Law School Discussion

Hey...

all this discussion about TTT got me thinking... do we have too many law peoples... can the demand for lawyers keep up with supply? 

I have no idea... I just would like to know what everyone else believes / has researched.

The closer I get the start of law school the more and more I wonder if it is worth it... if I will be able to get employed not die poor and miserable etc.

In addition I hear talk of law schools fudging with the their numbers.  How are they doing this... are there any examples?   

If it makes you feel any better, I am about to finish my 1L and still worry a lot about those things, especially since I go to an ok ranked law school (108 on US News, but up from 116 the year before) but by no means a Harvard or Yale... but I think ultimately we have to figure that it all comes down to whether you like the law; not whether you like law school (because many people hate it) but whether you like the law itself... I mean lets face it, regardless of salary coming out, if we have made it to law school, it means we will probably making at least average incomes without even having earned a degree yet just by way of our undergrad degrees etc. As far as beyond that, the loans suck but just a cost of it i guess

Turns out I'll probably have to revise my schedule based on money issues (its cheaper to take 9 law credits and 6 business every semester than to take 12 and 3, etc...)

but as far as the health care compliance thing, if I am doing a few health law classes, there is no need to take a class on medical malpractice right?i imagine they would cover a lot in some of the health classes?

I am in the process of figuring out which classes to take for next year (my 2L year)
The school has these core classes: Income tax, administrative law, trusts and estates, evidence, commercial law, and business organizations which they require you to take 4 of (one of which must be tax or commercial) and recommend all 6. I am getting a joint degree with an MBA so am technically on the 4 year plan

I am hoping to work for a firm for a while primarily doing business law but then at some point open up my own office which while having a largely business focus but will take a few other cases now and then (torts, family, etc.) basically general law but with more of a focus on business cases (especially contract issues).

In light of this, which courses would you recommend? I am thinking of trying to keep them mostly business related but if I take one family law class or one medical malpractice at some point--- would that look bad to firms specializing in business law? I am thinking i should take all 6 of the core classes... is that a good idea?

I am thinking of taking for the fall:

Advanced Contracts ("multi-party contracts" mostly-third party beneficiaries, assignment and
delegation, suretyship, negotiability, ius tertii, fraudulent transfer, voidable
preference, security interests, bona fide purchaser, subordination agreement, pure and “pledgeable”
intangibles, and letters of credit.)
Evidence
2 MBA classes
Trusts and Estates


and for the spring:

business organizations
commercial law
an MBA accounting class (hoping it will also help me with Fed. Income Tax the following fall since I have heard horror stories about that class)
Law and Economics (mostly because it is a huge interest of mine--- is it really just a waste though since it is more philosophical/jurisprudential rather than some classes which seem more clearly substantive?)

Professional Responsibility (required)

any other classes I should consider for the future? should I consider taking IP even though I do not want to be a patent lawyer etc.? I also heard Criminal Procedure is on the bar and it is not required here; there are two upper level classes on it instead; should i take either of them or both, even though I have no desire to be a criminal attorney (save perhaps for white collar defense but there are no white collar crime classes available)?

I am also considering my school's health care compliance certificate since with the JD and MBA it would only be 2 classes extra. I hear it is something very helpful to have particularly with the recent debates on universal health care whether through the govt. directly or the govt. forcing employers to pay their employee insurance bills. I would have to take two health law classes that would count toward both the certificate and the JD... is it a good idea?

So I ended up getting an A- in my 4 credit torts class, so the only "real" grades I have for the fall are the 4 credit A-, the 3 credit C+ and the 2 credit B-, which averages out to a 3.0.... not great but not as bad as I had expected; any idea where this would be as far as class rank when the curve is somewhere between a B- and a C+?
 

My Professor asks alot of questions in class, is that normal.

If I were you, I'd be scared if he didn't ask questions