Saturday, February 26, 2011

Defending My Character

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours filling out the thirteen-page "character questionnaire" portion of the bar exam application. I still need to get three letters of recommendation and have myself fingerprinted. It must be this onerous screening process that earned the legal profession its sterling reputation for integrity.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A Nod to Black History Month

I don't usually write about the law in this space, but I came across a case this week that so took me aback that I had to share it. I've been researching the law of bailments for work lately (for the uninitiated, a bailment is a loan or temporary deposit of something; coat checks are a classic example). As part of that research I read Miller v. Dyer, 243 Ark. 981 (1968). The plaintiff was suing over damage to a truck that he had rented out. As courts will do, the court looked for analogies in prior case law:
[A]n express agreement by bailee to return the bailed property imposes no greater liability upon the bailee than is implied in every bailment. Yet, this court has held that one who hired a slave upon a written contract that, in addition to providing for payment for the slave's service, required his return at the end of the year, was liable for failure to return him because of the slave's escape without fault of the hirer.
So the state supreme court thought that loaning out your truck was kind of like loaning out your slave. In 1968. Real classy, Arkansas.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Honored


Getting an A is good. Getting top paper is better. One has to take about thirty classes to get through law school, so one has a fair chance, if not a good chance, of coming away with at least one top paper. As I heard one student say, "everybody's a savant at something." After twenty-one bites at the apple, I finally found my something. In Decedents' Estates I scored my first top paper in a substantive law class.
Last night my fellow overachievers and I--fifty or sixty in all, somewhat undercutting the notion that we were the 'best of the best'--were feted with hors d'oeuvres and encouraging speeches. A good time was had by all.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Nice Work if You Can Get It


This is the view from the office I share with three other clerks.

There are ninety attorneys at the law firm and six clerks, so you'd think there would be plenty of work to go around. Not so. A project gets offered up via email about once a day, and it's a race to see who can get it first. I'm sure there will be feast periods to complement the present famine.

The work I have done so far has been interesting. I've researched eminent domain, guardianships, stock repurchase by insolvent corporations, and tax exempt bonds. I think I'm going to enjoy the semester.

Monday, February 7, 2011

People Aren't Litigious Enough

One of my coworkers was going to observe a jury selection this morning, so I tagged along. I had never been in any of the courtrooms at the county courthouse, and I was pleased to see that they are old in a good way--venerable, not dilapidated. They're also kind of small, and when we arrived the room was jammed with potential jurors, most of whom had already been waiting for half an hour or more. We sat and waited with them for another forty-five minutes while attorneys furtively slipped in and out of the judge's chambers. Just as a riot seemed imminent, the bailiff called the room to order and introduced the judge. He sat down just long enough to tell us that there would be no trial because the parties had reached a settlement. Everyone was free to go. My colleague and I hiked back to the office, crestfallen.

I'm not even a lawyer yet, and I'm already disappointed when people settle their differences without resorting to a jury trial. What will become of me?

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Tax Policy

Tax policy is going to kick my butt. I registered for this class more or less as a lark, because I really enjoyed the professor's Federal Income Tax class. I have since learned that the credit is also good toward an MBA, so the class is packed with dual JD/MBA students. It's very heavy on economic theory. I know nothing about economics, having taken exactly one undergraduate macroeconomics course some fifteen years ago, so I'm starting Tax Policy at a terrible disadvantage. I figure I'll learn a lot, but this class probably won't help my GPA any.