Closings

First to dispose of the most important news of the day:

LEGAL WRITING IS OVER!!!
...until next semester.

After some final polishing and tweaking, I dropped off my legwri final today (the day it was actually due... see yesterday's post for more on that). If you're interested in some ND law school gossip regarding people who are not Alex having trouble turning in their finals, see Brendan's recent entry. At any rate, it's good to close that chapter of my 1L adventure.

Today was also the last day of classes for the semester. Our profs have scheduled some review/Q&A sessions over the coming week and a half, but no more classes. Profs have done what they can in the past few classes to bring the course full circle, where possible. But the winning "closer" was Professor Tidmarsh.

After putting the day's reading into context with the bigger picture, he tied up most of what we've learned in Torts this semester to one concept: Foreseeability. To further illustrate his point, he performed a little magic trick. (He's done this once before, making a cup of water disappear during our discussion of Rylands v. Fletcher, a case about a dam breaking and flooding a mine shaft.) Now some people say that knowing how a trick is performed ruins it. I think it lets you focus more on the style and presentation of the trick.

Tidmarsh came into class today with two items that immediately drew the classes attention. First was the mystery box he had brought in on the first day of class. Flashback: The box was marked "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 12/7/04." Inside was supposed to be a product that would change the lives of millions of people, but might end up killing many people as well. Tidmarsh used this to launch into the course. The other item he brought to class today was an envelope; as soon as he got to the front of the class, he taped the envelope to the board.

Tidmarsh told us we'd finally get to see what was in the box. He asked for volunteers to open it. He picked two people, and had them cut a deck of cards to see who would get the honor -- high card wins. After we saw the contents of the box and talked about foreseeability some more, Tidmarsh finally told one of the students to open the envelope and read the note to the class, which "foresaw" which cards the students drew. Ah, clever.

After "officially" ending class, Tidmarsh strode out of the classroom to a well-earned round of applause. It reminded me of a scene in The Paper Chase, when the professor concludes class and receives a standing ovation on his way out.

Thanks for a great semester, Professor Tidmarsh.