Law School and Other Legal Discussion.
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Yeah, its called lawschool.life/forums
Format is similar to TLS though there are a few changes.
Finding it was a godsend, I didn't realise Vanderbilt was still ghosting people from late 2017 to now, I was panicking about my offers.
The Odum of Ala Igbo
Hail Biafra!
2nd Semester is garbage. But I've got a Research Assistant position lined up for the summer
got a job, saved money, retook the LSAT, did therapy, did my research, got my recommendations,
MustafaSTL
Achievement In Every Field of Human Endeavor
Anybody else on this Young, Black, and Lawyered thing? They have a Group Me with about 3,000 black law students/young black attorneys.
Never heard of it
MustafaSTL
Achievement In Every Field of Human Endeavor
Home
This is the website that launched not too long ago. Like I said, I think it started as a Group Me for black lawyers. Someone added me on there maybe a year/year and a half ago. Probably a couple hundred or so on there. Now there's almost 3,000 in the group. I randomly check it because a group chat with 3,000 people can get active fast as hell and I can't catch up to that shyt a lot of times. But people on there give good advice about law school, bar prep, job search/interviewing, networking etc.
Edit: Oh yeah and the chick that started this group is bad as fukk too. She clerked for a judge here in St. Louis before moving to a big NY firm.
HacksawJimThuggin
All Star
cot damn this thread brings back memories...
My best advice to you guys in school is to just focus on your shyt and set yourself up to succeed once you graduate. The thing about law school is, you're around these same damn people all day so you basically get trapped in this little ass competitive bubble where all everyone is talking about is grades and internships and shyt... it's easy to get caught up in that and feel like the moves you're making are inadequate or whatever, in comparison.
Truth of the matter is, I've been out of law school for 5 years now and off the top of my head, I probably only know a few people that are still even at the same firm that they initially got hired at. Some, like myself, just eventually went out and did their own thing... some got the requisite experience and parlayed that into a better job, some realized big law is not for them and went the boutique route, some stopped practicing law all together.
The biggest regret I have about law school is not networking more with my classmates. I was in a unique situation where I went to a school in-state basically right out of undergrad, so my 1L year, I still had mad friends that were also at that same school, but in undergrad. So I wasn't really trying to kick it with the law school nerds like that on the weekends or whatever. It was kind of the same thing until like 3L, where everyone is damn near checked out of school anyway and just focusing on getting their job opportunities lined up. BUT... and it's something people older than me would say all the time and I'd kind of just brush it off, but depending on where you practice, those classmates are going to be your peers who you might be running into quite often and even be working on the same cases; but at the very least, a few will be in the same field as you. You want to make sure you have a good reputation with your peers and while you don't have to be best friends with them, it's important to at least be well liked.
The reason that's so important is because... 3-4 years down the road, whether you're out on your own, or at a boutique firm, or even practicing big law, there will likely be an expectation that you actually start generating your own business for yourself. I can't speak for other attorneys, but a good percentage of my business comes from other attorneys in the area who I know from either high school, college, networking, etc. and on the flip side, I refer out at least one case a week to an attorney myself (make sure you try to build you a network of attorneys who you trust to do a good job that pay referral fees... it'll allow you to basically accept every kind of case and you can always refer it out and get paid for doing nothing). So with that, you also want to start networking now, because you'll likely be doing a good amount of it once you start practicing... even if you're not the most outgoing person, at least start getting used to being in an environment where you don't know most people and get comfortable with introducing yourself in a manner that projects confidence and not being awkward. Because, and it goes right along with all this... more than anything, people send business to people who they like because they want to see them succeed. You don't need to be the absolute best at what you do, but if you're competent, professional, and well-liked, you'll always be good.
Just my thoughts... Won't even front, I wasn't even that great of a student at all, mostly because I knew the big law thing was never for me, so I probably can't help much with tips on taking notes and shyt... but if any of you guys have questions on starting your own practice or really anything involved with the practicalities of getting out there and hustling and doing your thing, I'd be more than happy to help.
My best advice to you guys in school is to just focus on your shyt and set yourself up to succeed once you graduate. The thing about law school is, you're around these same damn people all day so you basically get trapped in this little ass competitive bubble where all everyone is talking about is grades and internships and shyt... it's easy to get caught up in that and feel like the moves you're making are inadequate or whatever, in comparison.
Truth of the matter is, I've been out of law school for 5 years now and off the top of my head, I probably only know a few people that are still even at the same firm that they initially got hired at. Some, like myself, just eventually went out and did their own thing... some got the requisite experience and parlayed that into a better job, some realized big law is not for them and went the boutique route, some stopped practicing law all together.
The biggest regret I have about law school is not networking more with my classmates. I was in a unique situation where I went to a school in-state basically right out of undergrad, so my 1L year, I still had mad friends that were also at that same school, but in undergrad. So I wasn't really trying to kick it with the law school nerds like that on the weekends or whatever. It was kind of the same thing until like 3L, where everyone is damn near checked out of school anyway and just focusing on getting their job opportunities lined up. BUT... and it's something people older than me would say all the time and I'd kind of just brush it off, but depending on where you practice, those classmates are going to be your peers who you might be running into quite often and even be working on the same cases; but at the very least, a few will be in the same field as you. You want to make sure you have a good reputation with your peers and while you don't have to be best friends with them, it's important to at least be well liked.
The reason that's so important is because... 3-4 years down the road, whether you're out on your own, or at a boutique firm, or even practicing big law, there will likely be an expectation that you actually start generating your own business for yourself. I can't speak for other attorneys, but a good percentage of my business comes from other attorneys in the area who I know from either high school, college, networking, etc. and on the flip side, I refer out at least one case a week to an attorney myself (make sure you try to build you a network of attorneys who you trust to do a good job that pay referral fees... it'll allow you to basically accept every kind of case and you can always refer it out and get paid for doing nothing). So with that, you also want to start networking now, because you'll likely be doing a good amount of it once you start practicing... even if you're not the most outgoing person, at least start getting used to being in an environment where you don't know most people and get comfortable with introducing yourself in a manner that projects confidence and not being awkward. Because, and it goes right along with all this... more than anything, people send business to people who they like because they want to see them succeed. You don't need to be the absolute best at what you do, but if you're competent, professional, and well-liked, you'll always be good.
Just my thoughts... Won't even front, I wasn't even that great of a student at all, mostly because I knew the big law thing was never for me, so I probably can't help much with tips on taking notes and shyt... but if any of you guys have questions on starting your own practice or really anything involved with the practicalities of getting out there and hustling and doing your thing, I'd be more than happy to help.
OC's finest
All Star
What state u in?
If anyone in the greater SoCal area, feel free to pm me. I'm a 7 year practicing attorney at a big defense firm in dtla.
HacksawJimThuggin
All Star
Everything this breh said. To build off that, go to law school where you intend on practicing. I got a scholly out of my home state and jumped on it. Took the bar in my home state, but I didn't no anyone in my demo that practices. I had to kinda do law school all over again socially for the first year.
Always give the older attorney's you run into your business card and let them know you can cover cases. You can probably live off that alone in larger cities. Old dudes don't want to go to court unless it's a motion or trial scheduled. Don't be a dikk to court staff. They're in a position to make your life hell.
Hope this helps someone.