First-Year Associates

Anyone who has ever attended law school knows the intense pressure that law students face every semester. Overwhelmed with the amount of material that a first-year law student has to learn, all 1Ls know memorizing the substantive rules and concepts is only half the battle. To achieve high grades, law students have to write a completely different style and tone for each of their exams. A torts professor might expect definitions of any relevant legal terminology and a thorough application of rules that do not even apply to the exam fact pattern, while a criminal law professor prefers responses that are concise and to the point. As a first-year law student at Duquesne University School of Law six years ago, I thought to myself that I couldn't wait to be done with law school, where the law would be the law and I wouldn't have to alter my work product to the preference of any one person. I was wrong.