Law Students

"That's a great plan, Walter. That's fuckin' ingenious, if I understand it correctly. It's a Swiss fuckin' watch."

Posted on December 11, 2009
A draft resolution for a "GOP Purity Test" has been banging around RNC members' email for comments prior to ratification by the party. Basically, the proposal is to deny party funding to any Republican politician who does not submit to eight or more of ten "principles" from a list supposedly ascribed to Ronald Reagan...

Berkeley Law 3L: A Real Person of Genius

Posted on December 11, 2009
The WSJ Law Blog just ran a post (I kid you not) entitled: On Crushing Your First-Year Exams: Advice From Some Who Did.The post interviews second- and third-year students from law reviews at various schools about "how they managed to kill it on their first-year exams...

My outline is 800 pages long and it's fantastic.

Posted on December 11, 2009
If you haven't seen the Paper Chase, you need to.This is behavior I never see at Boalt, which makes me happy.

Lawyers Viewed Better than Congress, Wall Street Execs

Posted on December 10, 2009
It's a pretty low bar, but according to the latest survey from Bloomberg news (.pdf), lawyers aren't the least liked people in America:For each of the following major U.S. institutions, please tell me if your impression is very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable...

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I'm drawing a line in the sand.

Posted on December 08, 2009
By far the most stupid of all Boalt Hall traditions is the 3L class campaign. Every spring, the BHSA recruits your fellow classmates to engage in public shaming of individuals who choose not to donate to Boalt Hall prior to graduating (and no, the last minute $580 fee increase for next semester doesn't count)...

Stop Chewing So Damn Loud in the Library or Proper Library Etiquette

Posted on December 05, 2009
Since I know you all have come to look to me for advice on how to behave in public (hint: it involves consistent heavy drinking) Peter and I wanted to give everyone a helpful guide of what not to do in the library:1) Don't cut your toenails. You know who you are...

FIFA...It's Not An Accounting Term

Posted on December 04, 2009
Following soccer in the U.S. is a bit like a cult membership (along with hockey).  I suppose like all cults, we try our best to evangelize outsiders to the cause.  In that vein, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) just completed its grouping selections for World Cup 2010 in South Africa...

Straight From The Horse's Mouth: Fall 2009

Posted on December 03, 2009
Welcome to the semi-annual professor quotes thread. I'll post mine in the comments, but these two may be my favorites. The first is from Federal Courts and the second is from Administrative Law:Here is the SCRAP case in a nutshell: Plaintiffs are a bunch of law students...

The 1Ls are too smart

Posted on December 02, 2009
The (in my opinion) funniest video from yesterday got featured on ATL. Props to 2L DS, the video creator.If Hitler were a Berkeley 2L

A Law School Slacker's Guide to Cramming

Posted on November 30, 2009
Now that we are back from Thanksgiving and facing finals, it may dawn on us law school slackers just how far behind we are in studying. For all of you 1Ls, don't despair! You might fear that it is impossible to catch up, but that's not necessarily true...

When To Forward Information to Your Particular Email List

Posted on November 30, 2009
I've noticed lately that most people aren't sure when it's appropriate to forward an announcement or general message to your particular email list.Good times:- When the school isn't going to send out 1,000 emails about the event to everyone. Career panels that have to do with your journal's topic of interest are a good example of this...

Something Something STRIKE! Something

Posted on November 30, 2009
Welcome back from break everyone! Just wanted to get you all talking again. What can we talk about now?UPDATE: Does anyone else think the statement from the Academic Council is astonishingly poorly written?

Happy Thanksgiving, N&B

Posted on November 26, 2009
It's that day again - a day to throw those books and outlines aside and remember what it's like to be human, to give thanks with family and friends, and to shamelessly eat your way through 3,000 calories of pecan pie.For those passing by today, I welcome you to post something you're thankful for in the comments...

Liveblogging the Town Hall

Posted on November 24, 2009
Hey dudes.We'll be doing it so you don't have to. Live from room 105 at 12:45 (as y'all know from the thousands of emails telling you to go).So, sit back, relax and let us listen so you don't have to (that's right, today we're that nerdy guy in the front row of Torts who always sends you his notes)...

The Protests Continue

Posted on November 23, 2009
I don't mean to belabor the point, but I think it's worth noting that according to the BLG:150 students are occupying Yudof's office in Oakland (1111 Franklin St. if you want to attend).This is in response to fee hikes, lay offs and police brutality (in that order, I assume)...

Who watches the Watchmen's Watchmen?

Posted on November 23, 2009
Not that I don't have anything else to do on a Monday afternoon, but I've been begged to create a post on the following video. Anything to please my fans!This is what I see:A drunken and screaming man, holding what may be a bottle in a brown paper bag, initiates a fight with another BART passenger...

The Protest's Balls Grew Three Sizes Today

Posted on November 20, 2009
We've talked about the "strike" ad nauseum, but it became something different today: a good ol' fashioned Berkeley protest. Students have occupied Wheeler Hall, fights broke out between protesters and police, sirens have been wailing all day, and news choppers fill the sky...

I Just Want to Tell You Both Good Luck. We're All Counting on You.

Posted on November 20, 2009
Bar results come out.  I suppose it's only fair to have an open thread on the psychological mind ****ing that is the time until you see the results.  The real fun begins on Monday when others look up your name.BUMP UP.  So?  What's the mood?  Congratulations to all who passed, and chin up to those who didn't...

John Yoo Saves Half the Library from the "Fire"

Posted on November 20, 2009
I was sitting in the library Atrium when the fire alarm went off and of course I dutifully shuffled into the exit stairwell with about 30 other students. We descended a flight to the marked exit only to find said exit locked.So, we turned around and marched back up, bumping into other students who were coming down...

A Tip to Aspiring Arsonists

Posted on November 20, 2009
Just pull a bunch of fire alarms across campus, then start a real fire and laugh while everyone ignores it! E-mail below:In case you had not already heard, our recent fire alarm was a deliberate pull of one of the alarms near an exit door. Similar alarm incidents have been occurring across campus this morning...

A Bit of Levity

Posted on November 19, 2009
The past couple posts have been, well, intense. To lighten to mood before finals (and tomorrow, for those of us in the know), here is a link to possibly the best dissent of all time. Now some of us feel that Chief Judge Kozinski is a great judge; others, the greatest...

BHSA Rep Proposes Edley No Confidence Vote

Posted on November 18, 2009
In a week filled with good ideas, this might be the best one yet.You might know Dean Edley as the guy behind Boalt's rise in the rankings, the Summer Fellowship Program or the architect of the best LRAP program in the country. I guess one of the 1L BHSA reps was too busy reading memos because the representative in question apparently suggested the BHSA hold a vote of "no confidence" on Edley at last night's meeting...

End of Lexis & WestLaw as We Know it?

Posted on November 18, 2009
Anyone who has taken a Lexis or WestLaw "cost-conscious" course knows that the services are an absolute rip off for clients. Charging $150 to click the search button? Isn't this the information age of technology?I remember having a conversation with the Lexis rep as a 2L where I pointed out that such monopoly pricing of otherwise public information will not last much longer...

My Notes From the Strike

Posted on November 18, 2009
Hi. I'm new. You'll get used to me, I promise.I wanted to give you my notes from the strike:9:17am - Finally here. Seventeen minutes late, but that's ok, justice always waits. Other four protestors outside of Sproul Hall seem happy to see me. They're all students...

Strike! (Or, Three Strikes? You're Out)

Posted on November 17, 2009
Update 11/18 (Patrick): Someone has kindly forwarded on an open letter purporting to set forth the reasoning behind the strike ? complete with an entire section explaining why this strike is "not ironic." Given the ATL coverage, I have redacted names (if you read that as my attempt to protect the strikers from a future when they realize how silly this is, you are correct) and uploaded a pdf here...

Attention. All honor students will be rewarded with a trip to an archeological dig!

Posted on November 16, 2009
. . . Conversely, all detention students will be punished with a trip to an archeological dig.If you are a Boalt 2L or 3L you are likely aware that there will be a series of meeting this week to discuss how we can improve Boalt's clerkship placement rate...

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Raise Fees

Posted on November 16, 2009
Update 11/17 (Patrick): Deans E and H have promulgated a fact sheet (pdf) regarding fees, complete with a Kashmiri disclaimer and this cheerful observation: "With the sharp spike in system?wide fee increases, we expect to meet our policy benchmark of 90% of market rate in 2011?12, one year earlier than we had originally anticipated...

Law School Prom, Minus the Corsage

Posted on November 15, 2009
I thought the BLF Auction was a lot of fun and a big success! Good venue, great food, killer dance moves, people looking all fancy.I haven't heard any figures but I would hope BLF raised a nice sum for the Phoenix Fellowship. The goal this year was to award two fellowships for the Class of 2013...

"Right" Idea, Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Price

Posted on November 12, 2009
Calvin Massey at the Faculty Lounge summarizes an NPR story about how peers and supervisors at Walter Reed Medical Center perceived Major Hasan in years, months, and weeks before he massacred 13 American soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas. At least some officials expressed concern that should Hasan be deployed, he might "engage in precisely the murderous behavior he exhibited at Fort Hood...

He Gets the Farmville Vote

Posted on November 10, 2009
One of the "perks" of working in biglaw is that occasionally you get attention from political candidates looking for checks.  Today, we had a lunchtime talk with Chris Kelly, the chief privacy officer of Facebook, who is running for AG.  The Good?  I thought it was refreshing to see someone running for AG who is not termed out (see Ricky Delgadillo) or just simply shuffling from one office to the next (see most previous AGs and remaining candidates in the Democratic primary)...

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