Law Schools

Subjects I Wish I Took In Law School

If I could do it all over again ...

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decision choosing different pathsRecently, I was speaking with some law students about things I wish I did in law school that could have prepared me better for my legal career. In hindsight, one of the things I definitely wish I had done was to be more deliberate about the courses I took in law school. Of course, most people understand that law school does not come close to teaching students everything they need to practice law. As a law student, I took classes like American Legal History instead of classes dedicated to principles of law, and this put me at a disadvantage. If I could do it all over again, I would have traded some of these more academic courses for classes on a few other subjects.

Local Civil Procedure

Most law students take federal civil procedure, which is a good subject to learn, since the material is now on the bar exam in most jurisdictions, and federal civil procedure touches many parts of legal practice. Many law schools also offer local civil procedure courses for the states in which the particular law school is located. I went to Georgetown Law, and I am fairly certain a course like this was not offered on D.C., Virginia, or Maryland civil practice when I was a law student. However, some of my friends who went to law school in the New York City area have told me that their law schools offered classes on New York practice since so many graduates entered the New York legal market.

I wish that, when I was a law student, I could have taken courses on local civil procedure in the jurisdictions in which I now practice. Learning the rules of civil procedure for each jurisdiction in which I practice has been difficult, especially in New York where the Civil Practice Law and Rules is difficult to follow and sometimes contains archaic procedures. If a law professor with practical experience could have explained parts of civil practice that people usually learn on the job, this could have made it easier for me to accelerate in my career and handle more difficult legal tasks. If law students have the chance to take a civil procedure class for the jurisdiction in which they intend to practice, they should take that opportunity.

Bankruptcy Law

One area of the law that reaches many other practice areas is bankruptcy. This subject is not on the bar exam, so I never thought about taking it in law school for bar review purposes, and I did not think as a law student that I would handle any bankruptcy work. However, bankruptcy law influences my matters as a commercial litigator often.

For instance, if a party to litigation declares bankruptcy (which is not such a rare occurrence) the litigation might be stayed until the bankruptcy process plays out. Moreover, sometimes people can waive claims if they did not properly disclose such claims in bankruptcy paperwork, and firms at which I worked used this as a defense for certain matters. Parties can also be absolved of claims if they listed such claims during the bankruptcy process, and I have used this argument to help my clients avoid liability in a handful of matters. I am unsure if a law school class on bankruptcy would include much useful information about the paperwork that needs to be filed in the bankruptcy process, but just learning general principles of bankruptcy law would have been helpful in my future career.

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Immigration Law

I do not practice immigration law, but this area of the law often comes up in my practice and in my daily life. At least a few times a quarter, friends ask me a question concerning immigration law because they or someone in their circle are facing an immigration law issue. On occasion, clients of mine have questions about immigration law, since work visas and investments by foreigners can become an issue in a number of commercial contexts. In each case, I refer the friend or client to an immigration attorney since I do not have enough information to answer their questions. I am not sure if immigration law courses in law schools provide students with the hands-on practical knowledge that is important in legal practice, but I wish I at least knew general principles of immigration law that could be learned in a law school class.

In any event, numerous legal professionals understand that law school is not meant to teach many black-letter principles that are important to the practice of law. However, if law students are more deliberate in the subjects they take in law school, they can set themselves up better when they enter the legal profession.

Rothman Larger HeadshotJordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.

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