Law Students

Retirement of Justice Moreno

Posted on January 07, 2011
Well this is certainly unexpected.  He's not exactly hiding the ball that he's jumping ship to pursue more lucrative opportunities in the private sector.  While it's not my place to opine on what is a very personal decision, I am a bit disappointed that Justice Moreno did not stay on for a year or two longer...

2011 Banished Words

Posted on December 31, 2010
Happy New Year?s Eve, everyone.For a couple years now I have posted the Lake Superior State University?s annual ?List of Words Banished from the Queen?s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.? The list, I am afraid, is in decline.The 2007 list had some truly obnoxious phrases (e...

Dean Edley Says to UC: Give Me More Money

Posted on December 29, 2010
The UC's highest paid individuals are asking the Regents to make good on a 1999 promise to extend executive benefits along with the IRS imposed ceiling. In 2007, the IRS allowed executives making over $245,000 year (roughly 4 times the median CA income, for those of you keeping track) to increase their benefits and still keep them out of that dreaded top tax bracket...

No Laughing Matter

Posted on December 17, 2010
Last night's Daily Show was must-see tv journalism and certainly no joke. On his last show before the holiday break, Jon Stewart devoted nearly the entire episode to taking the Senate--particularly the GOP--to task for making health care for 9/11 first-responders a political football...

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Activist Judges

Posted on December 13, 2010
U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson, who was appointed in 2002 by George W. Bush because his name sounds like a cartoon character, ruled that the individual mandate in the health care overhaul unconstitutionally exceeds Congress's power to regulate commerce...

Loose Lips Sink Ships

Posted on December 07, 2010
I am somewhat torn concerning Wikileaks. On one hand, I am an advocate of the free flow of information and the elucidation it provides. But on the other hand, I am a stickler for loyalty, and releasing thousands of confidential documents to an international audience is deplorable...

What Y*o Say?

Posted on December 01, 2010
"Anonymous said... Sorry to hijack the thread, but will someone start a professor quotes thread?"Yes, yes I will.Post your most memorable professor quotes from the semester in the comments! Remember not to use full professor names in your responses.

Bar Results Open Thread

Posted on November 22, 2010
The July 2010 bar results have been released. It seems like Boalt's passage rate was pretty high, so kudos to many of you. I think all of us also know people who got bad news on Friday, though, which makes this period very bitter sweet and emotionally confusing...

For the rest of us...

Posted on November 19, 2010
Apparently, immediately after the end of the bar exam--in the very moment when our reserves of conscious thought had been completely exhausted--the geniuses at the California Bar "reminded" us to hold onto some magical white card that has our applicant and file numbers on it, which we will need to access the website where results will be posted tonight...

TGIF?

Posted on November 17, 2010
As many of you may be most painfully aware, this coming Friday is bar results day for us wonderful Californians. Please feel free to post your thoughts/anxiety-driven rants in the waning days of being a non-lawyer. Good thoughts to all . . . even you dirty liberals.

Dean's Lunch -- Liveblog

Posted on November 16, 2010
Sorry guys, running a couple minutes late, here we go12:49: There are 30 people here, mostly three Ls and professors.12:49: Dean seems tired, or disappointed with turn out. Still talking about our steady curve of tuition expansion as well as expansion of LRAP and financial aid targeted at need...

But what about the proletariat?

Posted on November 16, 2010
I think that this letter is pretty silly. With that out of the way, here is the open letter from Berkeley Law Organizing Committee (BLOC) to Dean Ed!ey:No More Futile Discussion With Administrators. Action. Disruption. Reclamation.Dear Dean Edley,We sincerely hope that in the moments leading up to tomorrow's UC Regents meeting, you took time to pause and consider the real human impact of the Law School's privatization program...

Do Tell

Posted on November 16, 2010
I want to pass along this great article by my good friend Daniel Redman ('08) and fellow Boaltie Ilona Turner on DADT. 

BHSA Town Hall -- the Liveblog

Posted on November 15, 2010
50 minutes and counting until the fun starts. Two live blogs in two days this week folks, get excited.

TSA Sees London, France, Etc.

Posted on November 15, 2010
A nation-wide chorus of dissent over the TSA's exciting pornographic screening procedures has been building for a while, but this week, it seems to have reached a tipping point. That's largely thanks to this blog entry and accompanying video, which nicely illustrate the ridiculous catch-22 the TSA has created for anyone who wants to get on a plane without exposing themselves or having their genitals caressed (although, to be fair, how often do you get to do either of those things legally, in public?)...

Paranoia and Prognostications (About Fees)

Posted on November 12, 2010
Maybe it's because of last year's uproar over student fees, maybe it's because Dean Edley seems to be using the vaguest possible language short of "meeting... come if you want", but today's email from DE seriously creeped me out: Subject: Town Hall with Dean Edley - 11/16/10, 12:45pm, Booth AuditoriumDear students: I write to invite you to attend a Student Town Hall...

One Week Left!

Posted on November 12, 2010
Unfortunately, California doesn't seem to be as incompetent as New York, which means we still have to wait out the final week. How's everyone holding up? One minute I feel fairly confident, and then the next I shat and get a legal. It's just plain cruel to make people wait four months for results to come out...

A Big Thanks

Posted on November 11, 2010
A lot of people have asked me how much money was raised at the BLF Auction on Saturday. I'm happy to report that close to 500 people attended and our net profits were over $35,000. This is a marked increase in support and it means that there will be at least three Phoenix Fellows in the class of 2014...

Pop a Squat

Posted on November 09, 2010
In the early days of property, I remember Professor P*terson struggling to explain the social benefits of adverse possession. I personally found it very difficult to comprehend of any situation in which some douche bag tresspassor should have legal title over the true owner...

Ethics for Dummies

Posted on November 07, 2010
I have it on good authority that this picture was taken outside the MPRE test center in San Mateo:

Is the Rumor True?

Posted on November 05, 2010
I heard a rumbling that starting this year WOA will be a graded course. Is that true?If so, I feel that is great news. For better or worse, and despite our occasional posturing to the contrary, grades do motivate Boalties. Because I feel that WOA and LRW are the most foundationally useful classes in the 1L lineup (civ pro is a close runner up) any added anxiety will be worth it...

Hide your kids. Hide your wife. Hide your husband.

Posted on November 05, 2010
Oakland won't be happy.Johannes Mehserle received a sentence of 2 years, but also with 292 days already served. Considering he is eligible for parole at 365 days, this results in a fairly light sentence.I will update this post with more information as it materializes, but let the discussion commence!

No "Wave" in California

Posted on November 03, 2010
Governor Jerry Brown. Senator Barbara Boxer. Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. Attorney General Kamala Harris (probably). In an election where the phrase "RED WAVE" was ubiquotous, California remained a solid wall of blue. The results were striking...

The Liberal in Winter

Posted on November 02, 2010

Her Day in Court

Posted on November 01, 2010
I have to give law school props for trying and, in some measure, succeeding. I went in a dedicated liberal hippie do-gooder and came out another Big Law first year associate, going to work in my black suits and white shirts and carrying the obligatory black umbrella...

Won't Somebody Please Think of the Other Propositions

Posted on October 29, 2010
From time to time, I ruminate on propositions that appear on ballots.  In general, my default is to vote not unless there is something compelling about the proposition.  The reason is I think propositions have fundamentally constricted the state's ability to adjust to changing economic conditions...

Proposition 19: What will it actually do?

Posted on October 28, 2010
Question for you federal conflict preemption buffs out there: If Proposition 19 passes, will the Controlled Substances Act preempt it?I have seen in a number of places people arguing that Proposition 19 removes some state-side enforcement concerning Marijuana, and as such does not conflict with federal law since the States do not need to have laws which enforce federal crimes (e...

A Halloween Tale: LimeWire and the Deathly Injunction

Posted on October 27, 2010
It's the season of witches, pirates, and Snooki wigs -- so what better time for U.S. district judge Kimba Wood to sentence one of our most notorious pirates to the ranks of the undead, right beside those near-forgotten ghouls Napster and Grokster? As of yesterday, visitors to LimeWire?s website are greeted with the following:LEGAL NOTICE This is an official notice that LimeWire is under a court-ordered injunction to stop distributing and supporting its file-sharing software...

Wherein A Blog Post Was Written In Order To Demolish Texas

Posted on October 27, 2010
This filing is making the rounds. It is purportedly an emergency motion to extend a case management conference that is scheduled for this afternoon...right around the time of the World Series, Game 1.  It's only mildly amusing from my perspective, and honestly, if I was the judge, I'd be very angry...

Let the games begin!

Posted on October 26, 2010
Spring registration is underway. I do not have anything particularly witty to say about registration, but if you have comments, complaints or questions, post them in the comments.

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