Dean Maggs, J.D. Harvard University

"When I was 1L, it was 1985. The economy was growing, and all of the large law firms were expanding. Almost every 1L could expect a paying job as a summer associate upon completing the first year. We did not know how good we had it."

Professor Schooner, J.D. College of William and Mary

"When I was a 1L, they had just installed a single LEXIS terminal in the library. We didn't get a WESTLAW terminal (in the library, of course) until my 2L year. And as 1L's, we had 8:00 a.m. classes, five days a week."

Professor Tuttle, J.D. The George Washington University

"When I was a 1L, the only place for students to gather was at Au Bon Pain (and yes, the same people were sitting there even 20 years ago).

Also, 1L teaching styles tended to be a bit different then - I had the late Prof. David Seidelson for Torts - and we had to stand up when he called on us; the person on call would be up for half, and sometimes even the whole class. Memorable experience; maybe I should try that...."

Professor Turley, J.D. Northwestern University

"My only memory from [1L] classes is getting lost and walking into contracts class late when the over-bearing professor was bellowing: "I refuse to teach to the lowest common denominator." He glared at me as I took a seat next to someone who would be one of my best friends in law school. She introduced herself and I introduced myself as "the lowest common denominator." Unfortunately, it was a bit too loud and I was promptly growled at by the contracts professor. It would sum up our relationship with that professor for the entire year, but I quickly found a mystical place called torts that offered both sanctuary and peace to my troubled mind.

Additionally, I have spent the last few years systemically destroying any picture of myself from the '70s and '80s to wipe out any record of hair and clothing styles."

Professor Schechter, J.D. Harvard University

"When I was a 1L, there was one person still on the faculty who had clerked for Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. (For those not familiar with him, Holmes was appointed to the Supreme Court by Teddy Roosevelt!) The movie "The Paper Chase" starring John Houseman as the fearsome Professor Kingsfield came out during our first year and we all thought that our contracts professor had been the inspiration for Kingsfield. And tuition -- $2400 for the year, plus a $155 health fee and $30 for "multilithed and xeroxed materials."

Professor Fontana, J.D. Yale University

"When I was a 1L, Britney Spears was still in the top 5, and no one had ever heard of an iPod or Facebook. There was great interest among the students in another presidential election, but this one involving Bush and Gore and not McCain or Obama. It was really the first year that all students at my law school seemed to have computers, but the big classroom distraction was not Facebook or gmail chat, but regularly, old-fashioned e-mail."

Professor Suter, J.D. University of Michigan

"When I was a 1L, I was the first person called on in Torts. During and after the give and take of the Socratic method, I had absolutely no idea what I said; my notes on that case were by far the weakest of the entire semester.

While new technology seems to have changed legal education in certain ways, the basics of legal education are still the same: students experience the same jitters the first time they're called on; they still have to read carefully, be prepared to discuss the cases, and try to synthesize all of the material from the semester."

Professor Kerr, J.D. Harvard University

"When I was a 1L, we had assigned seats in a very large lecture hall for our Torts class on the first day of school. Every seat in the room was taken, and I was assigned a seat in the last row in the far corner of the hall. A very tall and broad-shouldered man named Ted was assigned the seat in front of me, and Ted was so big that I couldn't see the professor from my seat. I asked Ted if we could switch seats so I could see, but he refused. I asked him if he would try to lean one way so I could lean the other and see the professor, but he refused that, too. It was hard to concentrate without being able to see the professor, so I ended up bringing two Boston phone books to Torts class to solve the problem. I spent the entire semester of class sitting on the two phone books."