Dr. Jack E. Call, prelaw advisor Office phone:

Creation of pre-law web page elaw.html elaw.html Placement of pre-law information booklet online Rejuvenation of Phi Alpha Delta Mock trial course – Spring 2013

Why do I want to go to law school? Why do I want to be a lawyer? Do I know what lawyers do every day? What quality of life do I want during law school? What quality of life do I want after law school? Should I go to an expensive or an inexpensive law school? How will I pay back my student loans? Can I handle the pressure? What could I do before going to law school? If I couldnt go to law school, what would I do instead?

Education requirements

4 years undergraduate school plus 3 years full- time law school

Education requirements 4 years undergraduate school plus 3 years full- time law school Exceptions

Education requirements 4 years undergraduate school plus 3 years full- time law school Exceptions Some part-time schools (Neubauer says about a third of accredited schools)

Education requirements 4 years undergraduate school plus 3 years full- time law school Exceptions Some part-time schools (Neubauer says about a third of accredited schools) Reading for the law

Education requirements 4 years undergraduate school plus 3 years full- time law school Exceptions Some part-time schools (Neubauer says about a third of accredited schools) Reading for the law – Virginia is one of the few states that still utilizes this method See for the program ruleshttp://

Education requirements 4 years undergraduate school plus 3 years full-time law school Exceptions Some part-time schools (Neubauer says about a third of accredited schools) Reading for the law – Virginia is one of the few states that still utilizes this method See for the program ruleshttp:// According to an ABA chart (2010), the following states permit reading for the law: California, Maine, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming

Education requirements 4 years undergraduate school plus 3 years full-time law school Exceptions Some part-time schools (Neubauer says about a third of accredited schools) Reading for the law – Virginia is one of the few states that still utilizes this method According to an ABA chart (2010), the following states permit reading for the law: California, Maine, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming

ABA-accredited: graduates can take bar in any state

Unaccredited: graduates can take bar only in state where school is located

University of Virginia College of William and Mary Washington and Lee University University of Richmond George Mason University (1979) Regent University (1986) Appalachian School of Law (Grundy)(1997) Liberty University (Lynchburg)(2004) – now fully accredited

SchoolAnnual Tuition (2010/2011/2012) Half to Full Scholarship (2011/2012) University of Virginia$38,800/42,500/44,6007.5%/13.7 William and Mary$21,646/23,800/26,2003.0/1.3 Washington and Lee$38,062/39,937/41, /26.5 George Mason University$20,556/22,222/23,7201.9/1.8 University of Richmond$32,450/34,070/35,4307.7/9.7 Regent University$29,852/31,410/32, /18.5 Appalachian School of Law$26,825/28,325/29,8259.9/11.5 Liberty University$27,847/29,120/30, /47.2

Multi-state bar exam (all but 2 states – Washington and Louisiana – use it) First administered in 1972 Source: Bar Admissions Requirements, 2009, published by National Conference of Bar Examiners and ABA Section of Legal Education

Multi-state bar exam (all but 2 states use it) Bar review courses

Multi-state bar exam Bar review courses Percentage that passed the Virginia bar exam in: 1990: 71% 1995: 67% 2000: 65% 2004: 64% 2008: 73% 2009: 69% 2010: 70% - provides national statistics

Law School Rankings U.S. News: schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com /best-graduate-schools/top-law- schools/law-rankings/page+2 schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com /best-graduate-schools/top-law- schools/law-rankings/page+2

Writing ability Ability to synthesize complicated information Reading comprehension – legal materials Ability to reason by example

Lawyers do a lot of different things – things that appeal to people with different interests and different skills

Private practice Judicial clerkship Government Business Public interest Academic3.51.5

LSAT score and undergraduate GPA the two most important factors

LSAT Score Range% of students % % % % % % % < %

SchoolMedian LSAT Median GPA UVA W&M W&L U of R GMU Regent ASL Liberty

They do look at personal statements Include SAT/ACT information in the right case! Give each school what that school wants. Do NOT write a generic personal statement and use it for all schools It may not address some questions that a particular school wants addressed Take great care in how an or phone call is crafted Taking time off before applying to law school is often perceived positively

Explain difference in two LSAT scores, but avoid whiny explanations (the girl next to me was wearing an obnoxious perfume) No harm in contacting the admissions office (especially ), but present yourself well! Graduate school will not negate a poor undergraduate record Addendums are useful to fill in holes but should not be long

High GPA, low LSAT score, well-rounded student – apply early. Admissions officers tend to be a bit more generous early on Three of the four admissions panelists make the admissions decisions without law school faculty input Take demanding electives Take upper level electives Double majoring does not help, although occasionally an interesting pairing (e.g., physics and music) catches their eye

LSAT score and undergraduate GPA the two most important factors Ranking of criteria for admissions by law school admissions deans (2002 – 62% response rate – article in JCJE)

Ranking of criteria for admissions by law school admissions deans (2002 – 62% response rate) LSAT Score GPA College attended Undergrad major Personal written statement Work experience Letters of recommendation Past community involvement

College of William and Mary University of Virginia Appalachian School of Law Liberty University School of Law LSAC.org Homepage

Are there certain courses I should take to enhance my ability to get into law school (as opposed to enhancing my ability to do well in law school)?

Are there certain courses I should take to enhance my ability to get into law school? The LSAT includes 3 types of questions Reading Comprehension Analytical Reasoning Logical Reasoning

Are there certain courses I should take to enhance my ability to get into law school? The LSAT includes 3 types of questions Reading Comprehension Analytical Reasoning Logical Reasoning What courses develop those skills?

Are there certain courses I should take to enhance my ability to get into law school? The LSAT includes 3 types of questions Reading Comprehension Analytical Reasoning Logical Reasoning What courses develop those skills? It depends on who you ask and who is teaching the course

Are there certain courses I should take to enhance my ability to get into law school? Dr. Gill (p. 14): Virtually any course that requires you to read extensively, to think logically, critically, and analytically, and to share your thoughts and ideas in both written and spoken English, will help you in this regard.

One L

The Paper Chase

One L & The Paper Chase Case method

One L & The Paper Chase Case method Socratic method

One L & The Paper Chase Case method Socratic method Educational goals

One L & The Paper Chase Case method Socratic method Educational goals Educate law students as generalists Recent information from pretrial advisors conferences suggests that some employers, at least, might like to see some specialization in law school

One L & The Paper Chase Case method Socratic method Educational goals Educate law students as generalists Recent information from pretrial advisors conferences suggests that some employers, at least, might like to see some specialization in law school Teach them to think like lawyers

One L & The Paper Chase Case method Socratic method Educational goals Educate law students as generalists Recent information from pretrial advisors conferences suggests that some employers, at least, might like to see some specialization in law school Teach them to think like lawyers Analysis of cases

One L & The Paper Chase Case method Socratic method Educational goals Educate law students as generalists Teach them to think like lawyers Analysis of cases Reasoning by example – applying previous cases to present cases

One L & The Paper Chase Case method Socratic method Educational goals Educate law students as generalists Teach them to think like lawyers Analysis of cases Reasoning by example – applying previous cases to present cases Not a great deal of emphasis on learning the law

Typical 1st year courses: Civil procedure Criminal law Constitutional law Contracts Property Torts Criminal procedure Legal research and writing

From 1983 to – 612,000 lawyers 2000 – 881,000 lawyers 2008 – 1,014,000 lawyers Increase of 66% (1983 to 2008)

Law school enrollment in was 47% female 1981: 41.0% 1989: 35.8% 1999: 47% 2002: 49% 2006: 47% 2007: 47% 2009: 47%

Demand for law school Law School Admission Council – Tests Administered Data

YearTotal% Change , % , , ,

lsats-administered.asp lsats-administered.asp

More than 46,000 legal sector jobs lost between December 1, 2008, and March 31, 2010 Over 12,000 people laid off at the 138 largest firms (over one third of those were lawyers)

Trend at larger firms toward deferred offers – graduating law students are paid a stipend to wait a specified period of time before beginning work with the firm. Sometimes these agreements require the recipient of the offer to work in the legal field somewhere else during the deferral period. The result is that these recipients are competing for jobs (such as public interest and government jobs) that they would not seek otherwise Recipients of deferred offers – 3500 out of 41,000 in the survey

Fewer law students being offered summer jobs Employment surveys of law students 9 months after graduation (2009) – 30% are working in jobs that do not involve the practice of law More than 10% are working part-time 22% of those employed were still looking for other jobs (compared to 16% the previous year) Applications for judicial clerkships are at an all-time high Some clerks are being allowed to stay on an additional year Salary structure is bi-modal (see

The overall employment rate for new law school graduates is, at 85.6% for the Class of 2011, the lowest it has been since 1994, when the rate stood at 84.7%. In addition to an overall employment rate that fell two percentage points from that for the previous class, and that has dropped each year since 2008, the Class of 2011 employment figures reveal a job market with many underlying structural weaknesses.

It is very expensive

SchoolAnnual Tuition (2010/2011/2012) Half to Full Scholarship (2011/2012) University of Virginia$38,800/42,500/44,6007.5%/13.7 William and Mary$21,646/23,800/26,2003.0/1.3 Washington and Lee$38,062/39,937/41, /26.5 George Mason University$20,556/22,222/23,7201.9/1.8 University of Richmond$32,450/34,070/35,4307.7/9.7 Regent University$29,852/31,410/32, /18.5 Appalachian School of Law$26,825/28,325/29,8259.9/11.5 Liberty University$27,847/29,120/30, /47.2

It is very expensive Borrowing the necessary money Limits options later What if I decide I dont like practicing law?

It is very expensive Borrowing the necessary money Limits options later What if I decide I dont like practicing law? Pamphlet from Prelaw Advisors Conference Financing Your Legal Education, accessgroup.org

Approximately 80 percent of law school students rely on education loans as their largest source of financial aid for law school. (Source: lsac.org)

Debt incurred (2009) Average debt for law school graduates who borrowed both federal and privately guaranteed student loans is about $100,000 For those who borrowed only federally guaranteed student loans, average debt is just over $55,000

Lsac.org has some really nice, short videos A lot of good financial aid information is available at this site

Creation of pre-law web page elaw.html elaw.html Placement of pre-law information booklet online Rejuvenation of Phi Alpha Delta Mock trial course – Spring 2013