How Can I Have a Smooth Transition From Law School to Practice?

Transcript

I'm currently a law student in my second year. I want to know: 1) Whether law school really prepares us law students for law practice.

And how can I have a smooth transition from law school into practice? Law school doesn't really prepare you for law practice. What it does, it tends to more often prepare you for taking the bar exam. It's what it prepares you for. Most of the learning that you do as an attorney will come from on the job training.

And that's one reason why, if you want to work in a law firm, for example, it's very important early on to get experience in a law firm. Law school typically will teach you fundamental knowledge .You need to understand how contracts work.

You need to understand property, you need to understand what the constitution is and all those sorts of things, criminal law, in order to actually practice law and to take the bar. But really what you learn is when you start practicing law, you learn a lot more doing that.

And the best way to have a smooth transition from law school into practice really is to be able to get a position in a law firm, as quickly as you possibly can, or in a government office or wherever you want to practice, that's where you're going to get most of the experience that is helpful for you.