Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law Forum

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brinicolec

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Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by brinicolec » Sat Dec 02, 2017 4:56 pm

Is there any way people recommend distinguishing between these things?

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cavalier1138

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Re: Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by cavalier1138 » Sat Dec 02, 2017 5:25 pm

You generally don't get to pick your courses during 1L. So maybe you'll like the rest of law school. And practice (especially in non-litigation practice areas) is different from law school entirely.

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Mr. Blackacre

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Re: Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by Mr. Blackacre » Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:56 pm

Depends what you hate about 1L. Lots of people don't like the system, the competition, the stress, etc. Much of that changes in law school and after you graduate - 1L is this weird clique-y high school phase that only lasts a year.

Lots of people also don't like the traditional areas of laws, that you all cover 1L - property, contracts, torts, etc. 2L and 3L you get to take other classes, so there maybe other areas that you'd like. Also if you generally don't like legal research, it's worth doing a summer position 1L working for a company of some sort / working 2L SA in corporate so you can see what the more corporate practice of law looks like. Law school is very litigation-oriented, and plenty of poeple don't like that.

Altogether I'd say the end of 1L isn't enough to figure out if you just hate 1L, school, or law generally. The end of 2L, especially post-summer, is a much better proxy for how much you'll enjoy practice. Obviously the problem is that by then you have the sunk cost of the extra year, and most people will finish their degree anyway even if they know they don't like the law.

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PeanutsNJam

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Re: Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by PeanutsNJam » Sat Dec 02, 2017 10:54 pm

Depends on what you dislike about 1L, what you dislike about law school, and what you dislike about law

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pancakes3

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Re: Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by pancakes3 » Sun Dec 03, 2017 2:57 am

i guess a quick and dirty litmus test would be to ask yourself if you'd still dislike it if there were no grades

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A. Nony Mouse

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Re: Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Sun Dec 03, 2017 8:49 am

pancakes3 wrote:i guess a quick and dirty litmus test would be to ask yourself if you'd still dislike it if there were no grades
That’s a useful thing to try, though I’m not sure this tells you much about whether you’d like practicing.

OP, you are likely going to have to give a legal job a try to see how you feel about all this. Not quite the same, but there were legal subjects that I found super interesting as the topic of classes, but which I realized would not enjoy practicing at all, given what practice actually requires. Lots of people like reading about concepts but find they don’t actually like arguing with opposing counsel about them in real life. Conversely, people who really enjoy working with other people and dealing with real-life problems are often madly bored/irritated by law school itself, and others just hate the structure of higher ed. So, as others have said, it depends what you’re not liking.

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brinicolec

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Re: Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by brinicolec » Sun Dec 03, 2017 1:48 pm

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I don't like a combination of things you all have mentioned.

I don't enjoy reading about cases; I don't really enjoy going to class in general; I don't enjoy trying to dissect legal arguments; in re: the litmus test, I think I'd still dislike all of those things to an extent if things weren't graded at all. I'm basically curious if this is a 1L "I just don't like the subjects" issue or a larger "I'm not into law school and this isn't a vibe that's going to change." I'm at the end of my second semester of 1L but I've been feeling this way since about October and it's only gotten worse.

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Re: Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by cavalier1138 » Sun Dec 03, 2017 2:13 pm

brinicolec wrote:Thanks for the replies everyone.

I don't like a combination of things you all have mentioned.

I don't enjoy reading about cases; I don't really enjoy going to class in general; I don't enjoy trying to dissect legal arguments; in re: the litmus test, I think I'd still dislike all of those things to an extent if things weren't graded at all. I'm basically curious if this is a 1L "I just don't like the subjects" issue or a larger "I'm not into law school and this isn't a vibe that's going to change." I'm at the end of my second semester of 1L but I've been feeling this way since about October and it's only gotten worse.
Well, why'd you go to law school? What sort of career are you aiming for?

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brinicolec

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Re: Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by brinicolec » Sun Dec 03, 2017 2:16 pm

cavalier1138 wrote:
brinicolec wrote:Thanks for the replies everyone.

I don't like a combination of things you all have mentioned.

I don't enjoy reading about cases; I don't really enjoy going to class in general; I don't enjoy trying to dissect legal arguments; in re: the litmus test, I think I'd still dislike all of those things to an extent if things weren't graded at all. I'm basically curious if this is a 1L "I just don't like the subjects" issue or a larger "I'm not into law school and this isn't a vibe that's going to change." I'm at the end of my second semester of 1L but I've been feeling this way since about October and it's only gotten worse.
Well, why'd you go to law school? What sort of career are you aiming for?
What I'm interested in when it comes to law isn't what I think I would want to do as a career anymore, primarily because materialism + PI salary doesn't necessarily mix well & I know myself/my spending habits. So basically, now I'm on the firm route like many others but don't think I'd find it enjoyable.

I also keep getting this feeling that there's a different career somewhere that is better suited for my personality.

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cavalier1138

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Re: Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by cavalier1138 » Sun Dec 03, 2017 2:33 pm

brinicolec wrote:What I'm interested in when it comes to law isn't what I think I would want to do as a career anymore, primarily because materialism + PI salary doesn't necessarily mix well & I know myself/my spending habits. So basically, now I'm on the firm route like many others but don't think I'd find it enjoyable.

I also keep getting this feeling that there's a different career somewhere that is better suited for my personality.
I mean, this is a tough one. Because if you don't like reading cases and figuring our legal arguments, you're not going to like litigation very much. And it sounds like you're not really interested in corporate or regulatory work.

But that said, it's impossible to tell whether there's some magic career out there that you'll love. Public interest generally doesn't pay well, regardless of what field you're in. So if your dream career is getting paid six figures to help indigent families, that's just not going to happen.

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Re: Disliking 1L vs. disliking law school vs. actually just disliking law

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Sun Dec 03, 2017 3:44 pm

brinicolec wrote:I don't enjoy reading about cases; I don't really enjoy going to class in general; I don't enjoy trying to dissect legal arguments; in re: the litmus test, I think I'd still dislike all of those things to an extent if things weren't graded at all.
TBF, I think that law school classes skew heavily to lit, and that the experience of corporate/regulatory is very different from the above (but I also say that as a lit person, so I'm not all that sure what non-lit is like).

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