Attrition

One of my good friends is now a lawyer, and before the semester started we discussed the unusually large first year class size here at Miami. He told me not to worry, that drop outs rates are always substantial. I was baffled. Who would go forward with all the committment, both money and time, that it takes to go to law school if you weren't going to stick it out, I asked. He told me to wait and see. Sure enough he was correct.

So far this semester, of the 532 1Ls at Miami, 73 have dropped out, including three from my section, two of which I was pretty good friends with. They just decided this wasn't for them and that it didn't make them happy. I can respect that. Law isn't for everybody and who would go through this misery if they didn't really want to do it. It's a bad economy out there and I'm sure plenty of people are hiding out here from the real world, but then suddenly realize the hell out there is better than the hell in here.

Who's going to be next...?

Outlines, hypos, and study groups, oh my.

November is upon us and with it an increase in the pressure. Some are taking it better than others. You just have to pace yourself, breathe, and remember that it's only school. The finish line is visible and all we have to do is take advantage of the time we have and not pull our hair out. Pace yourselves kids, and remember, it's only the rest of your life.

The Fountainebleu Problem

Any of you out there taking property will know where I'm coming from on this one, but I found this especially pertinent as I live in Miami. Perhaps some of you have read the case about the two hotels in Miami Beach that were next to each other and one of them proposed an expansion of several stories which would block the sunlight on the pool deck of the other hotel. The hotel losing their sunlight went to court to get an injunction claiming they had an easement of light. The court disagreed, because as you all know the American courts don't like negative easements (except when they do).

Just in case you're wondering, both hotels, the Eden Roc and the Fontainebleu are still in business and doing fine fifty years later. However, you would think that a high rise building with a pool would want as much sunlight as possible. Which brings to the point of this entry. My own apartment building was apparently designed to block sunlight to its own pool. The above picture is exhibit A. This pic was taken in the early morning, but the light doesn't get much better. As the season has progressed, I noticed the problem has gotten worse. In the summer you could usually get direct sunlight around eleven. Last weekend I laid out and didn't get direct sunlight till after two! I can only assume as winter progresses the problem will worsen. What lame designer didn't think of this??

Fill this room with your intelligence!

You know you're enjoying law school if you start attending optional lectures from your professor. Our property prof is undoubtedly an intellectual outlier. Editor of Harvard Law Review the year after Obama was, he got bored working on Wall Street so went to Princeton to get his PhD in history. This is only his second or maybe third year of teaching and his classes are very enjoyable. He gave up using the Socratic Method after about a week and is more a lecture kinda guy. The girls in the class all love him too, not only because of his massive brains, but also his good looks. He's a 6'5 Indian guy and although he's around forty, he looks more like thirty. Sometimes I wonder if the girls are going to come in with "I love you" written on their eye lids like in Indiana Jones.

Anyway, he's giving a lecture to one of the other sections on the history of the common law and told us we were welcome to attend. A surprising amount of our section showed interest, including myself, and as I'm writing this I'm waiting for it to start. I have problems...

City-wide shutdown

I woke up early this morning to a blustery cold morning here in Miami. It was sixty-one degrees at 7:30! I thought I was going to have to wear long johns to school this morning and a scarf. Everyone in the law library was bitching about it today as the high peaked out at 72. What's the fun of living in the subtropics if you can't lay out by the pool with your torts book? The news was talking about how it wreaked near havoc on a triathlon that started this morning. I'm surprised they didn't shut down the entire city.

The Death of Susie

Our sardonic torts professor was trying to impart some knowledge regarding negligence on us today, and spinning one of his favorite hypotheticals about pizza delivery drivers driving too fast...

S.T.P.: So what would happen if the driver is coming around a curve driving too fast and he skids out of control into a yard hitting a box containing a five million dollar Ming vase? Would he be liable for the the damage?

Some kid towards the back of the room: Well, it wouldn't be reasonable to hold him liable for the contents of the box. It's only foreseeable that he could hit the box, so he shouldn't be liable for the vase inside as well.

S.T.P: Oh, I see what you're saying. Well let's change the facts up a bit and see if the logic still follows. It is October after alll so let's say that instead of hitting a box he hits a witch costume. Only $4.95 at Target. Those are only damages he should be liable for. Only inside the witch costume is little Susie McGillicutty, dead. Who could foresee that she'd be inside the costume??

Laughter ensues.

Ah, the entertainment here at UM Law is unparalleled.

I hate inertia

One thing I've discovered over my many years in academia is that I hate having to make a deadline. Studying I don't mind at all, but when it comes to writing a paper, I'll do anything I can to procrastinate. Law school is no different. We all have these damned open memos due next week and it's like pulling my fingernails out trying to get this thing done. I have all my cases neatly copied and separated but I can barely get the energy up to read them, let alone outline my rough draft. I have until Thursday night to finish it, but that feels unbearably close. Today I spent the entire day at the library...studying everything else but that. Time is such a precious commodity. It was productive though, as we got a civil procedure study group together and I was able to read some torts. Yippie.

Tomorrow I'm going to break this inertia and lay out by the pool and get some serious shit done. May even get some sun on my bald head as well, I could certainly use it.