LAW SCHOOL ELECTIVES-PART I

Deciding which law school electives to take is a difficult decision. This article discusses the benefits of choosing electives based on your interests. Part II of this article discusses the advantages of choosing electives based on what subjects are on the bar exams you plan to take.

At most law schools first-year students have no say as what courses they want to take. Law school's first year usually consists of Torts, Contracts, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Legal Research, and Legal Writing. It is not until the second year that electives become an issue. One factor that will play an important role for some students in making this decision is what courses pique their interests.

Many of the most interesting courses in law school are not required courses. Courses like death-penalty law, environmental law, and international law are often provided as electives only.

There are numerous good reasons to choose your electives based on your interests. Two of those reasons include (1) the opportunity to determine if a certain area of law is where you want to practice in your career; and (2) study an area of law in which you are interested, but not likely to practice.

For many electives, such as the ones mentioned above, the professor is often an adjunct who is also presently practicing law in that area. These adjuncts are often unlike the full-time faculty who are generally not presently practicing and usually have not practiced in the field for a long time.

Enrolling in an elective taught by such an adjunct will allow you to network with someone who is involved on a daily basis in that practice area. This will give you insight into the practice area of the elective that many other law graduates seeking a career in that area will not possess.

Below are websites that demonstrate the great variety of electives available at some schools.

http://www.law.suffolk.edu/academic/jd/electives.cfm
http://www.law.temple.edu/servlet/RetrievePage?site=TempleLaw&page=Degrees_Elective_Courses&menuitem=p77

Good luck choosing an elective!

Michael Santana
michael.santana@lawboost.com

If you have any questions or comments about this article, or want to write your own article about the pre-law or law school process, feel free to contact me.