Legal Professions Advising
Welcome to Legal Professions Advising at Franklin & Marshall College. Nationally recognized for its academic rigor, F&M has a long history of graduating students who become successful attorneys and other prominent members of the legal profession. Law school deans across the country, in fact, have observed that our students come to law school better prepared than their peers from other undergraduate institutions. Why? Because F&M professors teach you the intellectual skills you will need in law school and beyond: thinking critically and analytically; constructing an evidence-based argument; reasoning by analogy; and writing precisely and effectively.
Laurie T. Baulig, J.D., serves as the Director of Legal Professions Advising and the College’s Pre-Law Advisor. Professor Baulig is happy to meet individually with students who are considering careers in law and related legal professions. Students who are planning to apply to law school should schedule a meeting with Professor Baulig no later than the second semester of their sophomore year. The Office of Student & Post-Graduate Development (OSPGD) also offers a number of programs designed to assist students with the law school application process. And, as part of the OSPGD team, Professor Baulig can assist you in securing an internship, externship or other volunteer position that will allow you to explore whether a career in law is right for you.
If you are interested in applying to law school, there are also resources on this site that will help you. The College has developed a pre-law checklist that identifies what you should do during each of your four years at F&M to prepare yourself for law school, the Law School Admission Test (“LSAT”), and the application process.
There are also a number of tools on this site that will help you research law schools. Currently, there are 202 law schools in the U.S. that are approved (or “accredited”) by the American Bar Association. Once you have your LSAT score (typically at the end of your junior year or fall semester of your senior year), you can identify law schools where candidates with your cumulative GPA and LSAT score have a strong probability of admission. All accredited U.S. law schools are also required to report their graduates’ employment data directly to the American Bar Association, and pre-law students should review this data for every law school they are considering. Prof. Baulig is also available to help you compare law schools based on other factors that will help you decide where to apply and where to attend.
