So, onto another topic which probably doesn't hold much interest to non-law students, but consumes a lot of energy for those of us in the midst of it all - the time has come again to chose and register for classes. Basically, there are two schools of thought about choosing your classes once you finish your first year of law school: Bar Prep and Interesting Classes. Some people will tell you that there are specific classes you should take in order to prepare for the Bar, while others will say, essentially, “take whatever classes you want, the Bar prep course (which you take the summer after you graduate) will prepare you for the test.�

A recent study bolstered the claims of the latter camp. The study found “[n]o statistically significant relationships. . . between bar examination subject matter courses taken and bar examination passage for graduates ranked in the first, second or fourth quartiles of their graduating class.� [See the study at http://law.bepress.com/expresso/eps/1889/ .] Various “blawgs� eagerly reported on this news, including the Freakonomics column in the New York Times, and the ever-popular Above The Law.

The informal feedback I have gathered from students and professors alike seems to support this opinion. A professor once told me that if you are someone who did well on the LSAT, you most likely don’t need to do excessive preparation for the Bar other than the prep course that has become standard. If, on the other hand, you are someone who has struggled with tests, you may want to take courses during law school that cover the topics on the Bar because, really, every little bit helps.

As for me, I’ve been trying a mix. I do want to take courses on some of the basic areas of law that lawyers are expected to know a bit about - Trusts and Estates, Tax - but I’m not going to take the courses which hold little interest to me and I am unlikely to encounter in future practice - Secure Transactions being a prime example. Everyone has their own tactics though - one alternative route is to take classes based solely on which professor is teaching them.

The first semester of my 2L year, Summer 2007, I took Labor Law (due to my interest in the subject), Evidence (which is considered practically required), Problems in Public Health Law (an area of interest to me), and Advanced Legal Writing (see my aforementioned struggle with the subject). All of the classes turned out to be both interesting and useful.

This fall I have once again signed up for a mix of classes: (1) Federal Courts (which has become practically a standard class for law students. Besides which I’m working in a federal court right now and working at the Federal Defenders this spring so...seems like I should learn the courts); (2) Employment Law (an area of interest to me, and one which is practiced at the firm I will be at in the summer); (3) Law and Economic Development (a course recommended to me by a number of alums); and finally, (4) an independent study with a professor whose work interests me.

So, in closing, I would encourage 1Ls to look at the planned course offerings for the coming years and think about what topics they might be interested in. I would also strongly encourage students to look into doing independent studies with professors or help them out with research. Professors at Northeastern are generally incredibly welcoming of student involvement and excited to hear about your ideas. And really, if you don’t take advantage of such opportunities, you have little room to complain if the curriculum doesn’t suit your interests.