Wasted? I Don't Think So.

Yahoo news has this article:

At many top law schools, the third year is famously relaxed, a halcyon interlude between rigorous introductory courses and the long hours that await graduates at law firm jobs. There is research and volunteer work, but also a lot of bar-hopping and little studying: 15 hours per week, according to one survey at 11 law schools, compared to 33 hours for first-year students. . . .

Some educators want to see the third year beefed up, arguing the law is more complex than ever and future lawyers need more preparation, both for the bar and exam and for their careers. But others want it dropped.

Critics say there's so much law that students will learn most of it on the job, anyway. They see the third year as a revenue racket, a full-employment scheme for faculty that comes at the expense of non-elite school students and discourages them from taking public service jobs.

Ann Althouse disagrees:

Third year should be full of the most challenging material -- of which there is plenty in the law. Anyone who thinks law school should be easier for law students needs to spend more time thinking about their future clients. And if you think I'm being too harsh toward law students, I would say that the law students themselves should demand an intensely challenging experience for their time and money.

I'm siding with Althouse on this one. The first year of law school is spent just figuring out how to read caselaw, interpret statutes, and get the hang of the Socratic method. The second is spent doing all the extra-curricular stuff that impresses future employers, killing yourself on journals and moot court competitions. You also start to figure out what areas of the law you're particularly drawn to and might want to consider specializing in. I spent my third year working as a prosecuting intern (figuring out what it's really like to be a lawyer), filling in the spotty areas on the resume with various activities, taking classes more geared towards my particular interests (and areas covered on the bar that I needed particular help with), interviewing, and so forth. I must've missed the party train, 'cause my third year of law school was not "wasted," euphemistically or otherwise.