SECOND DEGREE: First-Year Law Student Lives

The 114 students in Assistant Law Professor Michael Schill's Property Law class wandered slowly into class on a Friday morning. Some came in talking together, others laughing, others just walked in silently, but all were carrying a thick red book entitled Property. Professor Schill began his 65 minute class on schedule, and his students quieted quickly. Across the long tables covered with heavily highlighted books, the students listened attentively. Yet unlike in Professor Kingsfield's class, of Paper Chase infamy, Professor Schill's class was not one where students feared their teacher. In fact many of the Law School's 220 first-year students said that pursuing their graduate degree is much more fun and often less stressful than they expected it to be. · The University's "One-L's," as first year law students are colloquially known, come from all over the country with the hope of one day being a star attorney, judge or law professor. About 20 percent of the nearly 4900 students that apply to the Law School each year are accepted, according to Law School Dean Colin Diver. Upon matriculation, the class is divided in half to make class sizes more manageable. Each group then follows the same course schedule throughout the year. First-year students are required to take 36 credit hours, including Professional Responsibility, an intensive two-week course given in January as an introduction to the legal profession and ethics. All first-year students are required to take the same classes, including Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contract Law, Criminal Law, Labor Law, Property Law, and Torts. Students are also required to take one elective. Though most Law students said that they feel academic pressure, most said that the Law School is not academically cut-throat. While most students said that they are not involved in a study group, they share their notes with other students to make sure everyone has mastered the material. "It's pretty mellow here except during finals, when people are on edge," said first-year student Marc Carrel. Contract Law Professor Elizabeth Warren said while students work hard, they do not try and get ahead of each other and instead help each other. "It makes me proud and happy, but don't let anyone kid you -- it's a lot of hard work," Warren said last week. Unlike undergraduate courses, which are often based on a variety of papers and exams, all grades in first-year Law School courses are based on a single exam given at the end of the semester. These exams usually last four hours and consist of several hypothetical cases, called fact patterns. Diver said that professors base their classes on discussion and role playing, and not solely on the traditional, Socratic method. "It is still a very powerful and intense experience," Diver said. "Some still find it full of anxiety, but very few people in the end fail to find it is an enlightening experience." All first-year exams are based on a curve: the top 20 percent receive a grade of "excellence," the next 40 receive a grade of "good," while the last 40 percent receive a grade of "qualified." The system is designed to relieve some of the pressure often associated with the first year of Law School. But Warren said students can still fail, and one or two exemplary students may receive a grade of "distinguished." Because students are graded anonymously through an elaborate process, class participation rarely counts, Professor Schill said. Diver added that about six students leave, for various reasons, while 95 percent eventually graduate. · In order to ease the transition to Law School and mitigate some of the stresses of pursuing a law degree, the school has implemented several programs. According to Diver, to help first-year students adjust, a brief orientation to the school and its resources is held at the beginning of the year. Diver also said that there is a Legal Research and Writing program, a full-year course where students meet in small groups to work on problems and learn to write in legal jargon, to help students overcome any problems they may encounter in their first year. Professors said to avoid overwhelming the first-year students, who are not familiar with the textbook's legal jargon, the assignments throughout the first semester are not lengthy. Assistant Professor Schill, who graduated from Yale Law School in 1984, said he only assigns one or two cases a night first semester, equal to approximately 10 or 20 pages of reading. Yet Schill and Warren were both quick to point out that students must attend class having fully absorbed the material they are responsible for having read. "It's not a lot of pages, but a lot of hard thinking," said Warren. Like undergraduates, first-year law students all have their own study habits and schedules. Most students said that they spend over 70 hours a week and a minimum of 3 or 4 hours a day with their books. "It's intense," said first-year Law student Richard Aldridge. "It's an awful lot of work and very interesting, but as the year goes along, it gets a little easier because you learn the ropes and where to spend your time." First-year Law student Cornick said that law school can be exhausting as well as psychologically demanding. "It's not just a mental experience, but in terms of endurance, a physical one as well," said Cornick, who graduated from Rutgers University seven years ago. "It's like running a marathon that's never going to end." Most students said their professors are not like the overbearing John Hausmann of Paper Chase fame. In fact, most said they like their professors. First-year student Donna Deal, who did her undergraduate work at Yale, said she did not think the professors were particularly intimidating. "It's not like Paper Chase, although it varies from professor to professor," said Deal. "There are none that really try to embarass their students or make them look stupid." But many law students said they manage to integrate fun into their hectic and often stressful work schedule. Some said they are active in University-wide organizations, and most participate in school activities. In addition, many law students said they work-out several times each week at Hutchinson and Gimbel gymnasiums. Nonetheless, according to University Counseling Director Ilene Rosenstein, law students in general are under more stress than the average graduate student. Rosenstein said eight to 10 percent of the people treated at University counseling services last year were law students. She said that law students are more prone to hypertension, heart disease, and smoke and drink more than other graduate students. But she added that the University was trying to be sensitive to the law student's stress level. She recommended that law students set their priorities and stick to them. She said it is important students have a support group and realize other people are going through the same experience they are.

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