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Nuts & Boalts 
Stories from the fruits and nuts of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
Post Frequency: 1.9/day Last Entry: November 20, 2009 at 23:49:00 Recent Entries: 648
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The Protest's Balls Grew Three Sizes Today
Posted on November 20, 2009We'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, 2009Bar 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, 2009I 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, 2009Just 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, 2009The 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, 2009In 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, 2009Anyone 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, 2009Hi. 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, 2009Someone in the comments on a thread below (9:44) assures us with regard to today's student/staff/faculty/ground squirrel strike that "these things aren't complicated." But if it is simple, it sure isn't making a hell of a lot of sense to me, or to anyone else with whom I have spoken...
When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Raise Fees
Posted on November 16, 2009The UC Regents are voting next week to increase Boalt professional fees for residents by $6,072 (~22%) next year, part of which we will start paying for next semester. For non-residents, professional fees will go up by $1,827 (~7%). Yudof and his finance committee just released this yesterday: http://www...
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...
Law School Prom, Minus the Corsage
Posted on November 15, 2009I 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, 2009Calvin 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, 2009One 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)...
Call to Arms
Posted on November 09, 2009Someone in the comments below has asked for assistance. I leave it to you, dear reader, to get the job done:Anonymous said . . . On an ethics-related note, will someone summarize the potential causes of action against Don Draper and company after what they did in the final episode of Mad Men tonight? Meinhard v...
Wait, What?
Posted on November 06, 2009Q: You are the sole partner in your law firm. You are in the process of closing a deal -- the only deal of the year, in fact -- for a new client. You feel your paralegal, who is a single parent, who has worked tirelessly on the deal, and who has contributed far more than the associates, is worthy of a bonus...
Letters of Note
Posted on November 04, 2009I read a lot of blogs, but this one ? a regularly updated collection historical letters from the likes of Hugh Hefner, Dwight Eisenhower, Galileo, and Walt Disney ? is worth sharing. Armen in particular will enjoy this gem from Matt Groening.
Pre-Bezerkeley Berkeley
Posted on November 04, 2009More procrastination fodder from your favorite procrastination 4L...The Chron has a great series of late 1800s / early 1900s photos of Berkeley. See them here.
Down the Rabbit Hole, with Madison Hamburg
Posted on November 03, 2009A tipster sent in a poorly written e-mail that has gone out to at least a few of you Boalties calling for a boycott of tomorrow's Supreme Court session. It was sent under the name Madison Hamburg, which google says is a hotel in Germany. Given the writer's impoverished understanding of the Boalt Hall community, it makes sense that it was composed by an inanimate object from a foreign country...
False Lat
Posted on November 03, 2009Just saw this post about a University of Miami School of Law professor suing Above the Law for three counts: 1) False Light; 2) Invasion of Privacy; 3) Copyright Infringement. The pro se complaint is here.Maybe I have my blogger goggles on, but I don't see how this goes past 12(b)(6), especially the last two...
Curious George Explores Initiatives
Posted on November 01, 2009The Supreme Court of California will be at Boalt Hall on Tuesday to hear argument in Booth (our condolences to the Justices) and to field questions from students. For those interested in California government, democracy, or a sane and rational universe, the visit presents a grand opportunity to ask Chief Justice George about his views on the California ballot initiative process...
May I Please Order Off the Menu?
Posted on October 29, 2009I'm not really up to speed on this one [something here about being a 3L] but the Spring Courses 2010 thread has seen a steady stream of comments like this one:Anonymous said . . .What is the story with the absolute garbage course selections? We had to petition in order to avoid conflicts between almost every ethics course and conlaw...
Does the Urban Dictionary Have a Name For This?
Posted on October 28, 2009I remember doing this sort of thing when I was the editor of my high school newspaper. From a truant little punk, it's sort of funny. From the Governor of a state on the brink of fiscal doom, it's an embarrassment.
N&B Photo Caption Contest!
Posted on October 28, 2009Bonus points for same-sentence references to the tablet computer in his hand and the visiting ABA Committee:
Scalia Would Have Dissented in Brown v. Board
Posted on October 27, 2009You have to hand it to Antonin Scalia -- he clearly isn't trying to put a good face on originalism.Using his "originalist'' philosophy, Scalia said he likely would have dissented from the historic 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that declared school segregation illegal and struck down the system of "separate but equal'' public schools...
CA v. NY (the bar exam faceoff)
Posted on October 25, 2009Since I'm still not sure exactly where I'll be next year, I have been looking into the differences between taking the California and the New York bar exam. Conclusion: nobody in their right mind would take the California bar exam unless they were really, positively, absolutely sure that they were going to practice law in the state for the next fifty years...
The Moral Character Application & Memory Exam
Posted on October 24, 2009I did not go to last week's informational meeting on the Moral Character Application for the California Bar (what's all this business about the food?), but I did get an email with the handouts. Later, I went to the Bar's website and started the application...
Spring Courses 2010
Posted on October 22, 2009A commentator in the thread below correctly noted that it is high time for a spring courses thread. Feel free to ask your questions or share your thoughts about the upcoming semester here. My offhand observation is that current 1L's should consider Con Law with the legendary Professor C...
Any interest in property investment?
Posted on October 22, 2009If you look out of the north facing windows of the Boalt Library, you'll see a parking lot, trees and two dilapidated buildings obscuring your view of the beautiful palace known as Haas.Ever find yourself dreaming that you could take a piece of Berkeley home with you when you graduate? You're in luck! Each of those buildings can be bought for the bargain price of a buck...
Weekend Update
Posted on October 21, 2009A few things have caught my eye, but been too busy to post, so here they are collectively.-- Big ups to Daniel Redman ('08) for his recent article in Slate.-- Insurance companies have an antitrust exemption? Let's see, by eliminating the exemption they'll have to actually compete with each other, stop colluding, risk losing geographic market power, which would lead to overall decline in premiums and an increase in legal work for litigation associates...
A Rose Bird Scholar By Any Other Name
Posted on October 14, 2009I'm hearing rumors through the grapevine that Boalt admin is considering some changes to help us in the Oklahoma land grab that is clerkship applications. Very speculatively, but specifically, there's a possibility of adopting something other commenters and I have advocated...
Finally, a Reason to Read Birgeneau's Emails
Posted on October 13, 2009In a typically grandiose (item 8) but atypically well-written email, Chancellor Birgeneau recently invited students to "celebrate the joyous announcement" that Professor Oliver E. Williamson has won a Nobel Prize. This morning, Boalt's most venerable Federal Courts professor gave us a reason: the prize appears to distinguish Boalt as the first law school in the country with a Nobel laureate on the faculty...
Some Majors are More Equal than Others
Posted on October 12, 2009Noticed this story about the UC Regents considering raising the fees charged to students who are either engineers or business majors. This is one of the dumbest things I've heard coming out of the UC Regents (which puts it high in the running for dumbest overall)...
The Skinny on Fair Use
Posted on October 10, 2009It is ON: Ralph Lauren has filed a Digital Millenium Copyright Act claim against two websites ? Boing Boing and Photoshop Disasters, for posting (and mocking) an ad that had been ?retouched? to such an egregious degree that the model?s head appeared larger than her waist...
Curious George Goes to Cambridge
Posted on October 10, 2009Consensus has it that after Justice Bird was ousted from the California Supreme Court, the Justices tend to keep their heads down and hands clean of California politics.Consider that as you read Chief Justice George's remarks from just a few hours ago in Massachusetts:In a rare public rebuke of state government and polices delivered by a sitting judge, the chief justice of the California Supreme Court scathingly criticized the state?s reliance on the referendum process, arguing that it has ?rendered our state government dysfunctional ...
Roses Are Red, Violets Are Negligent...
Posted on October 08, 2009If you had to brief a case in 15 syllables, could you do it? Neil L*vy can. After reading Palsgraf v. The Long Island Railroad Co. for Torts last week, Supermod 4,5,6 was pleasantly surprised to find a haiku written by Professor L*vy published in the notes of the casebook...
It's Complicated
Posted on October 06, 2009I don't want to bump L'Alex's great post, but the fine folks at the Samuelson Clinic are putting on a conference on "Social Networks: Friends or Foes? Confronting Online Legal and Ethical Issues in the Age of Social Networking." Looks like David Lat will be a panelist...
A Brief Facility Update, and Some Outstanding Questions
Posted on October 04, 2009An exciting development this week: giant mud pit has evolved into? steel rebar pit! Steel rebar pit is WAY cooler than mud pit: it looks like a giant, tetanus-laden jungle gym for law students. I wish I could play out there?In the spirit of such renovations, I have composed a short list of facility-related questions that I've been wondering about for the last several weeks...
Liveblogging The Bakesale
Posted on September 29, 200910:30 AM-- I'm sitting in Donor Lobby taking part in an age-old (I assume) Boalt Hall student group tradition: the Bake Sale. Shameless plug: BJCL will be peddling its wares until 4:30 PM today (9/29) for a dollar an item. I think that price is double what we charged last year, but hey, recession's a bitch...
Ahab's
Posted on September 29, 2009Today Starbucks rolled out its "Via" instant coffee. I sampled it, but certainly not with an open mind. And sure enough, it taste like...instant coffee. Ever since Howard Schultz returned as CEO, the company has been going in all the wrong directions (except for the whole let's make everything efficient thing, I like that)...
Do it Yourself Job-Making
Posted on September 29, 2009The WSJ Law Blog reports that a Denver area solo partitioner who generally does smaller-scale criminal work, like drunk-driving and drug-possession representations, will be "spearheading the defense of accused terrorist mastermind Najibullah Zazi." The Denver attorney recently placed an advertisement with the University of Denver law school seeking an unpaid intern to help with legal research...
2009 OCIP Callbacks (Part Trois)
Posted on September 22, 2009Bada-BING. We've maxed out the comment capacity on the 2009 OCIP threads for a second time - you folks are on a roll. I have closed discussion on the previous thread, and opened it here.
"You Just Kinda' Wasted My Precious Time, but Don't Think Twice, It's Alright"
Posted on September 18, 2009Pop quiz: what?s the appropriate number of times to think about a lover who has just walked out your door?Correct Answer: ONCE.But Dylan's advice has a corollary: If you know you're leaving, then the time to go is now. See, e.g., "It Ain't Me, Babe...
Mad Men Paging Sterling Cooper
Posted on September 15, 2009As Barney Frank so aptly pointed out, trying to have a conversation with the extreme Right these days is like trying to argue with a dining room table. But at least dining room tables have decent branding. There's a great post over on culture monster that reveals the socialist and communist origins of the logo for Glenn Beck's "9/12 Project" march against socialism (and other less specific evils): But the absurdity doesn't stop there...
Two Cold-Calls and a Funeral (of Sorts)
Posted on September 15, 2009Week 5 and all is well among the 1Ls. Sure, some of us are starting to wilt a little from the new workload (or mysteriously disappear*) but Fall Break is sure to put a little spunk back into our step!*As in the intriguing case of Prof. L*vy?s torts class last week?Professor: Hmm, let me call on someone who hasn?t spoken yet...
Everyone's a Winner*
Posted on September 14, 2009Over the weekend the New York Times ran an article about lawyers and online social media like Facebook and Twitter. The article explains something that should be obvious: trial lawyers who blog or tweet about their judge are asking for trouble, as is the attorney whose facebook page suggests a week of partying, after the judge granted a continuance for a death in the attorney's family...
Is Google Flipping Right Past Bad PR?
Posted on September 14, 2009Just saw a NYT article about a new google news product called Fast Flip. (Article here, Fast Flip site here.) Basically, Google strips the bulky packaging from news websites, catalogues them as images, and allows readers to flip through them in a manner similar to a conventional newspaper...
867-5309
Posted on September 11, 2009We talked earlier this week about a thread for today's clerkship calls - here it is. Your tales, trials, and tribulations are particularly welcome.Update: if you haven't read The Rat Race: Insider Advice on Landing Judicial Clerkships (pdf) by Judge Aldisert and two former clerks, now is not too late...
Tales from Hotel Durant ? Four (and Twenty) Rooms
Posted on September 09, 2009Hey All,I'm Maude. First time blogger, long-time snarky bitch. Transition should be seamless. . .Commentators have been asking for a ?lighter-side? of the 2009 OCIP string. There?s a suggestion that perhaps N&B can provide a place where we can all regale each other (anonymously, of course) with tales of awkward exchanges in the hallways and across the interview table...
An OCIP Question for Savvy 2L's
Posted on September 08, 2009This year at OCIP even the tax firm Ivins, Phillips & Barker's interview slots filled during open signups. So, why is Latham & Watkins now wide-open for open signup interviews with almost every office (DY, NY, LA, OC, and SF)? Did Latham add more interviewers? Are Boalties throwing in the towel at OCIP? Do 2L's really prefer the tax? (Bitter 3L's or deferred Latham associates, please feel free to take a stab at this one, too...
Paging Kevin Smith: Please Give Boalties an OSCAR Win!
Posted on September 07, 2009It's a fine Labor Day Weekend, I've got a horrendous mix of MJ and Blondie on the stereo, and I'm working my way thorough that second pot of coffee. Yep. OSCAR applications are due today.I have five thoughts, after which I will open up the comments for discussion...
How to Act on Friday, September 11th
Posted on September 07, 2009Normally.No overjoyed, excited countenances.No walking dejectedly like the world's losiest losers.No nervous smiles to others you know are applying for clerkships.No "Hey, Macarena" ring tones during class.No rushing out of class to answer silently vibrating iPhones...
2009 OCIP Callbacks (Part Deux)
Posted on September 05, 2009[Update: if you have been interviewing with law firms and have not yet seen this video ("what do you mean you didn't 'exactly' get in"?) you should. I meant to share it earlier but it slipped my mind.]___________________________________________We have come very close to maxing out the comments on the other thread...
Oompa-Loompa Ant Farm Boalt!
Posted on September 04, 2009Check out:Time lapse video of the Boalt Hall South Edition from December 2008 through August 2009, here.Video response to this post, set to Howlin' Wolf here.I've watched that last one about six times - something clearly has me transfixed. Could be the blues, could be the Oompa-Loompa ant-dance theme, could be because I'm weird, or it could be some combination of the three...
Two Articles on the Entry Level Legal Market
Posted on September 03, 2009This comment from the thread below deserves a stand-alone post:John Steele has left a new comment on your post "2009 OCIP Callbacks":Although these two pieces by Bill Henderson are sobering reading, if you are interested in the economics of law school and how the changing economy might affect legal education, you will want to read them:Drawing the Right Lessons from the Bleak Entry-Level Legal Job Market...
Won't Somebody Think of the Children
Posted on September 03, 2009Just saw this post on Leiter about a proposed walkout by UC faculty on 9/24 because...drum roll please.Forced furloughs on days when they're not teaching or holding office hours. This, the fine academics consider an unacceptable violation of their umm well I'm not sure what it's a violation of, but they'll be damned if they have to give a talk on Renaissance art in Florence and not get paid by the UC for it...
Prison Reform
Posted on August 31, 2009Q: How long will it be before the Philip Garrido story derails court-ordered prison reform in California?
Pretext? Earl, it's the Post-text I'm Worried About
Posted on August 28, 2009*Full disclosure: I'm still feisty after yesterday afternoon, when some dude on the phone while driving an Annie's Catering nearly creamed me and my motorcycle by changing lanes without signaling.Under new statutes, people who text behind the wheel and causes a fatality accident in Utah can be punished by up to 15 years in prison...
Full boat? Fold.
Posted on August 27, 2009I remember reading somewhere (probably ATL, maybe here) about a newly minted associate asking what sort of car he should buy so that he could roll into his firm's garage looking 1) professional enough to avoid the "he drives THAT?!?" commentative end of the automotive spectrum, but 2) modest enough to avoid the cocky/radical/crusty-old-partner-thinks-its-too-flashy end...
If Information's a Drug, Multitasking is a Disease
Posted on August 26, 2009Earlier this week, researchers at Stanford announced a ?surprise finding? that people with access to many kinds of media tend to be more distracted than those who don?t. Come on Stanford, is that really the best you c?[checks facebook]The article itself is rather entertaining...
Lawyering Like the Fonz
Posted on August 25, 2009During my first full week of law school, I received many pearls of wisdom from my peers and the administration ? some solicited, others not so much (I?m looking at you, 3L who told me to rename my book budget ?Beer Budget.?) The one tip that struck me as most poignant: Take LRW and WOA seriously, they are the only thing standing between you and imminent doom this summer...
The Argument No One is Making
Posted on August 25, 2009I am not a politico. My experience in political strategy consists mostly of having seen every episode of The West Wing twice. That said, I've been crafting arguments for most of my life, and it seems to me there is an argument that could win the health care debate that no one is making...
The Requested No-Offer Survey
Posted on August 24, 2009I'm timid to do this, because I don't want to out anyone and because I don't want to contribute to a general state of unrest. On the other hand, several people have pointed out that it would be helpful to 2L's to know whether they are interviewing with firms that no-offered the class of 2010...
2009 OCIP Callbacks
Posted on August 24, 2009This is the 2009 OCIP callback thread. If you are unsure about what that might mean, look here, and here.Still unsure? Here is a short explanation: people seem to think it's helpful to learn whether firms are calling back as soon as possible. This thread is designed to satiate that obsessive desire (hey, I had it too) by publicly disseminating that information as quickly as possible...
A Silver Cloud with a Black Lining
Posted on August 23, 2009I just learned that some 1L's aren't taking any Civ Pro this semester. This is bad news in disguise. No Rule 26, but instead they get to suffer through Contracts, Property, and Torts, all at the same time. Plus LRW. In the spring, they'll presumably get Crim, Civ Pro, Con Law, and WOA...
How About a Raincheck on that No-Offer?
Posted on August 23, 2009Commentators have been asking for a thread for 3L's who left their summer internship without an offer. It seemed like a good idea the first time it was suggested, and it still does. Problem is, I'm not quite certain how to broach the subject. Some things are personal and therefore private, and some things only feel personal and in fact need not be private at all...
Journalism 101
Posted on August 21, 2009I just watched the TV version of Jon Stewart's interview with Betsey McCaughey (former Lt. Gov of New York, which I think is an elected office(!!!) and inventor and propagator of the term "death panels" in the current health care debate). First, it's sad, pathetic, and downright depressing that a comic is pretty much the most intelligent, thoughtful, and probing news reporter on television right now...
Fall Recruiting, Butts & Noalts Style
Posted on August 20, 2009The posters here are getting long in the tooth and gray in the bead. (Seriously -- check out Toney's goatee.) Shoot me an email if you'd like to contribute to Nuts & Boalts. We'll start with a guest spot, and take it from there.
The Dean to the Left is the One in the Right
Posted on August 20, 2009Via email to the good people at "Boalt Hall":To Boalt Hall students, staff and faculty:Associate Dean Bob Berring has already written to you concerning the disruptions on the first day of classes, Monday August 17th, by a group of approximately 70 people protesting the presence of Professor John Yoo on our faculty...
Prop 8 Goes to Washington
Posted on August 19, 2009NY Times is reporting that Ted Olson, apparently a Boalt alum, is pursuing a federal challenge to Proposition 8 before the Supreme Court. He has won 44 of his 55 cases before the Court, including Bush v. Gore. That's right, he's a conservative. Olson's politics and pedigree alone make this newsworthy, but the arguments he's pursuing, while not exactly earth-shattering, also provide a unique Federal spin on the issue: In Mr...
Overheard Today Outside Boalt Hall:
Posted on August 19, 2009"If I were a Butts & Noalts commentator I'd write about the plastic bookmarks in the yellow planners. Mine was stuck right in the Honor Code section. I wonder if everyone's was?. . . I mean, 'Nuts & Boalts.'"
The Hammer is Still Falling
Posted on August 18, 2009It's also rising (with OCI) in hopes of a whack at the class of 2010. Anyway. Three things today:First, commenters on Dan's thread below have been asking for "a new thread on this." I'm not certain I understand what was wrong with the old thread but at any rate, here it is...
Big Brother is Watching
Posted on August 17, 2009I was rather disturbed to come into the building this afternoon and notice the bright yellow signs plastered across the hallways. The school has always been rather strict about where signs may be posted. But a notice that all persons entering the building are subject to search? My guess is that this is related to the Yoo prank...
How Are You Paying for School?
Posted on August 10, 2009I received an email, requesting insight from the N&B community:"Sweet Jesus! Tuition & Fees this year total nearly $36k. I scoped out my "offer letter", only to find $20.5k in federally subsidized & unsubsidized loans. The money I made this summer will cover my rent for the year, plus a little food here and there...
Warmup: OCIP 2009
Posted on August 07, 2009OCIP bidding is upon us. Rising 2L's can find a list of previous threads by entering "OCIP" in the search field above (the OCIP/Employment label seems not to be working properly lately). Be sure not to miss Disco Stu's pearls of wisdom from 2005. Chances are, any question left unanswered by those resources is irrelevant...
Toto, We're Not in Berkeley Anymore
Posted on August 04, 2009This might be old news, but I just caught this LAT report that the three Americans captured by Iran after straying across the border are all Berkeley grads. My thoughts and prayers are with them, and hopefully they'll be out of harm's way in the near future, but...
Why Didn't I Think of That?
Posted on August 03, 2009This is a pretty frivolous lawsuit, but that shouldn't stop the mind from pondering the what ifs. What if this happened after the upcoming OCIP / Offer season? Maybe a class action from the Class of '11? I think the mere possibility is fodder for great humor...
The Bar Exam Is Dead, Long Live The Open Bar!
Posted on July 30, 2009Huzzah! Comments may follow. Not mine though, I'm going to go have a beer.
The Hammer Falls
Posted on July 30, 2009Well folks, it's almost over. The giant questionmark hanging over the Summer Classes of 2009 is about to transform into an exclamation point. I was discussing the prospects of getting an offer with a friend today, and we agreed that there is no result that will not shock us...
What Really Matters
Posted on July 27, 2009As the comments on the Bar thread are starting to reflect, the best part about being done is going back to summer TV. In my experience there are two types of summer TV viewers: those who watch the reality crap that the networks put on (e.g. shows where The Hoff is a judge!!!) and those who latch on to the high quality cable shows that begin their season when the network season ends (Rescue Me, Entourage, Dexter, etc...
July 2009 Bar Exam Thread
Posted on July 26, 2009We've now filled up a couple different threads worth of comments. So here's the one that takes us through this wonderful week.Piggy-backing off a comment finishing the last thread:So, can we start talking about Day-Of considerations?- what's going in your plastic bag?- two pillows? no pillows?- secret food strategies?- what are you going to do with a 90-120 minute lunch?- apres-test drinks on Tuesday?
It's Time to Talk About the John Y*o "Prank"
Posted on July 23, 2009Many of you have probably seen the video of a "prank" an Australian comedy show pulled on Professor Y*o in a Boalt classroom. I'm not going to link it here, but it was on abovethelaw recently, and I'm sure you can google it. Knock yourself out. Obviously, how you feel about this video is inextricably tied to the way you feel about the whole "academic freedom vs...
A Sort of Boalt Confirmation Hearing
Posted on July 22, 2009Unless you're up to your eyeballs in the bar exam, you probably saw Mindi's email on behalf of BHSA soliciting applications for six student slots on the Faculty Appointments Committee.I'd encourage anyone who is interested to do it. And I encourage anyone who does it to find out from prospective candidates: "If hired, would you make the narrative portions of your teaching evaluations available to students?"----Slight Update: An anonymous commentator noted the recent email explaining that classes with fewer than 12 enrolled students will be cancelled, for budgetary reasons...
Day One, Question One
Posted on July 22, 2009OAKLAND, California (CNN) ? Oakland?s bid to become the first U.S. city to tax proceeds on medical marijuana passed Tuesday by a landslide vote.About 80 percent of voters chose to impose the tax on Oakland?s medical marijuana facilities, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters...
"I'm Gunna Pass this Damn Thing" Thread - Part Deux
Posted on July 19, 2009The comment count evidently got to be too much for Google's neglected Blogger to keep up.Feel free to keep it flowin' here, as we all strive for minimal competence.
Look Who's Come Crawling Back
Posted on July 16, 2009When debating bar trip locations, we (the three of us in question) universally agreed to skip Paris because the lone francophone had already been, and the rest of us were not eager to put up with haughty, arrogant snobbery for using English. Actually, the reluctance of the French to embrace English as the new lingua franca (!) has bothered me for quite some time...
Legal Services Will Always be Recession Resistant
Posted on July 14, 2009Here's the proof:On June 30, the California Court of Appeal held that a man who was burned by the huge bonfire that ends the Burning Man festival each year could not sue the festival organizers. Anthony Beninati admitted he had intentionally walked into the fire, and that he had previously known fire was hot...
Sotomayor Hearings Open Thread
Posted on July 13, 2009Thoughts? So far I'm worried that this wise Latina will take away my guns and apply Norwegian tort law. [/sarcasm].
Kill the Ump!-ire Analogy
Posted on July 13, 2009Apologies for bumping the thread below, but a thought I had in my law school days is relevant again with Sotomayor?s confirmation hearings. As I'm sure we all remember, Chief Justice Roberts compared the role of a judge to that of an umpire, saying that ?judges are like umpires...
Tip of the Hat
Posted on July 06, 2009As a commenter int he thread below points out, Justice Ginsburg has hired a Boaltie for (presumably) OT 2011. So major congrats to GS. (And let's keep it at that level of specificity please).
BCS: Time to Drop the C
Posted on July 06, 2009The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee will hold a hearing tomorrow (Tuesday, July 7th) entitled "The Bowl Championship Series: Is it Fair and in Compliance with Antitrust Law?" It will be broadcast live on the interthigny here. Watch it, see what you think, and then call your senator's office...
Going OSCAR Wilde
Posted on July 05, 2009Quick clerkship question here. For the last month I have been watching judges in OSCAR hire left and right, presumably from the host of graduates and alumni who are not constrained to the hiring plan. It's frustrating to watch the alumni peck away at my judge list, but then that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes...
Guess the crazy Alaskan's motivation
Posted on July 03, 2009So, Palin resigning from her governorship has got to be one of the dumbest political moves ever, right? There has got to be something bigger underneath this news that has not been revealed yet.So, I thought we could play a little game. Whoever manages to correctly guess why Palin really left gets ...
UC-XI
Posted on July 01, 2009HT to anonymous in the previous thread for linking to DE's op-ed in today's LA Times.The short version is that California ranks 49th among states whose high school graduates go on to college, and that a fully-fledged cyber-UC campus (read: low overhead --> low tuition) might be a way to track kids toward higher education, "not just in Barstow but in Bangor and Beijing...
Big changes in big law?
Posted on July 01, 2009I don't check the Shark very often, but was prompted by a commenter in the thread below.TWO rather interesting tid-bits that work well together for a merged thread here:First, Orrick announces tomorrow that it officially drops lock-step salaries. Very interesting (albeit confusing) system they're announcing there...
Real World-Probate Challenge
Posted on June 29, 2009For those of you looking for more essays to study for the bar:Michael Jackson apparently died intestate. You're the probate judge. Discuss.For those of you looking for a distraction:I must confess cracking a very wide grin at the news that MTV's director of programming is stepping down and that its ratings were down 20% last year...
Kent Work?
Posted on June 26, 2009Convicted felon and I guess now former Judge Samuel Kent was the first sitting federal judge to be impeached by the House in something like 20 years.* Naturally I was excited for the upcoming Senate trial. But by resigning Kent is hoping to avoid a Senate conviction, which brings us to obscure constitutional question time...
Prodigal Daughter
Posted on June 25, 2009From the Volokh Conspiracy, via google alerts and an anonymous tipster:Congratulations to Recent Boalt Hall [g]raduate Carolyn Zabrycki, whose student article (Toward a Definition of "Testimonial": How Autopsy Reports Do Not Embody the Qualities of a Testimonial Statement, 96 Cal...
On MJ
Posted on June 25, 2009Obviously you've all heard the news of the passing of Michael Jackson. I don't know how to feel exactly. First, I'm naturally saddened by the loss of any life, especially one as iconic and influential as his. But there's that other part of me. The one that remembers a more umm, erratic, Michael Jackson? I guess, I don't want to be seen as badmouthing the dead especially so close to the tragedy...
Paging IP Nerds
Posted on June 23, 2009I know it's not one of the bar exam topics, but I have an IP question that someone might be able to answer. In short, Friend T asked me about this situation and it struck me as an interesting legal question worth exploring, so here it is.Friend T recently held an engagement party at some Armenian banquet hall (if you're Armenian, you know the routine: lots of food and envelopes stuffed with cash as gifts...
Help is Nigh on the Student Loan Front
Posted on June 22, 2009Do I understand all of this? No, to be honest, I don't.But undoubtedly many students will find the article, which features various boalties in its summary of changes in law school loan forgiveness and repayment programs, helpful.
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Posted on June 20, 2009Does anyone else see a strong parallel between TJ's recent photo of the excavation at Boalt and the conclusion of the famous children's story, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel?I mean, how are they going to get the excavators out? It will take either a wrench or a crane.
Budget update
Posted on June 18, 2009---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Christopher Edley <edley@law.berkeley.edu>Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:05:29 -0700Subject: Budget updateTo: Students - 1L <students-1ls@law.berkeley.edu>, Students - 2L<students-2ls@law.berkeley...
Won't Somebody Please Think of the 2Ls?
Posted on June 15, 2009At the gentle urging of the folks at the Clerkship Notification Blog, I figured I'd remind Boalties about that invaluable resource for those pursuing the clerkship path. I'd also point out the many clerkship threads on this blog can be found in the formerly "Kevin Smith" label...
"I'm gunna pass this damn thing" thread
Posted on June 13, 2009Here's a new thread that is meant to be more focused on bar prep study - questions, advice, mnemonics, bitching about lecturers, etc.To help start it off, try this link to a prior N&B thread on helpful mnemonics.Good luck everyone![Note: I'm going to try to keep this thread at or near the top to encourage use...
Uighurs relocate to new beachfront property
Posted on June 10, 2009Some very good news indeed: the Obama administration has finally found a country willing to accept 17 of Guantanamo's Uighur detainees. And now the funny bit: that country is...the tiny island of Palau. Of course, Micronesian hospitality isn't free. Per HuffPo, "the U...
Hang on to Your Handgun
Posted on June 06, 2009As you may know, the Ninth Circuit recently held in Nordyke that the Second Amendment is incorporated into the 14th Amendment's due process clause. Last week the Seventh Circuit held exactly the opposite in National Rifle Association v. City of Chicago (pdf)...
Grades Open Forum
Posted on June 05, 2009Loathe the idea of this thread, but providing in response to a comment request below.One question I had earlier is how can a 3L get a grade before a 2L in the very same class - aren't we on the same curve?
[Intentionally Left Blank]
Posted on June 02, 2009Not Sotomayor, but the other Mayor. Commenter with the wittiest/funniest proposed title for this post wins that honor.
Prop 8 Re-Redux
Posted on May 28, 2009By now we all know that the California Supreme Court has ruled that Proposition 8 is constitutional, but that existing same-sex marriages shall stand. It was probably the correct legal decision, though not the correct moral one.I'm posting to share this link: Today, Ted Olson and David Boies filed a federal equal protection claim challenging the validity of Proposition 8...
Chutspah Watch
Posted on May 28, 2009Legislature wants greater control over UC policy because they are upset with administrator salaries accompanied by fee hikes. Hmmm. In that case, might I demand greater control over the Legislature for raiding the UC's coffers to cover its own incompetence?
$@!$# the PC at Work For Throwing My At-Home Apple Use Into a Tailspin
Posted on May 28, 2009That's all.Feel free to share your frustrations & embarrassments during the first week of your summer internship here. (Anyone who ended up in the wrong law firm today after entering the wrong elevator bank, raise your hand. Any hands raised? No hands? Oh...
Sotomayor Talking Points
Posted on May 27, 2009I have a feeling this is going to get nasty. I know after the 2004 election, during some of the bleakest times for a Democrat, I was itching for a fight over Roberts. But after surveying the political landscape I regretfully realized the impossibility and inanity of such an act...
It's Sotomayor!
Posted on May 26, 2009I'm heading out the door to my first day of work, so I don't have time to do a lengthy post about this. (Patrick, feel free to update this with your thoughts.) But I thought we should throw up a post about the recent announcement. My two cents: the AP may think she would be the first hispanic justice, but Josiah Bartlett and I disagree...
It Begins [for the rest of us]...
Posted on May 26, 2009Barbri began for the rest of us today (CA Berkeley location - EDIT: NY Berkeley location is tomorrow). Gotta love that overwhelmed look on everyone's face this morning.In true Berkeley fashion, things got off to a rocky start - notably, tech problems with the video sound...
Who would Jesus ban?
Posted on May 22, 2009Liberty University (founded by evangelical and Teletubbie-hater Jerry Falwell) has banned the college Democrats student group, citing that the parent organization (the Democratic Party) contradicts the "moral principals" held by the school. These values clearly do not include freedom of speech and political beliefs...
Antitrust Theories for Giggling and Crying
Posted on May 21, 2009The San Francisco Chronicle has the following story: "Green Day lashes out at Wal-Mart policy"Wal-Mart will not "stock any CD with a parental advisory sticker." Instead, it requests a censored "clean" version. Green Day -- affronted by the request -- refused to provide one...
Fraudulent VISA text message
Posted on May 20, 2009Just thought I'd warn everyone out there. I received a fraudulent text message today that purported to be about my Visa card. It said that my account had been frozen for abnormal activity and gave a 408 area code phone number to call. I called my bank and credit cards directly and pretty much confirmed that the text was fraudulent, none of my cards were frozen...
Right Back Where I Started From
Posted on May 20, 2009In the early parts of this decade, a bubble brewing in California burst, tanking the economy. Pundits, grocery store workers, and conservatives called for the Legislature to have the power to save up reserves during boom times to use during bust times...
It begins . . .
Posted on May 18, 2009. . . well, for some of us at least. For those of us inept enough to demand a live Barbri session, Barbri started this morning bright and early at 9am . . . well . . . more like late and behind schedule at 9:30ish (at least for the SF St. Mary's session)...
Congratulations, graduates! Now get the hell out.
Posted on May 16, 2009This is an open thread about graduation, JY protests, still-unfulfilled writing requirements, barbri study, inchoate post-graduation plans, and other fun topics.Special recognition goes out to graduands posting between 9 and 11 a.m. And don't worry--it'll be better than the absolutely crap gifts they plan on giving the winners of the "class gift mod participation" competition...
Restatement 1st of Summer Associates
Posted on May 13, 2009It's been done before. But I figure the complete meltdown of the legal market warrants a new look into the topic of how/what to do as a summer associate. These are just my off-the-cuff thoughts and not authoritative for any firm for reasons that should be obvious...
Potomac Fever!
Posted on May 13, 2009Today, the SF Gate openly speculates on DE for SCOTUS. Also here (bottom of page).I feel there's not much to say, except to note that many commentators feel the next nominee will be an LGBT female, and to note that DE purports to have fallen in love with the Bay Area, professes no Potomac fever, and claims he'd prefer to spend his days sailing the bay...
Rankings that REALLY matter
Posted on May 10, 2009The jury's out as to whether USNWR rankings are that big of a deal.What's in? The only rankings that really matter, of course: The First Annual Party Law School Rankings.How did dear ol' Berkeley Law do? Seventh - narrowly edged out by UVA and narrowly edging out UM...
Sixteen Tons
Posted on May 08, 2009As a commentator notes in the thread below, it will cost $2,864.68 more to attend Boalt next year. But hey, it's always darkest right before it gets even worse, right? Just think: we could be in the class of 2015. What will tuition be then?Now, that's a load off.
Health Insurance with a Twist
Posted on May 08, 2009I'm sure everyone just got that e-mail about personal info stolen from Tang. I'll repost it in the comments. But I've now had my personal info potentially stolen from UCLA and UCB. Cool.
Speaking of Health Insurance . . .
Posted on May 08, 2009. . . people listen. Full email from DE here, and in the comments.There is to much in the linked article to summarize, so you'll have to read it for yourself, although I can't resist pointing out (Armen, are you listening?) that the title could be better...
Graduation protests
Posted on May 07, 2009It is only fitting, I suppose. But recent reports seem to indicate this year will be like any other. Prepare for more graduation protests.
Student Center Closed for Business
Posted on May 05, 2009Some time ago, we all received an e-mail from B*rring about upcoming construction issues that will affect students (aka the latest in a long series of hoe-rammings). Most problematic, completion of the West Terrace (which admittedly looks pretty cool) requires closing the student center from May 17th until June 7th...
Straight From The Horse's Mouth: Spring 2009
Posted on May 04, 2009It's time for the semi annual Professor Quotes (scroll down) thread. As you'll see when you read the comments, I have been less diligent this semester than in the past. It appears to be a developing trend.Today, however, I did encounter the what is undoubtedly the quote of the year:Boalt Registrar: "Is that the completion form for your writing requirement? Congratulations...
Good Luck on Finals!
Posted on May 04, 2009Nuts and Boalts has been a little bit grim lately. Sometimes I think it should be called "Nuts and Torture." Zing! (Sorry, that did not warrant a "Zing.")I guess we're a little late with this, but good luck to all of you on your finals. In just a week, you'll have another year of law school behind you! That much closer to your inevitable layoff! Damn...
Religion & torture trends
Posted on May 01, 2009In what is sure to be my most controversial post of the year, I thought it was interesting and ironic that a recent Pew Research poll showed a correlation between religious service attendance and the tendency to support torture against suspected terrorists...
Breaking: Souter to retire
Posted on April 30, 2009See breaking coverage (among other places) here.Early speculation had been covered here."Souter is expected to remain on the bench until a successor has been chosen and confirmed, which may or may not be accomplished before the court reconvenes in October...
3L Class Campaign
Posted on April 28, 2009It's coming down to the last few days of the 3L class campaign.What started out as a rather lackluster showing has been picking up speed in recent days and most mods are down to their last 3-4 people who have yet to donate.Don't be someone who will go down in history as one of the handful of people without a star next to their name in the graduation book - for all your closest friends and family to notice!Donation forms are always available in the library, next to the referencedesk...
Who Is The Real Stephen Colbert
Posted on April 28, 2009My man-crush on Colbert is no secret. But this study comes as a huge surprise. (H/t: Benen). First, a request: anyone with lexis willing to e-mail me the full article? If you're too lazy to read the abstract, the nickel version is that conservatives don't realize that Colbert's a satire...
The Future of Law Reviews
Posted on April 24, 2009Yesterday at 3PM, representatives from most of the several Berkeley Law Reviews (including CLR, ELQ, BTLJ, BJIL, BJCL, AALJ, BJAAL, and others) met with Bob Berring and KVH from the library. The topic of the meeting was the complete digitization of law reviews (as in, there would be no more print editions)...
Construction Update
Posted on April 24, 2009I snapped this photo late yesterday and figured the alumni would be interested in seeing the progress.For reference, compare that door at the far building to where those trucks are sitting. Remember, those doors were only 3 steps up from the courtyard patio...
Bar Bri
Posted on April 23, 200911:21 AM will go down as the time all 3Ls collectively had to change their underwear.Why? Bar Bri sent out the schedule for this summer.Notes:(1) Yay, I hear this will be FUN!(2) Yay, at least they got us a Berkeley location(s).Any thoughts on them? - Eshleman Library, 7th Floor, On Bancroft between Telegraph and Dana Streets - Evans Hall, NE Section of Campus near Gayley Rd...
Google on Google (or Why Blogspot Sucks)
Posted on April 23, 2009The search feature on the title bar of this page sucks, which is pathetic considering blogspot is a Google entity. It only searches main posts but not comments. So when someone wants to know about a particular professor, say Professor Legal Accounting, she can't search the comments...
Bad News on the Rankings Front
Posted on April 23, 2009A lot of people already know that, in the new US News rankings, Boalt has remained in the sixth spot.But the bigger news is this: for the first time in seventeen years, Berkeley is no longer the top-ranking school for intellectual property. For 2010, that spot is held by Stanford...
Biggest Douche in the Universe Award
Posted on April 22, 2009Goes to James Lindgren, a law professor at Northwestern and a VC contributor. Ever since Obama won the Democratic Party's nomination, he's been on a Quixotic quest to post the most absurd and unfounded thoughts. The latest gem is this post. For full effect, please do read the post...
Course Evaluations: More Carrot, Less Stick
Posted on April 20, 2009I appreciated the candid emails from BB yesterday and today about course evaluations. He reasserted Boalt's dismay that since the school switched to an online system, "the return rate has been slowly dwindling," and he explained how the school has responded...
First!
Posted on April 17, 2009Someone was kind enough to email this (pdf) to me early this morning (before it broke at ATL) but laziness must have gotten to me first because only now am I getting around to posting it. The short version of the story is that Harvard is the latest "top law school" to adopt the Berkeley grading system...
DOJ "Torture Memos" Released
Posted on April 17, 2009President Obama has released four ?torture? memos written by the DOJ Office of the Legal Counselor Lawyers. You can find the memos at the ACLU?s website. The memos were published with very little redaction ? it looks like mainly names have been taken out...
Petitioners' Victory! Or not.
Posted on April 17, 2009This is for all those readers not on DE's friends and family list. In the comments, I will quote an email received from the Dean in response to the JY petition. I think the two main points are:1. DE firmly dismisses the issues raised in the petition.2...
Time for DE to step up to the plate for 3Ls
Posted on April 15, 2009Today's ATL confirms what has been rumored for weeks: Northwestern Law is taking a number of steps to help out their graduating 3Ls.Notably: health care extension and hiring opportunitiesDE: now's not the time to be silent. You've done an excellent job preparing this school for those that have yet to come (new faculty and tearing apart our facilities while we're the ones here)...
That Empty Berkeley Tradition Strikes Again
Posted on April 15, 2009From the tread immediately below:Anonymous said...On a different note. Can we get a post on the silly petition being circulated re: Yoo's civ pro II class.Posted by Anonymous to Nuts & Boalts at 4/15/2009 4:18 PMI don't know about the petition, but if it is a demand to replace Yoo with someone else, I know what I think (comments).
3L "Gap Fillers" Open Forum
Posted on April 14, 20093Ls: Time for an open forum on how you plan to "gap fill" your time between the bar exam and when you begin work.Today's CDO presentation conveyed two interesting points on topic:(1) If you're given the chance of a one year deferral, you should take it...
Attention Future Advocates!
Posted on April 13, 2009Interested in moot court or trial team? Enjoy public speaking and argument? Want to share idiosyncratic and realistically unfunny inside jokes with no more than three people for the rest of your life? Like cookies? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, one of the Berkeley Board of Advocates teams might be for you...
Where Your Interest Payments Go
Posted on April 13, 2009Why is this even debated? Of course it makes sense for the government to make subsidized loans directly and to cut out the middle man. But much like health care, it seems like the middle men are not too happy to lose their cut; so they're using your dollars to lobby Congress...
Bob's Plea For Help
Posted on April 13, 2009Two things struck me about BB's email today ("Food, Vermin and You. A Serious Plea for Help."). First, he must not be a fan of the serial comma. Second, does any of this really need to be said? I disagree emphatically when it comes to serial commas, but I'm also BB's biggest fan so I'll cheerfully let it pass...
Guest Feature: Commentator Reacts to 3L Survey Questions
Posted on April 10, 20093Ls received a survey yesterday with the stated goal of understanding "post-graduate plans and how well [we] think Boalt addressed and influenced [our] career interests/aspirations."Questions included:What motivated you to attend law school?If you took take advantage of the Edley Grant Program, what did you like about it, and what aspects of the program do you think could be improved?To what extent did your debt burden influence your post-grad job choice?Guest commenter Laura left a comment in the thread below and has graciously responded to a request by N&B regulars to produce the following post expanding upon her earlier comment...
My Law School Has Sprung a Leak
Posted on April 09, 2009One is a fluke, two is suspicious. As comments in the thread below point out, we're losing Shelanski and Hathaway. I loved the former as my contracts professor and really hate the thought of him leaving. Who will take his place and use "The Great Cornjolio" in a hypo? He visited HLS, and I held my breath that the visit would not lead to a permanent move...
No Soup For You!
Posted on April 09, 2009It turns out there is a food index to the legal job market: the worse 1L's prospects, the less likely the CDO will feed them lunch. This thread is to channel the building speculation about why this spring's OCIP 'lunch talks' have been all talk and no lunch...
Fall Courses 2009
Posted on April 09, 2009The course list for fall 2009 will be posted tomorrow at this link. But given today?s lunch talk about graduation requirements, bar courses, and the like, we might as well kick this thing off. Here is a rundown from the talk:To graduate, students must take the core 1L curriculum, Professional Responsibility (as a 2L), and Con Law (at any time)...
Viva La Lawsuit!
Posted on April 08, 2009It won't come as a shock to most of you that I am no fan of Coldplay. In fact, I hate them. Coldplay, to me, embodies the spirit of blandness. Their massive audience is a testament to their ability to completely boil out anything interesting (and thus possibly objectionable) from their songs, to the point where everyone seems to like them, but no one is really sure why...
Way To Go Danny!!!
Posted on April 08, 2009Daniel Redman ('08) has this interesting piece on Slate.
A haiku for an under-appreciated holiday
Posted on April 06, 2009From stretch to strike zone,Maple, ash smash over walls,Life is sweet again.PS: N&B is 1500 posts old. Go us!
ATL at Boalt
Posted on April 06, 2009Tomorrow afternoon, David Lat of the slightly more famous blog Above the Law will be talking during lunch. He will be discussing topics ranging from legal blogging to the effects of the economic crisis on the legal industry. One can only hope that someone (read: Patrick) will be live blogging the blog talk...
DE Stands Up For Academic Freedom
Posted on April 04, 2009In today's Contra Costa Times, DE responded to an article which inferred that the University may discipline Y*o for his opinions during work for the Bush administration. Click on the title of this post for a link.Please note that I do not include an opinion here as to torture memo's, or any other work by Professor Y*o...
An Argument For Fox News Polls
Posted on April 03, 2009Because they're so ridiculously funny, I think we need more of them. In what seems like a life imitates art scenario (see, e.g., "Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com"), here's the latest gem:Do you think the federal government should increase taxes on the wealthiest individuals so that nobody gets to be too rich?As a friend said:Reminds me of a Soviet joke...
An Argument for Fire Alarms
Posted on April 02, 2009Something (and probably something inadvertent) triggered the fire alarm today at around 12:20, and after my eardrums settled a bit, the whole experience reminded me: I love Boalt Hall.I love Boalt Hall for the way its hokey, flakeyness creates eddies and pockets of social interaction...
DE back to Harvard?
Posted on April 01, 2009Good catch by Matt:The LA Times has a good article highlighting how DE has been back to Boston three times in the last month. Combined with the recent scandal their current Dean has been in, they draw the conclusion that DE is interviewing for the job...
Your Own Worst Enemy Has Come to Town (She?s that Lady in the Back Row)
Posted on April 01, 2009The story that follows comes to me secondhand, and while I belive every word is accurate I could be mistaken. If so, don't yell at me. Correct me.Apparently yesterday?s CDO lunch talk about firm stability in this economy came prefaced with assurances that the discussion would not be taped, that the conversation would be confidential, and that students should be candid the speaker...
Torture Foiled No Plots
Posted on March 31, 2009The Washington Post, by no means a bastion of liberal ideals, has a great article on the ineffectiveness (and indeed counterproductiveness) of using torture as means of obtaining intelligence. Dan Froomkin has a follow-up editorial that also makes for good reading...
Ten Feet Off of Beale
Posted on March 30, 2009According to the NY Times, Glenn Beck is the next big thing. Crazy is in this year! Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have been regularly skewering Mr. Beck (to hilarious effect), but it's my turn. From the Times:In an interview, Mr. Beck, who recently rewatched the 1976 film ?Network,? said he identified with the character of Howard Beale, the unhinged TV news anchorman who declares on the air that he is ?mad as hell...
Emergency Notice: Decreasing Procrastination Workshop . . . Tomorrow
Posted on March 30, 2009Hat tip to Matt in the comments below:While we're on awesome emails today, how about James Lyda? "DECREASING PROCRASTINATION WORKSHOP - Tomorrow" - classic. I think I saw that in a Family Guy once.
Someone Swung the Sensible Stick!
Posted on March 30, 2009Great news from BB via email today:After the 2009-2010 academic year, all 1L students will take five units of Civ Pro instead of four units (thereby eliminating the need for Civ Pro II).Beginning with the class of 2012, students will be required to take 220...
Adventures in the Twitscape
Posted on March 27, 2009God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. -- The Serenity PrayerSome things, I've learned, are just going to happen. No matter what. And the less you kid yourself about their inevitability, the happier you'll be...
No Noose Is Good News
Posted on March 27, 2009Via ATL, there are reports of outside firms that are not at the top of the Vault rankings opening up shops here in L.A. to capitalize on the lawyers now available on the market. Just a few weeks ago, I wrote, "Someone asked if this presents firms 'lower' down the food-chain with an opportunity to upgrade to say former L&W or Orrick associates...
Latest BCS Busters? The U.S. Senate!
Posted on March 26, 2009Congress has been embattled for a long time now. They could use a win, and I can't think of a bigger one than bringing down the scourge of American sports. (Ok, fixing the economy might compare.)Seriously, is anyone left who still likes the BCS? Quiet down, state of Florida...
The Very Idea of a Bird
Posted on March 25, 2009The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life . . . how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song! - John Burroughs. . . and perhaps also a symbol and suggestion to David Hackbart of Pennsylvania, who was inspired to give Sergeant Brian Elledge the finger moments before the Pittsburgh police officer pulled him over...
My President Is 'Down to Earth'
Posted on March 23, 2009Michelle Obama will soon plant a vegetable garden on the south lawn at the White House. As a commentator to the article notes, what a fine idea. Even finer is what it represents: this White House is making a gentle but firm gesture against industrialization of our food supply, and a simple but unmistakable bow to its own frailty; after all, it's pretty tough to be cocky when you grow you own vegetables...
A Tragic Weekend in Oakland
Posted on March 23, 2009A commentator below asks for a thread on the shooting of four Oakland Police officers by a parolee over the weekend. Undoubtedly views will vary. "How outraged would we be," someone will ask in the comments, "if the police had killed three parolees this weekend?" "Why is it that we suddenly care" they will ask, "when an officer dies?"Those kinds of questions miss the the point...
Weekend at Bernie's Sentencing
Posted on March 23, 2009I don't want to distract from the post below, but this is too rich for me to ignore. Here is a PDF of victim impact e-mails compiled by the US Attorney's office at the SDNY to present to the judge during Bernie Madoff's sentencing. (H/T: TPM). Some of the "highlights" from these e-mails appear in the comments.
The Bonus Tax
Posted on March 20, 2009The New York Times reports that the House has passed a bill to impose a 90% tax on bonuses that people receive from firms which have accepted more than 5 billion in bailout money. As far as I'm concerned, it's about time. Here are the main arguments from the executives opposing the bonus tax...
Ninth Circuit Going to the Liu?
Posted on March 18, 2009Law students generally don't get a chance to see the Recorder, so I thought I'd point out an article that may be of interest (it is available online too, but for subscribers only [EDIT: Patrick provides a link]). The Ninth Circuit currently has two vacancies--one seat transplanted from the D...
No Pac-10 Love from the Commander-in-Chief
Posted on March 18, 2009ESPN's got a piece (here) on the "First Bracket" -- Obama's Tourney picks.Not only does Mr. President take Maryland over our very own Golden Bears (probably because of the Terp's vicinity to D.C.), he doesn't have much Pac-10 love at all. The only Pac-10 team he's got moving on is 4-seed Washington...
What About the 1L's?
Posted on March 17, 2009This thread is highly related to the one immediately below, but probably worth keeping distinct. It solicits alumni who are on or have an inside angle with their firm's hiring committee, and asks: what about the 1L's? How, if at all, do you think your firm will adjust its hiring plan for this fall? How do you think 2009's 2L applicants to your firm will fare in comparison to 2L's from 2008?There is a lot of gloom-and-doom information out there, and the last six months on ATL and related sites have seen an incredible development of what I suppose is called "conventional wisdom...
L'Affair Layoffs
Posted on March 16, 2009Like I said, I have some thoughts running through my head on this topic that I'll be exploring in greater detail. One that's troubling me is the "Cravathization" of firms. I think I may have read a while back somewhere (possibly on Adam Smith, Esq.?) about how a lot of firms mimicked the Cravath model of promising the top talent at top rates...
Jon Stewart pwns Jim Cramer
Posted on March 15, 2009If you missed Daily Show Thursday night (and have been living under a rock since then), then you missed Jon Stewart at his best. He dominated CNBC's Jim Cramer in a well-prepared and bitingly sarcastic interview. The whole interview is available in three parts here...
Forgive me, Uncle Sam, for I have not sinned.
Posted on March 12, 2009There's been some talk about student debt forgiveness as a way to stimulate the economy. (See ATL, University Business, and The Huffington Post.) My first thought was, "Yeah, right." My second thought was, "Please God, make this happen!" I'm no economist, but, at first glance, forgiving student debt makes about as much sense as any other piece of the bailout...
Less than 3 weeks to make big purchases!!!
Posted on March 12, 2009Thanks to the incompetent individuals running our state, sales tax will increase significantly on 4/1/09. Here's a web page where you can confirm rates by city and county for your upcoming estimates.Berkeley residents will soon be paying a whopping 9...
Two Cautionary Notes
Posted on March 11, 2009The weather has been beautiful, the DOW has been up for over fifty hours, and spring break is right around the corner. Not to be a debbie downer or anything, but I'd like to share two tidbits from my afternoon. First, this list from The Shark. It is a compendium of information from various law blogs about layoffs and shortening of summer programs...
3Ls shifting their sleepless nights to the 1Ls?
Posted on March 09, 2009A gem exists in the ATL comments to the Morgan Lewis layoff post.In order to avoid revoking 3L offers, ML decided to defer their ENTIRE incoming class to the following year.But what of the 2L summers? ML sent each of them a "reassuring" email today as well...
Did Cardozo Make That Up?
Posted on March 07, 2009You will study the wisdom of the past. For in a wilderness of conflicting counsels, a trail has been blazed. You will study the life of mankind, for this is the life you must order, and to order with wisdom, must know. You will study the precepts of justice, for these are the truth that through you shall come to their hour of triumph...
Sue Yoo
Posted on March 06, 2009There is an interesting article about a lawsuit against John Yoo, and how Obama might respond, over at Politico.
Logical error redux
Posted on March 06, 2009A while back I posted something that combined the two loves in my life: politics and common errors in logical reasoning.Today's XKCD neatly sums up the point:
Wet Knees
Posted on February 26, 2009Hands down, the crappiest lockers are the lowest ones -- the ones you can open only by kneeling. I know this because all my life I've been the guy with that locker. Today (as a kick to those who are already down?) the basement is flooded. I hope no one's stuff got wet, because if it did, well, good luck procuring reimbursement.
"What's Next? Quartering of Troops?"
Posted on February 25, 2009In the midst of two wars overseas and an economic recession, the Senate continues to move forward with a bill to give the District of Columbia a seat in the House of Representatives. (For an astute exposition on the topic, see this -- the last two minutes are pure Colbert gold...
NALP's Fall 2008 "Perspectives"
Posted on February 25, 2009NALP has issued some "Perspectives on Fall 2008 Law Student Recruiting" (large pdf). Basically, NALP says last fall was a crappy time to be a 2L.The linked pdf contains a lot of information (er, "perspectives") but to my mind there are really only two relevant perspectives when you get down to brass tacks: employed, and not-employed...
Help Boalt LEED the Way
Posted on February 24, 2009Just passing on a brief message from some fellow 2L's (and to those of you who think this "belongs in the BBB" -- shutty):On Thursday, three 2L's are holding a lunch session about LEED certification and the Boalt renovation project. Representatives from Infill Architects will present the new building in detail, followed by a brief panel to discussion on LEED certification (a heftly sum of money, but with marketing and energy benefits)...
A new tradition begins!
Posted on February 23, 2009All, here is info on the finals of the first annual Bales Internal Trial Competition: The Board of Advocates cordially invites the student body to attend thefinal round of our first annual Berkeley Law Bales Internal TrialCompetition this Wednesday, February 25, at 5:30p in Booth...
It has returned!
Posted on February 22, 2009Fellow Boalties,In recent years, the youth of America has lost its taste; it has come to shun that which once stood atop the pinnacle of fashion. Fortunately, CNN recognized our generation's flawed judgment, and is now doing its part to fix the situation: CNN...
Am I Passing the Bar or Not?
Posted on February 20, 2009I guess rankings are being released. Boalt still uses numerical rank for the top 5 individuals (transfers excluded), then 5% increments thereafter until 50th percentile. The stated purpose is clerkships and academic hiring, but the anecdotal evidence is that at least for the former, this hurts rather than helps...
"Go to Your Corner!"
Posted on February 19, 2009This is the kind of thing one might joke about, but no one actually does: When ordinary discipline failed to get 15 year old Trenton General to improve his grades, his . . . parents were about to take the cell phone away ? again ? recently when they offered their son a choice...
Will We Get Carter?
Posted on February 19, 2009There's speculation that Phillip Carter will be appointed Deputy Assistant Sec. Def. in charge of detainee affairs. (H/T: OK@VC) As someone who has known Phil for now 5 years, I couldn't be happier--both for Phil and for the country. I hope the Senate moves with quick confirmation to allow him to face the unenviable tasks ahead...
Islamic Finance Symposium
Posted on February 19, 2009Passing along an announcement****************************2nd Annual UC Berkeley Islamic Finance SymposiumSaturday, February 28th, 20098:30 am - 6:00 pmUC Berkeley School of LawSee flyer for details.
Opening Soon: Boalt Hall Southern Addition Pool!
Posted on February 18, 2009A few days ago Toney posted about how it seemed the construction in the court yard was moving, well, not exactly "swimmingly."Well, it would now seem that construction is moving along quite swimmingly indeed . . . in a matter of speaking.While work on the Boalt Hall Southern Addition may be delayed from the inclement weather, at least we now have a pool!Now, if I'm not mistaken, this side of the construction is where they were previously drilling rather deep holes right? So, does that mean those holes are now full of water, or even worse, mud?----------------------------Sorry about the quality...
Here's a Tip For You
Posted on February 18, 2009Apparently the economic downturn has New Yorkers tipping less. Not only have check totals have gone down (something that?s been widely noted) but also the percentage of those lower checks that diners are leaving as tips. In case you're the kind of person who finds that tempting, come find me so I can give you a good whack upside the head: it's not okay to tip like a miser when your portfolio takes a dump -- you should be adjusting your lifestyle, not your server's...
How should one protest Prop 8?
Posted on February 17, 2009This recent SacBee article covers a specific example of the Prop. 8 backlash (e.g. boycotts, angry emails and letters, picketing, harassment) that has been going on, more or less, since November all over California.The article covers the treatment Leatherby's Family Creamery, in Sacramento, has been receiving after their $20,000 donation to Yes on 8 was made public...
Yoo Too Should Keep an Eye on This
Posted on February 17, 2009About a year ago the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility disclosed it had been investigating whether John Yoo and Judge Jay Bybee's "Torture Memos" failed to meet the Department's ethical standards for professional responsibility...
The First One's Free, Just to Try It
Posted on February 16, 2009. . . sitting here listening to a live performance by Tom Waits from 1975, where he warns of roadside diners with veal cutlets so tough they march the counter to beat the shit out of the coffee, which is too weak to defend itself,* when I received an email from a friend tipping me off to free coffee at Strada on Friday...
Barbri not accepting donations
Posted on February 15, 2009So, I finally got around to signing up for a Barbri course. Yeah, I'm lazy. I got SF Saint Mary's Live, so apparently that's not yet filled up for those of you even lazier than I.Upon surfing to the "Make a Payment" page, I saw this priceless caveat: "NOTE: The payment amount cannot exceed the Balance Due...
"It's a War Zone"
Posted on February 15, 2009Contra Costa Times article suggesting that, thanks to our ridiculously high graduate fees, Boalt is able to attract and retain high-profile faculty. That said, the article also suggests retention is a constant struggle:"I have three (offers to Berkeley professors) that I'm worried about right now from Harvard," said Edley, who himself was lured from Harvard in 2004 to lead Boalt Hall...
English Snarks Misfounded?
Posted on February 15, 2009The comments of a recent post about English suffering from AIM and text messaging got me thinking... The English language doesn't suffer by techno-shorthand at all; it becomes improved by it. Language is organic, and as societal needs require lingual evolution, language can adapt...
Venting
Posted on February 13, 2009Dear Sen. Feinstein:STFU. Derailing a murder investigation is one thing, but throwing a monkey-wrench into our efforts to root out Al Qaeda / Taliban is another.***To vent about Black Thursday:Not speaking from any inside information or anything, but I don't think there's much that 3Ls can do now...
The Death of Joy
Posted on February 12, 2009Bay to Breakers organizers and city officials are cracking down this year, announcing a zero-tolerance ban of alcohol, nudity, and parade floats on May 17th. Apparently, the poor bastards who can afford houses along the route are pissed because of all the people pissing on their property once a year (which is particularly atrocious because there's absolutely no way they could have known this might happen when they bought the place)...
Wow Again!
Posted on February 12, 2009From Dean Tom's email this morning:I am pleased to report that we have received more than 7,900 applications for the 270 places in the Class of 2012. We've never received this many applications in the School's history. Seven thousand, nine hundred?? I'm so lucky to be here.
*Sigh* I Guess It's a Good Day After All
Posted on February 11, 2009Last night I vowed to rant about Boalt Remote -- it's been down for what, five weeks? Six? Recently, it took me fourteen minutes to log on to one of the dinosaurs in the computer lab, retrieve a three page pdf from a flash drive, and print it. Fourteen freaking minutes! (Yes, I am the type of person who keeps track of such things...
Construction Quandary
Posted on February 11, 2009I'll be the first to admit that I know very little about construction. I worked as a grunt my first summer out of college, building summer cabins on Lake Pend Oreille for people that retired by the age of 40 (yeah, THOSE people). In addition, I have ample experience with Legos®...
Come Support Fellow Bloggers!
Posted on February 11, 2009Next Tuesday, February 17th, Eugene Volokh, of The Volokh Conspiracy, will be discussing slippery slope arguments. Come support fellow bloggers, so that, one day, people will want to listen to us!Details:Date: Tuesday, February 17Room: GoldbergFood? Hell yeah! Le Med will be catering.
Wow!
Posted on February 10, 2009Another reminder that there are a lot of crappy lawyers out there. (H/t: Volokh). Reminds me of the 7th Circuit case before Easterbrook.
Someone Finally Acknowledges the Prison Problem!
Posted on February 10, 2009Federal judges have tentatively ruled on a suit filed by California prisoners claiming that overcrowding has deprived them of their right to adequate health care. This means the state may have to reduce prison populations by up to a third. No doubt this will frighten many Californians who vote, which is why this was a good issue for the courts to decide...
Finally!!
Posted on February 08, 2009A media bit about Michelle Obama that isn't dominated by discussion of her clothes!
The Long, Hot Summer
Posted on February 06, 2009I'd heard a rumor earlier this week that the CDO would be giving a gloom-and-doom summer job presentation to 1L's. I ended up sitting in the back of the room during one of those talks today, but I didn't find it particularly grim. In fact, the most intersting thing about the presentation was the timeline for Fall OCIP 2009, not the tone of the talk or the tenor of the market...
A Sad News Day
Posted on February 05, 2009As everyone has probably already heard, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been hospitalized for early-stage pancreatic cancer. It sounds quite serious. I'm sure everyone is wishing her a speedy recovery.Various news reports have bandied around a five year survival rate of 5% for this type of cancer...
They Took Our Briefs!!!
Posted on February 04, 2009I'm seething mad. Looking at this post on ATL, it's blatant that UPenn is ripping off our Boalt Briefs. Even the layout. Ugh.I guess this is as good a time as any to unveil this Google group I have created hosting prior years' Boalt Briefs. I think every Boaltie, past and present, should read them...
Voter fraud in Santa Barbara could mean Death Cab concert for UC Berkeley
Posted on February 03, 2009With some chagrin, I must report that my crazy alma mater's allegedly fraudulent voter registration activities could result in a Death Cab for Cutie concert for us Berkeleyians.I wasn't aware of this contest during the run up to the election, but apparently Death Cab offered a free concert to the school that registered the most students to vote...
Dating for Dummies: It's a Jungle Out There
Posted on February 03, 2009Headed to New York this summer? Don't forget the newest Zagat guide, "New York City Dating (and Dumping) Guide."Is it okay to burn someone's belongings? Two percent of Zagat respondents say yes. To break up via text? Ten percent give it a big thumbs up...
A Must Read
Posted on February 03, 2009Prepared Testimony of Harry Markapolos (PDF). The second part, regarding reform of our regulatory bodies, reminds of one thought I've always had. I think one reason for the mess we are in is because it's so easy for banks to pretty much misrepresent their holdings in financial statements...
Here's the Keker
Posted on February 02, 2009Looks like a new firm is springing to life in SF. (Website here). Of course Mark Lemley is the former Boalt professor who formed 1/3 of the big wig IP trio. And Ragesh Tangri was a visiting professor at Boalt a while back.
Why a semester away should be required
Posted on January 31, 2009Perhaps I'm biased - I'm two weeks into an internship in the Netherlands and enjoying (almost) every minute of it. Even before I decided to take this particular internship, I wanted to spend a semester away from Boalt. Still, I think that the benefits of spending a semester outside the classroom far outweigh any of the possible downsides...
New Space Deathmatch: Flat Screen TVs v. Financial Restraint
Posted on January 31, 2009The fifth in my series examining winners and losers of the Boalt Hall space reconfiguration. Winners: Flat Screen TVsHas anyone noticed that Boalt is now filled with flat screen TVs? They?re everywhere. Even the seminar room that nobody ever uses has a gigantic one...
Yoo-Hoo!
Posted on January 29, 2009President Obama (don't those words make a lovely couple?) has ordered the DOJ and OLC to side with the defense in Jose Padilla v. John Yoo (pdf). Next week they'll be filing a motion to dismiss the suit.I think this is the right move but I also think it's awkward, for two reasons...
New Space Deathmatch: Clubs v. Journals
Posted on January 29, 2009The fourth in my series examining winners and losers of the Boalt Hall space reconfiguration. Today, we're back in the trenches--er, basement, with a comparison between club and journal office space. Winners: ClubsHa! You all thought that journals would win in a landslide...
Zerg Rush 101
Posted on January 28, 2009My prayers have been answered (and I imagine Dan's, and Hersh's).UC Berkeley offers Starcraft course.
New Space Deathmatch: Kato v. Zeb
Posted on January 28, 2009The third in my series examining winners and losers of the Boalt Hall space reconfiguration. Lest anyone think that I'm just going to trash journals every day, here are two non-basement entities.Winner: Nancy KatoBlessed, blessed isolation! Well, the Registrar Office's soon-to-be new location in the MoFo Room isn't that far off the beaten path...
Loan Forgiveness for Public Service? Depends on the Service
Posted on January 27, 2009It looks like Stanford's famous lady of the night, who has graced our hallowed pages here, here, and here, will be shutting down her operations for a little while. (HT: The Shark, which *cough* could be you.)Tax evasion. They'll nail you for anything, but tax evasion ...
Don't say this.
Posted on January 27, 2009I was listening to Hannity on the ride in this morning (hey, I gotta get my laughs somewhere), and he and his guest, Minnesota people-hater Representative Michele Bachmann (of "we should investigate all Congressional Democrats for anti-American activity" fame) were discussing the practices of waterboarding and denying prisoners Constitutional rights, and the implications of them...
Berkeley Is Nuclear Free [and Ridiculous]
Posted on January 27, 2009The City of Berkeley's "Peace and Justice Commission" is currently at odds with the city's library over a maintenance contract with 3M.Evidently (and likely for good reason), 3M has not signed Berkeley's nuclear-free disclosure form. To the crazies on the commission, that means the library's self-checkout machines should remain unserviced (and thus a huge waste of taxpayer dollars and time)...
New Space Deathmatch: AALJ vs. BTLJ
Posted on January 27, 2009The second in my series examining winners and losers of the Boalt Hall space reconfiguration.Winner: Asian American Law JournalThe new basement has an egalitarian design, with each journal allocated a nearly identical space. (Four journal offices are slightly larger...
New Space Deathmatch: CLR vs. Board of Advocates
Posted on January 26, 2009There are a lot of changes for Boalt student groups recently, with the exodus from Simon Hall, the new affinity group oasis/ghetto on the third floor, and the new basement space. I'm creating a series of posts to identify the big winners of this change--as well as those getting the shaft...
Glory and Honor
Posted on January 26, 2009Cynthia from The Recorder in SF passes on the following announcement. I encourage co-bloggers and other Berkeley Lawties to follow up:The Shark, a Cal Law blog by and for California law school students, is currently accepting applications for a paid freelance writing position...
We Don't Need No Stinkin' Case Files
Posted on January 25, 2009At the Washington Monthly, Hilzoy has two posts (here and here) regarding the lack of case files on Gitmo detainees (making the President's ordered review of their status an almost impossible task). In particular, the declaration (PDF) of LTC Vendeveld is worth a read in its entirety...
An iPhone is Like Having ___ in Your Pocket*
Posted on January 24, 2009After a protracted internal debate, which I managed to externalize to almost everyone I know, I recently chose a BlackBerry over an iPhone.[cue hateful comments]The response from my 'friends' was impressive both for its volume and its venom. I was amazed; I'm aware that nobody does passive-aggressive spite like Democrats and Mac users (I know because I dabble in both) but this time I was floored...
Beats that are "jaw-droppin', ear-poppin' fresh"
Posted on January 23, 2009Stanfurd's Lessig had a thing or two to say about updating copyright law when he appeared on the Colbert Report last week.Over the course of the interview, Colbert warned his viewers that he would be "very angry and possibly litigious" if someone remixed the footage of the interview with a "great dance beat" and allowed it to be played in dance clubs across America...
We Have to Stimulate Something
Posted on January 23, 2009First, from the department of childish humor:?How can you spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives?? Boehner asked. ?How does that stimulate the economy?? Boehner said congressional Republicans are also concerned about the size of the package...
New Student Center: Reactions and Thoughts
Posted on January 22, 2009The new student center is [finally] open! Please use this thread to post your comments...[For non-current students: it's the student journal office area that now resides in the west basement.]Access to the student center is limited to law students only - controlled by our student ID cards...
April Showers Bring May Outlines
Posted on January 21, 2009. . . and right now it's only January. In other words, it's the wrong end of the semester to talk that kind of shop. But here goes: the editors of this page are engaged in a project similar to Boalt.org, and have emailed N&B soliciting contributions from Boalties...
How Bar Czar
Posted on January 21, 2009A question regarding livescan fingerprinting for the moral character app from a current 3L reminded me that co-blogger Max Power has put considerable effort to collect relevant information regarding the CalBar applcation process. His posts are here and here.
Some Things, You Just Can't Make Up
Posted on January 20, 2009VP-for-a-few-more-hours-Dick Cheney, who broadened the scope of Vice Presidential power in fantastic and unprecedented ways, and who repeatedly asserted that the Vice President is not part of the Executive branch, will leave a legacy that is either formidable or feeble...
"Obama" Street, San Francisco
Posted on January 20, 2009Sorry to post two in a row, but this is just too good.Update: more photos here.
The Death of DRM
Posted on January 20, 2009I debated whether this is topical enough to post, but I figure most of us use iTunes, and we have a lot of IP lawyers-in-training, so here you go. It appears iTunes will be DRM-free as of this Spring. I'm not a fan of DRM, but I don't plan on making a living in IP...
EXTRA! EXTRA! Condi First African American and Female President
Posted on January 20, 2009Ok, this madness about the oath of office is getting ridiculous now. But I just had to bring this little bit of hilarity to your attention.Professor Ken Katkin has a theory that Condoleeza Rice, and not Barack Obama, was the first acting African American President...
"So there it is. We?ve done the lawyerly thing"
Posted on January 19, 2009If (when?) I write a legal disclaimer for my law firm's website, I hope it reads like Valorem Law Group's. (HT: Legal Antics.)
Do You Remember Where You Were When Obama Was Inaugurated?
Posted on January 19, 2009So tomorrow history will be made. Just like election night last November, I'm pretty sure tomorrow morning will be another one of those moments for our generation in which we will always remember where we were. We haven't had many of such moments, and I'm glad that this one will be mixed with "happy" unlike some of the other memorable moments we've had...
Who Could Have Predicted This?
Posted on January 19, 2009An e-mail went out today informing us that the new student center will not open on Tuesday, as planned. Shocking, I know. Although we're assured that the mysterious problems causing the delay should be resolved "very quickly," the school has given no indication when this might be...
Harvard Law School Is a Good Start
Posted on January 18, 2009Why does everyone try to paint Barack Obama with their personal brush? Hawaiian? Urban? Community organizer? Smoker? Ivy league education? Single mom? He's your man. That strikes me as a setup for disappointment; the discovery that he may not share your values (e...
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Posted on January 17, 2009This morning in front of the law school I helped an elderly woman with a walker, who was thwarted by the construction, step off the curb and cross to the south side of Bancroft. If the sidewalk is is going to be closed for the next two years, we need crosswalks...
We're Moral Idiots
Posted on January 16, 2009This is several days old, but it keeps nagging at me. See, it turns out that even senior officials at the Pentagon admit we tortured at least one Guantánamo detainee:"The senior Pentagon official in the Bush administration?s system for prosecuting detainees said in a published interview that she had concluded that interrogators had tortured a Guantánamo detainee ...
Sucks To Be Us
Posted on January 16, 2009The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported today that job losses have been disproportionately suffered by Generation Y."For workers under 29, the unemployment rate jumped to more than 11 percent in December, compared with under 9 percent a year ago, according to Labor Department figures...
Never Been Happier to be Wrong
Posted on January 15, 2009A while back, I agreed in the comments with Toney about the instructions for a water landing being unnecessary because planes rarely end up in tact after colliding with water. I am happy to admit my error as it looks like all passengers of US Airways 1549 survived.
Who Sets Our Priorities?
Posted on January 15, 2009I've been wondering how Boalt decides what courses to offer, and whether students' interests and demands play any significant role. Here are some interesting stats from Tele-BEARS website:Evidence Section 1:Enrolled: 153 Waitlisted: 21 Enroll Limit: 161 Evidence Section 2:Enrolled: 82 Waitlisted: 25 Enroll Limit: 91 Topics in EvidenceEnrolled: 23 Waitlisted: 2 Enroll Limit: 26 The Evidence Advocacy classes all have similar waitlists; that's right, every single evidence class at Boalt currently has a waitlist...
Best timekilling websites for class
Posted on January 15, 2009Everyone needs to zone out once in a while during class, usually when that annoying jerk in the back keeps asking the least relevant questions humanly possible. Since I've mastered the art of zoning out, I figured I'd share a few weapons from my arsenal...
The Global Economic Holocaust Hits Home
Posted on January 14, 2009BHSA sent an e-mail to student organizations explaining how Berkeley is requiring additional information from BHSA before funds already requested by student groups will be distributed. Apparently they imposed these new requirements post-hoc, which has caused delays in the usual funding schedule...
BART Shooting Update
Posted on January 14, 2009I suppose everyone has already heard that the former BART Officer was arrested in Douglas County, Nevada. As a well-placed source said, "well when they say they arrested someone in a given county, you get the idea that it's rural." Apparently, this is around the area of South Lake Tahoe...
Visiting Professors
Posted on January 14, 2009Part of the law school culture is to allow visiting professors, law firm partners and associates, and professors from other departments to teach. This has some obvious advantages: it promotes collaboration among law schools, professors and students; it exposes students to different perspectives and teaching styles; and it gives students a chance to take courses not otherwise taught at BLaw...
Real-Life Rory B. Bellows*?
Posted on January 13, 2009You be the judge.* AKA Krusty the Klown, AKA Herschel Shmoikel Pinkus Yerucham Krustofski.
Colorado Dreamin'
Posted on January 13, 2009Let me say straight away that I love California. I have never been happier anywhere else, and I am just plain not leaving. The trend for Boalt grads seems to be to stick around as well, which people back east can never seem to understand. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "Well, you shouldn't go to Berkeley, because they don't put people anywhere besides California," when I was deciding whether to come out here...
Back 2 Skool
Posted on January 12, 2009The official welcome back thread. Welcome back!-------------[Update (Patrick): I would like to piggyback onto Dan's thread (permission, Dan?) part of BB's latest email:The long-awaited mail slots are now in place. You will find them just outside the Computer Labs in the Law Library...
More Good News for Bay Area Law Firms
Posted on January 12, 2009Oh wait, I meant that other adjective, "bad."Headline: "Bay Area Firms See Profits Drop Up to 21%, Revenues Flat"The lede: "A tanking economy and frozen credit markets struck a double blow to Bay Area-based Am Law 100 firms in 2008, causing slower revenue growth and a drop in profits, according to The Recorder, a sibling publication of The Am Law Daily...
Greatest Hits
Posted on January 12, 2009Thirteen journalists with the Center for Public Integrity took what had to be a sobering look at hundreds of inspector general reports, Government Accountability Office assessments, congressional oversight investigations, and news stories to compile this list of 128 of the greatest failures in federal government under the Bush Administration...
The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil
Posted on January 12, 2009A professor explained this morning that business students are more engaging than law students. To combat our apathy, he announced a plan to base twenty-five percent of the course grade on "class participation." *Yes, you heard right: not "contribution," but "participation...
Which is More Offensive?
Posted on January 11, 2009Skateboards, or recumbent bicycles?Taxonomy and social irritation are my home territory, so when Carbolic posed that question to me last September I went to work immediately. I still don't have a confident answer, however. Here is the issue: A brush with a skateboarder involves loud, rackety invasion of personal space...
While you were away . . .
Posted on January 11, 2009. . . your Cal Bears basketball team has been blowing up. Patrick Christopher took one of five Player-of-the-Week honors this last week and Cal took Team-of-the-Week honors.If you missed the epic finish to the Cal-Washington game last night, here's a quick overview: Cal led the game in regulation only once at 1 - 0 in the beginning of the game...
Must be a Day that Ends in Y
Posted on January 08, 2009Anonymous asked for a thread on the BART shooting and subsequent Oakland riots. Video of the shooting here. Article on the riots here. I think the cop's reaction is pretty strong evidence that at the very least he didn't intend to pull the trigger...
Proof that Law Reviews Serve a Useful Purpose
Posted on January 08, 2009For all of you wondering whether CLR is actually for you, I give you this. As the coming generation of CLRers, I only hope that you can be the change you want to see in the world, and fill CLR with articles that people actually want to read.
Bringing Down the BCS
Posted on January 08, 2009Obama has said he wants to do it. Most football fans in America agree. But, so far, no one has taken any concrete steps to challenge the BCS's dominion over determining the NCAA football champion. Until now, that is. Utah's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, is investigating the Bowl Championship Series for possible violations of federal antitrust laws...
Why the Senate Should Seat Burris
Posted on January 07, 2009If you are confused about the Burris debate (that's Burris, not Burress) yesterday's NYT has an excellent Op Ed, which nicely describes the issue and argues the Senate should seat him. The article makes the same points I would make except, you know, way better.
CA Bar Stats Released
Posted on January 07, 2009In a thread below, Anonymous said: Some bar stats are out. 89%.As a little baby 2L, I always feel uncomfortable about posting bar stuff. It seems about as wanker a move as the junior varsity benchwarmer who comments on the varsity players' stats. The results deserve their own thread, though, so here it is.
Making America skinny one slap at a time (Infomercials Round 2)
Posted on January 06, 2009Vince is the new Billy Mays. When this came on tv this morning, it was so funny I assumed it was fake. Some of the things he says are just completely unrelated to the product. Exciting life? Check. Bikini? Check. Sparkling mangos? Check.Enjoy! Just a few more days of freedom left.
Still Life with Ra-kowski
Posted on January 03, 2009Looks like Tax grades might take a while; it's hard to read exams while you are posing with a glass of wine.
Where's Witkin?
Posted on December 31, 2008There are two kinds of legal scholars in California: those who recognize the name Bernie Witkin, and those who should.Witkin was a Boaltie (1928) who described his attitude toward law school as "loathing," who argued that the Socratic method dishonored Socrates and insulted students, and who was ever-on-the-verge of flunking out...
It's that Time of the Year Again (oops!)
Posted on December 31, 2008I sense imminent roasting in the comments, but what can I say? I'm a word-lover. Better to be roasted for being a nerd than for any of my other unseemly qualities.This post is inspired by the fine ladies and gentlemen at Lake Superior State University, who have released their annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness...
J'Accuse Ms. Nichols
Posted on December 30, 2008Co-blogger Max Power tipped me off to the odd number of votes for Ms. Shannon Elizabeth Nichols' blog on the ABA Top 100 Blawgs vote thing. E.g., her total votes given an average of 100 visits per day according to Sitemeter, the fact that her total votes is twice as much as ATL, where she posted a while ago until the commenters ran her out of town, etc...
The Big Rakowski
Posted on December 30, 2008A commenter below wonders why we quote The Big Lebowski so much. First, I love that movie. Second, it's really a great movie for isolated quotes. Third, there's a special tie to the Boalt community. You young 'ens may not recall the video below from that thing at the end of fall semester, but us grizzled vets thought this was pure genius at the time...
At Midnight, All the Agents...
Posted on December 27, 2008Who watches the Watchmen? Federal Judges, apparently. As self-appointed nerd correspondent, I thought I should share the news that the district judge presiding over the much-ballyhooed Watchmen case has issued summary judgment in favor of Fox, ruling that Warner Brothers had no right to produce a Watchmen film...
Lessons 1Ls Either Should Have Learned or Should Be Prepared For?
Posted on December 26, 2008First of all, congratulations to all 1L?s on finishing the first 1/6 of your legal education. To all those 3Ls who are one semester away from it being over, my condolences ahead of time. Here I will impart to 1Ls (and really slow 2Ls and 3Ls) a few things about law school that you will likely learn on your own someday, but will help you much more if you can grasp early on...
An Item to be Shot Dead, Without Rites or Cigarette
Posted on December 25, 2008I keep on my computer's desktop a running list of words and phrases deserving of ridicule and banishment, similar to this. I'll post them here on New Year's Day in case anyone needs help coming up with resolutions, but there is one phrase in particular that must be killed off sooner rather than later:"Given the current economic climate ...
Carbolic Defends Traditional Holiday Values
Posted on December 24, 2008Feats of Strength? Airing of Grievances? This attack on traditional, consumption-based holidays cannot be countenanced. Also, Seinfeld-lovers must accept that the show was canceled ages ago.It's time return fire in "The War on Christmas" in the only meaningful way possible--a Youtube faceoff...
Twenty Years for Sailor Moon?
Posted on December 23, 2008I'm going to out myself as a bit of a nerd by posting this, but my interest in comics and the law collided today, when I came across this. It seems courts are upholding child porn convictions for porn that doesn't actually involve children. Twenty years for possessing erotic anime featuring girls that appear underage? (Don't all girls in anime look underage?)The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (one of my favorite NPOs) has become a special consultant for the defense of a manga collector charged with possessing child pornography...
Happy Festivus
Posted on December 23, 2008The holiday for the rest of us. Hopefully I'll finally get some serenity now. For the uninitiated, here's an explanation.
Carbolic commemorates Prop. 2 supporters
Posted on December 23, 2008Here. Enjoy the break, everyone.
Nothing Says "Happy Holidays" Like an Old Fashioned Airport Camping Trip
Posted on December 19, 2008This morning I hauled myself out of bed at 4:30, hiked to the Downtown Berkeley BART station, rode to the Coliseum, stood in the rain for twenty minutes, fumbled for three dollars on AirBart, arrived at Oakland International, and then jogged to the ticket counter ...
What a HH exam looks like
Posted on December 17, 2008By one-half of the Notorious B.O.A.L.T. Enjoy!br /br /a href="http://www.geocities.com/acilbupser/finals.html"Here./a
You've Been Served
Posted on December 16, 2008Via Facebook?Evidently if you live in Austrailia:The Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court last Friday approved lawyer Mark McCormack's application to use Facebook to serve the legally binding documents after several failed attempts to contact the couple at the house and by e-mail.
Well, I guess we can close the file on that one!
Posted on December 16, 2008Congrats on being 1/6, 1/2, or 5/6 done with law school! At the request of anonymous commenter #29528, this thread is for the posting of and gloating about holiday plans. So what's in store? Hittin' the slopes? Hittin' the whiskey?As for myself (please contain your jealousy), I'll be in the beautiful, thriving metropolis of Scranton:Yourself?
Float Like a Butterfly
Posted on December 14, 2008President Bush proved today that he has better moves than my starting fantasy football running back did this week.See here. You HAVE to click the video link- it's definitely worth it.Bush's response?"So what if the guy threw his shoe at me?" Bush told a reporter in response to a question about the incident...
Rumors of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Posted on December 14, 2008Who was Samuel Langhorne Clemens? If you know the answer to that question, you be delighted to learn that the world will finally be given a piece of his mind on free expression and whether it is safer to express your thoughts after you are dead -- just less than 100 years after he died! A sly move by a sly man, indeed...
Am I a Plaster Saint?
Posted on December 13, 2008When it comes to extremist Mormon sects, I tend to get soft on property rights. I believe that there are circumstances in which our government should be able to step and remove children (or "wives" in the parlance of fundamentalist Mormonism), and I completely support such invasions so long as they are based on adequate evidence...
Oakland is F--ing Dangerous
Posted on December 12, 2008. . . and the Oakland Tribune thinks de-nial is a river in Egypt.Last Sunday, Susan Gluss (AKA the public relations face of Boalt Hall) published an op-ed in the SF Chronicle about her personal decision to leave Oakland. Her motivation was personal security -- which is, of course, a politically handy euphemism for "bald fear...
Do the Torts Shuffle!
Posted on December 11, 2008The latest from the Notorious B.O.A.L.T. Good job guys!Note: Youtube has been finicky lately, probably due to the failure of our government to meet our infrastructure bandwidth needs. If it doesn't work, you can 1) try reloading the page, or 2) move to Sweden.
Self-Promotion Redux
Posted on December 10, 2008Not to detract from the discussion of Skadden's new website below, but I'd like to shamelessly echo Armen's shameless self-advertisement (those of you in Negotiations this fall probably find that unsurprising.) Please, take a moment to vote for this blog...
Skadden, Arps Has a New Website
Posted on December 10, 2008I like the old one better.(Make your own link. It's finals and I'm busy.)EDIT: Here's a link just for you, Matt.----------------------------[Update (Patrick): Carbolic's tastes err -- the old site is much worse than new one, for the same cardinal reason that LEXIS is worse than WestLaw...
Corruption in Chicago? I don't believe it.
Posted on December 09, 2008It's the news of the hour. TV's most photogenic US Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, has arrested the governor of Illinois for, among other things, trying to "sell" the U.S. Senate seat vacated by (technically-not-yet)-President-Elect Barack Obama. (Actually, there's more to the indictment...
Good Idea?
Posted on December 08, 2008I have a secret confession to make. I love infomercials. I even love the not-quite-an-infomercial "As Seen On TV" product ads. The products that they put out there, especially during holiday times, are, for lack of a better word, absurd. Every year there's a product that makes me scratch my head and wonder, "There can't possibly be any people dumb enough to pay a nickel for this crap...
A Resolution of My Own
Posted on December 05, 2008If the Berkeley City Council thinks it knows what's best for Boalties, I figure so do I. But the proposal I have in mind is a lot less kooky, therefore, boring. Adam Chandler has this essay at Slate on cert stage amicus briefs. Orin Kerr thinks this might be a good idea for law school SCOTUS clinics...
Another Reason to be Thankful
Posted on December 05, 2008Today is the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the 18th Amendment. Here is a Time Magazine article from 1930, as the repeal effort was building. It is a hoot. Now, go out and celebrate!
Berkeley City Council Delves Back into National Politics
Posted on December 04, 2008The Marine Corps issue may have fizzled, but apparently the City of Berkeley's passion for national and foreign policy burns on.Next week the Berkeley City Council will vote on a resolution demanding the United States charge Boalt Professor John Yoo with war crimes...
More Prop 8 Re-hashing
Posted on December 04, 2008With all of the discussion about Prop 8 on N&B thus far, I figured at least a few of you may find this new study more than a little interesting.A commonly cited fact since the election is that black and Hispanic voters overwhelmingly supported Prop 8...
DE and Yudof to Crowd: We're Screwed
Posted on December 04, 2008Think your education is expensive, and yet the University may be in jeopardy? DE and UC President Yudof think you're right:Three of the state's leading higher education officials gathered Tuesday to elaborate on what they've known for months: Major financial woes face the University of California, and won't be leaving any time soon...
Straight From the Horse's Mouth: Fall 2008
Posted on December 03, 2008Here is your fall 2008 professor quotes thread. While perhaps not as thorough as last year, I have posted in the comments my collection of this semester's notable moments. If you have contributions, please share them. They tend to make my day.
(Re)calling ASUC Senator John Moghtader
Posted on December 03, 2008Five Boalties are attempting to initiate a recall of ASUC Senator John Moghtader. According to the Daily Cal, the recall follows an altercation in Eshleman Hall on Nov. 13 between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli students, after which three people were charged with battery...
San Francisco is Full of Degenerate Homeless Drug Addicts
Posted on December 01, 2008According to Bill O'Reilly
Shameless Self-Advertisement
Posted on December 01, 2008Much like [insert reference to a famous electoral defeat, maybe LA Confidential against Titanic], Nuts & Boalts took a beating at the ballot box last year for the ABA's best blawgs. But the honor of being nominated was good enough. This year, Nuts & Boalts has been nominated again in the student blog category...
What's going on in Zeb?
Posted on December 01, 2008Reports of cops in the law school with their guns drawn?Anyone know what's going on?--Update: They're gone- even their cars. But what happened?
An Intriguing Take on Prop 8
Posted on December 01, 2008Just saw this in the Chronicle. It's an open letter, from two of Berkeley's own, asking the state for a non-discriminatory alternative to what they see as now-discriminatory marriage. Basically, they want domestic partnerships to be available to straight couples...
What the Heck are Emoluments?
Posted on December 01, 2008Hillary haters have latched on to the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution to argue that Senator Clinton, who Barack Obama just formally announced would be his Secretary of State, is constitutionally barred from taking the post. Here is a summary of the issue...
A Heretical Question
Posted on November 30, 2008One of my college professors liked to remark that, depending on which side of an argument you've taken, a conclusion can be characterized either a result or a reductio. Let's try one, from yesterday's NY Times:Because the war on terror is unlike any other the United States has waged, traditional wartime policies and mechanisms have made for an awkward fit, in some instances undermining efforts to defeat terrorism...
How I Learned to Litigate at the Movies
Posted on November 27, 2008Over the summer, the American Bar Association polled its members and then published in the ABA Journal a list of the twenty-five greatest legal movies of all time, and another twenty-five honorable mentions. The publication also included an article entitled, "How I Learned to Litigate at the Movies...
Do People Care About Students? People Do
Posted on November 25, 2008This from John Steele:If you have a moment, could you please answer this one-question survey about legal ethics courses? Choose as many courses as you?d seriously consider taking if you had those options for legal ethics credit. If you?re curious about the results, shoot [John Steele] an email in about a week and [he]?d be glad to share the percentages that came in...
Finals Racket
Posted on November 25, 2008Did anyone else find this particular tidbit from DE's email today amusing?The good news from this test is that the noise was only faint to moderate in the north addition reading rooms. Zeb and Goldberg were also surprisingly quiet. The noise was worst in the Main Reading Room, classrooms 121-124 and 115, 111, 107...
1L Hypo Exercise
Posted on November 24, 2008The facts are presented here. Use what you have learned in Contracts and Property to explain who should win this law suit and why. Does Porreco v. Porreco, 811 A.2d 566, 574 (Pa. 2002) (Eakin, J., dissenting) apply? Bonus points for Civ Pro and Crim Law arguments.
Lawyers Abroad
Posted on November 24, 2008This NY Times article, published Friday, describes an influx of U.S. legal résumés in foreign markets:A year ago, a lawyer looking for work in Hong Kong could have gone on eight interviews and had seven offers, [a legal recruiter] says. But in this market, firms can afford to be choosier...
Turkey Bowling
Posted on November 23, 2008Pushing aside the wet blanket over your personality that is law school can be wearisome. The fact is that this place, at this time of year, is a fun-killer.Enter turkey bowling. The game feels adventurous enough to limber your character as we enter the exam period, and the rules are simple enough to recall even when highly intoxicated...
Sorry Tom P., The Waiting Sucks, But It Is Not The Hardest Part
Posted on November 20, 2008A few rants about this whole bar exam process...There was a recent post regarding the MPRE being a harbinger of Bar anxiety. Well, look... The MPRE is the proverbial mole hill, and the Bar exam is...no, not a mountain, it is just a freakin' ass-h*le...
Good Luck, We're All Counting On You
Posted on November 19, 2008I know a lot of people in the Class of 2008 are going through hell. The next few days are absolute torture. For the uninitiated, think of it as that feeling in your stomach when a roller coaster drops...except it lasts for about a week. Bonne chance.
Breaking News: Cal. Supremes Take Prop. 8 Cases
Posted on November 19, 2008The California Supreme Court has agreed to take cases challenging Proposition 8. The Court also announced it will not stay the proposition pending a decision. (Sorry, Gavin.)The Court will address three questions: Is Prop 8 invalid because it constitutes a revision of, rather than an amendment to, the California Constitution? Does Prop 8 violate the separation-of-powers doctrine under the California Constitution? If Prop 8 is not unconstitutional, what is its effect, if any, on the marriages of same-sex couples performed before the adoption of Prop 8? Briefs are due in January, and oral argument may be held as early as March...
An Open Letter to Uncle Zeb
Posted on November 19, 2008Like the rest of the tenants of the 21st century, I rely on credit and debit cards as my primary method of legal tender. I recognize that carrying cash worked perfectly fine in the days before electricity and networking were readily accessible, but given the advances since, it seems silly to keep insisting on it...
Harvard Gets Caught in the Credit Crunch
Posted on November 18, 2008"Ivy League Investments: If Harvard's so smart, why didn't it manage its endowment better"Article HERE.Should we be amused? Interesting article nonetheless...
When free speech isn't free speech
Posted on November 18, 2008The Mercury News reports today: "Nine people sentenced for involvement in UC Berkeley tree-sit."Hopefully this will be a lesson to the rest of Berkeley's crazies: defy court orders to protest a pointless cause and you will pay the price. It's not free speech if it's costing students millions of dollars while you throw your feces at our police officers.
A Bailout for Detroit?
Posted on November 18, 2008The lame duck Congress is currently considering whether to give automakers some of the bailout money - to the tune of ten billion dollars. Intense lobbying efforts are underway right now, with Detroit desperately trying to convince Congress that this bailout money is all it needs in order to become a viable business model again...
Release of Rehnquist Papers Begins
Posted on November 18, 2008Rehnquist's papers and files began to be released today. Find two articles describing his appointment by Nixon, decisions to recuse, and his personal file on Roe v. Wade, here, and here. Also find a catalogue of the files, here.
HRC as SoS?
Posted on November 14, 2008Rumors were that she was in consideration. Now Nico Pitney at HuffPo is reporting that she has been offered the job, and that she has asked for time to "consider". Two things:1. While I didn't support Clinton in the primary, there is no doubt that she is tough as beans, and has the street cred to represent the United States on the world stage admirably...
The Big Green "O" Stands for "OMG"
Posted on November 13, 2008So now the WSJ Law Blog and Above The Law are reporting that Orrick is going to be laying off 40 attorneys (and 35 staff). In the comments on another post, I've been debating with McWho on whether the collapse of Heller and Thelen are primarily the result of the economy or poor management...
Crazy Ivan
Posted on November 12, 2008Just want to point out the ridiculously fast reversal of the 9th Circuit and vacatur of the district court's preliminary injunction in the Navy Sonar case. Our tree hugger-in-residence, Max Power, probably thinks this is the end of Environmental Law...
Assassins
Posted on November 11, 2008Just saw this on ATL. We used to do something similar in college, and it was a blast. I propose we try to get this started at Boalt for next semester. Is there interest? Sound off below.
Boalt Hall is Filthy.
Posted on November 11, 2008And notwithstanding our massive tuition increases, I don't mean it's filthy rich.For the past week, construction crews have become Berkeley's butchest custodians, using power washers to scrape the grime off the courtyard walls. I would guess that the building exterior hasn't been cleaned in half a century, and it shows...
Berkeley vs. The LSAT
Posted on November 11, 2008Looks like researchers right here in B-town are hard at work in designing a new law school admissions test that would correlate with success not as a 1L, but as a lawyer. What a novel concept.If this saves just one future student from having to spend a month learning "tricks" on the logic games, it will have been worth it...
Oh Sh!t.
Posted on November 11, 2008ATL is reporting that White and Case is conducting widespread layoffs.Up to this point, layoffs had been covert or limited to less affluent firms (for the most part).The actions today by White and Case bring layoffs to the highest tier of law firms. I ask: have the floodgates been opened for all of the others?
Facebooks Have Arrived
Posted on November 10, 2008. . . and everyone in the 2L class, whose pictures carried over from last year, looks ten years younger. It's doubtful that the 1L's will ever face the same problem -- their pictures (carried over either from their student ID cards or from wanted posters at the post office, I can't tell) came out so pixilated that they look ten years older...
Accommodating Prop 8
Posted on November 10, 2008Con Law Professor GL discusses today in the LA Times a few of the legal issues surrounding the ban on gay marriage. Most Boalties are probably familiar with them by now.A question he didn't address, and one I would like to hear about, is this:What happens when a same-sex married couple approaches a state bureaucrat and asks for a state benefit normally accorded to married couples, and the bureaucrat refuses because granting the benefit would violate the California Constitution as amended on November 4th?
More Whining, But at Least Mostly Justified
Posted on November 09, 2008I'm hearing reports from a number of 2Ls who have unsuccessfully petitioned to avoid taking the ethics requirement next semester. This contradicts what a number of 3Ls told me about last year, which is that the petitions were kind of a joke and all were granted...
Post-MPRE Love
Posted on November 08, 2008The sentiment around Oakland's Alameda County Conference Center around noon today was that the MPRE this time around was either (a) harder than usual or (b) something we all should have actually studied for.Here's a thread for post-exam discussion bitching...
This is the Endley
Posted on November 06, 2008I have to limit this to a few quick thoughts, but here they are:a) Edley is the kind of administrator who gets to the nitty gritty, plans the details, and then executes. Current Boalties have not had the pleasure of seeing the law school before the DE era (and for females, this is a very good thing)...
Berkeley Parties for Obama
Posted on November 05, 2008Is this it? Is this how it feels to be proud of your country? Not to go all Michelle Obama on you, but that's all I could think as I traversed three of the undoubtedly many Berkeley block parties that sprung up around town tonight. Don't get me wrong...
The Edley Over-Under
Posted on November 05, 2008It's a new day in America.In light of the inspirational and historic milestone of Obama's election, it's time for Democrats all over the country to ask: "What's in it for me?" Or perhaps more charitably: "How can I get involved?"Which brings us to DE, who's been rushing to start construction before election day...
Two Questions
Posted on November 05, 2008First, the Washington Post has announced that Dean Edley is on the board of Obama's transition team. Now, DE may not have Potomac fever, but all the same . . . which lucky journal will take over his office when he moves to Washington this spring? Second, and tangentially related, how many Supreme Court justices will retire by this time next year, and what are their names?[Update: I'll be damned if Carbolic preempts my preempt...
Still so far away...
Posted on November 05, 2008On one level, I find it incredible that a state in which 61% of the voters decided to elect a black man president also decided to pass Prop. 8. Why is it okay to break the racial barrier, but not okay to allow gay people access to the same kinds of rights we give everyone else? What really gets me is the way the Yes on 8 campaign was run - essentially threatening people that if they didn't vote for Prop...
DO NOT VOTE
Posted on November 04, 2008...for Shirley Dean. Okay, here are Carbolic's local election recommendations.Do not vote for Shirley Dean for mayor. (I'm sick of Berkeley looneys; also, she wants to make UCB pay millions to Berkeley. My response: Screw off. We were here first.)2. Do not vote for Phil Daly...
Barack the Vote
Posted on November 03, 2008If I'm any indication, then the legal/political junkies around the Boalt community will be very restless in the next 24-48 hours. So, here's an open thread to vent your thoughts, frustrations, and share any links/videos you find worthwhile. (You may also wish fond farewells to DE, the future White House counsel if Obama wins)...
Funnier than Fiction
Posted on November 01, 2008"In an over-the-top accent, one half of a notorious Quebec comedy duo claims to be the president of France as he describes sex with his famous wife, the joy of killing animals and Hustler magazine's latest Sarah Palin porno spoof.At the other end of the line? An oblivious Sarah Palin...
I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight
Posted on October 31, 2008The liberal blogosphere is abuzz with Sen. Stevens' latest argument that "There's not a black mark by my name yet, until the appeal is over and I am finally convicted, if that happens. If that happens, of course I'll do what's right for Alaska and for the Senate...
The blue-ification of the Mountain West
Posted on October 30, 2008The most reliably Republican section of the United States in the last 40 years has been the Mountain West - the birthplace of both Patrick and yours truly - which comprises the states of Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and the Dakotas (few mountains, but similar political atmospheres)...
Bar Review Location Change for TODAY
Posted on October 30, 2008Forwarded on behalf of the Committee:Bar Review has officially been moved to Becketts. The signs will be changed within the hour, but please spread the word. It really has been a very long time since many of us have gotten together (and no, sitting near one another in Tax or Crim Pro does not count)...
Nobody Likes a Tattletale
Posted on October 30, 2008Thank you, Boalt 2L's, for not exhibiting the poor judgement and lack of foresight that a Michigan 2L demonstrated today by forwarding a letter from their CDO to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog.*The Michigan CDO's letter encourages students with offers from White & Case to look elsewhere, as the firm may have over-hired its 2009 summer class...
Vote early, vote often
Posted on October 29, 2008Yesterday, Florida governor Charlie Crist declared a State of Emergency. Why? To enable polls to stay open 12 hours a day in order to accommodate the number of people who are voting early.Meanwhile, a judge in Ohio has ruled that homeless people must be allowed to list the place where they sleep most often, such as a park bench or doorway, as their address...
People deserving public shaming, part 37
Posted on October 29, 2008...non-disabled Boalt students that park in the handicapped spot in front of Simon Hall. If you are able to walk from one corner of Boalt Hall to another without showing any sign of disability or fatigue, then you can walk from Underhill parking lot like everyone else...
What? No Boalt?
Posted on October 28, 2008"PreLaw Magazine" (HT: Matt) attempts to rate the top 75 public interest law schools. What's interesting, is that they somehow missed ours. That, or they confused us with Stanford.
From "Heller's Hell" to "Thelen of Troy"
Posted on October 28, 2008The first major law firm casualty in this down economy was Heller.Word out of the SF Chronicle is that Thelen is likely next. In part, the Chron says "there's no question that Thelen soon won't exist as Thelen." Tough words. Let us all hope everyone lands on their feet...
The Distinguished Gentleman*
Posted on October 27, 2008Following a weekend thumping of my beloved Bruins, Monday brought more bad news with the conviction of former Bruin, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK). Aside from being a Bruin, the Senator spoke at Boalt in 2007 I believe. With that said, I cannot hide my glee that such an opponent of environmental regulation may finally be out of office...
Enough with the [Phrase] Activist Judges!
Posted on October 27, 2008John McCain promises in an article at law.com today that if elected, he would avoid "activist judges" like the social plague everyone agrees they are.But do we agree? What the hell is an "activist judge," anyway? The phrase is like "alibi," "Sunni Islam," or "fiscal conservative" -- everybody uses it, but who can say what it means? The distinction between "activist judges" and the three phrases just listed, however, is that "activist judges" probably never had a precise meaning...
The Undecideds
Posted on October 23, 2008No, I'm not talking about the Ohioans who do that dial-o-graph thing on CNN during the debates.* I'm talking about the 2Ls still holding offers. There's considerable traffic on ATL on the subject. Here are my brief thoughts. And as a caveat, these are my personal observations, not my firm's policies, preferences, etc...
Making Their Own Reality
Posted on October 22, 2008And followed by...Although I think the hypocrisy and outright lies flowing from the McCain Campaign are a story worth noting and mocking, I also want to flag this webcast of a forum with McCain's and Obama's economic advisers tonight at 4:30 PM.
Survey Number 988978655
Posted on October 21, 2008[Update: Just saw this. Un-freaking-believable. Great minds think alike.]----------------If you are a 2L or a 3L you recently received an e-mail asking to you fill out a survey on what can be done to improve the online teaching evaluation process. Since you probably deleted it as a matter of course, I posted in the comments...
Spooky Thought of the Week: Nightclub Boalt
Posted on October 20, 2008If you get claustrophobic or don't want to feel creeped out, don't read this.Over the last week, workers have sheetrocked all doorways to the courtyard, which is essentially every south- and east-facing door in Boalt Hall. I think they've covered a few windows as well...
How about an ethics course for the administration?
Posted on October 20, 2008I think most of you know I'm not the type of N&B blogger who typically rails against the administration. Actually, considering this is my first post since Lockergate, maybe I am that kind of blogger. But those who know me personally know I rarely whine...
2009 Spring Classes
Posted on October 15, 2008The spring course schedule is up. As with past semesters, here is a course recommendation thread.My two cents for 1L's: Civ Pro II, Con Law, Advanced Legal Research, in that order. (Was that three cents?) That's just my view, and others may disagree, but there you have it...
Proposition Six Ironic
Posted on October 14, 2008On the 2008 ballot, Proposition 6 is the "Safe Neighborhoods Act." Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? I mean . . . safe neighborhoods: You're either for 'em or against 'em, right?Here are a few key provisions of the initiative. Prop. 6, if passed, would: increase penalties for firearm and drug crimes; require recipients of public housing subsidies submit to criminal background checks and lose housing if they or someone in their family has been convicted of a recent crime; eliminate bail for illegal aliens; change rules of evidence to allow use of hearsay statements when witnesses are unavailable; divert several billion from the CA general fund; and require a majority vote to add, but a 3/4 vote to amend...
Lieter's new rankings are crap.
Posted on October 13, 2008Brian Lieter released a new ranking of law schools today, entitled "The Top 15 Schools From Which the Most "Prestigious" Law Firms Hire New Lawyers, 2008."Where does he get his data? Here's a direct quote:We started with the most recent Vault list of the most prestigious law firms in the U...
But if We Give Gays and Lesbians Equal Rights, Everyone Else Will Want Them, Too
Posted on October 10, 2008Yesterday, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry. That makes Connecticut the third state, after Massachusetts and California, to legalize gay marriage. Interestingly enough, the state had passed a civil union law, but the court ruled that it did not offer gays and lesbians the same privileges and status as marriage...
Notorious B.O.A.L.T.
Posted on October 09, 2008Abovethelaw.com just gave our school quite possibly the best props that an educational facility can receive. Whoever did this:http://abovethelaw.com/2008/10/to_the_window_to_the_wall_till.phpThank you. Go Boalt!Funny thing is, I can use this for bar study this coming spring...
Tele-F*CKED 2008, Phase II
Posted on October 08, 2008Thanks to your diligent efforts, I have lost my unfair advantage over my fellow students. Damn you, Nuts and Boalts!So says an anonymous survey-taker, and correctly: Tele-BEARS times have been randomized.Specifically, students have been grouped by graduating class and then randomized within that group...
From the OCIP Spin Room
Posted on October 08, 2008From a previous thread:Anonymous said . . .Off topic, but how about a post on the 2L/3L job market, from a Boalt perspective???Like the one here: [ ATL Link 1; Link 2].I had part of that conversation last night with a friend, who wondered whether the recent economic events will affect job prospects for Boalt's class of 2011...
Presidential Debate, Round 2, FIGHT!
Posted on October 07, 2008Will John McCain bring the hurt? Or will Obama duck-and-stick? Will it get dirty? Will we hear about Ayers or Keating? Or will they just make up and hug, because hey, we're all brothers?The debate starts at 6:00 PST.
Tele-F*CKED 2008
Posted on October 06, 2008First, they lied to us. Then we caught them. But they never apologized.For those of you tuning in for the first time this fall, here's a brief rundown:Boalt students have been assured for years that Tele-BEARS registration times (and the concomitant opportunity take that coveted class, or to score an early slot on the wait-list) were randomized to ensure fairness...
Law Talking Guys (and Gals) for Change
Posted on October 06, 2008Four years ago, I was a mindless 1L watching my classmates get involved in the election. Now is your chance. Instead of just walking precincts, you can put your legal education to good use. Sign up here.
Softball: Have Talent?
Posted on October 05, 2008To: All BoaltiesFrom: Bad News Bearisters In the third year of epic Bad News Bearisters tradition, our flagship Boalt team is in need of a few more players. If anyone can (a) throw a softball, (b) catch a softball, and (c) hit a softball and WON'T SHOW UP DRUNK, then we want to see what you can do...
Commencing World's Longest Wince, 6pm
Posted on October 02, 2008It could be really, delightfully ugly tonight. In fact it already IS ugly, based on intel from the CBS "presidential questions" series.UPDATE (Armen): In honor of Sen. McCain's love of gambling, I propose a Palin Pick 'Em contest. In your opinion, what is the easiest question that Palin cannot answer? I'm talking in general, but you can limit it to tonight's debate if you want...
Hey There Little Cardinal Riding Hood
Posted on October 02, 2008Compare this and this with this. UPDATE: Nevermind, for some reason I thought these were separate incidents. Same Cristina, new charges.
Kiffin Me Softly
Posted on September 30, 2008As avid football fans (or East Bay residents who try to avoid riding BART during Raider games), I'm sure you've already heard that Al Davis fired Lane Kiffin as the head coach, replacing him with Tom Cable, the current O-Line coach. (a) Al Davis is a moron who doesn't know what he's doing and the sooner he croaks, the sooner the Raiders will do well...
No Soup For You!
Posted on September 29, 2008The bailout is off, at least for now. I do not know if the measure would have stabilized our economy, or ruined it. I do know that a 110 page crap shoot is not leadership. Nothing makes up for lack of preparation -- not money, not smarts, not even luck...
John Deere Letter
Posted on September 29, 2008A Boaltie asks, "how do you go about rejecting an offer?" Answer: Call one of the attorneys you interviewed with, probably the one who gave you the offer or recruited you. Sometimes firms may inquire where you are going. Don't take this the wrong way, it's just one of the ways of gauging the legal market.
Breaking News: Rest of Nation Follows Berkeley's Lead, For Once.
Posted on September 27, 2008Who knew that ginkgo biloba was the only thing holding Boalt back?No sooner are the stinky trees gone, do we learn that both Harvard and Stanford Law Schools have decided to defer to Berkeley--at least as far as grading systems go. According to Above the Law, Harvard is abandoning its eight point (!) grading system in place of an Honors/Pass system...
"Oh the Humanity" Check Design Coming Soon
Posted on September 26, 2008Wait, what the hell just happened to my checking account? I get home from a Gobama fundraiser [insert snide anonymous comments about what happened to my checking account here] and I read that I'm now a loyal JPMorganChaseBearSternsWashingtonMutual customer? And I wish all the best to my classmates at Heller...
Section LL's E-ticket Ride
Posted on September 25, 2008"Seismic engineers apparently have solved one of the world's great retrofit puzzles: how to keep UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium from crumbling into a pile of concrete rubble during a major earthquake."For an excellent article on the new retrofit plans for the stadium, click HERE.
Heller's Hell
Posted on September 24, 2008You know you're in bad shape when even the local newspaper picks up on the fact that you're a sinking ship. Ouch.But, where shall all of those attorneys go? See here.
Boalt Basics (ASP Session)
Posted on September 24, 2008Remember the last lecture on Boalt Basics? Kiddos, this is not 'Nam. This is dining. There are rules. Here is a black letter re-cap: No, no, no, no, NO!
2008 Clerkship Post-game
Posted on September 23, 2008Comments in a thread below ask for a place to further discuss clerkship opportunities at Boalt. One of those comments, from someone who obviously knows what they are talking about, contains a thoughtful series of observations and suggestions. I am quoting that comment in full, as it provides as good a place to begin as any...
An Electoral College Tie? Goodbye Legitimacy of American Elections!
Posted on September 23, 2008One of the more interesting political developments of my lifetime has been the increasing uncertainty in American elections. It used to be over when it was over, but since 2000, you never really know. Each side deploys hundreds of lawyers to the closely contested states (how do you get to be one of those?) and awaits the potential streetfight that may result from the words "too close to call...
You Cheated? After We AGREED?
Posted on September 23, 2008OverLawyered has this to say about relationship exclusivity contracts (HT: ATL):I have often wondered if, were courts to fully embrace contract marriage, they might also recognize a status short of it: something akin to a relationship contract. That?s the issue facing an Illinois court right now, as Nicole Basarich is suing Robert Lane, with whom she cohabitated for more than sixteen years, for ?violating the[ir] agreement for an exclusive relationship? and for failing to pay his portion of the mortgage...
Free Speech: It Ain't Always Free
Posted on September 22, 2008University of California lawyer Michael Goldstein just clobbered the tree sitters in (perhaps) the only way a University lawyer knows how: by attempting to extract from the protestors what this SF Gate article dubbed a 'pound of flesh' for the cost they incurred...
Life Returning to Before the Glass-Steagall Act
Posted on September 22, 2008"Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last big independent investment banks on Wall Street, will transform themselves into bank holding companies subject to far greater regulation, the Federal Reserve said Sunday night, a move that fundamentally reshapes an era of high finance that defined the modern Gilded Age...
Finally...A Story About the Fruits and Nuts of Berkeley
Posted on September 22, 2008In the LA Times. In hindsight, I did enjoy the olive bar a wee bit too much.
Dean Edley Townhall
Posted on September 18, 2008[Update: Matt has created a summary of the meeting, which is posted in the comments]--------Stay tuned for live blogging of Dean Edley's townhall after the jump (TJ is tackling it instead!)
Donde Esta El Zapatero?*
Posted on September 18, 2008If you haven't seen the interview of McCain showing a complete lack of knowledge about the Prime Minister of Spain, watch now. It's frightening. The whole thing reminds me of Mr. Burns in the episode Deep Space Homer. Mr. Burns begins the worker of the month (or week?) announcement thusly:"Compadres, it is imperative that we crush the Freedom Fighters before the start of the rainy season...
Lockergate '08 or How BHSA Finally Realized What Its Job Is
Posted on September 17, 2008I'm guessing you've all received BHSA's e-mail regarding the locker situation (posted after the jump). Looks like we're gonna have a good ol' fashioned standoff with the admin! Everyone who cares about this issue, make sure you stop by the Laub Lobby to sign their petition...
A Nerd's Fury
Posted on September 17, 2008What in the hell is going on with AirBears? I swear, I can put up with a lot of the incompetence that goes with the territory of running a school, but this it too much. How can Boalt, which is part of BERKELEY, one of the top tech schools in the FREAKIN UNIVERSE, not have an operable wireless network?? It literally boggles my mind...
A Scene From the Lecture Halls
Posted on September 17, 2008Excuse me, Professor? I'm sorry, but could you please repeat everything you just said? We can't hear you over the noise.The noise, in this case, being the sawing, banging, grinding, and dragging of steel pipes beneath the floor in the center of Room 105...
Boalt Basics
Posted on September 16, 2008People, people, people. The line in Café Zeb runs east-west, toward the hall. Not north-south toward the wall!
When the Economy Hits Home
Posted on September 15, 2008In light of the economic conditions today, it may be appropriate to start an open thread on the market.There's a lot to discuss here, so let me get us started.First: to what degree is this going to impact our jobs? The simple answer is that there's going to be a contraction in the number of positions available...
Sometimes the Government Does it Better
Posted on September 13, 2008First, three items from my RSS feed:Sad news of a head-on collision between a commuter train and a freight train in southern California.A letter from San Francisco Paramedic Jonathan Meade (here, at bottom of page) to the Chronicle, which reads in part: "Believe it or not, the inability of the Fire Department to properly manage [medical services] is common knowledge among firefighters and paramedics, doctors and nurses, our supervisors and our mayor...
Palin on Foreign Policy
Posted on September 12, 2008I don't think I was brought on staff here to provide political analysis, but I just couldn't resist this. The first in Charles Gibson's three-part interview with Sarah Palin aired last night. Some highlights:1. She clearly does not know what "The Bush Doctrine" is...
Ten Open-Ended Thoughts
Posted on September 12, 2008Wouldn't it have been savory if the tree sitters had nested in Boalt's recently razed Stinky Trees?When Top Dog 'catered' the Career Fair, they didn't just hand over their kolbassas, wursts, and wieners. Instead they gave mini-vouchers to the visiting law firms who in turn used them to feed only the students who dropped by to mingle and exchange pleasantries...
Revisiting California Associate Compensation
Posted on September 10, 2008This article explains that prominent California law firms (including many OCIP participants) are revising their lock-step salary models. While salaries and bonuses aren't expected to change immediately, the way they're doled out might, as California firms consider switching from a lockstep associate compensation model to others based on skill level...
Duke Has The Worst College Football Team In America, As A Matter Of Law
Posted on September 09, 2008The University of Louisville recently sued Duke in Kentucky state court, alleging Duke breached a contract to play a four-game series against Louisville. Duke pointed to a provision in the contract that stated Duke it would be liable only if Louisville was unable to find a replacement opponent of ?similar stature...
You're Gonna Go Far! (All the Way to the Bar!)
Posted on September 05, 2008On Tuesday we button up OCIP, and it's a safe bet that we all deserve a solid night of sloppiness. The time has come to doff that suit, don that drinking cap, and set free the snide remarks and cheeky smirks we have all been bottling up inside.Thalassa, 9:00 p...
Lockergate 2008
Posted on September 05, 2008BHSA and the school administration have broken their silence and sent an update on the locker situation [posted in full after the jump].Included in the plan is mandatory locker sharing and charging a rental fee for 3Ls.Any thoughts?
Victory!
Posted on September 04, 2008In breaking news, the Court of Appeals has removed the injunction preventing Berkeley from cutting the trees down around the stadium. For preliminary information, see coverage here.Paired with an existing ruling that allows the university to remove the trespassing tree sitters, we could see chainsaws on campus as early as first thing tomorrow morning...
Kevin? Kevin Smith?
Posted on September 04, 2008Anonymous said . . .New clerkship thread please!9/04/2008 3:25 PMTa-da! I really have no clue what you clerk applicants are up to, but here is a thread for you.
Why Palin Is Suddenly Scaring Some Dems
Posted on September 04, 2008There?s a bizarre unease among the Democratic commentariat today ? a vague feeling that Palin did something pretty good last night, and whatever it is, it might be trouble. No one seems quite sure what it is, so let me try to articulate: Palin is the first person on a Presidential ticket in thirty years who isn?t rich...
Best. Sentence. Ever.
Posted on September 03, 2008From the NYT's profile of Palin's stint as Mayor of Reno 911, it's hard to find a pithier example of the intersection of evangelical politics, blissful ignorance, and old-fashioned conservative contempt for America:Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms...
A Cynic's Summary of Huckabee's RNC Address in 25 Words or Less
Posted on September 03, 2008Mike Huckabee just gave his address at the RNC, and *surprise!* it was nearly identical to every other address at the RNC. It's almost like Karl Rove wrote out a speech at one sentence per flashcard, and each speaker just shuffles the cards around on the floor, picks them up, and reads them off in the order that they're in...
OCIP Questions and Answers
Posted on August 31, 2008I recently accepted an invitation to join the N & B team. I warned them, and I'll warn you: I rarely have anything useful to say. I'm not very involved with school politics or informed about the larger legal world. My posts will most often consist of random musings about one absurdity or another I've encountered in my travels as a law student and future attorney...
McCain selects Palin as VP candidate
Posted on August 29, 2008Some rather historic news this morning: McCain selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate.Palin becomes the first woman to serve on a GOP presidential ticket and the first Alaskan to appear on a national ticket. Her selection guarantees we'll see either a non-white President or a female Vice President...
2008 OCIP Callbacks
Posted on August 25, 2008This is the 2008 OCIP callback thread. If you are unsure about what that might mean, look here, and here.We will follow my learned brother's tried and true procedures from the past:(a) When you get a callback or a ding, look to see if that information has been included in the main post...
Gaffes & Goofs, LLP
Posted on August 25, 2008With all the OCIP madness that is upon us, it's important to remember not to take ourselves to seriously. With that in mind, consider this a lighthearted companion to the callback thread. Feel free to post all those social blunders, wardrobe malfunctions, or other incidents you hope the interviewers won't remember.
The Real Significance of the Biden Pick
Posted on August 23, 2008Forget what you?ve been reading about ?experience.? Forget about foreign policy. Forget about working-class. Forget about Catholic. Those themes are just a self-justifying narrative from the Obama campaign meant to buy a few good news cycles before Denver...
What's really concerning you: A Cal football update!
Posted on August 22, 2008There are very few things that are good about summer ending. While you're scratching your head and trying to form the [rather short] list, let's start with Cal football.Two big developments:(1) Want to know whether to expect to be greeted by tree sitters on the way into the game next Saturday (or any other Saturday this season for that matter)? An excellent update can be found here...
Pick Me, Pick Me! (Then Give Me 30 Days to Hydrate)
Posted on August 21, 2008We haven't had much Kevin Smith chatter this fall. There are two reasons why we probably should. First, he's in the air; it seems that every time I bump into a 3L, Smith rears his ugly head:Cell Phone Me: "Hey, you worked at Mega Firm USA's San Francisco office, didn't you? What did you think?"Boalt 3L #1: "Can't talk now...
Before Kevin Smith...
Posted on August 21, 2008I want to create a bit of an open thread here regarding OCIP. I realize most of you have submitted your bids, but here's a place to ask questions. I think ATL is incredibly useful for firm research, if you have the time and patience. But a few things should raise some red flags, e...
December 6th 2008: Boalt Sleeplessness Week
Posted on August 20, 2008The Changina Blog echoed sentiments common to Boalt 2/3L's this week: What's with all the take-homes?My understanding is that because the Boalt construction schedule calls for massive demolition over Winter Break, the school has encouraged professors of non-1L classes to avoid in-class exams...
Running Mate Predictions?
Posted on August 19, 2008The NY Times thinks Obama has chosen a running mate, and could release a name as early as Wednesday morning. I'm no Election Wizard, and I realize the question is becoming a bit of a yawn these days, but after kicking around the Times website, I couldn't help but hope for the most trusted man in America ...
See? They Listen!
Posted on August 18, 2008Looks like our new website is up and running. Read about it here. Your thoughts? I think is an aesthetic improvement. Even better, the new BBB and the Calendar are exactly what students asked for last fall.On the other hand, 2 and 3L's did get that email from the CDO last night...
Where The @#$% Is Room 13?
Posted on August 15, 2008Today I make the run from Boise to Berkeley (oh, Jordan Valley, Oregon, you old friend you) exactly 365 days after I made this trip last year. I have to say, this August 15th seems a lot less stressful -- the idea of becoming a 2l is much less scary than the idea of becoming a 1l...
Parody
Posted on August 11, 2008I received the e-mail below from my source for widely-distributed, factually inaccurate, right-wing talking points. When I first read it, I was seething with anger. But given the punch-line, it MUST BE a parody. There's no way it's not. Is there? Regardless, read it, and feel free to offer your tongue-in-cheek retorts...
Insh'allah
Posted on August 08, 2008I don't know what to make of the Hamdan sentencing decision yesterday. On the one hand I'm pleased that even senior military officers recognized the folly of claiming such a low level guy should be executed for *cough* war crimes, which did not even exist until 2004 as I understand it...
You Had Me At Your Inital Offer
Posted on August 07, 2008Article in the NYT re a fascinating study about settlement vs. going to trial. Punchline is plaintiffs suing under a contingency fee arrangement are much more likely to get less after trial than the defense. Sounds like people are not reading/watching A Civil Action...
SF Gate: Investors Should Pony Up, Too
Posted on August 07, 2008Via the SF Gate:Congress' bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which effectively guarantees the debt they sold to investors, is fundamentally at odds with a basic principle of contract law that every first year law student must master: the written terms of the contract apply even if those terms are contrary to any verbal ([or] oral) statements made by the other party to the contract...
Return to Boalt With Your Hard Hat Handy
Posted on August 06, 2008I had to chuckle at the second sentence in today's email from DE:To returning 2Ls and 3Ls:I hope this note finds you well. I suspect you are as excited about the fast-approaching start of the fall semester as I am.This place has seemed rather deserted without you, but it has not been dull or quiet...
Are You Going Ape?
Posted on August 05, 2008The LA Times is reporting that the LA County Supervisors voted 3-2 to reject a ballot measure that would have increased sales taxes to fund public transportation projects in LA. Two Republicans voted no based on a knee-jerk, reflexive aversion to the t-word despite having a job that requires actual governing...
The Logic is Impeccable
Posted on August 05, 2008If you thought the U.S. had draconian barriers to sexual harassment suits, then you should read about this decision by a Russian court. When the Code of Hammurabi gives women more legal rights, you know the country is backwards.
Sunday Lexico-Neuroticism
Posted on August 03, 2008When discussion of last week's post began drawing from Wikipedia, that fickle forum of boneheads and blowhards, I bowed out.Then I remembered Sketchy Citation #13, from my criminal law casebook. I realized that maybe I was being cocky and wrong; maybe and Wiki-people aren't all blowhards after all...
"Don't You Ever Get Tired of Being Wrong All the Time?"*
Posted on July 31, 2008I have lost track of the court decisions rebuking this administration. But the latest one is fairly important in terms of restoring the rightful constitutional balance between Congress and the Executive. Of course, this decision and the entire set of facts underlying it illustrate my belief that the constitutional design of separation of powers is defunct and incapable of functioning unless the opposite parties occupy the elected branches...
The Other Red Menace
Posted on July 30, 2008You know, I sort of hate to even go there. I feel compelled, however, by an exchange in the thread below, wherein Armen throws down a gauntlet:Patrick said . . . .ALR saved my ass this summer. Knowing that something is in the Westlaw database, but not knowing how to locate it, is a maddening experience...
Did Boalt Pass the Buck on Yoo?
Posted on July 28, 2008The Daily Californian ran an article in yesterday's sports section entitled, Bear Naked: Getting to Known John Yoo. The author of the piece, which surveys a two-hour International House chat with Yoo about his experience as a sports fan in Washington, begins by noting, "[I]t's entirely beyond my scope to discuss the moral and technical merits of the unitary executive theory...
Sunday Lexico-Neuroticism
Posted on July 27, 2008Welcome to installment number two of the Sunday Lexico-Neuroticism series. This week's cringe is induced (actually, more like inadvertently approved) by Judge Patel, of our very own Northern District of California:The proper focus is upon the detention faced by the petitioner and whether the same is a due process violation, not whether petitioner is likely to succeed in his appeals...
So. What's Your Favorite Bad Legal Argument?
Posted on July 26, 2008I have been conducting research in support of a motion for summary judgment. The motion will oppose what is, arguably, the most impotent legal argument of the year. (No, not "important." Impotent. As in, weak, feeble, flaccid, impuissant, stupid.) I don't feel comfortable outlining the story here (it's a matter of public record, but still ...
Nation of Regulation
Posted on July 26, 2008Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning the use of trans-fats in restaurants and baked goods. California now joins the cities of New York, Philadelphia, and Stamford in controlling what sort of fat people can and cannot put into their bodies...
Official Bar Freak Out Thread
Posted on July 23, 2008I guess it's officially starting -- that time in every law student's life when he or she melts down psychologically as the bar impends. In such times of trouble, Boalt students have for generations turned to the elders of the Nuts & Boalts community for soothing assurances and not-a-little-bit of derision...
Ding Ding Ding!
Posted on July 22, 2008We have a winner, for the most laughably stupid article written by a law professor during the election season! Steven Calabresi, a co-founder of the Federalist Society, ruminates in the Chicago Tribune about Barack Obama's youth, the age requirement to be President (thirty-five), and liberal theories of constitutional interpretation...
Lawyers, Guns, and Money. Yes!
Posted on July 22, 2008This summer the U.S. Supreme Court ruled squarely under the Second Amendment for the first time in 127 years. Smith & Wesson is celebrating the occasion with the Heller v. D.C Commissioner Commemorative Revolver:"We at Smith & Wesson are pleased to honor the six original plaintiffs in the case while at the same time offering to consumers a firearm that will help in the preservation and protection of the Second Amendment," said Tom Taylor, Vice President of Marketing for Smith & Wesson...
CLR vs. Lysol
Posted on July 22, 2008I can certainly appreciate that anxiety/anticipation that is building up in rising 2Ls regarding CLR. But I want to offer this word of caution, echoed in years past by my co-blogger Tom Fletcher. It's a great feeling to know that you are on Boalt's flagship journal, but it's not the end of the world if you're not...
Sunday Lexico-Neuroticism
Posted on July 21, 2008Wandering the N&B archives recently, I tripped over Isaac Zaur's weekly "Sunday Literary-ism" posts. Click here and scroll down -- they are a pleasure. For the rest of this summer (and perhaps beyond) I will attempt to follow in his footsteps with my own weekly offering...
In Re Fall Courses 2008
Posted on July 21, 2008In the tread below, Anonymous asks:Can we please have an open thread about classes? My phase II is coming up and I'm still really undecided about stuff. I'm interested in:(1) any info on mediation with m-rshall? she has no posted reviews, so I'm skeptical...
Boalt and the Bar Exam
Posted on July 19, 2008Most of us know that law school, at least the Boalt variety, does not specifically prepare you for the Bar exam. However, we also know that Boalt has recently been increasingly concerned with its students' bar passage rates. But how serious is Boalt about this problem, if you want to call it a problem? I think, by far, the most productive thing Boalt can do towards producing more bar exam-ready students would be?and yes, I know this is drastic?to REQUIRE all classes that are on bar exam subjects to be CLOSED NOTE, CLOSED BOOK...
The Marvels of the Electronic Age
Posted on July 19, 2008If John McCain is tired of the old-person jokes, perhaps his campaign shouldn?t pedal ludicrous arguments like this one ? that Obama can?t properly form an opinion about Iraq until he has visited it in person. I?m sorry, but is John McCain aware we no longer have to send galleons around the Cape of Good Hope to communicate with the Orient? In this marvelous new age of the telegraph and the telephone, people can actually correspond across thousands of miles ? exchanging information in real time! You can learn about -- and form a complex opinion about -- places beyond your line of sight...
Help Me Help Another Boaltie See the Light
Posted on July 18, 2008Two threads below have generated a "spirited" email exchange, in which only one party can prevail. Please, vindicate me:1. "Her California [ . . . ] was suspended after she was caught talking on the phone while driving." a) driver license b) drivers license c) driver's license d) drivers' license2...
Classless Action
Posted on July 15, 2008I just received an e-mail notification regarding the Kashmiri case. For the uninitiated, this is the class action brought by a Boaltie against the UC for the fee increases that began in 2003. The allegations rested on a reliance theory (somewhere on the UC website someone said that fees will not be raised, but they were)...
Resident Evil[ness]
Posted on July 14, 2008Having finally concluded what became quite a battle of wits with the UC Berkeley Residency office, I feel I should pass on some lessons learned. If I were still an out-of-state 0L, hoping to skate through the residency petition process come spring, I would make sure I addressed the following housekeeping items, now:Before You Matriculate This Fall Obtain a physical California mailing address (not a PO box)...
Building a Better Legal Profession
Posted on July 13, 2008Like the author of the post below this one I also share a letter, this time from Building a Better Legal Profession. BBLP is an organization that was created last fall by Stanford students (referenced here on N&B) and is itching to grow. The letter is self-explanatory, and I think you'll find its message germane to the looming OCIP season...
The Law Teacher Thingie
Posted on July 12, 2008I'm posting an announcement from Prof. Harris re teaching.***Thinking about a career in law teaching? Planning to go ?on the market? this fall or the next? If you are a Boalt Hall alum and answered ?yes? to one or both questions, please send an email to Professor Angela Harris, aharris-at-law-dot-berkeley-dot-edu under the subject heading ?Law Teaching...
Karoshi!
Posted on July 10, 2008Evidently we're all screwed.The family of a 45 year old former Toyota engineer in Japan has successfully convinced Japanese courts to declare that the engineer's death was due to working too much, a phenomena known in Japan as "Karoshi".Evidently for the two months prior to his death, the man worked upwards of 80 hours of overtime a month...
Way to Go Donny Earl!!!
Posted on July 08, 2008Co-blogger Earl Warren's post on the California cell phone ban for drivers earned an honorable mention in this NYT piece. (Hat tip: Anon 10:47). Good job EW, your countless, thoughtful posts on the Democratic primaries are no match with a mention in the NYT in establishing a liberal bona fides.
Two Uncreative Ideas
Posted on July 04, 2008At six weeks into my summer gig, and the beginning of a holiday weekend, today is an opportunity for repose. Unlike the gentleman in the thread below, I have kept the drinking at firm events in check. Unlike my friend [snip], I have kept my hands to myself...
This Blog
Posted on July 03, 2008Is among the Top 100 Law and Lawyer Blogs. (See how annoying it is to start with a to be verb?)
Crossing Media
Posted on July 02, 2008For those of you with Gmail, you know that Gchat has a feature where you can list your status along with an "away message." For a long time, I've been noticing people using that space to mimic Facebook's "status" feature where you use the third person to describe what you are doing, e...
Moran Leaves the Village
Posted on June 26, 2008Leiter is reporting that our very own Prof. Moran is leaving for the new law school at UCI. She's a great scholar and a ummm quirky teacher. Clearly, she has an above average sense of humor and a quick-wit. At the same time, she still has the old-school, completely Socratic, closed-book finals mind-set...
My Anthony
Posted on June 25, 2008First, only a fool would call Justice Kennedy a liberal (frequently conservative blogs in fact do use that label). So let's not get carried away. But in both Boumediene and today in Kennedy v. Louisiana, Justice Kennedy authored a sweeping opinion enshrining the rights to habeas and the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment...
Is California?s New ?Hands-Free Only? Law a Pretext to Search You, Your Car, and Your Passengers?
Posted on June 23, 2008Next Tuesday, July 1, California?s new ?hands-free only? cell phone law goes into effect. Drivers in California must use a headset or Bluetooth when talking on their phone; holding the phone in your hand while talking constitutes a violation of Vehicle Code § 23123, punishable by fines ranging from $76 to $190...
Ready, Set, Teach
Posted on June 23, 2008I don't want to detract from the OCIP or grades discussions below, so I wanted to pass along some information for those interested in teaching below the fold.
OCIP Warmup, '08
Posted on June 22, 2008A commentator below notes (in more words) that it may be a bit early, but . . . what about OCIP? He (or she) is right. It is early. And I have to say, I'm feeling substantially less than gleeful over the prospect of replacing a neurotic grade thread with a neurotic OCIP thread...
UC Stadium Decision (+ related antics)
Posted on June 20, 2008Here's a collection of links regarding the stadium expansion project and the hippie occupation of the trees. Please feel free to contribute your thoughts and future links you may find to an open thread in the comments.UC gym's fate could rest on support beam [via SF Chron]A bit more technical analysis of the claims [via Cal Rivals Blog]Both sides claim victory [AP Story] Judge Halts UC Memorial Stadium Gym Project [via Berkeley Daily Planet]Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.
Boumediene
Posted on June 12, 2008I have to run to court this morning so I can't say anything. Rather I'm opening this up for discussions. Habeas for Gitmo detainees. At long last, the King may not make his subjects disappear.
Graduation Speaker Choice: A Retrospective
Posted on June 11, 2008In hindsight, choosing Judge Schroeder as the graduation speaker seems like a genius move given the revelations about current Chief Judge Kozinski. According to the LA Times, Kozinski basically peddled his own porn on his personal website. The money quote: "The sexually explicit material on Kozinski's site earlier this week was extensive, including images of masturbation, public sex and contortionist sex...
Stanford drops its formal grade system, pays $25k to study a potential change of name for the law school
Posted on June 10, 2008Well, maybe just the first half of that title is true. But I still say they're just trying to be more like Boalt (err, Berkeley).The money quote: Stanford will switch to a system of honors, pass, restricted credit and no credit instead of A+ through F, said School of Law Dean Larry Kramer...
Gobama!
Posted on June 04, 2008I'd be negligent in not mentioning the historical primaries that just ended with the contests in South Dakota and Montana. I also can't hide my displeasure with Hillary. You want thoughts on what to do next? Here are mine: Exit. Stage left. I hope her supporters watched Obama's speech last night...
Three Articles
Posted on June 03, 2008Although I am somewhat removed from the Bay Area these days, I enjoyed these recent Berkeley/Boalt articles:Esquire's full JY piece -- nuanced and interesting look at who JY is. Also has some rather charming transcriptions of professor/student dialogue, as perceived by a non-law-school-type...
First Our Professors, Now Our Grades
Posted on May 29, 2008The imagination-less automatons across the Bay have decided to copy our grading system (ht: ATL). Maybe soon they will adopt our method of assigning enrollment times, Krushchev era Communist architecture, and tree sitters to accompany their crappy mascot (which got a shout-out last night on Colbert)...
Nothing to Lose and Everything to Gain
Posted on May 28, 2008The California Horse Racing Commissioner noted yesterday that because the gay marriage ballot initiative will not be retroactive if passed, marriages performed in the next five months will be protected. Consequently, he has some legal advice:"You have everything to gain and nothing to lose...
In Other News
Posted on May 23, 2008Haven't had an open thread in a while. Summers are learning/relearning Civ Pro. 3Ls are learning/relearning Civ Pro and 13 other topics. Rising 2Ls are imagining their CLR Exec Board stump speech and/or faux connections to east coast legal markets...
The Call For Stupid Behavior (Firm Summer Edition)
Posted on May 19, 2008My first day of firm summer "work" was today. And I'm sure I'm not the only one that is wondering what crazy stories people have about fellow summer associates* losing their offers (hopefully stories about someone ELSE---wait, nevermind...about yourself is even better...
Get Inn
Posted on May 15, 2008John Steele wants everyone to know that the Inn of Court is looking for law students to join this great networking organization:Priority goes to 3Ls with aspirations to be Bay Area litigators -- and Bay Area wannabe PDs and prosecutors are first among equals...
Worst Legislation Ever?
Posted on May 15, 2008It's not everyday that you see Congress pass a bill that:1. Gives billions to wealthy corporate agri-businesses...2. ...in a time of skyrocketing food prices and shortages3. Consigns third-world farmers who have cheaper, better products to continued poverty4...
In re Marriage Cases
Posted on May 14, 2008I'm getting word through the grapevine that the Supreme Court of California will announce its decision in In re Marriage Cases tomorrow at 10 AM. List of briefs, including one by our own Prof. Choper here. Thoughts? Predictions? Personally, while I'd love to be pleasantly surprised, the present court is far too conservative...
Bad News From Top Dog
Posted on May 13, 2008So today just before 4:00 as I strolled home from Boalt, chewing my lip over that Con Law take-home, I bumped into Berkeley Fire Department on Durant Avenue. They looked pretty busy. Which is understandable, because they had CPR in progress on a gunshot victim in the parking lot next to Top Dog...
Have Feith but Verify
Posted on May 13, 2008I watched with great interest the Jon Stewart interview of Doug Feith last night. (Part 1 and part 2). I am now firmly convinced that this administration, more than any other, uses the withholding of information to shape the public mind.The technique is commonly used by dictatorships that want to convince the population of their general benevolence...
Graduation, Act I
Posted on May 11, 2008Borris asks in comments:Any thoughts on this year's commencement speaker - The Honorable Mary M. Schroeder? Also, is the faculty speaker - Anne Joseph O'C*nnell - chosen by the 3L class as a whole or by the graduation committee? Those questions are as good as any for the seeding of a graduation thread (though I have my fingers crossed for some kind of tell-all graduation exposé from the likes MRP and EW)...
Bar Bar Bar
Posted on May 09, 2008Today the Cal bar results come out for February takers. Good luck to all Boalties, and really anyone else. And congrats to the Boalties who passed the NY bar.
Q & A With Our Soon-To-Be ASP
Posted on May 08, 2008The Shark has posted a Q & A* with our new ASP hire.No bones about it, she's here to help with the bar exam. And part of her plan will be to talk about teaching, with teachers:What I have proposed to [Boalt] as an idea, and what I?d very much like to do, is to start thinking about teaching colloquia...
The Twain Effect
Posted on May 07, 2008Mark Twain wrote in 1872, "We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world; and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men every day who don't know anything and can't read."Yesterday, an Oregon jury announced a $300 million verdict against Payless Shoes in a trademark/tradedress infringement case brought by Adidas...
How to Run Against McCain?
Posted on May 07, 2008Can we start talking John McCain now? I liked Hillary once upon a time, and I?ve humored her candidacy to ensure my own domestic tranquility, but, to paraphrase a line her husband used in 1992 (that he himself took from Reagan in 1980), ?It?s time for her to go...
And the winner is ... Professor Lester?
Posted on May 06, 2008From an anonymous tipster:According to the University of California (and other public institution) salary database compiled by the Chronicle, who was the highest paid professor at Boalt (and the eighth highest paid person on the entire Berkeley campus) in the 2006-2007 fiscal year? Gillian Lester...
Take this Severance and Shove It
Posted on May 06, 2008Over at Above the Law an email from a laid-off Paul Hastings associate has been posted. Here's the first paragraph of the email:"The circumstances surrounding my departure from Paul Hastings have been deeply disappointing. It is one thing to ignore an email sent as a colleague is waiting to have her uterus scraped after a miscarriage, but it is wholly another level of heartlessness to lay her off six days after that...
The Bus Witch
Posted on May 06, 2008I need help. Those of you who are familiar with the Bus Witch understand my predicament, for today on the 51, I was hexed.The story beings with a pretty straightforward encounter, when she and her assorted parcels/baggies/wheely-thingies boarded the bus and kicked me out of my seat: "I need to sit down...
Fatal Stabbings: Unhappy Thoughts During Law Finals...
Posted on May 03, 2008From the Chron:"A UC Berkeley engineering student was fatally stabbed early today in a sorority parking lot a few blocks south of campus, Berkeley police said. The 21-year-old victim, a man whose name was not immediately released, was found stabbed at about 2:45 a...
Rebate Checks: Happy Thoughts During Law Finals...
Posted on May 02, 2008It's week 1 of the federal government rebate checks, and $7.1 billion has been sent out.I've heard a lot of discussion among my fellow classmates as to what should be done with the money. As many of us face significant school debt, one approach is to pocket the money and take less in loans (or have more to pay them down)...
Dude. Enough With the Eval Requests Already
Posted on May 01, 2008If you are a Boalt student, your @berkeley inbox contains the following email:"Please take a minute to complete your teaching evaluations. Not only are they important for feedback to faculty, but they also ensure you will have access to the online exam interface...
I Can't Believe It's a Law Firm
Posted on April 30, 2008I meant for this to be on ink and paper, but since that doesn't look like it's happening, I figure I'll turn it into a post. Note: if you don't find it funny, it's because you have no sense of humor and don't watch enough of The Simpsons to catch my references...
Berserkeley - A place we call home
Posted on April 29, 2008I've used this soapbox to do a lot of complaining about Berkeley over the past year. Today, the Chron had an article that indicated Berkeley may not be all that crazy - at least some of the time. The article looks at Berkeley "firsts," which include, "police radios, a ban on Styrofoam, health benefits for domestic partners and a switch to biodiesel for city cars...
Test Dummy
Posted on April 29, 2008The blogosphere (and my inbox) lit up this evening with news about Boalt's "new hire." See a faculty profile here, and coverage here, and here. A PDF of the faculty list (in case it has changed) is here. WTF? Why hire someone who is bad at tests?Oh well...
More on Graduation Protests
Posted on April 28, 2008I am posting this on behalf of someone else. No matter how many times I say this, people will still forget that I AM NOT THE AUTHOR OF THIS POST.***So, it seems like the protest plans are gathering steam. Not only will it be the hoary standbys in orange jumpsuits, but some actual lawyers and law students may come protest...
Guess Who's Coming to Graduation!
Posted on April 27, 2008A bunch of orange-suited protesters with faux electrodes tied to their balls!--- On Thu, 4/24/08, actagainsttorture@riseup.net wrote:From: actagainsttorture@riseup.netSubject: Fire, Disbar, Prosecute John Yoo: Protest at 5/17 Graduation,Boalt Law SchoolTo: actagainsttorture@riseup...
Tele-update
Posted on April 24, 2008So: the administration has responded to the Telebears "scandal" (see comments for full email).Key quote: "Modifications will be made, beginning with the Spring 2009 iteration of Tele-BEARS, so that the appointments are assigned in a more randomized fashion...
California Faculty Swap Three-Way
Posted on April 24, 2008As far as I can tell, Cynthia at The Shark scooped everyone on this tidbit: we didn't lose Dean O to UCLA. In fact, we may have merely traded her in on a newer model.Cal Law published an article explaining that the "Boalt Hall School of Law [sic]" will be filling an academic support position with one Krist*n Holmq*ist, currently at UCLA...
Thou Shalt Count to Three, and Three Only
Posted on April 24, 2008I guess current students got an e-mail about this, but alumni should know that there is an official memo on the name of our school. First, to all the law firms out there, please, please, update your associates' profiles. An example of the more egregious violations include:"University of Berkeley School of Law" (for undergrad and law)...
Straight From The Horse's Mouth Part Deux
Posted on April 23, 2008A commentator points out that the original content of this post was incredibly petty. He totally busted me, and I apologize. At any rate, this is the professors quotes thread for this spring.
Who the Heck is Joe Nation?
Posted on April 23, 2008The following rather startling email, sent to the campaign of one Joe Nation, was cc'd to me this morning. While the Boalt Student who wrote the letter has asked that I redact his name and contact information, he has also given me permission to put any interested Boalt students in touch with him, behind the scenes...
Goodbye grants, you will be missed...
Posted on April 23, 2008The financial aid office has released offer letters on Telebears. It's official: if you plan to work at a firm, you will (most likely) lose any chance at a grant.I don't feel this is getting enough attention. The $4k DE grant for summer public interest work is well-known among current and future students...
Applause for John Yoo?
Posted on April 22, 2008John Yoo closed his last formal constitutional law class of the semester today. Going in, I put the odds of perfunctory end-of-class applause at 50%. On the one hand, he?s an effective and endearing professor. On the other?well, you know ? the electrodes-to-genitals thing...
Hard Drives Fair Game at the Border
Posted on April 22, 2008This SF Gate article discusses a recent Ninth Circuit holding. Apparently that there is no 4th Amendment violation when border patrol agents examine the content of travelers' laptops without probable cause:Border agents would need grounds for suspicion before conducting a body search, but a "piece of property simply does not implicate the same dignity and privacy concerns as highly intrusive searches of the person," the court said...
Administration Response Email on Bar Passage Rate
Posted on April 17, 2008Attached (in the comments) is the administration's email to 3Ls regarding last year's bar passage rate.Essentially, the administration finds that class rank and bar passage are correlated. And they're looking at helping "those people" with a pilot assistance program...
Supreme Court upholds use of lethal injections
Posted on April 16, 2008From the Chron:"The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the most common method of lethal injection executions, likely clearing the way to resume executions that have been on hold for nearly 7 months. The justices, by a 7-2 vote, turned back a constitutional challenge to the procedures in place in Kentucky, which uses three drugs to sedate, paralyze and kill inmates...
There is Something Ironic About Where I Now Sit
Posted on April 16, 2008Speaking of surveys, we touched on this earlier issue last fall, but it is happening at University of Chicago Law: no more internet in class. Discussion also at WSJ Law Blog. According to the article, ten other law schools have already called to ask about the move...
Let's Out TeleBears!
Posted on April 16, 2008Something about the TeleBears Phase I appointment times is fishy.And unless you work in the Registrar's office, DO's office, or on Pluto, you know EXACTLY what I am talking about.The truth doesn't have to be a speculative matter, and it doesn't have to be taken as an article of faith...
Breaking UCB News: "Random" = Linear
Posted on April 16, 2008Initially I thought I would need a couple hundred responses to confidently confirm or dis-confirm the TeleBears rumors.But after about 90, the picture is clear. Painfully clear.Excel spreadsheet with all data (IP addressed deleted)PDF of registration dates by law classPDF of registration dates by undergraduate applicationLink to the survey...
Bitter? Who's Bitter?
Posted on April 15, 2008Obama's been criticized for saying that small town Americans are bitter and angry. McCain and Clinton have jumped on these statements, claiming that they show how out of touch Obama is.I guess maybe I fall into the category of an "elitist", as I'm here at Boalt getting a top tier legal education...
How the Drug Czars Are Squishing the Poor People
Posted on April 15, 2008While other bay area bloggers are busy screwing up this country's future, something that actually matters is passing unnoticed by all but the very unfortunate.You may or may not have seen the recent NY Times article about changes health insurers are making to prescription copay policies...
Lonely Little Fredo
Posted on April 14, 2008Alberto Gonzales can't find a job. Instead, he has been forced to hit the lecture circuit. Which, as it turns out, isn't a bad racket. He pulled in $191,000 last year, billing fees in excess of $30,000 apiece from places like Washington University in St...
Implications of Legal Ethics
Posted on April 12, 2008This AP article isn't new news, but it's well-written, includes color photos, and arrived on my doorstep today. Here's a snip for your thoughts:An innocent man was behind bars. His name was Alton Logan. He did not kill a security guard in a McDonald's restaurant in January 1982...
Everything is Bigger in Texas
Posted on April 12, 2008Would you like to do something educational this fall?The Texas courts anticipate being overwhelmed by what at least one journalist has called "the biggest child welfare case in Texas history."Tom Vic, partner at the Texas firm Vick Carney & Smith, is seeking the names, addresses and phone numbers of family lawyers willing to volunteer as ad litems for the 400 children who were removed from polygamist compound in Eldorado...
Academic Freedom, Horrible, Horrible, Freedom
Posted on April 11, 2008Predictably, there's some discussion going around in the moonbeam circles about firing Prof. Yoo. Prof. Leiter's reaction is exactly where mine is. Prof. Lederman is a bit more reserved, but offers a great perspective as a former OLC lawyer and current academic (and prolific and insightful blogger)...
Play! Win!
Posted on April 10, 2008Announcing Nuts & Boalt?s first-ever ?Try to Write a Worse Sentence Than Chancellor Birgeneau? Contest! Everyone can play. No skill required. In fact, it?s actively discouraged. Here?s what we?re trying to top?a sentence from his recent email to the entire UC community about?well, I?m not sure what it?s about...
The Dean O Bomb
Posted on April 10, 2008Wow. Speechless.Dean O has announced that this will be her last year at Boalt. Beginning next year she will be the new Assistant Dean of Students Services and Director of Admissions at the brand-new law school at UC Irvine.Full email posted in the comments.
It is all about the fighting...or negotiating.
Posted on April 09, 2008Outside Competition tryouts for Boalt's Moot Court, Trial and ADR teams begin next week. All of these programs are excellent ways to boost your skills, make close friends, and kick the crap out of Hastings (hopefully). It is also an excellent resume builder---employers value Moot Court experience highly...
Building Renovations Update - Open Thread
Posted on April 09, 2008DE sent an email (which I have copied into the comments of this post) regarding building renovation plans.Your thoughts...
Looking Forward
Posted on April 07, 2008A helpful little bird shares via email that the registrar's office will make the fall 2008 class schedule available online this Friday, April 11.I realize we do not yet know the details of the fall schedule, but because Tele-bears Phase I appointments are looming (mine, for example, is Monday the 25th*), it might be helpful to open a classes/professor/schedule thread now...
Lil' Punks!
Posted on April 07, 2008Question: Where did the (oversized and obnoxiously charming) pictures in the lobby go?Answer: After multiple vandalism incidents, they were removed to a safe place.
Humanitarian Relief or an Abuse of Power?
Posted on April 07, 2008So far, 401 children have been taken off a polygamist compound and into legal custody by the state of Texas. The raid was prompted by a call from a 16 year old girl - but if the police have found her, they haven't released that information to the media...
A Striking Contrast
Posted on April 06, 2008The California Senate just approved the appointment of two men to the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB).Appointee John Harris has owned thoroughbred horses since 1958 and is a prominent breeder of racehorses. He was elected a director of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association (CTBA ) in 1974, served as the organization?s legislative chairman for 20 years, and was twice elected CTBA president...
Cal Bar Prez Takes Aim at Billable Hours
Posted on April 05, 2008Jeff Bleich, former Boaltie and current President of the California State Bar disfavors billable hours. He recently offered up some compelling reasons for is position, in what the WSJ Law Blog dubbed a "manifesto" calling for reform.First, Bleich offers a professional angle ...
Happy Admit Day
Posted on April 04, 2008Hi, are you an admitted student? I was one of those too, about a year ago. Please don't tell me you are pacing around some hotel room here in Berkeley, frantically researching the school, and cramming for the big day tomorrow . . . ? Relax, it's not an interview -- we already know we want you, so if anything you are interviewing us!Here is abetter idea: get off the computer, come down to Thalassa, and have a drink...
Potholes and nonneutered dogs
Posted on April 03, 2008Here's an excellent discussion in the Chron of the rising concerns among some Berkeley citizens and businesses that the City has lost sight of its real purpose.From the article:Berkeley is finding that having its own foreign policy isn't cheap. The city's recent dustup with the U...
Re. That Letter from UC's Police Chief
Posted on April 02, 2008I am impressed with UC Police Chief Victoria Harrison's letter to students today which, due to it's length, I have reproduced in the comments. My personal view (perhaps not shared by everyone here) is that as a body of civil servants, law enforcement officers often deserve more credit than they receive...
Waive Goodbye to Environmental Law
Posted on April 02, 2008Alright, back up the moving trucks. Yesterday the Department of Homeland Security issued itself two waivers to enable itself to completely bypass all environmental laws to construct a 470-mile chunk of border fence through a vast section of the Southwest...
Subtle changes to notice on N&B
Posted on April 01, 2008In December, Armen threw out the possibility that N&B may seek future advertising revenue in order to maintain the quality of the site. To our surprise, the response was overwhelmingly positive (as seen in comments to the post).Beginning today, N&B is launching a new paid advertisement service intended to pair our sponsors with relevant web links...
Hotel Guests
Posted on April 01, 2008In 2004, just after I got my acceptance letter from Boalt, Prof. Yoo published an op/ed in the LA Times where he claimed that we shouldn't treat terror suspects captured on the battlefield as hotel guests. I wrote a letter to the editor (published) with a zinger: "The Hanoi Hilton wasn't exactly a 5-star hotel...
A 'Peer to Peer' Legal Aid Clinic
Posted on March 30, 2008Speaking as we have been of legal aid (see generally here; here), I share this good deed the kids over at USF School of Law have been up to.According to the linked article, the record industry has been sending letters to college students they believe may have shared music online...
Nuts, Churches, Zealots, Child Sacrifices!
Posted on March 29, 2008Here is a news story of from this week that I keep thinking about:Diabetic Girl Dies as Parents Pray Instead of Calling For Medical Aid.The headline makes it sound like Mom and Dad exercised poor judgement in a rapidly changing situation. But that's not quite what happened...
Your own backyard...
Posted on March 29, 2008The New York Times (aka "the paper" to my NY friends and family) apparently has us all figured out. Check out the write-up here.
And the winner is...
Posted on March 27, 2008Mark Yudof, our new university president. Read more here.Of note: Yudof is also a "lawyer and expert in free speech, education and constitutional law" at the University of Texas. Since the UCOP office is in Oakland, it may not be outside the realm of possibilities that we'll see him soon here at Boalt...
W for Wrong
Posted on March 25, 2008I watch The Daily Show/Colbert Report religiously (true to my racial* preferences), but today I couldn't change the channel because of Frontline's "Bush's War." It's really surreal to imagine that there are some Boalties now who were not even in college when this War started...
US News: Great Rankings or Greatest Rankings?
Posted on March 25, 2008[HT to The Shark and CF] Boalt is now 6th in USN&WR rankings, ahead of Chicago (which lost Sunstein AND the internet in the classroom) and UPenn, which as I've said before, does not belong in the top 10. Kudos Boalties, now on to the difficult task of not turning into DBs...
Vernal Equinox?
Posted on March 21, 2008[Homer orders a weight loss tape that's supposed to contain subliminal messages. Little does he know that the tape they send him is a vocabulary builder]Lisa: Dad, do you know what today is?Homer: The vernal equinox?Lisa: No! It's been two weeks since you got that tape...
Westlaw search of the year
Posted on March 19, 2008To my friends seeking a career in litigation: I only hope you have a deposition one day that is HALF this entertaining.Well, it probably wasn't entertaining to the attorney at the time, but hilarious for all of us to read about it afterward!The best summary of the transcript has been provided by the Court:"In fact, Wider used the word ?fuck? and variants thereof no less than 73 times...
This time Harvard's reducing tuition at the law school
Posted on March 18, 2008You may recall a prior post concerning Harvard's tuition reduction for undergrad students. Stanford and Yale (and others with equally ridiculous endowments) matched shortly thereafter.Today Harvard announces a new plan that would eliminate tuition for 3Ls who promise to work 5 years for non-profits or government...
March Bracketness?
Posted on March 17, 2008So the best three weeks of college sports / illegal gambling are about to descend upon us, and I just have one question: is someone running the Boalt pool this year? Cause I ain't heard nothin'.Now, I know it will be hard to imitate the inimitable MW, who has run the pool in years past but is now here only in spirit and through the occasional North Oakland house party...
The Few, the Learned, the . . . Cuddly?
Posted on March 17, 2008It has come to my attention that each of the following gentlemen-Boalties strikes one or more of my lady-peers as "cuddly." The list, which is set forth below, is best left to speak for itself: 1) Eric Bib*r (Property), from Jeopardy2) Paul Schw*rtz (Information Privacy), from Brooklyn3) Hect*r (Manager, Cafe Zeb), from the other side of my morning coffee 4) John Y*o (Con Law: Structural Issues), from the Bush Administration5) Christopher Edl*y (Interim Dean), from the Obama Administration and the Campaign For Boalt HallThese people have nothing in common, right?Wrong! Apparently, they seem to have the better half of Boalt Hall in common! This is fascinating...
Respek
Posted on March 16, 2008Hey, whoever brought this case, are you listening? Cool! Just wanted to say I respect and appreciate your work. That's all. Now, blow on that party whistle, pick up that cowboy hat, and get your bad self back over to the keg! There is still 36 hours of celebratory drinking before the clerk stamps their appeal!
Question Begging, Et Alii
Posted on March 14, 2008Twice today I have heard abuse of the phrase, "It begs the question . . . "ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!Misuse of that phrase is a pet target of my uptight side, right up there with hearing "milk" pronounced as "melk" and "height" as "heighth," as well as overuse of the semi-colon and legal latin, conjunctive use of "thus," use of "complicated" in place of "complex," "creative" instead of "imaginative" and ...
Washington and Lee Cuts Class for its 3L's
Posted on March 13, 2008A commentator in an earlier post asks: what's wrong with the current structure of legal education?The Dean at Washington and Lee, supported by a unanimous faculty, answer that question thusly: "For some time, members of the legal profession, practitioners, judges and scholars alike, have urged law schools to place greater emphasis on professionalism and learning in context...
Can helping homeless hurt them?
Posted on March 13, 2008Here's an article in the Chron regarding attorneys helping fight homeless citations.Essential premise: had attorneys not fought a particular homeless man's citations, he would not have died by OD'ing in the city's public library.Do well-intentioned lawyers actually end up doing more harm than good? It's a particularly relevant question for us to ask as (1) we have a ton of homeless in Berkeley; and (2) we've got a number of students and professors who volunteer in this way.
Our Mazillion Dollar Makeover
Posted on March 13, 2008My fair lady of the stacks shares a few words about upcoming Boalt Hall renovations:At the Town Hall Meeting [ ] some of you expressed hope that we would be able to upgrade the Boalt Hall facility. As Dean Edley noted [see his rather adept handling of the question at 10:39, here], we have already begun work on this, and we intend to step up our renovation activities this summer (you'll be hearing from us soon about the details)...
Live Blogging D.E.'s Town Hall
Posted on March 12, 2008There is no reason for me to be the only person doing this, especially if anyone else was thinking of doing something similar. But how to make it easy for others to play along from home, or the office, or the other side of Booth Auditorium? Here is what I came up with:I'll transcribe the questions and answers in the comments section, in real time...
Is Law School Really That Awful?
Posted on March 12, 2008The law blog reports on a pamphlet that will be distributed as part of a "mental health toolkit distributed to ABA Student Division Presidents. I do not downplay stress and depression. These are serious threats to health and well being of young people in general?not just law students...
Semper Fi Code Pink
Posted on March 11, 2008Awwww, I just had fond memories cross my mind while watching the Daily Show [No. 35] report by MAJ Rob Riggle (USMC) on the Marine recruiting fiasco. I'll link to the video clip as soon as it's up tomorrow. Money line: "Wouldn't it be great if there was somebody sworn to defend that freedom of speech?"
I've got a bucket of SH!T and I know how to use it!
Posted on March 11, 2008We've all heard of the tree sitters protesting the stadium expansion. But it would be a parallel tree sitting protest that made news today, this time regarding the school's BP contract. See Here.To tell you the truth, I've been skipping a lot of these updates to not bring attention to their cause(s)...
A time and a place
Posted on March 11, 2008Thank you again Patrick for live-blogging the DE event. It gave me the opportunity to go to the 49ers event instead. I encourage people to see the town hall post below this very long one.For those who missed the 49ers event, it featured the 49ers' Executive VP of Football Operations and the 49ers' Football Operations Analyst...
Seriously?
Posted on March 10, 2008What the?WHAT?My Con Law professor just explained that the Mann Act is a relic past its prime. I wish.***Update:Now that I have recovered a bit, I can register my disappointment. Other Boalties with whom I have spoken today have given me knowing smile or a wise nod, and said things like: "I'm not overly surprised...
"Waste" By Any Other Name
Posted on March 10, 2008. . . weekend SF Gate article about highly educated Indian women, married to highly skilled professionals, who are not allowed to work because of their immigration status:[There are] thousands of women who came to the United States on the coattails of their husbands' H-1B visas, granted to highly skilled professionals to fill jobs at the software companies and technology labs of Silicon Valley...
Brain Enhancement is Wrong, Right?
Posted on March 09, 2008A commentator in another thread recently mentioned drug abuse for intellectual inhancement. The NY Times ran a story about the ethical implications of this phenomenon today, and it is worth a read.The piece asks some interesting questions. Is there a meaningful distinction between substance abuse in athletics and academics (because unlike athletes, intellectuals' successes drive social progress)? Is there an ethical distinction between a scenario in which an employee chooses to use, say, Adderall, and a scenario that person is asked to use Adderall by their employer? Will we someday put asterisks after Nobel Prize winners' names?One comment in particular caught me off guard...
Really? The Claim . . .
Posted on March 08, 2008I am long-time fan of the NY Times' Health section column, "The Claim: . . ." This week's piece is no let-down. While we have always heard about the dehydrating effects of caffeine, studies suggest suggests moderate amounts of coffee are only as dehydrating as moderate amounts of ...
WOA Woes
Posted on March 07, 2008Five papers due - about 5 hours each.Twenty three cases to read - about 225 pages.Class twice a week - about 17 hours.Relevance to the "real world" - extremely high.Moot Court requirement - fulfilled.Grade - Pass/Fail.Credits - one.Shouldn't WOA be worth more than this?
Friday's lighter side...
Posted on March 07, 2008Possibly best gag to ever hit Mac-o-files at Boalt?What's the verdict? Evil or funny?
Does LRAP Need More Funding?
Posted on March 07, 2008More than 40 Boalt Hall Student Groups have signed on to a letter encouraging the Dean to "take substantive and expeditious action in improving LRAP to keep pace with the rapidly increasing tuition."I have copied the letter into the comments (rather than post here) due to its length...
A firm-issued iPhone?
Posted on March 06, 2008Secretly (or not-so-secretly) hope that your firm is the first to adopt the iPhone to replace the Blackberry? Apple's taken one step closer to allowing that to happen today when it announced the beta version of "Enterprise" - software that makes the iPhone work with your firm's existing email and calendar exchange servers...
Do People Care About Comments? People Do
Posted on March 05, 2008A commenter wrote in another thread:Can we talk about the media coverage on OPEC and oil prices? I'm not sure anything has happened recently except the fall of the dollar. But none of the major media outlets are discussing whether oil prices have effectively changed in euros or any other currency...
Next Topic
Posted on March 04, 2008#1 WTF, Berkeley Law. These new "deluxe" automatic paper towel dispensers provide less paper than my receipt from the Wells Fargo ATM.#2: WTF, Zeb. Not only did you raise coffee prices this year, but now you shrank the size of the cups. I smell rebellion...
SF Legal Aid & The Panhandling Law
Posted on March 02, 2008Interesting SF Gate article discussing on San Francisco's panhandling law. The City feels the law is being frustrated by the court calendar and by free legal aid attorneys who they perceive as 'over lawyering' the cases. Defense attorneys, on the other hand, feel the law targets people who are down on their luck and trying to get by, and that as a method to identify and deliver services to needy populations, the law is a flop...
An Ugly Little Tree Dispute
Posted on February 29, 2008If you install solar panels on your California property, and then sue your neighbor demanding their redwoods removed, you might win. Never mind that you may have come the nuisance, etc.--the trees gotta' go. The irony of Solar Panel Guy asking Redwood Guy (both of whom probably voted for Nader in 2000) to cut down his trees is not lost on this blogger ...
Prop 98: No more Berkeley rent control?
Posted on February 28, 2008There's a lot of hassles that come with living in Berkeley. However, one benefit to students is rent control. Upon moving into an apartment, future rent increases are determined by Berkeley's rent stabilization board.This benefit ends if Proposition 98 passes...
More tech tips
Posted on February 28, 2008For those of you who have wished the Bluebook was web-accessible and searchable, your wish has been granted.Best of all: it's free if you plug in the ISBN of a print copy.I'm not one to get excited by such a development - I'm quite proud of my ability thus far to avoid the thing as much as possible...
How NOT to Litigate Patents
Posted on February 27, 2008The recent order by Judge Matsch has been making the news and blog rounds lately. (See here, here (now corrected), and here). ALL the reports that I have seen so far are grossly inaccurate in their reporting of the procedural posture of this case. A quick look on PACER reveals that Judge Matsch overturned the jury's verdict a couple of years ago because of the conduct of the McDermott lawyers...
Harvard Frees Academic Resources
Posted on February 27, 2008An inside source (hint: he navigates by smell) tipped off the ALR class that last week Harvard made a decision: any article published by Harvard faculty must also be published in a free database. The basic notion is that information produced by scholars should be free...
20% of Hastings Students Get A's, 80% "Unhappy With Grading System"
Posted on February 26, 2008A commentator below argues bar stats suggest Boalties are soft. Yet meanwhile, a recent survey suggests our friends across the bay wish they could be more like us!*Okay, that was a bit overstated. But the survey does reveal that Hastings students wish their grading system was more like ours: about 80% of UC Hastings believe their 20/60/20 grading curve puts them at a disadvantage on the job market against Boalt and UCLA grads...
The Cult of Minnesota
Posted on February 25, 2008Are you from Minnesota? Do you know someone who is? If so, then I'm sure that person will not waste a second to remind you that the Coen Brothers are from Minnesota. Juno? Minnesota through and through. One of the hostesses for the E! after-party coverage couldn't stop mentioning that she's from Minnesota...
1L Town Hall, Part I
Posted on February 25, 2008The 1L Town Hall is coming up (sort of -- March 11) and suggestions are being solicited for topics to be explicitly addressed. Three things I am burning to know:Boalt's bar passage rate has been declining, with a substantial drop last July. How is the UC Berkeley School of Law responding?To what extent will the imminent Boalt construction affect my quality of life as a student here? E...
Michael Clayton
Posted on February 24, 2008I watched Michael Clayton last night, and I thought about doing a little review, until I discovered that Slate had already done a far better, far more thoughtful job than I ever could. Instead, I'll point you Slate's way, and share three moments from their review that I found thought provoking:Moment 1: Do the studies showing high rates of depression among lawyers tell us something about the profession or the people who go into it? Is it possible to design study that would answer this question?Moment 2: As a former prosecutor turned perpetual associate turned fixer for the firm, Clayton is dispatched to get Edens under control...
New NALP Deadline for Accepting Employment Offers: 45 Days
Posted on February 23, 2008From the ABA Journal:Under commonly accepted recruiting guidelines, second-year law students have been able to ponder several summer associate offers for months at a time. No more.New guidelines adopted by NALP for a trial period now require second-years to decide within 45 days whether to accept a law firm's offer of summer employment, reports the National Law Journal...
Aim High
Posted on February 22, 2008As a 2L, I flirted with the idea of joining the JAG Corps of one of the branches of the military. When interviewing with an Air Force CPT, I asked, "so what sets the Air Force apart from the others?"His answer is the topic of a Time article via Yahoo...
Pleaded v. Pled
Posted on February 22, 2008My UC-writing-teacher-friend shares:Hey Patrick,I regret to inform you that the difference between "pleaded and "pled" is that "pled" is not a word. The past tense/past participle of "plead" is "pleaded." Spell-check says its a word and maybe some dictionaries, but ask the OED and it's a no go...
Own (and drive) a piece of history
Posted on February 22, 2008In late December of last year, a local politician was a victim of a violent crime. While sitting at the intersection of 51st Street and Shattuck, California State Senator Don Perata (D-Oak) noticed a man with a ski mask approach him. Before he knew it, a handgun was pointed at him "gangster style" and he was being asked to remove himself from his vehicle...
Preventing Future Tragedies
Posted on February 21, 2008Sadly, school shootings appear to have become a regular part of our society. Beginning with Columbine (to my recollection at least, though it probably wasn't the first), there have been a number of successful and unsuccessful attempts by mentally ill individuals to end their lives while taking a number of others with them...
Living In The Wild, Wild West
Posted on February 21, 2008Gray wolves in the Northern Rockies are no longer listed as endangered.One would think that, as a supporter of wolf re-introduction, I would be thrilled by that news. And I would be, if I thought it was the product of a candid assessment of the animals' recovery in the western United States instead of just another road sign in the back-and-forth political wrangling that is wolf politics...
Losing to Idaho
Posted on February 20, 2008When you are from the state -- make that the great state -- of Idaho, you take every chance you can to trump up your communal moment in the limelight. Especially if it is a moment that doesn't involve a hate crime, a fundamentalist political organization of dubious genealogy, a US Senator, or potatoes...
9th Circuit Day, Part II
Posted on February 20, 20089th Circuit Day made law.com via analysis of fajita-gate's possible effects on municipality liability for off-duty employee conduct.Or, more accurately, 9th Circuit Day made law.com via analysis of the Judges' behavior at oral argument in fajita-gate...
10 Things I Wish I Knew About Berkeley & Boalt
Posted on February 19, 2008Whether the ominous looking paint marks in the courtyard will turn into jackhammers, heavy equipment, and scurrying dudes in hardhats and suspenders before, during, or after my final examsWhat is being built at Oxford and Allston, and how tall it will be when it is doneWhether I will, or will not, be caught if I blow through fastrak on my motorcycle, and whether the experiment is worth four bucks and a brief journey to the paying side of the legal systemWhat the reading room in the library would feel like if the north wall were anything other than coldly blank and barrenB0b Berr*ng's range of visual perception, in feet, and whether he navigates by sonarThe location of a green dry cleaner in BerkeleyThe name of the monkey and the location of the hat that determines grades, and whether said monkey wears a fez and carries a watchWhat Robert J...
Registrar's Office: Brace for constructive criticism
Posted on February 18, 2008Here's an informal poll: how many times have you read the BBB so far this semester? Me: Zero. You: likely batting less than .500.I find this a serious problem. The BBB was a very important tool my first year. I'd receive it via PDF in my email and I would read it all the way through...
Zero Tolerance
Posted on February 15, 2008Rumor has it that a certain K professor has instituted a zero tolerance policy as regards students coming late to class.Rumor also has it that a certain N&B admin has instituted a zero tolerance policy as regards comparing those who characterize people who support the troops as war-mongers...
Better to know (when for the hell of it)?
Posted on February 15, 2008Dean O has announced that class rankings (for the Class of 2009) are available per request. From her email: Please remember that disclosure of your class rank is permittedexclusively for applications for judicial clerkships for aftergraduation. You may also disclose it if you are applying for a lawteaching job...
Dildos Now Legal in Texas
Posted on February 14, 2008Permit yet another non-Boalt diversion from yet another non-Boalt student...Just it time for Valentine's Day, the Fifth Circuit helps the public learn to help themselves. In this opinion, the Fifth Circuit strikes down Texas's "obscene-device statute" as unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment...
Sharing the spotlight
Posted on February 14, 2008I apologize. This post has absolutely nothing to do with law, our campus, or even the city of Berkeley itself.Rather, I'm posting it because we, each as a college, a town and a school of law, have looked ridiculous to the outside world for a number of things recently and I think it's time to share the spotlight with those students across the bay...
Alito Tunes in, Dissents
Posted on February 13, 2008Only year after the show went off the air, Justice Alito has discovered The Sopranos. And now he is pissed off and speaking out -- apparently the image of Italian-Americans as portrayed by the show conflicts with a strict interpretation of the textual history of our country's Italian immigrants...
/Something Relevant to Boalt Here/
Posted on February 13, 2008I had a BLAST at 9th Circuit Day, today. I thought it would be interesting, but I had no idea it would be fun. Please enjoy these quotable moments -- not verbatim by any stretch -- from the arguments:Judge Quotes:Attorney: "The Immigration Judge does not believe the petitioner says who he says he is...
Photos from yesterdays protest, counter-protest, and counter-counter-protest
Posted on February 13, 2008Crazies on both sides.
Fire the NYT!
Posted on February 12, 2008Speaking of the increasingly unreadable Paul Krugman, is it just me, or is the whole stable of NYT columnists about two months past the drink-by date on the milk carton?Tom Friedman has been writing the same column since 1997 ("Globalization: Wow!"), Nicholas Kristof is the guilty conscience I don't want to hear from at 8:15 AM, Bill Kristol's new column is generated entirely from a robot stored at the RNC, Bob Herbert is right but boring, and Maureen Dowd is now completely indistinguishable from one of the Heathers after losing a student council race...
"Nixonland" and "Clinton Rules"
Posted on February 12, 2008Not to step on the toes of our Election Wizzard, I share what I think is a very well done editorial from Paul Krugman.As he points out, supporters of each candidate should have no trouble rallying behind the other if he or she gets the nod.Why, then, is there so much venom out there? (Not from Boalties, of course!)
Berkeley City Council v. Marines - Part Deux
Posted on February 12, 2008Have you had the privilege today (as I have) to see Berkeley at its finest?From the Chron:Anyone going tonight? Discussion is supposed to start at 9:00. It's sure to entertain.Anyone have a prediction re: action(s) of the city council when the entire nation is watching? Resulting aftermath?
Yes We Can, Iran!
Posted on February 12, 2008The comments to Patrick's post below suggest the best test of your feelings about Obama is whether that Will.I.Am video inspires hope or creepiness. In the interests of party unity, I found a similar video everyone can rally around (except for the 1.5 Republicans who read this blog).
PI/PS Day Blues
Posted on February 11, 2008Despite all the criticisms of CDO that I've seen here, I've been offering them the benefit of the doubt since August. When a meeting with one of the counselors didn't answer any of my questions, I figured it was just that I hadn't known what to ask. Now, after PI/PS Day, I'm about ready to give up on the CDO...
"Work Spouses"
Posted on February 10, 2008Time for a somewhat light-hearted reprieve from the recent string of more serious blog posts.I stumbled across this article about platonic work flirting and found it amusing because I think it applies to our law school more than most work environments...
Representatives who ride the short bus
Posted on February 06, 2008This is really chapping my @$$. I consider myself a fairly reasonable, moderate political individual. Yet I live in a town that's hell bent on letting everyone know it can out-liberal the next town. The most recent example of our wonderful city council's antics is the anti-Marines resolution...
A Little Hillary Never Hurt
Posted on February 05, 2008A quick interruption of the EW lovefest [An aside: Apparently EW didn't realize that his TNR bookmark was actually directing him to N&B these past few weeks, but his confusion has been rewarded with heaps of praise from the commenters. I'm enjoying the EW posts myself, but I can assure you, anonymous commenters, that if you ever met the myth that is EW, you would never again seek him out for advice on anything]...
Final Predictions?
Posted on February 05, 2008Here's mine:California: Obama 47.1, Hillary 45.4Nationally: Hillary 13 states, Obama 9 statesTotal votes cast: Hillary +610,000Media storyline: David (aka Obama) fights to an impressive near-draw with Goliath (Hillary). She wins this round, but he has the momentum and the favorable schedule...
"Don't Blow It Obama" Update
Posted on February 04, 2008The campaign figures it out. From a memo from campaign manage David Plouffe (reprinted at the Atlantic's blog). They need to keep pushing this -- you already see the ludicrous, last-6-hours-only reframing that Obama is now the favorite tomorrow...which just isn't true (yet; check back in 12 hours)...
California Dreaming
Posted on February 04, 2008Speaking of the tightening race in California, there's a host of polls out today showing what a lot of us have suspected for some time: California is a toss-up for the Dems. We've got Suffolk (Obama +1), Rasumussen (Obama +1), Reuters (Obama +4), and Mason-Dixon (Hillary +9)...
CA Q&A w/ EW
Posted on February 04, 2008A commenter to my post below asks a couple of sharp questions, and, easily flattered, I can't resist answering.What indications are there, if any, of who will win the mail-in ballots on Tuesday? The CW is that Hillary's position in CA is stronger than it seems, because almost a quarter of the state has already voted through early absentee balloting and has thus "missed out" on the Obama surge...
Schadenfreudengland
Posted on February 03, 2008Schadenfreudengland (n.) (shäd'n-froi'd-ing-land) The act of taking pleasure from the no-good, cheating, classless New England Patriots finally getting what was coming to them.
Is Obama About to Blow It?
Posted on February 03, 2008Like the Dude dealing with Walter as they make the hand-off of his dirty undies, I'm deeply worried Obama is fucking this up. Yes, he has the momentum, the newspapers, the money, the endorsements, the press, and the pundits working in his favor. But there's one thing he doesn't have working in his favor: the numbers...
The Networking Dilemma
Posted on February 01, 2008I keep hearing from CDO, the professors, and the LRW/WOA instructors, that my best resource for finding a summer job is the student body. This makes a great deal of sense - other students are much more likely to give us the lowdown on what a particular employer is like...
Why I Can't Take the East Coast Media Seriously When They Pretend To Take California Seriously
Posted on January 31, 2008On a day when all the candidates are in California, we find this geographic oddity in the very first line of a Slate article on the state of the campaign: For the first time today, all of the presidential candidates are east of the Mississippi.How about free maps for all political journalists!It's fun for everyone when the DC media mob -- which occasionally goes years without making it west of 36th & M in Georgetown -- starts to write deep-think pieces about California...
Someone Out There IS Thinking!
Posted on January 29, 2008I'm not exactly Cell Phone Guy (most days I don't even carry it with me), but I think this idea is flippin' cool:BART is beginning a four month test of near-field technology for ticket sales. If successful, it would allow people to pay for a ticket automatically as their phone passes through the gate...
Do you politically match your law firm?
Posted on January 29, 2008This article will hopefully be interesting to the 80% of you Berkeley students who plan to head off to the world of Big Law.From the article:DLA Piper has given the largest amount to date, gifting $356,100 (£180,300) to Hillary Clinton?s cause, making the firm her top contributor...
The Next Kennedy?
Posted on January 29, 2008Sunday, Caroline Kennedy wrote a New York Times editorial endorsing Barack Obama for president. She wrote that qualities of "leadership, character, and judgment" were more important in this election than policy choices and experience. She compared Obama to her father, saying that both men shared a vision of the American Dream that people desperately needed to believe in...
More California Election Madness
Posted on January 28, 2008California has a unique primary system. In past primary elections, "decline-to-state" voters could show up to their polling place and vote as either Republicans or Democrats by requesting the ballot.However, for this year's CA presidential primary, the California Republican Party decided to not allow "decline-to-state" voters the opportunity to request and vote with a Republican ballot...
A Little Help Here
Posted on January 28, 2008I'd like some help from the N&B community. Like many of you, I'm sure, I've been seeing tons of ads both for and against Props 94-97, regarding Indian gaming. I'll admit to some ignorance on this one, and doing some research on the issues hasn't cleared things up for me...
Confession of a 1L Gunner
Posted on January 27, 2008Forgive me Armen, for I have sinned.I have lusted after a professor. I have desired to know her - not in the Biblical sense, but as two intellectuals, united on a higher plane than that of ordinary mortals. I have waited, all semester, to feel the thrill of eye contact in a crowded classroom, that jolt of electricity when I asked a question that makes her search the vast library catalog in her head for the answer...
...Or You Could Call a Congressman
Posted on January 25, 2008[Ashley, a 2L doing a field placement at the EFF, asked me to post what looks like a media release. Hyperlinks slightly modified by me. Enjoy. -- Armen]***As you may or may not know, this Monday there will be a vote on an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)...
Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children?
Posted on January 24, 2008[Illustrious Co-Blogger Disco Stu is having problems with Blogger. He asked me to post this in his stead. -- Armen] ***Alumni, specifically Boalties who were there in 2003. Surely you've seen the news that you're getting a refund. It could be over $10,000 for some of you...
Quick Notes From Dean Edley 3L Town Hall
Posted on January 24, 2008- Edley and Shelanski were unwilling to talk about the drop in bar passage rates, claiming it is due to "very unfortunate circumstances," and that they will tell the student body when they find out the reasons.- Edley & Shelanski: Class registration times are NOT based on your student ID number despite anecdotal evidence to the opposite...
Two Lunch Break Questions
Posted on January 24, 2008When there's nothing good on TV at lunch, I get to reading (oh no!). Today, I got to wondering too:1. Why hasn't the California Law Review updated its website? Here's the current issue. Sadly, no links to the articles. If you don't link to it, no one can read it folks...
Teach Me, Coach Me, but Prosecute HIM!
Posted on January 20, 2008This NY Times article describes an example of what is, to me, the most compelling argument against the death penalty: sometimes we screw up.The short version of the story is that Virginia prosecutors coached a witness to lie in order to achieve a murder conviction against his confederate...
Freedom of the Press
Posted on January 19, 2008While perusing the Oakland Tribune, I noticed an article about a 10-year-old boy who had been shot during his piano lesson. A stray bullet, shot during a robbery of the gas station across the street, had gone through the wall of the room he was in. This raises all sorts of wonderful questions about gun control (in response to the incident, Peralta is sponsoring a buyback program) and the Second Amendment (exactly, what do those, pesky commas mean, anyway?)...
Nevada Caucus Pregame
Posted on January 18, 2008Things are getting exciting! If I know EW, he's already gone to Vegas to campaign...I've been curious about the recently dismissed caucus lawsuit. I'm not familiar with the pleadings or the substance (here's one link on the odd math), but here's what troubled me...
iPorn?
Posted on January 16, 2008There are times when you think of something, wonder if you should share it, and then think better and are glad you did not. This does not appear to be one of those times.Yesterday Apple?s Steve Jobs announced online movie rentals. He also proudly announced that 27% of the US smartphone traffic travels through an Apple device...
Stop, restart.
Posted on January 15, 2008Pity the poor students in Securities Litigation last semester. Everything they learned has been replaced. For those who get a kick out of snark, see part III of Stevens' dissent. Any deeper analysis than that will take time, there's a lot of substantive securities law and a lot of substantive legislative interpretation being hashed out in there...
More Bookbuying Woes
Posted on January 13, 2008I noticed that the text for the Exempt Organization Seminar is egregiously expensive. The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, 8th ed. (ISBN 0471268208) is currently offered in the Boalt Bookstore at $187.50 for a used copy. This is the most expensive assigned text I have even seen...
Shameless plugs?
Posted on January 13, 2008The worst course I ever took in undergrad was an American Lit course. From the description in the course reader, I'd expected to read the American greats - Melville, Hawthorne, Faulkner. Instead, the reading list reflected the professors attempt to perform self therapy...
Bar Passage Rates
Posted on January 10, 2008I don't have too much time to say anything substantive, but the complete bar pass results came out. I will add that someone from USF forwarded me the results gloating about their higher pass rate (85) compared to Boalt's (82). My reaction: Enjoy OCI with the downturn in the market.
What the??
Posted on January 08, 2008How in the world did Hillary resuscitate a moribund campaign in 24 hours? How did the polls -- not just the day-befores, but the exits -- get it so wrong? Everyone's got a theory! Pick your favorite!The Tonya Harding Moment. The talking heads seem to be latching onto the emotive, teary-eyed moment yesterday when Hillary sounded less like a telemarketer and more like a person...
Welcome to your life...
Posted on January 08, 2008Hey Boalties: the New York Times would like to give you a wonderfully depressing look at your future - here.My favorite quote: "Forty-four percent of lawyers recently surveyed by the American Bar Association said they would not recommend the profession to a young person...
Hey Judge, Kiss My...
Posted on January 07, 2008Apparently, signing a court document by asking the judge to kiss your [certain lower body part] is sufficient for contempt. Attention colleagues who are seeking the litigation path: you've been warned.Tangentially related to future employment, I was wondering if anyone got something really good from their future employer over the finals/holiday season...
Meanwhile, in Dick Cheney's bunker...
Posted on January 04, 2008Iowa raises more questions than answers for the GOP, but I'm afraid I lack any serious insights -- mostly because it's hard to take the Republican Party seriously any more. When the average American has seen his wages decline, his health care disappear, his financial situation endure unprecedented volatility, his country lose soldiers and respect, the GOP response to this is to intone deeply about...
Caucus Raucous
Posted on January 04, 2008Hah, not quite Armen! What I did say was that, in early Fall, the CW was crystallizing dangerously against Obama -- and it was. But then things changed with that Nevada debate where Hillary stumbled on the Iran resolution, her Presidential records, and Social Security, and suddenly the dynamic of the race shifted-- the press got more combative, Obama found his voice, and Hillary started to sound a little -- forgive the gendered term -- hysterical...
De Ja Vu All Over Again
Posted on January 03, 2008Based on the Iowa results that are coming in, midwestern GOP wants a Southern governor who's on a mission from God. And it looks like the Dems have a real race on their hands don't they? Just a short few months ago co-blogger Earl Warren thought Hillary had it all wrapped up...
2008 List of Banished Words
Posted on January 02, 2008Each year Lake Superior State University publishes a list of words and phrases they believe should be banned in light of their uselessness. Here are highlights from the 2008 list:POST 9/11 ? "'Our post-9/11 world,' is used now, and probably used more, than AD, BC, or Y2K, time references...
Congratulations
Posted on January 01, 2008With the New Year, I wanted to flag a story I noticed a little while ago. The Senate recently confirmed a Boaltie to the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Honorable Amul Thapar. Future commencement speaker? Sixth Circuit judge? Supreme Court justice? The sky appears to be the limit for Judge Thapar...
Confession
Posted on December 31, 2007Prof. Leiter's latest post reads in full:The top two results for a Google search of "Leiter" are my philosophy blog and this blog. Take that Al Leiter and Felix Leiter!Interesting. In his final post, Buffalo Wings and Vodka (a UT law student at the time) wrote:I?d like to thank the network administrators at each and every American law school for making wireless internet access available in classrooms...
The Least Popular Agency
Posted on December 26, 2007As I sit in the Seattle airport I read that TSA (the airport security people) are neck-and-neck with the IRS for status as "most disliked government agency." Apparently, they are also likely to surpass the Post Office as the butt of jokes.Which was on point for this traveler, because TSA was in fact the MOST disliked government today at noon when he was subjected to a "random security search" at Pullman, Washington...
I do not fancy I know what I do not know*
Posted on December 21, 2007Prof. Somin of the VC links to the handy poll results below. He is surprised by how little people know about the issues based on the percentage of people who claim they need more information. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with that...
No, the World Is Not Ending
Posted on December 18, 2007The New Yorker reports that reading will soon be extinct. There's a lot in the article to ponder (only 11% can contrast two editorials' view points?!), but I think it neglects one possible explanation: the rise of reading in the workplace. As the economy has become more white-collar and services-oriented, there's more reading at work...
Numbers Game
Posted on December 17, 2007For those who recently swore in to the California Bar, your bar numbers should start popping up on the website. That is all. Also, this whole bar number thing is a lot like the Stonecutters. [For bonus points: the partner next to my office has to attend a Boy Scouts event where Jerry Mathers of Leave it to Beaver fame is the guest of honor...
Oh, Berkeley
Posted on December 17, 2007From the San Francisco Chronicle, regarding the Downtown Planning Advisory Committee's recommendations on what Berkeley should do next:----Another potential problem with the plan is that no one knows if it's economically feasible. Developers might not be able to make a profit with the proposed height limits and green construction requirements, ultimately leaving downtown in the long-term slump it's in now...
A Contrarian Theory of the Iowa Caucuses
Posted on December 13, 2007Politics posts tend to fare poorly on N&B, but if people are desperate for procrastination, I want to suggest a new theory about Iowa & NH primaries. Here goes.It has become very trendy to bash Iowa and NH for their central role in the primaries: They have too much influence on the nomination (see, e...
Arcane Bluebook Question
Posted on December 11, 2007Pardon the interruption, but I have a challenge for the Bluebook mavens out there. Which of the following is correct:1. N.D.W.Va.2. N.D.W. Va.3. N.D. W.Va.4. N.D. W. Va.My co-workers seem to think it's 4. They're probably right. But it looks ugly on the page...
Let's give grants to the [poor] rich
Posted on December 10, 2007Just as our Dean is celebrating his recent win to raise our tuition (err- the UC calls it "student fees" because the state supposedly doesn't charge "tuition" - but that's a long story), I see Harvard's recent announcement.I'm not offering any solutions with this post, and I know there will come a time I need to put my money where my mouth is (when DE comes calling)...
The Good Old Days of Martial Law
Posted on December 10, 2007COL Morris Davis, USAF, has an opinion piece in today's LAT that is worth sharing. Just to put things in context, COL Davis is an Air Force JAG officer who was appointed as the chief prosecutor of the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. During the case of Australian David Hicks, COL Davis threatened to bring charges against Hicks' lawyer, MAJ Mori, USMC, for bashing Bush in the Aussie media...
Continuing That Fine Berkeley Tradition
Posted on December 07, 2007Many 1L's expressed frustration this fall that they were required to take (2) elective courses, regardless of the credit load. IP-ers could take intro to IP (which is now divided into two classes, totaling 5 credits) and satisfy the requirement. Con Law-ers, who will also be taking 5 credits, were required to take another elective, for a heavier credit burden...
I <3 GMail
Posted on December 05, 2007Breaking News: Gmail has added a new feature integrating AIM buddies to its chat. This is the latest of several changes including colored labels, and yellow smiley faces. I am seriously in love with gmail.
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