simple - you are going to have to take courses that are USEFUL to you in practice. Now this is not to say that QU Law offers useless classes; rather, every course here is useful to someone, not everyone. For example: if you're beginning to find out that you enjoy corporate law, why go out of your way to take an "easy A" course that you would never use? You shouldn't!

Here's a real life example: a friend of mine was very interested in personal injury law, and she wanted to take a Trial Practice course. I say a trial practice course because QU Law offers two - Major Felony, which focuses on criminal law, and Civil. She decided to take the Major Felony course because "you only have to do a closing argument as opposed to an entire trial for your final, and the teacher is supposed to be easier." In the end, she wound up learning a heck of a lot about what to do in criminal court and didn't learn how to effectively present herself in civil court. Speaking with her after graduation, she told me that she liked the GPA boost, but wished she could go back and take the civil course as the partners in the firm that she now works for were a bit disappointed that she didn't know how to conduct herself in a civil trial.

In the end, what you'll learn might not be a complete waste of time (or money for that matter), but it might not prepare you as well as another, "more difficult" course would.

Alright, now that we've gotten that out of the way, here are a few more tips for planning your law school career.

Just like in college, there are "Gen Ed" courses that are required here at QU Law. As you probably have learned, you have to take FOUR OUT OF THE FOLLOWING SIX COURSES in order to graduate:

- Commercial Law
- Business Organizations
- Evidence
- Trusts & Estates
- Federal Income Tax
- Administrative Law

While you only have to take 4 of these courses, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you take ALL of them as THEY'RE ALL ON THE BAR! This doesn't mean that you're going to fail the bar if you don't take them - there are lots of students who don't take all 6 and pass with flying colors. Taking the course will, however, make taking the bar a bit easier as you probably won't have to rely on Barbri as much to learn EVERYTHING about that course in a matter of weeks.

If you don't want to take all 6, you should take a step back and look at where you see your career is headed to pick and choose the most useful courses. For example, if you plan on practicing in the Family Law arena, it might not be 100% necessary to take Business Organizations . Likewise, if you plan on practicing in the Criminal Law arena, it might not be incredibly advantageous to take Federal Income Tax (although it would be if you plan on getting into white-collar crime eventually). *Please note that these are just examples and not career advice.*

From a guy that plans to practice in Family Law and Criminal Law, I can tell you that Tax, T&E and Evidence have been INCREDIBLY USEFUL. I worked for a small firm that does some Family Law work, and Tax is used every day. In the criminal, personal injury and other civil work that came up, evidence was a must. Lastly, T&E is useful if you plan on working in a small practice because you'll inevitably have a client that wants you to write a will or create a trust for them.

If you want to plan your courses to benefit your career, you should talk to a professor that teaches in that particular area of the law. They can tell you what courses are a must and what courses can safely be avoided. Furthermore, you can always talk to attorneys in the field, either at QU Law's networking events or wherever you might meet a practicing attorney. (A word to the wise though... not all attorneys are good attorneys, so take what you hear with a grain of salt).

There are other courses that kind of sneak up on you if you're not looking at QU Law's required courses, namely Introduction to Representing Clients (if you plan on doing a Clinic or Externship, which is REQUIRED if you plan on enrolling in a CONCENTRATION), and Lawyer's Professional Responsibility, which is a REQUIRED COURSE period. The former basically teaches you how to conduct intake interviews, deal with clients in general...etc, and the latter is basically an ethics course.

IRC is only 2 credits, so it can be done in the summer without being a great burden. If you plan on concentrating in anything while you're here, you will have to participate in a Clinic or Externship to officially have completed the concentration. In order to participate in a Clinic or Externship, you have to either take IRC before the Clinic/Externship or during it. Given that lots of students choose to dedicate 6 credits or so to a Clinic/Externship, adding another 2 to tat for IRC only leaves you room for another 2 courses, so you have to plan accordingly. Here's an example:

Say you want to concentrate in Family Law, and you want to take all the Family Law courses available (being Family I, Advanced Family I, and II). Family is offered each semester, but Advanced I and II are only offered during certain semesters. If you don't take Family I at the right time, you may not be able to take Adv. III. Just be cognizant of the fact that not all courses are offered every semester and attempt to plan your next couple of years accordingly.

LPR is EITHER a 2 or 3 credit course, and choosing the two credit course over the three will have NO CONSEQUENCES - I'll explain. After graduation, some states (like CT) make you take an ETHICS EXAM. Taking LPR allows you to AVOID HAVING TO TAKE THIS EXAM if you plan to practice in CT (it won't suffice for other states ethics requirements). I've heard a few students say that only taking the 2 credit course means that you have to take the ethics exam for some reason, and that the only way to avoid the exam is by taking the 3 credit course. This, however, is A MYTH. After a quick conversation with QU Law's administration, taking the 2 credit course allows you to avoid the ethics exam altogether just as the 3 credit course does. In other words, there may be no particular benefit to you, besides getting a higher dose of ethics over a semester, in taking the 3 vs. the 2 credit course. However, as one commentator to this Blog has pointed out, the 3 credit course may offer a more comprehensive/analytical view as it culminates in a written exam; the 2 credit course, on the other hand, ends with a multiple-choice exam (which some may find more difficult). Accordingly, I would suggest taking whichever course best fits your schedule or has a professor you believe would be more compatible with your learning style (ask around, you'll get some feedback).

Okay, now that we've discussed the fundamental stuff, let's talk about courses that you might want to avoid and some that you should consider where you otherwise wouldn't. Again, I'd like to caution any readers that these are my personal beliefs and opinions - I've tried to remain as unbiased as I can throughout all of this, but I can only do so to a point.

One particular course that I took which I thought would be beneficial was LEGAL DRAFTING AND WRITING with Professor Jamison Wilcox. I'll start by saying that he was a very enthusiastic person who appeared to genuinely like teaching the material. That being said, the class didn't turn out to be as practical as I expected. To begin, one would think that a class titled "Legal Drafting and Writing" would entail drafting some of the most common documents that lawyers file, such as motions, memos, complaints, answers...etc. Unfortunately, it didn't. We redrafted portions of an answer and a complaint, and the book that you have to purchase briefly goes over the drafting of these documents, but the course failed to go into the detail necessary for a new practitioner to file these documents with a court and not be laughed out of court. In addition to the lack of practicality, the exam was quite brutal (in-class, closed book, definitely not enough time to cover all the issues involved, and quite chaotic in format), and he turned out to be a harder grader than I ever expected (again, my opinion). Lastly, I didn't feel as though the lectures were effective in even teaching us how to draft or redraft documents (the premise of the course). We spent hours going over the same documents to pick out flaws, and I never got a good sense of what a "good" redraft required. Hopefully Professor Wilcox will change his method and course structure, but until then, I wouldn't advise taking this course.

The next course that can be avoided (if you are not planning on completing the tax concentration) is Business Organizations with Professor Marilyn Ford. I have heard some students say that she has entirely revamped her teaching method since I took her class my 2L year, but I'm not sure it's changed so much that the class is worth-wild all of a sudden. To begin, we read hundreds and hundreds of pages of cases without going over them in class, even for a minute... instead, we "blitzed" the cases, she spit out the black-letter law (which an Emanuel does better), and then moved on. The final was the biggest final I have ever taken... in fact, I know students who are at the top of our class who did not even come close to finishing... granted, they got the A-'s (she doesn't give out A's) and I was left with my B-, lol. Everything about her teaching style simply rubbed me the wrong way, but hey, you may appreciate being talked down to and treated like you're not worth the hour and 50 minutes.

Okay, now let's talk about a couple of courses you might want to consider. Whatever courses that you take should be somewhat directed toward the type of law that you want to get into, but one course that will probably do you some good no matter what area you're practicing in is Advanced Civil Procedure: CT Practice. I can't tell you how many times a day I look at the practice book to look at rules of discovery, filing motions, expert witnesses...etc. The benefit to this course is that you'll probably have it in the forefront of your mind once you graduate.

Another course that you should highly consider, and one that unfortunately didn't fit with my schedule, is Advanced Individual Income Tax. In most, if not all practice areas, you will run into tax issues or clients looking for tax advice. For some reason, clients expect us to be the Abe Lincoln, "come to me with any problem" type of lawyer... if you can answer some of the more complex questions, you're likely to impress your client (and your boss), and probably improve your practice in the process. Who knows, maybe you'll like tax!

A group of courses that I, as a vary collaborative/mediative person, always suggest is the group of alternative dispute resolution courses that we offer: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mediation, Mediation Advocacy, Negotiation, and Arbitration. Considering the fact that ~95% of cases settle before trial, it is critical to learn effective negotiating skills. You know those commercials for whatever lawyer is now using the 1-800-WIN-WIN-1 phone number where the lawyers say "oh, they're represented by so-and-so, let's settle this one"? THAT HAPPENS! At the very least, take negotiation... you'll learn something, I promise.

Alright, now that we've got course discussions out of the way, you should bear in mind that you will have THREE "SHORT" AND ONE "LONG" PAPER to do before you graduate. Short papers are however long the professor that you're doing one for says. Long papers are technically required to be 10-15 pages long as per the Student Handbook. They're not discussed as much as they should be (in my opinion), and they're quite easy to forget about in your second year as you already have enough on your shoulders.

You have to complete three short papers and one long paper. Short papers usually count for 25% of your grade in whichever class you do it for. You only get two drafts, each being weighted differently, (usually the 1st draft being worth 15% and the 2nd being worth 10%). I do believe, however, that professors can choose not to have the paper weigh on your grade.

Whether or not short paper credit is given in any given course is up to the professor is also up to the professor, not you. Most of our full time faculty professors know the drill, so they'll tell you in the beginning of the semester whether they offer the opportunity, what the requirements are and so forth. The adjunct facility aren't usually as familiar with the School's requirements, so they'll probably look at you funny when you ask them if they do short/long paper credit. I would advise setting up an appointment with that professor to discuss completing a short paper... being an adjunct, they probably won't have the time to work with you to create a long paper (and the School doesn't usually allow anyone but a full-time faculty member to offer students the opportunity to do a long paper).

The long paper is not usually offered as part of a course, although Advanced Writing and Research (only offered every so often) does satisfy the long paper requirement. You can either complete the long paper with a professor as part of a course or by doing an "Independent Research Project," which you can actually receive course credit for (I think 1 or 2 credits). To be honest with you, I haven't had the opportunity to look into this very much, so I only have the basics to offer you. For now, just know that you'll eventually have to complete a long paper!

One benefit that some courses offer is short paper credit simply by taking the course. You will have to actually complete a paper, but it's usually one that is already required in the course, so it won't add any stress! For example, I believe Legal Drafting & Writing satisfies at least one short paper requirement (though I could be wrong).

As far as choosing a class for your short paper, here's my advice:

1. Plan on doing your short/long papers for courses that you enjoy or courses that you want to learn more about. If you enjoy Tax and you want to dive into some new/upcoming issues, you'll get the chance to do some interesting research and receive a bit of feedback on your work. Research doesn't have to be a chore - it can be a good experience!

2. Speak with the professor offering paper credit to get a sense of what they want. Again, although I just got done spewing "don't take the easy way out" rhetoric, you can make your life harder for no reason. Here's an example from MY personal experience: Two short paper's that I've done were in Criminal Procedure - Investigative with Professor Marsh and Family Law with Professor Rosettenstein. For Professor Marsh's "short" paper, I did probably 20 hours worth of work and I wound up with an 11 page paper with 8 pages worth of footnotes. For Professor Rosettenstein's short paper, on the other hand, I did maybe 5 to 10 hours worth of work and wound up with a 6 page paper (which was the maximum). I knew how much work each would entail before I signed up to do the papers, and I only did a paper for Professor Marsh because I enjoyed the subject and was eager to tackle the work.

3. Know that the paper you're completing will probably wind up being one of your writing samples. Accordingly, you should keep #'s 1 and 2 (above) in mind. In addition, I would suggest that you don't take the papers lightly, creating something that you can be proud to hand off to an attorney with experience in that field.

*As a side note, you should also take this opportunity to get to know the professor that you're writing the paper for. Lots of employers like to hear from a faculty member when considering you for a job, and a recommendation flows much easier when the professor can say "oh yeah, he/she wrote the writing sample you've reviewed for me." As you're writing your paper, sit down with your professor to discuss the paper topic or develop one that interests you and/or may be interesting to read for an employer.

The last topic that I should at least make mention of is employment during your 2L year and/or 2L summer. Now that you've sharpened your analytical teeth in your first year, you should think about finding a job to gain the practical experience. For most, this is the scariest thing to think about as the job market is quite bleak. However, there are lots of law firms out there willing to hire an eager 2L... you just have to know where to look!

With that in mind, it's important to note that how you plan your courses effects whether you can work or not during the year. For example, if your schedule only leaves you able to work from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm every day, no one is going to hire you. Most employers are looking for a minimum availability of 15 hours / week; accordingly, leaving yourself Monday, Wednesday and Friday free for the majority of the day is a great idea. In addition, night classes are a great option; most of the core classes (above) are always offered at night. That being said, don't kill yourself attempting to clear your schedule for a job that you don't even have! Just try to plan ahead a bit.

I'll mention, as I always do in these posts, the fact that our Career Services department here at QU Law is AMAZING! They can work wonders for you so long as you give them the opportunity, so talk to Doretta Sweeney whenever you get the opportunity and tell her what you need. She'll help you use the School's resources and market yourself to get something.

That piece of information flows nicely with my next tip: remember that it's not necessarily what you know in this business as it is who you know. Heck, I met my boss while working at Home Depot! My advice is this: network whenever you can, make sure you're always presenting yourself well, and know that your actions and representations reflect what kind of an attorney you will make. Practitioners won't take a 2nd look at you if they come across your resume with 1,000 others and they've never met you or nothing stands out, so get out there and make yourself known! I know, I know... this is much easier said than done. But hey, if a good-ole boy from Maine can do it in this town, any one of you can do it!

One thing that lots of law students overlook is the fact that smaller firms who don't advertise the need for an intern are probably looking for one. Now this job isn't going to be your ideal, big firm with big money job. These lawyers work hard on a variety of legal issues, sometimes they only know as much as you tell them, and oftentimes they rely on you and you alone to tell them what the law is! It's an incredible responsibility, and it can be incredibly rewarding, both to you and to them. Having a student with Westlaw is worth the $10-20 /hour that it'll cost, and it's a win-win situation. You're getting great experience, a couple of bucks in your pocket, a possible job offer, or, at the very least, a legal job on your resume.

**FYI** It is against your contract with Westlaw and/or Lexis to use your account for profit (i.e. for a paid position with a law firm). If you get caught, your Westlaw/Lexis account could be terminated and you may have to pay for all the time you spent using their services for your job. In other words, you shouldn't use your Westlaw/Lexis account for work. The best thing to do is to learn how to use BOOKS in addition to using your Westlaw account. Believe it or not, those big, heavy, outdated objects hold the exact same information! Most law offices have at least the Connecticut Law Reporter, a copy of the Statutes, and a Practice book. If not, you can use our Library or courthouse law libraries. In addition, most of the work that you'll do will probably only require you to use the Practice Book and motions that the law firm already has in a form database. The Practice Book can be found online, and if your firm doesn't have the motion you're working on in a form database, I'm sure they know attorneys in the area that might.

Alright, now that the Westlaw disclaimer is out of the way let's get back to the practical stuff. If/when you do find a job, you will have to learn to balance everything. Given that you're in law school, this shouldn't be amazingly difficult as lots of us worked through college and earned our way in life. For the select few of you born with a silver spoon in-mouth, congratulations... you'll have a harder time adjusting now! lol When it gets down to it, you'll have to weigh things according to importance... is it worth busting your back at a place that might offer you a job when that extra time could be used to improve your GPA? It's up to you to decide!

Give yourself a dose of reality once you get settled into your job... look at who the partners are, who the associates are, how big the law office itself is, and the overall attitude of the office. Then ask yourself these questions:

1. Do they have room for me? Something as simple as not having an extra office for another attorney is a blatant sign that you probably won't get hired after graduation, much less receive an offer.

2. Do they have the resources to hire me? Look at your bosses, the associates, the paralegals and other staff... do you think the firm has enough money to even offer you a job? Furthermore, if they offered you one, figure out what your "reservation price," that is the least you would be willing to work there for, is and whether you think they could offer you that. Lastly, listen to the associates and the paralegals that work there - if they're complaining about getting paid next-to-nothing, what chance do you have at making more than them?

3. What are my chances? Look at whether there is another intern in the office, whether your bosses have a nephew or niece that's in law school or going to be, or whether your bosses are looking to hire an experienced attorney while you're there. All of these are indications that you may be passed up for another person, and that it might be better for you to play it close to the chest and plan not to have a job offer from them.

4. Do I really want to be the type of attorney that they're looking for? If you're working for bosses that only care about bringing in the cash and you have other, more altruistic ideas about what the practice of law should entail, are you willing to sacrifice your ideology to become what they want you to be? Furthermore, you should ask yourself if you'd be happy practicing in that area of the law, if you'd be happy serving the clientele that they host, and whether you want your name associated with that firm for the rest of your life. Working for a sleazy attorney as an attorney can ruin your reputation before it's ever built, so just keep that in mind.

I don't mean for all of this to sound so negative because there are dream opportunities that do arise. The reality, however, is that lots of law students get taken advantage of because many of us are still idealistic and naive when it comes to getting a job in this economy. Just know that you don't have to settle simply because you think that there are no jobs out there! Don't sacrifice your dignity for a buck!

If you can't answer these questions because you've never had a frank discussion with your boss, I would advise that you do so. Obviously, you have to gauge the right time to do this... you can't plop down in your boss' office after a month or two of working for them and say "so do you have a job for me or not!" After that conversation, it's a safe bet that you won't. If you worked there for the entire summer and you're not really sure whether they want you to continue working throughout the semester, the last week of summer might be a good time to have a casual discussion to let them know that you'd like to continue working there if they'll have you. In that conversation, you can probably get a better feel of where you stand and what your prospects are. Who knows, maybe they'll be willing to extend an offer at that point (although that's highly unlikely in this job market).

Now here's my next piece of advice as far as working during the semester is concerned: don't overextend yourself! What do I mean by that? Well if you schedule all of your classes for Tuesday and Thursday, it's probably not a good idea to say that you'll be able to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday because you'll have to do homework on Wednesdays (given that some things will be assigned on Tuesday and due on Thursday.

Next, even if you have a job, I would suggest that you continue applying to other jobs. You never know when your dream opportunity may arise, so keep your eye on the QU Law Career Connection website, and apply apply apply! At the very least, you'll start to get better at writing cover letters, you'll rebuff your resume, and heck, you might start getting interviews and develop your interviewing skills as well.I would caution, however, that you pay attention to what job you're applying for. If, for example, by some chance the job you apply to is with an attorney that your boss knows pretty well, there might be an uncomfortable conversation on Monday. Lastly, I would refrain from putting the phone number to your current job on your resume. Doing so invites them to call your boss and discuss your performance, although most attorneys would only do so after asking for your consent to do so.