What does the LSAT have to do with law school?

When students are deep in the throes of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) fatigue and confusion, one of the most common points of frustration is the question of why this is relevant for law school. It can take many students months and months to prepare for this test. The question will come up, at some point, for virtually everybody: What's the point?

The LSAT is so opaque, so theoretical, so abstract that sometimes it feels like it has nothing to do with the law whatsoever. Sometimes it feels like it has nothing to do with anything! You will bounce between reading about the adoption of modern technology by an obscure indigenous tribe, the modernization of theoretical biologists, and the philosophies of creating genre in literature. And that's just in Reading Comprehension, without even mentioning Logical Reasoning.

And that is precisely why the LSAT is relevant to law school.

Most lawyers, especially those that are just starting out, do not get to choose their topic of research. (And, yes, much of being a lawyer in virtually any field stems from strong research skills.) It's unlikely you'll study things as theoretical as the topics of LSAT reading passages, but you won't get to choose your topic of study. Being able to dive in and understand an argument, its relevant facts, and its strength (or weakness) is a crucial skill. And you will need to stay focused even if the topic is one that bores you out of your mind.

And that point -- about identifying an argument -- is another reason the LSAT is important even after you're done with the test. The world of the law is one of arguments. This is particularly true in crim, but really in all legal fields. You have to pick a side and argue for its validity, ideally with proof. Well, except you don't actually get to pick the side. It is chosen for you.

That, too, is the case in the LSAT. You don't get to choose the arguments about which you're reading. You're given arguments and you have to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses, either describe or change them depending on the question type, and you have no say in the matter. This is very much the world of law, in the broadest of abstracts.

The LSAT can be boring (although, finding it fun is actually an important step to success). It can be very theoretical. It can take a long, long time to figure out what the actual argument is in any individual passage. And then you need to repeat the process again and again a few dozen times. That can certainly be hard. But the process does matter even if the information doesn't.

Understanding arguments, their strengths and weaknesses, and the relevance or irrelevance of the facts being presented -- no matter your interest level in the subject matter -- is an important skill in life, law, and the LSAT.