Activate Your Listening Skills

We’re excited to introduce “Emotional Intelligence (EI) Fridays” on the blog, where we will hone in on how to develop and implement these softer skills. 

Our first topic of focus will be listening, a critical skill for doctors, lawyers, and (future) CEOs alike. We hope you enjoy this three-part series.

Click here to read Part 1 of this series. 

To become a more effective listener, keep in mind that listening requires engaging on multiple dimensions. Robin Abrahams and Boris Groysberg described the three components of listening in a Harvard Business Review article: Cognitive (taking in and comprehending the information); Emotional (maintaining calm to receive the information and managing emotional reactions to the information or its delivery); and Behavioral (demonstrating interest and picking up verbal and nonverbal cues). Maintaining awareness and control in these three dimensions promotes good listening. 

In the same article, Abrahams and Groysberg provide a “cheat sheet” of nine actions you can do to improve your listening in the short term. 

1. Repeat the speaker’s last few words back to them. The authors note that this practice demonstrates to people that you’re listening, keeps you engaged, and can provide moments to “gather thoughts or recover from an emotional reaction.” 

2. Steer clear of restating or summarizing in your own words what the speaker said— unless you need to. This practice should only be used if you are not sure that you’re understanding. Abrahams and Groysberg suggest that if you do use it, explicitly state that you’re restating to confirm your own comprehension.

3. Offer nonverbal communication if you are comfortable doing so. If it feels natural, use eye contact and nodding to demonstrate that you’re listening. If not, don’t distract yourself with internal reminders to nod or make eye contact. 

4. Look for nonverbal communication from the speaker. Take note of the speaker’s tone of voice, posture, facial expressions, and other body language or unspoken cues. The authors note the nonverbal can provide additional insight into the emotion and/or motivation behind the information.

5. Ask questions—more than you think you need to. Asking questions not only allows the speaker to feel listened to, it ensures that you comprehended the message and are not overlooking aspects of the information. 

6. Be aware of distractions and try to minimize them. In addition to the digital and workplace distractions we all face, when you’re listening, try to focus on the conversation and speaker, rather than allowing your growing to-do list or another conversation to take over your mind. 

7. Acknowledge your shortcomings to the speaker. Let the speaker know where you are coming from. Have you been in too many meetings today? Did you not have time to read the pre-meeting brief? Are you distracted by your roommate or kids in the next room? Let them know what you’re dealing with so you can both do your best to overcome existing obstacles.

8. Don’t rehearse your response while the other person is talking. The authors note that you think faster than others speak, but don’t fall prey to the temptation to prepare your response in advance. Take a few moments after they’ve spoken to compose your thoughts and use any extraneous brainpower to listen fully. 

9. Monitor your emotions. Emotions can make it difficult to listen. Our brains can quickly engage in defensive behavior, pointing out the ways that the speaker is wrong and we’re correct. So, be aware of your emotions, acknowledge that you’re feeling emotional, breathe through it, and try to stay engaged with what the speaker is saying. 

What to Know if You’re a Pre-Law Student Considering Paralegal Work

Only about one-third of first-year law students in the U.S. went directly to law school from undergrad. At Yale, only about 15 percent of the law class of 2025 matriculated immediately after graduation. The majority of law applicants choose to take a gap year, or several, prior to applying. And, every year, we receive a lot of questions about the value of paralegal experience for applicants. Should you pursue it in your gap year? In a word: maybe. Let’s review the pros and cons to see if it might be the right fit for you. 

The Pros:

• If you are interested in a career at a law firm, work as a paralegal will provide an up-close view of your life as an associate. You will see what the hours, work, and intra-firm relationships will look like.

• You’ll build a personal network within the firm, which may benefit you as you go through the recruitment process.

• While your work as an early-career paralegal will be administrative in nature, you will develop skills that will benefit you in law school and beyond including legal research and writing.

• You’ll earn a reasonable salary, and some firms pay for paralegals to attend LSAT test preparation courses. You may even be able to continue working throughout law school if you attend a local university and have time. 

The Cons:

• As mentioned above, your early-career paralegal work will be more administrative than substantive in content.

• Paralegal experience is fairly common among law applicants, so you will want to find additional ways to stand out. Inquire about taking on a challenging long-term research project at your firm or a leadership role in a firm-wide charitable initiative.

• If you need to earn money to pay for law school, jobs in industries that you’re interested in (e.g. tech, finance) may provide meaningful and challenging experiences, while also  paying you a higher salary.  

Let’s Get (Inter)Personal: Hearing and Listening

We’re excited to introduce “Emotional Intelligence (EI) Fridays” on the blog, where we will hone in on how to develop and implement these softer skills. 

Our first topic of focus will be listening, a critical skill for doctors, lawyers, and (future) CEOs alike. We hope you enjoy this three-part series.

In our rushed and noisy daily lives, it has become common to use the words “hear” and “listen” interchangeably. We ask, “Can you hear me?” presuming that if a person can hear us, they’re listening. But, Julian Treasure, author of How to be Heard: Secrets of Powerful Speaking and Listening, provides us with a key point of differentiation between the two in his Ted Talk on Conscious Listening. “My definition of listening is making meaning from sound. All the sound around us. And there are three stages to that process. The first stage is a physical stage: sound waves hit your body. All over. But in particular, they go deep inside your head, and the sound waves touch your eardrums. In the second stage, that physical relationship is translated into neural activity, electrical activity in the brain. In the third part of the process, mental activity takes place and that, I suggest, is when listening really happens,” he said.

This definition is important because it makes clear that listening goes beyond the physical act of hearing. For many, we have so conflated the two that we assume that not only do we know how to listen properly, but that we’re good at it. Yes, we say, I can hear you. But hearing doesn’t mean listening. 

In fact, a good portion of us are not listening much at all, and we don’t even realize it. An Accenture study found that 96 percent of global professionals surveyed believe they are good listeners. But another study, described in Scientific American, found that, directly after listening to a 10-minute talk, about half of adult participants could not describe the talk’s subject matter and after 48 hours that percentage ballooned to 75 percent. In the Harvard Business Review, Tijs Besieux reported that, “Studies show people are distracted, forgetful, or preoccupied 75% of the time when listening.” The magnitude of that 75 percent increases upon consideration of how much of the workday is spent listening. On the Wharton Business Daily podcast, Oscar Trimboli, author of How to Listen: Discover the Hidden Key to Better Communication, said that 55 percent of most people’s workdays are spent listening. And that percentage increases along with seniority. For most managers, listening makes up 63 percent of the day, and for executives, a whooping 83 percent.

Because most people consider listening as a physical sense rather than a skill, it is rare to receive formal training on how to listen. Besieux wrote, “Less than two percent of the worldwide population has received formal education on listening effectively, and research points to a ‘crisis in listening’ as organizations spend 80 percent of their corporate communication resources on speaking.” This lack of instruction becomes more poignant when combined with workplaces that tend to be rife with distractions that make conscious listening difficult—Accenture found that 98 percent of global respondents spend at least part of their day multitasking—and reward decisive action more than mindful listening. 

Regardless of your field, the “crisis in listening” affects you. Dr. Howard Luks, orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, wrote in his blog, “Most patients are interrupted by their physicians after 18 seconds. Yes, 18 seconds. Poor communication and listening skills are likely at the heart of this emerging high-tech, low-touch method of treating patients these days. Physicians feel rushed because they’re trying to maintain their income as their reimbursements decline and they need to spend more time filling out reams of paperwork to justify many of their requests or actions.” Fiona Martin, Director and Head of Employment Law at Martin Searle Solicitors, highlighted a similar challenge. “Every lawyer knows that understanding client needs is an essential part of the service. Too often, the process is geared to identifying what legal services can be provided. Instead of really listening to what the client is saying, you’re waiting for them to stop talking so that you can get started,” she told Law Firm Ambition. And according to the Accenture study referenced earlier, 64 percent of global respondents felt that the digital workplace has made listening significantly more difficult, and 36 percent said “the many distractions prevent them from doing their best, resulting in a loss of focus, lower-quality work, and diminished team relationships.” 

LSAC and ABA Announce Development of Adversity Metric for Law School Admissions

LSAC and ABA officials, in collaboration with The College Board, recently announced an ongoing effort to develop an adversity metric for law schools. The metric will be available for use in admissions, and will “contextualize” applicants’ experiences. A similar metric, created by The College Board for college-level admissions, provides insight into the quality of an applicant’s neighborhood and high school. 

During the announcement, Council Research Director, Elizabeth Bodamer described the project’s purpose. “There are thousands of law school applicants each year who have journeyed through barriers, and in spite of it all, have made it through,” Bodamer said. “The big question is: How do we capture this context?” 

While the metric will capture environmental factors impacting an applicant, such as the quality of schools attended, Bodamer explains that it is not able, or intended, to capture the totality of an individual’s experiences. However, in the wake of the 2023 Supreme Court decision disallowing the use of race in admissions, many law schools updated their essay prompts to provide applicants the opportunity to share these formative, individual experiences. 

LSAC officials are already using the metric alongside 2023 admissions decisions to analyze its potential impact. One early insight compares admissions into law school from “high-challenge colleges” versus “low-challenge colleges.” Among low-challenge schools, which are those with higher graduation rates and higher per-student spending, almost all applicants gain admission to law school. Meanwhile, significantly fewer applicants, less than two-thirds, from high-challenge schools receive acceptances. 

2024 QS Rankings Names Harvard Best Law School in the World

Earlier this week, QS dropped its 2024 World Law School Rankings. Harvard Law, once again took the top spot. In fact, the top nine remained the same as last year. The University of Melbourne emerged as the only new entrant into the top ten, moving up one slot from the 11th rank last year.

QS bases its law school rankings on an aggregate of four indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, research citations per paper, and H-indices (a measure of the productivity and impact of a university department’s research). Harvard not only achieved a perfect score on three of the four indicators, but it was the only school to achieve a perfect score on any of the indicators. 

U.S.-based law schools showed well, taking six of the top ten spots, while U.K.-based schools took an additional three. Below, we’ve listed the top ten, as well as the U.S.-based schools ranked in the top 50. Check out the full ranking here. 

Top Ten:

1. Harvard University

2. University of Oxford, United Kingdom

3. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

4. Yale University

5. Stanford University

6. New York University

7. The London School of Economics and POlitical Science, United Kingdom

8. Columbia University

9. University of California, Berkeley

10. The University of Melbourne, Australia

U.S.-based Schools Ranked in the Top 50:

11. University of Chicago

19. University of California, Los Angeles

23. Georgetown University

29. University of Pennsylvania

30. Duke University

34. Cornell University

36. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

50. University of Virginia

Thinking about Transferring Law Schools? Here’s What You Need to Know.

Transfer spots are hyper-competitive. All of the T14 schools accept transfers, but the acceptance rate for transfer applicants is ten percent or lower, meaning the school receives 10 or more applications for every available spot. Accepted transfers are typically in the top quintile of their 1L class, if not the top 10 percent, and have a strong 1L academic transcript. 

You may not receive funding. While some schools offer scholarship opportunities for transfer students, you shouldn’t count on it. If merit-based scholarships or other funding is important to you, you should speak with the admissions team at your programs of interest to learn the specifics about transfer students’ eligibility for scholarship money. 

Schools have varying policies for transfer students and how credits earned from another school can be utilized. As a transfer student, you will still have many opportunities. You will likely be able to find a place on a law review, obtain a research position with a professor, or earn a spot in the top ten percent of the class. But dig into the details before making your final decision. 

How to apply:

Some schools offer early decision options and/or rolling admission for transfer applicants. Apply as early as you are able to put together a strong application package.

Requested applicant materials for transfer students are similar to those you submitted initially, with some updates necessary to include your 1L year. 

• Transfer application

• Resume: Updated to include 1L experiences

• Personal statement: Updated to include recent growth and meaningful experiences, and a compelling reason for your desired transfer

• Letters of recommendation: Updated to include at least one recommendation from a current law professor 

• Transcripts: Updated to include your 1L academic records 

• GRE or LSAT test score: Generally, for transfer applicants, standardized test scores hold less weight in admissions decisions than 1L transcripts and performance. 

• Letter of good standing from your current law school

Below, we’ve compiled the T14 transfer stats (available on the standard 509), the overall 1L class size, and the final submission deadlines for transfers this year.

  2022-2023 Transfers

Name Out    In     Total 1L (2023)         Transfer Application Date

Stanford University 0 6 174 June 1, 2024

Yale University 0 10 201 June 12, 2024

University of Chicago 3 16 192 June 15, 2024

Duke University 1 0 244 June 1, 2024

Harvard 0 52 563 June 10, 2024

UPenn Carey 3 6 248 June 15, 2024

UVA 3 0 305 June 25, 2024

Columbia 0 59 415 July 1, 2024

NYU 1 47 429 June 15, 2024

Northwestern Pritzker 3 32 241 June 26, 2024

Michigan 2 14 302 July 12, 2024

UC Berkeley 5 18 339 June 15, 2024

UCLA 4 31 315 June 15, 2024

Cornell 7 2 191 August 1, 2024

Georgetown 11 122 604 June 17, 2024

Best Law Schools for Government and Public Interest

Interested in pursuing government or public interest work with your law degree? A new analysis by Reuters, using ABA employment data 10 months post-graduation for the Class of 2023, identified the schools sending the largest percentages of JD graduates into these fields.

Overall, around 20 percent of 2023 law graduates entered into the public interest or government sectors at 9 and 11 percent, respectively. However, at the City University of New York (CUNY) Law School, over 55 percent of 2023 graduates entered the fields. Almost half pursued a job in public interest (43 percent), with another 13 percent entering into the government. At the University of the District of Columbia’s Clarke School of Law, nearly 44 percent entered into public interest and government jobs. 

The top 10 schools and the percentages of graduating students who went into government/public interest are below. 

CUNY Law: 55.34 percent

University of DC Clarke Law: 43.75 percent

Albany Law: 36.36 percent 

Northern Kentucky Law: 34.58 percent

SUNY Buffalo Law: 33.12 percent

Florida A&M Law: 33.04 percent

University of Cincinnati Law: 32.28 percent

University of California, Davis Law: 32.02 percent (tie)

University of Wisconsin Law: 32.02 percent (tie)

Penn State Dickinson Law: 32 percent 

Related:

Best Law Schools for Big Law

Best Law Schools for Practical Training

Survey Shows Almost Half of Junior Law Associates Feel Unprepared for Work at Firms

Nearly half of junior associates at law firms, 45 percent, reported that they do not feel law school prepared them for work, according to recent survey results. Despite this, most expressed satisfaction with their career choices. 

Legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey, and Africa partnered with legal data provider Leopard Solutions to survey 546 junior associates at law firms earlier this year. The survey aimed to understand newly practicing associates’ law firm experiences, career aspirations, and perceptions of how law school prepared them for law firm life. 

Key findings include:

Just under a third of respondents, 31 percent, said that their “law firm experience didn’t meet their expectations coming out of law school.” 

• Almost all respondents felt that law school had focused too much on “theoretical concepts and doctrinal analysis” rather than practical skills. This included the feeling that law schools over-emphasize litigation at the expense of skills necessary for those entering corporate law. One open-ended response said, “[Law school] did not teach me how to write enough; my drafting is poor, and it suffers. I did very well in law school and feel floundering.”

• Similarly, respondents named business development and client relations as overlooked topics in the law school curriculum, but essential to those entering into firms. One respondent wrote, “I was not taught how to be in business. Being a lawyer is more managing than it is interpreting the law. Business students are more prepared to be lawyers than law students.”

83 percent of respondents reported feeling satisfied with their firm choice and said that they would select the same firm if given a “re-do.”

• Over two-thirds of respondents, 67 percent, plan to stay at their current job for three or more years, although 24 percent said they only plan to stay for two years. Just nine percent plan to leave within the year. 

• Over a third of respondents, 36 percent, named “making partner” as their ultimate career goal, while 24 percent expressed a desire to move to an in-house position and 12 percent to a government or NGO role. Just nine percent said that they wished to ultimately leave legal practice.

• Over a third of respondents, 36 percent, acknowledged that their ambitions had changed from law school to starting at a firm. One respondent shared, “I am unsure about whether I would want to become Partner—as associates, we receive almost no information as to what this entails daily or how to get clients.” Another mentioned a fear that working at a firm could interfere with personal goals. The respondent wrote, “I have begun to wonder whether this position and more senior positions at a large law firm may not necessarily be compatible with my family goals in the future.”

Related:

Best Law Schools for Big Law

Best Law Schools for Practical Training

Your 2024-2025 Law School Application Timeline

It’s never too early to create your law school application strategy! Apply Point's ideal schedule looks something like this timeline. 

Never too early 

• If you haven't connected with us yet, do it as soon as you can. We can guide you on your academic choices and advise you on how to land internships or volunteer experiences that will appeal to admissions committees. 

• Investigate the LSAT. The LSAT is typically offered in January, February, April, June, and then monthly from August to November. Taking it in the summer or early fall of your application year gives you some wiggle room if you must retake it. The latest you should retake this test is November 2024 (for Fall 2025 matriculation). 

• Start a journal. You'll raid your journal for details for your Personal Statement, and School-Specific Essays. Make notes on your current experiences as they happen and past ones whenever you have a moment to ponder them. You can keep a paper or digital diary or even record audio and text notes on your phone as they come to you, and organize them into a document later. (You will eventually want all of your experiences in one place.) 

Spring and Summer 2024

• Be all about LSAT preparation. Take a prep course and/or work with a tutor to prepare for the test. 

• Gain meaningful experiences in both academic, internship/volunteer, and extracurricular settings. 

• Visit law schools of interest, if you’re able, and research law programs to understand their offerings and how they align with your goals. 

• Continue keeping a journal. This is repetitive for a reason—never stop doing this. It is so helpful. 

August and September 2024

• Create an LSAC account and register for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS).

• Reach out to your recommenders. We'd like you to get three to four letters of recommendation, with at least two from professors who can speak to your ability to thrive in a challenging academic environment.  

• Take the LSAT. 

• Finalize your school list. You want a hearty list of "I could go here" schools and you’ll ultimately want to apply to between 10 and 15 law schools. 

• Move all of your journaled experiences into a brainstorming document. 

• Request your transcripts—and this includes those from schools abroad. 

October-December 2024

• Finalize your Personal Statement and School-Specific Essays. This is going to take a while. If you blast it all out in one week, you haven't done it right. Give yourself time for writing, revisions, and re-writing. 

• Update your resume to showcase the results you’ve achieved and impact you’ve had. 

• Follow up with your recommenders to ensure that they have submitted their Letters of Recommendation through the CAS. 

January 2025

• Fill out the school applications and Character & Fitness questionnaires available through LSAC. 

• Submit your applications by mid-January, at the latest. Most law schools offer rolling admissions and submitting your application on the earlier side will benefit you.  

• Prepare for and participate in interviews, even if they are optional. Your brainstorming document will continue to be useful here. Interviews are a great way for the admissions committee to get to know you as a person (beyond your application) and for you to learn more about a program’s student experience, experiential learning opportunities, and/or alumni network.

Stanford and Yale Continue Reign Atop U.S News’ Best Law Schools Ranking

The U.S. News and World Report has posted the 2024-2025 Best Law School rankings. For the second year in a row, Stanford and Yale Law Schools are tied for the top spot followed by University of Chicago in the third rank. 

Notable changes to the T14 from the last year’s rankings include: 

• A four-way tie for the fourth rank. Duke, Harvard, and UVA joined UPenn in the fourth position this year. Duke and Harvard moved up one spot from a tie at 5th in 2023. UVA made the largest year-over-year gain in the T14, jumping up four places from last year. 

• NYU experienced the largest drop within the T14, moving down four spots to join Northwestern and Michigan in a three-way tie at 9th. 

• Georgetown moved up one rank to officially join the T14 in a tie at 14th with Cornell.  

Outside of the T14, highlights include: 

• Washington University of St. Louis jumped up four spots to tie for the 16th rank with University of Minnesota and University of Texas-Austin. 

• Notre Dame became one of the year’s big winners with a seven spot improvement from 2023, joining the University of Southern California in a tie for 20th. 

• Boston University rejoined the top 25 this year, moving from the 27th rank in 2023 to 24th.

• Brigham Young, Ohio State, and the University of Florida dropped out of the top 25 this year, after being a part of a five-way tie at 22nd last year. Ohio State fell four positions to rank 26th in a tie with Texas A&M. Brigham Young and Florida both fell six positions to tie for the 28th rank alongside Boston College, George Mason, and the University of Utah. 

Slight adjustments were made to the methodology this year. A description is available here. 

Rank School Name, Change from 2023

1 Stanford University (tie), –

1 Yale University (tie), –

3 University of Chicago, –

4 Duke University (tie), +1

4 Harvard University (tie), +1

4 University of Pennsylvania (tie), –

4 University of Virginia (tie), +4

8 Columbia University, –

9 New York University (tie), -4

9 Northwestern University (tie), +1

9 University of Michigan (tie), +1

12 University of California–Berkeley, -2

13 University of California–Los Angeles, +1

14 Cornell University (tie), -1

14 Georgetown University (tie), +1

16 University of Minnesota (tie), –

16 University of Texas–Austin (tie), –

16 Washington University in St. Louis (tie), +4

19 Vanderbilt University, -3 

20 University of Georgia (tie), –

20 University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (tie), +2

20 University of Notre Dame (tie), +7

20 University of Southern California (tie), -4

24 Boston University, +3

25 Wake Forest University, -3

Study Shows Affirmative Action Bans Negatively Impact Law Student Diversity

A recent study conducted by law professors at Yale, New York University, and Northwestern confirms what many law schools are fearing amidst last year’s Supreme Court ban on affirmative action. Such bans negatively impact the racial diversity of law student populations.

The study analyzed law school admissions data from 1980 to 2021, across 23 public law schools in 12 states with affirmative action bans. The researchers found that, on average, the bans produced a decline in diversity between 10 and 17 percent, and that “Black and Hispanic students account for nearly all this decline.” 

At highly-ranked schools, the impacts of a ban were magnified. The study found that among included schools ranked in the U.S. News’ Top 20, such as UC Berkeley, University of Michigan, UCLA, and the University of Texas, student diversity fell by between 36 to 47 percent. 

Across all law schools, not just those in states with affirmative action bans, the researchers found that minority students have been underrepresented in 80 to 90 percent of entering law school classes. While the law student population has diversified over time and underrepresentation has decreased, the proportion of minority law students still lags behind that of the population. And, based upon national population statistics, amongst minority law students, Black and Hispanic students have been consistently underrepresented, while Asian students have been overrepresented. 

There is still room for measured optimism. Last year’s entering law class was the most diverse on record. And, mid-cycle data released by LSAC showed this year’s applicant numbers were up and driven by a surge in minority applicants. Hopefully this is a precursor to another record-breaking year.

How to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation for your Law School Application

Good news! No one who hates you will agree to write you a Letter of Recommendation. It's too annoying of a task to bother with if you don't have nice things to say about someone. Still, some letters can be lackluster, especially if they're rushed or overly general. 

The University of Chicago Law School admissions blog describes a “standout” recommendation letter as one that provides, “specific and substantive discussion of your abilities as a student.” They look for “a discussion of particular examples of your work, possibly a research project or substantial piece of writing” and/or “qualitative comparisons to your peers and illustrative anecdotes.” 

There are ways to make sure recommenders are talking you up effectively. Here’s how to make the ask. 

Individualize your approach. What do you know about your potential recommender? Are they someone who will want a face-to-face conversation about this? Or are they someone who will be open to an email with an updated CV attached?

Remind them of your accomplishments. You're not telling them what to write—and they may well choose to highlight some of your other victories or qualities—but offering them a refresher to reference will make your request less of a burden. Your professors know the drill of writing law school references, but they have a lot of students, so a reminder of what you've done is still appreciated. Ex. "It was a privilege to be in a graduate course as an undergraduate. Attending office hours deepened my understanding of the material and provided me insight into strengthening my arguments for the paper, on which I earned an A. I also found that working with a group on the research project honed my abilities in research and developed my collaboration and leadership skills."

While you will want at least two of your recommendations to be written by those who can speak to your academic performance, you may also include a letter from a supervisor at a job or legal clinic where you volunteered. In this request, you want to tell the manager what it meant to you to work there and how you thrived. Ex. "Your recommendation would mean so much to me because this job reinforced my interest in the study of law. Working to support pro-bono immigration cases gave me a better understanding of the day-to-day work of a lawyer as well as additional insight into the necessary research and client-interaction skills required." OR "Working as an analyst in this consulting firm gave me significant experience with project and time management, developed my written and oral communication abilities, and improved my analytical skills. Over time I have increased my responsibilities. This summer I took on the role of team lead and now run weekly client meetings and oversee the analytic strategy and initial creation of client deliverables. I have also made myself available to newer project staff for mentoring and support.” 

If you're asking for a recommendation from someone who has never written one, loop them in on the qualities law schools are looking for and how you've exemplified them. Ex. "The schools that I am applying to value critical thinking and problem solving abilities, writing skills, and intellectual curiosity. I believe that my final group project on the early work of Chaucer showed my abilities in those areas.”

Go beyond the ask. After someone agrees to be your recommender, you're going to send them a "game plan" that gets into the experiences you’ve had and your accomplishments in greater depth than you did in your initial request. For example, the student who highlighted the Chaucer project can remind their professor what aspects of the presentation they worked on and reiterate that they organized the group's study sessions. You might also attach a copy of the associated paper that you submitted with your contributions highlighted. The applicant who was a consultant should list their daily duties and talk about some of their most poignant or analytical learning experiences. You get the gist. 

Say thank you in a unique way. Once someone has agreed to write your recommendation, do something nice for them. Send a memorable note, maybe even a small gift (a box of their preferred tea or some candy is nice) or offer to take them to lunch. This is common courtesy, but it's also going to remind them to submit their letter on time.

Related:

The Law School Application—Letters of Recommendation

Five Qualities that Law School Admissions Committees Look for in Applicants

Prelaw Priorities: Tips for the Early Birds

Best Law Schools for Big Law

ALM/Law.com has published its 19th annual list of “go-to” law schools for big law. Northwestern Pritzker took the top spot, ending Columbia Law’s ten-year streak at the top (pushing it to the second rank). And University of Virginia Law moved up to the third rank from 11th last year. Some schools opted not to participate, including four T14 schools: Harvard Law, Stanford Law, Yale Law, and the University of Michigan Law School. 

In addition to this movement at the top, ALM/Law.com made some adjustments to their methodology. Instead of data sourced from law firms, they used data supplied directly by law schools. 

The top 10 schools and the percentages of graduating students who went into big law are provided below. Check out the Top 50 rankings at ALM / Law.com.  

1. Northwestern: 65.23 percent

2. Columbia: 64.30 percent

3. UVA: 64.08 percent

4. Penn: 62.90 percent

5. Cornell: 62.07 percent

6. Duke: 55.88 percent

7. Chicago: 54.46 percent

8. Vanderbilt: 53.97 percent

9. USC: 53.01 percent

10. Georgetown: 50.80 percent

Related: Best Law Schools for Practical Training

Best Law Schools for Practical Training

Which law school experiences best prepare a student for a legal career? In the most recent Law School Alumni Employment and Satisfaction study, the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) added this question for 2019 law school graduates. And their answer was clear: experiential learning. The majority of respondents, 70 percent, named clinical and experiential courses as their most impactful. On the other end of the scale, just 17 percent named student affairs programs and resources. 

The emphasis on experiential learning aligns with the National Jurist’s methodology for its 2024 ranking of Law Schools with the Best Practical Training. The methodology places the heaviest weight on student participation in clinic offerings (32 percent), followed by externships (25 percent), simulation courses (20 percent), moot court / pro-bono work (10 percent), and practical training offerings (10 percent). The ranking allots extra credit to schools that require or guarantee clinic work. 

Review the National Jurist’s top ten-ranked programs for practical training below and check out the full list here.

1. Baylor University School of Law

2. University of St. Thomas School of Law (MN)

3. Northeastern University School of Law

4. Elon University School of Law

5. University of Minnesota Law School

6. Drake University Law School

7. University of Denver Sturm College of Law

8. Cornell Law School

9. Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

10. Case Western Reserve University School of Law

LSAT to Debut Updated Writing Section this Summer

The LSAT’s writing section is getting refreshed. LSAC announced this week that, as of July 31st (start of LSAT testing cycle), the test will debut a new writing section designed to gauge test-takers’ argumentative writing skills. 

The update, made in response to the evolving needs of the profession, and to input gathered from the legal community, will no longer focus just on logical reasoning.  It will now try to capture an applicant’s “ability to construct a cogent argument based on a variety of evidentiary sources.” To do this, the section will provide test-takers with an issue and additional context, given through competing perspectives on that issue. The writer will be asked to draft an essay taking and supporting a position, taking into account and addressing, as appropriate, the context provided.

For now, the writing section will remain an unscored component of the LSAT. However, LSAC plans to collect data over the 2024-2025 testing administration period to assess the validity and reliability of the updated section. The organization will work towards its longer-term goal of providing a scored section for law school admissions officers. 

Interested test-takers can review a sample prompt, via LawHub, as a part of the free official LSAT Prep test library. A sample writing prompt is also available on LSAC.org. 

ABA Declines to Grant JD-Next Full Approval

Last week, the ABA declined to grant the JD-Next law school admissions test full approval. This decision maintains the status quo in which schools must request a variance from standard 503—the ABA’s admissions test requirement—to use the test for admissions. Almost 25 percent of ABA-accredited schools have already received this exemption for the upcoming admissions cycle.

The ABA requested additional data in order to confirm the test as a "valid and reliable" predictor of law student grades, on par with the LSAT or GRE. Daniel Thies, Chair of the ABA Standards Committee, provided his reasoning by referencing an ABA-commissioned third party evaluation of the test. Although the report did conclude that the JD-Next was a valid predictor of grades, it came with “multiple cautions and caveats” that pointed to a need for additional data collection and study. 

David Klieger, the Program Director for JD-Next at Aspen Publishing, provided a statement to Reuters that expressed disappointment, but highlighted that "institutions still have the option to incorporate JD-Next through the use of a variance, and potential law students continue to benefit from it."

Related JD-Next: What You Need to Know About this Alternative to the LSAT

Stanford and Yale Law Schools Announce Plans for Earlier Virtual On-Campus Interviewing

Stanford and Yale Law Schools are making waves with their recent announcements to move virtual on-campus interviews up to June, which is ahead of the formal OCI processes.

Stanford Law School’s announcement explained that they want to better align with firms’ recent hiring practices. Many firms, they noted, are now doing significantly more hiring early in the process through direct applications and interviews. The schedule change will not only provide students with access to those open positions, it will also allow them to focus on their finals and/or their summer internships. 

Yale’s announcement also focused on its desire to align with firms’ hiring patterns. Kelly Voight, Yale Law School’s Assistant Dean for the Career Development Office, said that the school is making this decision to, “best serve our students by maximizing student choice, promoting informed decision-making, and leveling the playing field for law firm recruiting,” in an email to Law.com.

Prospective law students interested in big law should keep an eye on how other elite schools respond to Stanford and Yale’s announcements, and also how they plan to support their students amidst an evolving employment market. 

Wondering When to Apply to Law School? New Research Confirms the Earlier the Better

Findings from an AccessLex study on law school admissions prove the old adage: If you’re early, you’re on time and, if you’re on time, you’re late. They found: 

Submission timing matters greatly. Students who submitted applications early, prior to the end of November, gained admission to law school at a rate of 40 percent. Those who submitted applications “on time,” prior to the beginning of February, gained admission at a rate of 24 percent. Late applicants, even with similar admissions profiles, were less likely than those who submitted early or on time to receive an offer. 

Kelsey Risman, a senior evaluation methodologist at the AccessLex Institute, spoke about the study results with the ABA Journal, emphasizing the impact that rolling admissions can have on applicants. “The deadline is not really the deadline. The deadline is just when they stop looking at things in a rolling admissions context. If you submit the day before the deadline, you might be fighting many people for one remaining slot,” she said. 

LSAT timing drives an applicant’s submission. The report also showed that a key contributor to overall application timing is LSAT timing. Of the prospective law students who took the test after January 1st, almost two-thirds, 63 percent, submitted their application late. Among those who completed the LSAT before January 1st, the percentage that submitted late decreased to 26 percent.

Sound application strategy is different from law school readiness. The study found no correlation between high LSAT scores and early application submissions. Those who submitted applications early were simply more likely to have demonstrated knowledge of application tactics, while those who submitted late pointed to “an incomplete or inaccurate understanding of sound application strategy.” 

Prelaw Priorities: Tips for the Early Birds

Sometimes we'll have clients reach out long before they begin applying to law school. And we love it! It gives us the opportunity to advise them on things they can do now that will save them time later, when things are more hectic. 

Journal Your Experiences. In addition to seeking out high quality and challenging academic, professional, and extracurricular experiences you’re interested in, you should keep a journal. It will make the brainstorming process a breeze. Log details while they're fresh in your mind. Did you have a meaningful conversation with a colleague while volunteering? Demonstrate leadership in an organization you’re involved with? Develop an imaginative solution on a team project? How did those interactions feel? What actions did you take, if any? Are there results to share? Pay particular attention to those experiences that prompted an evolution in your perspective and reinforced your interest in the study of law, as well as those that could show the reader your intellectual curiosity, integrity, and abilities in critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration.

Secure the Right Rec in a Timely Manner. If you're a college sophomore and have a current professor who you'd love to support your candidacy for law school, ask for the letter of recommendation right after the course ends. Your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) subscription remains active for five years and will deliver your reference letter when it's time to submit. Alternatively, if you would prefer to wait or if your ideal recommender says, "I'll write it the year you apply," stay in touch and keep them updated on your accomplishments. 

Start Preparing for the LSAT. A long lead-time before you apply to law school allows you to adjust your schedule to accommodate studying and taking the LSAT. Consider when you can most easily make the time for prep. Will it be during the summer while you participate in an internship or job? Or do you hope to plan for a lighter academic load the semester you plan to take the test? 

LSAT scores are valid for five years. If you can take the test earlier in your undergraduate career, you will have space to focus on strengthening other components of your application later. Additionally, taking the LSAT early leaves you with more options if your initial score doesn’t meet your expectations.

Survey Shows Law School Admissions Officers Concerned About Impact of Recent Supreme Court Decision

A recent Kaplan survey found that a vast majority of law school admissions officers worry about the impact of last year’s Supreme Court affirmative action ban. In the survey, which included 85 law schools, admissions officers from 74 schools expressed concern. Forty-six of those schools’ administrators reported that they were “very concerned.” 

When asked about the impact of the ban on their own school, admissions officers were slightly more optimistic. Fifty of the schools expressed concern, with just 18 saying they were “very concerned.” 

The survey found that diversity is valued “almost universally” at law schools by both students and administrators. 

Amit Schlesinger, Executive Director of Legal and Government Programs at Kaplan, summarized the findings, while also alluding to the news that the applicant pool has increased in diversity this year. 

"In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, Kaplan’s survey reveals that law schools are grappling with concerns about maintaining diverse student bodies, which is something many of them have long prioritized. However, the silver lining lies in the promising trend of an increasingly diverse applicant pool, which presents an opportunity to mitigate any challenges they may face in achieving a representative student body. It’s also important to note that while law schools can no longer explicitly use race as a factor, we know that some law schools have broadened their personal statement criteria, which may give admissions officers a deeper understanding of prospective students’ backgrounds, while also remaining within the bounds of the Court’s ruling,” Schlesinger said.