Performing well during your first year of law school can have some pretty interesting consequences.  Law reviews and other journals typically make their membership decisions based on first-year grades and tryouts.  Law firms generally only have your grades from first semester upon which to base their decisions in offering summer associate positions.  Even one’s peers and family members can get pretty serious about comparing grades.

Meanwhile, these outside decision-makers are, in turn, shaping your job prospects after law school.  For instance, making law review may have a lasting effect on your competitive standing in the job market.

Finally, the first-year experience can impact your own attitude toward law and a legal career, perhaps leaving you feeling confident and excited or frustrated and self-doubting.

For all of these reasons, getting off to a good start is crucial.  That’s one reason why LEX academic director Shelton Harrison created the LSAPP Law School Bootcamp.

(Original publication date:  July 14, 2011 (LEX))