RSS FeedBlawg Review #228
If you’re just starting law school, law blawgs can be your best friend. In addition to this site, here are 99 other blog posts that you should read to help prepare for your adventure. It won’t help you though if you’re a judge about to be tested.
Most law students want to be in the top 10-15% of their class, and there are career opportunities that depend on that. Ken DeLeon of Top-law-schools.com provides some tips for success in law school, including a handy flowchart on how to prepare for your law school exams. But keep in mind that the end of the billable hour might result in some changes to your legal education, and law students have different learning styles than the rest of the population.
Still applying to law school? An undergraduate degree in physics or math might be your best option to get a solid LSAT score. Remember that these days a law career is considered a risky option, and there are lawyers in Jersey actually working for free. Where else is success defined by more work (even for less pay), and not more recreational or family time? Larry Ribstein still thinks law school is the cool choice. But is it really worth it?
On the other hand you could elect to skip your classes, get intoxicated regularly, sleep with all the members of the opposite sex, gain a reputation as being a total douche bag, and then score a book and movie deal.
Introducing Tucker Max – asshole extraordinaire – a graduate of Duke Law that claims assholes finish first.
An inspiring personality, certainly, and an approach that John Infante of Fearfully Optimistic would definitely disagree with. It does make you wonder how many Dukes are faking the Daisy to hazard “celebrity bias.” The Bitter Lawyer has an exclusive interview with Tucker that is, at the very least, amusing.
Then again, “skipping classes, playing basketball, doing cocaine and getting drunk” might help you become President of the United States – but eventually someone might start asking for your law school transcripts. None of this is likely to come up during the President’s special advice to students tomorrow (Sept. 8). An open and transparent government, perhaps, but not that open. Reality check: the last refuge of the persecuted crack smoker may not be in law school.
Hey, “Some people snort cocaine, others snort religion,” and the latter is not necessarily better. The Exit at My Legal Fiction suggests wearing lipstick as a law school study aid, for some very compelling reasons. If you’re a missionary in Kenya, please don’t vow to go to law school out of religious convictions, unless you’re going to a low-ranking religious-affiliated law school. Happy Belated Todd, but I won’t be paying $25,000 for dinner any time soon.
Still, your biggest youthful indiscretion might be going to law school itself (and graduating at the bottom of your class hardly precludes success). If your indiscretions precede law school and include a criminal record, there are some disclosure issues you should consider. Using stolen Social Security Numbers to steal student loans for partying, with Tucker, Todd, or otherwise, probably isn’t a great idea. Assistant Deans at law schools? Not a good idea either.
Robert J. Ambrogi also tells us about Branigan Robertson of Chapman University School of Law, who won $10,000 for this video in the My Inspiration video contest:
These law students are doing better than a lot of lawyers these days. When life gives you lemons (or a recession), you should just make lemonade. Dan Markel is asking, what kind of juice are you making?
On the other hand, if you’re looking to avoid personalities like Tucker Max at all costs, you might be interested in Above the Law’s Douchiest Law School Contest.
No surprise that Harvard and Duke are currently heading the pack as finalists. Also check out Paul Caron’s review of U.S. News Law School Rankings for Judicial Clerkships, which includes data from Brian Leiter’s rankings. If douchiness turns you off of Yale and clerkships are really important to you, the University of North Dakota might be a good alternative. However, great credentials don’t always make more satisfied lawyers, because these guys tend to be plagued by that green-eyed monster.
Charon QC’s musings might be useful in determining if a “douchy law school” is worse than a “McDonalds of law schools,” while Dan Slater of the NYTimes suggests just locking the doors to all law schools because there are too few hiring positions. Still having a hard time picking a law school? The iPhone app Law School 100 is free until midnight tonight (Sept. 7). Study aids are becoming more interactive, with West’s new Interactive Case Series now linking to directly to law review articles cited in the case series.
Keep in mind that law school is different than undergrad, and you should probably clean up those social networks you’re on. After all, you wouldn’t want your mom witnessing you pulling a Tucker Max, and some employers might require you to submit your social media for a background check. Social media is also being increasingly being used in the courtroom, and no, the judge doesn’t really want to be your “friend.” Don’t get rid of that social media entirely though, because “People don’t find lawyers in the phone book… They find them through TV ads or friends or by searching the Internet, including blogs and social networking tools.”
Apparently what clients really want from their lawyer is to “feel the love,” so if someone comes to your office complaining they hurt their “tushy bone,” try not to laugh too hard. Be forewarned though – that volenti non fit injuria doctrine you learn in Torts class also applies to contracting Herpes Simplex I from wrestling, also known as Herpes Gladiatorium.
That’s probably not what Lauren in Law School had in mind when she suggested gladiator games as an alternative to On Campus Interviews (OCIs). You can get a list of the guys in your university with herpes from the new Campus Gossip site just to be on the safe side.
Although the number of followers you have on Twitter is no sign of of expertise or influence, it might land you a job (or lose it) with a firm or get you published, even if Perz Hilton decides to sue you for defamation. No “love” (or wrestling) for him, sorry. Some people do take Twitter seriously, perhaps too seriously.
Eric Goldman’s interview with David Lat highlights the importance of students networking during a crisis. Dennis Jansen also thinks that networking with your peers might be useful, but consists of more than “beaming your peers with business cards or mass-adding people on Facebook and LinkedIn.” As popular as Wordpress may be for blogs, it just might not be for your law firm, and you even might be held liable for content on your site to a tune of $32.4 million.
The Law Society or State Bar is probably not going to like it if you steal other people’s Twitter content and pass it off as your own, like Melina Beninghoff did . Stealing content doesn’t take brilliance, and it barely takes effort. What is clever is coming up with this CraigsList listing from Los Angeles. But is stolen content any worse than fake content?
Today is also Labour (sic) Day in Canada and the U.S. That’s the Canadian spelling, because Labour Day did originate in Canada in 1872 with the Trade Unions Act, which legalized unions. The United States followed in 1882 with informal observance in New York City, and by 1894 it was observed by 23 states through legislation. Still, it was the American President Lincoln, not a Canadian, who said in December 1881,
It is assumed that labor is available only in connection with capital; that nobody labors unless somebody else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces him to labor…
Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not existed.
Although most Canadian law schools start the day after Labour Day, many Americans start a week or two earlier. According to Blawg Review 122 it seems that in Dublin they start as late as October, but it might just be that everyone (students and profs) are recovering from prolonged hang-overs.
Labour relations are highly relevant for this edition of Blawg Review, since law professors at the University of California are considering a walk-out despite having the “best public education in the world.” Perhaps they could use this list of 24 alternative mediation dispute resolution sites to read.
Maybe they should just settle this all over a beer. Then again, those Canadian brewers are at it again with their trade-mark litigation! Next time someone tells you “I Am Canadian,” you might want to do your due diligence.
The big thing up here in Canada right now is Copyright Consultation Reform. Although over-reaching legislation is great for the lawyers, it does little for end-users of copyright material. If you’re one of those folks with a keen attention for cyberspace cases, this new blog following the 10 most important U.S. cases will probably be of interest.
But the big thing about Canada in the U.S. right now seems to be our healthcare system, which we’re rather partial to, despite what they mights say (Ignore those pesky suits). Send us your gladiators with herpes, and your perdurable impetus. All that talk over at Volokh about a “lottery system” can only be described as nonsense.
(At 1:53 Glenn Beck repeats lottery libel, and at 3:21 yells at a caller to get off his phone, “you little pinhead,” for not listening to the “facts.” The remix is even funnier.)
Although she acknowledges that healthcare reform is needed, Althouse has 10 things she hates about it. Change is always hard due to “status quo bias.” Madeleine Begun Kane has a limerick she wrote just for the spats over healthcare in the U.S. (watch your pinkies!):
“Majority rule is just great,”
Said Gregg in the drilling debate.
“You’ve got 51 votes,
Then you win.” Check his quotes.
Yet 51 Dem votes don’t rate.
Seeking medical treatment is probably the first thing you should do after a car accident, irrespective of whether it occurs in Canada or the U.S. Passen Law provides 9 other things you should do, including, of course, getting an experienced personal injury lawyer.
Another thing we have in Canada absent in the U.S. is a prohibition against the death penalty. Perhaps the fact that 45% of wrongful convictions in capital cases are based on jailhouse snitches has something to do with it. Mark Bennett of Defending People points out the interesting observation that a Texan executioner appears to be committing murder by that state’s law,
…would you participate in a death penalty trial, knowing that, for the rest of your life, with the turn of a tide of public opinion you could be prosecuted for making what you believed to be the right decision? You may be betting your life.
Do you think that employment contract with the State would protect you? Don’t count on it, as Jeffery I. Gordon mentions that most contracts are too brittle to withstand scrutiny, even if those FirstDrafter clauses look like they can do the job.
On the other hand, if your employment contract follows an affirmative action plan that is not remedial and narrowly tailored for past discrimination, it may constitute unlawful discrimination. We’re still not sure if a stripper constitutes an employee or an independent contractor in Employment Law class.
More guys in that class would probably express their anticipation for seeing Jessica Alba as the stripper-law student Nancy Callahan in the upcoming Sin City 2 if they weren’t concerned about objectifying women.
Don’t lose any sleep over it, unless you’ve sexually assaulted employees and are settling for $1.72 million. Be careful though – the risk of contracting gladiator herpes (and sins) rises exponentially when wrestling with strippers. You could also get robbed or raped.
Personally, I would be okay with any affirmative action that sought to get everyone but Tucker Max and any potential douches into my law school. Nancy Callahan might get a pass, as long as she doesn’t hook up with Tucker while she’s there.
Special thanks to David Shulman for editing on this piece.
That’s it for this week’s edition! Remember: Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.
Social Media in Canadian Politics, and Defamation and Copyright
Omar Ha-Redeye gave a talk on the use of social media in politics, focusing on the Canadian scene, at the Miles S. Nadal Management Centre in the Ernst & Young Tower of the Toronto Dominion Centre.
Issues of copyright, including the use of YouTube, are discussed, as well as social media alternatives to defamation actions.
Law Students Demand Repatriation of Omar Khadr
Hundreds of law students from across the country have added their names to the growing list of people calling for the repatriation and fair trial of Omar Khadr, as well as the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility where he is currently held.
Canadian law students created the Omar Khadr Project last fall, pursuing the goal of repatriation and fair treatment for Omar Khadr. The organization is composed of law students and young lawyers from across the country who believe that respect for human rights is a fundamental Canadian value.
In May 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously found that the conditions under which Omar Khadr was being detained “constituted a clear violation of fundamental human rights protected by international law” (Canada (Justice) v. Khadr, 2008 SCC 28, at para 24.)
The Court found that Canada’s participation in Khadr’s case breached our own obligations under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Geneva Conventions.
Below is a press release (abridged) sent to us by the Omar Khadr Project discussing the strategies that the group has been pursuing.
Canadian Law Students Take Actions Calling on Harper, Obama to Ensure Repatriation of Omar Khadr, Closure of Guantanamo Bay
This week, the Omar Khadr Project launches a series of actions calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President-elect Barack Obama to ensure Khadr’s repatriation as a key step in the closure of the illegal Guantanamo Bay detention centre.
It is expected that one of President-elect Obama’s first executive actions will be to begin shutting down Guantanamo Bay. But, “the looming questions for Omar Khadr,” explains Project member Kate Oja, “are whether the new President will act in time to stop Omar’s deeply flawed ‘trial’, and whether Prime Minister Harper will agree to bring Omar back to Canada.”
This week, the Omar Khadr Project joins with groups across Canada, the U.S. and beyond to put pressure on both Canadian and American governments to act quickly in the spirit of justice. We are launching 4 actions:
- Hundreds of law and articling students signed a petition calling on the Canadian government to repatriate Omar Khadr and protect his human rights. The petition will be officially presented to Parliament once it resumes.
- A letter was written to President-elect Obama to draw his attention to the urgency and injustice of Khadr’s case.
- As a Christmas present, and in honour of the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights, the Omar Khadr Project sent Prime Minister Harper, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Justice copies of a children’s picture book on basic human rights, emphasizing sections on fair trial rights and the rights of the child.
- On Saturday 17 January 2009, a rally is being held outside the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, along with Amnesty International, the Coalition to Repatriate Omar Khadr, and other
supporters.
Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen detained at age 15, remains the only national of a Western country to be held at Guantanamo. His trial before the internationally-condemned military commission system is scheduled to begin on January 26th, just 6 days after Obama’s inauguration.
Note: Law students interested in assisting Khadr’s legal defence team can contact us for more information.
The President’s a Twit. Sorry, Tweet.
Well it seems as if Barack Obama might be the first black Twitter president of the United States. The Twitter blog indicates he will be the first to have an official account.
They also indicate an enormous spike in Twitter usage during the election.
Canadian politicians seem slightly ahead of the game in this respect, with our own Prime Minister having an account. But his number of followers, around 2,000 at present, pales in comparison to that of Obama with over 120,000.
Sure, we can cite population differences between Canada and the U.S., or talk about the impact of American politics in the world versus Canada.
What makes this really interesting is that Barack Obama is the Twitter user that has the most followers, period, and by a healthy margin. That’s more than Digg founder Kevin Rose, technology reporter Leo Leporte, or even CNN.
This has prompted some Twitter users to wonder whether he will also be the first president to send presidential announcements via email. If any other politician were to try this it would quickly be resisted as spam or propaganda. But Obama might just be able to get away with it, and if so, the nature of civic communications may be transformed forever.
It seems hackers have caught on to this as well, with the Washington Post reporting that Obama e-mails are being used to carry Trojans.
Other American political offices and politicians can also be found on Twitter.
Cross posted from Slaw
Law is Cool – Podcast #11
Show Notes
Total Running Time 35:44
1:06 Jacob Kaufman and Omar Ha-Redeye introduce themselves.
1:17 Jacob notices different opening music for this episode of Law is Cool, and Omar explains it’s a sound clip from a performance by Rich Droste of the London War Resisters Support Group.
1:47 Jacob, who is seeing the film for the second time, discusses The Dark Knight.
2:14 Omar raises some of the criticisms of the film, such as its promotion of vigilantism.
2:17 Jacob raises an article by Spencer Ackerman that says that Batman is how Dick Cheney sees himself, through extraordinary rendition, torture and going beyond the law to achieve his goals.
2:47 Jacob mentions how the Cogitamus blog argues that Batman is actually a critique of Batman’s techniques, and that the Joker is actually blowback from Batman working outside the law. But Matthew Yglesias says it’s just a movie where a man dresses up as a bat.
3:32 Omar asks why Canadian law students should care about American politics, and shares his meeting with the Democrats Abroad – Canada.
4:27 Jacob mentions Canada and the world’s perspective on Sen. Obama and some of the critiques raised against him on our site, but also his position on the War in Iraq.
5:45 Omar adds that many Americans also rejected the War in Iraq, including some that came to Canada. He introduces Rich Droste, a war resister that joined the army at the age of 17 and now lives in London, Ont.
6:57 Rich explains why he joined the Army as a combat engineer, and the circumstances around his life as to why joined.
8:03 Rich shares how he learned more about the world as he was in the Army for a longer period of time, but took issue with prostitution and human trafficking rings he personally observed.
8:57 Rich tells us how he filed to become a conscientious objector, what it means to be a conscientious objector, and how these papers were lost.
9:56 Rich finds out he’s being sent to Iraq, and his choices were to either go in jail or re-enlist in a different job, and then discovers he’s going to be training the elite Rangers. He’s placed on medications, and sent to a chaplain when he refuses.
12:29 Rich shares on why he chose to come to Canada, where there are about 200-500 other resisters, and was attracted by the advocacy and education initiatives here.
13:20 Rich shares some of the benefits of Legal Aid, and how he sought assistance from Canadian lawyers.
15:11 His legal status here in Canada is a pending refugee claimant, and has a hearing on Sept. 17, 2008 to find out if there is a deportation order against him.
15:27 Omar speaks to David Heap of the London War Resisters Support Group, who describes the three broad areas of work they engage in and why he got involved in these issues.
16:37 David draws parallels between the current conflict in Iraq and previous military engagements by America, as well as some of his grievances around the war.
17:47 The legal support offered to war resisters is described. A broader political statement is also sought. Some resisters who returned believed they would be getting unconditional discharges and were instead imprisoned.
19:15 David mentions a day of action that is planned for September 2008
19:31 Omar mentions Bob Rae’s editorial in the Toronto Star on war resisters, which provides some history and context to the subject.
20:00 Jacob and Omar debate the role of the military.
21:02 Omar introduces a book by Ari Kaplan, The Opportunity Maker, Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development, which has an entire chapter dedicated to blogging in law school.
22:04 Ari relates some of the reasons why he wrote the book – to share strategies on things law students need to do and how to do it.
25:14 The importance of personal contact is emphasized.
25:46 Students should start thinking of rainmaking now. They can do creative things now because they are not fully affiliated with a firm as a lawyer and don’t require official sign-off. This is their chance to experiment.
28:13 The difference between law students and business students is described.
29:32 Ari mentions interviews he conducted with other students that can be found on the book’s site.
30:05 Ari describes the tremendous risk aversion built into the law, which often translates into a distaste for networking, and how many law students misunderstand this as using people. Instead, they should look to build meaningful relationships and to help each other out by connecting in a positive and genuine way.
32:10 The art of storytelling is is important because clients hire lawyers that tell the same kind of stories of success and enthusiasm that they tell.
33:21 Jacob likes that Ari mentioned one of his favorite bloggers, Jeremy Blachman of the Anonymous Lawyer, who eventually turned his site into a book.
34:12 Omar signs off with a song from Josh Randall, a Vietnam War Resister that moved to Canada and stayed here, and now helps resisters from the current war.
Is Obama Really About Change?
The success of Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama can be attributed to his “change” message. In fact, for those that have been following along, it is clear that many American voters truly yearn for a genuine candidate.
Hillary and Obama are similar in most respects, but for his consistent message of change–Hillary’s loss can be attributed to this phenomenon.
Opposition to War in Iraq
Of course, many tout Barack’s stance against the Iraq War. However, I believe that he didn’t vote to authorize the Iraq war because he wasn’t in the Senate at the time. Yet, there is little doubt in my mind that if he was he would have voted to do so.
I’ve believed this from the beginning of his ascent, but now I have the proof to back it up. Well, it’s not actually evidence directly related to the Iraq authorization but it is an accurate indicator of the “flexibility”of Barack’s positions.
I’m referring to his convenient stances on divisive political issues, including support for the application of the death penalty in child rape cases and a “refining” of his Iraq withdrawal position. They are summarized well in this editorial from the New York Times.
Obama on Wiretapping
However, his reversal to support the FISA Amendments Act speaks most definitively on whether Obama is truly a genuine candidate and not just another politician.
FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is post-Nixon legislation designed to prevent government spying abuses and protect the privacy of Americans. It introduced strict procedures designed to comply with the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Under the old FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) would rule on government applications for wiretapping. The new legislation severely weakens the power of that court.
The government can first begin a wiretap and then ask the court to authorize it. While this was possible within the confines of the old legislation, if the court now denies the application the government can continue to spy on appeal, and if unsuccessful can still use the information collected.
According to the ACLU:
[the legislation permits] the government to continue surveillance programs even if the application is denied by the court. The government has the authority to wiretap through the entire appeals process, and then keep and use whatever it gathered in the meantime…
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) only reviews general procedures for targeting and minimizing the use of information that is collected. The court may not know who, what or where will actually be tapped.
In essence the government can apply for a warrant without, as the 4th Amendment dictates, “describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.“
Retroactive Immunity
The other sticking point has been retroactive immunity.
The telecommunications companies that participated in Bush’s illegal wiretapping program of Americans post-9/11 are now off the hook.
During the primaries Obama campaigned against the FISA amendments and promised to filibuster any telecom immunity provisions.
Even though he ceremoniously voted to remove the immunity (an amendment he would have known would not pass), his support for the final bill is an indication of how much a real politician Obama is, and not quite the “change” candidate he has made himself out to be.
Hillary Clinton’s Amazingly Awesome Victory!
Yesterday, Hillary Clinton scored a massive double digit victory over Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary!
Except she didn’t.
I’m not saying this because the spread between Clinton and Obama was actually 9.3% (which if I remember math class correctly rounds down to 9% instead of up to 10%).
Nor am I saying this because Pennsylvania was natural Clinton territory and even just a few months back Clinton was running 20 points above Obama:
That’s just trivia.
The real issue is in terms of the numbers game Clinton’s victory didn’t mean anything. Right now the U.S. Democratic presidential campaign is just that: a numbers game. The magic number is 2,024 that’s the number of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination. Barrack Obama has 1,719 delegates and Hillary Clinton has 1,586 delegates. So how did Clinton’s big surge change the numbers? She got net 12 delegates.
Twelve.
After all the hoopla, the media, the tens of millions of dollars spent she got only 12 net delegates from the primary. For comparison, the last state that voted was Kansas. I don’t remember hearing a lot about Kansas in the news. But Obama got net 14 delegates there. So basically if you take the two states that voted in April, Obama came out two delegates ahead.
That’s not an overwhelming victory for Obama. But look at the total delegate score above. Obama doesn’t need overwhelming victories anymore. Given that delegates are allocated proportionally Clinton is not going to be able to make up that ground.
But what about superdelegates? What about that slew of elected Democratic politicians and party apparatchiks that make up about a fifth of the votes in the convention at Denver? Can’t Clinton use them to win the nomination? Well, right now there are only 259 uncommitted superdelegates. That means that if the uncommitted superdelegates go 3-to-1 for Clinton she’s still losing. Okay, but what if Hillary wins 3-to-1 and maybe peels off some of Obama’s current superdelegats? It’s just as unrealistic as her winning through the states. Here’s a chart from blogger and chef Ezra Klein that shows the movement of superdelegates for Obama and Clinton:
So to wrap it up, Obama has won more states and more votes and it is realistically impossible for Clinton to win the nomination. I should mention though, that some disagree:
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