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March 24, 2005
Why 3L?
It's really not news that the third year of law school is, well, sort of uninspiring. Jeremy Blachman* has the latest on this subject: What the heck are we still doing here?. I've documented my feelings on the third year before here. I think that, unwittingly, Jeremy may have actually stumbled onto the only good reason for having a third year of law school:
I know we all have the responsibility to take charge of our own law school experiences and make things happen for ourselves -- but there's only so much momentum and energy to summon to do that. There's not much for 3Ls to do. People are planning vacations. Mastering XBox. Ordering t-shirts online with funny slogans. All during class, actually.
We are in fact all responsible for our own law school experiences. Just because law school itself has lost its luster doesn't mean that the third year has to suck. This is an opportune time for vacationing, buying cool stuff with that tax return, or even mastering the XBox. Next year, I won't have the time. Just as the stress of 1L is part of the overall law school rite of passage, so too is the ease of 3L. We've earned it. At least, I have. I still go to class. I still read for it (occasionally). I still care about my grades (somewhat). Jeremy's quite wrong though... there's a lot for 3Ls to do; it just isn't related to law school. Go to a museum. Go to a movie. Go to dinner. Go to sleep. Go to Spain. Go to a bar with a friend who doesn't care about the law.
Why have a third year of law school? Because you need the first to learn how to handle the second. You need the second to be on a journal and moot court and be in a club and get a job (if that's your poison) and all that other crap. You need the third to breath; to recover from the second. Even if you aren't going to work at big firm and have long hours, you're deluding yourself if you think that working a full-time job will allow you the same freedom that we have right now. That's why 3L.
* Harvard 3L who decided not to return to his summer law firm and who recently signed a book deal. Kudos.
Posted by buddha at March 24, 2005 08:43 PM
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