I Wish I Partied More In Law School

Social connections can be extremely helpful to law students in their future careers, in some cases, more helpful than some of the information they learn in law school classes.

Law school often gets portrayed as a time when people need to be focused on their studies and cannot have fun with their classmates. This perception is reinforced by movies like The Paper Chase, which depict law students buried in their studies with little chance to cut loose and have fun. However, law school can be an amazing time to have fun and socialize (when law students are not dealing with a pandemic, of course). Such social connections can be extremely helpful to law students in their future careers, in some cases, more helpful than some of the information they learn in law school classes.

As my law school classmates would relate from firsthand experience, I was pretty committed to my studies in law school. I hope I didn’t qualify as a “gunner” because I did not affirmatively show off in class (and as a somewhat mediocre student, I had no right to) or take an active role in classroom discussions. However, I spent the vast majority of my time in law school studying, outlining, reviewing notes, and completing assignments. I lived in on-campus housing all three years of law school, which was helpful to socializing. However, if an event did not happen on campus, I rarely went out to socialize with my classmates.

My law school had an amazing social scene, which was partially sponsored by the Student Bar Association, and partially the result of organic social interactions. My law school had really fun “bar review” events on a regular basis throughout the District of Columbia, and I went to a few of these outings (even taking the dreaded last metro train of the night a few times!). The school also had events like Wednesday Wind Downs where they would have wine and kegs of beer in the middle of the common area on campus, and everyone would mingle and socialize together on such days. I went to many of these events because I wanted to score free food and booze, and the events were easy to get to.

However, I did not prioritize socializing to any large extent, and mostly kept to a tight group of friends in law school. I thought there was no need to actively socialize and meet as many people as possible in law school, so I did not devote too much energy to socializing and making connections. I thought that getting good grades would be the way that I would make the most of law school, and I devoted most of my time and efforts as a law student to my studies.

However, now that I have been practicing law for almost a decade, I see that social connections, especially with other lawyers, is very important to one’s career as a lawyer. Grades are important for your first job out of law school and may play a part in subsequent hiring. However, as you progress in your career, grades matter less to employers since you have a body of work upon which employers can evaluate your lawyering. Nevertheless, social connections, such as friendships forged in law school, can play a part in hiring decisions because people can “put in a good word” for you and help improve your chances of being hired.

After I started my own law firm a few years ago, I realized even more how social connections, such as the bonds forged in law school, are important to developing a law practice. Business development is essential for pretty much every lawyer who wants to succeed in private practice. Originating clients is important for associates to be considered for partnership and is perhaps more important for small-firm practitioners who rely more on business development to earn money. Of course, individuals can attend networking events, publish articles, and pursue other activities to get their name out there and connect with potential clients.

However, clients are much more likely to trust a lawyer they have known for years rather than someone they read about online or otherwise do not know well. Other lawyers can be a great referral source because lawyers often need to refer matters about which they do not have experience. One of the best times in your life to interact with a multitude of future lawyers early in your career is law school. Such contacts can be important to your referral network after you enter the practice of law. Indeed, I regularly receive referrals from people with whom I went to law school, and I make sure to refer matters to people I met in law school because I have known these lawyers for years and trust that they are amazing practitioners. However, had I socialized more in law school, I may have connected with more lawyers who could have added to my referral network.

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All told, law students should not be so devoted to their studies that they fail to have fun and connect with classmates while they pursue a legal education. Unlike depictions in movies and television shows, law school can be a really fun time, especially compared to the drudgery of working at certain law firms later in your career. In addition, partying in law school and finding other ways to connect with classmates can help enrich your later career more than much of the information you learn as a law student. As such, once law school social life resumes in earnest after the pandemic, I hope people will take to heart the fact that they can — and indeed should — party and have more fun in law school.


Jordan 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@rothmanlawyer.com.

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