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Big Tip to Do Well on Law School Exams: Sleep

By William Vogeler, Esq. on November 28, 2017 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

As the needles go into their arms, patients might be nervous to know that their medical internist is at the end of a 20-hour shift -- for the seventh day in a row.

It's a troubling reality in the medical profession and it needs to change for obvious reasons. Nobody performs well if they are sleep-deprived.

That's true for trainee doctors and lawyers-to-be as well. If you want to perform your best in law school -- especially during exams -- get good sleep.

Overachieving Students

Next to some overachieving professionals, college students are among the most sleep-deprived people. Many law students wear it as a badge of honor that they can "get by" with six or fewer hours of sleep.

"My favorite phrase that people say to me is, 'I don't know how you do it all,'" law student Shirlene Armstrong confessed.

And then she admitted, she got sick. That's because countless studies say human beings need eight hours of sleep to be healthy.

Sleep deprivation can have adverse health consequences, including weight gain, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, depression and increased risk of death.

Underserved Clients

So get regular sleep, get out of the stimulants cycle, and get healthy. It's not just about you. It's also about the service lawyers provide.

As a prospective lawyer, you owe it to your clients to be at your best. If you think things will change after running on empty in law school, just think about the pilot in the cockpit next time you are a passenger in a jet preparing to take off.

Do you really want that captain to be an out-of-gas, sleep-deprived recent graduate of flight school? Didn't think so.

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