Before you feel anxiety about your grades, think about the following\u2026
\nFormer Dean Elena Kagan received several B\u2019s during law school, especially her first year. She went on to become the first female dean of Harvard Law
\nSchool, the U.S. Solicitor General, and the 112th Supreme Court Justice.
\nHLS Tax Law Professor Halperin received his worst law school grade in: tax.
\nDean Cosgrove received a Property exam back that had a note from the professor saying \u201cthis is exactly what I warned you not to do\u201d \u2013 followed by her
\nlowest grade since kindergarten. She went on to work at a top law firm before becoming a Dean at Harvard.
\nAt the time Judge Posner hired Professor Sitkoff to be his law clerk, Professor Sitkoff had received his lowest grade in law school in Law and Economics
\n\u2013 which had been taught by Judge Posner. Thereafter, he had one grade that was worse \u2013 in legal ethics. He graduated law school with High Honors.
\nProfessor Singer earned a B- in Property. After graduating, he clerked, worked at a law firm, and has written one of the leading casebooks and treatises
\non \u2013 wait for it \u2013 property. He has also authored two theoretical books on property and teaches Property courses at Harvard.
\nProfessor Suk received her worst grade in law school \u2013 and ever \u2013 in Criminal Law. She went on to practice and research in Criminal Law. No employer
\nhas ever asked about her grade, and her Criminal Law professor has remained a powerful mentor and reference for her throughout her career. \u201cI care
\nmuch more about students\u2019 preparation and performance in a course throughout a long semester than about performance on one timed exam taken on
\none day,\u201d she says.
\nProfessor Michelman\u2019s worst law school grade was a C+ in Property. He has written and published repeatedly in the field and has taught Property
\ncourses at Harvard for over 40 years.
\nProfessor Greiner received his worst grade on the exam he felt best about after finishing. And he nonetheless was retained as a research assistant for
\nthe course\u2019s professor.
\nProfessor Scott got a D in constitutional law. “We do some of that here,” Justice White told Scott when he went for a clerkship interview. Scott
\nnonetheless was selected to serve as one of Justice White’s few Supreme Court law clerks.
\nProfessor Meltzer\u2019s father was a law professor who taught labor law. His lowest grade in law school was in: labor law. His labor law professor later said
\nto him, \u201cI thought you might have done better, so I re-read your exam and it was every bit as bad as I thought it was the first time.\u201d
\nProfessor Ramseyer received a B on an exam at Harvard Law School and went into the professor\u2019s office to complain. On the professor\u2019s desk was a
\nplaque that guided his grading \u2013 he reserved B\u2019s for \u201cexcellent, perceptive exams.\u201d The professor told Ramseyer he had gotten a B because he \u201cwrote
\nan excellent exam.\u201d
\nIn the second semester of his two-semester Contracts course, Professor Goldberg earned himself a B-. The next year, his former Contracts professor
\nhired him as a TA to help 1Ls with the class. Years later, as a Vanderbilt professor, Goldberg was awarded a teaching prize for teaching \u2026 Contracts.
\nProfessor Barnes received a pass on his Trust and Estates exam while a friend whom he tutored received honors. Upon review of their exams,
\nProfessor Barnes realized that his friend had given the obvious answers while he had read nuances into the questions that were not intended. He
\nlearned two important lessons: 1) when you hear hoofbeats, think horses first, and not zebras and 2) the line between \u201chonors\u201d and \u201cpass\u201d is blurred.
\n\u201cI know a guy who got mainly C\u2019s his first year at HLS. He went on to become general counsel of a major federal agency, leading lawyer in his field, and
\nauthor of the leading casebook in his field. It is much more about the passion you have for your field than anything.\u201d \u2013 Professor Einer Elhauge
\nDean Martha Minow\u2019s sister\u2019s law school grades were so troubling during her first year that she never picked up her grades after that. Last year, she was
\nhonored as a distinguished alum for her professional accomplishments, and no one even thought of her grades.
\nProfessor Neuman\u2019s first semester grades were quite mediocre and his criminal law teacher (Professor Nesson) told him that he didn\u2019t know how to take
\na law school exam. Neuman spent time with Professor Nesson learning how to take exams and revising his approach. Professor Neuman went on to
\ngraduate first in his class at Harvard Law School, though no one asked about his grades when he ran for a seat on the UN Human Rights Committee.
\nBe well,
\nYour Harvard Law School Student Government
\nstudentgov@mail.law.harvard.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before you feel anxiety about your grades, think about the following\u2026 Former Dean Elena Kagan received several B\u2019s during law school, especially her first year. She went on to become the first female dean of Harvard Law School, the U.S. … Continue reading