Student Commentary

2L’s Take Ireland – Spring Break 2018

As a law student, one of the most common questions I get from prospective students is: does my social life suffer when I start law school?

The answer: It does, but you can work around it.

During my spring break this year, I took a trip with two friends, who are also Temple Law 2Ls, to Ireland for no other reason than we (1) wanted to and (2) we could. We found cheap tickets and accommodations and set off to visit Galway, Killarney, and Dublin for a week. Our trip got off to a shaky start as Ireland was hit with its worst snow storm of the decade. Our flight was cancelled, but after some logistical changes, we were off!

Stepheny De Silva LAW ’19, Elizabeth Haibach LAW ’19, and Nina del Valle LAW ’19

We visited museums, castles, and briefly, got a little lost in the mountains. It was a truly amazing experience. A big part of going to law school is learning to take a break when you need it, and this spring break trip was exactly what I needed. I was well-rested and happy when I got back to Philadelphia and was ready to hit the ground running for the second half of the spring semester.

To make the trip a little more educational, we reached out to Temple Law’s Brehon Law Society to ask if there was a way to visit a courthouse or meet some other law students while we were there. In fact, we did both!

First, we stopped by the courthouse in Galway (just to take a peek), and on the last leg of our trip, we went to Dublin and met with law professors and current law students (who had also spent last summer interning in Philadelphia!) at Griffith College. First, we all sat down for a cup of tea and discussed the differences between American and Irish legal systems and our experiences as law students.

One huge difference we learned about was the way lawyers are trained. Here, lawyers go to law school after finishing a 4-year undergraduate degree, but in Ireland, law school is the undergraduate degree and at Griffith, it’s a 3-year program.

We also learned about the Irish division between barristers and solicitors. Once you finish either degree, you still have to take something akin to bar exam like we do in the States, but simply put, barristers are trial attorneys who represent clients in court and are self-employed (i.e. not attached to a firm) and solicitors are similar to an American transactional lawyer.

After breakfast, we decided to head north and visit the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin. For obvious reasons, we weren’t able to take photos inside the courthouse, but we were able to watch a sentencing and watch an ongoing criminal hearing and watch barristers “give” evidence.

I also have friends that went to Paris, Florence, Miami, and even their hometown for spring break. So if you’re worried about losing out on your social life during law school, don’t be. Law school became my full-time job, but I’m still very active in student organizations and my weekends aren’t entirely spent in the library.

Questions about this post? Drop us a line at lawcomm@temple.edu.