Starting Law School in August, what should I expect?

[BeL0wMe]

Hey, despite major inclinations against this path, I'm taking the plunge. I'm just curious what I should expect from this semester, as far as workload, how many hours a day of class, how many classes per semester, what am I going to learn in these classes, what is torts all about? How hard are the exams, and how often? Thanks.

[NickMPK]

I'm pretty sure there are some threads in Student Life that address these questions if you search for them. You might also get more response there in general.

In terms of how many hours/classes per semester, that varies between law school. Some schools have you take all your 1st year classes the whole year, while some divide it by semester. In general, I had 4-5 classes per semester, 13-16 hours/week. I also took a special curriculum 1st year, so I never really took any of the typical 1st year classes.

You generally only have one exam at the end of the semester, which is your entire grade. If you have any full year classes, you might have an exam at the end of both semesters, or just one at the end of the year. A few classes (specifically legal writing) will have periodic graded papers and may or may not have exams/midterms.

The exams, especially in first year, are graded on predetermined curve. So how "hard" they are just depends on how much better or worse you are than the rest of the students.

[Jezebel]

Law school in a nutshell:

The first year they scare you to death;
The seconde year they work you to death;
The third year they bore you to death.

[Poofler]

[ QUOTE ]
how many hours a day of class, how many classes per semester, what am I going to learn in these classes, what is torts all about? How hard are the exams, and how often? Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hours a week: ~15.
Classes per semester: 4-5.
What you learn: priniples of law through cases and discussion.
Torts: Civil wrongs - negligence, etc.
Exams hard?: Totally depends on the professor/exam. Some are brutal some aren't. But it's generally moot, as you are graded on a forced curve. Just one exam at the end of the class, usually. Some classes will have a paper or midterm as well.

[27offsuit]

Expect to be a complete douchebag in about 5 years.

[Wynton]

What law school? Experience can vary a lot depending on the school.

[elwoodblues]

First year of law school is like learning a new language and trying to learn substantive materials in that language all at the same time. It is a struggle at first, but after a semester (give or take) it's not that difficult. First year curriculum usually consists of:
Legal writing
Torts
Contracts
Civil Procedure
Property

and maybe one more (Constitutional law, Criminal Law, Evidence) --- depending on the school.

[XXXNoahXXX]

Other than writing which is tough and time consuming, every other first year class consists of you zoning out, not doing any reading unless maybe the professors call on people at random, and then cramming before the finals by reading E&E and other hornbooks and case briefs. Then you download an outline or get one from an upperclassman, and use it for the test.

[JackInDaCrak]

Expect to be surrounded by a lot of people who take themselves WAY too seriously.

Pay attention to what your professors emphasize - that's what they will test on. I would suggest getting a special color highlighter and every time a professor reads language directly out of a case, mark it. Those will be very important in preparing your outline.

Focus on distilling black-letter law from cases. Case facts aren't as important as your 1-L professors will make them out to be. You only really focus on facts in legal writing, or discussion if you're going to be on-call.

Don't worry about screwing up in class - most grades are based 95% on your final exam. Participation will make a fairly negligble difference, and will only really hurt you if you are obviously totally unprepared.

The first year, first semester, is all about finding out what the best way for you to study is. Everyone's different. I quit briefing cases after about 2 weeks, but I knew people who would write briefs all the way through law school.

[NickMPK]

The only time you should brief cases is if you know you are going to be called on to speak in class on that particular day (a lot of professors predesignated a handful of students to be "on call" for each class). Otherwise it is a waste of time. Instead, take notes in class on what your professor says about the cases...that is what you need to know.