FACTS:
I'm 34/m with a wife and a newborn (we got preggers the summer before my 1L
) and I am at an expensive T2 school in the southeast. I knew it was going to be beyond hard to get everything done in a full course load, but I was ready, willing and able last September when classes begun. I had worked as a paralegal and done various legal internships, and as a solid writer I thought I would knock it out of the park. I even took a Barbri Law Preview offered on my campus the week before classes started, for a little extra "push."
What I was not ready for was the absolute madness of having deadlines on top of deadlines, having to choose between doing one assignment over another, the problems of having a pregnant wife and then having a newborn baby and having to basically ignore them while I buried my face in endless piles of books, and having to put my professors, whom I have great respect for, in uncomfortable situations with asking for extensions, having to miss classes, and simply having trouble getting it all done while still managing to sleep.
Tonight was a major tipping point--I had been given an extra 24 hours to hand in my 1L appellate brief, which like many people, I didn't really get started on until a few weeks ago. My professor is amazing and super understanding, but she couldn't give me any longer than the one day. I understand and accept that.
I went hard at this brief--I am now intimately familiar with the Eleventh Circuit's views on employment law, having read nearly every case out there on Title VII discrimination and retaliation. However, I was unable to complete the brief in the allotted time. The work that IS there on paper should translate the message, as have, I believe, previous assignments, that I can do this work. I am good at it; I am just NOT good with the deadlines and the time crunches.
Last term, I had to hand in my open book Civ Pro exam half blank. Not because I couldn't answer the questions, but because I ran out of time. I had spent too much time writing my first answer, and before I knew it, time was up.
I learned that some of my section-mates have gotten six hours and private quarters for their exams, based on having ADD. I could have done all that, but I was unwilling to (1) pay >$1500 for a doctor to give the school an evaluation report saying that I am "disabled" just to get more time--I don't believe I am disabled. However, I do believe I am in hot water at present.
Finals are fast approaching, and as I am on academic probation, the school has the right to give me the boot if I don't pull my grades up to all Bs or better. While I have gotten some good grades here and there, and all my professors seem to like having me in their sections, I worry that if I don't find a miracle, I will be unable to continue with this law school. And really, that is all I have ever wanted to do in the real world. "Playing guitar" sadly is not a viable backup plan for me. (Believe me, I've tried that already.)
I first interned for a family/estate firm in high school, then worked in PI as a litigation paralegal, then interned for a county prosecutors office, all up north. I did well at all of these law offices, and got along well with people due to my work ethic, research and writing ability. Plus I am kind of a swell guy to have around, if I don't say so myself. I am friendly with several of the attorneys that I interned and worked for, and have no problem making friends with new ones down here. My professors have all gone to places like Stanford and Harvard for law school, and they seem to be pulling for me in a way that makes me feel bad for letting them down when I can't finish an assignment on time or I miss class.
ANALYSIS
I really do understand that this is not a field that takes kindly to "excuses."
But I am not trying to make any excuses; I merely wish to paint a portrait that may end up garnering some genuinely helpful feedback from someone out there.
"Each of us is like the spider, weaving our life and then moving along in it, or like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream, and this is true for the entire universe." Upanishads (500 B.C.E.); See also Inland Empire (2006).
Put simply, I love and revere the law, and merely wish to practice in the profession as an attorney. I honestly don't care if I only make $45k/yr, as I know most would pooh-pooh such a "meager sum" in light of the massive debts incurred in acquiring the JD. But I know I would make a great attorney--surely this 1L bubble cannot be said to bear any relationship at all to the outside legal community, and my grades--provided I am allowed to continue to 2L and beyond--cannot be the ultimate measure of my capabilities and potential.
Pretend I am your client, seeking counsel. I mean, obviously, I forge ahead and just wait and see how I make out after finals, before making any long range decisions. But as far as options, there are a few I can see on the table so far:
(1) Best Option: Get all Bs and better on my exams, pull my GPA up above academic probation (or close enough so I qualify for the "loophole" that allows me to stay if I show substantial improvement). In this scenario, I am good to go and my future looks bright with a T2 JD in the city where the school is (and has alumni everywhere).
(2) Take fewer classes next semester if possible. More time to get the work done, hypothetically. But here, my loans will likely be reduced below where I could still afford this school (say bye-bye, Grad PLUS loan that has been paying my family's upkeep while I am not working). And, it will take me even longer to graduate, and at 34 with a wife and a newborn, that is not a good look. Still, at least my degree would (eventually) be from a T2 JD in the city where the school is (and has alumni everywhere).
(3) Transfer to a lesser-known, lesser-quality, lower-cost school, attending either full- or part-time. In this scenario, I am unhappier because I will have lost face, will have less talented professors, and a less valuable JD whenever I end up finishing (which, if I am going part time, could be when my baby is driving a car for all I know). Less burdensome debts, though. And perhaps, less competitive students, which could bring up my grades and rank a lot easier. But that wouldn't mean as much to me, and I know it.
(4) Worst Case Scenario: Go play guitar in the street, learn to surf, and forget all about this sadistic torture before it eats my young and my soul goes the way of the dodo.
You have one hour to answer the above (non-)hypothetical. If you are a law student, you should not be giving me legal advice just yet. But you can give me your two cents, as a fellow user of the intrawebs.
And, if you have gotten this far, thank you.
(I worry that once I post this, I won't know what to do with myself... And the brief I just handed in at the exact minute of the deadline is still stuck in my craw as being a giant unfinished heap of dung that could have been the best thing I ever did had I actually had the time to finish. Another 24 hours, and I go from zero to hero. Seriously. Arrrg.)
-Anonymous
