How to Navigate Your 1L Year

Academics

• Consult the Admitted Students website to be sure you are ready to begin law school. 

• Submit the Final Enrollment Confirmation Form, College Questionnaire, and Immunization Forms to NYU Law. Submit your Final Undergraduate Transcript to both NYU Law and LSAC.

Academics

• You'll take traditional required courses as well as Lawyering. In your first semester of Lawyering, you'll learn to develop legal research and writing skills and explore how law and fact unite in legal analysis.  
• Register for your first-year elective. Choose from Constitutional Law, Corporations, Criminal Procedure: Police Practices, Income Taxation, Intellectual Property, International Law, and Property. An advisor from Academic Services will visit your section to help you sort out the options. (Mid-October)

Outside of Class

• Attend Orientation.

• Don't miss the student organization fair to find out about our more than 80 student groups.

Careers

Private Sector

Attend the Career Educational Fair and Panel which introduces 1Ls to dozens of legal practice area specialties and non-legal alternatives with over 70 practitioners in attendance, many of them alumni. (October)

• Attend the Diversity Forum Panel and Career Fair. (November)
• Go to the 1L Small Group Counseling Sessions and Resume Reviews. (October–January)
• Attend the 1L Summer Job Search Panel, where current 2Ls discuss their summer job experiences in a variety of settings, including public interest, in-house, law firm, and as research assistants. (November)
• Attend the Interview Skills Mini Clinics. (November and January)
• Prepare cover letters and mailings to 1L employers. (December and January)

• Sign up and attend Home for the Holidays Law Firm Receptions over the break.

 Public Interest

• Learn more about the Public Interest Law Center (PILC)'s Summer Funding Program.
• Review PILC’s special Summer Internship Programs.
• Attend the 1L Government and Prosecution Summer Internships Info Session. (Fall)

Academics

• You will take the specially-designed course, Legislation and the Regulatory State.
• Your second semester of Lawyering will engage you in simulated interviewing, counseling, case analysis, negotiation, and both informal and trial advocacy.
• The schedule of classes is published in March. Counselors in Academic Services are available to meet by appointment to discuss.
• Think about taking a clinic or going on NYU Law Abroad next year to spend a semester immersed in the law and legal culture of Buenos Aires or Paris through a program designed by the Law School.

• Attend joint Academic Advising/Career Counseling sessions held by Academic Services, Career Services, and PILC.

Outside of Class

• Apply to journals by entering a student-administered writing competition. The board of each publication selects staff based on the writing entry and academic achievement during the first year of Law School.

• 1Ls with a passion for a particular field of study can seek additional opportunities in the form of scholarships and fellowships:

  • Criminal Justice Center Fellowships
  • Derrick Bell Scholarship for Public Service
  • Furman Academic Scholars Program
  • Galgay Fellowships in Bankruptcy and Reorganization Law
  • Latham & Watkins Award in Technology and Law
  • Lawrence Lederman Fellowships in Law and Economics
  • NYU Cyber Scholars Program
  • Program on Corporate Compliance Enforcement Fellowship

Careers

Private Sector

• Take part in the orientation session for Spring on-campus interviews. (January)

• Go to the Public Interest Legal Career Fair. (February)

• Take part in Law Firm Speed Networking Lunch for 1Ls and meet attorneys from a large variety of New York law firms in a very informal setting. (February)

•  Attend the NYU Global Networking Event and meet attorneys from firms from around the country and the world. (April)

• Participate in 40+ law firm and corporate sponsored events, receptions, lunches and dinners throughout the Spring. 

• Register for Early Interview Week (EIW), NYU Law’s largest employer recruiting event for employment in the private sector. Approximately 80 percent of students obtain their 2L summer positions at EIW.
• Participate in “Strike A Match” and learn how you can select the firms you wish to bid on for the lottery. (April)
• Come to the Office of Career Services (OCS) for a personalized mini-mock interview in preparation for EIW. (March and April)
• Career education programs are offered throughout the Spring; some are co-sponsored with student groups.

Public Interest

• Learn more about PILC’s Summer Funding Program.
• Review PILC’s special Summer Internship Programs.

Clerkships

• Attend the 1L clerkship orientation session to learn about clerkships and the application process.
• Attend the Judicial Clerkship Diversity Panel and Reception and hear a panel of judges speak about the value of a clerkship and the application process and meet the judges and current and former NYU Law clerks.

Academics

• Register for your Fall and Spring courses. Use COURSES to register for classes, check your law school schedule, or check for blocks that prevent registration.

Careers

Private Sector

• Attorney Interview Match (AIM) Program: OCS will attempt to match you with a practicing attorney from a law firm in New York City, or wherever you are working, for a mock interview at their office to prepare for EIW. (July)

• Take part in the Practice Interview Evening program in advance of EIW.

• Come to the Interview Skills Workshop in preparation for EIW.

• Participate in EIW. (July/August)