Washington and Lee University Reviews

"I graduated from Washington and Lee School of Law in 2007. My experience was that the program did not reliably cover bar-tested doctrine, offered minimal practical training, and provided limited career support unless you were near the top of the class.Doctrinal coverage felt inconsistent. For example, my Torts professor focused heavily on his law-and-economics views and did not cover a large portion of the casebook. After having to buy BarBri in order to learn the material on the Bar, I encountered torts and concepts I had never previously been taught or even heard of, despite completing the required course.Faculty feedback was also limited. Except for one professor, I received little guidance on how to read cases for exams or what professors considered important to learn. The school frequently used the line that law school “teaches you to think like a lawyer,” but in practice most professors refused to discuss exam expectations. Students with lawyer parents already knew what to extract from cases and had a clear advantage. The rest of us had to guess at what professors might test over. I wasted an entire semester memorizing facts from cases, only to find out after the single exam that memorizing that material is irrelevant, despite having asked numerous professors throughout the semester if I was on the right path.Practical preparation was minimal. I did not have a single class with a required oral argument, despite oral advocacy being a major part of a large percentage of attorney jobs. I had almost no required legal writing beyond issue-spotting exams (only one class required a written argument). The only legal writing class we had was in 1L, and it was taught by a student. Mock trial and moot court were student-run without professor or lawyer involvement.Clinics were essentially inaccessible during my time there. To my knowledge, there were only about six total clinic spots, and career services actively discouraged practical work. Career services also provided little help for becoming a working attorney. In 3L I asked how to become a licensed attorney and was told it was my job to figure out on my own. After I passed the July bar on the first try, the main advice I received was to “network and ask other attorneys,” and I was also told to consider paths other than practicing law without concrete guidance on what those paths were.Based on my experience, prospective students should ask very specific questions about clinic availability, who teaches legal writing, how much practical writing/oral advocacy is required, and what career services actually does for students outside the top of the class who want to practice law.Read Less"

"It's not a directly competitive environment like a lot of law schools are, but it's certainly a competitive atmosphere in terms of what law school essentially must be. It's a very cordial environment that is great for the 1L experience. Campus safety is fairly low because of the recent textbook thefts."

"One of the best places I have ever studied. A diamond in the rough"

"The school truly wants everyone to succeed. The more you take advantage of, the more you will get out of it. It's in the middle of nowhere but that's good for focusing on school."

"It is an excellent education but in order to fully utilize it, one must seek out assistance in the areas of his/her interest. Certain teachers are very invested in seeing their students succeed."

"Small school, tight knit community. Alumni network is extremely strong. Professors are some of the best in their field. Facilities are really nice."

"W&L is very isolated from the real world, but it is a great place to go to law school if you don't want distractions."