I can see my students becoming lawyers!

This past weekend, my students turned in their rough drafts of their appellate briefs.  In addition, today, we held mini-oral arguments on topics of their choice (topics ranged from sports, giraffes, bagel breakfast sandwiches, Twilight, musicals, macaroni and cheese, etc.).  For the mini-orals, they had to begin with "May it please the court, my name is _____."  They also had to field questions from judges, end on time, and thank the court.  With both the rough drafts and the mini-oral arguments, I can see my students beginning to take shape as lawyers!!!  It is so exciting, and it is so appropriate for spring!  I feel like they are little daffodils that I planted in the fall that are now coming up and blooming.  They are beginning to understand cites, they are beginning to understand decorum, they are beginning to understand arguments, they are beginning to understand policy . . . the list goes on and on.  I love it.  I also love how excited some of them are getting about oral arguments and briefs.  I know I love this part of legal writing -- it seems to all come together now, but it is always exciting to see someone else get bitten by the same bug.  Three cheers for my students!

Interesting study on law students' laptop use

I just read a brief synopsis of Professor Kim Novak Morse's PhD dissertation on the use of laptops in law school classes.  As a fairly recent graduate of law school, I definitely remember being off-task myself in class and seeing other people be off-task.  It does not surprise me at all that the students with the higher LSAT scores tend to be off-task more than the students with lower scores.  That reflects law students' driven nature and sense of self-accomplishment.  I personally do not allow students to use the computers in my class, but I keep the lecture to a minimum and try to incorporate more exercises, so they are actually involved during class time.  Any notes they want to take can easily be taken on paper.

Anyway, take a look at the article about her study here:  http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_skills/2012/02/new-teaching-scholarship-before-you-ban-empirical-data-on-student-laptop-use.html

the truth about being a young attorney

I have to say that I'm getting pretty jaded about being a young attorney. I loved clerking for two years, and I had dreams that I would become a prosecutor. The economy struck, and I took time off from working while my mom died of cancer. Since then, I've worked at a law firm where I was perpetually cheated in my earnings, and I've worked for free for four months with the failed promise of funding. The more attorneys I meet, the less I respect the profession. Don't get me wrong -- I still love reading and studying the law, but the luster of practicing is getting duller and duller.

Here's a story about other people's struggles with being a young attorney: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&emc=eta1