Legally Blonde

A very popular movie and musical, Legally Blonde adds to the stereotypes of lawyers and law school. Here is a list of things that urk me every time it comes on TBS:
-- No one waits 'til graduation to apply for law school. You gotta do it in the fall semester of your senior year, or you're screwed.
-- 175 LSAT score is a FREAKISH score (1 point from perfect... I think... it's been a while) -- this score is so high that I don't know a soul who has done this well. When I was taking the LSAT, ignorant college friends assumed this was an AVERAGE score (due to the movie) and asked me if I made the necessary 175... uh, ... no.
-- Although law firms may hire law clerks after their first year, it is common knowledge that 1L's (what first year law students are called) make terrible clerks. 1L's have NO practical knowledge, and are only hired by firms because the firms are trying to Court said 1L's, and not because 1L's will actually be of any significant benefit to the firm. If the "blood in the water" professor actually hired law students for a big murder case, he would've hired 3L's, and not 1L's. Additionally, he would NEVER have allowed the 3L's to take over the ever-important cross-examination of the star witness. The 1L Elle cross-examination is preposterous.
-- Regarding above-referenced cross-examination: Elle would not be allowed to go on the record in Court pursuant to Court rules--because she's not a lawyer. Only LAWYERS can perform in Court. Again, sometimes 3L's are allowed to practice law pursuant to certain state rules that allow the students to do free work for the indigent, but I would hardly consider Missy Workout Sorority Sis indigent.
-- There is no such thing as "new" information coming out in a big case ... Rest assured, the testimony of every witness would have ALREADY been taken in the form of a deposition... so Elle and her co-counsel would have been well-versed with the "you don't wash your hair after a perm" point... Lawyers hardly ever come up with case-breaking information during the actual jury trial... it's all been considered, and artfully prepared for argument, ahead of time.

THINGS that are TRUE:
-- You really do have homework before the first class.
-- You can certainly put off studying during the first half of the semester and still do well, as there is only one test per class per semester (typically).
-- Only the top students get clerkships, and it is a very big deal to get a great clerkship with a great firm.
-- In my experience, persons in law school do have "roles". As in, in every class, there is the jock guy, and the lesbian girl, and the smart software dude, the girl who dresses way too well, and the guy who raises his hands way too much ('helium hands'). If you're considering going to law school, read Thurow's "One-L"... it's freakishly accurate.

I'll probably think of more as the day goes on, and I'm supposed to be billing by the mili-second...