Hey kids, guess what? Today is Law Day. Happy Law Day!

So what exactly is Law Day? From the ABA’s special webpage, set up in honor of the holiday:

Fifty years ago President Eisenhower proclaimed the first Law Day a “day of national dedication to the principle of government under law.” The ABA invites you to celebrate this enduring principle during the 50th anniversary of Law Day.

Law Day 2008 will explore the meaning of the rule of law, fostering public understanding of the rule of law through discussion of its role in a free society.

And through… buying random crap on the internets! Because no American holiday is complete without excessive consumption. Click here to visit the ABA’s Law Day Store, “your one-stop shop for Law Day products.” That economic stimulus payment won’t spend itself!

Update: More details about Law Day over at the WSJ Law Blog (including a link to 36 U.S.C. § 113, codifying Law Day).

Not enticed by the ABA Store’s offerings? Okay, here’s another possible Law Day purchase: Lawsuit!, the board game. Because what lawyer doesn’t love board games?

Attorney Tina Eskreis Nelson, creator of the game, describes it as “the first game for the entire family that teaches in a fun way what it’s really like to be a lawyer.” She explains that the game was created “as a Father’s Day gift for her husband, to teach their three children a little bit about what their dad (and mom) do as attorneys.” Creative Child magazine awarded Lawsuit! a “Preferred Choice” award in 2006, and then a “Game of the Year” award in 2007. It was also chosen as one of Grandparents Magazine’s “Best Games.”

Read more, after the jump.

The game sounds like fun to us. But maybe that depends on how sanguine you are about the profession? From Patently Silly (via Overlawyered):

To survive in the litigious society that is the 21st Century United States, every citizen needs to know a few things about the legal system. While NBC’s Law and Order may be enough for most of us, what about the children? Enter the Lawsuit Board Game.

This game unabashedly introduces kids to the realities of being a legal eagle, including:

* crippling law school debt;
* outrageous hourly fees;
* filling your office with expensive and intimidating leather bound books;
* product-liability cash cows;
* and the hazy definition of “emotional distress.”

We saw the game in the gift shop of the National Constitution Center a few months ago, and it looked intriguing. We’re curious about how realistic it is, though.

The website says the game allows you to “[r]un your own law office” and to “double the stakes by ‘buying in’ to a partnership.” But as a partner, do you get to stage management coups and “de-equitize” rival players? Can you lateral to another firm with your $8 million book of business, to give you the payday you need to move “south of the highway” in the Hamptons? Those are, after all, the most fun parts of partnership.

Law Day 2008 [ABA Division for Public Education]
Lawsuit! The Game [official website]
Lawsuit Board Game [Patently Silly via Overlawyered]