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About the Site

Alison MonahanThe Girl’s Guide to Law School® exists for one reason: to help you get what you want from your law school experience. This isn’t about some abstract version of “success.” It’s about figuring out what you want to achieve, and helping you get there.

About Alison Monahan

I’m a 2006 graduate of Columbia Law School. I was a member of the Columbia Law Review, I clerked for a federal judge, and I did a stint in BigLaw. In short, I did what lots of people think they want to do when they apply to law school.

Trust me, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Be careful what you wish for.

Why I Started The Girl’s Guide to Law School®

I found law school very stressful, even though I did well. Now I know I’m not alone in that (studies show that women experience far more emotional distress in law school than men do, even when they’re objectively performing very well). At the time, however, I thought I was the crazy one. Gradually I realized many of my classmates were similarly unhappy, but it’s not something we talked about all that much. Everyone was so focused on grades and jobs that we didn’t really stop to question why we were miserable most of the time.

Looking back, with the benefit of hindsight and lots of research, I understand more about why law school is so unpleasant, particularly for women. I started this website to share what I’ve learned, and I hope you use my knowledge to make your own law school experience more satisfying and less unpleasant.

But I don’t have all of the answers. It’s going to take a chorus of voices, each revealing her personal experience, to figure out what’s going on here, and make it better. I invite you to join the conversation, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Feel free to drop me a line. I personally read every email.

You can also sign up for the weekly Girl’s Guide email and join the conversation, or check out my new projects: