What I Wish I Had Known When I Started Law School, Part II: (Dis)Orientation

I have to say, I found my first year of law school (at Duke — go Blue Devils!) like getting off the plane after a twenty-four trip to South Africa: profoundly disorienting.   Current 1Ls, I hope your orientation group was better than mine (I called my Mom and cried), I hope that you understand your reading somewhat, and I hope that you have gone out a least once with the one nice person in your orientation group.  So, now that stuff is over, what else do you need to know?

I divide this up into two sections:  How to Orient Yourself as a Human and How to Orient Yourself as a Law Student.

How to Orient Yourself as a Human

1.    It gets better.  Well, kind of better, in a relative sense of the word:  You will understand what your teachers are saying at some point.   You will know how to write a legal memorandum well.  You will be able to speak clearly when a judge is impatiently looking at you.   It may not happen your first year, but it will happen.   

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I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Law & Ice Cream

At yesterday’s dedication of Eckstein Hall, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson referred to Justice Scalia’ s admonition that students not take courses in Law and Ice Cream.  Justice Scalia confirmed that advice and added his relief that Marquette offers no such course.

It will surprise few who know me that I yield to no one in my admiration for Justice Scalia. But, being an enthusiastic proponent of both law and ice cream, I wondered what such a course would look like. What might it teach?  I have imagined Law and Ice Cream and it turns out to be quite (may God forgive me) rich.

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“I Hope Marquette Will Always Be a Teaching Law School”

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia called Wednesday for Marquette University Law School faculty and students to focus on the basics – teaching and learning core knowledge of the law – and for lawyers who support the Law School to be advocates for maintaining that emphasis.

Speaking at the dedication of Ray and Kay Eckstein Hall, the Law School’s new home, Scalia said, “I hope Marquette will always be a teaching law school.”

About 1,500 people, including all seven members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, took part in the dedication ceremony in a large tent next to the $85 million building. The building was described by both Scalia and Chief Justice Shirley A. Abrahamson of the Wisconsin Supreme Court as “magnificent.”  

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