What are some habits I can develop in law school that will help me in my career? – Ryan, 19 Man I love this question. It took me until I was about 29 to learn that a good life was more likely built on the shoulders of habits than goals, and here you are with … Continue reading
And so, you feel you should probably just keep going. Just get through it and then see what happens after that. After all, what if you took a break and never came back? What if you fell behind everyone else? What if future lawyers saw a big gap from June 2019 to July 2020 and refused even to let you in their doors? It’s all too much. Better to just keep grinding on as best you can, right? Continue reading
I am struggling with the social side of law school. How do I make friends with my law school peers? – Struggling, 19 I’m sorry to hear you are struggling, Struggling. University, for all its social clubs and events, can be an isolating place and social stuff can definitely get hard. Law school in … Continue reading
Around 90% of the guests on the podcast chose to study law because they were good at English. Rare is the guest who studied law because they wanted the skills to do particular justice-related work, or the guest who thought being a lawyer looked like fun. (I say that with the caveat that for many … Continue reading
“Did the time you dedicated to study at law school prepare you well for the hours you had to work as a junior lawyer?” – Jack, 19 In a word, no. In more words, no but it didn’t matter too much. In my first job I was contracted to work 40 hours and would … Continue reading
Dear Katie – How important are grades? “I’m currently studying at VUW and there has recently been a data release that seems to indicate we are graded much more harshly than other law schools. Even before this, I feel there is a real atmosphere that you must have the best grades otherwise there are no … Continue reading
by Katie Cowan Let’s say everyone starts their day with a hundred M&Ms and several bowls with neatly-printed labels. I know I am jumping in at the deep end here, but just go with it. M&Ms represent units of personal capacity, or mental bandwidth. I say M&Ms rather than “units” or “coins” because M&Ms are … Continue reading
“How can I stay positive and optimistic about a career in the law, in the face of all the bad news stories that are popping up at the moment? There have now been a number of articles written by women who used to work in senior positions within the law, but who have jumped ship. … Continue reading
When I was in law school I amused myself in lectures by writing dumb jokes and asides throughout my notes, and referring to all male litigants as “Dude” and all male judges as “Judge Dude”. I was going to find a cool example and share it in this column, but I looked for a while … Continue reading