Weekly Law School Roundup #7

This Week's Special Focus: Exam Week (Plus a Few Other Extraordinary Bonus Items)

Most Anguished Exam Week Post It's from Anthony at Three Years, who admits he "simply flaked."

Cruelest Exam Week Post It's from Scheherazade: "Happy Exam Time!" Did you get any hate mail, Scheherazade, or death threats?

Longest Exam Week Post Sorry, folks, but I'm no Professor Smith. My approach to reading weblogs, especially those written by soon-to-be lawyers, is far from scientific. So I really have no idea about the longest post during exam week. Frankly, they all seemed pretty short. If you really want to know, this post from Soupie's BBQ & Daycare seemed slightly longer than average, and was composed on the morning of Soup's con law exam.

Funniest Post Following Exam Week It's this one from Notes from the (1L) Underground. (Don't be confused about the title of the blog: the authors are all 2Ls now, at least in my mind.)

An Unsolicited Exam Week Memory Smack in the middle of my 2L second semester exams, my first child had the audacity to be born. Seems like only yesterday, but she's about to turn fifteen. Don't worry--I forgave her long ago for her poor timing. These days, even though she's cemented tightly to her pack of girlfriends, she finds time to read this blawg every single day. She's got a unique way of entering, and I recognize her footprints in my referrer logs. Look for her as a future blog author. (Did I mention she gets straight As?)

More About Exam Week Katherine of Not for Sheep is just getting started, and she's updated the banner on her weblog with a prayer: "Dear God, please let me pass all my classes." It's never a bad idea to suck up to the Big Guy--but Katherine, do you really think He's reading weblogs yet?

What Do Ewan McGregor, Jimmy Fallon and Hugh Jackman Have in Common? Find out in this post from ambulance chaser.

Congratulations, Dr. Baude Errr, Mr. Baude. Errr, Will. He's decided on Yale Law School, which is quite awesome, even though I hate to see Midwesterners moving east. I'm already looking forward to living my life vicariously through Will's continued blogging. (About the title of Will's post, "Descending the Stair"--the allusion is to Prufrock, I guess, but did you know Duchamp's painting "Nude Descending the Stair" is owned by Yale? Scary image, Will.)

Professor Bainbridge: Do They Ever Clap for You? On page 61 of the hardback copy of Barman, Alex Wellen writes, "[I]t was customary to clap for the professor at the end of his last lecture. I'd never been crazy about the idea. It always felt contrived." Now Michael at BuffaloWings&Vodka weighs in on the practice, especially the problem of getting The Clap started--

Do you try to start the Slow Clap in a lecture room of 125 students? It might be worth it, especially if the professor notices who starts it...but what if you fail? Do you try to pass off your clapping as an attempt to get honey off of your hands, or pretend that you're killing a really sturdy mosquito?

It's obvious to me that the entire practice is a dirty case of sucking-up-to-the-professor-before-the-exam. When was the last time you clapped for your plumber at the conclusion of a job well done, or the checker at the grocery store for knowing how to work the register? I used to clap for my professors too, but now I ask: Law students of the world, will you please stop clapping? You're embarrassing the rest of us. (By the way, I take particular delight in pairing Michael with Alex in the same post. It's an inside-blawging-joke.)

This Week’s Extreme Wit at the Law Schools Award™ Goes To . . . Veritable Cornucopia, for the post "If this is what passes for humor, I'll take it." The post wasn't actually written this week, but it's only because the exam-tortured bloggers didn't give me much to work with. Even so, I also liked this post from Mixtape Marathon, which made me remember how much fun sleep-deprived laughter can be. I don't have any exams to look forward to, but there is a new baby on the way in the next few weeks (not belonging to my 14-year-old daughter, thank God, but to my 38-year-old wife). I'm going to take a lesson from Bekah and try to turn any future sleep-deprivation into humor. If possible.

After-the-Fact Note to Jeremy Blachman 5/2/04 10:50 a.m. CST. Jeremy: With you, it's never personal. (All others reading this note should follow this link to Jeremy's "Ultimate Exam Studying Post." In September, I'm going to add my two cents by publishing my own patented outline-writing and exam-taking method, which I guarantee will propel any law student who follows it to dizzying heights of law school glory. The secret: automatic issue spotting.)

Comments

[Katherine]

Luke 1:37 - "For nothing is impossible with God."

[Evan]

Katherine: An appropriate comment, in my opinion. I'll resist the urge to respond with a bibical quotation of my own (like you, I'm Catholic, not to mention Catholic-educated from 9th grade forward) (for proof of my pedigree, you can read a somewhat embarrassing article by my mother about my two trips to see the Pope here)--anyway, you're always welcome on this weblog and I hope you return. If you've been offended by any of my past comments, I apologize.

[David]

Regarding Prof. Bainbridge's class...our Business Associations class clapped for him. I think it is pretty standard at UCLA.

[Evan]

David: Thanks for the information. Since Professor Bainbridge had nice things to say about me today on his blawg, I'm implementing the "Professor Bainbridge" exception to general rule I suggested in the post. This means that law students should clap for Professor Bainbridge at the conclusion of his classes, but shouldn't clap for anyone else. Agreed?

[musclehead]

Our Con Law prof actually requested that we not clap for reasons which he said "would reveal far too much about his psyche." Fortunately, he gave a very fair and straightforward exam, so now I wish I could clap for him and take back all those bad things I uttered about his teaching style over the course of the semester.

Prof Crim actually finished off the last class with a top 10 list of things you should keep in mind about the insanity defense (good for cocktail conversations). He ended with something about even law school profs being a little kookie at times, said he would see us at the review session and walked up the stairs and out the door. It was rather dramatic, yet somehow good. But given the exam, I do not wish to retract the rather bad utterings I made about him throughout the semester.

For Prof Civ Pro there was some talk of a standing ovation, however, given that it is a small section (~35 students) it would have been a tad bit awkward. Everyone LOVES this professor and to me, he is the type of prof that every 1L ought to have the opportunity to spend a semester with. Now studying for his exam, which I assume will be fair and I have no negative comments to even consider retracting.

[Evan]

musclehead: Thanks for your input, but I'm standing firm. No exceptions other than Professor Bainbridge.

[musclehead]

I would be more likely to heed, and maybe endorse, your call if only the aforementioned Professor was not a neo-con Bushie. This is at least partially because when I TA'd grad classes, no one ever clapped for me. In fact, they all bitched about the exams!

[Katherine]

water under the bridge. :-)

[1L in AL]

Is it typical to clap at the end of a semester when you will have the same prof the next semester? I thought in The Paper Chase they only applauded at the end of the year. Exams coming up - would really appreciate some input.