More Things that Make Law School Cool

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Idea Wars

Philosophizing can be fun.  As undergrads, perhaps through a philosophy class or maybe just during a night out, we often entertain far-fetched ideas and discuss them at length just for the fun of it (“What if our whole universe is just a single atom in another universe?” seemed to be a favorite with some of my friends).  Such talks not only provide entertaining social exchanges but also mind-expanding exercise, enhancing both the flavor and substance of a good liberal arts education.

In law school, those discussions still happen.  But there are major differences.  Because law is like philosophy that matters.

That line always gets the biggest laugh at the “Introduction to Law School” talks that LEX hosts, but it does so because it’s true.

Let’s discuss why.  Arguing about Thomas More’s Utopia or Plato’s Republic can be challenging and interesting, but it won’t get anyone out of prison or regain custody of a child.  Law does.  And when a medical malpractice victim has suffered a traumatic injury at the hands of an incompetent hospital staff member, she doesn’t call a philosopher.  She calls a lawyer.

Law is where a society embodies its highest philosophical notions regarding truth, justice, freedom, choice and human dignity into tools that have hard-core, real-world consequences.  Law calls upon all the intellectual powers that go into a philosophical discussion, but it doesn’t end there.  It matters.

Accordingly, during law school, students are confronted with issues that require each individual to stake out some sort of philosophical basis for his or her point of view.  Issues like abortion, capital punishment, same-sex marriage, drug use.  Both in and out of the classroom, the idea wars get hotly debated.  And that debate is all the hotter this time around,  because—unlike that night out with the college friends—this time the full significance of those ideas is being brought to bear on the lives of actual human beings.  A real person with a real name and a real face will live or die; a couple will marry or not; a child will or will not be born—all these human lives will be forever and fundamentally altered  on the basis of which idea carries the day.

And that’s another reason why law school is cool.

(Original publication date:  July 19, 2011 (LEX))

Law Reviews and Law Journals | Law School Insights

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Making the Most of One’s Time in Law School

Many students have heard about “making law review” without really knowing what that means.  Some insights ahead of time may help one make better decisions before and during law school about this topic.

What Is Law Review?

Law reviews may be described as sort of the academic equivalent of a magazine.  Most law schools publish their magazine—their “law review”— between four and eight times per year. The magazine is edited by students.  This editing process includes both article selection (i.e., deciding what articles to publish in the magazine) and article proofreading, fact-checking, and polishing.

The authors of the articles in the magazine are usually law professors, but the authors are not necessarily from the school that publishes the magazine in which the articles run.  In other words, UCLA Law Review may publish articles that are by UCLA professors, but they may also publish articles from law professionals who have no formal tie to UCLA.

What Does It Mean to “Make Law Review”?

When a student “makes law review,” he or she is invited to be part of the magazine’s staff.

How Does One Make Law Review?

The process of being selected to join a given school’s law review staff depends on the institution.  One can typically be accepted by achieving a certain academic standing during one’s first year of law school, by being in the top 10% of one’s first year class, for instance.  One can also “write on” to law review at many schools by prevailing in a writing competition.

Check this blog again soon for more discussion of law reviews and law journals.

(Original publication date:  July 15, 2011 (LEX))

The Importance of First Year (1L)

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Performing well during your first year of law school can have some pretty interesting consequences.  Law reviews and other journals typically make their membership decisions based on first-year grades and tryouts.  Law firms generally only have your grades from first semester upon which to base their decisions in offering summer associate positions.  Even one’s peers and family members can get pretty serious about comparing grades.

Meanwhile, these outside decision-makers are, in turn, shaping your job prospects after law school.  For instance, making law review may have a lasting effect on your competitive standing in the job market.

Finally, the first-year experience can impact your own attitude toward law and a legal career, perhaps leaving you feeling confident and excited or frustrated and self-doubting.

For all of these reasons, getting off to a good start is crucial.  That’s one reason why LEX academic director Shelton Harrison created the LSAPP Law School Bootcamp.

(Original publication date:  July 14, 2011 (LEX))

Delicense, Arrest, Prosecute, Convict: The Four-Step Program for Eliminating Vivisection

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DAPC: Enforcing Cruelty Laws against Vivisectionists

(Original article publication date:  May 7, 2011 (Cruelty-Free))

When most people see animals being tortured, they recoil in horror. But vivisection has nonetheless survived through the massive dollars and influence that universities, pharmaceutical companies, and medical lobbying groups wield.

In an effort to rally resources to stop animal torture, here’s a proposed acronym:  DAPC.

DAPC stands for “Delicense, Arrest, Prosecute and Convict.”  These are basically the four steps that need to be taken to eliminate vivisection. Specifically, “doctors” who torture animals must be stripped of their medical licenses.  Obviously, torture is not part of the healing profession and is fundamentally contrary to the vows to which legitimate medical professionals adhere. Those who commit vivisection must then be arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for felony animal abuse.

Thus, the project in whole would be called “DAPC: Vivisection.”  Just a thought.  Here’s a little graphic that you are free to use for any anti-vivisection purpose.

Vivisection
Vivisection

Distinguishing abolition, proto-abolition, emancipation, and manumission

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Four words explained

Animal rights activists and ethical vegans are increasingly using the word abolition, but this growing popularity appears to be accompanied by some confusion about what the word actually means.  This article aims to serve as a quick, informal guide to the meaning of this word, abolition, vis-a-vis three related words:  emancipation, manumission, and proto-abolition.

Emancipation is the freeing of one or more actual living beings from slavery.  Emancipation does not happen to a legal system; rather, emancipation happens to an individual, living creature.

Example:  Before emancipation, Bill is a slave; after emancipation, Bill is no longer a slave.

Manumission is a subset of emancipation.  Specifically, manumission is the freeing of one or more actual living beings from slavery by the slaveholder.

Example:  Jane is the “owner” of Bill, a slave; one day, Jane decides to release Bill such that Bill is no longer a slave.  That event—the freeing of Bill by Jane—is an instance of manumission.

Abolition is the dismantling of the legal institution of slavery itself.  Abolition does not happen to an individual, living creature.  Abolition happens to a legal system.  Specifically, the given sovereign abolishes the institution of slavery.

Example:  Before abolition, Country X has a legal structure that allows slavery; after abolition, Country X’s legal structure does not allow slavery.

Proto-abolition is the dismantling of the legal institution of human slavery but not of all slavery.  Like full abolition, proto-abolition happens to a legal system, not an individual.

Example:  Before proto-abolition, Country X has a legal structure that allows human slavery; after proto-abolition, Country X’s legal structure does not allow human slavery but still does allow slavery of other species.

deathline
deathline

 

 

A Poem of Liberation

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Tell the cats in laboratories and
calves in crates that
Someone hears them.

Tell the salmon in nets and
chickens in cages that
Someone loves them.

Tell my friends,
with bark and moo and oink, that
Someone remembers them
misses them
needs them and
comes for them.

Today.

And tell them one more thing:
I am one such Someone, and
I am not coming alone.

___

(Original article publication date:  July 31, 2010 (Cruelty-Free))

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Vivisection cats
Vivisection cats

MBE | Multistate Bar Exam Tips

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1.  Reading comprehension: the seventh subject. The MBE is often characterized as testing six subjects: constitutional law, contracts, criminal law/pro, evidence, property and torts.  But, in fact, probably the most important “subject” is none of the above.  It’s reading comprehension.  Many times, the key to the right answer choice is but a few words in the stimulus.  If you miss those words or do not understand them in context, it does not matter how well you know the law.  You will still have no way to recognize the right answer.

Thus, reading comprehension is something that you should practice consciously.  Develop a reading style that adheres to the correct pace and focuses on relevant information rather than irrelevancies that distract you from the trail.

2.  Take advantage of the format. The MBE is a multiple-choice test.  There are a number of classic multiple-choice test strategies that should be second nature to you by exam day.  For instance, even when you cannot see what’s right about the right answer, you can oftentimes see what is wrong with the wrong answers (good old “process of elimination”).  Every time you eliminate even a single wrong answer choice, you make a big step toward the right answer choice.

3.  You take the test; it does not take you. Do not let the test be in control.  Set your own pace, and attack the questions in the order that you have worked out with your tutor.  Stick to your game plan, and do not let yourself get into a time deficit.

4.  Be a mercenary. Your task on test day is not to please your professors, show your knowledge of the law, or understand the nuances of the cases that confront you.  Your only job is to get points and thereby pass the California Bar Exam.  Everything you do that is not directed toward getting the most points that you can is but wasted time.  Therefore, stay detached enough to avoid getting fixated on interesting or difficult problems.

5.  Go the distance. The MBE can be pretty tiring, but you cannot afford to run out of gas.  You should start the test at your best and maintain that concentration level throughout the day.  (Hence, our Test at Your Best™ motto.) Know your vulnerabilities and plan to offset them.

(Original publication date:  June 9, 2010 (LEX))