Top Law Schools

vpintz wrote:

John Mill wrote:

Legacy Rabbit wrote:IAFG,
You fun character. Now you are calling me a punk, seriously mean and unncessary. If you scroll up, you will see I typed. I never said an intro to logic class would make someone a better law student or lawyer. I said that you need to sit in an intro to logic class because you called the bolded statement stupid.

Dude quit while your ahead...

srsly. lol just lol

The shark has been jumped.

Saw this thread and could not resist replying. I am not a lawyer and not enrolled in LS, BUT...

I graduated with a BA in Law & Justice (my UG's liberal artsy version of Pre-Law). From an academic view, I realize now it was an absolute, utter waste of tuition. I wish I saved the money or invested in Apple. I learned little-to-no valuable material from my Pre-Law courses that I couldn't passively absorb from reading daily Wikipedia topics. Most of the content covered in Pre-Law courses (at least at my college) is daydreamy banter about justice, equality, and a historical perspective of the law without ever focusing on attacking an argument or learning flaws--skills I assume only from reading on the LSAT boards that, oh, I don't know, might be relevant to success of the test which puts you in the fast lane to law school. Seriously, courses in Ancient Law and "Comparative Legal Systems" as major requirements? For fucking WHY, man? Roman canonical law is nonessential to success anywhere.

I can't and won't speak from the perspective of a law school student, so I'll share a different view: luckily, I scored a paralegal job soon after graduation in a law firm assisting in mass tort litigation right before the economy took a swan dive. I thought the opportunity would give me a crash course in professional legal work and I'd gain insight whether I actually wanted to attend law school. Not one iota of material covered in any UG Pre-Law course EVER was necessary to diligently complete my responsibilities as a paralegal and to exceed my manager's expectations. Seriously. NOTHING. For some tasks, I believe maintaining a pulse in the mid-sixties might have been the only requirement.

At my current job for the last ~3.5 years (still corporate, doing semi-legal work with contracts), I still haven't used anything I've learned in Pre-Law, but at least the work is more detailed than the law firm. Understanding basic contract components can probably be learned during a crosstown bus ride, yet in four years of UG, not once did I hear "consideration", "offer", "acceptance", "rescission", etc. I doubt much of what I learned will be useful to my success at this job in the future. A CEO is rarely, if ever, going to entertain debate over a controversial business proposition (you'll find they've already made up their mind before decision time, much like judges I'd imagine), and certainly doesn't give a rat's ass whether or not I and my Pre-Law credentials believe that John Mill's utilitarian approach to justice is prevalent to the company's success, his quarterly salary bonus, and an increased revenue line. Try mumbling that nonsense and then watch yourself be promptly plucked from the boardroom and shown your desk with an empty cardboard box.

The only benefits I see to my Pre-Law major: (1) It got me a degree which helped me get a job immediately after graduation; (2) It taught me to write and find resources I need QUICKLY -- both skills are crucial to success not just in LS, but anywhere. I certainly vouch for this from the corporate side. Nonetheless, the benefits are minimal. I wonder if I'd chosen a relatively more "difficult" major (e.g., mathematics, sciences), whether I would have learned something that might hone better critical analysis skills and wouldn't have stalled my LS path.

Edit: a couple of picky grammar miscues.

dingbat wrote:

Trev315 wrote:I would major in psychology and minor in pre law. I guess it's supposed to get a student to realize if they really want to attend law school or not. I'm 99% sure I want to go, just wasn't sure if minoring in this would give me a step ahead when I start my 1L.

Just don't be like that douche who mentioned Kant on the first day of Crim

What do you have against mentioning Kant?

Try studying Philosophy.