I'm a Cooley Law School graduate, and yes, going there did mess my life up.  But we aren't talking about that today.  We are talking about a funny sidequest of the worst law school in America.

Back in 2013 when I graduated, I didn't just graduate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.  I graduated from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

So, for those of you not from Michigan, Western is a 2nd tier public university in the Southwest part of the state in a small city called Kalamazoo.  Its nickname is Wastern because of the extreme binge drinking culture there.  Yes, it is possible for a 2nd tier Midwestern public university to be notably more drunk than other public universities in the Midwest.

What was up with the Cooley and Western relationship?  Well Cooley knew it needed a host to latch onto as a parasite after the law school bubble began bursting in 2011.  And Western was effectively being offered a free law school, which would improve its reputation and attract undergraduates majoring in pre-law.  It would have been a win-win.......in theory.

Moreover, this formula had worked in Michigan before.  Previously, Detroit College of Law, usually referred to as DCL, had partnered with Michigan State University.  DCL was a tier 4 law school with not the greatest reputation, and its leadership wanted to do something about that.  Eventually, DCL shut down its original Detroit campus altogether and reopened in East Lansing as Michigan State University Law School, completely abandoning its old name and culture, and went from a tier 4 law school to a much more respected tier 3 law school.

And if Cooley had followed in DCL's footsteps, it would not be as screwed and laughably hated as it is today.  Cooley could have taken the WMU partnership to the next level, shut down its 4 Michigan campuses and reopened in Kalamazoo as Western Michigan University Law School, and changed the name of its Florida campus to WMU Law as well.  Boom, the "Cooley Taint" as its called, would be gone, and WMU Law could have become an honorable tier 3 law school, reliably training the next generation of local district attorneys and DUI lawyers who could reliably get jobs in the suburbs of Michigan cities and afford brand new Nissan Altimas with their hard won income.

BUT, this is not what happened.  Because Cooley is insane.  The people who run Cooley are not just greedy, negligent, corrupt ghouls.  They are delusional cultists in the cult of Cooley who actually think Cooley is the second best law school in the country after Yale.  Based on their own rating system of course.

Western Michigan University started seeing the reality of the situation.  Cooley wasn't going to move its entire operation to Kalamazoo.  Cooley wanted to open ANOTHER campus in Kalamazoo, less than an hour away from their Grand Rapids campus.  Why not?  They had shut down their failing Ann Arbor campus already that they'd opened in the remains of Ave Marie Law School, which shut down when it saw the lawyer bubble coming and realized Michigan had no need for another tier 4 law school.  Why not open a campus next to a campus?  With the Lansing campus, that's three law schools, all under the same corrupt name, roughly an hour from one another.  On top of the Auburn Hills and Tampa campuses.

Western realized that its name would not be improved, but tarnished if it stayed partners with Cooley.  So, in a well thought out, ethically minded, and student welfare conscious act of self-preservation, WASTERN said "Yeah no thank you, we don't need a free law school, we're good guys."

Go Broncos!

Most of the advice I read online, plus personal anecdotes told to me by law school grads were along the lines of “1L was agony. I cried every week. I didn’t have time to do anything but study,” ect., ect. And honestly, it’s been….. not that. So much so, that I’m getting a little nervous?

It seems like many of my classmates are already struggling (texting in the GroupMe about how long they spent on the readings, staying at the library until midnight, complaining about lack of sleep, ect.). I realize that things will ramp up as the semester continues, but with our current course material, I cannot imagine what my classmates are doing that requires them to be at the library every night until midnight. Is this just a “look at me! I’m the hardest worker here” form of peacocking, or am I missing something?

I finish class at 2:30, come home, brief cases, and take notes on my readings. I’m usually finished around 5:30 or 6:00. After that, I’m pretty much free. I still go to 3-5 workout classes a week, grab drinks with friends, and goof off on the weekends.

I feel like 3-4 hours of outside work a day is not crazy, and certainly not enough to not allow you to have a life. I was a STEM major in undergrad, and I feel like the workload/course difficulty was significantly harder. I’m also older (late-20s) and worked full-time for a few years after college.

I guess all this to say, does 3-4 hours a day to study/prepare for class seem about right for September of 1L? Should I be spending more time doing…..something?

How do you develop relationships with your professors when you don't really have any issues with the material? Do you ever talk to your professors about things that are unrelated, or only tangentially related, to the class material? Is it considered inappropriate to schedule office hours without some specific purpose in mind?

I regret not developing better relationships with my professors in undergrad and I don't want to repeat that mistake. But, like in undergrad, at the moment I'm just not feeling like I have any "excuse" to talk to them, and I don't want to waste their time by coming to them without some purpose.

If you think this is a stupid question please be nice about it, I'm just another neurotic 1L trying to make the most of my time here.

a lot of people on here talk about wanting to go into big law and trying to get into the most prestigious school they can so they have a better shot at landing at some prestigious firm. a lot of times also willing to pay higher tuition prices for that elite school label. but i've been wondering.. I does any of that even matter if you don't fit the profile of what these firms probably value?

I know this isn't a hard rule, but I feel like this world highly values a specific kind of character: an affluent, white male. lots of times people say recruiters are looking for someone who "has a personality," to me this just translates as being tall, charismatic, conventionally attractive, etc.

again, this is just my perception and I know it is by no means a universal rule. but what if you are far from that archetype? what if you are a short woman? a person of color? unattractive? not originally from the same social and cultural circles that many of these people come from? all of the above? will it always be an uphill battle to receive any respect?

its hard to deny that appearances DO matter in the world of lawyers. i've heard countless times how important it is to be dressed well and maintain a certain appearance in order to be respected. but i'm certain that this goes beyond apparel, to a degree.

i'm curious if anyone has thought about this before, or even (especially) if i'm completely off in my perceptions — it has definitely felt discouraging thinking about this and wondering if I should adjust my life plans accordingly.

I’m one month in and I honestly hate law school so much rn. My professors don’t teach anything. They just yell and expect you know, they assign absurd amounts of reading and then tell us to get some sleep , and they spring in class writing assignments on us as if we should be professionals by now despite them refusing to answer any clarifying questions we have.

Wtf is a person to do? I graduated undergrad with a 3.96 for gods sake, so it isn’t like I’m an idiot or anything. This is just demoralizing af.

Hi! 1L here. I am a bit confused about how networking is actually supposed to work. How do you continue the relationship after the meeting ends? If the meeting goes well, how can that eventually lead to a job offer or long-term professional relationship? It seems like there’s lots of advice on how to set up a networking meeting and what to do during the meeting, but I don’t see as much about what happens after the meeting ends. Maybe this is a dumb question, but I would seriously appreciate any advice or guidance about how this actually works

1l at a t25. School has been a LOT of work, but it has all been really interesting, and I am having so much fun! My professors are all AWESOME and anyway I am just saying that I am suspicious that things are so nice just so they can shoot my kneecaps later solely for the schadenfreude of watching me spiral into the abyss....

it's my sister's bday and i had to cancel on attending the celebration because i'm drowning in readings and assignments and not feeling too great. i feel awful but she was understanding.

my mom just told me i wouldn't amount to anything and that I'm not worth my life because i told her i can't help her w something today (wasn't anything emergency). i helped her last night for a few hours and probably why I feel so behind today. yay for toxic parents.

and my non-law school friends are giving me crap about not hanging with them this weekend (they would require a full day bc of location reasons) and I just didn't have it in me to drive for 3 hours this weekend.

first gen (lawyer and american) is tough. i regret moving back home for law school. thought things would be better after spending a few years away.

just cried my eyes out, I'm also due to get my period tomorrow so everything feels extra heavy. adhd meds are on backorder so just struggling w everything rn.

i didn't think law school would affect me this much. maybe this could be a good exercise in boundary sticking and emotion regulation. and not being a people pleaser. tips on any of those 3 would be kindly appreciated. or even if there are any other desi first gens who can commiserate. there's not a single brown girl in my section.

back to reading!

My supervisor gave me permission to use this document as a writing sample as long as I redacted it. I've redacted all names and identifying information. Should I also redact all of the case numbers? Anything else I'm missing? Thanks.

just super curious! thx

I really hate law school so far. It's been a month but I've hated it since day 1. I kept telling myself it would get better. Everyone kept telling me It would get better. I told everyone from day 1 I knew this felt wrong. People said it was way too early to decide, so I should push forward. Going into week 4 I feel the same. I'm not having breakdowns over it anymore, but I feel the disdain for what I'm doing everyday.

I was subtly nudged towards this path by other people but also thought it was something I could do. I thought I would enjoy it and that the money would make everything worth it. I'm coming to terms with the realization that I went into this without a true clear idea of what this path is truly like.

I am a person who finds the passion in the visual creative aspect of life. Drawing, websites, ui/ux, graphic design, etc. A lot of those jobs are lower paying and hard to secure in the first place. I thought I could give up on those aspects of my life, but training myself to be someone who just reads and researches a strict set of rules and procedures is not how I want to spend my life. My passion/personality feels too opposed to this lifestyle.

Now I have to make that decision between dropping out now for partial refund, or sticking with it for a full semester. I don't have a full grasp of where to go if I drop out, but something that allows for a bit of creativity or visuals.

I also feel like I'm losing myself. I've never been a huge procrastinator, but I wait till the last minute for every assignment. It makes the work pile up to where I wake up at 5am do work, go to class, get home at 5pm read till 11 or 12, then wake up at 5am again and do it all over. I haven't exercised in a month. I stare at these assignments and just say "I can't do this". I am capable of doing them but mentally I don't see the world where I want to be this for 3 years plus a career

The start of 2L was great, but I’m only a few weeks in and feeling nothing. I have friends but they all have their own problems that are much bigger than mine. I know this is becoming a problem. The feeling of being so numb that I can’t get out of bed is going to destroy me. I have a therapy appointment a month from now so I’m praying maybe I’ll start to get better. I don’t know. Any other law students feeling this way?

I keep reading all these posts and talking to some of my classmates and it seems like some people are already having a hard time keeping up and claim to be drowned in work already, but I honestly don't see it yet. I'm not trying to sound pretentious and would consider myself pretty normal when it comes to school stuff but I do not really get what everyone is preparing for if that makes sense. I do my readings, take notes on them and consolidate the notes at the end of the week with the ones from class but other than that what else should I be doing lol. I know that as the semester goes on the load will gradually increase but for right now law school seems very manageable.

Taking it in April with accommodations (but potentially failing) or taking it in November w/out accommodations (gives me a buffer, but creates accommodations gap for bar)? Currently a 3L so November and April are my only options.

I screwed myself on this one, I know, I'm kicking myself. I had an absolutely insane summer that I barely survived, and missed the priority deadline for requesting accommodations for November by like...a lot it appears. Almost missed the deadline completely, but got a reminder email today and went "oh sh*t." I have raging ADHD + a physical disability that I get accommodations for in-school (and historically). I did check, and I'll be sitting for the bar in a state that does not require you to take and pass the MPRE before sitting for the bar...but having to take the MPRE right after the bar would also kill me inside.

I have an appointment scheduled with a school advisor to get their input, but wondering if anyone here has any personal experience with either situation (taking it in April 3L or taking it without accommodations and then requesting accommodations for the bar).

edit to add: I'm mentally preparing myself and assuming that, regardless of MPRE, some or all of my bar accommodations requests will get denied, based on what I've heard. But I'd like to at least give myself a fighting chance.

I'm a foreign trained lawyer and am trying to confirm which ONLINE LLM programs satisfy Rule 13(9) so that I can be admitted as an attorney in Texas.

Our school has small mentorship groups where they pair a few 1Ls with a 2L.

And now I have a crush on this 2L who leads my group.

How do I get over it? It’s really distracting me. He’s all I can think about, and I can’t focus on work. It’s not like I can avoid him too. And I see him almost every day because our school is somewhat small.

Why would this be battery if there was no intent to harm or commit an offensive act? I know she intended to hug her but how is that enough to commmit battery? There was presumed consent to the hug because it was friendly Mary hugged her back.
Also how does Garratt v Bailey even apply?
He purposely pulled the chair from her and intended for her to fall. Am I missing something?
Help me understand pls 💓

Title basically. I been taking notes and doing the readings and all that and I trying to start synthesizing but im not sure what im supposed to do. We're reading these cases but we're just... getting the rule out of them? So do I need to include the cases or not? F.E. if I include Lucy v. Zehmer for contracts, should I include the case brief or just the rule out of it (there was an offer by Zehmer and whether there was mutual assent doesn't matter as Zehmer's outward manifestations would lead a reasonable person to believe the offer was legitimate) or an even shorter version of that? Any help is welcome, thank you!

I try talking to them, and they wave me down for no reason. Even being nice is below them. The 2Ls and 3Ls are much nicer though.