A Glib Cynic Poll

I am uncertain as to which kind of lawyer I'm more bothered by: activists (of any stripe) or personal injury. I'm also not sure if the "With whom would I least prefer to be seated at a dinner party?" test is the correct one to apply here. Thoughts?

Enter Procrastination, Stage Left

Procrastination, unfailing herald of Exam Season. As my spotty blog history might suggest, Exam Season is roughly coterminous with a desperate desire to do anything but study. Poor is the mind that cannot come up with something more interesting than outlining, and law school doesn't usually attract the mental slouches. Today, though I was able to come close to finishing a Con Law outline and to make inroads on one for Contracts II: Contract Harder, in the meantime I found myself researching the history of aircraft carriers. And no, I am not taking Admiralty.

This afternoon when preparing to heat up some Campbell's soup for lunch, I experienced a revolt of the stomach (or taste buds), demanding immediate cheap Chinese food. I obliged by making my way to Taiwan Garden on Ivy. Total hole in the wall (完全漏洞在墙壁里). The food was tasty and a good value but nothing to wax poetic on. The lunch special was $4.50 and included a lunch entree (Amazing Chicken; their words, not mine), fried rice, egg roll, and soft drink. The egg roll was actually quite good and the rice - well, it's hard to mess up rice - but the sauce on the Amazing Chicken didn't really grab me. B+ (on the law school curve)

Thoughts from my Notes

I'll update this as I make my way through typing up my notes (some of the faculty quotations made it into the Law Weekly, so apologies for any repeats):

• Whenever a professor says "Good question" she usually means the opposite.
• --
  
• Student: "There’s a difference between wine and pot."
  Mitchell: "Of course there is! One is legal and one should be legal!"
• --
• Goluboff: "It has been argued that polygamy is actually good for women...I could use another wife [around the house]."
• --
• Kitch: "So what kinds of animals did they leave off?"
• Student: "Amphibians."
• Kitch: "Oh yes. Dolphins!"
• --
• Student 1: [says something stupid in class]
• Student 2: "It's okay, it's Monday."
• The next day -
  
• Student 2: [says something stupid in class]
• Student 1: "It's okay, it's Tuesday."
• --
• Kraus: "What does the writing say?"
• Student: "It says what it says."
• Kraus: "That's keeping your truth-telling percentage up."
  
  

Law School Term of the Day - eleemosynary

eleemosynary
adj.

1. Of or for charity; charitable; as, "an eleemosynary institution."
2. Given in charity; having the nature of alms; as, "eleemosynary assistance."
3. Supported by or dependent on charity; as, "the eleemosynary poor."

"That an expert testifies for money does not necessarily cast doubt on the reliability of his testimony, as few experts appear in court merely as an eleemosynary gesture." Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 43 F.3d 1311 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 869 (1995).

Is it worrisome that rules of Contract seem to be drafted by individuals divorced from the actual bustle and clamor of transactional work, sequestered away in dark offices, every so often spilling treatises and Restatements from their nests? The student wonders what might be the perspective of someone who has to daily work by the light of this questionable lodestar.

Oh well. Back to Kraus's book.

Law School Term of the Day - nugatory

nugatory
adj.

1. Of little or no importance; trifling.
2. Having no force; invalid.

"To have declared that the best means shall not be used, but those alone with which the power given would be nugatory, would have been to deprive the legislature of the capacity to avail itself of experience, to exercise its reason, and to accommodate its legislation to circumstances." McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316, 413 (1819).

Interesting Pro Bono Opportunity...

"Attention Students:

The Legal Education Project needs volunteers to teach lessons on bullying to middle school students. LEP is scheduled to teach on January 30th between 9:20am and 10:20am at Sutherland Middle School and needs at least two additional volunteers ASAP. Students will teach in teams of two and will be provided with a lesson plan. No teaching experience is required...."

That's good, because my bullying certification expired last year.