3L and the City: Graduation and reflection

By Maria Vasos
Chicago-Kent College of Law

On May 18, 2008, I will officially graduate from law school and join the throngs of other survivors in the legal profession, (once, of course, I pass the bar).

As I reflect on my three years of study, I note that I was fortunate to have many positive, and only some not-so-positive, experiences. What stands out by far was my involvement in my law school’s criminal defense clinic. I strategically chose to do the clinic during the summer, when I did not have any classes to get in the way of my participation, including going to court on an almost daily basis.

And, I chose to do it after my second-year, after I had already taken evidence and two trial advocacy classes. I was able to assist on a full, two-week-long, felony jury trial from start to finish. The defendant was found ”not guilty” on all four counts and I was even thanked by him and his family for my help on his case.

Not only did the clinic strengthen my resolve to go into litigation, it more importantly strengthened my resolve to finish law school. It was often hard to get excited about legal writing memos about fake clients with fake problems. In the clinic, helping real clients, real people, fight the good fight, made all the difference.

On a related note, I was lucky enough to do two different externships as well that were also great hands-on experiences. I highly recommend clinics and externships to everyone in law school and think that at least one should be mandatory, similar to a residency program for doctors.

To that end, I generally enjoyed all of my practical skill courses, which I feel have helped prepare me for the actual practice of law, courses such as evidence, trial advocacy, and criminal litigation (affectionately referred to as, ”trial advocacy on steroids” by its professor).

This leads me to a terrible law school pitfall, the first-year curriculum, and unfortunately pretty much the rest of the ‘’substantive law” curriculum as well.

There is a reason why Harvard Law School announced in October that it would devote fewer hours to the traditional first-year curriculum and add practical courses, such as problem solving, into the mix.

The reason is that the entire first year of law school is useless, except as a battle of wills to weed out those who cannot stomach it. I am fully aware that I will have to re-learn what I need for the bar exam in July. I, like many others, am not certain as to how much of torts I actually even learned in the first place. God bless bar prep courses and supplements.

But, in my experience, most, if not all, of the other substantive law courses are completely ineffectual as well. When, in an actual legal career, would you need to memorize any law, because you could not look it up, much less Model Code that has not even been adopted? Dare I say, never. When would you be confronted with a five-page long hypothetical problem that you would have to dissect in its entirety and resolve in only two hours? Again, I venture that this would never happen.

Law students are failed in that respect because they can take all of these courses and upon graduation and passing the bar, only be prepared to be law students, not lawyers. Would society let doctors practice medicine without having even touched a human body or step foot in a hospital? Of course not. Why a law student can graduate, pass the bar, and be licensed to practice law, without having ever drafted a motion or stepping foot in a courtroom is beyond me.

I am told that this is the age-old debate between the legal academics and practitioners regarding just how much of a trade school law school should actually be. Obviously, you can see what side of the fence I am on.

But lastly, since I already compared law school with medical school, it stands to note that medical school is traditionally entirely pass-fail. This promotes cooperation in learning and fosters a low-stress environment for students, encouraging them to finish medical school and become successful doctors.

In contrast, law school has a harsh mandatory curve, so even if all of the students in a particular class did great on the final exam, a professor is only allowed to give 5 percent As, 10 percent A-minuses, 20 percent B-pluses, etc. So, the difference between an ”A” and a ”C” could be only five points.

And, most law schools require between a B-minus and C-plus grade point average to stay in school. One is in constant battle of the curve, with his or her equally competent peers, to stay in school, at least in the first year, when there are no other grades to balance the scales. This promotes extreme competition, stress, bad will, and higher attrition rates.

Many potentially excellent lawyers, who are not perfect law students, get downtrodden, abused, and overlooked in this perverse hazing system that confuses law students with sacrificial lambs, for no good reason, because, to reiterate, most of law school does not prepare you for actual legal practice anyhow.

All in all, am I glad that I went to law school and will be embarking on a career as a lawyer? Absolutely. If I had it to do all over again, knowing what I know now, would I have done things differently? No, I have no regrets.

Would I like to continue on with more years of law school, just for fun, and maybe pursue an L.L.M. or something? No, I am not a masochist.