You'll Live

Someone just found my blog with the search query "What if I don't make law review?"

Okay, first, Google doesn't know the answer. Silly rabbit.

Second, if it is your sincerest wish, I hope you do make law review. I hope you have been smart about selecting your sincerest wish, however, because as the old saying goes, sometimes you get what you wish for.

Third, if you don't make law review, I propose that you commit yourself to an equivalent (or maybe approximately equivalent) amount of time to doing something real in the world that will impact actual people (not just lawyers or judges) doing things that matter to them. So work for a lawyer doing divorce work or become a guardian ad litem (or help the court administer this stuff) or find a business law office doing the kinds of things you're curious about and offer to help them with diligence and whatever else they need or shadow a bankruptcy trustee and help administer the files. Offer to do these things for free, and commit fifteen or more hours a week. After all, that's what you'd be giving to law review. And for god's sake be willing to do the tedious and unglamorous work -- photocopying and filing lets you see and touch every piece of paper, which is interesting and instructive in its own way. And trust me, the cite checking work going on in the law review office is no more glamourous or fascinating. Over time, as folks realize you're smart and reliable and interested, they'll cut you in on more interesting things.

I have a very, very strong hunch you'll learn a whole lot from doing that. You'll learn about law and you'll learn about people and you'll learn a ton about what you want from this career and what you don't. And if you choose your outside gig well you'll bring curiosity and energy and an incentive to learn to your classes, inspired by the situations you're seeing at this volunteer gig. Plus you'll meet people and see how they actually work all day and what that's like, and how different from law school or law review that is. You might even come to feel glad you didn't make law review. Crazy, I know.

Comments

[cmc]

I have never regretted my decision not to apply for law review (although I agonized about it at the time). Knowing that I wanted to be a litigator, I decided to spend as much time as possible developing skills as an advocate. So I devoted my extracurricular energy during the 2L and 3L years to moot court.

Moot court was both a valuable experience for me and a great addition to my resume. With moot court, you can tell potential employers that you have been on your feet in a court-like setting and that you liked it. Also, doing well within your school's moot court competition or in an interscholastic competition can have great prestige value. Heck, I might be more impressed with someone who won a major moot court competition than someone who made law review-- especially if I were looking to hire an advocate rather than a scholar.

Finally I would note that making law review is really a function of your grades and/or your writing, and don't those speak for themselves anyway?

[John P.]

At my (mid-sized) firm, moot court and law review are seen as pretty interchangeable as far as credentials go. The hiring committee likes to see one or the other on a person's resume. And it doesn't have to be THE law review, either. If the person's school has more than one law review, working on any one will suffice.