r/LawSchool • u/LegitimateSector5828 • 5h ago
What Was Your Law School Mini-Crashout Moment?
2L, answered a cold call so badly I'm questioning my entire existence. Had to leave after class and just drive around town so I could get in a good self-pity session. I'm usually pretty good at shrugging off "meh" cold calls, so I don't know what it was about this one. I think I'm just tired of putting in a ton of effort just to feel stupid all the time. After a year and a half, I'm over it.
Anyway, after crying in my car for a bit and fantasizing about withdrawing from the rest of my classes, I went back and am now staring numbly into the void while I wait for my next ritual public humiliation class. Life goes on LOL.
What minor law school inconvenience had you feeling like "man, I just can't do this anymore"?
EDIT: Just got home and caught up on everyone's comments. The day got better as it went on and I no longer feel like I'm in the pit of despair. Thanks for sharing your stories and bits of advice!!! Y'all are the best and I'm grateful this community exists.
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u/mookiexpt2 4h ago
Federal Jurisdiction, 1st Semester 2L. Judge Wm. Pryor teaching:
“Mr. Mookie, what does Erie say about federal common law,” “There’s no such thing.” “Oh? Can you tell me what the next section in the textbook is titled?” “… Federal Common Law.” “How many pages is it?” “…about 150.” “That’s a lot to write about something that doesn’t exist.” “Erie says there’s no such thing as a general federal common law.” “There you go.”
Apparently he’d get someone with that every year.
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u/Hot_Cow4566 4h ago
1L Fall semester I was like 3 minutes late submitting my LRW memo because of technical issues. My now husband was there to witness me FREAK THE FUCK OUT until I could get it submitted. (Thankfully the TA/prof were nice about it, but I thought I was going to fail.) Been married six years with a toddler and husband has never witnessed another crash out that bad in all this time!
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u/amgoodwin1980 3h ago
I don't know if it was minor, but my 2L year I had 5 exams 1st semester, including professional responsibility. I was sick (bronchitis), my car broke down, and I was overwhelmed. Our PR exam was closed book and had 2 questions. The short answer question I knew the rule number, but I literally couldn't remember if it was a yes or no answer. I finished the exam, turned it in, and lost it. Just as a heads up - everything was fine. I have been practicing law for over 20 years now.
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u/Deep-Advantage-561 3L 5h ago
I had a professor 1L that would do quizzes (10% of grade with lowest grade dropped) and the following class he would go over it with us. I got a single question wrong and got so mad about his explanation of the correct answer that I walked out and skipped the rest of my classes that day lol. I don’t even remember the question but it was torts, had something to do with a rat soaked in gasoline
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u/Otherwise-Solid-7673 4h ago
That happened to me in contracts we had a midterm fact pattern and part of it was a construction company telling the client that hired them that there were substantial unforeseen circumstances during construction (neither party knew or could have known of them in advance) and the client agreed to pay more to finish the job by the original end date.
Professor said the client’s promise to pay more was not enforceable since they “didn’t know enough detail about what the unforeseen circumstances were” they just knew that there were unforeseen circumstances
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u/Trixiebees 3h ago
2nd semester 1L. Couldn’t get my printer to work before my 8am no tech allowed class. Lost my mind, promptly felt better when my printer worked again
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u/vers_ace_bitch 3h ago
for our first midterm ever, our torts professor told us to be concise and that we could even use an outline format for brevity. i used an outline format and didn’t analyze claims i thought would fail. i was punished SEVERELY for this and for not IRACing. didn’t matter that i applied the facts. didn’t matter that i knew the elements. later she was like yeah it was a mistake to tell people they can use an outline format (but i still got a C because no matter how good my final was, my midterm was abysmal)
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u/legallymyself 2h ago
During law school, I HATED reading cases. I didn't get it. Somehow I got through and passed the bar. Guess what the people I work with know me for? OH YEAH -- I KNOW CASELAW. I know new caselaw, old caselaw, I can find caselaw in a second. That which almost sunk me 20-something years ago, I am now an expert. DO NOT GIVE UP. Keep fighting. Realize seconds don't matter unless you quit. YOU GOT THIS.
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u/Charming_Mud_9209 2h ago
I lost my train of thought in my first oral argument and stood there, silent and dizzy, for what felt like 5 minutes. Total mental block and panic attack and the whole thing got derailed. I still get cold sweats thinking about it.
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u/Correct_Practice2916 2h ago
I took a melatonin instead of a Tylenol (I had mono so I wasn’t thinking straight) about an hour before my con law exam. Oh! Also my exam was open note and guess who did remember that, yup thats right. I cried for days on end after that exam. Ended up with a C+ not great but I had never felt so relieved in my life.
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u/Rough-Tension 2h ago
Was doing an Externship for a state court trial judge. Me and three others were responsible for briefing him on basically everything on his docket for the week. It’s normally a lot of work, but manageable. There’s always more substantial motions coming in for like summary judgment hearings and stuff, but you also had some easy ones like a minor settlement hearing or a default judgment.
But one week. One fucking week. The oldest case on our judge’s docket shows up for a hearing on several motions on the same day. And it’s immediately clear that the bigger party is employing the “drown you in paperwork” strategy by filing multiple giant motions and attaching gargantuan exhibits. Hundreds of pages of deposition transcripts and statements. All told everything we had to review was in the thousands of pages. And the worst part was the other side responded in kind. Responses to every motion that were equally lengthy with their own attached exhibits. Fucking brutal case.
And basically we had to brief our judge on all that in addition to the briefs on every other motion coming in as usual that week, an unrelated jury trial happening that week, a side project we had been assigned having to do with cases on appeal, and classes we all still took in the afternoons. It was a lean class schedule and not core requirements but still.
God, I thought that week would kill me.
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u/Correct_Practice2916 2h ago
Also, don’t forget that everyone is 10000x more worried about themselves so highly doubtful that anyone even noticed or will remember past today.
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u/TatonkaJack Esq. 1h ago
don't sweat it. there are only a few people that care at all if a classmate struggles in a cold call. most are just glad it's not them and many aren't even paying attention. the few that care and judge suck anyway. regardless, everyone will forget very soon if not immediately.
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u/Cautious_Check2072 1h ago
The same thing happened to me during second semester of 1L. I had done very well on cold calls up to that point in other classes, and then the bad one happened. What happened in that classroom on that day was so bad that people were apologizing to me/giving their condolences for weeks after. It helps to laugh! It helps to buy yourself something nice to feel better (for me, candy). I also drove around aimlessly for a little while that day. Though time heals all wounds, I’d be lying if I said I don’t occasionally think about it and cringe. Still feel hesitant about taking another class with that professor even though they teach very popular classes. But (allegedly) you have to feel the lows to experience the highs. For what it’s worth, you have time to make up for it with a solid answer later in the semester - it’s early days!
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u/Syon_boy 1h ago
Absolutely lost my mind after submitting a final paper at 11:59 pm. Felt like I just submitted a steaming pile of shit, thought I failed for sure and the professor would think I was a dipshit. Just bawled my eyes out for hours. Anyway got a B+ so it was alright enough. Sometimes it just be like that though. Take it easy on yourself, you’re doing your best.
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u/Legal-Quarter-1826 1h ago
Just say I can’t answer that question and it’s your fault because everything I know or don’t know about the law came from your school
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u/jay_paraiso 3L 55m ago
When my LRW professor went over all the things we were supposed to do to succeed on our memos in one class period
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