Well, you survived your first year of law school and hopefully spent the summer gaining meaningful experience in a legal setting - be it an internship with a judge, clerking for a law firm or working as a student attorney for a legal clinic. Now it's time to embark on another year in law school. Here are 5 things to know going into your second year of law school:

1. Join Law Review. This is the most prestigious law school publication you can write for and you should definitely try to write on if you are not automatically invited based on your first year law school grades. It's amazing how many more doors will open for you simply based on having your school's law review publication on your resume - even more if you are editor! Although practicing law has nothing to do with writing a scholarly note or article (you'll be writing legal briefs and motions!), law firms have a special affinity for those who wrote for law review. But it's more than just a career-boosting opportunity; it's a chance to really develop your skills as a writer and show commitment to scholarly publication, which is definitely useful for those who eventually would like to teach or become an authority figure in a particular area of law. If you cannot join law review, see about joining another law journal publication offered at your school. While it won't carry the same prestige that law review has, it will, nevertheless, be a very beneficial experience for the reasons noted above. Plus, law firms love good writers.

2. Join Moot Court, which is a competition of appellate advocacy. Students who are invited to participate in moot court (generally through a try-out process) prepare appellate briefs and then engage in oral arguments before a panel of senior moot court members who function as appellate judges. This is a wonderful experience in terms of developing appellate brief writing and research skills and a great chance to get over any nerves you might have about public speaking. Do well enough and you can compete for your school's national moot court team and then participate in really high-level competition. While I would say that moot court ranks below law review from a law firm's point-of-view when hiring, the experience is completely different and in certain circumstances, if you had to choose between one and the other, moot court might be your better choice. For example, say you know you want to be an appellate attorney and you're gunning for a position with the appellate defender's office. If you can also do moot court, in addition to writing for law review or another law journal, all the better, though most would find this pretty overwhelming, especially when you consider that you still have your classes to study for.

3. Interview during fall recruitment. Each fall, second year law students participate in the most important recruiting time of their career. Fall recruitment is when second year law students interview for the all-important second year summer clerkship, the gateway to being offered a full-time position after graduating from law school. If you land a summer clerkship with one of the top law firms and do well, come your third year you may not have to interview at all with anyone else because you will hopefully be offered a position with the firm you clerked for. Although, it never hurts to interview with others and see what options exist for you. Remember, competition brings out the best in any situation!

4. Choose your classes wisely. Now that it's your second year of law school, for the most part you have a lot of flexibility of which elective classes you take. Some people focus on subjects that will be tested on the state bar exam (different for each state), while others will focus on an area of interest. If you want to be a litigator or not really too sure if you would like being a litigator or not, enroll in one of the trial advocacy or pre-trial advocacy classes that your law school offers. These are great ways to get litigation experience and insight. Try out a seminar, in which you will have a chance to write a note on a particular subject, which you can then add to your portfolio of writing samples. You may even want to do a judicial internship for credit, which is always a wonderful experience and a boost to your resume. Plus, it never hurts getting a reference from a judge!

5. Keep studying! Law school grades are key and will follow you throughout your entire career, unless, of course you break out on your own and hang up your own shingle. But if you have any interest in working for a law firm or a company as in-house counsel or for the government, and especially if you want to teach one day, you better make sure your grades are top notch!

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