If I had a hammer... I'd probably pound the podium.

Sometimes it can be good to be a rising 3L - at least when it comes to scheduling. There are no other classes ahead of us, so we get the first crack at next fall's lineup. (Not that they're teaching law next year at our law school. Catholic Social Thought? Mercy and Justice? International Art Law? Maybe it is possible to be sick the day they teach law at law school.) Fortunately my registration time was early enough to get all of the classes I wanted. The only one I was worried about was the Legal Aid Clinic, which has far fewer spots than any other class. (Still, it wasn't the first class to fill up - that honor belongs to Sports and Inequality.)

Besides the clinic, the class I'm most excited about is a little course called Law and Psychology. I think I'll make it my personal goal to bring up Abraham Maslow at least once by the end of the semester. Double points for using my favorite quote.

Classes are winding down, which means soon it'll be time for the pre-finals crunch. But before we all go insane, we do get a temporary reprieve in the form of Easter Break - essentially a long weekend. But not all of my classes will be making a mad dash to finish off the syllabus. In my International Dispute Resolution class we'll be conducting a mock negotiation to create part of a mock multilateral environmental treaty. I never got to play mock UN in school, so I guess this will be the next best thing. I'll be representing fair Britannia. It's too bad that I don't have a British (or even faux-British) accent. I was secretly hoping to be assigned to the Russian delegation so that I could hammer the podium with my shoe. But since I'll be representing the UK, I'll have to act much more dignified. Maybe if things get too heated I can make the civilized suggestion that we all break for tea.

Monkeys

(pic courtesy of ishkur.com, parodying the despair.com demotivational posters)

Yeah, so sorry for the lack of new posts lately. I guess I just haven't felt all that inspired. That, and I don't have worker monkeys to help out with posting new stuff. Although judging from the CareerBuilder monkeys, maybe that's not a bad thing. But if I did have worker monkeys to do my bidding, I think I'd choose the winged variety. They'd be more versatile that way. But I wouldn't dress them up in those bellboy outfits; that's just cruel. Haven't you always wanted a monkey? (Okay, time to stop channeling Barenaked Ladies.)

Anyway, I hope to get a few more posts in before the finals crunchtime hits. A few things to keep an eye out for: ICBM bowling season recap, a new 15-0n-15 (topic still TBD), and maybe even (gasp!) a law school related post or two. So hopefully that'll whet your appetite enough to keep checking back. Until then, I'll still be on the lookout for talented trained monkeys. And if you happen to know any that are particularly adept at taking law exams, get in touch with me ASAP. (Derek and Brad need not apply. [I kid, I kid.])

New pictures -- Barrister's Ball

New pictures for your viewing pleasure! (Many thanks to Susan who captured the shot above.) You can check out the whole set by clicking the link to the right or by clicking here.

Smoking out the truth

Here at NDLS, there's a weekly publication known as the Patty O'Herald (named for our infamous dean). It's primarily posted in the bathrooms, though sometimes there are copies taped to the refrigerator and elsewhere in the law school. The newsletter includes announcements of upcoming law school events, SBA news, and humorous law-related or law-inspired news blurbs, jokes, and anecdotes. Today there was one such story that caught my eye. Here's the story:

A Charlotte NC lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars then insured them against fire among other things. Within a month having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires."

The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued and won! In delivering the ruling the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous, however; the judge stated that the lawyer held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be "unacceptable fire," and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000.00 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires."

After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and sentenced him to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.

(quoted courtesy of this site)

Now for the kicker. The story's a sham. A phony. Fake. Not true. In short, urban legend.
I suppose one shouldn't expect much from a self-described bathroom rag. But a little fact checking wouldn't hurt. A quick trip to snopes is all it takes.

Honor makes the front page

... of the South Bend Tribune!

You can see the picture here (for now (third down)) and here (for archival purposes).

Despite being in town for only a few days, Honor graced the front page of last Friday's SBT. We had attended an event on Thursday sponsored by the Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty - David Kaczynski, brother of the Unabomber, came to speak. It was a very moving talk.

Anyway, some reporters from the Tribune came to do a story on the event, and snapped several pictures. The one with Honor in it is one of a couple that made the front page.

The Tribune's story on the event, which doesn't really do it full justice, can be found here (at least for a few days).