The Mutually Shared Delusion

As I look back on my old posts here from 9 months ago, I can't help but blush a little. The excitement and optimism about the law and being a lawyer is just dripping from all the writing. It was a time of blissful ignorance and naivete. There was a feeling that everything was at my fingertips and I was seizing the day. Unfortunately, there was no day to be seized. I'm not sure that everyone, even some in the legal community, understand how times have changed. My corporations teacher starts nearly every sentence with "when you are a corporate lawyer." She gives us helpful hints and things to think about when we are in practice and working on putting together "big deals." If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny. No one in that room is going to be a corporate lawyer, working on big deals for multinational clients. At least not for the foreseeable future. They'll be lucky to find volunteer work with the City government this summer.

Despite this inconvenient truth, time marches on at NYLS. Everyone lives in a mutually shared delusion. The faculty and administration pretends they are preparing students for a legal career. The students pretend that they are preparing themselves for that legal career. On my more cynical days, I tend to think the powers that be at NYLS know how dire the situation is, but purposefully coordinate their activities so as to keep it a secret from the vast majority of students, who have not been exposed to the realities of the legal market in 2009. Other days I think they are just as blind as the poor students whose tuition money they take. Perhaps they are in denial of the fact that the school is simply not relevant and has nothing to offer students in this market.

That might seem a bit harsh. But consider this. My class at NYLS has 420 students in it. To finish in the top 10 people in a class that size I think everyone would acknowledge is quite a special accomplishment. Yet, of those ten people (of which I am one, and I know most of the other 9), 1 received a job offer for next summer from a big Manhattan law firm. If the school cannot secure jobs for the top ten people in its class, why does the school exist? It should probably just close up shop. Perhaps this a little unfair because from what I understand even schools like Harvard and Yale are having trouble placing their students this year. However, it is not an unreasonable or unjustified thought.

Maybe things will get better. Maybe they won't. The fact is that the legal profession has imploded and there is absolutely nothing that recent grads or those in law school now can do about it. The fast track to prosperity for those who worked hard and finished at the top of their law school class does not exist anymore. Even if you assume that things will eventually improve, everyone's career has been set back years in terms of money and work experience. Some people just laugh it off, put their blinders down and just keep plugging along. I am jealous of them. However, I wonder how much of that is just for show. I can't imagine there is anyone in my position right now who is not also having a crisis of confidence.

So pardon me if the glow of the first year of law school has worn off. I've been there and done that. I had the Kingsfield-like Contracts teacher. I got an A from him. I learned about mens rea, personal jurisdiction, proximate cause, and adverse possession. I got A's in all those classes too (well except Torts). It was the most exhilarating and rewarding 9 months of my life. When I received those grades, it was the greatest sense of pride and self-accomplishment that I have ever felt. But looking back now however many months later, was it all worth it? Did it really matter as much as I thought it did at the time? Did it matter as much as every single person I went to for advice in my life told me it mattered? The answer is a resounding and unequivocal "no". It's virtually meaningless. I'll have to prove myself again this year all over again and hope that maybe next year some employer with throw me a crumb. Right now, my 1L GPA of 3.75 and $2.25 will buy me a subway ride to Brooklyn.

But hey, I have to get to bed early now. I am required to attend a conference early tomorrow about the emergence of a new duty in corporate law that directors owe shareholders (known as the duty of good faith). I'm told that it will come in handy for me when I am a big corporate lawyer. And the delusional continues....

Just another busy week...[John]

So today I receive my first memo back of the second semester. I am not worried about the grade but rather the effect it will have on the next week and a half. Our second memo is a revised draft of the first, so if I did bad on that, then well...kiss my weekend goodbye.

However, this is not the only thing I need to worry about. From study groups to tutorials, my week is basically shot. And on top of that I was just informed that the law review competition is a 20 page paper with a 212 page packet that we need to refer too. This means that not only is this week shot, but my spring break is essentially non-existent---hopefully I'll have time to make it to CPAC!!

Client Interview

As I suspected, the client interview was definitely harder than it looked. The interview was scheduled to be 20 minutes. I had scripted out beforehand the type of questions that I wanted to ask. The problem was that I exhausted all those questions in about 12 minutes. At that point, I had obtained all the information that I thought I needed, but was hesitant to close the interview because I knew that I still had 8 minutes left. The second the interview went off script, I deteriorated very quickly. I could not think of any more questions, and did not know how to fill the space. As a result the interview ended somewhat awkwardly, and left me feeling uncomfortable with my performance. However, immediately after I had finished, I was given a self-assessment form to fill out. The form detailed specifically all of the information I was supposed to extract from the interview. I was happy to see that I had discovered almost all of it, minus one or two smaller details. So, I suppose what I learned from this experience is to be confident in my ability. If I think I have all the relevant facts, I should not be afraid or hesitant to close the interview. My biggest problem this time was being unsure of myself. I am sure that is something that will only improve with experience. In that respect, I think this was a good starting point and I look forward to my next opportunity to try again.

Networking... [John]

So tonight was my first networking event of my law school career and I honestly believe it was a success. I initially didn't know how much I would get out of it and decided to go just because it was a way to get my head out of the books for the night. However, it was a lot more than a social event but a learning experience as well. The networking event was at a law firm that has offices in most major US cities and cities abroad. We got to speak to many of their attorneys along with a few influential CUA alums in the area.

Though no leads for summer employment presented themselves, I definitely learned a lot more about myself and possible career paths. This law firm's DC branch dealt a lot with Intellectual Property law, so it was really worth it for me. I spoke to Patent attorneys and Patent litigators. However, it was fascinating to learn that not all of them had an engineering background. As some people know, I went into college knowing that IP law was the career choice I wanted to pursue; as a result, I looked at multiple engineering schools so I could sit for the patent bar and become a patent lawyer. After multiple visits to these schools, I have realized that it wasn't something for me and that my passion for politics would be the best path to pursue--and that's how I ended up in DC. Anyway, today my life changed...First, I met a patent lawyer that didnt have an engineering degree nor has taken the patent bar. He also informed me that a few of his friends also weren't engineers but qualified for the patent bar by taking the Fundamentals in Engineering Exam.

Second, I also met and learned from patent litigators that they too didn't have engineering degrees nor did they need them to become litigators for patent, trademark or copyright cases. So basically, 2 hours mingling with esteemed attorneys in their field has opened a whole new world of IP law for me.

hahaha and to think, I only went for the free food and booze ;)

Statutory Interpretation

Unlike torts, contracts, and property, criminal law is almost entirely statute-based. There are still many cases to be read. But unlike in the other courses, the cases are not read in order to discern what the law is. Instead, the purpose of the case readings is to provide examples and guidelines for how to interpret criminal statutes. Often times statutes can be quite ambiguous. When lawyers and judges are interpreting statutes, they need to consider the legislative history and the legislative purpose in order to understand what the statute means. For example, in criminal law, in order to be found guilty of a crime, there is almost always the requirement of a mental element (known as mens rea). It is not enough that a person does a criminal act, that person must also have a culpable state of mind at the time of the action (purposefully, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently to name a few). Sometimes statutes are silent as to what the mental requirement is. The usual common law practice is for court to assume that a mens rea requirement is implied in the text of a statute, and can only be nullified by the legislature specifically stating that there is no such requirement. However, interpretation can sometimes lead in another direction. Policy considerations sometimes can counteract common law assumptions. For example, if a law is passed that has clear public policy objectives (for example regulating the sale of prescription drugs), a court might discern that those objectives outweigh the potential harm done to an individual who is found strictly liable for breaking that law (finding a defendant guilty for simply committing the act without any consideration of fault or the reasonableness of their conduct). In these cases, courts will interpret the statute as not having a mens rea requirement unless the legislature specifically requires one. 

I understand that this can be confusing. That is precisely the point. Statutory interpretation is NOT easy and can be downright painful. But my extensive work with it in criminal law is providing me with another skill that every lawyer needs to have. I continue to be impressed at how well-rounded and complete the first year of law school is in teaching students all the required basics of being an effective lawyer.  

Oral Arguments [John]

Our Lawyer Skills class is not going client interviews this year. I dont know why, but we were given a packet instead describing the procedure etc. However, today I had my oral argument for the motion to disqualify memorandum I had to write. It went pretty well. We argued in front of the judge (aka professor) and she shot questions at us. It was pretty intense...A lot more intense than the moot court I was back at the beginning of my first semester. She drilled us on the case law and wanted us to provide the authority for everything we said.

It was great practice for our appellate argument in front of a panel which will occur later in April. Since the argument is over, I have a little bit of down time before the next memo. Hopefully this will give me more time to catch up on outlining for my other classes.

Client Interviews

Next week I will have my first client interview simulation. We have spent the last two classes going over all the important aspects of a client interview: establishing an attorney/client relationship, understanding the client's goals, ascertaining all the relevant facts, and setting out a work plan going forward. I tend to think it is going to be a lot harder than it looks. The lawyers in the sample interviews we have been shown make it look so easy, but it definitely will be more difficult for a student doing it for the first time. The lawyer really needs to be able to think quickly on his feet and draw all the important information out of the client. But hey, practice makes perfect and this is just a pure learning experience (not a graded assignment). I am interested to see how I do. 

P.S. Property does have some funny words. I think my new favorite word in the English language is "chattel".