My Obsolete Law Library

I was able to sell off a few of my old textbooks before the fall semester started, but I still have a shelf load. Two or three of these are still current and might be in demand come January; it looks like at least eight are in my permanent collection whether I like it or not. Maybe I'll make some really posh book safes.

One week to bar results.

A is for Annoying

There is an unexpected downside to practicing law in Arkansas. Books that survey a legal topic state by state are always arranged alphabetically, so the books will never lay flat on my desk when turned to 'Arkansas.' I have encountered this problem repeatedly. Lawyers in Michigan don't know how good they have it.

Need a Break

Spring break needs to hurry up and get here. My work ethic is slipping badly. Even though I have a light class schedule, lately I have been waiting until the last minute to blitz through my reading assignments. I need a week off to reset my study habits.

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.

Too Much "Free" Time

Finishing my moot court competition had an unexpected negative consequence: it freed up a lot of time for study. Preparing for classes is just the worst, and I miss having an excuse to skip or skim my daily reading. I'd like to say that I've lost my enthusiasm for classwork because I've outgrown it and moved on to more challenging stuff, but I think I've mostly just gotten tired and lazy.

Bookmarked

One of my favorite things about being a student is, no fooling, having a use for all the bookmarks I have around the house. Think about it: cool, free bookmarks are everywhere, but who besides a student has more than one or two books going at a time? This semester I'm enjoying an outdoors theme, using the "Arkansas Sportfish" and "North American Hunting Club" bookmarks pictured here in my Fed Tax and Decedents' Estates books, respectively.

Rules, Rules, Rules

When you sign up for a class with the word "procedure" in its name, you condemn yourself to reading a lot of dry rules. So while my Advanced Torts reading is all about sex (pornographers get sued for libel a lot, go figure), my Criminal Procedure Post Trial reading features a lot of sentencing charts and arithmetic. The Arkansas Rules of Appellate Procedure are about to wear me out.

The Gloves are Off

Last year, most of the cases we studied had pretty basic facts: dog bites neighbor, neighbor sues. That sort of thing. Some of the cases in my upper level classes, by contrast, are laughably complicated. The Business Associations and Class Actions textbooks in particular are full of stock fraud cases and the most esoteric contract disputes. Unfortunately, the complex cases are probably more representative of what I'll see in practice.

Stories Without Endings

Most people won't resort to litigation unless they're in a truly intractable conflict, so most court cases have compelling stories behind them. Unfortunately, those cases are included in legal textbooks not to tell the stories, but to illustrate some distinct point of law that came up during the litigation. As a result, one often starts reading a case, gets to know the characters and learns about their tragic circumstances, only to reach the end of the case and find that the moral of the story is something like, "the plaintiff may recover damages if a jury determines that the parties intended their contract to extend the liability imposed by statute." The end. There's almost never a footnote to tell you who won in the end, no closure, no catharsis. When I get into practice, I hope I'll at least know whether my clients win or lose.

Micromanagement

A typical assignment in my International Law syllabus goes like this: read pages 652-56, 667-70, 680-86, 690-92, 727-30, 732-35; then go back and read pages 721-23 and 692-99. Honestly, if you're that particular about what your students read, it's time to edit your own textbook. Skipping around the book like this really disrupts a body's rhythm.

Tax Time

We're getting into tax issues in my Business Associations class. Reading about the arms race between tax accountants and the IRS leaves one with a cynical view of corporate America. Perhaps I should say an extra cynical view--I think it's a rare person who has an ingenuous view of corporate America.

In general, Business Associations has been a much better class than I expected. The two-hour classroom sessions really drag, but the textbook is the most interesting reading I have this semester. The material on taxes actually has me looking forward to Federal Taxation, which I will probably take some time next year.

Legalese Again

Sometimes you have to wonder if judges go back and read some of the stuff they write. Here's a federal judge reconciling the various subsections of a statute in Wisconsin Knife Works v. National Metal Crafters:

In any event, we are not suggesting that "waiver" means different things in (4) and (5); it means the same thing; but the effect of an attempted modification as a waiver under (4) depends in part on (2), which (4) (but not 5) qualifies.

Really? This is supposed to clarify things for me?

Legalese

Sometimes lawyers earn their reputation for linguistic puffery. I just learned from a synopsis of the 1971 case of Gizzi v. Texaco that Texaco, an oil company, "in its advertising, urged reliance on men wearing such oil company's insignia." Do tell. For the young or culturally illiterate, the case is referring to the jingle in this commercial (about 35 seconds in).

Watching For the Mailman

Every semester I get a little more confident about ordering used books online. This time I took care of books for four of my six classes that way. In the process, I bought from five different sellers (all through Amazon.com's used book marketplace). I haven't been burned yet, but I've never cut the timing this close, either. I'm expected to read material from a couple of these books before Tuesday, six days from now. Here's hoping expedited shipping comes through! I figure it's worth the risk: even after shipping costs, I'm saving more than $200 vs. the campus book store.

Worst Part of the Semester

It's time to buy textbooks. My schedule is loaded up with substantive law classes this semester, which means many, many pricey hardbacks. To make matters worse, the official book list has not yet been released (it's supposed to come out today). Classes start in one week, so any books I buy online at a discount might not be here for the first day of class. This is going to hurt.

Burnout

Three semesters of law school have taught me that week ten burnout arrives like clockwork. The last month of the semester is never fun because my head is already in exam week. My reading discipline is worse than ever. Let's get this thing over with!

Reading Without Reading

I've noticed a big change in my reading habits this semester. Last year (and throughout my academic career to date), I was a slow reader. I read things very closely and retained everything. This year, I don't so much read things as look at them. I pick up a couple of sentences from each paragraph, take a few notes, and move on. My reading comprehension definitely suffers, but time permits no more.

I worry that this is a preview of what it's like to be a lawyer: time and budget constraints probably force one to throw together a lot of work that is good enough, but not the best one can do.

Deadlines

This time last year I was taken aback by how few graded assignments I would have before final exams. This fall is quite the opposite: I'm appalled at the amount of text on paper I'm being asked to produce. Family Law, Lawyering Skills, Moot Court and Law Review all march unforgivingly from one deadline to the next. It's a rare week that I don't have to turn in at least one written assignment.

As a result, it's a rare week that I finish all my reading assignments. It's as if I'm taking two parallel curricula: a full-time reading load and a full-time writing load. When I have to choose, the writing always wins because that's where the deadlines are. If I can't find a way to cram all of this work into my schedule, I'm going to be picking up a lot of slack when exam cram week comes around.

Starting Research

I have two monster papers to write this semester (10,000-15,000 words each), and I'm in the early stages of research for both. In my experience, legal research (probably any research) goes like this: First, you're frustrated because it seems like there is no relevant information out there. Search after fruitless search turns up nothing. Then, you come across the one perfect document that cites to a dozen relevant sources on the subject. Those sources cite to a dozen sources each, and from that point on you're frustrated because there isn't enough time in the world to read all the relevant information.

For now, I'm in the first stage of both of my projects: pulling my hair out trying to find just one document directly on point. With any luck, by the end of next week I'll reach the tipping point with at least one of the projects.

Breather

Orientation is over. All my summer classes are finished. My proposal for my law review paper is submitted. The next two days will be the last time in the next three months that I have nothing to do but read textbooks. It's a nice feeling.