1L here. We have had seven classes so far and I have been cold called in every single one of them, sometimes multiple times. There are many students who have never been called once. Several people mentioned it to me after class today so I'm not the only one who thinks it's weird.

Edited to clarify, this is seven classes in one course with one professor.

I know this is gonna be a hot take but I can't be the only one who feels this way. I'm a 3L and recently I've been watching members of my school's mock trial team present closing arguments. These members were all 3Ls who did mock trial last year so they aren't new to this, but man, it was not great. I mean don't get me wrong, they were all eloquent and spoke at a good pace, didn't use filler words, etc. But man did it sound fake. It just seemed felt like I was watching a Broadway play, they didn't feel like genuine people who I could root for or empathize with. Maybe it's just because I'm in the field myself and maybe these techniques really do work on lay jurors but I don't know, it would definitely throw me off if I was a member of a jury and the attorney argued like that.

Hello. L1 KJD at a t50 with a good scholarship. I am through two weeks of law school and realized I never even realized why I wanted to be a lawyer. I always was so preoccupied with the thought of prestige and realized I don’t care. Has anyone else ever felt this way? I think I’m gonna stick out the semester but don’t want to shovel money into a fire. What are my options?

I literally cannot come up with a single idea that has not been preempted for my law review article. I have been staying up half the night trying to figure this out. Even after talking to professors I still can’t make sense of what to do. I truly regret this and feel desperate.

This is a vent post, so please be kind and tender.

i genuinely feel so lost and overwhelmed with all my readings and briefings. It’s only been one week and I feel like im having a harder time than my classmates on acclimating into law school.

I finished undergrad 6 years ago so it’s been a very long time since I’ve studied and I don’t even remember how, not that it matters anyways bc it’s so different for law, but wow I am soooo stressed. I now understand why people cry over this stuff haha :/

Any advice any 2L or 3L’s can give me? I feel so alone and behind ☹️

Edit: I have terrible anxiety about not being able to finish all my readings before class too. I know every prof is different, but do they have time to cover every case they have us brief during class?

It was a massive repository of 1L supplements, recordings, notes, flash cards (?) etc. truly the GOAT for first semester but I’m not sure where to find it or if it still exists. I used it back in 2018 but my old link is no longer active.

thanks in advance!

I’m so lost

I am a recent grad in a small region who graduated at the towards the top of my class with distinction. I participated in moot court, was accepted into a prestigious clerking program, was engaged with school organizations. I did everything I was supposed to EXCEPT apply early.

I am unemployed and falling into a depression. Literally no one is hiring at an entry level. All clerkships are taken. The PD office is on a hiring freeze. I'm not even hearing back from the prosecutor's office. I do not know what else to do.

Please share any advice, helpful words, or your experience if you were in my position. Thanks in advance.

TLDR: How do u leverage a networking connection you made through someone else in a non-business setting when you don’t have their contact info?

My (3L) undergrad mentor (arts major) was in my current city and invited me to dinner. What I thought would be us catching up actually turned into a potential networking opportunity.

Essentially - we went to dinner with his family friend who is a high ranking attorney at a mid size law firm in my city (big city).

We talked a lot, my mentor was generous in complimenting me and hyping me up while also keeping conversation normal and not all business. Family friend ended up saying he hires people from my school often, said I’d make a good trial attorney (his practice) and was overall very friendly and I felt a good connection.

My question is: how can I appropriately leverage this connection?

Background:
I’m a 3L currently working at a firm in a completely unrelated practice area, not smth I dislike but not my passion, and I’m unsure if they’re looking to hire

I don’t have a job lined up post grad

Family friend is quite an older gentlemen but still practices law bc he loves it

I only know this man’s first name, which is generic and unhelpful lol

Should I text my mentor and ask him for family friends full name and contact info? Do I ask him to tell family friend I’d love to interview or connect 1:1? Any advice appreciated!

Hello! Anyone who’s willing to share GN 2026 and any rev mats? Thank you🥺❤️

1L here. I have one professor that’s never cold-called me. He’s only called on me twice when I’ve raised my hand (they do a mix of hand raises and cold calls). First time it went well, second time I answered the question but later was stumbling on how to explain myself. But this professor usually calls on the same 7-10 people & I’m not one of them, and I was wondering if it’s cause for concern. Does it mean they don’t think I can move the discussion forward or have much to contribute? I know this is such a silly thing to worry about but I just don’t know if not being called on is a bad sign.

2L here and half of contracts is just gone. civ pro is worse. once the exam was over my brain filed it all under "no longer relevant."

bar prep is 18 months out and every 3L says you basically relearn 1L from scratch. is that just accepted or are people doing something during 2L to keep old subjects alive? my outlines are sitting there and rereading them feels pointless.

what actually worked for people who felt in control going into bar prep. mixed practice, weekly outline reviews, something else?

Niece (6y/o): “You’re doing homework? That looks like college type homework…”

Me (34 y/o JD Candidate): “Haha yeah honey it is college type homework.”

Niece: “You’re in college?”

Me: “Yeah I’ve been in college a long time. I’ve done a lot of college.”

pregnant pause ***

Niece: “When do you go to be an adult, then?”

Me: 🙃♥️

… idk why this bothers me so much but if you are raising your hand during the lecture, i think it is pretty obvious you’re raising your hand to ask a question or make a statement that we all could have lived another day without. you’ve now wasted 5 seconds of my life when you could have just asked the damn question😭

& i’m talking same guy at least once per class in at least two classes per week. it may be the autism in me but i’ve never understood the purpose. 🫠

I’m a law student and I’ve never written a research paper before, so I genuinely have no idea how this works.

I have a few questions...

How do you actually choose a topic?

What makes a topic good/bad for a research paper?

How do you know what sources you're supposed to use?

How much research are you expected to do?

What's the difference between a research paper, research article, and a normal college assignment?

How do you structure the whole thing?

Do you need to come up with something completely new, or can you research and analyse an existing issue?

How do you even start writing one without feeling completely lost?

Would appreciate advice from anyone who's written/reviewed research papers, especially law students. I’m basically starting from zero 😭😭

I apparently never actually downloaded the NYLE study guide from the portal, and didn't realize that the portal would be inaccessible after registering for the exam. I tried to find the study guide elsewhere and could only locate the October 2024 version. If anyone could please send me the latest version of the NYLE study guide from the portal I would be so grateful, thank you!! <3

How much work/effort is it to be above median at a roughly t50 school? How about top 10%?

There’s definitely some people in my classes who don’t seem to be that serious (leaving in the middle of class for whatever reason, coming consistently late/leaving early etc, constantly on their phones, constantly yapping in class). There’s also plenty of people who are not aiming for big law so I’m guessing they may care less ab grades too. Just trying to get an idea of where I might stack up…

Poor 9th Amendment. Slaughter House cases really did a number on them. There is like a whole alternative history jurisprudence where it one of the most important parts of the U.S. Constitution. If you have taken Con Law you know.

Any tips on how to prepare/study for fed income and resources? I really want to get an A on this class.

Hi

Does anyone here bring lunch to class regularly and have any recipes they’d share? I’m trying to find ideas of somewhat easy things to make that aren’t super expensive. Back when I was employed, I lowkey almost never brought lunch and always bought food.

I just started 1L and I feel like this class is less confusing and esoteric to me than it is to my classmates. The rules about how to bring a complaint, the steps you follow throughout a case, etc are things I already was sort of familiar with. Now I feel like I'm just learning the specifics and the concepts behind it. Any other fellow former paralegals have thoughts?

Our prof has been getting us to start practicing IRAC on fact patterns. One issue I find is that I often frame the issues too broadly, such that the analysis too hard to follow because it deals with too much at once.

Are there any strategies for properly framing IRAC issues? Or is this more of an intuitive exercise