Socrates was Killed For a Reason: Reflections on My First Year of Law School.

My first year at ASU's law school is officially over and I thought I would take a moment and share some of the milestones.  My experience is probably not representative. I'm married, have three kids and I work full time.  My hours are flexible and most of my work is electronic, so I could attend ASU full time as well.  Working is frowned upon, so the first semester I kept a suit at my office and wore casual clothes to school.  By the second semester I blew that off and just wore a suit to school every day. 

During finals last week, I was in the library and wanted to reheat some coffee in the microwave but I didn't want to walk to the student lounge.  I was standing outside the library staff lounge wondering if I could sneak in...and then it hit me.  "Dude, you are 43 year old guy in a white shirt and tie, no one is going to kick you out of the library staff lounge."  It was a liberating moment.  In fact, it was similar to my most profound realization:

Most Profound Realization:  I'm no longer 27. 

We all have a mental age and I eventually realized that I view myself as about 27.  That is, until I met students who are actually in their 20s.  Everything was fine at first, then the professor called on one of them.  Law schools still use the Socratic method.  The first year is largely a hazing experience, so the professors call on students randomly and ask a series of questions about a case until you eventually make a fool of yourself. 

The students at ASU are really bright.  I've been extremely impressed the caliber of the student body,  but they are so...young.  Here's a typical example.  The professor will walk into class and without any greeting say "Ms. Smith, tell us about the case of Able v. Baker."  Ms. Smith will compose herself and say.  "OK, This is a Supreme Court case that was decided 5 to 4 in favor of the plaintiff."  The professor will then say "Tell us what each justice said."  Ms. Smith will say, "OK, Justice Scalia, he was all like, "you have to look at the original language" and Justice Thomas, he goes "right on" but Justice Breyer, he was like "you have to look at the purpose of the statute," and Justice Scalia was like "whatever," and then Justice O'Connor, she like wrote the opinion and it was like 5-4 and she had this like six part test and now the six part test is like, you know, the law.  Is this going to be on the final?

Biggest Surprise:  No Discernible Bias. 

Let's face it law school professors are generally pretty liberal.  I have a pretty high tolerance for bias,(after all, I listen to NPR) and I expected the classes to reflect the views of the teachers.  That wasn't the case.  In fact, professors were quick to lead students down rabbit trails that ended in Conservative results. 

Most Pleasant Surprise:  Intellectual Diversity

Law schools strive for a diverse student body and I assumed that "intellectual diversity" would cover the spectrum from the ACLU on the left to the Sierra Club on the right.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Sure, there are plenty of ACLU, PETA members and it's interesting to hear their perspective--especially in Con Law.  But I was pleased that one of my friends from the Goldwater institute is in my class and that there is a surprisingly strong LDS contingent. 

The LDS guys have been the most fun to watch.  They are in their late 20s because they took a few years off for missions.  They are almost all married; several of them have one child already and are expecting a second.  They are very serious students and it appears that they are over represented in the top ranks of the class. 

One thing intrigued me about my LDS friends.  My coffee consumption skyrocketed in law school.  How can they get through school without coffee or tea?  I soon had an answer.  About three weeks into the first semester, I showed up to a morning class and one of my Mormon friends was chugging his second Red Bull.  I guess that's why they are all strict constructionists. 

Most Profound Reading:  The Andrews Dissent in Palsgraf

Cardozo's opinion gets all the press, but the Andrew's dissent reads like theology.  "We may regret that the line was drawn just where it was, but drawn somewhere it had to be."

Single Most Difficult Topic:  Rule Against Perpetuities

No practicing lawyer understands the Rule Against Perpetuities.  It's a hazing ritual, like making medical students work 48 hours straight, or making young monkeys pick lice off of old monkeys.  Actually, once you factor in unborn widows and fertile toddlers, the rule is pretty mechanical. But I swore to myself that if the professor asked me about it, I would answer the question and then say "Thank you sir, may I have another."

The Rule Against Perpetuities requires you to identify every "life in being."  The LDS guys and I got a kick out of the fact that for purposes of the Rule, life begins at conception.  I guess the law doesn't have to be consistent. 

Best Professor:  Andy Hurwitz

I know.  You think I'm sucking up, but I don't even take the bar until 2009, do you think I could possibly argue a case in front of the State Supreme Court prior to Justice Hurwitz' retirement?  Justice Hurwitz was my Civil Procedure instructor and had a great balance between Socratic intimidation and straight lecture.  Since the material is procedural, he's allowed to discuss it without worrying about having to rule on it later, so the discussions were pretty free flowing.  He also writes a darn good test.  My favorite part is "False because..."  Fifteen questions and all the answers are "false", but you have to say why it's false.  Every year someone claims one of the questions is actually true.  No, they are false, that's why he's on the Supreme Court and you aren't.

Most Defining Moment:  Who Writes Laws?

The first year curriculum is all common law--written by judges over that last five hundred years.  Students assume judges make most law and don't read much about statutes until later courses.  By then the impression that "Legislators" are not a significant part of the legal system is firmly established.  A few weeks into the first semester, my writing teacher was explaining how to find a statute and she wanted to know "who wrote statutes."  The students were all looking at their shoes, but the professor had figured out that I had served two terms in the House.  She looked at me and said "Mr. Patterson, who writes statutes."  I responded.  "Lobbyists."

Next year, I'll let you know how the second year went. 

Comments

[Paul Hickman]

Loved reading your piece on your first year of law school. As a graduate of ASU's law school I found it very nostalgic. My advice - make sure to take AZ con law from Paul Bender.

Looking forward to next years piece.
Paul

[Carol]

Save your recollections in a file you can remember and access Greg. We had a place to post our favorite memories of law school in the rotunda the weeks leading up to graduation. A fond memory of my class was when Prof. Schroeder backed into the trash can during a property lecture. Much more memorable than Black Acre and White Acre and easements!

[ron]

Nice post - nice reflections.

Like really she is a model of the brightest students... whatever.... :)

[Faith]

Nice post. It’s funny cuz it’s true.

I'm not surprised you picked Hurwitz as the best teacher. I think it's because you're getting the benefit of his real world experience. The professors who have been holed up in academia for 30 years just don't have the same perspective. My advice FWIW is to try and take as many classes as you can from the adjuncts at ASU. They are typically lawyers (at the top of their game) who've seen the inside of a courtroom within the past five years.

[Karen of Scottsdale]

Great analysis of law school! Too funny!

I can totally relate to the "no longer 27" realization. I'm 42 and because I don't have kids I often feel much younger than women my own age. The fact that I could be the mother of a high school kid astounds me at times.

[Paul Petersen]

Nice post Greg. Congratulations on making it through your first year. As a 2L, you will start to really learn the law, and as a 3L, you will wonder why you are still paying tuition. The best class I ever took at ASU was election law, taught by Justice Bales. He was the Solitor General at the time, and I found his insight fascinating.

P.S. Lots of 44 oz. Dr. Peppers kept me going when I was there, so I guess the strict contructionist line is really true.

[saxdrop]

Great post and congratulations. I don't know what your class schedule will look like next year, but I can only imagine if you take any policy-related or legislature-related courses you will continue to be singled out for ribbing.

[Chuck Blanchard]

Greg:

I really enjoyed this post. It brought back memories. I also plan to show this post to my wife who is thinking about law school and wonders what it will be like to be in her 40s and in law school.

I agree with you abou the caliber of ASU students. I have taught there twice and was impressed both times.

[Bill Montgomery]

Greg,

Congratulations on jumping through the first of three hurdles in order to jump through the ring of fire - the Bar. 2 Quick points: 1) You'll get all the liberal bias you want when/if you take Con Law from Bender and 2) Are you starting to think like a lawyer, yet?

Bill

[garry]

Greg,
I would suggest George Schatzki for employment law (or anything else he teaches). The LDS guys when I went to law school (Mr. Petersen included) did drink a lot of soda b/c Red Bull had not saturated the market at that point. I am a bit surprised by Hickie's post, I thought all he did was study in the library. Nostaglic indeed.

This will sound like a cliche but you will be friends with the people you went to law school with for the rest of your life (providing you practice where you went to school).

[Joe]

Congrats on getting through that first year. I'll think you'll greatly enjoy the 2nd year because unlike the vast majority, you won't be freaking out about finding a job the following summer.

[ABC]

Schatzki is fantastic. Although for a guy who does not care that much about doctrine, he certainly likes to test it.

[Gerald Williams]

I loved this post.

You will soon learn two things about contracts: (1) It is interesting but most of the theory has been replaced by the U.C.C. and (2) You can teach it to yourself. I did. I had to do so because Anita Hill was my contracts professor, long before she became a feminist icon.

One of my best law school memories was winning an election for managing editor of the law review. I won in part because I had an Air Force commitment after law school and announced that if you elect me, I won’t be competing against you in job interviews. Everyone laughed, thought a second and then voted for me.

[Craig]

Congrats Greg on surviving your first year! Who wins the "Spring Butt" award for volunteering to answer the most questions (incorrectly)? In my law school, justice was served: Mr. Spring Butt actually flunked out, so we were spared a second year of frantic hand-waving, accompanied by "Ooh, Ooh, Professa, Professa!"

[Chris DeRose]

Greg

Hats off on being finished! I always thought the non-traditional students had the best perspective on law school.

2nd year is a lot more fun.

[netrootsdemocrat]

Congrats on being done with the first year! OMG, without bar review I would never have made it through first year. I went to UA, and, as much as I loved law school and the U, I thought the environment was WAY far to the right. It's a myth that law schools are "liberal". The federalists made up a huge amount of students.

I also had the pleasure of taking Scott Bales' election law course (I guess he taught it at both schools). It was an excellent class that was actually fun to read for. I think law students should take as many courses as they possibly can from Supreme Court justices. It's such an honor to be able to learn from someone like that. As much as I politically - and personally - despised former CJ Wm. Rehnquist, his course on the history of SCOTUS was fascinating and I was glad I took it.

Good luck in your remaining two years!