Ok so I’m one of the part time evening sistahs on the 4 year plan in law school. I’m confused about what I should schedule for next semester which will be the second semester of my second year. So far I have (or will have) the following classes under my belt by next semester:
Civil Procedure
Legal Writing I
Property
Contracts
Criminal Law
Constitutional Law
Evidence
Now ConLaw lasts two semesters so I have to take another big helping of that next semester. Classes selections are pretty slim in the night division so here are the main choices, their maybe some others that start in the nebulous 4:40 time period but I haven’t listed them here.
Federal Income Taxation
Conflict of Laws
Remedies
Advanced Torts
Patent Law
Family Law
some class devoted to the first amendment
My advisor is sort of like Major Major from Catch 22 and I can never see him when he is in but I can always see him when he is not in. Very frustrating… So if you can offer any advice that would be awesome.
Besides the fact that it provides lots of practice with meshing statutes, regs, case law, and the constitution, which skills are useful no matter what kind of law you do, you can help me (and others) fight tax ignorance here on the SDMB!
Really though, if I were you I’d stick to the broadest classes possible, and then narrow down in your third and fourth years.
You didn’t tell us how many of those classes you’ll need to take, but I’d stick with conflict of laws, remedies, and torts and leave patent law, family law, and FIT until later.
I’d recommend ignoring the subject matters of the classes almost entirely, and just try to take classes with the best professors. Who do the 2Ls and 3Ls like? For example, you could love or hate Income Tax – depending on the professor. And don’t worry too much about missing out on substantive classes, because if push comes to shove, you’ll learn it in barbri.
Transfer to Georgetown which has a broader selection for evening students.
I’d say of the two, Tax and Remedies are probably the most generally useful assuming you’re not planning to paractice IP or family law. Advanced torts could go either way – it’ll depend a lot on the professor and what he chooses to cover. I wish I’d managed to fit in a conflict of laws class, but I didn’t, so I can’t speak with intelligence about it.
Try to find yourself a Securities law class and/or negotiable instruments at some point – it’ll be on the Bar and it’s probably the toughest thing to learn in BarBri. It’s also good stuff for a lawyer to know.
Take required classes early. Leave fun electives for later.
Take classes that may help you with the State Bar. Is Tax on your Bar?
Take classes with good profs, as recommended.
Take classes where you have good outlines from previous students
Find out if you can transfer Grad level credits over to Law. I got credit in my 3d year of law school for a graduate level California History class. Fun, easy, and no risk of lowering my Law GPA.
So is there any reason for waiting another year to take Conflict of Laws? The professor is really good… I mean will I learn anything in the next year or so that would be beneficial to have before Conflict of Laws?
If you’ve had at least some ConLaw, I don’t see a reason to wait on Conflict of Laws. You have to take something every term.
I loved Family Law, and it’s pretty much guaranteed to be on the bar exam in any state, so it’s useful to have taken. I took it fairly early (1st semester of 2L year), and I didn’t need any additional background.
Remedies is a very useful class that I wish I had taken. Again, I think you could take this any time.
There’s probably not a lot of point in taking Patent Law unless you’re interested in intellectual property as a career (and I say this as a patent lawyer). If you have a science background, you might want to consider it, or if you think you want to do litigation. But it’s definitely a class that can wait.
Have you had basic Torts, and is it a prereq for Advanced Torts? I’d be nervous about taking any “Advanced” course without having had the basic one first.
Hey, screw the freakin’ bar exam. Don’t take a class simply because it’s on the bar–that’s why god made BarBri.
I didn’t take Trusts and Wills, family law, marital property rights, oil and gas, or anything procedure or criminal related after first year and I passed the bar just fine.
If you go to a school with a historically low bar pass rate, feel free to ignore this advice.
Screw Conflicts. One Conflicts rule will get you through a career: The widow and orphans win. By all means take Bill and Notes and Secured Transactions, or what ever the Uniform Commercial Code classes at your school are. Take a course in advanced real estate transactions and estate and probate. Even if you never expect to try a case in your life take a trial practice class.
I second taking something that is on your state bar. My dad died my first semester, hence I spent the next two years trying to build on a shaky foundation. Then, I passed everything on the first try.
Best advice I can give you: remember that being a lawyer is nothing special to everyone else – especially other lawyers.
Oh yeah, answer the queston: I’d take advanced torts. Wish I wasn’t required to take FIT. It’s useful, don’t get me wrong. I consider it “ordinary and necessary.” (<<< Clickable Smilie.)
