Brooklyn Law Professor Anita Bernstein has suggested a solution [PDF] for the deep pessimism, cynicism, and (sometimes) depression that seems to afflict lawyers about the time they hit law school. Bernstein thinks students should be warned about the perils of the law profession while they’re in law school; she reasons anxiety and unhappiness will be reduced if students are fully aware of the “pitfalls.”
Honestly, I’m not sure if I agree. I simply don’t understand how further educating law students about the problems they might face as professionals will make those students feel better, particularly when law students tend to be a rather angsty and risk averse (some might say paranoid) bunch. See, e.g., these worries about clerkships. A full semester course about everything that can go wrong wouldn’t exactly calm my nerves. Any law students care to comment?
(via ABA)
-Michael
Susan Simpson
Michael Williams