God complexes, gatekeeping and more
On Instagram, Legal Cheek recently posed a (controversial?) question to its nearly 100k followers: what are the worst law student traits? It’s no secret that law students don’t tend to be the most beloved on campus, but we were curious to know how law students really feel about each other; *sips tea*.
Outside of the more far-fetched complaints in the comments, (apparently law students “can’t park for sh”) we’ve created a list of the five top peeves as decided by Legal Cheek’s Insta followers.
1) Ego
Coming up trumps in the comment section was law student narcissism. We can tell how much this bugs Legal Cheek followers, because one student comment stating “superiority complex” gained over 130 likes. Others joined in griping about law students thinking they’re “superior [to] others”, having “inflated egos” and “NOT BEING HUMBLE”. Ouch 👀
Another picked up on the classic law student nepotism, bemoaning the “ego filled people … who think they know everything cause their mummy or daddy are lawyers, it’s harsh but it’s trueeeee”. Maybe the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?
2) Gatekeeping
Surprisingly high on the list of peeves, many on social media griped about law student stinginess. “Gatekeeping everything”, from the “smallest bits of information when you need help” to “references” and “study notes”, were amongst the biggest complaints.
And this appears to extend to physical spaces, too. One commenter goes in on law students who are “weirdly territorial over the law library”. Clearly, sharing is not caring for this esteemed bunch!
3) Competitiveness
Third on the list for law student bugbears was competitiveness, a classic facet of the law student persona. Students bemoaned legal scholars “constantly competing with fellow students”.
One commenter griped about law students “making everything a competition!! like damn some of us just wanna get the degree and get out lmao it’s not that deep”.
Maybe the law student “perfectionism” that one commenter complained about goes hand in hand with competing with everyone around them. Can you really have one without the other?
4) Being argumentative
We all know that you’re not a law student unless you know how to argue; it comes with the territory. Pulling out that “it depends” can defeat any lesser opponent, but this is not always a characteristic looked on too favourably. One commenter gets annoyed by law students who are always “arguing because they have to be right, even if they’re wrong”. It’s annoying when they “have to have the last word, and [don’t] acknowledge their mistakes”. Objection, your Honour.
5) Being fake
Last but not least, commenters on Insta complained about law students being disingenuous, bemoaning “obnoxious” would-be lawyers who “view everything as a networking opportunity”, saying “just be yourself sometimes!”.
One law student hates “having that one friend that only talks to you to ask purely law related things. I am also a human like ask me about my day or smth”.
For one commenter, these gripes were “probably the reason [she] abandoned law for 11 years after the LPC!”
What are your biggest law student pet peeves? Give us your thoughts in the comments 👇