I arrived late to law school. Not late in the figurative sense, as in “late in life,” but literally late. I had skipped orientation in favor of squeezing out the very last vestiges of swelter that passed for summer in Washington, D.C. I was overconfident — and I was late. These two particular traits plagued me for some time to come, and they proved antithetical to the practice of law. Why something so obvious was not obvious to me I do not know, but I repeat the story here as an incentive for current students to cultivate from the start much better habits.

Law school is not an easy endeavor. It requires rigorous attention to detail, thorough preparation, and psychological grit. Although I picked up on these themes, I entered the cocoon of a small and close-knit study group to do so. This can be an effective adaptive strategy, but there are many other methods of study and coping that are equally if not more useful. Find a method that works for you. And don’t shy away from challenging courses, or those you think you will never utilize. I very much doubted the career utility of many of the “business-oriented” classes, but I took them anyway and they proved to be among the most helpful in practice, since I ended up focusing on consumer law.

Gradually I also came to realize that there was life outside of law school and that it was I who was excluding it. 

I remember the first moments of law school as if they happened yesterday. Gerry Frug walked into Contracts, looked out us, and said nine words “Mister Golden, state the case in Hawkins v. McGee.” One hundred thirty nine 1Ls went weak with relief. Poor Mr. Golden began to read from the case. “Defendant’s motions for a nonsuit and for a directed verdict on the count in assumpsit were denied, and the defendant excepted . . . .”

Professor Frug stopped him. “Mr. Golden, can – you – speak – English?” Mr. Golden managed to get out a “yes” and Frug’s face lit up like a Christmas Tree. “Wonderful. So can I! Why don’t you start?”

Well, I did know to speak English. I had no choice. But here are five things that I wish I had known.

In my earlier post on the long running debate about the proper emphasis of legal education, I wanted to suggest that there is more of a symbiotic relationship between practice and preaching.
Focusing on one part of the issue, Bruce Boyden wonders what relevant experiences an eight year practitioner might have not yet hand. Bruce says that stayed at Big Law to the cusp of partnership and then decided to leave (probably adding to his long term happiness and that of his family). He says he was doing a lot of the things that partners do and writes: 

One observation was that the transition from associate to partner in a large law firm is a transition from a larger proportion of hands-on legal practice (writing and filing briefs, doing research, advising clients on the content of the law, marshaling evidence, even appearances in court) to a larger proportion of business management: managing resources (associates, staff, and other partners) and managing clients–keeping current clients happy and bringing in new clients

These “partner” duties, he suggests, are not, in some sense, the practice of law and may be better informed by an MBA program than a J.D. He asks what law professors who leave the practice short of this stage are missing. It’s a great question and is answered, I think, not so much in terms of what someone has “missed” but by a consideration of what others may have “gained.”