Over the course of three years, most law students eventually come to these realizations. “I just made such a fool of myself,” my friend Julie lamented in embarrassed fashion as we exited class during the fall quarter of our 1L year. This fear, more than anything else, motivates students to be prepared for class. [1] This is not a fabricated story just to hammer home the point. It’s really not that scary. [5] It is not recommended that you try “I don’t know’s” distant cousin, “Um, I didn’t do the reading” or “Sorry, I nodded off for a minute.” If you want to use one of those responses, proceed with caution. This actually happened and the friend in question is really named Julie. I don’t even want to look at anyone right now,” she cried. [2] Allowing for the brilliant punch line: “Most people at a funeral would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.”
[3] There are no stats on this, but a best guess says that students – on average – come to this realization after about 1.7 years of law school. Fact: It is absolutely, unequivocally, one hundred percent okay to tell a professor that you do not know the answer. Plus, it sets a nice tone for the rest of your Socratic dialogue, as you begin with a humble statement, which is much better than coming off snotty or condescending. Always try to come up with an answer, lest you disappoint all the brilliant minds around you and cause your family great shame and embarrassment for years to come. Entering law school, nearly all students are terrified of being called on by one of their luminary professors. It drives them to read every word of every case, to highlight footnotes with special, colored highlighters, and to chew their fingernails down to the cuticles. After a puzzled silence, I responded with, “You got called on?”[1]
As Jerry Seinfeld once joked, the average American’s greatest fear is public speaking, a greater fear even than death.[2] It is not surprising then, that the aspect of law school that strikes students with that nervous sting of apprehension is the Socratic method used by professors to foster involvement in their classes. You will need to have something to follow with, which is why your author recommends reading the other Socratic method posts. However, don’t think that simply saying “I don’t know” gets you completely off the hook. Fiction: You must never, ever utter the words “I don’t know” when called upon. “I was completely unprepared when the professor called on me, my answer was totally wrong, and he kept coming back to me. In fact, this is a much better option than stammering nervously as you try to scam your way to an acceptable response.[4] If a professor calls on you and you don’t know the answer, simply say “honestly, I don’t know” or something along those lines.[5] It will buy you time, which allows you to collect your thoughts, lower your heart rate, and even score up some answers from outside sources. However, as mentioned ad nauseum in this space, having your name called by the professor need not be a heart-stopping, hyperventilation-inducing event. Nor does anyone care about what happened ten minutes after the fact. [4] This almost never works. Repeat: no one cares. But why suffer needlessly for any period of time?[3] In this ongoing feature, your author will separate myth from reality in order to hopefully alleviate some of your anxieties from Day One. Everyone must think I’m so stupid. Not only that, but the urban legends and myths and whispered cardinal rules that float down law school corridors are largely made up, erroneous, and dead wrong.
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