Law Students

Which is More Offensive?

Posted on January 11, 2009
Skateboards, or recumbent bicycles?Taxonomy and social irritation are my home territory, so when Carbolic posed that question to me last September I went to work immediately. I still don't have a confident answer, however. Here is the issue: A brush with a skateboarder involves loud, rackety invasion of personal space...

While you were away . . .

Posted on January 11, 2009
. . . your Cal Bears basketball team has been blowing up. Patrick Christopher took one of five Player-of-the-Week honors this last week and Cal took Team-of-the-Week honors.If you missed the epic finish to the Cal-Washington game last night, here's a quick overview: Cal led the game in regulation only once at 1 - 0 in the beginning of the game...

Must be a Day that Ends in Y

Posted on January 08, 2009
Anonymous asked for a thread on the BART shooting and subsequent Oakland riots. Video of the shooting here. Article on the riots here. I think the cop's reaction is pretty strong evidence that at the very least he didn't intend to pull the trigger...

Proof that Law Reviews Serve a Useful Purpose

Posted on January 08, 2009
For all of you wondering whether CLR is actually for you, I give you this. As the coming generation of CLRers, I only hope that you can be the change you want to see in the world, and fill CLR with articles that people actually want to read.

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Bringing Down the BCS

Posted on January 08, 2009
Obama has said he wants to do it. Most football fans in America agree. But, so far, no one has taken any concrete steps to challenge the BCS's dominion over determining the NCAA football champion. Until now, that is. Utah's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, is investigating the Bowl Championship Series for possible violations of federal antitrust laws...

Why the Senate Should Seat Burris

Posted on January 07, 2009
If you are confused about the Burris debate (that's Burris, not Burress) yesterday's NYT has an excellent Op Ed, which nicely describes the issue and argues the Senate should seat him. The article makes the same points I would make except, you know, way better.

CA Bar Stats Released

Posted on January 07, 2009
In a thread below, Anonymous said: Some bar stats are out. 89%.As a little baby 2L, I always feel uncomfortable about posting bar stuff. It seems about as wanker a move as the junior varsity benchwarmer who comments on the varsity players' stats. The results deserve their own thread, though, so here it is.

Making America skinny one slap at a time (Infomercials Round 2)

Posted on January 06, 2009
Vince is the new Billy Mays. When this came on tv this morning, it was so funny I assumed it was fake. Some of the things he says are just completely unrelated to the product. Exciting life? Check. Bikini? Check. Sparkling mangos? Check.Enjoy! Just a few more days of freedom left.

Still Life with Ra-kowski

Posted on January 03, 2009
Looks like Tax grades might take a while; it's hard to read exams while you are posing with a glass of wine.

Where's Witkin?

Posted on December 31, 2008
There are two kinds of legal scholars in California: those who recognize the name Bernie Witkin, and those who should.Witkin was a Boaltie (1928) who described his attitude toward law school as "loathing," who argued that the Socratic method dishonored Socrates and insulted students, and who was ever-on-the-verge of flunking out...

It's that Time of the Year Again (oops!)

Posted on December 31, 2008
I sense imminent roasting in the comments, but what can I say? I'm a word-lover. Better to be roasted for being a nerd than for any of my other unseemly qualities.This post is inspired by the fine ladies and gentlemen at Lake Superior State University, who have released their annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness...

J'Accuse Ms. Nichols

Posted on December 30, 2008
Co-blogger Max Power tipped me off to the odd number of votes for Ms. Shannon Elizabeth Nichols' blog on the ABA Top 100 Blawgs vote thing. E.g., her total votes given an average of 100 visits per day according to Sitemeter, the fact that her total votes is twice as much as ATL, where she posted a while ago until the commenters ran her out of town, etc...

The Big Rakowski

Posted on December 30, 2008
A commenter below wonders why we quote The Big Lebowski so much. First, I love that movie. Second, it's really a great movie for isolated quotes. Third, there's a special tie to the Boalt community. You young 'ens may not recall the video below from that thing at the end of fall semester, but us grizzled vets thought this was pure genius at the time...

At Midnight, All the Agents...

Posted on December 27, 2008
Who watches the Watchmen? Federal Judges, apparently. As self-appointed nerd correspondent, I thought I should share the news that the district judge presiding over the much-ballyhooed Watchmen case has issued summary judgment in favor of Fox, ruling that Warner Brothers had no right to produce a Watchmen film...

Lessons 1Ls Either Should Have Learned or Should Be Prepared For?

Posted on December 26, 2008
First of all, congratulations to all 1L?s on finishing the first 1/6 of your legal education.  To all those 3Ls who are one semester away from it being over, my condolences ahead of time. Here I will impart to 1Ls (and really slow 2Ls and 3Ls) a few things about law school that you will likely learn on your own someday, but will help you much more if you can grasp early on...

An Item to be Shot Dead, Without Rites or Cigarette

Posted on December 25, 2008
I keep on my computer's desktop a running list of words and phrases deserving of ridicule and banishment, similar to this. I'll post them here on New Year's Day in case anyone needs help coming up with resolutions, but there is one phrase in particular that must be killed off sooner rather than later:"Given the current economic climate ...

Carbolic Defends Traditional Holiday Values

Posted on December 24, 2008
Feats of Strength? Airing of Grievances? This attack on traditional, consumption-based holidays cannot be countenanced. Also, Seinfeld-lovers must accept that the show was canceled ages ago.It's time return fire in "The War on Christmas" in the only meaningful way possible--a Youtube faceoff...

Twenty Years for Sailor Moon?

Posted on December 23, 2008
I'm going to out myself as a bit of a nerd by posting this, but my interest in comics and the law collided today, when I came across this. It seems courts are upholding child porn convictions for porn that doesn't actually involve children. Twenty years for possessing erotic anime featuring girls that appear underage? (Don't all girls in anime look underage?)The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (one of my favorite NPOs) has become a special consultant for the defense of a manga collector charged with possessing child pornography...

Happy Festivus

Posted on December 23, 2008
The holiday for the rest of us. Hopefully I'll finally get some serenity now. For the uninitiated, here's an explanation.

Carbolic commemorates Prop. 2 supporters

Posted on December 23, 2008
Here. Enjoy the break, everyone.

Nothing Says "Happy Holidays" Like an Old Fashioned Airport Camping Trip

Posted on December 19, 2008
This morning I hauled myself out of bed at 4:30, hiked to the Downtown Berkeley BART station, rode to the Coliseum, stood in the rain for twenty minutes, fumbled for three dollars on AirBart, arrived at Oakland International, and then jogged to the ticket counter ...

What a HH exam looks like

Posted on December 17, 2008
By one-half of the Notorious B.O.A.L.T. Enjoy!br /br /a href="http://www.geocities.com/acilbupser/finals.html"Here./a

You've Been Served

Posted on December 16, 2008
Via Facebook?Evidently if you live in Austrailia:The Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court last Friday approved lawyer Mark McCormack's application to use Facebook to serve the legally binding documents after several failed attempts to contact the couple at the house and by e-mail.

Well, I guess we can close the file on that one!

Posted on December 16, 2008
Congrats on being 1/6, 1/2, or 5/6 done with law school! At the request of anonymous commenter #29528, this thread is for the posting of and gloating about holiday plans. So what's in store? Hittin' the slopes? Hittin' the whiskey?As for myself (please contain your jealousy), I'll be in the beautiful, thriving metropolis of Scranton:Yourself?

Float Like a Butterfly

Posted on December 14, 2008
President Bush proved today that he has better moves than my starting fantasy football running back did this week.See here. You HAVE to click the video link- it's definitely worth it.Bush's response?"So what if the guy threw his shoe at me?" Bush told a reporter in response to a question about the incident...

Rumors of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Posted on December 14, 2008
Who was Samuel Langhorne Clemens? If you know the answer to that question, you be delighted to learn that the world will finally be given a piece of his mind on free expression and whether it is safer to express your thoughts after you are dead -- just less than 100 years after he died! A sly move by a sly man, indeed...

Am I a Plaster Saint?

Posted on December 13, 2008
When it comes to extremist Mormon sects, I tend to get soft on property rights.  I believe that there are circumstances in which our government should be able to step and remove children (or "wives" in the parlance of fundamentalist Mormonism), and I completely support such invasions so long as they are based on adequate evidence...

Oakland is F--ing Dangerous

Posted on December 12, 2008
. . . and the Oakland Tribune thinks de-nial is a river in Egypt.Last Sunday, Susan Gluss (AKA the public relations face of Boalt Hall) published an op-ed in the SF Chronicle about her personal decision to leave Oakland. Her motivation was personal security -- which is, of course, a politically handy euphemism for "bald fear...

Do the Torts Shuffle!

Posted on December 11, 2008
The latest from the Notorious B.O.A.L.T. Good job guys!Note: Youtube has been finicky lately, probably due to the failure of our government to meet our infrastructure bandwidth needs. If it doesn't work, you can 1) try reloading the page, or 2) move to Sweden.

Self-Promotion Redux

Posted on December 10, 2008
Not to detract from the discussion of Skadden's new website below, but I'd like to shamelessly echo Armen's shameless self-advertisement (those of you in Negotiations this fall probably find that unsurprising.) Please, take a moment to vote for this blog...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.