Another Letter to the Law School Class of 2026
Dear rising 2L,
Well, hello there. Can you believe it’s been a whole year since we spoke last? You were so full of optimism, excitement, and maybe a tiny bit of anxiety as you were just about to begin your law school journey.
But now look at you! You survived being cold called in torts, made it through two rounds of finals, and now stand before your 2L year, a grizzled law school vet.
For me, 2L year was my favorite. With all of the problems happening in my personal and professional lives, law school provided me the stability I desperately needed at the time. Mock trial practice was my safe space and law school as a whole served as my foundation.
Similar to last year, 2L year comes with its own opportunities as well as challenges. Hopefully, some of my experiences might be helpful as you become your law school’s middle child.
Not Everyone Makes the Team
Perhaps the most notable change in your 2L year is that all of your school’s extracurricular activities are now fully available to you. From moot court to the law journals, there are no shortage of opportunities for you to have some fun while also building your resume. This is also the year when valuable clerkships with the potential of transforming into fulltime, post graduate employment, are up for grabs.
The important thing to remember here is that not everyone makes the team.
For some of you, rejection may be a hard pill to swallow. Once upon a time, you were the high achieving undergrad who always made the cut. These days, you’re still high achieving, but now you are around other equally high achievers. And with a finite number of spots on your law school’s teams, editorial boards, and summer associate programs, someone isn’t going to have their name called.
While rejection certainly isn’t desirable, you mustn't take it personally and let said rejection ruin academic career. I’ve known classmates to a let moot court or law review rejection sour their entire law school experience and are sadly still bitter to this day.
It’s important to understand, though, that one of the ways to find out what you want to do in law is by not doing what you initially had your eyes set on. And sometimes a closed door can open a window elsewhere (or however that idiom goes). Sometimes the rejections we receive are simply to make space for a bigger “yes” coming our way. And with all the opportunities you now have in front of you, your “yes” may be right around the corner.
For those of you who truly want that rejected opportunity bad enough, now is the time to apply some of that grit we discussed in our last letter. Find out the exact reasons you were rejected and view them as opportunities for improvement. Connect with 3Ls, alumni, and school personnel who can help you sharpen your iron for the next tryout or interview. Then go back and show your growth.
Choosing Alternative Routes
I debated on if I should tell you this now or wait until next year. But as law schools don’t amplify this point nearly enough, I’ll just tell you now as I want you to be prepared; there are other things you can do with your law degree besides practice law.
While that may be shocking to some, the truth is there’s a wide range other career paths that are equally fulfilling, both mentally and financially, to being an attorney. And you are not “less than” if you pursue them.
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As I was studying for the bar exam and clerking at our county attorney’s office, I came to the realization that I was not happy nor was I excited with the work I was doing. What did excite me, however, was working with college students on their academic journeys. So, imagine my joy when I found a job in 2020 that utilized my legal knowledge on a college campus and compensated me twice as an assistant prosecutor position would have.
While most lawyers don’t use the title of “doctor”, understand that a doctorate is exactly what you are graduating with. And be it in higher education, finance, human relations, real estate, the political sector, the business sector, or the FBI (to name just a few), there are numerous professional routes that will make great use of your law degree (and not require a law license to do so).
And while your law school may not illuminate these professions as much as they do for the role of attorney, one shouldn’t view these jobs as inferior. On the contrary, non-practicing professions (or “JD Plus” careers as I’ve recently heard them called) can offer a better work life balance as well as equal or higher pay. And for those who do choose to practice, keeping these positions in your back pocket can come in mighty handy when those endless billable hours turn into the always dreaded, burnout.
The Blessing of Law School
Last February I had the honor of sitting on a Black History Month panel, hosted by the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) at the Brandeis School of Law. When it came time for Q&A, a student expressed how miserable she was in law school and how she didn’t know how she could possibly make it one and a half more years till graduation.
A lot of fellow panelists echoed the misery they endured during their time as students.
But when it came to me, I was honest in saying that attending law school was the best decision I’ve made in my academic and professional life. Were there stressful times for me? Absolutely. Failing the MPRE exam three times wasn’t fun. Spending countless hours in the law library’s sub-basement, trying to learn property law was tiring. And the less said about my Administrative Law class, the better.
And sure, it would be easy to dwell on those things. But for me, there were a few things I never forgot.
As a historically poor test taker, I never forgot all the hours I had to put into studying for the LSAT, to simply walk in the front door of the law school.
I never forgot joyously dancing in the Walmart parking lot, when I received my better-than-expected score for said LSAT.
I never forgot the absolute relief of reading the words of my acceptance letter: “Congratulations, you have been admitted in the Brandeis School of Law.”
I never forgot marching into the campus bookstore and purchasing my first law school t-shirt and taking a picture in it with my proud daughter sitting on my shoulder.
And I never forgot how blessed I was to be pursuing a terminal degree that would have a very large return in short order.
While you may be on your way to or already in a law school funk, I want you to never forget that there are thousands of students who didn’t get the right LSAT score, didn’t have a high enough GPA, or didn’t have the funds to attend. These are the folks that would gladly take your place in a heartbeat.
I say this all, while not ignoring those of you who may be discovering that law school may have not been the right fit for you in the first place. Academic miscasting is real and is certainly worth a real discussion with your dean of students.
But for the rest of you, know that law school is tedious and sometimes frustrating. But as my dear Gran would say, so is anything else worth having.
You got this.
And we’ll speak again soon.
JW
