Fantasy Law School?

I found out today, from another classmate, that apparently some of our classmates play a game in class that I can only analogize to Fantasy Football/Baseball/etc. They choose "teams" of people in the class, and then keep track of points based on class participation: such things as who volunteers, who says something irrelevant, who interrupts the professor, who gets interrupted by the professor, etc. They apparently keep an elaborate spreadsheet of this information. Last semester it was Contracts class, this semester it is apparently Property, but I haven't confirmed this. So my natural inclination is: "How can I skew the results?" I'm pretty sure I'm not on anyone's "team" because I do NOT volunteer in class (why ask for pain?), and I've only been called on once. So if I start volunteering, will I lose my free agent status? How can I get to the top of the rankings? It's all about hierarchy and rewards, right? Hmmm....

This is how class is supposed to be

In sharp contrast to the last post, our Torts class on Friday was exactly how classes should always go. The professor asked questions, called on us randomly, but everyone was prepared and could answer his questions well. Part of that was our preparation, part was the kind of questions he asked, part of that is because this is our second semester with this professor, so we know him and he knows us, and part of it is that he is a great professor. It's such a great experience when all of that comes together, and you walk out of class thinking, "We really learned something!" One possible factor in this was that we had "visitors" in our class - potential admits - so the professor might have been "showing off" - but in reality, he was letting us show off.

My name's not Claire

Just a tip for the professors:
If no one is raising their hand to answer your question, not even the gunners who ALWAYS have an answer, then one of the following is probably true:

1. We forgot the question already. Yes, it’s only been 20 seconds since you started to ask the question. We have short attention spans, especially 15 minutes before lunch.

2. We don’t understand the question. Please rephrase – don’t just repeat – it. Remember, we can’t read your evil minds.

3. We don’t understand the question, because we didn’t really understand what you said before it, so back up and try again. We’ll get it eventually.

4. We don’t care. It’s 5 minutes until the end of class, and yes, that shouldn’t matter, but it’s 3 p.m. on Thursday, and tomorrow’s another day.

5. It seems too easy, and we no longer trust the “obvious” answer, so we are thinking really hard about every possible loophole. Give us a minute, and one of us will come up with the answer. Please don’t say “Were you all here 20 minutes ago when I went over this?” We already feel stupid most of the time; we don’t need help in that department.

Candygrams

I was all set to write a funny post about the candygrams one of the clubs at school is selling for Valentines Day, but Law-rah at WonL beat me to the punch! My blog topic was pre-empted!

Edited to add: I'm not at the same school as she is, but my school also has the candygrams, and the "prom" and lockers. More like middle school in some ways.

Domo Arigato Mr Roboto

This writing class is going to make me crazy. This is why people hate the way lawyers write - because we are taught to write like machines. 4 steps for this, 3 steps for that, IRAC, CARUPAC (what???), thesis paragraph, and so on. There's no room for flexibility, for ideas that don't fit that pattern. And thus no respect for those ideas, because they don't get read, they don't make it into law reviews, they are never even written. I know there is value in understandable writing, and the formula is a way to make sure we are reasoning properly, but it all seems so rigid. I'm afraid I'll start thinking in these rigid patterns, and lose any creativity that I had.

More quizzes

You're a Cappucinno!


What Kind of Coffee are You?
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You are "Noscitur a socii"! You look to
neighboring words to shed light on the meaning
of ambiguous words. You're a sociable canon,
and always look at everything in context.
However, you're useless by yourself.


Which Canon of Statutory Construction are You?
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Memo complete!

I just finished our first assignment for legal writing - an "office memo." Considering it's not even part of our final grade, I spent way too much time on it. The topic they assigned us was about evidence - a second year class - so it was a little harder to write about than say, personal jurisdiction, or statute of frauds. But it was at least a fairly interesting fact pattern. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us for the open research memo.

I just read a case for Property about a shopping mall, written in 1972 - where they go into some detail explaining exactly what a "Mall" is. Pretty funny stuff.

(Thank you to Evan at Notes from the (Legal) Underground for including me in the Law School Roundup, and for putting me on his Blogroll.)

Donate your Lexis points

Jeremy Richey has issued a challenge to donate Lexis points to Tsunami relief. If you donate, leave a comment on Jeremy Richey's Blawg so he can keep track. The challenge is now 75,000 points (I think). Thanks, Jeremy!

UPDATE: Westlaw is also allowing donations of points through February 23.

OCI treadmill

So OCI interviews are this week, and I did all of the things we're supposed to do: dropped resumes, bought a suit, found the pair of heels I haven't worn since my brother's wedding, polished a writing sample, obtained references, etc. I had my first (maybe only?) interview today, and I think it went pretty well. I wrote the thank you notes and they will be mailed tomorrow. So why do I feel like I'm going through the motions? I'm not entirely sure I want to work for a firm, but I feel like I have to at least give it a try, not least for the money. It would be great to earn some real money over the summer, to make up for the borrowing for the semester. My backup plan is summer school, of course, but that does require borrowing yet more money. I don't like that it comes down to financial considerations as the bottom line. And I'm afraid of getting caught on the treadmill, and waking up again when I'm 50 and wondering what on earth happened.