<p>Just for the hell of it, I want to know, what exactly do you do in law school, I know learning(duh), but I mean what type of classes or training does one undergo. To me it seems that law school is just to pass the bar, beacuse when you get hired by all these law firms, they train you. What does one have to do , to get a job as a"top" corporate lawyer or a clerkship after law school? I'd be glad if you helped.Thanks</p>
<p>get top grades and make law review.</p>
<p>Okay, several questions in there & other issues to address:</p>
<p>1) In law school, for the most part, you read cases and statutes to learn the law. Let's take the example of torts class. If you are learning about intentional torts, you might start off by reading a 15th century case about accidentally harming someone in a mock fight. Then, you'll read more modern cases about assault (threat of harm), battery (actual harm), false imprisonment, etc. You'll read a case in which someone is unable to recover damages on a FI claim because he never tried to leave and was unaware that he would be so unable. You then deduce that one requirement of FI is that you be aware of your imprisonment. Your professor may ask a student if a client could recover on FI if he were unconscious. That's law school.</p>
<p>2) Um, law school is NOT just to pass the bar. That is a phenomenal waste of three years. Yes, it is necessary (in most states) to attend law school to pass the bar, but a requirement of something does not equate to its purpose. </p>
<p>3) Ultimately, the legal education is a professional education, much like engineering. You learn enough background so that you can be trained on the job. You learn to think like an engineer or doctor or lawyer or businessman, but you don't learn how to be one. It is not like being an auto mechanic, where trade school teaches you how to repair a transmission. Professional school teaches you the underlying principles.</p>
<p>4) If you want a top job/clerkship, the qualifications are the same: top school, good grades, law review. The latter two are more negotiable if you go to HYS. If you get an excellent clerkship, you can leverage that into a top job.</p>
<p>ariesathena,</p>
<p>do those who want to go into corporate law or other aspects of law besides litigation and academia try to seek a clerkship?</p>
<p>I am hard-pressed to think of many areas of law in which a really good clerkship would not be of little professional use. Everyone who has done one says that it is a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>From what I understand, most medium and big firms love clerks. Depending on what you are doing, a clerkship can be phenomenal - think for bankruptcy court if you are going to practice bankruptcy law. Even if your clerkship is not related, there are often a lot of rewards for having one. I saw a firm that has a sliding scale for rewarding post-clerk hires, with bonuses and seniority for a state's highest court, federal district court, and federal tax/bankruptcy courts.</p>
<p>thanks ariesathena! i've heard clerkships are really nice to get, but i previously didnt see the connection between a clerkship and someone who wants to practice law in an area unrelated to that clerkship.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help, you have cleared my head!</p>
<p>In my experience, most big firm corporate lawyers do not bother to apply to or take clerkships, unless perhaps they are offered very prestigious or applicable opportunities, such as a Supreme Court clerkship, a clerkship with the DC Circuit, 2nd Circuit or 7th Circuit, or maybe even a clerkship with the Chancery Court in Delaware. In any event, you do not often see clerkships among the credentials of top corporate lawyers. There is a perception among corporate lawyers that actual transactional deal experience is going to be much more valuable to a career in corporate law (or for other opportunities that may be presented to a corporate lawyer, such as in investment banking, private equity, etc.) than a year or two working for a judge.</p>
<p>what is law review and clerkship?</p>
<p>Law review is makin good enough grades so that you can become an editor and writer on one of the law school's law journals. This is mainly dependent on your first year grades.</p>
<p>Clerkships are basically apprenticing for a judge in a State or Federal level. You basically do a lot of gruntwork for the judge in terms of reviewing doucments, but you can also contribute substantively by helping the judge form an opinion through memos. Sometimes the judge may even let you write briefs.</p>