Academic Pressure in Law Schools

In comparison to undergraduate colleges, all law schools are high-pressure places. Although few law professors still persecute and humiliate their students in the style made familiar in the movie The Paper Chase, the nature of legal study guarantees long hours and much, much work. Law courses are always graded, and opportunities, both in law school and in job placement, are always strongly linked to grades. (One student said that law school was just three more years exactly like the three years of hard work he spent trying to get into law school.) Clinical work, summer jobs, law review editing, and other nonclassroom activities are also extremely time-consuming. But they'll help you in your career. Law is not a field of study for people who can't take some pressure.

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That said, some law schools are worse than others. But this kind of pressure is extremely difficult to measure. Law students can talk about the pressure they feel, but they're not in a good position to compare their schools with others. And we don't have good comparative statistics on such things as student suicides and breakdowns.

Since more law students drop out than flunk out, attrition rates can reveal the existence of problems with student morale. The size of each law school's first-, second-, and third-year classes can be found in the American Bar Association's Review of Legal Education (see chapter 5). With the exception of a few local and night programs which still expect high flunk-out rates, law schools try to keep their attrition rate to less than 10 percent between the first and second years. If it's much higher than that at a school you are considering, ask the school's recruiter to explain why. There may be a good reason. The sophomore class may have been smaller to begin with, for some law schools are expanding. If the recruiter can't provide a good reason, ask whether such attrition is typical. If so, it may mean that the school's educational climate is discouraging.

Student Activities

If you're good at forensics and want to practice some form of law that requires extensive courtroom advocacy, you should investigate the possibility of continuing your speech or debate activities in law school. All law schools require some participation in moot courts and similar simulations. Some are very active in regional and national moot court competitions. In recent years, William and Mary's Marshall-Wythe School of Law has been strong in national competitions.

Although no law school offers varsity sports, most have physical fitness facilities and manage to field at least student-organized athletic contests. They also offer a variety of social and affinity organizations. Some have more such activities than others. And some are more successful than others in creating a sense of participation and community.

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Religious Fellowship

The legal profession has been plagued through the years by well-publicized ethical problems. Each year, it seems, there are scandals and prosecutions, and previously well-regarded attorneys are disgraced. Some would argue that there's no room for a seriously religious person, or any person of high moral standards, among the sharks and shysters. They say that the notion of a religious lawyer is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms like hastening slowly, or army intelligence, or student athlete.

This is nonsense. There are many lawyers of extremely high integrity. If you are a religious person with high moral standards, the legal profession needs you and will welcome you.

That said, however, you may feel uncomfortable on some campuses because you'll find a lack of kindred spirits, facilities for worship, or connection to the religious institutions in the larger community. You can't assume that a law school will have a religious tone, or provide religious facilities, simply because it is part of a university that is run or subsidized by a religious body.

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Religious students will find it easiest to locate religious facilities and clergy if their schools are in a large and diverse city. Most law schools do provide some opportunities for religious fellowship. The University of Illinois College of Law, Wake Forest University Law School, and many other schools have active Christian Legal Societies. These organizations can be discovered by reading bulletin boards and other announcements (another reason for visiting and seeing prospective institutions for yourself), by talking to students and alumni, and by getting recommendations from religious leaders in your church. You may want to investigate Pepperdine University Law School, which prides itself on maintaining a "Christian emphasis" and being part of a Christian community, and where you may find like-minded peers. Don't fear that your religious beliefs will compel you to get an inferior legal education: Pepperdine is a highly selective law school, part of a distinguished university with a nationally known MBA program, in a scenic and popular location.

Jewish students of traditional views may be interested in Cardozo Law School. Although the law school attracts a diverse student population, it is part of Yeshiva University, which has a variety of programs of interest to orthodox Jews.

Minority Enrollment

Here is a thumbnail sketch of law school bigotry: until after World War II, the more established law schools were effectively restricted to white male students. Many maintained quotas limiting the number of Jews and Catholics. To serve these deprived minorities, night law schools and other marginal operations sprang up. Some became identified with particular ethnic communities; they were known as, say, Irish schools, or Jewish schools.

Things have changed. Anti-ethnic quotas vanished by the 1960s. Formal discrimination against women has all but disappeared, now that 40 percent of all law students are female. Although African Americans and other minority members are presently underrepresented at almost all law schools, they are eagerly recruited and their numbers are growing. You need not fear that your membership in a traditionally deprived group will keep you from attending a good law school. In fact, as I'll explain in chapter 13, you'll probably find that it will help you. Some schools pride themselves on ethnic diversity. The newly accredited District of Columbia Law School is "particularly committed to admitting students from groups, such as minorities and women, which have traditionally been, and remain, underrepresented in the Bar."

The push for diversity has proceeded so far that it is difficult to find homogeneity even where you're looking for it. The old ethnic identifications have largely disappeared. But there are exceptions. As I've mentioned, Cardozo attracts traditional and orthodox Jews. Howard University Law School has traditionally been the educator of African Americans who will become civil rights lawyers. A few other law schools also retain their historically African-American character. For example, Southern University Law Center at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is about 60 percent African-American.

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