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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