A Fascinating Subject

Anyone who is still looking for an interesting Fall course should consider Insurance Law. Of course, I may be biased in saying so, but the subject is not only timely, it is a perfect "capstone" course. Insurance law can be thought of as advanced contracts, advanced torts, as well as a course on policy and complex financial regulations. Insurance touches on all areas of the law, and is sure to raise some thought-provoking issues. For example, Bloomberg just released this story on secret profits in life insurance death benefit payouts. What's not to love?!

Reflecting on the Bar Exam

For thousands of recent law school graduates, today is day two of the bar exam. The elation of graduating has faded and the reality of the test is upon them. I feel vicarious anxiety for all examinees. I doubt any attorney can think of someone sitting a bar exam without feeling a pang of sympathy. The bar is a rite of passage, and the experience of it is not likely to fade from memory any time soon.

For me, day two of the bar exam was a blur. I sat the exam in California, a three-day state. I couldn’t share in the excitement of my peers in Pennsylvania who were anticipating the glorious feeling of finishing the exam, and my own energy was waning. Day two is the multi-state day, and it was all I could do to stay focused on each question as it was hurled in front of my attention. It was hard to set aside the feelings about my performance on day one, and equally challenging to realize that I had another full day of testing yet to go. Friends and professors had encouraged us all to think of the exam as a “test of minimum competence,” but could we? In retrospect, that is exactly what it was, but that is certainly not how one approaches studying for such an important endeavor.

I would guess hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on bar preparation each year between the costs of professional bar review courses, hours invested in studying and sitting the test, and lost wages, etc. The period leading up to the bar exam can be a black hole of expense. Expense alone is a strong motivation to pass the thing on the first try. Unfortunately, however, after today (or tomorrow), the takers will have a long time to wait before hearing the results.

For me, the results came out Thanksgiving week – a full four months after I left the San Diego Convention Center. I wish I could say that I left the results in God’s hands and ceased thinking about the test. Sadly, I can still tell you the subjects of each essay and the order in which I wrote them. I replayed the test and my answers in my mind ad nauseam. This exercise in futility did little to ease my stress, though it did occupy my mind.

I can’t honestly encourage examinees to put the test out of their mind completely, because I don’t believe it is feasible or even wise. I think there is something to be gained from reflection. What I wished I would have done, though, is to give myself a time constraint in my own reliving of the experience. And so I will encourage the July 2010 batch of examinees. Give yourself a week or two (at the most) to reflect on the test itself. Talk about the questions with others, look up the “right” answers, if you desire, and then at the end of your set time, let it go. Write down all of your fears and concerns on a piece of paper and then shred it. The die has been cast, and the results will be revealed in time.

For now, sip a sangria and enjoy a much-deserved break. By taking the test, you have joined a fraternity of professionals who are eager to welcome your skills. Be proud of what you have achieved, and look forward to great things.

--

SDG

An Easily Understandable Explanation of Derivative Markets

Perhaps one of the clearest explanations I have seen.

--

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit. She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar. To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed in a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

Word gets around about Heidi's "drink now, pay later" marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi's bar. Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in Detroit.

By providing her customers freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Consequently, Heidi's gross sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic Vice President at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets, and increases Heidi's borrowing limit. He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral.

At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert traders transform these customer loans into DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then bundled and traded on international security markets. Naive investors don't really understand that the securities being sold to them as AAA secured bonds are really the debts of unemployed alcoholics.

Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation's leading brokerage houses.

One day, even though the bond prices are still climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar. He so informs Heidi.
Heidi then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts. Since Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations, she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and the eleven employees lose their jobs.

Overnight, DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS drop in price by 90%. The collapsed bond asset value destroys the banks liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.

The suppliers of Heidi's bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms' pension funds in the various BOND securities. They find they are now faced with not only having to write off her bad debt but also with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations, and her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.

Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multi-billion dollar, no-strings attached cash infusion from their cronies in Government. The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, non-drinkers who have never been in Heidi's bar.

Should Everyone Be “Special”?

One of my favorite films in recent years is Disney Pixar’s The Incredibles. The movie tells the story of a family of “Supers” (heroes), who have gone into hiding to escape public scrutiny for tort claims arising out of saving people who “did not want to be saved.” (An interesting thought itself.)

My particular interest in the film centers on the antagonist of the story. A self-declared/self-made “Super” named Syndrome. Syndrome was born without super powers, yet he was driven to become a Super anyway. As a child, his obsession with the Supers led him to attempt to help the protagonist, Mr. Incredible, catch a villain. The results were disastrous. The young Syndrome appeared on the scene as “Incredi-boy,” complete with his own outfit and technology that made up for his lack of innate super powers. Because of his interference, the villain they were after got away, and Mr. Incredible sent the young would-be helper packing. Years later, this child grew to be a bitter and determined man who was driven to perfect his technological aids with one purpose. His aspiration was to destroy all true Supers and sell his products to the masses, “so that when everyone is special, no one is.”



This scene, to me, is a key moment in the film. Syndrome is proclaiming his indictment of outcome-based measures of performance. He fails to recognize his own unique talent and giftedness with technology, and instead focuses only on what he is not – innately “Super.” His desire to strip the world of all who have such gifting and replace it with his form of power is problematic for an obvious reason. People who do have such a unique set of talents should not be punished. A theme throughout the film is the depression the Supers experience as a result of suppressing who they truly are. Less obvious, though, is the somewhat ironic problem brought about by Syndrome's plan. His desire to equalize the population (everyone will be Super, therefore no one will be) actually works to diminish his own gifting. He is, in effect, saying that there is only one way to be special. Being Super, whether by nature or machine, is his only metric for success.

The fact is that we are all uniquely gifted in some way. His own talents are evident when one considers the vast island kingdom he has managed to establish through his ingenuity. Instead of seeing himself as uniquely talented, he only sees what he is not. Comparing ourselves to others and wondering why we aren’t this or that doesn’t help us become our best, it only discourages us that we are not like another. I suppose my thought-kernel for the afternoon is to focus less on what I am not and more on what I am.

Balancing on the Edge of the Merits

I have posted a draft of my newest article - Striking an Efficient Balance: Making Sense of Antitrust Standing in Class Action Certification Motions - on SSRN.

My thesis is that a district court judge considering a motion for class certification in an antitrust class must preserve the bargaining relationship of both the putative plaintiff class and the defendant(s) through an analysis of both the Article III and antitrust standing doctrines. In the article, I demonstrate the adverse impact an imprudently certified class will have on the consuming public as a whole. I propose that by considering the antitrust standing (and thus antitrust injury) of a putative plaintiff class at the certification stage of the litigation, efficient conduct – and thereby consumer welfare – will be achieved.

The trouble is that ascertaining antitrust standing can be quite complicated, almost always invoking issues typically reserved for the merits of a case. This is problematic, because a district court judge is bound by the Supreme Court's admonishment to avoid "inquiry into the merits of a suit in order to determine whether it may be maintained as a class action." Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 417 U.S. 156, 177 (1974).

I welcome any comments on the piece.

Finding Comfort in Casebooks

There is something familiar and comfortable about a law school casebook. For starters, I know how to read them and get what I need from them. After spending three years in law school, the casebook-learning method becomes routine. Second, they are a contained universe. The casebook poses the question and usually presents the answer, or at least the key to discovering the answer. Third, similar to being a contained universe, the casebook is finite. I know that once I have read and digested all of the information in the book, I am prepared to handle any question covered by said book. Until another case comes along and overrules the law, of course. But even subsequent laws don't seem as daunting once the framework for learning the particular subject material is established. The point is that I know that after X-number of pages, and the requisite diligence, I will have gained understanding. Finally, given a good author, the casebook can actually be diverting to read. Whether it is a sassy bankruptcy scholar or a witty property professor, casebook-learning can be a source of entertainment. For me, the process of learning and digesting the law via a casebook feels natural and safe.

Life as a lawyer outside of the law school environment, whether practice or "real life," is not nearly so comfortable. There are decisions to make and there is not always a safety-net of scholarship upon which to rely. While others may have encountered similar anxieties and issues, I find a lack of scholarly consensus with respect to a situation to be a bit unnerving. There are problems without solutions, and as a sometimes overly-analytical mind, the "paralysis of analysis" can set in and be debilitating. Personally, I like to know that there are others - far wiser than I - who have worked through a problem and arrived at the "right" solution. I find that I often lack the confidence to determine my conclusions are fair, let alone right.

Perhaps part of my own transition from law student to lawyer involves trusting my instincts. In both the law and in my personal life, maybe I do have the skills I need to either: a) reach a reasonable conclusion, or b) know when and where to seek input on a particular matter. Maybe . . . For now, I find the ability to retreat into a casebook provides a measure of solace. For this, I am grateful.

And We're Back!

Anyone who watches SNL may appreciate the reference to Jimmy Fallon's Z105 "Morning Madhouse" skit. The skit has little, if anything, to do with the law, but it does make me laugh. As we begin the Spring 2010 term, which feels less "springy" and more "wintry," a bit of light-hearted humor would do us all well.

The Spring term is the final lap for our 3Ls, and the beginning of the bar preparation season. I wouldn't say the Fall semester is necessarily easier than the Spring, but for me, the pressure mounted each Spring. To help keep school in perspective, and my mood elevated during the remainder of winter, I found things that made me laugh to be the best medicine. Perspective, after all, is a key to avoiding burn-out and insanity in law school!

So, good luck to everyone this term, especially the 3Ls!

Call for Papers

On Friday, March 26, 2010, the Penn State Law Review will hold a symposium addressing the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Ashcroft v. Iqbal. The symposium is entitled Reflections on Iqbal—Discerning Its Rule, Grappling With Its Implications and will feature panels addressing the following topics:

• Iqbal’s implications for the role of the courts and judges in providing American society with both the opportunity for redress of harms and a common law-based approach to the development of law.
• The majority’s reference to purposeful discrimination and what it signals about contemporary understandings of race in America.
• Iqbal’s implications for constitutional tort litigation, including the decision’s potential impact on supervisory liability, qualified immunity, and the behavior of agency officials operating under adverse conditions.

Presenters currently include: Hon. Anthony Scirica (Chief Judge, Third Circuit), Hon. D. Brooks Smith (Third Circuit), Mark Brown (Capital), Ray Campbell (Penn State), Gary Gildin (Penn State), Ramzi Kassem (CUNY), Kit Kinports (Penn State), Jim Pfander (Northwestern), Jeff Rachlinski (Cornell), Victor Romero (Penn State), Jean Sternlight (UNLV), Shoba Wadhia (Penn State), and Nancy Welsh (Penn State). Presented papers will be published in a Symposium Issue of the Penn State Law Review. Brief abstracts of the papers are posted on Penn Statim.

The deadline for submissions in response to this Call is Friday, April 16, 2010. All submissions must be sent to iqbalsymposium@law.psu.edu. All submissions must be in English and comply with Bluebook formatting rules. If possible, please limit the submissions to five thousand words or less.

For more information, visit the Penn State Law Review web site: Penn Statim.

It Smells Like Stress

Perhaps I am imagining it, but upon entering the Law School this morning, there was a distinct smell that I can only attribute to one thing: stress. The smell was nothing too obvious, but coupled with the stillness in the building, it brought to mind my own final exam periods, which are – thankfully - over. Today is the first day of final exams for the fall semester, and the first exam for our 1Ls is torts. I can think of few exams more daunting than first-year torts. Even the bar exam didn’t compare, at least for me.

As the students march forward through these examinations, I encourage them to remember to take care of themselves. Good sleep, proper nutrition, and sticking to a schedule will all aid in the actual exam-taking itself. These next ten days will be over soon, and the festivities of the holidays will be fast upon all of us. For now, I wish all exam-takers peace in their studies, energy for the work ahead of them, and vision for their futures. There is a point to all of this madness, and diligence during these next few days will pay dividends down the road.

Good luck, everyone!

Thoughts on Academic Freedom and the Role of the University

“Never discuss religion or politics.” How many times has this admonishment been tossed around, yet how often do we heed it? Perhaps in the business context we are more careful to avoid such “touchy” subjects, but what about social settings? What about the academy? The ideals of academic freedom serve to foster and protect all opinions about potentially divisive issues, yet does this protection rooted in the penumbra of the First Amendment really achieve the results of open and honest dialogue?[1] Does it even matter?

In a recent address at Columbia University, University of Chicago President, Robert Zimmer discussed the purpose of academic freedom. He said the following:

“[I]t is universities’ openness to ideas, to analytic debate, to rigor, and to questioning, and the provision of an umbrella, and in fact a safe haven, for clashing thought and perspectives, that best illuminate societal, scientific, and humanistic issues. . . The greatest contributions universities can make to society over the long run are the ideas and discoveries of faculty and students that emanate from the resulting intellectual ferment [] . . . If this is the purpose of universities, the purpose of academic freedom is precisely to preserve this openness of inquiry and freedom of thought. In other words, academic freedom is designed to protect and preserve for the long run the unique capacity of universities to contribute to society.” (emphasis added)

President Zimmer’s thoughts are noble. My question is not about their veracity, for I sincerely believe he is absolutely correct. My question is whether the university environment is truly living up to the model as a “safe haven for clashing thought and perspectives”? I hesitate to say, but my feeling is that they do not.

I do not purport to speak for everyone, but only to relate my own experiences and perspective. In any context where I am under the authority of another, I am reticent to offer an ideological opinion which sharply diverges from my authority-figure. This is not always the case, but more often than not, it is. The reason is simple; ideology is the foundation upon which we construct our worldviews, and a professor’s worldviews –naturally – animate his conclusions about his subject matter. More to the point, if my opinions are perceived as flawed in their reasoning, which could easily be the case when my opinions are stemming from an ideology that deviates from the professor’s, what will the conclusion about my scholastic aptitude be? Whether science, law, business, etc., we are all subject to bias. Even in our modern enlightened era, there is cause for caution.

Maybe this caution is healthy. Maybe cautious and guarded opinions serve to encourage quiet reflection before speaking. This is a worthy end, is it not? Unfortunately, I do not think the bias within the academy is an even split down the ideological middle. If it were, then the opportunity for reflection would be given fairly consistently to students of all worldviews. However, in many areas of the academy, there is a perceived “politically correct” worldview which garners dominant support. This trend may foster open dialogue amongst those who find themselves in the majority, but is the minority voice likewise fostered? Is there anything that can be done to encourage a true safe haven?

Perhaps a benefit of such a reality is that individuals who seek to develop new ideas will find mentors with whom they share ideological views. Within this context, there can be a mutual sharpening of minds and arrival at ideas or innovations which will contribute to society. This begs the question, though, of what role the university should play. Is the university about benefitting the student-consumer, in which case the student comes to the university with his ideas and seeks guidance as to how to achieve his goals? Or, does the university primarily serve society, in which case the student should come to the university as tabula rasa for the purpose of forming ideas which will provide the best outcome to society? Of course, the answer could be a blend of these two ideas.

President Zimmer noted the German model of the university is the modern research institution we know today. This model comprises three principles: 1) the goal of education is to teach students how to think (not simply master a craft); 2) integration of research and teaching is central to teaching students how to think; and 3) the university must be independent from the state. These principles suggest, to me, that the primary purpose of a university is to serve the student as an individual. This educated student will be in the best position to benefit society as a critically-thinking-citizen. Society ultimately derives the benefit of the education experience, yet the party immediately served is the student, not society. If that is the case, my mentor-model makes sense. It does not result in a truly free and open forum for clashing ideas, but it does give the student as a consumer the product sought.

If the university is primarily serving the student-consumer as an individual, what happens to academic freedom? Does it lose some of its importance? I think the answer is a quiet “yes.” The principles of academic freedom are still of paramount importance in many contexts, but perhaps the principles merely provide the safe-guard wherein a member of the university community has recourse should he endeavor to challenge the status quo. This protective mechanism is, I believe, a far cry from an umbrella sheltering the exchange of differing perspectives.

-----------

[1] See Griswold v. Conn., 381 U.S. 479, 482-83 (1965) (“[T]he state may not, consistently with the spirit of the First Amendment, contract the spectrum of available knowledge. The right of right of freedom of speech and press includes not only the right to utter or to print, but the right to distribute, the right to receive, the right to read . . . and freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, and freedom to teach . . . indeed the freedom of the entire university community. Without those peripheral rights the specific rights would be less secure.”).

Justice Sotomayor on the Traditions in the High Court

I happened to catch C-Span's special on the Supreme Court, and was struck by the newest member of the Court's comments regarding tradition:

"[T]raditons anchor us in a process that's greater than ourselves; they remind us that the role that we are playing is not a personal role, not a role that should have a personal agenda, but one that has an institutional importance and that institutional importance is bigger than us."

There are so many aspects of life that this resonates with. Whether religious practice, national governance, school tradition, family ritual, or even corporate culture, traditions do anchor us and do remind us that we are but a part of something much larger than ourselves. This is not a revelation, but I did appreciate being reminded of it and I appreciated hearing Justice Sotomayor express it.

STOLI Hearing on the Hill Today

David J. Stertzer, CEO of the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting, sent out the following update this morning.

"U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) will hold a hearing today focused on the life settlement market and stranger originated life insurance ("STOLI"). The hearing will be at 2:00 pm EDT and can be accessed from the Committee webpage. For a complete witness list and announcement of the hearing, please click here.

AALU submitted this written testimony to the Committee focusing on our stong efforts in conjunction with the broader life insurance industry to enact state laws to prevent STOLI, while protecting legitimate uses of life insurance and life settlements.

We hope the hearing will further those efforts, because we cannot allow STOLI to detract from the critical role life insurance products play for 75 million American families.
We will be covering the hearing and will provide you with a report tomorrow."

The Crisis of Credit Visualized

A refreshingly lucid explanation of the credit crisis.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Finally

Premium, Natural, and Organic Supermarket shoppers, rejoice! Whole Foods has settled with the FTC. According to the FTC press release, "The consent order will restore competition in 17 geographic markets that were impacted by the acquisition. In addition to requiring the transfer or divestiture of all rights to 32 stores, Whole Foods also is required to divest related Wild Oats intellectual property, including unrestricted rights to the “Wild Oats” brand, which retains significant name recognition and loyalty among consumers." FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz says, "As a result of this settlement, American consumers will see more choices and lower prices for organic foods." Sounds good to me, but is it true?

The settlement requires Whole Foods to divest itself of thirty-two stores, in seventeen geographic markets (In 2007, when the merger agreement was entered into, Whole Foods acquired seventy-four Wild Oats stores). Nineteen of these stores are already closed. Selling closed stores will not likely prove to be easy, and unlike the competition created by a Wild Oats-esque competitor, Whole Foods need not sell the designated stores to a single buyer. This means, the stores could potentially be sold to smaller-scale operations, which may not have the ability to effectively compete with the efficiencies of an operation the size of Whole Foods. A similar problem is seen with the IP rights. Whole Foods must sell its interest in the Wild Oats name, but if the buyer is not at least as big as Wild Oats, the value of the name could diminish greatly.

The settlement also means the Supreme Court won't have the chance to review the D.C. Circuit's opinion, issued last summer, which some have criticized as "a step backward" as it "runs counter to the strong trend in recent Supreme Court jurisprudence for economic rigor and clear standards to guide businesses and the agencies." Will this consent order truly "restore competition"? Only time will tell. All I can say for sure is that settlements are always a compromise.

Hot Cup of Joe in Hand

As the mercury stays low outside, and job seekers try to secure post-graduation employment, recent research suggests a person's first impression may be more influenced by random physical comforts, like holding a hot cup of coffee, than once believed. The study, conducted at Yale, concludes there may be a link between environmental stimuli and behavior and feelings. Specifically, feelings of trust and empathy are linked to physical feelings of warmth.

The scientists recruited college students to participate in what they thought was a personality study. As the students were brought into the lab, they were asked to hold a cup of coffee (either hot or cold). They were then asked to evaluate presumed personality traits based on a neutral description of a fictitious person (industrious, cautious, and determined). The students who held the hot cup perceived the person as "more generous, sociable and good-natured" than those who held the cold cup. A second test group of students was given either a heating pad or cooling pack to hold for "product-testing." At the end of the "test," the students could choose a gift either for themselves or for a friend. The students who held the cold pack were more likely to choose the gift for themselves.

So what is the moral of the story for those seeking to make a positive first-impression? The study stopped short of concluding individuals should hand out warm drinks before an interview, but rather made the observation that perhaps our environment influences our feelings more than we could have imagined. True, but maybe holding onto that hot cup of coffee before a big interview isn't such a bad idea.

The AP story can be found here.

A Good Thought for the Day

"Never let the sense of failure corrupt your new action."
~ Oswald Chambers.

In Praise of Technology

PSU Law is setting the standard for distance learning. With our dual-campus system, students at either location are able to enjoy the curriculum offered at the other campus via AV technology. The technology is some of the most sophisticated around, and it along with our excellent IT personnel do a phenomenal job of facilitating meaningful interaction with our professors and colleagues who reside 100 miles away. As a tech-savvy campus, we also have the additional opportunity of engaging with third parties at locations distinct from both campuses.

This morning, our Class Actions Seminar, taught by the Honorable D. Brooks Smith, Judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, was able to enjoy a a very distinguished guest speaker. The Honorable Anthony Scirica, Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, joined our seminar from his 20th floor conference room in Philadelphia. He spoke to us for about an hour on the judicial process involved in drafting the Federal Rules. It was an amazing experience, and one made possible by the innovations of the Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law.

A Quick Diversion

Four exams down, one to go tomorrow . . . boy, am I tired! I am not sure about others, but I always seem to have some music running through my head and highlighting emotions or themes. Day to day the music will vary, but it never fails that with one day to go in a semester, I end up with "One Day More" from Les Miserables playing encouragingly in my mind. Les Mis is, by far, my favorite musical. Themes of redemption, justice, love, freedom, survival, and loss make this historical fiction incredibly moving and beautiful. Here is the original London "dream cast" singing at the tenth anniversary concert.

A Crisis of Conscience

“I intend to give my brother burial. I'll be glad to die in the attempt, -- if it's a crime, then it's a crime that God commands.” . . . “God and the government ordain just laws; the citizen who rules his life by them is worthy of acclaim. But he that presumes to set the law at naught is like a stateless person, outlawed, beyond the pale.” ~Antigone

In Professional Responsibility this week, we discussed ethical issues surrounding Lieutenant Colonel Vandeveld’s resignation as prosecutor from the military commissions in Guantanamo. Among the many issues, one in particular stood out to me, the tension that LTC Vandeveld expressed over trying to reconcile his faith with his professional obligations. In his words, “I am a resolute Catholic and take as an article of faith that justice is defined as reparative and restorative, and that Christ's most radical pronouncement - command, if you will - is to love one's enemies.”

We don’t know the extent of LTC Vandeveld’s crisis of conscience, but I will say that I do not believe loving one’s enemies and ensuring justice is served are mutually exclusive. Christ also said to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.” LTC Vandeveld’s declaration is somewhat parallel to Antigone’s struggle in Sophocles’s play, and worth considering in that context. To the extent governing authorities in our lives conflict, which should ultimately prevail? As future attorneys, to what extent should our moral compass govern our zealous representation of a client?

Penn State Visiting Assistant Professor, Gregory McNeal has also posted on LTC Vandeveld’s resignation on his blog, here.

Never Try to Steal a Law Student's Computer

A thief broke into a first year law student's apartment armed with a baseball bat and threatened to "smash his head in." The student allowed the thief to take his wallet and guitar, but when the thief attempted to take the student's laptop, that was too much. The student sprang to action, wrested the bat away from the thief, and landed him in the emergency room. The story is reported at switched.com. The stress and pressure of law school should never be underestimated.

A law student's computer becomes an appendage in its own right. We rarely are separated from them for too long. Outlines, case briefs, class notes, and email are all part of our daily routine and are essential ingredients in a successful semester. No doubt portable computing technology makes law school life easier, but does being wired most hours of the day detract from education? We are a generation who is used to being plugged in, but being plugged into the virtual world may prevent us from being plugged into the environment (classes, conversations, home) physically present to us. Some sociologists see a positive correlation between the rise of connectivity and the decline of "social capital." In other words, they posit that as we are more connected through our computer screens, we lose connection with those who are co-present with us in the real world. (For more, see the Economist's Special Report on Mobility.)

In law school, the decline in social capital is a detached presence in the classroom; a decrease in the class collective, if you will. Certainly portable computing technology is efficiency-enhancing (a proficient typist can type more quickly than hand-write), and so the more insights can be captured coherently and legibly. On the other hand, being online (as opposed to just word-processing) is a distraction. Some have suggested banning computers in lectures, while others have recommended a wifi dead-zone in classrooms. The former seems like throwing the baby out with the bath water, and the latter seems paternalistic to me. After all, aren't we old enough to take ownership of our choices? Thoughts?

--
Thanks to Jim Vincent for the story tip. Illustration by Bell Mellor.