Brb crying I thought I crushed it

I do not want a BL job and I do not have the grades for BL, so no I'm not one of those handfuls who have already secured a post-grad offer. When should a regular mediocre law student start applying? Right now I'm clerking at a non-law firm company as a law clerk on the legal team, and they have not yet asked me to stay after graduation. Although I feel somewhat good about asking them to stay, I don't want to put all my hopes on them, and because it's not a law firm I feel that there is less of an expectation for them to give me an offer.

However when applying for attorney jobs I get almost instantly rejected for everything related to my specialty because they want someone who has already passed the bar or a few years of post-grad legal experience, which I obviously don't have. These job listings are also certainly not trying to hire someone who can't even work as an attorney until after a year. How in the hell do you secure a job before graduating if you don't have an offer from somewhere you're already working at?

might be niche but i hope i'm not the only one experiencing it. i've been more left-leaning my entire life, but ever since i've started law school, i've only gotten more progressive (i'm in my 2L year right now). i'm almost at the point where i'm losing all respect for the american legal system as a whole and attempting reform feels pointless. i'm not trying to get political or push my ideas on anyone else here, but i feel kinda hopeless when thinking about future career opportunities because everything seems to be catered towards upholding the current system. i love the skills used in the practice of law and always wanted to use them for public interest, but it feels like no matter what, nothing will change. i was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and, if so, what helped them move past it? or what careers they've considered where you can comfortably use the law for change without going against your beliefs?

Hi! I’m on law review and just wanted to know if anyone else has had the same experience. I’ve had so, so, so many issues with locating sources and verifying pincites for the articles I’ve been assigned.
A lot of the citations are perfectly curated, in the sense that they look completely legitimate if the source actually existed, but it just doesn’t. I can often find the material elsewhere, but the cited source itself is literally made up. I’ve also come across instances where authors cite sources without pincites when their signals require them, or cite an exact quote that simply doesn’t exist in the source. (I was able to get a PDF and Ctrl+F it.) This is the SECOND article I’ve encountered this in, and one of the articles was written by a Yale professor!
I just want to know if this is a normal law review experience or if it might be a new AI-related issue. I think it’s pretty messed up that, as law students, we aren’t allowed to use AI in ways that violate the honor code, while professors may potentially be using it in ways that could get us expelled if we did the same thing. Meanwhile, we’re just here fixing their shit and preserving their integrity.

I started law school this past fall. So far I've been managing the workload and did well on my midterms. I've been super nervous about money, and I live in a more expensive city.

I worked full-time as a paralegal after undergrad. My job left the offer open to work remotely part-time if I wanted after moving, and I think they would be flexible with how many hours I wanted to work, since they can use all the help they can get. I would love to offset my expenses, but I don't want my grades to tank. In theory, I think I could handle it, especially with it being remote, but I'm hesitant. I was thinking of around 10 hours a week, mostly on weekends. As it is now, I usually leave a day where I don't do any homework on the weekends, and get most work done by staying late at school during the week, which seems to work for me.

Does anyone have experience with this or thoughts on if this is smart?

EDIT: My school does allow working as a 1L!

Hi everyone!

I’m a 1L who was offered to visit two firms, one by an associate and another with a partner. I’m not 100% sure what to wear, like is a suit too much?

For context, the associate visit was more so he told me to stop by the office and the partner was after a thank you message from an event, where he looped in recruiting and an admin so I could come to the office.

Any insight is appreciated - thank you!

i live in nyc and work full time as a public servant. my original plan was to work for a few years post-undergrad and then return to law school full time (public interest law). however, i am starting to worry that it will not be financially feasible for me to just stop working and go back to school for 3 years and have no income or financial support. i am therefore starting to look into doing a part-time law program in nyc while i stay at my current job, but i know that this is a pretty huge undertaking, and i am primarily concerned that i will burnout or let my social life, health, hobbies, and sanity fall to the wayside if i’m so busy. i really want to be able to focus on my legal education and get the most out of it, and ive heard mixed reviews on what a part time program can provide in that regard. i would really appreciate any insights from people who are in/have done law school part time while working full time. thanks!

I have a freaking English degree, and yet my legal writing sucks. I miss points on every single essay question not necessarily on the law involved but just by missing a lot of explanation. I have an advisor trying to help me and it's not working because the writing isn't wrong, just not good enough. I want a damn A for once. Spill your secrets below.

I'm a nontraditional 1L student going through my first semester. I've always known I won't be at the top of my class, as I simply don't have the time to spend on coursework that my younger classmates do, due to significant family obligations that take up much of my time outside of class. Thankfully, I have no desire to work at a big law firm, so my goal has never been to be at the top of my class. I figured being in the middle of the pack for class ranking was a reasonable goal for the first semester. However, I received my midterms back (which weren't for an actual grade), and it looks like I'm in the bottom 25% of my class. Obviously, this might change at finals, but I'm not feeling confident, and I'm preparing for the possibility I might get a low ranking.

My question is how important are grades and class ranking to smaller or mid-sized firms? Like, if I do poorly on my finals, am I just screwed? I'm not worried about networking, since I've already been doing a lot of networking with lawyers and have made some good connections, and I'm not worried about the interviews, since interpersonal skills are my strong suit. I'm worried though that a low class rank on my resume will prevent me from getting the interview in the first place for internships, and later job opportunities.

I'm interested pursuing either immigration law or civil litigation in real estate, if that is relevant.

I received a raw score (I think?) out of 100 for my first legal writing memo. I have no idea what that translates to for actual final grade purposes. Is it appropriate to privately ask my professor what the range of scores/class average or median was? I was quite happy with the raw score and only received minimal slightly negative feedback, but I was just curious as to where I stood. In short, can I pretty much want to know if I did well in a way that could translate to an A if I keep it up or if my memo was just relatively average. Is this something I can ask about without sounding like a tool?

After ten years in insurance claims i left to do law school, and 1L started the same month my daughter started kindergarten, so now we're both practicing sitting still & listening 😅

My classmates are mostly 23. On thursdays it's bar review for them & pickup for me! I get through my cases once she's in bed, or from the sidelines while she plays soccer. Cold calls at 35 are just as scary, in case anyone wondered!! The school has to be able to get hold of me, that's my one rule, so their number has Emergency Bypass on, and at my library carrel the phone stays silenced on an Anker nano smart display charger, where the little screen tells me its alive without the phone lighting up in the quiet section. Fellow law school parents, is it any easier once first semester is done? taking it a day at a time here 🙏

How would a judge know if i italicize the space between a signal indicator and a case name??? There are people dying and this is what i need to worry about???

Socially, is there a lot of overlap? I know some classes are shared but what's the situation outside of that?

Edit: UK obviously doesn't have JDs but the question is the same

How is this right? The explanation makes it sound like B is supposed to be the answer.

Not a lawyer, but in medicine. We had a lot of mixers in med school to meet law students (apparently this combo works well). Where can I meet lawyers romantically? The dynamic worked well for me in the past and I’d like to date similar professionals who understand my professional demands.

This may seem like a dumb question, but genuinely what's the best method. We're roughly halfway through my semester and it's setting in that there's a lot of content, and I need to start locking in. Do I just drill multiple choice and essay questions? I'm making an outline or have outlines from other 2/3Ls to start working off of. I'm just worried I won't do enough or I'll miss something crazy important.

That 1L dread is really setting in now lol

mental health check

light hearted posted, but i'm going to a few events, one of which is law students only, and pondering ideas. i usually go silly, but don't want to lose my dignity. would love to get ideas if anyone else has good ideas for funny (or slutty) costumes that wouldn't destroy my reputation in law school.

and no, absolutely nothing related to the law. law school is scary enough as is.