Top 8 Concerns That Law Students Have

Aspiring lawyers and law students face a unique set of challenges as they work towards their career goals. Here are eight top concerns that law students often encounter

1. Balancing coursework and extracurricular activities: Law school is rigorous, and students are expected to put in long hours of studying and preparation. At the same time, they may want to participate in clubs, clinics, and other activities to build their resumes and gain practical experience.

When I was in law school, the pace felt very fast and I found myself struggling to keep up with the ideal pace. Overtime I found myself unable to do all the recommended pre and post weekly readings for lectures, in addition to preparing proper answers for tutorial and some classes like Australian Legal Studies that additionally had a separate weekly seminar in addition to tutorial and figure out how to do the major legal assignments required. I wondered how I could possibly participate in a moot or add in an additional extracurricular on top. However, in second semester, I decided to sign up with a friend for my first client interview competition, an extracurricular competition sponsored by Baker and Mackenzie, a major law firm in Australia. My friend convinced me that in order for us to stand out as law graduates later, we needed to do some extracurriculars and just passing law school wasn’t going to be enough. This was particularly true as we didn’t have long breaks at Bond University. There were no 2-4 month summers we could try to get a summer job at or internship at our school.

I didn’t have friends prior to law school that I knew going to the same law school. I was lucky to have become friends with my neighbour who turned out to be my upper-class woman that sold me a textbook. I continued to do more competitions as my time in law school continued. I also competed in a negotiation challenge and a constitutional moot later. It wasn’t easy trying to fit what felt like an additional school project on top of the class work we already had but I don’t regret it as it gave me further chances to gain practical experience, network with other colleagues and law faculty members, and helped build my resume. At Bond University, we have legal assignments in each of our classes that helps build up our legal skills mark in the end, including sentencing moots for Australian Criminal A class for example, however I would recommend still trying to participate in additional extracurriculars if you are going to Bond University or a school that has similar mandatory assignments, as sometimes it’s not enough to only do it once, and it would be good to showcase your skills to potential sponsor law firms you may apply to later. I understand balancing coursework and extracurriculars may feel like a challenge but if you are a full-time law student, I would recommend trying to get an extracurricular in.  

2. Managing finances: Law school is notoriously expensive, and many students take on significant debt to finance their education. This can create additional stress and pressure as they try to balance their studies with part-time jobs or other sources of income.

This is absolutely true. I was fortunate enough to have supportive parents that were willing to additionally co-sign a professional student line of credit from the bank with me to give me the guarantee that I would be able to finish law school but not everyone has financial support from others. Some try to work on weekends to make some income however you can’t work realistically work many hours through the week if you’re in full-time studies. Some students opt to go to school part-time and work more part-time shifts to avoid as much debt.    

3. Finding a job after graduation: With the legal job market becoming increasingly competitive, law students may worry about their prospects of finding a job after graduation. This can be especially stressful for those who have taken on significant debt to finance their education.

There’s a lot of pressure for law students to try to secure articling roles or internships at large firms before graduating. Those that don’t, continue to worry about whether they will find a job. A lot of students who haven’t secured an articling position or a work placement post graduation struggle for months looking for a spot. This is known and so law students often worry about this. In Canada, there are also many international graduates that are looking for jobs while they complete their NCA requirements and worry whether they will have better luck after they are NCA qualified.

Read Social pressures, self-doubt, constant limbo, frantic job hunting are part of the journey. Resilience is key and Guest Post: Surviving Unemployment While You Seek Your Dream Job by Faria Ahmed

4. Meeting academic expectations: Law school is known for its challenging curriculum, and students may feel overwhelmed by the workload and pressure to succeed.

A lot of students who enter law school, worked hard during their undergraduate studies or high school (if they were able to enter directly into an LL.B) and often got As then. When you enter into law school, you realize that everyone was like an A student before. You also realize that law school is an entirely different beast than high school or undergrad. This may also be the first time some students are encountering a curve in grades and don’t know how to deal with that. When I completed my undergraduate degree not in law, I was fortunate to have a school that believed that you get what you deserve and if there happened to be multiple top students, then it was fair to give them the marks. When I got to law school, it was upsetting to hear that many law schools curve your grades to the class, which results in students not wanting to be helpful towards one another. Some law schools also require you to maintain a certain grade level to keep scholarships or to even stay in law school. This puts a lot of pressure on students, and many students who were once A students before law school become upset when they can’t seem to get the same grades in law school no matter how hard they try. These students feel bad when they can’t keep up with all the readings assigned before and after lectures, while also working on tutorials, and making their notes for their finals, and then blame themselves when their grades are not as great as they were hoping.

5. Maintaining mental health and well-being: Law school can be stressful and isolating, and students may struggle with anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues.

A lot of law school students don’t feel comfortable about sharing their mental health issues with one another, especially in the environment where everyone may be pitted against one another in a grade curve. Unfortunately a lot of law students are often feeling the above noted pressures and anxiety but continue to bury it as their anxiety continues to rise while seeing others seeming to respond well to law school classes. These students feel like they are outliers and begin to question whether they will be able to succeed in getting through law school. A lot of law students also feel like their support system outside of law school may not understand and so they continue to feel isolated.

Check out “Loneliness, an emotive state you don’t need to be in” – a relatable blog post on loneliness during law school

6. Navigating the legal profession: The legal profession can be complex and challenging to navigate, and law students may worry about how to build relationships with mentors, colleagues, and clients.

This profession relies a lot on building relationships and finding people to build a network with that can assist you or provide you with work. Although many law students and graduates may be capable of succeeding in the legal practice, there are fewer internships and entry graduate positions offered to everyone to apply for. Many of these postings will have many apply and compete for possible roles. Student and graduates who have built relationships with others in the legal profession may have an easier time finding out about potential opportunities either with people directly hiring or are able to direct leads to people who they know may hire. Starting out in the legal profession may also be daunting or difficult for a lot of students and graduates, and having a mentor or someone that can provide guidance and advice can be helpful but many of these students and graduates don’t know how they can reach out to build relationships with mentors. Some students may worry about how they will be able to build a book of business when they graduate or practice law, as often law firms will promote those that have a bigger book of business and anyone who intends to build their own practice will need to find clients as well.

Read post: “How do you find a mentor early on in your legal career?”

7. Balancing work and personal life: Law school can be all-consuming, and students may find it difficult to maintain relationships and responsibilities outside of their studies.

As noted above, there’s often pressure for law students to do well in law school, and with this pressure, there will be students who will sacrifice their personal life to try to do better in law school. While trying to keep up with the course work including readings, tutorials, lectures, making notes and preparing for the exams, and then additionally participating in extra-curricular activities or attempting to gain practical experience during law school, there isn’t always much time left for students to maintain their outside personal life. It may also be difficult for family and friends outside of law school to understand this all-consuming nature, and it can put a strain on those relationships that law students have.

8. Staying up-to-date with legal developments: The law is constantly evolving, and staying informed about new developments and changes can be a challenge for law students who are already juggling a demanding workload.

While I was in law school, I did not regularly keep up to date on current legal developments as I found it difficult trying to keep up with my studies and participate in moot competitions and other extra-curricular activities. It was advised that one should keep up to date with legal developments to network and discuss with professors and others in the legal profession. When you’re working for a law firm, you can show your interest in an area when you are following current legal updates and are able to engage in such discussions with others, and in turn this will make a much better impact than small talk with work colleagues. I try to keep up today with more legal updates, and understand the importance of legal updates for legal professionals. Some tips to stay up to date include utilizing social media like X, formerly known as Twitter which regularly can provide headlines and snippets of information especially when you follow legal newsletters, legal publishers, your law society and local legal network organizations, it can also be helpful to subscribe to legal newsletters, follow social media of or become a member of local lawyer or legal professional associations, attend continuing professional education events, and subscribe to law blogs just like this one.

So there’s my list of the top 8 concerns that law students have. If you’re a future law student or planning to look into law school, this list may have given you some food for thought. Or if you are a current law student, can you relate to any of these concerns? Would you agree with my list, or do you have bigger concerns as a law student? Comment below and let us know!

P.S. Are you an anxious future law student or a 1L whose figuring out how to survive and need more? Do you have Amazon Kindle? Check out Law School Survival Guide: Strategies for Preparing and Thriving