Law Students

Speaking of Health Insurance . . .

Posted on May 08, 2009
. . . people listen. Full email from DE here, and in the comments.There is to much in the linked article to summarize, so you'll have to read it for yourself, although I can't resist pointing out (Armen, are you listening?) that the title could be better...

Graduation protests

Posted on May 07, 2009
It is only fitting, I suppose. But recent reports seem to indicate this year will be like any other. Prepare for more graduation protests.

Student Center Closed for Business

Posted on May 05, 2009
Some time ago, we all received an e-mail from B*rring about upcoming construction issues that will affect students (aka the latest in a long series of hoe-rammings). Most problematic, completion of the West Terrace (which admittedly looks pretty cool) requires closing the student center from May 17th until June 7th...

Straight From The Horse's Mouth: Spring 2009

Posted on May 04, 2009
It's time for the semi annual Professor Quotes (scroll down) thread. As you'll see when you read the comments, I have been less diligent this semester than in the past. It appears to be a developing trend.Today, however, I did encounter the what is undoubtedly the quote of the year:Boalt Registrar: "Is that the completion form for your writing requirement? Congratulations...

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Good Luck on Finals!

Posted on May 04, 2009
Nuts and Boalts has been a little bit grim lately. Sometimes I think it should be called "Nuts and Torture." Zing! (Sorry, that did not warrant a "Zing.")I guess we're a little late with this, but good luck to all of you on your finals. In just a week, you'll have another year of law school behind you! That much closer to your inevitable layoff! Damn...

Religion & torture trends

Posted on May 01, 2009
In what is sure to be my most controversial post of the year, I thought it was interesting and ironic that a recent Pew Research poll showed a correlation between religious service attendance and the tendency to support torture against suspected terrorists...

Breaking: Souter to retire

Posted on April 30, 2009
See breaking coverage (among other places) here.Early speculation had been covered here."Souter is expected to remain on the bench until a successor has been chosen and confirmed, which may or may not be accomplished before the court reconvenes in October...

Helpful Health Tool

Posted on April 30, 2009
Do You Have Swine Flu?

3L Class Campaign

Posted on April 28, 2009
It's coming down to the last few days of the 3L class campaign.What started out as a rather lackluster showing has been picking up speed in recent days and most mods are down to their last 3-4 people who have yet to donate.Don't be someone who will go down in history as one of the handful of people without a star next to their name in the graduation book - for all your closest friends and family to notice!Donation forms are always available in the library, next to the referencedesk...

Who Is The Real Stephen Colbert

Posted on April 28, 2009
My man-crush on Colbert is no secret. But this study comes as a huge surprise. (H/t: Benen). First, a request: anyone with lexis willing to e-mail me the full article? If you're too lazy to read the abstract, the nickel version is that conservatives don't realize that Colbert's a satire...

The Future of Law Reviews

Posted on April 24, 2009
Yesterday at 3PM, representatives from most of the several Berkeley Law Reviews (including CLR, ELQ, BTLJ, BJIL, BJCL, AALJ, BJAAL, and others) met with Bob Berring and KVH from the library. The topic of the meeting was the complete digitization of law reviews (as in, there would be no more print editions)...

Construction Update

Posted on April 24, 2009
I snapped this photo late yesterday and figured the alumni would be interested in seeing the progress.For reference, compare that door at the far building to where those trucks are sitting. Remember, those doors were only 3 steps up from the courtyard patio...

Bar Bri

Posted on April 23, 2009
11:21 AM will go down as the time all 3Ls collectively had to change their underwear.Why? Bar Bri sent out the schedule for this summer.Notes:(1) Yay, I hear this will be FUN!(2) Yay, at least they got us a Berkeley location(s).Any thoughts on them? - Eshleman Library, 7th Floor, On Bancroft between Telegraph and Dana Streets - Evans Hall, NE Section of Campus near Gayley Rd...

Google on Google (or Why Blogspot Sucks)

Posted on April 23, 2009
The search feature on the title bar of this page sucks, which is pathetic considering blogspot is a Google entity. It only searches main posts but not comments. So when someone wants to know about a particular professor, say Professor Legal Accounting, she can't search the comments...

Bad News on the Rankings Front

Posted on April 23, 2009
A lot of people already know that, in the new US News rankings, Boalt has remained in the sixth spot.But the bigger news is this: for the first time in seventeen years, Berkeley is no longer the top-ranking school for intellectual property. For 2010, that spot is held by Stanford...

Biggest Douche in the Universe Award

Posted on April 22, 2009
Goes to James Lindgren, a law professor at Northwestern and a VC contributor. Ever since Obama won the Democratic Party's nomination, he's been on a Quixotic quest to post the most absurd and unfounded thoughts. The latest gem is this post. For full effect, please do read the post...

Course Evaluations: More Carrot, Less Stick

Posted on April 20, 2009
I appreciated the candid emails from BB yesterday and today about course evaluations. He reasserted Boalt's dismay that since the school switched to an online system, "the return rate has been slowly dwindling," and he explained how the school has responded...

First!

Posted on April 17, 2009
Someone was kind enough to email this (pdf) to me early this morning (before it broke at ATL) but laziness must have gotten to me first because only now am I getting around to posting it. The short version of the story is that Harvard is the latest "top law school" to adopt the Berkeley grading system...

DOJ "Torture Memos" Released

Posted on April 17, 2009
President Obama has released four ?torture? memos written by the DOJ Office of the Legal Counselor Lawyers. You can find the memos at the ACLU?s website. The memos were published with very little redaction ? it looks like mainly names have been taken out...

Petitioners' Victory! Or not.

Posted on April 17, 2009
This is for all those readers not on DE's friends and family list. In the comments, I will quote an email received from the Dean in response to the JY petition. I think the two main points are:1. DE firmly dismisses the issues raised in the petition.2...

Time for DE to step up to the plate for 3Ls

Posted on April 15, 2009
Today's ATL confirms what has been rumored for weeks: Northwestern Law is taking a number of steps to help out their graduating 3Ls.Notably: health care extension and hiring opportunitiesDE: now's not the time to be silent. You've done an excellent job preparing this school for those that have yet to come (new faculty and tearing apart our facilities while we're the ones here)...

That Empty Berkeley Tradition Strikes Again

Posted on April 15, 2009
From the tread immediately below:Anonymous said...On a different note. Can we get a post on the silly petition being circulated re: Yoo's civ pro II class.Posted by Anonymous to Nuts & Boalts at 4/15/2009 4:18 PMI don't know about the petition, but if it is a demand to replace Yoo with someone else, I know what I think (comments).

3L "Gap Fillers" Open Forum

Posted on April 14, 2009
3Ls: Time for an open forum on how you plan to "gap fill" your time between the bar exam and when you begin work.Today's CDO presentation conveyed two interesting points on topic:(1) If you're given the chance of a one year deferral, you should take it...

Attention Future Advocates!

Posted on April 13, 2009
Interested in moot court or trial team? Enjoy public speaking and argument? Want to share idiosyncratic and realistically unfunny inside jokes with no more than three people for the rest of your life? Like cookies? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, one of the Berkeley Board of Advocates teams might be for you...

Where Your Interest Payments Go

Posted on April 13, 2009
Why is this even debated? Of course it makes sense for the government to make subsidized loans directly and to cut out the middle man. But much like health care, it seems like the middle men are not too happy to lose their cut; so they're using your dollars to lobby Congress...

Bob's Plea For Help

Posted on April 13, 2009
Two things struck me about BB's email today ("Food, Vermin and You. A Serious Plea for Help.").  First, he must not be a fan of the serial comma. Second, does any of this really need to be said? I disagree emphatically when it comes to serial commas, but I'm also BB's biggest fan so I'll cheerfully let it pass...

Guest Feature: Commentator Reacts to 3L Survey Questions

Posted on April 10, 2009
3Ls received a survey yesterday with the stated goal of understanding "post-graduate plans and how well [we] think Boalt addressed and influenced [our] career interests/aspirations."Questions included:What motivated you to attend law school?If you took take advantage of the Edley Grant Program, what did you like about it, and what aspects of the program do you think could be improved?To what extent did your debt burden influence your post-grad job choice?Guest commenter Laura left a comment in the thread below and has graciously responded to a request by N&B regulars to produce the following post expanding upon her earlier comment...

My Law School Has Sprung a Leak

Posted on April 09, 2009
One is a fluke, two is suspicious. As comments in the thread below point out, we're losing Shelanski and Hathaway. I loved the former as my contracts professor and really hate the thought of him leaving. Who will take his place and use "The Great Cornjolio" in a hypo? He visited HLS, and I held my breath that the visit would not lead to a permanent move...

No Soup For You!

Posted on April 09, 2009
It turns out there is a food index to the legal job market: the worse 1L's prospects, the less likely the CDO will feed them lunch. This thread is to channel the building speculation about why this spring's OCIP 'lunch talks' have been all talk and no lunch...

Fall Courses 2009

Posted on April 09, 2009
The course list for fall 2009 will be posted tomorrow at this link. But given today?s lunch talk about graduation requirements, bar courses, and the like, we might as well kick this thing off. Here is a rundown from the talk:To graduate, students must take the core 1L curriculum, Professional Responsibility (as a 2L), and Con Law (at any time)...

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