Law School
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The Best Way to Prepare for a New Semester
Congrats on getting through fall semester. For me, those were always a bit tougher. As you head into a new semester I thought it would be helpful to share some ways to assess and better prepare for a new year/new semester. Whether you were happy or disappointed with your grades, it’s helpful to stop and think about what went well—where did you do better than expected or what class took you by surprise by how interesting you found the topic to be? For those classes where you excelled, what do you think made the difference? And is there a way to replicate that for other classes? If you found a…
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Don’t let law school take your joy!
Around this time each year I share this post. But a lot of time has passed since the original and I thought an update was warranted. For law students, as you try to enjoy your time off, I know that for many there will be a little voice in your head reminding you about your grades. And reminding you about a tough question and how you’re not sure about your answer. Or you’ll agonize over the question you didn’t get to because of time… What if your grades are bad? What if you don’t grade on to journal? What if you can’t apply to the job you want? It’s nerve-wracking!…
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Picking the Right Internship
Your first year of law school, it can feel like a lottery as to where you end up for your first summer job and, unfortunately, it still is a struggle to gain clarity as you move on to your second year. If you are a 2L/3L, picking internships can feel like such a make or break experience and as if you’re at the mercy of the potential internship site/employer. Let me share a story: when I was a 3L, I attended the biggest public interest job fair in my area (fun fact, I had missed the previous year because I had to work and a law school admin sort of…
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Making the Right Choice: Picking Law Schools
When it comes to deciding where to apply to law school it may seem like you have 200+ choices and that can feel super overwhelming. But the reality is that based on your goals, needs, stats, and finances your options won’t be as vast. And that’s a good thing! Lots of people cast nets far and wide when they apply, which is one strategy. But if your finances are limited (like mine were) then you have to be judicious when it comes to deciding how many fee applications you want to pay for and that means really understanding what each school can offer you. When I applied, the LSAC fee…
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How Am I Doing? Preparing for Finals with a lot of Unknowns
One of the great things about law school is that you don’t know how well you’re doing until you get your grade. Because most traditional classes are graded based on one anonymous exam at the end of the semester. Did I say great? I meant horrible. I don’t know who’s idea it was to just hope people get what’s being taught without much check in but here we are. Of course, most schools do have ungraded mid-term exams, but if you’re like me, it’s not very helpful. Or maybe it’s not that it’s helpful but rather you don’t know what to do with the information. When I took my…
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What Will You Be? Figuring Out Your Legal Practice
I’m going to reveal a big secret—a lot of law grads and new attorneys don’t exactly know what kind of lawyer they want to be. Seriously! Maybe you go to law school with the exact idea of what you want to do and stay the course—that’s great! But maybe you’re unsure because all you know is you want to “do good” or make money but not sure how that looks. Or maybe you have an idea of what you want to do but one day you are in torts class and suddenly realize you have a passion for personal injury (which I’m adamant is how personal injury attorneys are born).…
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What’s the Point? Understanding the Purpose of Networking
We’ve discussed networking before of the many pitfalls that can come with it but lately I’ve seen some takes on networking that doesn’t seem to capture the purpose of what this type of relationship building really involves. I understand why—as a new student or professional, you’re often bombarded with the cry to “network!” And it promotes this idea that you go to these events to meet people to see how they can help you. It feels transactional and disingenuous and icky. And yes, part of networking is to meet people with connections, especially if you’re job seeking, but if you’re only going to these events when you need something, then…
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What Did I Just Read?! Mastering Assignments
One of the biggest problems with being a new law school student is that you rarely have a chance to truly gage how you’re doing in your courses until the end. Of course, some professors offer midterms to help you understand what’s going on, but that’s not always a given. Additionally, you not only have to worry about mastering the topics, but more importantly you have to learn how to analyze, i.e. that elusive “thinking like a lawyer” thing. My 1L year, by midway through, I felt really confident in my classes. I thought I was understanding the topics and could follow along with the discussion—I thought things were great.…
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That’s It? The legal industry’s slow, resistant march towards diversity
First, if you haven’t had a chance to do a deep dive in the latest legal profile by the ABA here it is. It is full of great gems and covers various sectors but as usual focuses heavy on big law. Ultimately, what the profile reveals is that it is hard out here for a Latina attorney. Latinx have the highest rates of attrition, attorneys of color, in general, are less likely to be promoted to equity partner than white attorneys and more likely to leave the firm. Women also left during COVID to take care of households and that will have long-lasting implications that we are yet to see.…
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Happy Anniversary! Seven Years of Latinas Uprising
I can’t even believe that Latinas Uprising is turning seven this week! When I hit publish in summer 2014, I had no idea—I could not have imagined—the type of community this would form. All I knew was that I wanted to find other Lawtinas like me and offer whatever support I could. From that grew a community of fierce, engaged, and driven people who work to make this profession better. I’m alway so grateful for everyone who reads this space and for the support and encouragement provided. Seven years went by in a flash! So I wanted to share some of our top posts, those that created dialogue and motivated…