Going to Law School? Think Money!

About Author: This article and its accompanying video is written by 1L success consultant Franklin Sims. If you are planning on starting law school soon or want help landing a job out of law school contact Franklin for law school success tools that work.

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One of the perks of law school is the starting salary. I’m always proud of my clients when they land a firm job with a starting salary of $160,000 to $180,000. Not only does it make the enormously hard work of the first year of law school more rewarding but for some students the income is life changing.

While the outcome is exciting, for me the real fun is how we get there. The fact is that six figure salaries at top firms have one thing in common. That commonality is top grades. Big law firms hire from the top. And when they hire the grades that matter most are the grades earned in the first year of law school. In fact, when you sit down to interview with the prominent law firm that will likely hire you the basis of your offer will be your first year law school grades because those are the only grades you will have at that point. For this reason, the first year of law school is your secret weapon for legal job interviews.

What I focus on with clients is creating a specific plan tailored to their particular law school professors. While the strategy varies with each professor the desired outcome is the same. In each class we learn the law at an accelerated rate so that we can get more practice taking exams than our competition.

Most students have no choice but to follow the pace of the professor. Unfortunately most professors take their time at the beginning of the semester and then race through material at the end of the semester. To make matters worst, the content that they raced through was the most difficult and the most tested.

My clients have me. While I am not a law school professor, I have enough experience with them to anticipate where best to focus our efforts in order to be best prepared for the exam. This is a huge advantage for clients because it means that I can explain the most important concepts in clear and easy to understand language before they are taught in class. This way, by the time the professor introduces and races through the content my client already has a firm understanding and class time is a very useful review instead of a struggle to keep up.

The way to earn the sort of grades you need to command a six figure salary at a leading law farm is to approach law school with an eye toward efficiency. In my experience the smart thing to do is to get a head start.