Let's get things started!
Anyone interested in going to law school must know a few things before seriously pursuing this life long adventure.
Myths about law school and the legal profession in general:
1. Law and Order is what being a lawyer is all about.
WRONG: First thing to know is that Law and order is based on the criminal justice system. In the US there are two main justice systems, criminal and civil. In the criminal justice system, cases are brought to court by the government (state, city, federal). this is the prosecutors office. In the Civil justice system, cases are brought by private individuals (also companies). While the Criminal courts are huge, the civil courts are also huge.
Most cases in both the criminal and civil systems never make it to court. They are either settled (civil court) or plea bargained (Criminal court). Cases can also be dismissed or a verdict directed for one of the parties.
In conclusion, Law and Order, and other tv shows like it, maybe realistic for cases that actually go to court, but the real world is A LOT less dramatic.
2. It is easy to get into law school
Probably: If you really wanted to go to law school you could probably get in somewhere. A lot of schools accept people with low scores but flunk them out after their first semester or year. The general rule is like this: If your law school was easy to get into then it is hard to finish it.
However, if you law school was hard to get into, then it should be easy to finish it.
Some words of caution, when I say easy, I don't mean as easy as brushing your teeth, I mean it is relatively easy when compared to a school that was easy to get into. You would have to be completely careless and idiotic to flunk out of a "hard to get into" law school.
I will talk about law school grading system in a later post.
3. LSAT and undergrad GPA are a good predictor of who does good in law school
False: The only thing that LSAT and GPA predict are good study habits and hard work. Except for those rare einstein like class mates you have, anyone who puts in enough effort and hardwork can do good in law school.
4. Law School teaches you the LAW
Not really; law school teaches you how to become a lawyer. It teaches you how to use any given law not what the law IS.
You do however learn basic law in all subjects.
5. Law school is expensive
This is mostly true but not always.
if you do well on your LSAT and your UGPA, you should be able to get a scholarship somewhere.
Thats about all I can think of right now, if you have any specific questions leave a comment and I will try to answer it.
posted by Ammar @ 2:44 PM
4 comments
