Blawg Review #228

By: Omar Ha-Redeye · September 7, 2009 · Filed Under ADR/Mediation, Administrative, Diversity in Law, Entertainment Law, Humour, Labour & Employment Law, Law Career, Law School, Marketing/PR in Law, Media Law, Politics, Pop Culture, Privacy Law, Reviews · 5 Comments

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.

Post tags: Above the Law, affirmative action, alternative mediation dispute resolution, Barack Obama, Bitter Lawyer, blawg review, Blawg Review #228, Branigan Robertson, Brian Leiter, Campus Gossip, canadian healthcare, Chapman University School of Law, Charon QC, cocaine, Copyright Consultation Reform, Dan Markel, Dan Slater, David Lat, death penalty, Defending People, Dennis Jansen, Douchiest Law School Contest, Dublin, Duke Law, Eric Goldman, Fearfully Optimistic, FirstDrafter clauses, Glenn Beck, Herpes Gladiatorium, Herpes Simplex I, I am Canadian, Interactive Case Series, iphone, Jeffery I. Gordon, Jessica Alba, John Infante, Judicial Clerkships, Ken DeLeon, Labor Day, Labour Day, Lauren in Law School, Law School 100, lipstick on a pig, Lottery System, LSAT, Madeleine Begun Kane, Mark Bennett, Max Tucker, Melina Beninghoff, My Inspiration video contest, My Legal Fiction, Nancy Callahan, OCIs, on campus interviews, Passen Law, Paul Caron, perdurable impetus, Perz Hilton, President Lincoln, Robert J. Ambrogi, Sarah Palin, sexual harassment, Sin City 2, Social media, stripper, The Exit, Trade Unions Act, Tucker Max, tushy bone, Twitter, U.S. News Law School Rankings, University of California, University of North Dakota, unlawful discrimination, volenti non fit injuria, Volokh Conspiracy, walk-out, Wordpress, Yale

Let’s Play Ball with Toronto Blawgers

By: Omar Ha-Redeye · July 12, 2008 · Filed Under Entertainment Law, Law Career, Law School, Marketing/PR in Law · 9 Comments

St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa once told the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis,

I really feel my training came from going to law school.

I’m not sure how that fits in with his DUI right before the World Series last year, but the law does touch every aspect of life, including sports.

We previously talked about how specific hockey cases have influenced the law, but baseball also has its landmarks as well.

First-year property law students inevitably hear about Popov v. Hiyashi, which has evolved into a movie on the case, “Up for Grabs,”

The documentary deeply delves into the legal battle that ensued over [Barry] Bonds’ now world-famous baseball and the two central characters, Alex Popov and Patrick Hayashi. Popov claimed to have caught the ball but Hayashi was the fan that ended up with it in the frenzy. The event marked a historic achievement for Bonds, as his home run shattered the previous single-season record set by Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1998.

Roger Abrams outlines in his book, Legal Bases: Baseball and the Law, other major incidents in baseball of legal interest:

The origins of baseball – formation of the National League, the development of rules and processes
Contracts between players, owners, stadiums, etc., most notably the Lajoie litigation, which established the league’s control over players
Exemptions to anti-trust legislation established since 1922, and the Curt Flood suit in 1970 and unsuccessfully opposed his trade from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies
Collective bargaining and the emergence of the Major League Players Association, from which players and owners benefited
The private legal processes that control the business of baseball, including its governance system, the process of desegregation, and powers of the Commissioner
The end of the reserve system, and the 1975 Messersmith Arbitration case that challenged it
Class-action cases filled by players like Carlton Fisk, claiming owners had violated collective bargaining agreements through collusion
Criminal allegations against Pete Rose that he was betting on games
The labour wars of the 90’s

And there are many other subjects related to baseball in the law.

But none of this was the subject of discussion at the Blue Jays game last night in Toronto.

I met with Connie Crosby and Simon Chester of Slaw, as well as the editor of the Blawg Review, who is traveling the world and meeting with blawgers of interest.

Box Score: It was a helluva game, as Jays blanked Yankees 5-0.

Canadian fans taunted A-Rod, as law bloggers watched helplessly. “We should have invited a family law specialist,” noted Ed.

We had a great time, but more importantly had a wonderful conversation about various topics related to legal blogging (or blawging, the controversy rages on).

Students are often apprehensive about going online with their thoughts and doing legal blogging. But the Blawg Editor said,

It makes no sense to try to be the best at the same thing as everyone else. Find something you like that’s different and be the best at that.

Law firms are also slowly accepting the role of blogs, though it’s often limited to partners that operate unofficial sites as a communication tool with potential clients. But search engine optimization is becoming the golden grail even for law firms.

There are some interesting projects around, including some firms that are having their articling students run a blawg. And Davis LLP made a permanent impression on the blawgosphere when they opened a law office in second life.

The best part about social media is the opportunity for law students to interact and exchange with experienced practitioners in the field. And one of the major topics for the evening was how they could better assist interested students.

How do firms deal with a blogroll – do they link to their competitors’ sites and blawgs as well? Of course, because the new age of legal practice is not as much about intense and aggressive competition as it is about building and developing relationships.

We might be able to go back to meaning it when we refer to opposing counsel as, “my friend.”

The teamwork mentality that these lawyers bring to the Internet makes it that much easier for those of us starting out in the game. And when you do throw the ball my way, I’ll be sure not to drop it.

Thanks for the invite.