The Law School Experience, Courses & More

The study of law requires a major commitment of time and money. You should view law school as a full-time job that lasts at least three years. In fact, the ABA requires that no full-time student hold an outside job for more than 20 hours a week. Many schools do not permit first-year students to work at all. Expect long nights of study and fewer hours of sleep. Legal study is extremely intense and demanding. You must analyze vast amounts of complex and detailed information, learn a new system and language, and think about problems in a new and unfamiliar way. A legal education is both challenging and rewarding. You will develop your analytical, synthesizing, creative, and logical thinking skills, and you will strengthen your writing, reading, and debating abilities.

The first year of law school is very demanding. You will learn through the case method approach, requiring detailed examination of related judicial opinions that describe an area of the law. Law professors traditionally ask questions rather than simply supply all of the answers. While professors expect you to be prepared for each class, your entire grade is often based on examinations given at the end of the semester, or in some cases, at the end of the year. Your performance generally is judged in relation to that of your classmates. In other words, classes are generally graded on a curve.

First-Year Courses

The courses that law students take during their first year are relatively uniform across the country. In addition to attending classes, you may be required to participate in moot court exercises in which you argue hypothetical cases. The following list gives you a general idea of the classes you will take as a first-year law student:

Civil Procedure - process of adjudication in the United States and the rules regulating how people bring actions for civil wrongs; jurisdiction and standing to sue, motions and pleadings, pretrial procedure, the structure of a lawsuit, and appellate review of trial results.

Constitutional Law - legislative powers of the federal and state governments; questions of civil liberties and constitutional history, including detailed study of the Bill of Rights and constitutional freedoms.

Contracts - nature of enforceable promises and rules for determining appropriate remedies in case of nonperformance.

Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure - bases of criminal responsibility, rules and policies for enforcing sanctions against individuals accused of committing offenses against the public order and well-being, and rights guaranteed to those charged with criminal violations.

Legal Research and Writing - research and writing component of most first-year programs; requires students to research and write memoranda dealing with various legal problems.

Property - concepts, uses, and historical developments in the treatment of land, buildings, natural resources, and personal objects.

Torts - private wrongs, such as acts of negligence, assault, and defamation, that violate obligations of the law.

After the first year, you will have the opportunity to select from a broad range of courses. These will include classes in administrative law, evidence, civil litigation, corporations, taxation, wills and trusts, commercial law, family law, and professional responsibility (ethics). Law schools may require that you take some of these universal courses. Every law school supplements this basic curriculum with additional courses such as environmental law, international law, labor law, conflict of laws, and jurisprudence. The nature and quantity of these elective courses may depend on a school's particular strength or focus.