The Obligatory Once-A-Month Dump-On-Law-Professors Post

J. of Tex Lex writes--

Speaking of email, what's up with the professors not accepting assignments by email? Do the apps on their computers not work? I know they're lawyers and all, and thus reluctant to change, but someone's got to move into the 21st century at some point.

I agree that law professors should accept assignments by e-mail. But referring to law professors as “lawyers”? At that point, J. goes much too far, even though he might technically be correct. It’s like confusing someone who teaches the principles of aerodynamics with a fighter pilot: it’s commendable to be able to explain how it happens, but only a fighter pilot can competently fly a jet.

Comments

[Dave!]

Well, they say those who can, do, and those who can't...

Anyway... just an aside on the e-mail acceptance of assignments... My school features a "blind grading" policy for our "Lawyering Skills" "Legal Methods" "Legal Writing" "Whatever-your-school-calls-it" class. However, you can *e-mail* the assignment to the professor before hand. :)

[Alan]

Likewise, my school has blind grading on final assignments and exams. To ensure that aspect, the registrar acts as the go-between for all such assignments, accepting them via e-mail and ultimately passing them off to the prof. for grading.

[J.]

Okay, fine. Maybe they're not lawyers now, but maybe they were at one point. Sorry if I offended anyone.

[Fed.No.84]

A good reason to not accept an assignment via email is to prevent students saying (truthfully or not), "But I emailed the assigment to you!" We can impose all sorts of burden on the sender rules, but why give a law student another reason to "litigate" an issue?

At my school, things are handled very appropriately. You turn in one hard-copy of the assignment in a sealed envelope to the secretaries' office. One of them will time-and-date stamp the envelope.

No room for error, and no room for argument.

[Evan]

J: Offended anyone? You certainly didn't. I'm sure the profs love it when they are mistaken for lawyers.

Anyway, I'm just joking. As I said in my post, in most cases, I'm sure you were technically correct to say that law professors are lawyers. And in truth, they probably don't want to be mistaken for lawyers. Most members of the public would willingly throw a lawyer under a bus. But a law professor? They're assets to the community. Besides, without law professors, where would newspaper reporters go when they need a quick quote?

[Prof. Yabut]

Seems to me that anyone with a law degree is a "lawyer," and anyone who is a member of a bar is an "attorney at law." So, I suppose most law professors are "lawyers." However, the multi-disciplinary trend at some law schools makes it worthwhile checking for that law degree on the prof's wall before risking a defamation lawsuit ("you, [trial] lawyer, you" being fightin' words in some counties).

Prof. Martin Grace of a tort et a travers, recently left a Comment at f/k/a on the Versaci case stating:

"As I was reading the description of the case I thought --gee I wish someone one would call me a "so-called" lawyer. Everyone just calls me a so-called economist."

Martin does also have a law degree, but I thinking he's in denial.

[Justin]

"A good reason to not accept an assignment via email is to prevent students saying (truthfully or not), "But I emailed the assigment to you!" "

Not necessarily so -- TWEN allows the submission of assignments online -- which are done using changable exam numbers (for blind grading) and it's free. This solves the e-mail dilemma while allowing 21st century technology into the classroom.