| 1148 alumni from Berkeley and Hastings law schools participated in an online study in which they were asked to take a battery of non-cognitive tests (including a measure of dispositional optimism and a personality inventory), complete a self-evaluation of their lawyering performance, and nominate two peers and two supervisors to evaluate their performance. The Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), Undergraduate grade-point-average (UGPA), and law school grades were obtained with participant permission from the Law School Admission Council and their law schools. Results indicate that LSAT and UGPA are the best predictors of 1st year law school grade point average, but are poor predictors of self, peer, and supervisor ratings of performance. Among four lawyering performance variables (self-rated stress management, peer and supervisor rated stress management, self-rated job engagement, peer and supervisor rated job engagement), dispositional optimism predicted a significant amount of variance above and beyond LSAT and UGPA. Emotional Stability also predicted a significant portion of the variance (above and beyond LSAT, UGPA, and dispositional optimism) in self ratings of overall performance, self and peer and supervisor ratings of stress management, and self and peer and supervisor ratings of passion for the law. Implications for law school admissions are discussed. |
