Law school is a popular option for history majors for a reason. Law students must read extensively, analyze the meaning of documents, understand historical context, and make arguments based in evidence and sound reasoning. My own undergraduate degree is in political science, but I recognize the interest in the law from students of history and related fields. History majors make up just under 6% of incoming law students and have many advantages as they enter law school.
Historians recognize that two people can look at the same set of evidence and draw different conclusions about what happened. More importantly, historians are trained to interpret evidence and argue that one interpretation is the most accurate and compelling. In doing so, historians do not simply omit facts that do not fit well into their interpretation of events—and neither do effective lawyers. Both have to present all the relevant facts and explain how the conflicting information fits into the story. My law school colleagues with history degrees have pointed to their skills in absorbing large amounts of reading, analyzing arguments, and familiarity with historical context as contributors to their law school success. For these reasons and many others, students of history and the humanities are excellent candidates for law school.
If you’ve already decided to pursue a career in law, you know what comes next: take the LSAT, patiently wait for your score, collect your letters of recommendation, craft a compelling personal essay, and get accepted into law school. Excellent advice on applying to law school abounds. Check out the PowerScore LSAT Podcast for LSAT prep and advice for applying to law school and the Girl’s Guide to Law School for all things pre law (not just for girls!). Once you’ve been accepted and navigated the financial realities, you need to prepare to take on your first year of a rigorous professional program.
Yes, You Are Ready
It may not feel like it, but yes, you are ready to take on the challenge that is the first year of law school, known as 1L. Whether you are fresh out of your undergraduate program, or starting a new career after working, enrolling in graduate school, volunteering, or traveling, you probably have some anxiety about 1L and how it will be different from undergraduate or even graduate school. If you are anything like me, you may feel intimidated by the new subject matter, anxiety over where you will fall in “the curve,” or the dreaded final exam. I was nervous about the fact that, for most first year law school classes, the entirety of a student’s grade is determined by a single final exam, graded on a curve. I came to law school knowing very few lawyers and not much about what to expect from law school. Knowing I wanted to be a lawyer was one thing, but law school itself was a new hurdle, and one that made me nervous. It is important to remember that you are there for a reason. You have earned your place because you are capable of doing great things. Your school chose you because they believe you have what it takes to succeed. In fact, your school has a vested interest in your success. It picked you because it has faith you will complete its program, pass the bar, and become a distinguished alum who will raise its profile and attain the level of success that could make you a future donor.
Law school curriculums vary from school to school and different schools will offer a wide variety of programs, dual degrees, specializations, and classes. However, first year law school courses across the country share a lot in common. In full time-programs, students will take courses much like they did in undergrad: four or five classes each semester (approximately 15 credit hours), for three years. First semester (or even first year) classes are likely pre-determined by the school. Many schools will even block you into courses so that everyone in your cohort has the exact same schedule. My “section” took the same classes at the same times and consisted of around 70 students. The only exception was a legal writing course, which only had around 20 students. The blocked “section” system gives students the opportunity to get to know their peers, share strategies, and create study groups.
Find Your Community
One of the best things you can do to ensure the success of your first year and beyond is to make connections with your classmates and colleagues. You will spend at least three intense years with this group. You may very well go on to work in the same field of law as your classmates, or find yourselves as opposing counsel one day. When a classmate needs to recommend their client to someone with different expertise, they will not remember who made an “A” in property, but they will remember who shared their notes and who they would trust to look after their client.
Your classmates not only will help you study for exams or explain a tricky concept, but they can also act as a support system through all the ups and downs of your law school experience. Many schools have organizations for First-Generation Law Students, Women in Law, the Black Law Students Association, Veteran Law Students, and groups for students pursuing specific areas of law. If your school lacks a group that you think would benefit other students, create your own! During my 1L year, a group from my section created a Pickleball Club where anyone could drop in to play a game with colleagues. These students bonded over their shared interest and created a space to build connections with others.
However and whenever you do it, find time to get to know your colleagues. When I started my 1L year, I worried about missing out on opportunities to socialize because I commuted an hour each way. I could not go out to university-adjacent bars on the weekend or stay at the library until midnight. I was still able to bond and spend time with my classmates, and grew close to other nontraditional students like myself. Talking to my colleagues is how I learned that a student in my section also had the same commute, and we began carpooling together. I gained a new friend who knew the struggle of not only studying law, but also managing the distance between home and school.
Making time outside of class to build friendships is essential to getting the most out of your 1L experience. These people understand the unique challenge you are going through, and can empathize with you in a way few others can. You will need them to survive law school and they will need you.
Attending law school is a difficult experience that not many people go through. It makes you kind of weird. Few people will know what you mean by “the hairy hand case” or appreciate the absurdity of a Palsgraf-themed Halloween costume. Even fewer will commiserate with you about your specific professor’s impossible-to-read handwriting or which corner of your law library has the perfect natural light for studying. Get to know your classmates, support each other, complain together. Law school is hard enough as it is, there’s no reason to go through it alone.
Don’t Sweat the Cold Calls
One thing that often intimidates new law students is the prospect of cold calling. Cold calling is when law professors select students at random to summarize cases, articulate the law, or give their opinion on an outcome or rule. Students must show what they know in front of their peers and professors. The purpose is not to embarrass you—it is to check that you have come to class prepared. It is also to make students comfortable with the idea of public speaking, an essential skill for all lawyers, no matter their field of law. To this end, some professors even demand students stand up when they answer a cold call.
As scary as they seem, you should not waste your finite time and energy worrying about cold calls. They are unlikely to have any impact on your grade. Your professor does not expect you to be an expert in the subject or even fully understand every case you read. None of your peers will remember if you stumble or get the answer wrong—they are grateful they were not the one called that day. The only cold calls your classmates remember are their own. If you have read the materials and taken notes, you are prepared and ready to tackle any cold call that comes your way.
Read and Brief Your Way
Speaking of reading, there is a lot of that in your future. First-year courses are taught by assigning cases and asking students to learn the law by extracting the rules and holdings from real-life controversies. The way to get the most out of your classes is to read the assigned material and create your own “briefs” that summarize the important facts, relevant law, and the court’s analysis. Hundreds of templates and examples exist to get you started (I like this overview from Northwestern), or your professor may have a specific format they recommend for briefing cases in her class. In the end, these briefs are for no one’s benefit but your own, and will become the basis of your study guide for the final exam. You should brief in a way that helps you understand the material best and will help you review for the final exam. This could be anything from “book briefing,” in which you highlight and take notes in the margins of your textbook, to filling out a spreadsheet for each case. Find the method that suits your style of learning and furthers your understanding of the case.
Typical case briefs include the following information: name of the case, date of the case, the court which authored the opinion, the procedural posture (typical cases you read are appeals from lower court rulings), the parties involved, the facts of the case, the holding of the court, and the rule used to decide that holding. The two most important aspects are the rule and the holding. The rule is the “black letter law” that you will use and apply to hypothetical scenarios in your final exam. The “black letter law” refers to well-established legal rules that are not in dispute. These rules are tested on both your final exams and later, the bar exam. The holding is the analysis: the court applying the rule to the facts in the case at hand. You will similarly analyze the facts and apply the law in your exam questions, so understanding how judges apply the law will help you perfect your own analysis.
Because many law schools cover the same cases and materials, there are a plethora of apps, AI programs, and online resources that will summarize and brief cases for you. These may seem like a convenient shortcut to briefing, but I recommend them only as a last resort. Briefing builds your skills to extract the black letter law from a case in front of you, a skill you must learn to practice law. Relying on someone else’s understanding deprives you of building the skills you will need to ace your final exam. Use these tools when you need to prioritize studying or have fallen behind on reading, but do not start out by relying too heavily on them.
Embrace Curiosity
In your first year, you are going to read across a variety of topics, from a range of courts, from different periods in history. Not all of the opinions or subject matter will be your cup of tea, but some of them will spark your interest. Lean into your curiosity about the law on these subjects. Ask probing questions. You will get more out of your studies when you dive deeper.
Not only will doing so deepen your understanding of the concepts you learn in class, but they will also help you explore what kind of law you want to practice in the future. When I read cases, I put myself in the shoes of the parties in the cases we read. Would I put forward the same argument for this client? Would I have ruled the same way if I were the judge? Could I actually defend someone in a criminal case? How would I have written this contract differently? These questions will help you work through which areas you want to explore further in your legal career. In addition, future employers will ask for your opinions on cases and expect you to have some. Embrace your lack of knowledge as you start your first year of law school by asking questions and probing further.
Take advantage of resources
Because your law school has an existential and financial interest in you passing your classes and the bar exam, it has created a myriad of resources to help you thrive and elevate your skills so you don’t fall behind. If you are struggling to understand the course materials, there are free tutors and other forms of academic support such as one-on-one counseling to help with time management. Take advantage of these resources, ideally before you feel overwhelmed. For example, my school offers access to CALI, the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, which offers lessons on every 1L subject, podcasts, videos, and outlines to boost your understanding of tricky concepts. Your law library is full of study guides, books, and flashcards. Your law librarian will even assist you in finding and citing cases.
Your professors are available to help you work through difficult concepts and prepare for their exam. Even more than undergrad, every professor grades their exams differently. For example, some professors will want to see you refer to specific case names in your essays, while others are solely focused on correct rules and analysis. Talking with your professor one-on-one often can help you understand what that professor wants to see in essays. They will also help talk through a confusing case or clarify a specific rule. Ask about additional resources they recommend for studying. Some professors will even offer example practice questions or give you feedback on a practice essay. Professors will hold open office hours as well as make appointments. I recommend going to office hours early in the semester because towards the end of the semester, appointments book fast and office hours can be full as finals approach and exams are top of mind for all students.
Law schools also typically offer professional services that will connect you with local attorneys and help you land an internship. The professional development staff at my law school helped get me in touch with attorneys in specific fields who were happy to meet with me and share their experiences.
Preparing for Summer Internships
The prize for all of your hard work during your first year of law school is not a relaxing summer vacation, but a law clerk position where you apply what you have learned to assist attorneys in real-life cases. Your school’s professional development services will assist you in putting together a resume and cover letter to apply to firms and organizations that interest you. Many schools conduct on campus interviews (OCIs), where dozens of firms travel to the school to conduct multiple interviews of students for law clerk positions. Applications may open as early as the fall semester of your first year. While your classes should remain the top priority, it is important to set aside some time in your schedule to refine your resume and browse law clerk positions and summer internships that interest you. Be sure to take advantage of networking events with alumni or local bar associations, as these personal connections are how many students find summer internships.
Seriously consider whether you can afford to accept an unpaid internship or if you need to seek a paid opportunity. Unfortunately, many organizations offer summer clerkships only as unpaid positions, which not all students can afford to take on. Some schools (and national organizations like the American Bar Association) offer scholarships to students who work for public interest organizations such as a legal defense fund or public defender’s office. If you’re interested in public interest internships, reach out to your school’s professional development services to learn about financial aid options.
However you decide to spend your summer, know that it does not define the rest of your career. While a summer clerkship is a great way to prove yourself to a firm you would like to work for one day, it is also an opportunity to try out different areas of law to see what suits you. Summer clerkships are a chance to “dabble” in a field, get to experience the day-to-day work of an attorney, and hone your skills.
Your first year of law school is an exciting but daunting phase of your academic career. Regardless of your path that led here or where you are going afterward, you have the tools to succeed and even enjoy the experience. Below are some resources I used to navigate my own 1L experience that you also may find helpful.
- Legal Information Institute—Cornell Law School’s free resource for legal definitions, federal regulations, laws, and much more.
- Oyez—Reliable briefs for Supreme Court decisions. They also publish the recorded audio of arguments in Supreme Court cases.
- A Weekly Guide to Being a Model Law Student—Excellent advice for new law students, from briefing templates to managing a study group.
- Book Stand—Stands like these make reading for hours much more enjoyable.
Featured image: Georgetown University Law Center Edward Bennet Law Library Reading Room for Students, 2021. Wikimedia Commons.
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