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I'm a rising 2L taking summer courses and working in a firm over the summer. I feel that no matter what I do with school and work, it's still not clicking. It takes an hour at least to understand a topic and even longer to research or draft documents. It's almost like my brain is rejecting the material, which forces me to try and focus even more and creates stress for professors and employers expecting faster results. It's painful pushing through hours and hours of this and still not retain even the basics of Civ Pro from 1L year.

Is it possible some people just don't get it?

LegalSeagull wrote:I'm a rising 2L taking summer courses and working in a firm over the summer. I feel that no matter what I do with school and work, it's still not clicking. It takes an hour at least to understand a topic and even longer to research or draft documents.

I've worked as an attorney for three years, and it often takes me a lot longer than an hour to understand a topic. And I'll often spend days researching and drafting a document. For what it's worth, I finished around the top 10% of my class at HYS and have had a reasonably successful career by junior attorney standards.

As for your comment that you "do not retain even the basics of Civ Pro from 1L year," I can tell you that I'm constantly forgetting and re-learning the various areas of civil procedure, as needed. Don't be so hard on yourself.

First off, wow to the credentials of above poster...thats impressive. I was around top 5% at ttt and just outside top 10% or so at UT and it often will take me a long time to master a topic. Although it gets easier the longer you are exposed to the legal material. Sometimes, something will click for me like a week after I've started studying it, a nuance for instance. You will become quicker and more adept at sifting through relevant and non relevant facts. Give it time. I think with enough training, most anyone can learn to think like a lawyer.

Some folks are just not meant to be lawyers. Where did you finish after your first year of law school & what did you study in undergraduate school ?

I know plenty of engineers who are allergic to law books & legal reasoning. There is no cure for this type of person in my experience. Nevertheless, some lawyers develop slowly while others pursue legal careers & never "see" the true depth of the law.

CanadianWolf wrote:Some folks are just not meant to be lawyers. Where did you finish after your first year of law school & what did you study in undergraduate school ?

I know plenty of engineers who are allergic to law books & legal reasoning. There is no cure for this type of person in my experience. Nevertheless, some lawyers develop slowly while others pursue legal careers & never "see" the true depth of the law.

I was just under the top %50 of the class and was a history, film, and international studies triple major in college.

There's nothing to understand or "get" in law - it's not math or rocket science. As long as you are fluent in English you can "get" the law because there is NOTHING TO GET.

Law is all about grinding, so yes it will take hours to do research and draft shit, because that's just the process.

BiglawAssociate wrote:There's nothing to understand or "get" in law - it's not math or rocket science. As long as you are fluent in English you can "get" the law because there is NOTHING TO GET.

Law is all about grinding, so yes it will take hours to do research and draft shit, because that's just the process.

All those years of grinding on WOW have finally paid off.