The Archives
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A Day in the Life
It’s Pronounced “Twenty Ten”
Just like 1910, 1810, and so on back to 1110. I’m not sure if anyone said 1010, as they were probably too busy running around with giant swords and slaying orcs to worry about calendars. At least that’s what all my history books said.
This year is going to be pretty cool. To celebrate, I’ve compiled a list of things that we can expect out of this fledgling year:
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Legal Theory
Old Lawyers Don’t Die…
Having polished off a very engrossing biography of Alexander Hamilton, I have begun to read the biography of another famous American thinker, writer, and jurist: Judge Learned Hand. The first thing I found out is that his name wasn’t actually Learned, but Billings. Had his name been Billable, I guess he never would have made it to the bench. (Please, folks, tip your waitress!)
So in 1907, Learned Hand is considering leaving a big law firm on Wall Street in hopes of becoming a judge. His father-in-law, aware of how poorly judges are paid compared to high-powered attorneys at law, attempts to dissuade the young Hand. When Hand makes clear that he intends to be a judge, his father-in-law finally relents, promising to support Mr. and Mrs. Hand, even after his death. He writes:
“It’s up to me to add ultimately to the family store when my life’s action has been dismissed with costs…”
See? Old lawyers don’t die, they just get their motions denied, and are remanded for further proceedings in a higher court.
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A Day in the Life
Class Elections
The problem with accusing others of overachieving is that you run the risk of sounding like (1) a condescending bastard and/or (2) an underachieving lay-about. I mean, I’m in law school, and I’m working my ass off, so I’m fairly certain I’m not a great example of the second. But I’m probably the former.
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Legal Theory
Mental States
While all the morning talk(ing heads’) shows were focusing on last night’s self-congratulatory industry awards for excellence in the field of excellent filmmaking results, I’ve been catching up on Depression Watch 2009. As proof that law school irredeemably changes the way you think, I offer my train of thought.
I keep reading about the people in charge of investing all kinds of money into what the media continues to call “toxic assets” – securities that aren’t worth nearly what investors were betting they’d be worth. This bit from today’s New York Times struck me:
Almost Legally
The whole system's out of order
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I don't know what's worse. Being too sick to make it to school to turn in your homework, or having to hand-write it in 2010.
