In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a public letter while he was imprisoned in Birmingham jail. In it, he said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Of course I’d heard this quote many times throughout my life, but I suppose in all honesty it affected me in the way most grandiose platitudes did: not much. We all innately feel that injustice cannot be tolerated, however, until injustice finds its way into our day-to-day lives, we are hard-pressed to find the motivation to take action, or the ability to comprehend what it truly means to face injustice.

Students planning to attend law school have a variety of success indicators they should consider when choosing where to apply, and many resources with which to consult. Most of these are based on raw data: location, numbers, scholarship retention, rankings, and employment rates. But one is not. It’s a factor that no internet source, brochure, or twitter feed can give you information about, and may, in many cases, be the most important factor. Let’s get to the data first:

Surviving law school while pregnant and raising three small children (two of them twins!) is by no means easy. How do I manage? How do I do it? Well, it’s truly a perfect storm, and it really comes down to a positive attitude, surrounding myself with those who love and believe in me, and wanting deep down inside, above all, to make a difference and a better world.

Learning that Seton Hall University School of Law is a Catholic institution, prospective law students who are not Catholic may wonder what sort of welcome they might receive here. This may be particularly true for non-Christian students.

Plagiarism — the use of someone else’s words or ideas in writing without proper attribution — is one of the easiest ways to ruin your academic or professional reputation. Just ask Senator John Walsh, whose Master’s degree from the United States War College was rescinded after it was discovered that he copied large portions of his final thesis without attribution. Or Benny Johnson, the BuzzFeed writer who was dismissed after Twitter users pointed out dozens of examples in his articles of “sentences or phrases copied word for word from other sites.”

As a law student, being scrupulous about avoiding plagiarism is particularly important, as a plagiarism violation could be used as evidence of poor “character and fitness” when you apply for admission to the bar. For lawyers already in practice, plagiarism can be grounds for professional discipline.

Law students hoping to practice in the area of Family Law can position themselves to achieve that goal by following this advice. While no one thing will guarantee a successful career in one specific area of the law, a combination of multiple experiences and associations will make the likelihood of employment in that area increase. Here are a few ideas to get you started. 

Tip #1: Build your network.

Applying to graduate school for a master's degree can feel daunting, particularly if you are a mid-career professional who hasn’t been in the classroom for a while. Most graduate schools will require that you submit a personal statement as part of your application, but don’t be intimidated by the task.

If your goals of returning to school include developing new skills to better position yourself for new or expanding opportunities within your industry or related industry, a compelling personal statement can be the key factor in the school’s decision to admit you. Graduate schools desire diverse students with a variety of personal, professional and educational backgrounds.

Think of the graduate school personal statement as your opportunity to distinguish yourself from other applicants and to highlight something that the admissions committee would not otherwise know about you.

(Post updated September 14, 2023)

Once you have tackled your personal statement and secured outstanding letters of recommendation, it is time to stand back and look at the “pieces” of your law school application objectively. It is helpful to view your law school application as a puzzle to be understood by the readers (those evaluating your potential for success in law school and in a legal career).

In most cases the readers will only get to know you from the items in your application file. There will be no interview and no other way to assess your potential. So, stand back and objectively determine – with everything that will be seen in my admissions file, what raises questions? What are the missing puzzle pieces to understanding why I am a good candidate for admission?

If you feel that your application, when viewed as a whole, is missing an important piece of information that could answer the above questions, you should consider writing an addendum. Below are the most common types of addenda we see: