LAW STUDENT STEREOTYPES

WRITTEN BY NICHOLAS

As law students we’re learning skills that will serve us well not just in a legal career, but also in many business fields and (possibly) life in general. However, there are some completely ridiculous expectations that people have of law students that no matter how hard we study, we just cannot live up to. Here are some of the expectations people, generally friends and family, have of me when I talk to them about my studies….

GETTING OUT OF TRAFFIC FINESPeople always assume that I know how to get out of parking or speeding fines, like it’s a subject that’s offered in first year. Sure, in some circumstancesthere may be some mitigating factors but unfortunately, as we all know, they’re generally strict liability and if you’ve got a ticket, you’re stuffed. The only problem is how do you explain it to a tipsy uncle at a family BBQ?

DECIPHERING JUDGE JUDYShe’s a ‘judge’ and we’re law students, but that’s where the commonality ends. Sure we have comparative law subjects and we understand some of the similarities and differences between judicial systems, but none of those skills or knowledge will help you to make sense of what goes on in Judge Judy’s courtroom. The best explanation to give someone is to expect the complete opposite if they are ever going to court, or to suggest they try watching Rake instead.

AWESOME GOOGLING SKILLSSure, I have great researching skills – I know how to look up all Mabo decisions and the Tasmanian Dams Case – but that doesn’t mean I’m any better at Googling something. Probably like most of you, any searches I do on Google are just pot luck. Insert random words and hope for the best or failing that at least a funny meme. My real skill is searching through videos on YouTube. It’s amazing what you can find when you’re trying to avoid jurisprudence study.

BEING ARGUMENTATIVENow being argumentative is not such a bad attribute to have in law, and the ability to read between the lines to infer a certain take on something can bepretty helpful too. After all, that’s what statutory interpretation is all about.Sometimes people always take it too far, thinking just because you express an opinion and are able to back it up, that you’re argumentative. Not to mention implying that you just love to twist words and butter people up so you can extract what you want from them. Personally, I take that as a compliment. It’s good to know my nearest and dearest think I will be killer at cross-examination, but it does get tiresome when people don’t realise that you can switch off your lawyer brain and that we are normal, friendly people that don’t have to have the last word.

COMPLETING A MARATHONFinally, everyone seems to expect that just because I’ve almost survived the long haul of a law degree, I can survive the long haul of running 42.2km.Strange how friends and family miss the stark contrast between being locked in a room surrounded by books and suffering a massive lack of vitamin D,and being outside and running for hours. Nothing I have had learned in law school has helped me with running, save that I know how to get away from an exam centre damn quick. These are just some of the unrealistic expectations of law students that I’ve encountered. Share you stereotype experiences in the comments section below!

TOP FIVE REASONS TO STICK WITH YOUR LAW DEGREE

WRITTEN BY KAT

Feeling bored? Apathetic? Is the best part about your law degree skipping class to lunch with friends?You know assessments and exams will be here to ruin your early semester reverie soon enough, but you’re feeling uninspired. It was exciting back when you started this crazy little thing called law, but this semester you like law school about as much as Voldemort liked Harry Potter. No wonder you’re pretty keen to bail. But should you?Here are some reasons to tough it out...

1. IT’S HELPFUL, AND YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE TO BE A LAWYER

When you enrolled in law you were thrilled at the prospect of becoming a legal legend – like Denny Crane, or the slightly nefarious Cleaver Greene. But now you would rather become just about anything other than a lawyer… and that’s cool too.About half of all Australian law grads do not end up practicing. Instead they become writers, entrepreneurs, yoga instructors, artists, wine makers – anything they want, really. A basic grounding in legal principles is attractive to many employers, and the versatility of a law degree, particularly in the analytical skills you learn, has helped countless law grads talk their way into non-law jobs.

2. THE BACK UP PLAN

Even if you’re keen to try something else, consider finishing your law degree so you have some skills you can fall back on if your plans don’t work out or if you change your mind about lawyering. You don’t necessarily need a relevant degree to work in journalism or business, but you do to become a lawyer.

3. ELECTIVES

So you’re about two years into the mind-numbing pain of your law degree, and you’re very, very bored. That’s okay. The Priestly 11 can do that. Hold out for law electives – they’ll remind you that law can be interesting. For me media law was a total saviour.

4. IT WILL START TO MAKE SENSE

If you class yourself as a ‘very average’ law student, you’re not alone. It takes time for the knack of thinking in that analytical, lawyerly way to kick in. It happens gradually, but most things (with the possible exception of equity) make sense in time.

5. YOU MIGHT NOT ACTUALLY HATE IT

If you’re constantly tired and stressed, it’s little wonder you’re feeling anti-degree. But the grind of corporate law class is generally only partly to blame. Work out what else could be behind your awesome stress levels and shake things up a little.If you and your degree become estranged, there are other things you can try. Plenty of law students take a semester off or reduce their study load, making time to explore other interests and, maybe, rekindling that spark.

How to Date a Law Student:

Make Love Notes Long and Confusing

Brevity and clarity make law school students feel uncomfortable and agitated, much like normal people feel at the DMV. For example, don’t

say, “Let’s head back home early for some fun.” Instead say, “Let’s return early to the domicile for some malfeasance.”

The Ten Students You will Meet in Law School

Posted by: BITTER CONTRIBUTOR on JUNE 14, 2010They say you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Which, if you’re in law school, means you shouldn’t let any of these ten rat bastards out of your site for even a minute.

1The Immaculate Altruist. She’s here to get a law degree so she can save the homes of poor immigrant whales from foreclosure. She disdains anyonewho doesn’t dream of working non-profit. To her, law, unlike any other field of study, is either about spreading rainbows and peach cobbler to the corners of the universe or greedily snatching up money whilst helping Rich Corporation A sue Richer Corporation B.

Note: Her worldview only applies to law school. It’s okay if geology students don’t want to enter a career with the Peace Corps and dig wells for Africantribes—they can just like rocks. But a law studentwithout a Planeteer ring on is Greed Incarnate.2The Master Debater. A typical conversation with him goes like this:My parents always told me I should be a lawyer. You know why? Because I love to argue. I argue all the time about everything. And I always win arguments. Seriously, I’ve never lost an argument.What he means: He’s a social retard who fights over everything and absolutely refuses to admit when he’s wrong. His parents wanted him to be a lawyer so he would finally find someone else to argue with and maybe stop being such an asshole all the time.Listen for the following red flags repeated intermittently throughout his precious arguments: “Clearly,” “obviously,” and “it’s completely unreasonable to think that…”What you won’t hear: References to facts, cases, statutes, or any other recognizable, non-self-centric authority.When he loses his very first argument—which he will—one of two things will happen: (1) He will fall into a deep, inconsolable, self-loathing depression; (2) like Obi-Wan, he will become a bigger asshole than you can possibly imagine, blaming the loss on anything and everything except his own lack of ability.3The Blonde Bombshell with Something to Prove. She’s as rare as a Giant Panda, but every few years she materializes in a 1L class like a succulent siren through the ocean mist. She has unusual numbers for law school admission: 36-23-33. She also realizes that she’s heart-stoppingly gorgeous, but believes that—like her heroine, the great “Elle Woods, Esquire”—she can overcome all stereotypes and prove herself as a valuable asset to the

legal community. And she’s half-right about the asset part; however, she is doomed to either learn how to use her beauty to manipulate others and workher way up the law-school ladder, or to live in hopeless denial.Addendum: Leave room for the possibility that an absolutely gorgeous and extremely intelligent female law student exists out there somewhere, but if that’s the case, the fact that she will never be my co-counsel is too much to bear. And so, for the sake of psychological self-preservation, I shall vehemently deny her existence.4The Mighty Mouse. Who is he? Is he even in our 3L class? I’ve never noticed him. Did he transfer in? This person is likely in the top 5% of your class, if not flat-out Numero Uno, but you swear you’ve never seen him before in your life. That’s because he never speaks a word voluntarily, although when called upon he flawlessly utters the insight of a thousand Learned Hands clapping a joyous symphony of jurisprudence. He shows up for classes and exams, and then, like Batman, he disappears into the misty night. (No, he will not let you borrow his outlines.)5The Drifter. Half the time he doesn’t even know he’s in law school; the other half he’s high. To him, law school is another three…maybe four…years ofdelaying the dreaded “real world.” In every court opinion, he can see how The Man keeps him down.Lucy v. Zehmer: “WTF, man! You can’t take his farm! He was drunk, and he wrote the contract on an f-ing receipt man! That’s just messed up.”Leonard v. Pepsico: “Oh yeah, corporate America offers a harrier jet thinking no one is going to accept. Then Joe Everyman gets enough Pepsi Points to buy it, and what do they do? They f-ing take it back. WTF, man?! And the law just lets it happen?”After law school, he will go on to become a doctor . . . in something. He will continue like this until his absentee parents or Sallie Mae discovers him.6The Wunderkind. He started working in a law office delivering interoffice memoranda at age 12. He learned Westlaw before Google. He was the all-star high school debate and moot court champion all four years. His undergraduate degree? Do I even need to say it? It was f-ing pre-law. To him, law school isn’t time to learn; it’s time to shine. After a decade of mentally bench-pressing volume after volume of Corpus Juris Secundum and memorizing the Federal Rules of Evidence, it’s time to oil up those muscles and flex. He doesn’t see peers, only hurdles.7El Desperato. He’s in the library eight hours a day (ten on Saturdays and Sundays). He owns more Nutshells than Mr. Peanut. He has every professor’s open office hours scheduled into his BlackBerry. Yet, for the life of him, he can’t seem to pull even a C- on an exam. The reality is that he was never cut out for law school. Be it Nature or Nurture, he was designed for a different job.The good news: He will realize this.The bad news: At the point he does, he’ll owe $100 grand and will have lost most, if not all, of his hair.8The Diversity Student. When she’s not busy posing for pictures for the law school’s website and viewbook, she’s enjoying the sweet life of a tuition-free education. How do you spell the name of that Native-American tribe again? Oh yeah, “f-u-l-l r-i-d-e.”She doesn’t worry so much about preparing for class, taking exams, or career outlooks—and why should she? When her former classmates are sacrificing movie nights just so they can pay back the interest on their student loans, she’ll be relaxing in the comfy leather chair of her 45th-story downtown office. After all, you can only be a diversity student for three years until you’re a diversity hire.9The Savant. What the hell??? This guy randomly decided to take the LSAT at the last minute and scored a 179 (and that’s because two pages stuck together). Our professor asks him a question about the Necessary and Proper Clause, and he takes the class on a glorious romp through the metaphysical world of constitutional intransience. Did he even read the case? Does he even outline his notes? Fuck it. I hate this guy.

10The Nth Generation Lawyer. Let’s just say that he likes to use his middle initial for things. In fact, he’s probably a “Something Something the Fourth” in his family, which is comprised completely of lawyers, legal scholars, a judge or two, and some wives of lawyers. He didn’t enroll in law school, he inherited it. You ask him what he would do if he wasn’t going to be a lawyer, and all you get in return is a blank stare.

Among the types of Law students mentioned, it is safe to say that I am the the third one :) Hahaha ! For what is the "Blog of a Hot Law Student Chic" if I'm not it :))

Piece of Advice: What to do when what's on the book you read is different from your Professors' point of view.

In one of the lectures of your professor, you heard him say somewhat different from what you learned or read. What do you do? I mentioned before you may want to discuss the matter with him privately and in a respectful manner. But what if after the discussion he maintains his position, what then should your answer be if that would be asked in the exam? Then you have to give the answer as taught by your professor. Remember he is the one who will check your booklet. However, be sure you know what the correct answer is when asked in the bar exam.

Piece of Advice: What to do when you did not study and just want to be absent from class.

You feel like not going to school because you did not study. You say better be absent than get a 5. Wrong. Unless you are really sick, do not absent

yourself from class. You will be missing a lot if you do. Besides, everybody has gotten a 5 at a certain point. Don't be discouraged and do not be a

perfectionist for no one is. Also, you can always pray that you will not be called to recite specially on cases you failed to read.

There's a difference between an Attorney and a Lawyer!

You might have heard the words attorney and lawyer used interchangeably in TV or movies. So much so, that you might think that the words are synonyms, but in reality they're slightly different things!

A lawyer is someone who is trained in the law. Anyone who has been to law school can consider themselves a lawyer.

An attorney, however, is someone who has passed the bar exam in the jurisdiction that they intend to work in.

This means in practice, that someone who's strictly a lawyer can give legal advice, but only an attorney can legally represent someone else.

No Boundaries

I just heard from one of my friends in Law School that the Theme Song for this year's BAR OPS is "No Boundaries" by Kris Allen as popularized by

Adam Lambert. I was very happy to hear it knowing that because since I started my journey of becoming a lawyer, it has been one of my boosters not

to give up, never to give up! I already posted here my other theme song such which "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus but the impact of this song is really

deep! Oh well, let the lyrics speak for itself. :)

Seconds, hours, so many days

You know what you want, but how long can you wait?

Every moment last forever.

When you feel you've lost your way.

What if my chances were already gone?

I started believing that I could be wrong.

But you give me one good reason.

To fight and never walk away.

So here I am, still holding on

With every step, you climb another mountain

Every breath, it's harder to believe

You'll make it through the pain, weather the hurricanes

To get to that one thing.

Just when you think the road is going nowhere

Just when you almost gave up on your dreams

They take you by the hand and show you that you can

There are no boundaries.

There are no boundaries.

I fought to the limit, to stand on the edge

What if today is as good as it gets?

Don't know where the future's heading

But nothing's gonna bring me down

I've jumped every bridge and I've run every line

I risked being safe but I always knew why

I always knew why

So here I am, still holding on

With every step, you climb another mountain

Every breath, it's harder to believe

You'll make it through the pain, weather the hurricanes

To get to that one thing

Just when you think the road is going nowhere

Just when you almost gave up on your dreams

They take you by the hand and show you that you can

You can go higher, you can go deeper

There are no boundaries above and beneath you

Break every rule 'cause there's nothing between you

And your dreams

With every step, you climb another mountain

Every breath, it's harder to believe

Yeah, there are no boundaries

There are no boundaries

With every step, you climb another mountain

Every breath, it's harder to believe

You'll make it through the pain, weather the hurricanes

There are no boundaries.

There are no boundaries.

There are no boundaries.

Be nice to everyone, they are fighting a battle you know nothing about ...

Looks can be deceiving. A person may look so jolly and all but behind those silly jokes and

wide smiles is a melting heart. A heart that is longing for care and love from people around her. That because she looks so strong and brave, people

around her never even mind asking if she's going through tough things. That the only thing that person can do is to conceal the pain she's feeling inside

and fake a smile.

Most of the time, I feel this way. It feels like I'm always alone fighting a battle other people know nothing about. What's worse? They

judge you just because they see you the way they look at you. I remember when I was still in the undergrad school, I received a letter from a friend. It

was an unnamed letter. I won't disclose everything on that letter but I will tell you the most memorable thing about it. The person told me to change who

I am, she said, I may be going through a lot of things but it's not an excuse to act the way I do. I want to repeat it, that person was my friend, when your

friend knows what you are going through, they don't judge you, they simply understands. That person didn't know what I went through before becoming

the person I am now. I'm not saying that all my actions are pleasing nor acceptable, but we all live in a world where people want us to live the way they

do, and I believe that being yourself in this kind of world is an achievement. I am living the way I want my life to be. It's by far one of my greatest

achievements.

I want to share with you a post I read from the net. It's all the about the title of this article. I felt guilty when I finished reading the passage.

I thought to myself, next time the situation is not so favorable to me, I have to think of the other people's situation first before doing any actions. They

might have been going through a lot of struggles, just like me. I hope you'll also have your own realization.

Be Nice To Everyone You Meet.

They’re Fighting A Battle You Have Absolutely No Idea About.By: in0centbeauty23

Written on September 25th, 2010

That jerk that cut you off in traffic yesterday… might just be a single mother hurrying to get home to her kids that she doesn’t see as often as she’s

supposed to because of the long hours at her job.

That couple in front of you that’s walking extremely slowly might be simply trying to savor every moment they have left because one of them has just

been diagnosed with cancer.

The rude sales lady that you complained about for hours after leaving the store might be struggling her way through her everyday life, trying to live on

minimum wage from paycheck to paycheck, barely being able to afford her grocery bills.

The girl that you like to gossip about everyday because she’s rude and a complete “****”… might just be dealing with an alcoholic parent that doesn’t

know when they’re taking it too far.

The teachers that you like to mimic and make fun of behind their back… might be crying themselves to sleep each night from how alone they feel.

The “geek” that sits at the lunch table alone with no friends that everybody points at and laughs… might just be dealing with an abusive father who has

no concern for his or her welfare.

The famous singer that gave a “horrible performance” yesterday that everybody seemed to hate… might just have found out the worst news of their

life… but held it in and came out anyway.

The girl in class that doesn’t know when to shut up and everyone calls “annoying”… might just like to talk a lot because they’re afraid of the thoughts in

their head when they’re quiet.

The “nerd” that you like to make fun of everyday because they study too much and never have time to hang out – they might just see their family barely

surviving with the paycheck - and striving to make a better future for their children.

The member on your project team that doesn’t seem to ever have time or put in an effort – might just be taking care of their entire family because of a

father that’s never home and a mother that has other concerns than her children’s welfare.

The cashier you just yelled at for not getting your order right (Or the employee you just yelled at for not getting a customers order right) – might just be

having a terrible day after finding out his father was laid off and his mother was leaving them.

Your friend that you just hung up on because you were to pissed off to talk might have needed a shoulder to lean on after being yelled at by numerous

people.

The friends you feel like don’t put enough of an effort into your friendship – might be dealing with things you can’t even begin to grasp – and unable to

fake a smile when hanging out anymore.

Truth is, we let our emotions get the best of us, and never really consider how they can affect other people. We talk about others because it’s “fun” but

fail to consider how hurt they would be if they heard those things. We don’t place enough importance on how others might be feeling, how the things

we say and do can be really hurtful. Everybody has battles they’re facing, struggles that they go through. None of us are perfect, and we all fall short of

the person we strive to be. Most of us say we don’t care about what others say or think… but speaking for myself, I know if I heard something bad that

was sad, it would hurt me and upset me. And there are a lot of others that would be hurt and upset by the things we say as well. So let us take a

moment to consider how the things we say and do can have the power to make or break a person’s day. Everybody’s feelings matter. Our job is to

make people as happy as possible… not find ways to bring them down even further. So let’s forget the gossip, the hate, and the anger we carry… but

promote the happiness & love instead.