Blawg Review #80

I'm Professor Kingsfield, and I'll be the host of Blawg Review #80. Let me say at the outset that it is a privilege for you to be here. We have a number of business school types sitting in with us today, just to see what it's like in law school. An expert in the law of contracts, and a professor at Harvard, I'm particularly fond of business law; biz students, not so much.

The way law school works is that the professor asks questions of students who are expected to have an answer ready from the legal scholarship and case notes they've read the week before. If not, they can make up a response on the spot or point to something they've read on a law blog. We'll see how far that takes them.

You come in here with a skull full of mush and you leave thinking like a lawyer. Today, we have to cover a broad range of legal topics in a very short amount of time, so let's get right to it. Let's start with something that anyone should be able to answer, shall we?

Is it against the law for a licensed midwife, with the permission of the mother, to take a placenta from the hospital to bury it in her garden? Anyone?

Excuse me young man, is that a coffee you're drinking? This is not a cafeteria. Unless you can tell us how that cup you're reading there has something to do with law, I'll have to ask you to leave the class. What's that? You have a case note on point? Very well.

Speaking of franchise expansion, what do you think of big law firms going global? Mr. Hull

What about the ethical considerations of lawyers flogging, excuse me, I think these notes say "blogging" their expertise? Mr. Stein You wanted to say something, Mr. Pasquale? Does anyone else have something to add, for the business bloggers with us today? Mr. O'Keefe

Is it gross negligence to have lit candles when there is a cat prowling the premises? Mr. Maule

Everywhere I've ever taught there's been a "class clown" or two. My approach is to give them a little attention early in the lecture, and then they're usually less disruptive. Would you two who've been laughing, while others are trying to learn something, like to share with everyone what you think is more important than my lecture? Mr. Lat And you there, you've been surfing the Internet all through my class. Don't think I haven't noticed. Yes, I mean you! This is why I tried to get laptops banned from the lecture rooms. I don't find computers very lawyerlike. Would you like to share with the class what you're laughing at now? Yes, you Miss, with the brown hair.

Legal thinking has changed a lot over the years, certainly since I started teaching law. How do you think legal scholarship has changed, and what are the causes of those changes? Mr. Oman

What about this so-called "judicial activism" we hear so much about these days? How does that square with the concept of independence of the judiciary? Mr. Adler

How are the checks-and-balances of the Constitution changing in a post-9/11 America? Mr Lederman, and you wanted to add somethig, Mr. Tamanaha

Has anyone been reading about what's going on in Iraq? Mr. Reynolds I understand some of those military bloggers are lawyers, too. Can anyone here speak from personal experience in Iraq? Mr. Carter

Let's take a short break from the heavy stuff, shall we, and talk sports with lawyers. Are there any sports fans here today? Is anyone sorry to see the Yankees out of the World Series this year? Ms. Monica Bay And you're awfully quiet, Mr. Schwimmer. Oh, I see, you're a Mets fan. Well, enough about baseball. What about football? Ms. Simon I don't see that having anthing to do with football. Any lawyers following hockey? Mr. Karcher Okay, enough of the fun stuff, let's get back to serious legal issues.

Wait just a minute. What's that I smell? Is someone smoking in my class? Ms. Margolin, what do you have to say for yourself? I don't care who your father is. He could be the Governor of California and you still wouldn't be allowed to smoke in class. Not at Harvard, anyway. You should know that.

Speaking of Harvard Law grads, whatever happened to the lawyer formerly known as David Giacalone? A while ago, I heard he became a Japanese poet, or Tibetan monk, or something. Is he doing anything with his Harvard law degree? Oh yes, I think it was reported in last week's Blawg Review #79 that the shlep is showing people how to solve their legal problems without having to pay lawyers. I guess we won't be seeing him in Hell, after all.

What's that noise? A cell phone in my class! Don't you know we have new rules governing ringtones? Mr. Patry

Just what sort of legal training should business lawyers get in law school? Mr. Smith

If all else fails, do you need a law license to be a GC, a General Counsel employed by a corporation? Mr. Ambrogi

That's probably a good place to end our presentation today. I'd like to thank our visitors from the Carnival of the Capitalists, who sat in on our class today. Hopefully, these law students are learning something ... Oh yes, the young lady with her hand up there--I almost forgot--you had something you wanted to announce about TWiL and also about next week's Howell-o-ween get-together at Blawg Review.