Law School: Danger, Detour or Green Light?
Sep 19 '04 (Updated Nov 16 '04)
The Bottom Line Law school education can be a challenging growth experience, the gateway to a potentially noble profession. However, be aware of what it is before deciding whether it's for you.
WARNING: You should know that it's for you before you go.
There are a bunch of people who aren't really sure whether they want to go or not who think that it might be worth a whirl. I heard the former San Francisco 49'ers standout Gene Washington once tell a group of high school students that if you're not sure what to do, go to medical school or law school. Indeed, figures have shown that most college freshmen think of themselves as pre-med or "pre-law" (although there are no course pre-requisites to get into law school). While law school can be considered the liberal arts professional education, and there are reasons to go, there are also reasons not to go as well. Such a costly decision deserves more than a whimsical, impulsive or passive approach.
Broad
It is true that legal education can tend to be broad in some senses. Since law in this society touches every facet of society in one way or another, it makes sense that law school would be wide-ranging.
The law school I graduated from (Northwestern University School of Law) happened to have the broadest range of courses of any law school its size. Whether one wanted to get certified as a mediator (which I did) or go through the noted Evidence/Trial Advocacy/Ethics unified three-course set, concentrate in international law (like I did) or healthcare law, law and social sciences, litigation and dispute resolution, business transactions, etc., take courses from other parts of the university (such as Kellogg Business School), do clinical courses (such as serving indigent clients, work for federal judges, go to the American Medical Association for an externship like I did), take research seminar courses...the list goes on and on. Any student who graduates will NOT have taken the vast majority of available offerings. Larger law schools, such as Georgetown and Harvard, have mind-boggling arrays of courses.
Note however, that some law schools function like bar-passage factories. Such schools have little elective space in the curriculum and serve as bar preparation boot camps from beginning to end. For those who have no other goal...I'm not sure there's a crying need for just another bar certified attorney (there are close to a million in the U.S). Such an education is limited in the contours of its breadth. At the same time, bar exams typically cover a huge array of subjects...so in one sense, even a bar preparation dedicated school is still broad, but within the borders of what the bar examiners choose to test. I would definitely recommend checking out the curriculum and requirements of any law school one might consider.
A Nation Under Lawyers
The book "A Nation Under Lawyers" by Prof. Mary Ann Glendon of Harvard is one of a number of works that indicate how law school graduates wield the lion's share of authority, wealth and influence. Along with the legions who practice law, many leaders in the media, all branches of government, captains of industry, university presidents, etc. have JD's. There's little doubt that one would be joining a group with a prominent place in society.
It is another question though whether the large stewardship entrusted to law school educated folks has been well appropriated or not. The array of stereotypes, jokes, and put-downs directed to lawyers can be seen as smoke that indicates a fire underneath. While there are many decent, responsible, conscientious members of the profession, I have met examples of those who fully merit the descriptions embedded in the barbs tossed at lawyers. The world needs not just another lawyer, but virtuous attorneys & counselors at law, and those who will serve as leaders for the common good.
A Dead Greek Philosopher
The Socratic method, named after Socrates, is a novelty to a large extent for most new law students. Rather than a nice, tame lecture that calls for little participation besides an occasional question to the professor or active listening, the Socratic method turns the tables. The professor becomes the main asker of questioners, and it is the students who are put in the position of answering. This approach scares the living daylights out of some but is a bracing, fun exercise for others. American law schools have traditionally relied heavily on this approach, most especially during the first year of law school.
Boot Camp Experience
The 1st year of law school is the most boot camp like experience that those outside of the military ever experience. Then again, from the mental angle, the 1st year could be MORE of an arduous experience than military boot camps.
Besides the use of the Socratic method, the sheer volume of work is challenging. I always felt like there was more to do, no matter how much I did.
Often, law schools only have one final exam at the end of the semester that determines one's entire grade. The psychological pressure of a time-compressed, comprehensive exam of a few hours determining one's entire grade is considerable. One law school actually only had one set exams for the entire first year! Many people like to know how they're doing as they go along, but there's usually scant hand-holding, reassurances, or even any kind of feedback outside of what occurs during a Socratic questioning time.
Morally Numbing Effect
What is more insidious is the notion sometimes perpetuated that there is no moral justice or ethical truth to be found. Some law professors speak as if any position is fine, as long as you justify it logically. Such teaching can lead to rationalization. To rationalize is to make rational lies. A culture that fails to have a clear standard of right and wrong, truth and falsehood (outside of the so-called "facts") leads to moral bankruptcy. Beware of the relativism that can be rife in law schools.
I heard in law school that studying law in law school was nothing more than mental exercise and application of methodology. It behooves one to remember that Nazi Germans were able to employ meticulous methodology with rigor to accomplish morally messed up ends. So one can have a intellectual "athlete" who is methodologically rigorous, AND who uses those abilities in harmful and devious ways. Also, if it's only about mental exercise, why not have chess courses in law school?
Helps
There is an entire sub-industry that makes study aids for frantic law students. They vary in quality and fit with the actual classes one takes. Asking upperclassmen at one's school is often a helpful way to find out which study aids can help one the most. Some professors see study aids as short-circuiting the more rigorous processes of law school. Others see them as supplemental resources to help one along the way.
Study groups are another well-worn tradition. Having the companionship and combined resources that a good study group can bring may enliven the law school experience. In retrospect, I wish I had been part of more study groups myself.
Bad Teaching Is Often Excused by Ample Research
Professors are often more rewarded for research rather than teaching, much less mentoring. I personally found way more mentors in graduate school and undergraduate education where I went (Wheaton College (IL)) than in law school. There were times I'd be hesitant to interrupt a professor vigorously pursuing research in his law school office. If you find good teachers and mentors in law school, count your blessings with gratitude.
In my service as a law professor, I really sought to teach and mentor well. The depth of relationships gave an entirely different quality to the experience. I also tried to correct some of the things I am critical of above. In fact, I was often quite conscious of doing things quite differently from what I experienced as a law student.
I have seen law professors who have a "pass-me-down" attitude to their students. They figure since they had to suffer X,Y,Z in law school, by golly, their students have to have a similar initiation into law school as well.
If you do go to law school, search for mentors and flock to excellent teachers! At the same time, one can look for professors whose research interests match one's own. Serving as that prof's assistant can be a rewarding experience as well.
Different Culture
As you might be picking up, law school and the legal profession have a different culture from the general society. While I could write additional articles on this topic, let me at least mention a few differences:
1) Legal culture takes authority very, very seriously. General American society exalts rebellious anti-heroes and is nominalist (in the philosophical sense) and iconoclastic in its stance towards authority.
2) Legal culture exalts diligence and despises slacking. General American culture thinks those legal people need to chill and relax more.
3) Legal culture can be paranoid about avoiding liability and aggressively asserting rights. General American culture, while greatly legalized, isn't as skittish about risks and isn't as assertive.
4) Legal culture is highly logical. General American culture celebrates other aspects of humanity (such as "passion" in the good sense) more.
5) Legal culture tends to be confrontational and hyper-competitive. General American culture is not as severely reflective of these traits, although they are by no means absent.
For the purposes of this article, suffice it to say that there can be some "culture shock" in entering law school and the legal profession.
Methodological Slant
Law schools tend to be ensconced in Enlightenment modes of thinking. Legal positivism is a reigning paradigm. Empirical methodologies, although helpful in some respects, can be unduly exalted. Legal education often tries to pose as "science" while it is in fact replete with the humanities. It is quite secularized and largely relativistic outside of certain idealogical positions. It largely ignores the transcendent while it is consumed by precedent. Procedural fairness is often emphasized more than substantive justice. Rhetoric can sometime eclipse what is right. There is much more to say about these matters, and these ideas deserve much further development, but I think it'd be better to reserve that "much more" for other venues.
Conclusion
While you may have been made for law school and the legal profession, it's not something to drift into or just do because one is at a loss at what to do. Yes, it can be broad and lead to various types of work both in and outside the profession. However, one should go into it with eyes wide open and with a cognizance of what it is, and the costs (financial, mental, emotional, etc.) that tend to be there.
Having gone through the experience both as a student and a professor, there is definitely much more that I can say on this topic. I would like to think that these thoughts may be of some help, some decent "General Advice on Law Schools". Perhaps it may help you discern whether law school would be an unnecessary and costly detour or a green light, and in either case, that some of the dangers, difficulties and potential therein would be seen for what they are.
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