Courses In Law School pertain to what?

Graduate School Law School
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<p>Sorry if title doesnt make sense. I am just confused on a specific detail that I keep missing when looking into getting a JD.</p>

<p>So besides getting other peoples opinion on Harvard v. Yale v. Columbia ect... I noticed people say each school has their niche market, so If you want to go work in biglaw, or corp, columbia and harvard are great to go to. </p>

<p>So after graduating from Law you move on, get a job, and your good to go. But I am confused on what is actually taught in Law Schools. On Columbia's web, they just mention disciplines in law. </p>

<p>Disciplines include:</p>

<p>Intellectual Property
Criminal Law and Procedure
Human Rights, Civil Rights Law
Constitutional Law
Legal Philosophy</p>

<p>and also careers:</p>

<p>Private Sector
Public Interest and Government
Judicial Clerkships
and a few others...</p>

<p>Does this mean, you can pick what you want to study, like in undergrad, and then graduate with a JD, and work in any law field? or only the field you picked? Or am I just not getting it at all</p>

<p>I was researching what sounds really interesting to me in regards to law professions, I found my top three (3) most interesting fields, that is: corporate law, legal philosophy, and constitutional law.</p>

<p>My number one interest was Legal Philosophy. I really like the idea of the relationship of law and its morals, and things like Legal interpretivism. Does anyone know anything about this study? can you make a living in it after law, and what kind of jobs are offered if you went into legal philosophy? Can you still land a biglaw job :D ?</p>

<p>And then Corp Law is awesome also, I mean what it boils down to is, do I really want to be educated in law vs. do I want to make a shyt load of money in regards to security,tax or Corporate Law. Or can I do both, or whatever and still break through?</p>

<p>So if anyone can give me any advice would be awesome. Not even sure I understand how law schools work, or how the academics work there, so just bear with me.</p>

2

<p>The main purpose of law school is training your mind to think a lawyer and learn generally applicable legal principles and practices. The first year is usually required courses in contract law, property law, criminal law and procedure, torts (civil wrongs), legal research and writing, civil procedure (which covers court powers, including division between state and federal courts, and the rules and steps applicable from complaint to conclusion of a civil case), and constitutional law. There is a required course in legal ethics that is often after first year. After first year there may also be required courses in evidence (which is considered required by law firms even if it is an elective at your law school), taxes, corporations, trial practice, or even others depending on law school. There are also many other courses that are wise to take for general knowledge and because they are subjects usually tested on the typical bar examination (everything is for naught if you flunk the bar exam), which can include law applicable to sales of goods, wills and estates, equity (definitely not what a non-lawyer would think of when he hears that word), remedies. </p>

<p>There will then be electives that allow one to get some concentration in courses in a legal area such as intellectual property (includes patent, copyright and trademark law), public interest law, family law, more tax law, corporate law, and others. Legal Philosophy is a concentration provided by some and wisely avoided by most students mainly because it adds absolutely nothing to your ability to get a job or practice law. </p>

<p>Understand that becoming employed after law school does not depend on the area of concentration you may pursue except that those who have science and engineering undergrad degrees and want to do patent law and those that want to do tax law are somewhat aided by a few courses in the respective area. Specialties are really something you end up with as a result of post law school work experience not what you study in law school.</p>

<p>Also note that private sector in that list simply refers generally to employment in law firms or by corporations, public interest and government refers to government jobs and funded public interest organizations, and judicial clerkships are something only a small number of highly ranked students can get and involves working for an appellate court or federal district court judge for a year or possibly two after law school before getting a real job.</p>

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<p>There are a good number of jobs for young corporate lawyers who do well at top schools. There are far fewer jobs for those wanting to practice constitutional law, and many well regarded constitutional experts have risen out of the ranks of litigators. I can’t say I know of any jobs for a new grad who wants to focus on legal philosophy. </p>

<p>One initial decision you could consider as you go through undergrad is whether you want to be a courtroom lawyer. That is, do you want to regularly represent clients who are involved in disputes? Of the practice areas you mentioned, constitutional law experts tend to be courtroom lawyers, many with an appellate practice. On the other hand, most corporate lawyers spend the bulk of their time negotiating and drafting contracts.</p>

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<p>You don’t have to specialize in law school. There are generally certain classes that all students have to take, and electives. There are certain electives that are good to take in law school because it is hard to pick the concepts in a piecemeal fashion during practice (like Federal Courts or Federal Jurisdiction). Generally, the more highly ranked law schools are more likely to focus more on the theoretical concepts, like legal philosophy and jurisprudence. These concepts will be infused throughout all of your classes at a well-regarded, national law school, not just jurisprudence classes. Yale is particularly known for its theoretical bent. There is no truth to the idea that it is easier to get a “Biglaw” job out of Harvard and Columbia as opposed to Yale. Yale’s grading system is more ambiguous than a lot of schools, and thus it is harder to tell where students rank than at, say, Harvard or Columbia. I jokingly tell people if you are extremely good looking and personable and you have a choice between Harvard and Yale, go to Yale. The absence of regular grades at Yale arguably make soft skills more important/ valued.</p>

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<p>As Drushba pointed out, trying to “specialize” by taking several electives in an area of the law or earning a certificate in law school can be risky. Not only are you giving up the opportunity to take classes in the subjects that are on the bar exam, but you might also be restricting job opportunities in a terrible job market. Earning a certificate in energy law, for example, might mean that you wouldn’t be selected for interviews for jobs in other areas of the law. In this job market, it’s the rare law grad who is fortunate enough to actually pick and choose a specialty. </p>

<p>(OP - also be careful not to assume that you’ll be admitted into a top school when you apply in a few years. You still have to get through the LSAT, even if your GPA meets their requirements.)</p>

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<p>wow, I feel really bad not replying in like two days…been so focking busy. </p>

<p>drusba: Thanks you for clearing up how classes, and electives work in law school. I didnt really understand at first, and I only knew about the first year they pick your courses.</p>

<p>niceday: Constitutional law will be a reach, It sounds very interesting but many people from whom I read said its a dead end, its mind numbing, and you have to be from the 70s (ahaha) as for legal philosophy I believe it really drives you into academia after law school (which I dont want). I also never experienced the courtroom feeling. But if I can recall, I dont think that sounds like what I want to do, of course, that is if I am understanding what a courtroom lawyer is.</p>

<p>nottelling: When you say yale is likely to focus more on the theoretical concepts, like legal philosophy and jurisprudence, and their theoretical bent, that apply s to T10 schools in general right? as you said they mix it together? Reason why I ask again is just because I am interested in the theoretical stuff, I am doing a double major into philosophy/econ and just really love this stuff.</p>

<p>Neonzeus: I will caution myself with going into a specific field, I think diversification is good anywhere in life, and not go in a linear path. Again Corp stuff sounds way cool, I will learn w.e it takes to get to it, I just hope(d) they may be moral and logical philosopy studies that goes toward the JD.</p>

<p>as for the wonderful optimistic view point "(OP - also be careful not to assume that you’ll be admitted into a top school when you apply in a few years. You still have to get through the LSAT, even if your GPA meets their requirements.) "</p>

<p>LSAT studying has begun!. IT HAS BEGUN!!! (Would be funny if I found law to be not what I want to do later on har…har…har)</p>

<p>thanks a bunch guys!, hope to hear more responses.</p>

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<p>Going back to your original question, the best lecture I heard in law school directly addressed this issue, and I wish I had transcribed it to pass along. The professor described the historic tension between contract and tort, between those two areas and property law, how many a drafted constitution(including our own) attempted to both clarify and resolve those conflicts, etc. As you’re just looking at going to law school, and would like to know, maybe a similar presentation is avaiable through a law school website or just on the web in general. It was a cogent and concise overview of legal philosophy and it explained why we were required to take those basic courses first year of law school.</p>

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<p>You go to law school to become a lawyer, but it sounds like you want to do more theorectical research… Not become a lawyer. That’s more of a PhD in Jurisprudence than a JD, in my opinion. Why go to law school and pay all that money if you won’t actually like being a lawyer?</p>

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<p>PhD does not really interest me that much, Again I have no real life experience of what its like to work in a firm or in the legal industry so bear with me.</p>

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<p>Well that’s sort of the biggest thing you read about when you are considering going to law school-- make sure you want to be a lawyer, not just “study law”. A JD is a professional degree to become a lawyer, just like an MD is to be a doctor. When you consider what your options are (lawyer vs non-lawyer), it’s really only worth it to go to law school if you actually will NEED the JD. It’s just not worth the money, time, or opportunity cost otherwise.</p>

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<p>“I was researching what sounds really interesting to me in regards to law professions, I found my top three (3) most interesting fields, that is: corporate law, legal philosophy, and constitutional law.”</p>

<p>I’ve done a fair amount of con law work, so a few thoughts:</p>

<p>Constitutional law is nothing like a John Grisham novel wherein you defend awesome but unpopular clients, fight the man, and end up filthy rich at the end. Usually, you do it pro bono as part of a legal defense fund, become a professor and do it on the side, or get an incredibly competitive position with the ACLU, ADF, NRA, Institute for Justice, US Commission on Civil Rights, or the like. (Yes, many of those groups are ideologically driven, and con law is the vehicle they use.) You can also work in private practice, but that often means defending criminals on Fourth Amendment grounds in order to make money, then taking the nice cases on when you can. </p>

<p>There are sometimes turf wars, of sorts; I remember hearing that the NRA and the IJ could not agree on how to challenge DC’s gun ban. The NRA wanted to wait; the IJ wanted to get the plaintiff they wanted before the Supreme Court (something about “We don’t want our poster child for the Second Amendment to be a drug dealer”, paraphrased). Which gets me to - the poster children for constitutional rights are often not nuns, doctors, or soccer moms. </p>

<p>This applies to all law, but, in my experience, especially to con law: there are no shortage of aggrieved people out there who think they have an awesome legal theory, want you to take it “all the way to the Supreme Court,” and have zero desire to pay you to defend their rights nor to respect your legal judgement. (Will spare you the war stories.)</p>

<p>Most non-lawyers have no idea that getting that case to the Supreme Court is almost impossible and very, very expensive. SCOTUS grants certiorari in about 1% of the cases appealed to it. Just as a data point for cost, one of the non-profits I work with won a landmark Supreme Court ruling back in the '80s; even with all the lawyers working pro bono, it still cost about $100,000 (copying, discovery, filing fees, etc.) - and that’s 1980s dollars. Most non-lawyers also don’t understand who the proper defendants in a case are, sovereign immunity, or how case law restricts what looks to be a plausible reading of a statute or the Bill of Rights.</p>