Read the professor’s UVA Law bio page. Skim their publications page and check out their course offerings.

Are you interested in learning about their current scholarship? Read their publications page and skim a few of their articles. Think about what you’d like to ask them about their research and past papers.

Are you interested in their practice experience? Read their bios and about the organizations where they’ve worked. Think about what you’d like to ask about their past/present practitioner work.

While it may feel awkward for you to start talking about yourself, it’s a generous thing to do in this setting. As faculty, we’re always interested in knowing things like:

• Work you did before law school or where you went to school;

• What kinds of courses you’ve taken here;

• What areas of law you’re interested in;

• What kinds of summer internships you’ve had or are contemplating;

• What kinds of jobs you’re interested in after graduation;

• For 2Ls and 3Ls: if you’re working for someone as an RA, for whom; if you’re on a journal or part of a student org that’s related to your subject area interest(s).

For the many faculty who’ve expressed a preference for getting an email from you before an office hours visit, you could include a sentence or two about your background in your email. Then feel free to remind them about this when you meet in person.

Asking questions is a big part of your office hours visit. Faculty generally like answering your questions!

But it’s challenging to answer broad questions with little or no context. For instance: “Could you tell me more about public service courses here?” Such questions, especially when they’re not accompanied by information about the student’s own interests, are tough to answer well. What exactly does the student already know? What’s relevant to the student? Does the student have any baseline information about the topic?

A more welcome question would give the professor a hint about the student’s real interests and existing knowledge base: “I know I’m really interested in getting practical experience working with clients and I’m also interested in public defense work. We have a lot of course offerings here, including tons of clinics, and I’m a bit overwhelmed by all the options. Do you have any advice for how to go about choosing courses?”

If you’re feeling a little intimidated by making a solo visit, consider asking a friend to join you for a joint visit. Joint visits can often grease the wheels of a conversation. Faculty also appreciate the chance to talk with more than one student about the same topics. You just might want to coordinate with your friend ahead of time the kinds of topics you’d like to discuss.

Be sensitive about the professor’s schedule. As a rule of thumb, think about your office visit lasting roughly 20 minutes unless the faculty member seems genuinely enthusiastic about wanting to continue the conversation.

It’s also okay to take notes during your visit, especially if the professor is giving you recommendations. In fact, it might be a nice gesture to show that you’re taking their advice seriously.

Thank the professor for their time at the end of your visit. If you think you might want to stay in touch or check in with them in the future about something, feel free to say something like this: “Would it be alright to reach out again if I have more questions?” or “I’m planning to look into [that thing you mentioned]; would it be okay to touch base with you again after that?”

If you’re interested in continuing to build that relationship with this faculty member, consider sending them a quick thank-you email within a few days of your meeting so that they will remember you. Include a few words about what you talked about so that they can remember your conversation when you reach out again in the future.