Terms to Know as an Incoming 1L
By Alice Foley, Associate Law School Consultant
If you’re starting law school this fall, you’ve probably heard someone talk about how you are going to learn a whole new language once you start. Honestly, I’ve probably said it somewhere in a blog or on a video before now. If you are curious about what this actually means, and what that new language is going to look like, we’ve got you covered.
In mostly alphabetical order, things it’s helpful to know start right after this paragraph. Please note: While mostly informative, there is a fair amount of snark in some of these definitions. It comes from having made it through law school (you’ll understand when you get there). I’ll try to keep the less-than-strictly-definition things in italics.
1L,2L,3L,0L - Law school has to be different from the other professional schools so your year is #L, rather than the other way around. 0L’s are probably y’all that are reading this, you start law school soon. 1L is you in your first year of law school, 2L is second year, and 3L is third year aka basically finished so they are checked out and/or worried about the bar exam - it's a weird space to be in. 0 and 1L’s are often referred to as “baby lawyers”.
Appellant - the person/party that is appealing to the higher court to reverse a lower court decision.
Appellee - the respondent (see below) in an appeals or appellate level case
Appellate court - The court for appeals. Basically any court that has power to hear a case that’s already been to trial or some other lower level court/tribunal. Like SCOTUS.
Bar - The professional governing body for lawyers in each state; also refers to the exam you must pass to receive your license to practice law.
Bar exam - likely one of the worst things you’ll ever do and the worst graduation present for finishing law school; also see “Bar”
BlueBook - (noun) the book of legal citation. You will need to purchase this book. Get the newest edition, things tend to change. (verb: bluebook, bluebooking) the act of formally citing a case in your writing or checking the citations in a legal piece of writing.
Casebook - you don’t have textbooks anymore, they are for children. You have casebooks! They are very heavy, usually expensive, and full of the cases and extra info that you’ll be expected to discuss in class,
Brief - the “cheat sheet” for a case. Usually taught in 1L orientation, and contains the relevant information from a case (name/citation, facts of the case, issue, holding, reasoning, dissent/concurring opinions, analysis).
Book brief - the lazy girl’s way to brief, usually involves highlights/underlining the relevant info and helpful margin notes. Everyone will tell you they have the best format. They never do.
Case Law - the law you get from a prior case (the holding).
CIv Pro - Civil Procedure (i and/or II). A first year course, often spanning the whole year, teaching you the procedures and procedural rules of the legal system. Hello, Erie!
Clerk/Clerkship - the job title for someone that works for a judge. Usually a prestigious position, and a great first job after law school. Can sometimes be acquired as a summer job during law school. You learn a LOT.
Clinic - an experiential course (usually in 3L year) where you serve as a student attorney for real life clients, under the supervision of either clinical faculty or current practitioners. The best way to learn what you hate doing.
Cold Call - often the scariest part of 1L year. When a prof calls on you with no warning or prep and proceeds to ask you every question they can think of about a case you were supposed to read prior to attending class. Don’t forget the footnotes!
Gunner - This is who you either definitely DON’T want to be, or who you definitely DO want to be. It all depends on the school. You’re Hermione, just go with it. Also, the kid that doesn’t know when they’ve hit the limit on useful hypos (see below).
Common Law - case law, or the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions
Con Law - constitutional law. Usually a 1L class that covers law related to the constitution. Not nearly as interesting as you’re thinking right now. Get ready for the Commerce Clause, friends.
Crim/Crim Law - Criminal Law. Also usually a 1L class covering crimes. Murder and the like.
Defendant - the individual, company, or institution sued or accused in a court of law. Usually, you don’t want to be this guy.
Dissent - When a judge refuses to agree with the official opinion and writes their own opinion aka when a judge goes rogue, or is acknowledging that the rest of their colleagues are wrong.
Holding - the final decision the court reached in a case/appeal/etc.
Hypo - a common teaching tool when a professor will change details about the case you just read and make you reason through what the court may decide given the new information and old holding/reasoning. Also, something that will, at some point, annoy the crap out of you.
IRAC/CREAC - Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion OR Conclusion, Rule, Explanation, Application, Conclusion. These are the two most common formats for approaching a legal problem and the format you’ll use in your legal research and writing classes and/or your exams.
K - it means contract. No, I don’t think anyone knows why.
Law Review/Journal - the legal publication(s) for a law school. Contains articles about legal things written by professors, practitioners, and sometimes even students. Very prestigious co-curricular activity that looks beautiful on a resume. Often requires participation in a writing competition that takes place after you finish your last finals in your 1L year. Because that’s exactly what sounds fun after finishing the year… more graded writing.
Lexis Nexis/WestLaw/Bloomberg - Legal search databases. No one uses books anymore. You will likely have unlimited access to these as a student but will spend many hours learning how to be very efficient at using these because they will cost a LOT of money when you join the real world and your firm will be unhappy if you rack up a several thousand dollar bill. “Don’t be like [insert generic name], she got FIRED because she never learned and spent $6k in one day on a project that should have cost next to nothing.” Trust me, you’ll hear this story. Every school has one.
Outline - this is how you study for exams. It will become your most valuable piece of work the closer you get to finals. Will cover the high points and basics of everything you’ve learned over the semester. Sometimes, 2/3Ls will offer outlines to you, take them. Do not, however, proceed to do nothing and rely solely on the gifted outline. There will be consequences.
OCI - On Campus Interview. Typically twice a year when firms/organizations come to campus to interview students for summer and post-graduate jobs.
Petitioner - the party who presents a petition to the court. On appeal, the petitioner is usually the party who lost in the lower court.
Respondent - a defendant in a lawsuit, especially one in an appeal.
Reverse - When an appellate court sets aside the decision of a lower court because of an error. A reversal is often followed by a remand.
Remand - When an appellate court sends a case back to the lower court. (to do better)
Statute/Statutory Law - written law passed by a body of legislature, not case law.
Supplement - additional books that further explain a case or legal concept (see E&E).
E&E/Emanuel’s - Two widely used supplements. E&E or Examples and Explanations provides an alternative perspective to help you understand your casebook and in-class lectures using hypotheticals and detailed explanations. Emanuel’s covers a variety of supplements, most popularly their Law Outlines - a commercial guide keyed to many popular casebooks.
TWEN - The West Education Network. AKA Blackboard or Canvas for law school. An online class platform. You will dislike this regularly and it will make you panic after submitting something too close to the deadline to accommodate “technical error”.
UBE - Uniform Bar Exam. See, Bar Exam. Only this time it can be used in a variety of states! Still awful.
Writ of Certiorari - granted by the Supreme Court of the United States when it agrees to hear a case. Often “writ of cert”. Because literally no one can pronounce “certiorari”.
This is, by no means, an exhaustive list, but it should get you off the ground running as you begin 1L year. Good luck, baby lawyers!