Straight from the Students: The Impact of Law School Experiences on Professional Identity Formation

Unlike other professions, there exists little research about the professional identity formation of law students. This process is key to professional socialization as they transition from student to lawyer. Research from other fields (notably medicine) and limited research on first-year law students suggest that authentic, real-world experiences have a significant impact on professional identity formation. With this hypothesis in mind, this Article presents data gathered from graduating law students about the impact of law school experiences on their ability to think and act like a lawyer.

This research was conducted with a goal to aid law schools in directing professional identity formation efforts on the experiences that students identify as most valuable to their professional development.