1L

“Proficient in Law, Grounded in Love:” Why BC Law is a Different Kind of Law School

/ Christine Lenahan / 1 Comment

1L orientation sometimes feels like trying to drink from a firehose. There’s so much crucial information being delivered, but it’s overwhelming to process it all while trying to navigate the maze of campus buildings—Stuart Hall to the East Wing, East Wing to the Yellow Room— and meeting professors and students who will surround and support your legal journey.

Amidst the flood of presentations on clinics, externships, career services, and the basics of legal education, one question lingers: When do we actually start “thinking like a lawyer”? Right now, I’m more concerned with absorbing all this information and keeping track of acronyms (CSO handles OCI… right?).

Then, on day two, a man in clerics appears in East Wing 115A/B. Enter Fr. Jack Butler.

Continue reading →

Four Things I’m Looking Forward to in 2L

/ Sangeeta Kishore / Leave a comment

With less than a month before finals, the reality has dawned on me. After I take my last final for Con Law, on May 13, I’ll officially be done with 1L. Law school, thus far, has been a rewarding experience. I’ve learned more about the law than I could’ve ever imagined possible in just one year. 

Here’s what I’m looking forward to as I take the next step in my law school journey. 

  1. More free time 

Let’s face it. The 1L schedule is rough. In one way, it’s great to come away with exposure to all different types of law. But I definitely won’t miss the 8:30 am-4:30 pm school days. The main piece of reassurance I’ve received from my older peers has been that “it only gets better from here.” Having more of a work-life balance next year will certainly help. 

Continue reading →

5 Reasons to Join Law Review

/ Jonathan Bertulis-Fernandes / Leave a comment

Over the next few weeks, Boston College Law Review will begin its outreach and recruitment program to encourage 1Ls to consider applying to become a staff member next year. The annual journal information session will be held on Tuesday, April 9 on Zoom (details to be circulated nearer the time) and there will also be a range of other opportunities to speak to current staff members and learn more about the different journal opportunities at BC. With this in mind, I thought I’d write a post to share some of the main reasons I think 1Ls should consider joining law review.

The first thing I think it’s important to say is that no one must do law review. I repeat: no one must do law review. And no one should feel pressured to do law review if they’re not interested. If you genuinely don’t want to do law review, two years as a staff member will be an unhappy experience. I would be the first person to tell you not to apply if you definitely don’t want to do it. But I do feel strongly that no one should self-select out of applying because they think it’s not for them. 

Everyone knows the discourse around the potential career benefits of joining law review. There are lots of other articles that discuss this and I intend to leave it to those authors to make their case. I just wanted to share some reasons why you might want to think about joining law review, building on previous posts on this blog in years past such as this and this.

Continue reading →

Two Takeaways on Property Law (So Far)

/ Sangeeta Kishore / Leave a comment

Here are two of my many takeaways from 1L year so far–one surprising, and one not so surprising. First, I find Property Law extremely fascinating. But perhaps I shouldn’t have been shocked. After all, property rights are essential to our everyday lives. The Fifth Amendment declares that the government cannot deprive anyone of three fundamental things—“life, liberty or property”—without due process. But then there is my second takeaway: the government has not always upheld this. Looking at the law with a critical lens, it is clear that unequal administration of the law is as old as the law itself. 

This is where the Heirs’ Property and the Racial Wealth Gap Conference comes in. Hosted by BC Law’s Initiative on Land, Housing, & Property Rights (ILHPR), this two-day conference set to begin a week from today (March 21) will tackle a pressing issue: $32 billion of heirs’ property in the United States is at risk. A wide-range of speakers, from officials at the USDA and HUD to academics and researchers, will speak about the rising racial wealth gap and how to uplift black property issues. 

Continue reading →

7 Realistic Ways to Start Preparing for Finals Now

/ Reilly Doak / Leave a comment

If your last semester’s GPA wasn’t what you hoped, there’s still time to improve! Although this article is geared towards 1Ls, I’ve followed these tips throughout my law school career.

It’s true that 1L grades set the tone for summer internships and OCI, but demonstrating improvement, resilience, and an ability to learn from past mistakes can be similarly valuable in your job search. Below I’ve included some tips that helped me significantly improve my 1L GPA between my first and second semesters. Remember that at the end of the day, your best is enough!

Continue reading →

Do This One Thing to Protect Your Sanity During Law School

/ Seung Hye Yang / Leave a comment

One of the best pieces of advice I got in law school is to march to the beat of your own drum; in other words, pay little heed to what others are doing and focus on yourself. This has been invaluable in retaining my sanity and mental health.

Law school is designed to urge people to compare themselves to others. The unhealthy truth is that law school can be a breeding ground for comparative anxiety. Being graded on a curve means students are pitted against each other, because your own individual grade is adjusted based on how well (or not) your classmates have done. The uncertainty of job prospects also often incites fear in students; there is no guarantee that one’s actions will ultimately culminate into a result proportional to the effort put in. In this sort of environment, protecting your mental health requires a mindful effort, and the best way to do this is to tune out the noise and balance life to your needs.

Continue reading →

Legal Listening: How I Lawyer

/ Sangeeta Kishore / Leave a comment

I’m the first lawyer in my family. I entered law school barely knowing what litigation was, let alone all the possibilities that the legal profession holds. While trying to learn rules and briefing cases, I also had to figure out where I fit into this larger legal landscape. 

This is where How I Lawyer comes in. A podcast hosted by Georgetown Law Professor Jonah Perlin, listeners can learn from attorneys with a wealth of experience and knowledge about practically every domain of law you can think of — even ones you would’ve never imagined. For example, Paul Sarker sheds light on the glamorous (and not-so glamorous) aspects of entertainment law, drawing from his prior work as in-house counsel for Marvel and Disney. Mark Fava is an aviation lawyer, something I knew next to nothing about, who previously defended Delta in passenger litigation and all Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) actions before moving to Boeing. Whether you’re passionate about criminal defense or fashion, How I Lawyer truly has something for everyone. 

Continue reading →

A Glimpse into the Human Side of Justice: Visiting District Court

/ Christopher Tan / Leave a comment

The sky wears a cloak of gray. Snow falls, then melts. Indoors, the instant coffee offers warm sips of solace. Heaters hum in a clunky staccato. It is winter in Boston, and the start of the spring semester. 

This week, on another familiarly cloudy day, my criminal justice class and I visited the Worcester District Court where we had the privilege to speak with a judge and observe her presiding over arraignments. The building’s drab architecture echoed the nature of its solemnity. Inside, people spoke in hushed tones, only interrupted by claps of footsteps on marble and the occasional beep of a metal detector. We sat in the back of courtroom 14. Here, the air felt thick, with a sense of gravity and respect.

Continue reading →

I Used to Be Normal. Then I Went to Law School

/ Michael Deere / 1 Comment

I used to be normal. With normal ideas about normal things. You know, everyday stuff. I knew that only people could be people. I knew that property divided broadly into “houses and similar,” “cars and similar,” and “other.” I understood the Constitution. And I didn’t have this recurring dream where I’m waiting for a train and fireworks are going off, but instead of pinwheel lights and colorful explosions, the fireworks spell out “No Liability Without Fault.” The law (and lawyers…) was something best left alone unless absolutely necessary, and when it was necessary, I imagined it looked a lot like Judge Judy’s courtroom. It was a simpler time, with simple ideas and dreamless sleep.

Then I started law school.

Continue reading →

Six Tips I’ve Learned from 1L Year (So Far)

/ Sangeeta Kishore / Leave a comment

Entering the second semester of 1L, I’m definitely a little burned out. But I’m no longer burdened by the uncertainty I had when I came to law school. I’m a little wiser now. Here is what I wish I knew for my first semester of law school. 

  1. Prepare for every class like you’re on call. 

Many of us get to experience the luxury of not being on call every day. For all of my first semester classes, I either had an on-call day or panel system. In one of my classes, I wasn’t called on until the very end, so I prepared each and every Wednesday, week after week to be ready. A little annoying, but it paid off. This may seem obvious, but letting your mind think you’re always on call makes your understanding that much better. While not always feasible, it pays off in the long run – you’ve had more time to process the material and it makes finals season that much easier. 

Continue reading →