Zero-L: Intro to Law School
The last, glorious months of freedom between enrolling in law school and actually starting…
That’s Zero-L (0L). Earning a Juris Doctor degree, or “JD” for short, is a three-year process. First-year law students are commonly called "1Ls," second years are "2Ls," and third years are (crusty) "3Ls." Therefore, in the last few weeks before I actually start, I’m considered a “0L.” It’s kind of a joke term, but also a very real reminder that yes, I got into this school, but that doesn’t mean I know a dang thing about law.
If you’re Harvard, you don’t love that. Understandable! Therefore, the school created an online video course to help 0Ls prep for our first semester. My past week has been largely dedicated to completing this non-mandatory, highly-encouraged video series.
INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
I planned to link the 0L video here until a big “DO NOT SHARE THIS MATERIAL” notice popped up on the second slide. So, I’m sorry - everything you’re about to read is second-hand. (In any case, it was a VERY long video).
Zero-L was definitely informative; a little dry at times, but a realistic preview to the thousands of pages of case readings waiting for me. I figured the course would begin with the US Constitution and work from 1787 to 2019, but was pleasantly surprised to start at present day! The first lesson discussed how to think like a lawyer and dispelled the notion that all I'll do in law school is memorize things. In fact, I thought this was the course's most powerful message:
“The chief value of legal education is not to know stuff, but to know what stuff to look for. Where to find it. How to interpret what you find. What to think [about conflicting information]…and how to use what you find to give legal advice.”
- HLS Professor Glen Cohen
From there, various professors explained topics within their own specialties, including different types of law and lawyers, federal vs state systems, how to read a case and the Socratic method, separation of powers, civil litigation, and fundamental legal terms/concepts. Each section ended with a handful of multiple choice questions to re-emphasize the main concepts. Despite its wide variety, the course's most disappointing lesson was definitely how a bill becomes a law. It's not nearly as fun as I recall from the Schoolhouse Rock video.
(if you don’t remember "I'm Just A Bill," please re-watch here. In the name of childhood memories.)
OVERALL
While a majority of the concepts were legal (obviously) and dense (one time, I was falling asleep so hard I made coffee without coffee grounds), I did absorb some fascinating tidbits:
It’s a federal crime to knowingly allow your pig on fenced-in public land if it might destroy the grass.
Less than half of all lawyers are litigators (work in a courtroom).
When you see a case - for example, Hawkins v. McGee, 84 N.H. 114, 146 A. 641 (N.H. 1929) - the letters and numbers tell you the case was decided in 1929 by the New Hampshire Supreme Court, and can be found on pg 114 of the Atlantic Reporter Vol 84 OR pg 641 of the New Hampshire Reporter Vol 146.
Women account for less than 20% of the equity partners in big, prestigious law firms - despite being 50% OR MORE going into these same firms for the last twenty years.
Constitutions trump statutes, which trump regulations, which trump judicial decisions. Seems like something to memorize.
25 of 45 US Presidents have been lawyers (and two have been law school drop-outs). Eight have graduated from Harvard in some capacity!
Elizabeth Warren’s husband teaches at Harvard Law.
And a nice linguistics lesson: en banc is French for “on the bench, ” which refers to the number of judges who hear and decide a case.
The entire 0L course took about fifteen hours, but I was constantly reassured that every topic was just a taste; I’d pick up everything in class. I was really encouraged by each professor's enthusiasm and explanations of complex legal concepts through contemporary examples and parallels. They truly "dumbed it down" whenever possible and this dum-dum was very grateful.
FIRST SEMESTER
I also got my fall schedule this week (yay!) and bought my books (boooooo). There was no 'mad dash' to register for courses because HLS dictates everyone's 1L year...mostly to ensure students don't take only the courses they want (that's me. I am 'students.') Everything, from schedule to books and syllabi, was communicated via email - no registration required. The maddest dash happened over locker assignments, which I completely missed, so my locker is very far away from classes and I'll likely never use it.
As a side note, this means - despite being 25 years old, a college graduate AND a JD candidate - I have yet to register for a single course in advanced education. Thanks Air Force.
From now until December finals, I have classes in Property, Civil Procedure, Contracts, Legislation & Regulation, and Legal Research & Writing (LRW). Each class is taught by a different professor but I'll attend with the same 80ish 1L classmates (called my section...more about that next week). I have class every day of the week, but class times vary. A few days start at 8 am but two start at 10:20; I'm done by 11:30 some days, but will be on campus until 5:15 every Thursday. Despite general groans about the 8 ams, I'm not complaining at all. It’s been 7 years of a 7:30 start time at this point, and just having weekends again is an absolute gift.
GETTING STARTED
Truthfully, outside of the 0-L course and buying books, I've barely prepped - my focus has been on choosing some freakin apartment decor. And panicking about business casual wear. But yesterday I went to campus for the first time to pick up my ID card and officially become a Harvard Law Student! Registration was in the law campus' main building, Wasserstein Hall, and actually took 5 minutes. Fantastic.
Today is the official beginning of orientation, so things are getting very real. I'm excited to meet the other 1Ls, especially those in my section, and get comfortable with the campus. More importantly, today is picture day - and if you think I'm not wearing pink, you are seriously disturbed.