Steer Clear of the Gunners

Dear 1L, At the start of law school, there will be braggarts.

They may say they took a comprehensive, pre-law prep course and feel “ready to go!”

They may boast that they already: 
-read the first month’s worth of reading, 
-met with your professors at early office hours, or 
-copied all the final doctrinal exams from the library.

They may even proclaim, “I disagree with footnote 29 of the second dissenting opinion” (in the 86-page S. Ct. decision you were assigned to read for class).

Every law school class seems to have a few folks like this. Their behavior can bring down even the most confident, new 1L. 

These days, people call such folks “gunners.” 

 {—If it helps, I used to refer to one of our class culprits as “sweater vest, briefcase guy.”  —> The image kind of stuck in my mind and ended up helping me to chuckle and block out this noise more generally.}

THREE TIPS:

1:  Stay away from the gunners/sweater vest, briefcase types. 

They usually quiet down after a few weeks, and some can even become great connections.  In all likelihood, they only acted obnoxiously because they themselves are not confident.

No one who is really confident needs to brag about it.

You need all the positive energy around you to keep imposter syndrome at bay early on, so it’s critical to block out all unnecessary sources of stress or insecurity.

2:  Don’t burn any bridges.

Although your instinct may be to loathe gunners and shun them permanently, do not.

Consider every single member of your class to be a future, potential colleague, employer, or referral source.

Be smart.  This isn’t high school or college. Exclusionary, clique behavior will get you nowhere fast in the legal world.

3:  Please don’t be a gunner.

Just don’t.

***
Did you have gunners in your 1L class? What are your tips for handling them?

Fondly,

Amanda

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