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I have a final tomorrow in legal research. Our legal research class is graded but does not count towards our GPA. Do employers care about this grade? I am not wanting to study for this, unless it is important. What would you do?

This test shouldn't be a big deal. Review for an hour or two and you will be fine. I also go to Utah, who is this ? - you should PM me.

I agree though, really dumb class. They could have just taught us the stuff that wasn't common sense in like an hour during orientation.

Not important?? Is this "Legal Research" class also a writing course at your school?

Every judge and clerk that I've spoke to or have made presentations have emphasized legal writing. Employers looking for interns will want someone who can research and write because that's all you'll be doing over teh summer.

Just put in a few hours and get a high grade. If anything, it'll separate yourself from every other law student applying for a summer position.

Shoulda studied during Lund's class.

Pink wrote:Shoulda studied during Lund's class.

Hmm, that is the one class I try to pay attention in because I have no clue what will be on that final.

OP: My best guess is that your legal research grade will not make much impact on employers unless it is in the "C" range or lower since then some may wonder whether plagiarism or missed deadlines affected your grade. Otherwise, class rank & GPA should remain the primary focus of employers' decisions about whom to interview.

CanadianWolf wrote:OP: My best guess is that your legal research grade will not make much impact on employers unless it is in the "C" range or lower since then some may wonder whether plagiarism or missed deadlines affected your grade. Otherwise, class rank & GPA should remain the primary focus of employers' decisions about whom to interview.

School rank and class rank are definitely the objective criteria that matters more so than most others. However, since your LRW grade (in schools where the course is graded) often tends to constitute a part of your GPA, it is definitely important. Less important than substantive courses that usually are worth more units, but important enough to impact class ranking.

OP specifically noted that his graded LRW does not affect GPA calculations at his law school.

CanadianWolf wrote:OP specifically noted that his graded LRW does not affect GPA calculations at his law school.

What about the reverse side of the coin. Is having a good grade in LRW going to help or is it pretty much treated the same or less than other classes?

That's hit or miss depending on the interviewer and the decisionmakers.

What this means is that applicants should go to great lengths to express their writing ability. If you have a good LRW grade--awesome. Provide a good writing sample or something else to make your writing ability seem even stronger.

If you have a poor LRW grade, find some other way to express that you are a good writer.

Class rank is typically the primary consideration. Individual course grades are unlikely to influence employment decisions unless the grade is unusually low and, therefore, raises other concerns.

If you want a job, get a good GPA and a good grade in LRW, period.

LRW instructors are not always as heavily credentialed as other law profs. In fact, I've seen many instances of critiques by LRW instructors that defy explanation.

CanadianWolf wrote:LRW instructors are not always as heavily credentialed as other law profs. In fact, I've seen many instances of critiques by LRW instructors that defy explanation.

I have an amazing LRW teacher, but I do hear horror stories about other LRW teachers in my own school. Same with the doctorinal courses I suppose.

I think it depends what kind of job you desire. I want to extern this summer with a judge, and I was told my writing grade and sample is extremely important for that. My LWR is graded, but not factored into my GPA.

FWIW, research and writing are separate classes and graded separately at this school. Writing counts towards GPA, research does not.

@Pink: Another method of grading that accomplishes the same result would be to make research assignments pass/fail with graded legal writing assignments.

A good grade won't help, a bad grade will hurt.