(Editor’s note: \u00a0Professor Mazzie’s June post for the Ms. JD blog remains relevant, as last year’s law graduates make their transitions from school to work, and current students contemplate their future paths.)<\/p>\n
[T]housands of law students have graduated from their respective law schools [in May and June].\u00a0 They will spend this summer studying for bar exams and possibly looking for work.\u00a0 Most are probably ecstatic that law school is behind them and \u201creal\u201d legal work is ahead.\u00a0 Perhaps, though, in August when their classmates begin to gear up for classes these graduates will have a moment of feeling left out \u2013 a sense of emptiness because for \u00a0years their lives have run on an academic calendar that will no longer apply to them.<\/p>\n
But what of the transition from law school to law practice?\u00a0 Many students andscholars alike<\/a> think that two years of legal education is sufficient.\u00a0 The adage is that in the first year of law school, they scare you to death; in the second, they work you to death; and in the third, they bore you to death.\u00a0 By third year, students are itching to get out there and\u00a0do<\/em>.\u00a0 Every law school professor has heard their students complain about how useless their 3L year is.\u00a0 Many of us try, to little avail, to convince students that there is value to the final year.\u00a0 There are many others, though, who think that even three years of legal education cannot make lawyers who are ready to practice.\u00a0\u00a0These scholars believe<\/a> that law school as currently structured scarcely prepares any student to\u00a0do<\/em> legal work with any real competency.\u00a0 According to the\u00a0Carnegie report in 2007<\/a>,<\/p>\n Most law schools give only casual attention to teaching students how to use legal thinking in the complexity of actual law practice. Unlike other professional education, most notably medical school, legal education typically pays relatively little attention to direct training in professional practice. The result is to prolong and reinforce the habits of thinking like a student rather than an apprentice practitioner, conveying the impression that lawyers are more like competitive scholars than attorneys engaged with the problems of clients.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Many students these days are fortunate to have had the benefit of clinical experiences and internships to provide them with actual practice experience.\u00a0 But even then, the quality of such experiences naturally varies, as does the mentoring students receive while engaged in such experiences.\u00a0 More than ever, it seems that law students must \u201chit the ground running\u201d after they graduate, yet it is unclear how many are prepared to actually do so.\u00a0 I can tell you that nothing is as scary as when you get an assignment in practice and suddenly realize these are real people in a real situation involving real money, and\u00a0you<\/em> are being asked for your legal assessment of the situation, a situation that feels all the more scary when you recall that you were just sworn into the bar the week before.<\/p>\n While you may have been very successful at being a law\u00a0student<\/em>, remember that you are new to law\u00a0practice<\/em> and that learning something new takes time.\u00a0 As well, know that even if you didn\u2019t feel you mastered law school that does not mean you will not master law practice.\u00a0 What it takes to succeed in law school is only part of what you need to succeed in practice.\u00a0 And much of what you need in practice, you will end up learning on the job.<\/p>\n Formal mentoring in practice seems a quaint memory.\u00a0 While some states mandate mentoring programs, most do not.\u00a0 You may be assigned a mentor in practice, or you may find one through various professional networks.\u00a0 She may be a great lawyer and a quality person, but there may not be the time or the formal structure in place to make the most of that connection.\u00a0 Even so, you may want to find your own mentor, someone with whom you connect.\u00a0 But don\u2019t limit yourself.\u00a0 Observeall<\/em> the lawyers with whom you work.\u00a0 There are as many ways to practice law as there are lawyers who practice. Notice what works \u2013 and what doesn\u2019t \u2013 and when and for whom.\u00a0 While connections with experienced women lawyers are crucial for beginning women lawyers, don\u2019t feel that you must limit yourself to observing only women lawyers.\u00a0 One mentor shares her mentoring advice\u00a0here.<\/a> The purpose of having a mentor is to provide you with aid and comfort.\u00a0 Find someone who gives you these things!<\/p>\n Best wishes to all newly minted lawyers!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Editor’s note: \u00a0Professor Mazzie’s June post for the Ms. JD blog remains relevant, as last year’s law graduates make their transitions from school to work, and current students contemplate their future paths.) [T]housands of law students have graduated from their respective law schools [in May and June].\u00a0 They will spend this summer studying for bar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14025\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}