Law Students

Applauding Your Professor

Posted on April 28, 2010
Law school introduced me to a tradition that I’ve come to really enjoy – applauding your professor at the end of a semester. This was not part of my undergraduate experience. But as a form of recognizing that a professor has spent a semester dropping some serious knowledge on our asses and/or as a means [...

Stop It With the Rankings

Posted on April 20, 2010
Rankings are important. I don’t deny that. But they’re only important so far as they go – they are a rough gauge of the prestige of your school. They can be, and are, manipulated. They can become a self-fulfilling prophecy – if you focus on how low your rank is, you [...

US News Rankings ? Letter from the Dean

Posted on April 15, 2010
CUA Law students received this message from the Dean today regarding the latest US News & World Report law school rankings. It’s the most direct communications we’ve received from the Administration about the annual rankings in my time at the school...

What Do You Ask Stevens? Successor?

Posted on April 09, 2010
Justice John Paul Stevens is retiring “effective the next day after the Court rises for the summer recess this year.” Fight The Hypo contributor Magnus Wellborn were discussing how we wished that these confirmation battles could focus more competence, substance, and intelligence rather than this carefully, choreographed dance designed to obscure backroom discussions and avoid saying [...

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Pet Decision

Posted on March 31, 2010
If I spent more time at home, we’d have a dog. Not a yippy little dog that makes you think, “Aw. You think you’re cute? Well, when your owner’s not looking, I’m going to punt you off this balcony.” But a reasonably-sized dog that could tear an intruder’s arm off if need be...

This IS a big F-ING deal ? the constitutional challenge, that is

Posted on March 24, 2010
Joe Biden is worth his weight in gold for his gaffes and ill-timed quips. When he whispered to the President in range of a live microphone before the signing of the health care bill: “This is a big f—ing deal!”, you could see the President purse his lips...

Summer Associate Style, Part 1: The Business Casual Law Firm

Posted on March 15, 2010
Do clothes make the man or woman? Is there anything to be said for giving some more thought to what you wear in a professional setting rather than just settling for whatever you’ve done in the past? I’m spending this summer at a law firm in Northern Virginia where the attorneys dress business casual...

Furor Over the Cheney Ad

Posted on March 08, 2010
The furor generated by the Liz Cheney ad – or rather the organization that Cheney run, Keep America Safe – is interesting to me. (Ad and story here) Isn’t it all just a question of whether a current client should consent to a potential conflict with the interests of a former client? Or is it really [...

Sometimes, It Just Doesn?t All Fit

Posted on March 03, 2010
Pardon my ending of our recent hiatus with a bit of whining… Sometimes the accumulated fatigue of working full-time and going to law school part-time catches up with you and you need a day off. This normal mental health breather is to be expected...

snoWTF and the labor theory of property

Posted on February 09, 2010
On Sunday morning, I measured 25 inches of snow on my car. We’re allegedly supposed to get 10 more inches today and tomorrow. We’ll see. While I remember some big snows early in life when my family lived in the Poconos, I don’t think I’ve seen a bigger snowfall where I live...

Random Rumination on Citizens United

Posted on January 26, 2010
Dr. Bombay and I talked about the Citizens United decision recently. If your head has been so far in a casebook that you missed it, the bottom line is that the Supreme Court ruled that First Amendment protections apply to corporations as much as to individuals...

Barely Staying Afloat

Posted on January 20, 2010
I think there’s a point in some semesters where you genuinely question whether you’ll make it through. Monday, January 18th was that point of this semester for me. I didn’t think it would be a problem this semester. I have one class and the clinic, plus my editor’s responsibilities on the Journal...

Does Any of This Matter?

Posted on January 13, 2010
Maybe you had to be there but this exchange was pretty funy… Commercial Transactions Professor: “And by now your asking yourself whether any of these facts really matter. The answer is no!” Student: “So what’s your question? I thought you wanted the story, the facts...

Smaller, Local, Insurgent Law Schools = The Future?

Posted on January 07, 2010
I’m intrigued by these stories this week about North Carolina Central School of Law being the best buy for law school. The law school combines low in-state tuition, focus on clinical skills (they have 14 clinical programs), high first-time bar passage rates, and low debt loads for graduates...

Bull or Bear Market for your Law School Investment?

Posted on January 05, 2010
Today, I’m reading this interesting debate over at the New York Times website, asking the question whether MBA students are “students” or “consumers.” I wouldn’t say the arguments made are earth shattering or particularly insightful...

With Apologies to the Bard.

Posted on January 03, 2010
Happy New Semester! I?m sure it will be far better than spending time with your family and friends. Here?s some poorly modified verse for motivation. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our transfer students. In peace there’s nothing so becomes a student As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast [...

Holiday and End of Year Ruminations

Posted on December 28, 2009
The Fight the Hypo crew has scattered to various places for the holidays. I’m back from the Philadelphia suburbs after a wonderful trip to see my family. Over the last 2-and-a-half weeks since my last final I have completely forgotten about law school, student loans, and Fight the Hypo...

CUA Law Professor on e-textbooks

Posted on December 09, 2009
Catholic University Law School Professor, Robert Destro, was quoted in this New York Times piece about the prospects for e-textbooks in the classroom… Electronic textbooks may one day offer a convenient way to study, said Ms. Epps, literally lightening a student?s load...

Of Tiger and Florida?s Sunshine Laws

Posted on December 01, 2009
Notwithstanding our concerns about exams, we thought we’d drop a quick line about the Tiger situation. By now you’ve all seen or heard something about the Tiger Woods saga. Early last Friday morning he ran his SUV into a tree in his neighborhood...

Exam Time

Posted on November 30, 2009
We here at Fight the Hypo, along with most law students across the country, are in the throes of exam preparation. Though our posts have picked up over the last few weeks, expect them to be sporadic until December 12th or so, when we’re done with those damned infernal things (DITs) exams...

Criteria for Choosing Law School

Posted on November 25, 2009
This post at Brazen Careerist purported to offer readers “criteria” for evaluating whether to go to law school. It’s a nice read, but it doesn’t offer a single criterion, really. And since there are record numbers of people taking the LSAT, I figured it was worth trying to find some criteria on which to base [...

This Fall?s Memorable Interview Moments

Posted on November 24, 2009
This post over at Virginia Lawyers’ Weekly got me thinking about some of the more memorable moments from my interviews this fall. In response to my question about the effect of the economy on the firm’s business, a BigLaw Partner said, “Well, if it kills the billable hour it’ll be the best thing that ever happened [...

Don?t Mess with My Laptop

Posted on November 23, 2009
Look. How many times do I have to tell you, criminals? Don’t mess with a law student’s laptop on the eve of the exam period… (H/T: Above the Law)

Of Laches, Redskins and the Limits of Law

Posted on November 22, 2009
Laches. This equitable doctrine allows a judge to dismiss a case because a party has slept on its rights, having waited too long before bringing an action in court. You’ve heard of it. Have you ever seen it applied? I rarely have. So I love it when it happens...

Google Scholar Adds Case Law

Posted on November 17, 2009
If you haven’t already, head over to Google Scholar to search for case law. It’s a really good start, I think, and is a nice addition to the growing stable of open source legal research tools that is out there. Here’s what a search looks like:

At the Intersection of ?Dad? and ?Law Student.?

Posted on November 15, 2009
So Goody and I took His Majesty over to the mall today. The goals were simple: exploit the collapse of the economy for low prices (generally), and find a birthday present for her (specifically). But with the specter of law school haunting me wherever I go, even such pleasantly banal endeavors become fodder for a [...

SCOTUS Fantasy League

Posted on November 13, 2009
For all you law dorks who also love to gamble, there’s this. (Ahem, Dr. Bombay.) From the WSJ Law Blog: The idea behind the site, which is the brainchild of recent George Mason law grad Josh Blackman, is simple: you pick the way you think the Supreme Court will rule on its docket...

Reducing Law Students? Debt?

Posted on November 12, 2009
I’ve heard rumors that the legal job market is a little tight these days. Have you heard about that? Is that really true? I find that hard to believe. I mean law school is basically a guarantee of making serious bank. Isn’t it? But evidently, the job market is so tight that the ABA is lobbying [...

Being Fully Present

Posted on September 30, 2009
When I started law school more than two years (!!!) ago, I happened across this article in LawPracticeToday from 2005. In it was this gem offered as advice for young lawyers aspiring to be outstanding lawyers: Be fully present for each experience. Can you remember [...

Unpaid Internships Illegal?

Posted on September 29, 2009
An attorney I met recently, pointed me to this post. Here’s the nutshell: Brian Cuban, the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, wanted to start work on a more dynamic statistics service that could provide richer statistical data free of charge to any sort of media (from student papers to social networks)...

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