Responding to Comment: Do Law Students Suck?

One commenter earlier this week wrote:

I am in law school, and I hate these people. I really can't be any more funny or coherent about it. I just hate them. They make me feel ill. I wish they would go away and stop bothering me. I miss my former job in JOURNALISM for chrissakes.

Does the whole profession suck this badly? Do the people change once they get out of law school and are less stressed? Because boring, unhappy and working my last nerve with their hyperness doesn't BEGIN to cover it.

Anyway, I realize that MY boredom, unhappiness and extremely unhealthy stress level could be contributing to my inability to tolerate these people. But I still think they just kind of suck.

Does this spark any thoughts?

Okay.  I'm sorry your law school sucks.  Or maybe you just need some sleep.  One of the first things I felt in law school -- on the very first day of orientation -- was that the mix of people really was kind of different from undergrad or any other settings I'd been in.  I remember seeking out a section-mate who I'd gotten a good first impression vibe off of, and thought we might end up being friends, and asking if he felt like everyone was kind of overbearing.  There were more extroverts than introverts in law school, sort of.  Maybe just at Harvard, because you'd think from what most lawyers spend all day doing that it would be the opposite.  But it was a weird kind of extrovert.  A disingenuous feeling, a veneer, a phoniness that I really didn't like.  People putting on an act, and coming on really strong in introductory conversation.  The thing is, the people who do that can dominate even if they're in the minority.  I met a few people who are gratingly irritating like that, and I ascribed it to everyone.  I assumed everyone was like that, but they weren't.  And even some of the ones who were, when you got past the facade and they got a little more secure, and it wasn't the first day of school, and they weren't trying so hard -- some of them weren't so bad either.  So my advice to the commenter, and to anyone else -- give it a couple of weeks, try to meet as many people as you can, and I can almost promise you will find some nice, decent, genuine, good people, even in law school.  There's obviously a mix of people anywhere, and some are awesome and some are less awesome, and maybe law school pulls from a part of the continuum where there are more less awesome people than, say, in the Peace Corps.  But I think they're out there, they're just quieter at first and aren't putting their hand in your face and introducing themselves.  Hang in there.

As for the question in there about whether people change once they get out of law school?  I don't know, but I expect if they change it's not for the better.  After all, they're just starting out right now.  Law school is pretty easy on the soul compared to the life of a law firm associate, in at least some percentage of cases.  I expect lawyers out in the real world are not in fact any more interesting, warm, or empathetic as people in law school.  That's not the answer you want, but, really, I think in time you'll find you're not alone and there are other people feeling the same way you are, and you'll make some friends and it'll all be easier.  Even if, worst case, there's an awful disingenuousness that pervades the culture of some of these schools, there are lots of exceptions.  You can always go make friends with the medical students.  (Or start a blog to vent about all of it.)

Comments

[Andrea]

Funny you mention the Peace Corps. I met a guy in orientation who had been in Teach for America like me and had come to law school because of that experience, and I knew I could always go seek him out when I needed a break from the "are you doing law review/ACS/Fed Soc/OCI/200-page outlines" conversations. Just ran into him in the post office and we had another good conversation. We aren't great friends, but every time I talk to him I remember what the world was like pre-law school, and that there are other people who feel like I do about the law and kids and schools and money.

So it's good to seek out some people like that - even find the other journalists in your class and reminisce with them and remember who you used to be. There are people who seem like they're running for office NOW. And more who are bewildered by such things. They're just hiding away from the bar review (like I am right now :). Good luck.

[Java Bean Rush]

I did not realize other law students had interests outside of law school.

It's so nice to know this.

Thanks Jeremy and Andrea

[Ally]

I highly recommend doing most of your socializing during the first semester of law school with non-law students. That was the key for me and helped me avoid hearing about how much someone studied, etc. After the first semester, law students seem to calm down and start resembling normal human beings (at least a little). It only gets better; I promise.

[lobbyist]

People get better after law school. Law school breeds anxiety, which makes people insecure and makes it less likely that the attractive part of their personality will emerge. I have run into classmates 10 years out now and they are so much nicer than they used to be. Also I am less anxious about proving myself to them. At my law school I had one or two good friends (from other classes) in school and made the majority of my friends from outside interests. Good luck.

[Judge Reinhold]

During my first semester, I was terrified of my roommate--who would regularly run out in the middle of the night to purchase full-body condoms. But, don't worry. It gets better.

[F Horn]

I hope you continue doing what you do because it's so good!