Law School Timeline
This is an overview of the general law school timeline. For incoming law school students or for anyone considering law school, this is a great way to see how law school works beyond the usual classes and having to study. For current law school students, it is crucial to your success in law school that you understand the general timeline so you can prioritize what you do—and when you do it—accordingly.
This timeline is just a general overview and doesn’t touch on other things that you should consider in your timeline, such as when to start outlining, studying for finals, panels/ law school events, etc. The exact timing of everything will depend on the law school and may be subject to change, but this timeline follows the average law school schedule.
If you are an incoming student, there are a few basics you should know. Law school in the United States is typically three years at an ABA accredited law school. The first year of law school is generally referred to as “1L” and the second and third years are referred to as “2L” and “3L” respectively.
It is customary and highly encouraged for law school students to work in a legally related job during each of the summers in law school. Students can find these summer jobs in a variety of ways. For example, employers may post job listings, just like any other job, looking for a Summer Associate, Law Clerk, Legal Extern, or Legal Intern (which are all various terms used to describe a law school student working for them). Most law schools’ career services department will also collect and post job listings on an internal website for students to see the hundreds of legally related summer job opportunities out there. Finally, there is a process called On Campus Interviews (commonly referred to as OCIs) where employers arrange with the law school to interview students from that law school and host interviews for those students on campus. These OCI applications will be done through the law school and you can ask your law school—or the law school you are considering—for more information.
Here is a collection of definitions for the common law school terms used above:
1L, 2L, 3L = First year of law school, second year of law school, and third year of law school respectively.
Clerkship = Law school student or graduate work for a judge, typically working with the judge on research and writing.
Clinic = Law clinics that the law school provides or connects students to where students will work on real cases in a quasi-law firm environment on primarily pro bono cases.
Externship = Similar to an internship (working for an employer) but often done “for credit” so the student receives law school credit for the work done. These externship positions may also be paid or unpaid.
MPRE = Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination that individuals must take to be admitted to their state bar association and practice law.
OCIs = On Campus Interviews where the law school hosts multiple employers to do interviews of students (who applied ahead of time) for summer job opportunities.
Summer Associate = A law school student working at an organization (often a law firm) in the summer during law school on various legal matters (may also be referred to as law clerk, legal extern, or legal intern, especially if the position is during the school year rather than the summer).
Write On = The exam law school students take at the end of their first year of law school to apply for a spot on the law school’s law review or other academic journals.