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The Law School Experience

Law students run the gamut from those who have known they wanted to be an attorney from childhood, to those who are still debating in their senior year of college, to professionals contemplating a career change. They bring to their respective schools the insights and perspectives gained from those experiences. Legal education welcomes and values diversity and you will benefit from the exchange of ideas and different points of view that your colleagues will bring to the classroom. As of December 2006, a total of 195 institutions are approved by the American Bar Association: 194 confer the first degree in law (the J.D. degree); the other ABA approved school is the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's School, which offers an officer's resident graduate course, a specialized program beyond the first degree in law. For more information see: http://www.abanet.org/legaled/approvedlawschools/approved.html

Financial Considerations

Loans - General Information

Debt
Average Amount Borrowed for Law School by Year 2001 - 2004 According to:
http://www.abanet.org/legaled/statistics/charts/averageborrowed.pdf

Whose graduates have the most debt, and the least?
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/webextras/brief/sb_law_debt_brief.php

Article
Educational Debt Burden and Career Choice: Evidence from a Financial Aid Experiment at NYU Law School . By Erica Field, Harvard University , April 2004. http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/bpde2004/Field.pdf

General Information Law Student Associations
  • The American Bar Association ( ABA) Law Students Division. The ABA provides law school accreditation, continuing legal education, information about the law, programs to assist lawyers and judges in their work, and initiatives to improve the legal system for the public. http://www.abanet.org/
  • The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) is a national organization designed to articulate and promote the professional needs and goals of Black law students.  http://www.nblsa.org
  • National Native American Law Students Association http://www.nationalnalsa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25Itemid=32
  • The International Law Students Association (ILSA) is a non-profit association dedicated to supplementing the traditional approach with opportunities for study, research and career networking which concentrates on international and transnational law. http://www.ilsa.org/
  • The National Latina/Latino Law Student Association serves as a conduit for a collective Latina/Latino law student voice. Dedicated to promoting and sustaining the academic success of Latina and Latino law students. http://www.nllsa.org/
  • Phi Alpha Delta identifies itself as the largest law fraternity in the world, with over 265,000 members. . http://www.pad.org/
  • The National Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (NAPALSA)
    was founded in 1981 and is the first and oldest national Asian Pacific American law organization. NAPALSA was founded to promote education, leadership, community awareness/service, communication and interaction amongst the various Asian Pacific American law students across the country and represent their interests. http://www.napaba.org/napaba/showpage.asp?code=lawstudents
  • Law students may join the New York City Bar Association as student members, to avail themselves of many of the benefits of membership and become active on Association committees. http://www.nycbar.org/JoinABCNY/index.htm
  • Practicing Attorneys for Law Students (“PALS”) ® is a program designed to assist minorities entering the legal profession. PALS® offers mentoring and career guidance services to minority law students attending the thirteen law schools located in the New York City metropolitan area. PALS® is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization. www.palsprogram.org

Law Review and Moot Court: Your Opportunity for Distinction

Writing an article for your school’s law review is a prestigious honor and right of passage for many law students. A law review is a scholarly journal comprised of articles discussing legal concepts and theories. Every law school publishes its own law review, and often more than one. Moreover, there are many specialized law reviews. If selected for law review, you will have the opportunity to perfect your legal writing skills and gain a significant career boost. In fact, many judges and successful attorneys were members of law review. The process for being selected for law review differs slightly from school to school; however, the basic structure remains the same. After the first-year of law school, a student can either “grade-on” or “write-on.” The ability to “grade-on” is available to students with the highest cumulative grade point averages. Students can also “write-on” to law review if their article is selected through an anonymous grading system. No matter how you gain membership on law review, the experience is beneficial for your research skills, writing ability, and legal career. Here is a list of law reviews from throughout the United States. http://www.lawsource.com/also/usa.cgi?usj

Moot court is an extracurricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court proceedings, usually to include drafting briefs and participating in oral argument. Law schools structure their moot court programs differently. Some moot court organizations accept a small group of people for membership, and those members each participate in a number of national or regional moot court competitions. Other schools accept a larger number of members, and each member is matched with one competition. A few schools conduct moot court entirely intramurally. Competitions are often judged by legal practitioners with expertise in the particular area of law, or sometimes by sitting judges.

The basic structure of a moot court competition roughly parallels what would happen in actual appellate practice. Participants will typically receive a problem ahead of time, which includes the facts of the underlying case, and often an opinion from a lower court that is being challenged in the problem. Students must then research and prepare for that case as if they were lawyers or advocates for one or sometimes both of the parties. Depending on the competition, participants will be required to submit written briefs, participate in oral argument, or both. The case or problem is often one of current interest, sometimes mimicking an actual case, and sometimes fabricated to address difficult legal issues.

Some examples of Moot Court Competitions include:

  • http://www.nycbar.org/YoungLawyers/MootCourt.htm
    Since 1950, the New York City Bar and the American College of Trial Lawyers have sponsored this National Moot Court Competition. Every year, over 150 law schools compete in the regional rounds throughout the U.S. , and the winners advance to the final rounds held at the New York City Bar. This nationally–recognized competition allows law students to hone their appellate advocacy skills by arguing before prominent members of our profession.
  • http://www.abanet.org/lsd/competitions/
    The Law Student Division annually sponsors four national competitions. These competitions offer participating students a forum to develop the very skills they will use as practitioners, and a chance to meet and network with fellow law students - future colleagues - from around the nation. Competitions also provide an excellent opportunity for law students to gain important resume-building experience and recognition.
  • www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?item=moot_court
    The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — the cornerstone of American democracy — is the focus of the National First Amendment Moot Court Competition. It is recognized as one of the nation's finest constitutional law competitions. This annual event features a current First Amendment controversy.
  • www.ilsa.org/jessup
    This page contains important information and materials related to the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.
  • www.lawschool.westlaw.com/shared/marketinfodisplay.asp?code=so&id=20&subpage=5
    Westlaw Moot Court Brief Preparation, including numerous moot court competition listings and more.
  • http://www.itmootcourt.com/
    Established in 1981, the Moot Court Competition in Information Technology & Privacy Law has become one of the largest and most highly respected of all international moot courts. Students from law schools throughout the country and from outside the U.S. gather at John Marshall each year to brief and argue challenging and unresolved issues of technology law.
  • www.nblsa.org/programs/mootcourt/ Information about the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition sponsored by the Black Law Students Association.
  • http://www.napaba.org/napaba/showpage.asp?code=moot
    The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) sponsors the Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition honoring the late Judge Thomas Tang, a champion of individual rights, and an advocate for the advancement of minority attorneys, who served on the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals from 1977 until his passing in 1995.
  • http://www.aipla.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Meetings_and_Events/Competitions1/
    Moot_Court_Competition/Moot_Court_Competition.htm
    Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial MC Comp. American Intellectual Property Law Association.
  • http://www1.law.wnec.edu/current/index.cfm?selection=doc.2516
    Western New England College School of Law. Provides a bibliography and on-line writing resource for national and intramural moot court competitions.

IN ADDITION TO CORE COURSES LIKE CONTRACTS, PROPERTY, CIVIL PROCEDURE, TORTS, CRIMINAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, IMPORTANT ELECTIVE COURSES YOU SHOULD CONSIDER TAKING INCLUDE: DOMESTIC RELATIONS; EVIDENCE; WILLS, TRUSTS AND ESTATES; COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS; CORPORATIONS AND ADVANCED LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING.

Study Aids / Books
  • http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/booksRelatedtoCriminal.cfm
  • http://www.aspenpublishers.com/casenotes.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1
    As one of the major publishers in law school case books, Aspen offers various commercial study aids and course materials not readily available in local bookstores.
  • http://www.kaptest.com/
    Kaplan’s extensive array of the latest study guides, outlines, and references make it a comprehensive source for many of the study aids necessary for law school preparation and law school success.
  • http://lawschool.westlaw.com/
    Thomson West's wide array of study aids provides law students with the tools necessary for success. These best selling study aids are available in a variety of formats. ( A PASSWORD IS REQUIRED)
  • http://www.ihatelawschool.com/
    Offers guidance to current and future law students with its Law School Study Aids page; a collection of hand- picked legal study aids for current law students, including those who are taking the bar exam.
  • http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/
    LexisNexis offers a bookstore that contains titles for all subjects within the law school curriculum. These products are particularly useful as supplements and guides when the course texts chosen are LexisNexis products. ( A PASSWORD IS REQUIRED)
  • http://www.lawschool.com/
    This website provides vast amounts of information. It is a good source when seeking information on law school life, exam preparation, current legal issues, and available study aids.
  • http://www.lawbooksforless.com/law2/front/
    The source for finding many required textbooks. It features a large inventory ranging from personal interest works to hard to find supplemental texts at affordable prices.
  • http://www.BarristerBooks.com/ Offers the Internet’s largest selection of law books, featuring law dictionaries (including Black’s Law Dictionary), hundreds of legal research guides, thousands of discounted law student study aids, and many other items for attorneys, pre-law and law students, and the general public.
  • http://www.cap-press.com/subjects/ms/135 Carolina Academic Press provides preparatory and introductory guides applicants and first year law students.

STUDYING HORNBOOKS, TREATISES, LEGISLATIVE HISTORIES, AND ANNOTATED VERSIONS OF STATUTES ARE AN EXCELLENT WAY TO ENHANCE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE LEGAL TOPICS AND PRINCIPALS YOU WILL ENCOUNTER.

 

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The Bar Examination

The New York State Board of Law Examiners administers the New York State Bar Examination, twice a year on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of every February and July. The bar examination contains two sections, the New York section which is given on Tuesday, and the Multi-state Bar Examination (MBE) which is given on Wednesday. The New York section consists of five essay questions and 50 multiple choice questions prepared by the New York Board, and one Multi-state Performance Test question, developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The second day of the exam is the MBE section, which consists of 200 multiple-choice questions. Each day of the examination will consist of a morning session and an afternoon session with a lunch break in between. The examination is given at the same time and date at various testing locations across the state. Applications to take the bar examination must be postmarked no more than 120 days, nor less than 90 days prior to the examination for which application is being made. There is no provision for late filing except that for applicants who took the immediately preceding New York bar examination, the deadline for re-application is 21 days from the date of the applicant's failure notice, or 90 days prior to the examination, whichever is later. http://www.nybarexam.org

Qualifying to sit for the bar examination - Applicants may qualify to sit for the New York bar Examination in four ways:

  1. Graduation from an American Bar Association (ABA) approved law school in the United States with a juris doctor degree. (Section 520.3 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals.)
  2. A combination of law school study at an ABA approved law school and law office study. (Section 520.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals)
  3. Graduation from an unapproved law school in the United States with a juris doctor degree and practice in a jurisdiction where admitted for 5 of the 7 years immediately preceding application to sit for the New York bar examination. (Section 520.5 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals)
  4. Foreign law school study. (Section 520.6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals) (See also, "Foreign Legal Education" section of this website)

Passing score required for bar exam - A final total weighted scaled score of 665 is required to pass the examination, and any applicant who fails to attain a total weighted scaled score of 665 must retake the entire examination at a subsequent administration. Again, there is no appeal from the final total weighted scaled score. Although the Board has issued a report recommending that the passing score be increased to 675 (in two five point increments), the additional increases in the passing score have been stayed pending further study by the Board.

Application for admission/character and fitness investigation - Shortly after the bar examination, the Board sends to the Supreme Court, Appellate Division in each of the four judicial departments, a list containing the names and addresses of the applicants from that department who took the examination. Each department then sends admission application forms to each applicant on its list in order to expedite the admission process by permitting the applicants to complete and file the forms prior to receipt of the results of the examination. The forms must be filed within three years of the date of the Board's initial letter notifying the applicant of successful completion of the bar examination.

Bar Examination Study Programs

 

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