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Law School Essay, Research Paper

Law School Journey of a Lifetime

Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of the practice of law is learning to be a lawyer. Virtually every new lawyer today is a graduate of law school. Modern law schools differ greatly from their earlier counterpart, in that many more requirements and responsibilities exist. In colonial times, students pursuing a career in law would enter institutions for instruction of the law, and would automatically become qualified to practice law in the courts after a few years of study (Neubauer 123). Today, however, becoming a lawyer takes much more training, rigorous work and effort, and many years of studying in order to take a bar exam of which passage represents qualification. There is much more consideration concerning who is admitted, what kind of curriculum is taught, how exams are offered, what kinds of affiliation exist, how much law schools differ from one another, and what it ultimately takes to be fully competent as a practicing attorney.

What does it take to get into law school? Requirements for admission to any law school, whether Ivy League or otherwise, are extensive and seemingly difficult to obtain. Almost all law schools in the United States require a four-year college degree (Neubauer 125). Ivy League schools especially prefer college graduates from prestigious universities. Nonetheless, any law school will be more interested in applicants who rank in the top percentile of their class and present an outstanding grade-point average. Another major aspect considered of law school applicants is their score on the Law School Aptitude Test a half-day standardized test designed to measure the ability to understand and reason with a variety of verbal and quantitative materials (Neubauer 125). The raw score of the LSAT is on a scale ranging from 120 to 180 (Neubauer 125). The LSAT consists of five multiple-choice sections with a total of about 101 questions (http://www.lsat-center.com/lsat-page1.html). These sections include logical reasoning, analytical reasoning, reading comprehension, a writing sample, and an experimental section, which does not count toward the final score of the law school applicant (http://www.lsat-center.com/lsat-page1.html). The writing sample is not scored either, but it is sent to every law school to which an aspiring law student applies (http://www.lsat-center.com/lsat-page1.html). Law schools usually do not use it as a significant part of the admissions process (http://www.lsat-center.com/lsat-page1.html).

Admission requirements of prestigious schools in the United States differ greatly with those of the less prominent. As written by the Dean of Admissions at Stanford Law School: Admission to Stanford Law School is based primarily upon superior academic achievement and potential to contribute to the development and practice of the law. Competition is severe:…The class that entered in 1999 numbered 93 women and 85 men, over half of whom had been out of college for two or more years (http://lawschool.stanford.edu/admissions/admidd.shtml). In contrast, other less-prominent law schools around the nation do not present nearly as strict requirements for applicants. In evaluating individual files, the faculty of any law school considers the record of both undergraduate and graduate education, and the applicant’s talents, nonacademic experience, and aspirations (http://lawschool.stanford.edu/admissions/admidd.shtml).

The curriculum of every law school is generally similar, and their purpose is the same: to teach students to think like lawyers (Neubauer 126). Discussions are viewed not with moral criticism but with a legal aspect, in which problems are examined objectively about what the law requires (Neubauer 126). First-year law students are required to take a number of courses, such as Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Torts, Civil Procedure, Contracts, Property, and Legal Research (http://allsands.com/College/firstyearlaw_rlh_gn.htm). Beginning with the second year, students are allowed to elect their own courses, such as Administrative Law, Litigation, American Legal History, Civil Rights Legislation, Family Law, Health Law, Economic Law, etc (http://allsands.com/College/firstyearlaw_rlh_gn.htm). Law school education focuses primarily on the case method, which is designed to teach students legal reasoning via the analysis of appellate opinions (Neubauer 126). Using the case method, the process of analyzing opinions counts more than merely the outcome. Many people have rejected this teaching method in law schools, because it presents a way of learning the law to first-year students that requires independent, critical thought: something unlike anything students have ever experienced (Neubauer 127). As the years progress, however, courses are increasingly taught in seminar style (Neubauer 127). Due to the mounting need to bring together the theoretical and pragmatic aspects of law, many law schools have founded clinical training programs, which allow the students to directly deal with legal problems and offer legal advice to such indigents, as well as draft documents and file lawsuits (Neubauer 127).

Although the curriculum of virtually every law school in the United States is very similar, there are essential differences in the kind of training and education received. The most important difference is accreditation with a law association such as the American Bar Association and the American Association of Law Schools. Both organizations require standards for the qualification of law schools, including student-faculty ratios, required courses, professional qualifications of the professors (Neubauer 128), etc. There are 176 out of 200 law schools nationwide that meet these requirements, and thus are eligible for alliance with the ABA (Neubauer 128). Law schools that are ABA-approved guarantee permission for students to take the bar exam

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