Greetings almost-1Ls!
So, by now you’ve probably done the math: orientation is August 20th, school starts on the 24th, and many of the leases for apartments you’ve been looking into start on September 1st.
Ruh-roh.
This is a sad reality about Boston (that most leases do start on September 1st), but the good news is that you will only be in this dilemma once in your law school career. I polled some of our rising 2Ls to see what they did for that week and boiled it down to a few options:
It defies our concepts of professional school, right?
Dentistry school: learn how to make people’s teeth healthy. Physical therapy school: help people regain lost movement. Electrician school, beauty school, you name it – all pretty much teach you everything you need to know to accomplish the job you’ll have after graduation.
Law school is the odd man out. Even attorneys I know who took classes in the area of law they now practice say that they learned most of how to do their job after they got it. That’s why I when someone asks me what type of law I want to practice, I always want to reply, “Well, I don’t think I know how to practice any type of law.”
One of the questions many prospective law students often have (and that I definitely had when I was looking at law school) is about what, exactly, law students do during their summers. The answer is: some pretty cool stuff. Below is a selection of summaries about what current BC Law rising 2Ls and 3Ls are currently doing in cities across the country, grouped into five categories: Firms, In-House Counsel & Consulting, Judicial Internships, Public Interest, and Government. This group isn’t necessarily representative (it basically represents who I could dragoon into writing something up for me on short notice — thanks friends!), but hopefully it will give you a general sense of the different types of work law students do before they graduate. As always, if you have any questions, use the comments to ask away!
BC Law was ranked #16 — up 5 spots from last year — in the newest Above the Law Law School Rankings. The ATL rankings focus on how a law school contributes to positive student outcomes (read: jobs and salaries), and are the only rankings that incorporate the latest American Bar Association data about employment for the class of 2014. ATL also incorporates a “debt per job” metric which measures how much student debt is accrued by a school’s graduates for every actual legal job obtained.
To read more about the ATL Rankings, and see the full list of schools, click here!
Editor’s Note: Kevin Curtin is the Boston College Law School Alumni Board President and a member of the BC Law Class of ’88. He is Senior Appellate Counsel/Grand Jury Director at the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. He has tried approximately 100 jury cases and handled over 100 criminal appeals. Mr. Curtin is also an instructor in the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop and a faculty member of the national trial Advocacy College at the University of Virginia School of Law. He is also an adjunct faculty member at BC Law. All of us at Impact are pleased to be able to host his guest blog post.
Commencement is a time for remembering why you chose to become a lawyer. That idea was reflected in the remarks of this year’s Commencement speaker, Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach David Simas, BC Law ‘95. Dean Vincent Rougeau talked about it. It was also mentioned by Class President Lainey Sullivan ’15 (who recently committed to join the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan ’79).
Coincidence? Maybe.
But what about this? Dean Rougeau, University President Father William P. Leahy, David Simas and Lainey Sullivan also spoke about something else: the idea of a tradition shared in common with those who have come before them. Something that makes Boston College Law School special—an essential bond that cannot be seen, but which is continuously affirmed as true.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a Philadelphia girl. Born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love, I am a little obsessed with my hometown: the food (cheesesteaks! Wawa! water ice!), the accent (“youse” is a word, don’t question it), and of course, the sports teams (yeah, we threw snow balls at Santa Claus, so what?). My family is still Philly-based, and I knew when I was thinking about law school that I would ultimately want to practice close to home.
So when I started looking at BC, I faced something of a conundrum. The law school offered a ton of stuff geared towards my area of interest (juvenile rights and education law), which was hard to find, and my campus visit convinced that the people and professors had a lot to offer, too. But in case you didn’t know, Boston College is, in fact, in Boston. BOSTON. Like, home of the Patriots, Boston. (Sorry, not sorry, Rob.) And I was really worried that going to BC — or any law school outside of the Philly area — would make it difficult to come back after graduation. Continue reading
Editor’s Note: Erica Coray is the incoming Editor-in-Chief of the Boston College Journal of Law & Social Justice. Erica was kind enough to author a blog about the academic journals at BC Law, and why she chose to join JLSJ. We are very pleased to present our fifth and final letter about the benefits of being on a journal and why 1Ls should participate in the writing competition.
You’ve just finished the last exam of your first year of law school, you’re exhausted and elated at the same time, not quite sure of what just happened, and you follow the crowd upstairs to pick up the writing competition packet for journals. And it is huge. And long. That’s when you start questioning, “do I really want to do this? Two more weeks of research and writing? And Bluebooking? But I just finished, don’t I deserve a break?”
Yes, you do want to do it, and not just because it looks great on your résumé (though it does), but because being part of a journal your 2L year is an invaluable experience like none other in law school. Continue reading
Editor’s Note: Erica Novack is the incoming Editor-in-Chief of the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review. Erica was gracious enough to submit a post about the academic journals at BC Law, and what differentiates EALR from the rest. We are very pleased to present our fourth letter about the reasons to join the staff of a journal, and how students can apply.
I would like to echo what BCLR’s Editor-in-Chief Jennie Davis wrote in her thoughtful letter. The writing competition can be a trying experience, but you will get through it! And when you do, you will have the whole summer to unwind from this year. As you begin this competition, remember, you are all great writers, and you have proven it to your professors and to your peers (and to yourself) all year. Your experiences before BC together with your training this year have thoroughly prepared you for this competition. Continue reading
Editor’s Note: Aaron Williams is the incoming Editor-in-Chief of the Uniform Commercial Code Reporter-Digest. Despite being busy with things like the end of the second year of law school and taking the reins on the Digest, Aaron was kind enough to author a post about what sets his journal apart both functionally and culturally. We are very pleased to present the third in our series of letters about the rewards of working on a journal, and how interested students can get involved.
O Say Can U.C.C. ?
This year’s 1Ls are nearly next year’s 2Ls. By the time this is posted, the only hurdles left to clear will be a Criminal Law exam … and the writing competition. In theory, the competition is optional. In reality, it isn’t. Or, at least, it shouldn’t be.
I understand that the last thing you’re going to want to do mid-day on Friday is march on up to Stuart’s fifth floor and collect the competition packet, which will rival your Con Law casebook for thickness. But that’s exactly what you will do. Because you’re a law student and, thus, a masochist.
The reward for strong performance in the competition is journal membership. Joining a journal confers myriad benefits. You’ll develop your writing and editing skills. You’ll impress employers. You’ll eventually be able to hang a masthead on your office wall.
UCC Reporter-Digest membership, meanwhile, provides all of that and more. Our publication can be distinguished from BC Law’s traditional law journals in several important ways.
…is to not prepare at all.
Dear Class of 2018, you have struggled through the undergraduate battleground, you finished a post-bachelor degree, or maybe you’ve summoned the courage to work AND apply to law school, and you’re positively ravenous for any advice on how to best prepare yourself for what lies ahead of you.
I have only three words for you: Treat. Yo. Self.
For those of you unfamiliar with NBC’s Parks and Recreation, no worries – you have the entire summer with which to make yourself familiar. But for old fans of Donna Meagle and Tom Haverford, Treat Yo’ Self 2015 (aka, now until right around August 20th) should be spent on you.
BC Law: Impact 