Texas Class of 2012 Forum

[Esc]

Law Review is in essence the single most prestigious credential you can get during law school, and is the type of cred that you will list on your resume for the rest of your life. Its importance lies in the fact that it is not an empty credential; to be on Law Review means that you made a very substantial extracurricular time commitment to legal writing, reviewing, and research during law school. Like a judicial clerkship, it is the type of credential that shows an employer that you are not only a lawyer, but that you are a damn good lawyer.

Law review is essentially a requirement for academia or clerkships, but it is also an extreme boost for anyone applying to any private sector job as well. While I'm not very well informed on firm practices, I think that some of the more prestigious vault firms may only hire J.Ds with experience on Law Review.

Law Review starts in the fall of 2L year for those who succeeded in "writing on" after the spring of 1L. From the Texas Law Review website: http://www.utexas.edu/law/journals/tlr/membership

Review membership requires a four-semester commitment that begins in the fall semester of the second year of law school. There are three basic types of membership obligations:

• A note submission of publishable quality
• Periodic administrative duty, including Blue Book Cite Checks (BBCCs), Bookpulls, Changereading, Proofreading, and Cleanups (CUs)
• Office duty—one week per semester

Secondary journal membership, while also a good thing to have on the resume, is almost never held to be as prestigious as law review. Maybe if you were the Head Editor of the secondary journal, but I'm not even sure if that would even match LR. I don't think this is necessarily fair, but that is the way it goes.

When I first visited and took a UT tour back last January, I talked to a 2L on a secondary journal (he was on the Entertainment Law journal, if I remember correctly). He says that his time commitment was about 40 hours per semester, while the time commitment for some of his friends on Law Review was closer to 50 or 60 hours per semester. It sounds like a huge time suck, to be honest. But oh does it sound like a worthwhile one.

Another interesting bit of info from the TLR site:

Code: Select all

NOTABLE FACTS & FIGURES
The Texas Law Review:

• is published seven times per year
• contains in excess of 2,000 pages in each volume
• is composed of approximately 100 members each year
• annually hosts a symposium highlighting leading scholars in a selected field of the law

100 members per year...I don't know if that means 100 members per class year (< 25% of each class) or 100 members in any given year (< 12.5% of each class). Any current UT students care to shed light on this? RatRatRat? CountB?

[countbizaller]

I'm pretty sure it's 100 members total. I think they only take on about 30 a year. This is actually the last thing I want to think about right now since I have a massive write-on packet just staring at me from across the room. How quickly the vacation ends.

[Esc]

I'm pretty sure it's 100 members total. I think they only take on about 30 a year. This is actually the last thing I want to think about right now since I have a massive write-on packet just staring at me from across the room. How quickly the vacation ends.

yikes. sorry to bring it up

[SoberHobo]

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Holy shit I was thinking about getting one of those.... you wouldn't happen to be starting a late night latte study group, would you?

[countbizaller]

Oh, and congrats to everybody that got in recently! I know you're all itching to get started, especially after all these months of tests, applications, and ASDs, but seriously, take these last couple of months to relax. Reading E&Es and going over old practice tests won't do you a whole lot of good until you get into class and see what your professors want to focus on. Just watch some movies, go see some old friends, take a trip. Do stuff un-law school because it's going to be here before you know it and it's gonna hit you hard & fast.

But whenever ya'll do get here, we're all looking forward to meeting you and getting you up to speed. If you got any questions about first year stuff or Austin in general, feel free to ask. Some of us current students have been busy with finals and starting summer work or school, but I think we're lurking around again.

[Esc]

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Holy shit I was thinking about getting one of those.... you wouldn't happen to be starting a late night latte study group, would you?

You better effing believe I am.


BTW, countbizaller, how are summer jobs looking for your class right now? I presume that paid positions have been very scarce, but have people been having trouble finding unpaid summer jobs as well?

[countbizaller]

From what I hear, the pickings have been slimmer this year. I think there's more people taking summer classes than in past years. Just about everybody I know has jobs, ranging from firms to judicial internships to non-profits. But I think it has been harder getting jobs of any type this year. Just how much harder or how many less jobs there are I can't say.

[RATRATRAT]

Yeah, I haven't heard of too many people landing SA spots, & those that have are either at the top of the class, well-connected, or both. That said, most everybody I know that put in the hours at trying to get some kind of summer employment got it. I mean, I would be surprised if anybody was unable to get something as far as volunteer legal experience goes for the summer if they actually really worked at it. I mean, we get e-mails every week with places still looking for interns, &c. I doubt things are any better or worse at UT than elsewhere as far as the impact of the economy goes.

[countbizaller]

Yeah, I haven't heard of too many people landing SA spots, & those that have are either at the top of the class, well-connected, or both. That said, most everybody I know that put in the hours at trying to get some kind of summer employment got it. I mean, I would be surprised if anybody was unable to get something as far as volunteer legal experience goes for the summer if they actually really worked at it. I mean, we get e-mails every week with places still looking for interns, &c. I doubt things are any better or worse at UT than elsewhere as far as the impact of the economy goes.

Right. A couple of people I know who haven't gotten anything yet are the kind of people that I'm relatively sure just relied on the public interest fair and spring oci. I don't think they hit up the job bank very hard or used the old fashioned method of passing their resume along to a friend of a friend who knew somebody. There's new job postings every week on the job bank, but I bet it's just not the kind of work certain picky individuals saw themselves doing this summer.

[longhornnyc]

What are you two doing, out of curiosity?

[countbizaller]

I'll be in Austin at a government internship.

[Esc]

Earlier this fine sunday morning, having not much better to do and looking to get out for a while, I jumped on my bike, emerged from my villain's lair up in the Far West area, and pedaled down to the law school.

It was pretty cool to stand outside the building in the early morning while the streets were still empty and realize, oh shit, I'm actually going to effing law school in less than three months, and what I do in my time here will effectively determine the outcome of the rest of my life.

Trippy!

I'd never biked to the school before or had time to examine the outside of the building or the nearby neighborhoods, so I spent some time scoping out bike racks (which are conveniently located on both sides of Townes Hall), meandering around the streets in Hyde Park, just north of campus, and plotting out bike routes between the school and my favorite eateries on Guadalupe. A pretty fun morning.

I'm planning on trying to bike to school at least a couple days a week so I don't become a total fattie. Luckily, the shuttles have bike carriers so I can cheat and ride the bus home in the afternoon if (when) I get tired. Anyone else planning on taking the two wheeled no engine route?

[TheIdiot]

I plan on doing the bike/shuttle mix. However, despite being born and raised in the self-proclaimed "bicycle capitol" I am currently bikeless and pretty ignorant of bikes in general. Any recommendations on where to get a good/cheap (~$400) bike in Austin?

[Esc]

Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with the different bike brands and models, or with which stores carry them. Ozone Bikes on Guadalupe just north of campus seems to have some decent bikes in the $400-600 range, and they've always been pretty helpful when I went in there. The people at University Cyclery on 29th and Lamar were pretty unhelpful and kept trying to get me to buy stuff I didn't want, so I don't really recommend them...

[RATRATRAT]

I'm pretty sure it's 100 members total. I think they only take on about 30 a year. This is actually the last thing I want to think about right now since I have a massive write-on packet just staring at me from across the room. How quickly the vacation ends.

haha ya, I just read that post today when I have the write on due tomorrow. You're stressing me out, Esc!!!

[blackknight]

I plan on doing the bike/shuttle mix. However, despite being born and raised in the self-proclaimed "bicycle capitol" I am currently bikeless and pretty ignorant of bikes in general. Any recommendations on where to get a good/cheap (~$400) bike in Austin?

I was lookiing for a bike aswell, but more of a cheap beach cruiser and in my search i found a bike swap meet they have every month called frankenbike which might be good for finding a bike at.

[TheIdiot]

Thanks Esc and B.K. I'll check out the Frankenbike, visit Ozone, and tell University Cyclery to fuck themselves.

In other news, another UT faculty acquisition:
http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/

[countbizaller]

Thanks Esc and B.K. I'll check out the Frankenbike, visit Ozone, and tell University Cyclery to fuck themselves.

In other news, another UT faculty acquisition:
http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/

Hey! I've heard really good things about Bone. He actually had a class in the room before mine and one day we saw the video they had put together to try and keep him. It was some of the students doing a "I Want it That Way" Backstreet Boys music video with a Bone theme. He seems really popular and nice.

And I was wrong about the number of people law review takes on every year. It's 50, not 30. 10 strictly from the write-on and 40 from a write-on/grades combo.

[RATRATRAT]

Yeah, I had Bone, he's great. Somehow made civpro one of my favorite law school classes. Glad he's staying.

[penni_rose]

For those of you already in Austin, there is a Happy Hour for UT students on Friday. The Facebook group Summer in Austin Baby - UT Law sent me an invitation.

Date: Friday, June 5, 2009
Time: 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant
Street: 401 Congress Ave.
City/Town: Austin, TX

And, the kickoff for our summer happy hour series! Last summer saw a strong tradition of summer happy hours where law students met each other, and welcomed in the new class. We hope to do the same thing this year. Feel free to invite co-workers from other schools, friends, whoever. Hope to see you there!

I'm going to try to go after work.

[OperaAttorney]

Bump.

[Esc]

For those of you already in Austin, there is a Happy Hour for UT students on Friday. The Facebook group Summer in Austin Baby - UT Law sent me an invitation.

Date: Friday, June 5, 2009
Time: 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant
Street: 401 Congress Ave.
City/Town: Austin, TX

And, the kickoff for our summer happy hour series! Last summer saw a strong tradition of summer happy hours where law students met each other, and welcomed in the new class. We hope to do the same thing this year. Feel free to invite co-workers from other schools, friends, whoever. Hope to see you there!

I'm going to try to go after work.

I don't think I'll go. I will probably be busy, and I don't have the money to afford anything more expensive than salmonella and egg tacos from the nearest taco truck. I definitely can't afford to eat at a seafood restaurant on congress.

Edit: I just got the e-mail from Dean Ingram telling me to get my ass in gear and send them the letter of intent and head photo. I need to do this now...

[penni_rose]

Didn't we all get the LOI email? I have sent in a picture and it was still referenced. You should get that done, though.

[de5igual]

I don't think I'll go. I will probably be busy, and I don't have the money to afford anything more expensive than salmonella and egg tacos from the nearest taco truck.

in the words of rachel ray: YUM-O those are SO DELISH!

[OperaAttorney]

Didn't we all get the LOI email? I have sent in a picture and it was still referenced. You should get that done, though.

Yeah. I just got it too. But I haven't sent my pic yet .