UVA Law Students Taking Questions Forum

[005618502]

Assuming a 1L will be taking a 4 credit "substantive" class as one of their two electives in the Spring, what are the recommendations for the remaining elective (1-3 credits)?

Take whatever interests you. Just watch out for classes that are notoriously hard. Insurance with Abraham, due to its heavy B+ curve, and Legislation with Nelson, due to the amount of work the class requires and the gunners it attracts, come to mind. You should also avoid seminars for now. From my limited experience, classes that are on the transaction side tend to have more slackers than classes on the litigation side.

Nelson is a rite of passage!

One passage i may try to get around haha

[CaliMizzou]

Hey guys quick question. First some background, I'm a recent admit to the class of 2014 (I've posted a few times, but it's been infrequent enough that I thought I'd restate the basics.) I know I may be getting ahead of myself, but I was wondering what luck, if any, 1L's were having in securing summer associate positions/clerkships the last couple of years? And if so, what percent of the class were they in (top 10%, 15% etc...)

Thanks

[napolnic]

Hey guys quick question. First some background, I'm a recent admit to the class of 2014 (I've posted a few times, but it's been infrequent enough that I thought I'd restate the basics.) I know I may be getting ahead of myself, but I was wondering what luck, if any, 1L's were having in securing summer associate positions/clerkships the last couple of years? And if so, what percent of the class were they in (top 10%, 15% etc...)

Thanks

I can't give you any numbers, but I do know that a lot of people got positions, especially clerkships, before first semester grades even came out.

I will also add the disclaimer that I have very little information about summer associate positions since what I did get was through pre-law school networks.

[ram10]

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[joemoviebuff]

Rather than making a new thread, I'll post in here as this seems to be the all things UVA thread. Just got my LSATs back and I got a 172 (3.2 GPA so I'm a splitter). Unfortunately because of my procrastination, my application probably won't be complete until late November/early December. Is that too late to take advantage of the above-median LSAT ED tactic?

I ED'd last January with a 3.4/170 and got in. So I'd say no. Obviously, the sooner the better, though.

[kaftka juice]

so i was able to get a day off and am going to visit uva tomorrow. is there anything i should check out that the tour/q&a sessions may miss?

[kaftka juice]

i also have the opportunity to sit in contracts with either geis or mahoney. who would you recommend?

[Cavalier]

i also have the opportunity to sit in contracts with either geis or mahoney. who would you recommend?

They're both great professors, from what I've heard. I'd go with Mahoney since he's the Dean, but you can't go wrong with either.

[bgdddymtty]

I have Geis for Contracts, and he's upbeat, has a high-energy teaching style, and does fun little things to keep the class interesting (such as playing the Pepsi "Harrier Jet" commercial for Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc., putting up pictures of The Old Virginnie, the restaurant that was the site of the creation of the contract in Lucy v. Zehmer, etc.). His cold calls are also fairly easy, and his reading load is totally manageable.

[vamedic03]

i also have the opportunity to sit in contracts with either geis or mahoney. who would you recommend?

Geis!

[vanwinkle]

i also have the opportunity to sit in contracts with either geis or mahoney. who would you recommend?

Geis!

+1.

[005618502]

So im thinking i might fly up to UVA to visit toward the end of this month. Is this during a bad testing time? i would like to come sit in on a class and get a feel for the school. any dates specifically to avoid?

[bgdddymtty]

So im thinking i might fly up to UVA to visit toward the end of this month. Is this during a bad testing time? i would like to come sit in on a class and get a feel for the school. any dates specifically to avoid?

If you come up after Thanksgiving, you'll hit the last week or so before finals. So everyone will be a paranoid zombie. And not have any time to talk to you. But other than that, it'll be fine.

[005618502]

So after thanksgiving it bad? thats too bad because that is definitely when it will be

Also do people bring their girlfriends or family (parents) with them over ASW i would like my GF to come see the school with me so i dont know if i should bring her when i come to visit or over ASW.

Any advice is appreciated

[dailygrind]

So after thanksgiving it bad? thats too bad because that is definitely when it will be

Also do people bring their girlfriends or family (parents) with them over ASW i would like my GF to come see the school with me so i dont know if i should bring her when i come to visit or over ASW.

Any advice is appreciated

i saw a fair number of parents in attendance at the ASW i was at. i don't recall seeing any significant others, but i wouldn't be surprised if they were there and i was just uninformed. they don't stick out as clearly as 50-70 year olds in a sea of people in their mid 20s. there were a fair number of student only events though, so hopefully your girlfriend and parents get along well together and won't mind doing their own thing.

[dabomb75]

I really want to be in NY upon graduation, sooooo: How does UVA fare in the NYC biglaw market?

I was getting completely set on applying ED to UVA, but 2 t-14 (non-UVA) recent grads I talked to today made it sound like UVA doesn't place in the vault 100 firms in NYC nearly as well as a lot of the other 7-14 ranked schools.

Are they dead wrong or should I be re-thinking my choice?

[RVP11]

I really want to be in NY upon graduation, sooooo: How does UVA fare in the NYC biglaw market?

I was getting completely set on applying ED to UVA, but 2 t-14 (non-UVA) recent grads I talked to today made it sound like UVA doesn't place in the vault 100 firms in NYC nearly as well as a lot of the other 7-14 ranked schools.

Are they dead wrong or should I be re-thinking my choice?

They're wrong. UVA does very well in NYC - anyone median or above has a great shot at a V100 in NYC. NYC is by far the easiest market.

[plenipotentiary]

So, pro bono work as a 1L -- what are we talking about exactly? Cutesy name for charity (soup kitchens, etc) or legal work? Are 1Ls even qualified to do legal work? I don't know anything about the lawz.

[YCrevolution]

..

[vanwinkle]

I really want to be in NY upon graduation, sooooo: How does UVA fare in the NYC biglaw market?

I was getting completely set on applying ED to UVA, but 2 t-14 (non-UVA) recent grads I talked to today made it sound like UVA doesn't place in the vault 100 firms in NYC nearly as well as a lot of the other 7-14 ranked schools.

Are they dead wrong or should I be re-thinking my choice?

UVA places as well as any of its peer schools in NYC. Most firms there tend to like school diversity and try to recruit from all the lower T14 schools. What will matter more than school ranking, if you're talking about schools in the 7-14 range, is grades/class rank. You could go to Michigan, UVA, or Duke, and roughly the same would be true: Top 25% would give you great odds for NYC, while below median would hurt you significantly. The differences between these schools are rather small compared to the difference your grades will make.

So, pro bono work as a 1L -- what are we talking about exactly? Cutesy name for charity (soup kitchens, etc) or legal work? Are 1Ls even qualified to do legal work? I don't know anything about the lawz.

Pro bono work is any work that is supervised by a licensed attorney and provides some kind of legal assistance. This is broad and a lot of things can count as pro bono hours. For example, you could do client intake for a legal aid organization, which means your job is to take information from people requesting legal help and write up a report on what they told you to give someone who decides if they qualify for assistance or not. That's an essential step in the legal process, even though it doesn't sound like what many normally think of as "legal work" or require you to know the law. It's still client interaction, which is an important part of the legal process.

There's a lot you'll have to do as a lawyer that doesn't involve "knowing all the laws", and you can get a start on practicing those things even as a 1L. If you talk to the public service center, they'll have pro bono opportunities which say whether or not they take 1Ls. Generally the organization will know whether or not you know enough as a 1L to do the task they have for you, and thus ask for or refuse to take 1Ls based on their needs.

[slider]

*Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) is somewhat of an exception in that volunteer hours count as pro bono hours. VITA volunteers help lower-income taxpayers file tax returns and has a very flexible committment with a minimum of three hours for spring semester (and no necessary committment during fall semester). I highly encourage participation and have way too many pro bono hours from VITA.

YCrev, when should we be training for this? I haven't seen any info on it.

[YCrevolution]

..

[flyingpanda]

Taking evidence as a 1L? Mistake or win?

[vanwinkle]

Taking evidence as a 1L? Mistake or win?

If (Mitchell) Then (Win)
Else (No)
End If

[flyingpanda]

Taking evidence as a 1L? Mistake or win?

If (Mitchell) Then (Win)
Else (No)
End If

Brown.