f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

Hey, kids, don’t forget: some judges can Google. See this AP article:

“Mich. judge ridiculed on teens’ Web site strikes back,” Jan. 30, 2006,

which starts: 

 

A judge who sentenced three teenagers to probation for

being drunk at their high school prom had them jailed after

he saw them drinking and ridiculing him on a Web site one

of them created.

 

 “I told them, ‘If you think this gives me any pleasure, you’re

wrong,'” Oakland County District Judge Michael Martone said

after sentencing the last of the girls, Amanda Senopole, to 10

days in jail last week.

(via First Amendment Center)

 

Ernie the Attorney Svenson has sympathy for young lawyers dealing

with the “High cost of legal education” (Feb. 2, 2006), quoting from

a National Law Journal piece “As Salaries Rise, So Does the Debts”

(LawJobs.com, Feb. 1, 2006).   I don’t like seeing young people in

great financial distress either, but the best quotes in the NLJ article,

could have been said by some of the old curmudgeons around f/k/a

[see here (complaining about too many lattes), and here, e.g.]: 

 

                                                                                        “carblueSF”

But law students are partly to blame, said Joseph Harbaugh,

dean of Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law

Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Would-be lawyers live too

comfortably while in school and fail to make the necessary

sacrifices, he said, adding that a quicklook at any law school

parking lot proves his point.  “The students’ cars are better than

the faculty and staff’s cars,”said Harbaugh, who is also a board

member of Access Group, a nonprofit provider of student loans

for graduate and professional degrees. 

Another important observation is made in the article via Harbaugh:

Law schools calculate the amount of money students need

for tuition and for living expenses into their budgets, which

helps determine how much federalloan money their students

can borrow. Harbaugh said that many law schools do a dis-

service to students by raising their budgets to accommodate

so-called cost-of-attendance fees, which are those expenses

that law students have for attending school other than tuition

and fees.

On the other hand, I do not buy the excuses of the Pace Law School

Dean:

Stephen Friedman, dean of Pace University School of Law in

White Plains, N.Y., points to the “basic economics” of law schools,

which, unlike corporations, cannot “sell more stuff or operate more

efficiently.”  . . .  Your only alternative is to raise prices — the

fundamental driver behind this extraordinary increase,” he said.  

Well, Dean Friedman, I bet you could operate a bit more efficiently. How

about using more adjunct faculty?  And, given that there are many times

more competent applicants for law professor slots than there are available

positions, how about trimming some of those fulltime teaching salaries?

The Chicago-School and federalist-types will surely understand the supply-

demand economics. (Cf. TCSDaily, How Wal-mart is like academia, by

James H. Joyner, R., Jan. 27, 2006; via RiskProf)

 

 

  Ohio Bar Ethics Rules: You have only 13 days to get your comments to the

Ohio Supreme Court on the Report of its Code revision Task Force and

its Proposed Rules.  As we explained in detail last week,  Ohio consumers

need your voice to help assure them the protection and competition they

deserve.  For example, as written, the Proposed Rules would continue to ban

lawyer ads that mention discount or cut-rate fees.  In addition, a State Bar

committee had recommended against a proposed requirement for a written fee

and scope-of-engagement statement for each matter above $500.

Taking my own advice, I emailed Ohio State Bar President

 E. Jane Taylor, hoping she would help assure that pro-

client positions were taken by OSBA’s House of Delegates

last Friday.  She wrote back saying lively debate was had

on both points you raise, as well as on many others.”  I have

not, however, been able to find out the final recommendations

of OSBA.  If you know, please leave a comment or email me.

 

In response to my statement that bar associations act far too

offten like guilds, Jane Taylor also wrote: “One of the many jobs

one has as the leader of a state wide bar association is to guide

the organization to find, in policy matters, the right balance be-

tween the interests of our members and our obligation to inform

and protect the public.  The perspective of a person such as your-

self is quite useful to the process.”

 

Over at MyShingle, Carolyn Elefant wonders on behalf of ghost-writing

associates: “Why Would You Blog At Biglaw?“.  There’s a nice debate

over whether it matters at Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground.  Check

it out, along with my oh-so-reasonable perspective.

 

                                                                                               

 

Professor Bainbridge has been experimenting with a new hobby — shooting

still life photographs of wine bottles (everybody needs a hobby).    It looks

artistically promising, but he’s hoping photo buffs will help him with some

lighting issues. 

                                                                                      

“snowflakeS”  Time for a relaxing, thoughtful moment with

 Hilary Tann.  Maybe Prof. B will bring the wine.

 

quietly

we become

audience

 

 

 

 

 

 

there should

be a name for it

snow light

 

 

sitting

where I sat as a child

I wait out the storm 

 

 

 

mountaintop

winter grasses

blown clean of seed

 

 

Hilary Tann from Upstate Dim Sum   (2004/I)