Legal Commentary

This post is a bit of a digression, but was prompted by Jack Chin's earlier pop culture shout out. I think pop culture references in law school classes serve serious and legitimate pedagogical functions. First, they remind students, particularly 1Ls, that the practice of law is not self contained. Some, though certainly not all, ILs immerse themselves in the law school experience. While learning how to think and behave like a lawyer is important, I like to remind my students that the most satisfied lawyers maintain a good work-life balance. Using pop culture references is my not so subtle way of saying that law students shouldn't give up on the people they were before law school and the people they want to be after law school. They should read books, watch TV, go hiking, and have conversations that have nothing to do with law school or the practice of law.

Of course, they should have lots of conversations that revolve around the law too. That's where my second point comes in. Pop culture helps illustrate the notion that law is all around us. Dry tort hypotheticals can convey the doctrine, but movies and songs and shows help students see the omnipresence of legal issues. David Letterman and Mad Men help me make employment discrimination more real to the students and Arrested Development's cornballer always makes product liability a little easier to swallow.

One can always go too far. While I view teaching law school classes as performance, the performance is not an end in itself but a tool to convey the substance and the larger ideas that tie our profession together. That being said, five points to the first to identify the header quote.