The Great Change: Turning Cathy into a Lawyer

Read Part I

I'm friendly with some 1Ls, who so far have not been burdened by grades and the psychological torture they impose, overshadowing the entire educational experience. Anyway, the other day we were shooting the breeze and I was kvetching (as usual) about how much I hate grades. And how mine probably kept me off Law Review.

"I've talked to some people on law review," one of them said, "And I could barely have a conversation with them. YOU I can talk to. You have balance."

I think she meant that I wasn't one dimensional, that I wasn't so consumed with law school that I forgot how to be interesting. Although the truth of the matter is that I am consumed with law school - but ALL of it.

While some people are in the library every day until 11pm briefing every case, I'm doing other things. I like being involved with student groups. I like going to symposia. I like working on the journal. I like doing moot court. I like drinking up everything I can from this wonderful, decadent opportunity to learn and think about the law.

Of course, there's always a question of resource allocation. But even sinking more effort into any one class doesn't necessarily translate into a predictable outcome. I devoted quite a bit into my ConLaw class last year and still ended up with a bad grade. And I doubly regretted it, because the extra effort came at the expense of classes I might have stood a better chance in succeeding in had I not diverted my energies.

But in general I try to maximize how much I can absorb from the experience. Of course it's not possible to have it all: perhaps if I did fewer things or took fewer classes I might have better grades. But I'm not willing to make that sacrifice. And I think it's a reasonable decision not to, one which in fact provides the maximum educational benefit, even if it technically comes at the expense of the GPA. it's also one I believe will ultimately make me a better lawyer in the long run.

I would rather learn some smaller percentage of a lot of things than 100% of a few. I also think it's a myth that you could learn 100% of the material from any one class anyway. The legal education has a certain disposable quality to it. Your head gets stuffed with a lot of cases and doctrines for a short period of time, and then it mostly gets purged by the time the new semester begins and new things get stuffed into your brain. And that's ok, it's expected that when you get out of school you "won't really know anything" (which is how I've heard it described). You learn the most from the practical experience of working with the law. The legal education though has a purpose, which is to prime you so that the next time the knowledge comes around it will stick much more efficiently.

So with that in mind, I would rather be primed to understand many things when I get out into the world than just a few. I think in the long run it will make me a more effective legal thinker, because I will have more "blocks" of legal knowledge at my disposal to underpin my further thinking. I've always been a fan of interdisciplinary study, because being able to draw from a variety of backgrounds results in a much more meaningful discovery. My approach to a varied and thorough legal education stems from the same principle.

it's also a product of my personality to want to "taste" as many things as I can. In the last few years I've traveled around the world and back, spending a week in one far-flung area, 3 days in another... My friends tease me for my efficiency, but I have no regrets. I am so motivated by curiosity to see what it's like over there that I can be completely satisfied by an expeditious trip that fully informs me while still leaving time to go see what it's like somewhere else as well.

I only get one shot at this law student thing. Grown-Up Life beckons, and soon I will need to return to the working world and its logistical demands. it's a wonderful luxury to be a student, to have a singular purpose to learn things. And learn things I do, by trying and exposing myself to the many opportunities the experience offers. This newfound knowledge will one day be effectively demonstrated. It just may not be by my GPA.