Is it that you have no time, you have little money, the competition in law school is stressful, relationships are difficult during law school, attorney job hunting is competitive, or the constant criticism in law school becomes too much to bear? Here is a list. Which one has been your biggest challenge? (more…)

Hours of legal research can be wasted if law students look in the wrong books. One key to success in law school studying and legal research is knowing where to look for an answer.

To find an answer quickly, a law student must (1) know the resources in a law library, (2) know which resource is best for a law student’s particular question, and finally, know how to use that resource.

I learned this approach from law review editors when I served on law review. I still use this approach as an attorney today.

Where to Start

Some law students start their research by searching cases in WestLaw. Normally this is a big waste of time. Law students can spend hours reading through cases that match a search criterion without ever finding a case that answers their question.

Although research should end by finding a primary authority (case or statute) that answers your research question, the best place to start is (more…)

The obvious answer is that you can become smarter. The more you learn, the more knowledge you can build upon. The more you learn, the more your brain improves its capacity to learn. The more you push your brain through mental exercises, the more agile your brain becomes. Studies abound with evidence supporting these premises.

So where do you start? How do you become smarter? It seems easier said than done. Fortunately, one blogger prepared a number of great tips. (more…)

But maybe you want to work in a big firm. Want to make a ton of money as an attorney? Then understand where the money is, and more importantly, where the money isn’t. (more…)

Advertisement: NEED a Student Credit Card? CLICK HERE. Reviews of the Best Student Credit Cards

David J. Wold, a law school graduate from the DePaul University College of Law has tried, unsuccessfully, to auction off his law degree on eBay.

The auction ended January 10, 2008 without anyone bidding. The bidding started at $100,000. (See the eBay listing, available for a few weeks).

Perhaps, the most bizarre part of the law degree auction was the law graduate’s explanation for selling the degree. At one point, Wold explains, “[s]ince I got a degree in screwing people for money, I thought I’d use it for such. My girlfriend have started our own [porn website.]” (more…)

Brain-Free Reading

As you kick into relaxation mode, here are some news stories that don’t require any thinking. While you were preparing for finals and in finals, some law students and law schools were making the news. (more…)

You may also be interested in these law school exam tips previously published on Law Student, and in particular, this list of law school exam tips. (more…)

The fact that Law Student wasn’t named in the contest continues to shock law students around the globe. This fact also raises questions about the credibility of the entire contest. But I digress…

The contest features a number of interesting and unique law student blogs:

Overheard in Law School centers around an especially amusing and creative topic: the blog features submissions from law students across the nation and the strange quotes they have overheard from law students or law school professors.

Nuts & Boalts is a blog from a Berkeley law student. It covers (more…)

The number of law school graduates continues to increase must faster than the number of law jobs available. The supply of law graduates is high, but the demand has not kept pace.

As a result, law school graduates who did not graduate in the top 10% of a Tier 1 law school are having great difficulty getting (more…)

Holtz started college at California State University, Los Angeles, when she was only 10 years old. At age 15, she (more…)

For more help finding a job as a law student or lawyer, visit the Law Student Jobs section of this site.

Part-time Law Mom wrote her answer here. She explained:

I had spent months combing law student blogs trying to find blogs by part-time law student mothers with kids. The only great blog I found existed through the author’s first year before she ended it. I decided that I would start a blog in order to both chronicle this adventure and also to help other mothers who might be considering law school in addition to a full-time job.

The Frugal Law Student wrote his answer here. He explained his reasons for starting a blog:

After a few years of being an avid blog reader, I decided to start my own. Because I was big fan of personal finance blogs and law school blogs, I thought I would marry the two and create a blog dedicated to helping law students mitigate their crippling law school debt. I figured it would be a good way to keep track and hold me accountable for how I managed my finances in during law school

My reason for starting a blog was similar. I wanted to read a blog by other law students and couldn’t find any. In particular, I wanted a blog with tips for doing better in law school.

Learning Law School Success from Others

As a 1L, I was constantly finding ways to improve my performance. I wished I could have learned these law school tips from the beginning rather than through the “school of hard knocks.”

Law School Tips

Since that time, I have happily encountered many law student blogs. Some of those blogs had law school tips, but none of them focused exclusively on law school tips. If you search the archives here, you will find many of the law school tips I found along with some of my own.

Publicize Your Law Student Blog Here

If you want your law student blog featured here, stay tuned. My next plan with Law Student .TV is to find a way to promote the blogs of other law students.

You can already promote your law school blog posts at School Blog Vote using its law school student section, but I’m working on another option that could further promote law students’ blogs. Come back soon for more details.

In the meantime, you could add some more interesting blog posts to your law school blog, so that when visitors arrive in a few weeks, they have more interesting material to read.

*NOTE: I promised to link to the blogs of whoever answered. My delay is inexcusable, but it relates to having a baby and taking the bar exam. I am finally making good on that promise. Thanks to the authors of these great law school blogs for their patience.

During law school, you often hear rumors about cheating. It’s only natural to think about how law students cheat. What methods did they use? I’ve talked with law school friends (more…)

This includes public defenders, city prosecutors, federal government lawyers, attorneys at non-profit and charity organizations, and a variety of similarly situated law school graduates.

In short, this new law will provide law school loan repayment assistance to students taking public interest jobs.

The following was provided by Philip G. Schrag of the Georgetown University Law Center:

This morning, President Bush signed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (H.R. 2669), which includes two provisions that will make it much easier for law students who graduate with high educational debt to have long-term public service careers. The bill includes a section creating an income-based repayment (IBR) plan that enables graduates to make much smaller monthly payments when their incomes are low: the IBR formula caps repayment at 15% of (AGI minus 150% of the federal poverty level). Interest not paid (more…)

Does your law school have a blog directory listing law students’ blogs? If so, please leave a comment here with the link for other law students to enjoy.

She then linked to this informative post explaining how much solo attorneys earn: What Do Solos REALLY Earn?

What would be an interesting statistic is the ratio of salary to debt service for law school.

She then presents information regarding the ratio of salary to debt here: Increasing law school debt compared to Lawyer Salaries.

There are two ways to enter:

1. write a blog review (you must have a blog) OR
2. post a comment response (anyone can do this)

Every blog review wins a license to all 3 of the courses. A random winner will be drawn from the comment entries.Here is the blog review post: Free Law School Review Courses - Calling 1L Bloggers

Here is the first comment post (3 others coming soon): What 1L Contract Topic Worries You? - FREE Review Course

The numbers are interesting. In 2006, the average starting salary for an attorney at a small firm (2-10 attorneys) was $50,000. The average starting salary for an attorney at a large firm (over 500 attorneys) was $135,000.

It is worth noting that the survey covers a large geographic area, so some adjustment is necessary for your local region. If you are in a small city, rural area, or city overpopulated by law schools, the average salary for your area may be less than the survey average. If you are starting in New York, or some other top paid city, the average salary for your area may be more than the survey average.

I suppose the results could be further criticized for being unscientific in one way or another. However, as a general guide to new associate salaries, the survey results are enlightening.

To see the survey results, visit NALP’s What Do New Lawyers Earn?

11-23-07 Update: This article has been updated. Please read Many Law Graduates Dissappointed: Few Jobs, Low Salaries, High Stress. For help finding the law job that is right for you, visit our law jobs section.

A note from a reader:

Law graduates always prefer to attend the traditional educational institutes in a hope to get high salaries in the market than are offered to the graduates holding online degrees. Although a traditional academic experience is matchless but, online learning resources such as 000-253 are a valuable means to enhance one’s skills. Online certifications in a technical area, such as 000-415, not only grant the educational qualifications but also shape one’s career. Some of these certifications like 000-664 even enable the students to work at top notch laboratories to have an on hand experience of the technical details. Once at a competent level, professional can keep up with the latest tools and techniques (000-730) to aid in their progression.

• Exams and Other Fun Topics
• General Study Skills Sites
• Courses in the First Year
• Research Tips and Guides
• Study Strategies
• Property—How the Law Student’s Tackle It
• Managing Law School Competition
• New Law School Students’ Most Common Questions
• Recommended Study Aids & Commercial Outlines (or get free law school outlines)
• Law Student Computer Buying Tips: 1. Buy a Laptop
• Law Student Computer Buying Tips: 2. What Size Laptop Should I buy?
• Law Student Computer Buying Tips: 3. Should Law Students Consider a Tablet PC?

Best wishes in your 1L year!