Talk to anyone who went to law school in the 1950s and they will tell you that one half to two-thirds of their class failed to survive the One L year. “Look to your left, and look to your right,” the old law school deans used to say in deep voices, like reapers. “By the time this class graduates, only one of you will remain.” In that model, 150 One Ls meant only 50 Two Ls and Three Ls.
That may make for great stories for Senior Partners in old school silk stocking law firms, but consider how silly that was for law schools as a business model: as long as they held up high grading standards, they flunked out about one-half their annual revenues. Not exactly a good business plan. But once they got wise to this, law schools stopped flunking people out. These days only a tiny percentage of the students in a 150 person One L class is gone at the end of the third year.
The good news from all of this is that you are likely to survive the One L year. Congratulations. The bad news is that so are virtually all of your classmates who are going to be competing with you for jobs when you get out.
