How To Be Sort of Happy in Law School
Stanford University Press, 2018

Excerpt: Although there were many differences among the law schools I studied, I was struck more by the similarities that resonated across a hugely diverse group of respondents. Location, age, race, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, class background, politics, and ambition varied widely. And as you might expect, some groups of people experience law school differently from others, which I detail in Chapter 7. But many (most?) law school problems seem endemic to law studenthood itself. This means that a lot of solutions to law school problems will apply across the board of almost everyone. You are decidedly not alone in whatever experiences led you to pick up this book.

Other books have been written about law school, and many of them are worth reading (I list some of my favorites in the Appendix). But this one is different. It will not tell you how to make law review, write a clerkship application letter, or ace a job interview. Great resources already exist to help you do those things. Instead, this book tackles messier, more amorphous questions. How do you decide whether to do law review or a clerkship in the first place? Do you want it because everyone else is coveting it? How do you know what you want?

Praise: “How To Be Sort of Happy in Law School is a remarkably wise book. A lawyer-turned-sociologist, Katie Young combines a critical perspective on the law school experience with concrete steps law students can take to survive, and even thrive. Her readers will come away from the book reassured that they are not alone and inspired to tackle the challenges in front of them with courage, common sense, and even a good laugh every now and then.”
—Pamela S. Karlan, Stanford Law School

“How To Be Sort of Happy in Law School comes at a most important time in legal education and will be of immeasurable benefit to law students. Kathryne Young’s insights—many borne out of her own experience, alongside the experience of many attorneys—offer an honest and rare glimpse into the challenges of law school. Young provides readers with a useful and hopeful path to more fully experience the excitement and realize the opportunities found in law school and the practice of law.”
—Scott L. Rogers, University of Miami

“Where was Kathryne Young when I was trying to decide whether to go to law school? When I was trying to decide whether to drop out? When I was outlining torts, sobbing, in the library? And when I was freaking out about jobs? Never mind. She’s here now. I’m so glad that generations of law students, lawyers, and legal academics, and the folks who love them will have her patient, generous, and deeply wise voice in their heads as they launch into a life in the law. Or decide not to, which is also allowed. A big-hearted look at what can be a cold-hearted time. A must-read for the young lawyers in your orbit.”
—Dahlia Lithwick, JD ’96, Slate