Now that the 3L’s are graduating, law schools will begin to shift their attention to one thing and one thing only: incoming 1L’s. Although the golden era of law school and biglaw in general might be over, I doubt there has been much of a drop in applications considering how rough it is trying to find a job. Incoming 1L’s tend to show up on day 1 with little clue on what is going on, so consider this your 1L survival guide. Note, this is a survival guide, not a guide to get all A’s and be at the top of your class. 

The first bit of advice I will give might sound completely unhelpful, but it is going to be one of the most essential assets you will have during not just your first year, but all three years in law school. Tip #1 is: Know your class. By this, I mean that you should begin to get a feeling of the different types of people that end up in your law school class. Let me break it down for you. I generally found that there were only a handful of different types of law students, and by figuring out who was who, I was able to plan out three years of law school with a good amount of success. By knowing who is who, I knew when classes were going to be filled with people that I didn’t like, people that I got along with, and people that I knew were a drain on the earth. 

1. Gunner – As annoying as the gunner is, they are essential to your survival first year. The gunner is the person who does ALL of their reading and is prepared to discuss in class at all times. The gunner is annoying because they take up valuable (and expensive) class time, quite often leading the class down a path of inquiries that are unimportant and often wrong. But these people are important to you, the average and normal law student, because there will be times when you are caught off guard or cold-called on without the faintest clue of what is going on. That’s where the gunner can help. Make at least 1 of these gunners your ally and you will be set. Instant Messenger is your friend. 
2. Silent Bookworm – These people are exactly like gunners in that they do all their work, but instead of showboating, they are nervous speaking in front of groups and tend not to raise their hands. But they know all the answers and more often than not are willing to help out a fellow classmate in a bind. Do not just make this person your ally. Become friends with them, as they will become crucial down the stretch for finals studying, getting notes you might have missed, and generally are good for help with more difficult concepts. 
3. Party Animal – These people are just like their name sounds. They show up to classes hung over, or possibly still drunk. But it doesn’t mean they aren’t intelligent. The first thing you need to do when you discover one of these party-going law students is to figure out if they are cool or not. This can be done with my patented (not really) douchebag rating system. If their hair is spiked with frosted tips, they wear sunglasses inside class, they use words like “brah” and “bro” in their actual spoken language, and show up in a car that they most likely couldn’t have bought on their own, then you very likely have met a D-Bag Partier. But if the person seems relatively level headed but just likes to get out on the town and doesn’t take law as seriously as everyone else, then he or she is A-OK to befriend. You don’t want to go through law school and not have a good time. Save the soul sucking for when you start work. Enjoy your time in school. A non-Douchey friend who likes to have fun will go a long way to making your three years, and more specifically your first year, much more enjoyable. Make friends immediately with a few of these, and you will always be in the loop of what is going on socially. This is a good thing.
4. Leech – The leech is a type of law student who never comes to class and asks for your notes when they have barely said a word to you all year long. They can vary from serious students who just want to have the most notes possible to increase their chances of beating you in class, to slackers who just never do anything and want to skate by class. You generally don’t find the leech, the leech finds you. My advice is to avoid at all costs. Because once you help ou the leech, it attaches itself to you with powerful suckers and doesn’t quite let go, no matter how hard you swat at it. 
5. High Schooler - A High Schooler is the type of person who ends up in law school and wants to get up in everyone’s business. I consider this a bit of a sub-category, but I thought it prudent to put it out there. If there’s dirt and gossip, the High Schooler knows about it, guaranteed. Try to avoid getting too close to these, as they tend to divulge information freely. 

Remember that these categories stem from my experience in law school, and there can be cross overs on occassion. But generally, people end up in one category or another. Also keep in mind, this is written from your average law student’s perspectice (e.g. I do most of my work, I’m not super serious about studying, I am NOT a machine who studies all day and night, and you won’t find me in the library unless I need to be there). This is going to be the first in TLL’s “1L Survival Guide” series, so stay tuned all you soon to be 1L’s out there.