Law School Braggarts

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

They may say they already:

-finished 2 pre-law prep courses,
-did the first month’s worth of reading,
-met with your professors at 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 often refer to such folks as “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: Don’t let the sweater vest, briefcase types get under your skin.

 🔸 They usually quiet down after a few weeks, and some can even become great career connections. In all likelihood, they’re only acting obnoxiously because they themselves feel insecure.

 🔸 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, that is a mistake!!

 —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.

(Or at least be very quiet about it. 😉)

Fondly,

💌 Amanda

#Dear1L

P.S. 🗳️ Lawyers, 2Ls, 3Ls: Did you have gunners in your 1L class?