Back to School: What Is The Most Worthless Class You Had to Take?
[Ed. note: This post is by SOPHIST, one of the finalists in ATL Idol, the “reality blogging” competition that will determine ATL’s next editor. It is marked with Sophist’s avatar (at right).]
With classes starting soon, another crop of 1Ls will be starting on a journey that has only one sure outcome: the accumulation of useless information devoid of any practical professional relevance.
Once you take away all of the prestige-whoring, grade-inflating shell games that allow top schools to separate you from your future earnings, can’t most law classes be reduced to an Emanuel’s outline and a BarBri lecture?
Which classes were the most irrelevant to the life of a Biglaw associate?
Today I’ll offer my worthlessness rankings on basic classes that most everyone was forced to take. Thursday I’ll open up the field and rank useless classes that ATL readers could have avoided, in a bold “Clarice Starling” attempt to save just one law school lamb from signing up for International Law.
But I’m about more than telling 1Ls that the next three years of their lives are pointless (though, really guys, totally pointless, just saying). I’ll be offering up alternative classes that might not be available at your local registrar, but that every Biglaw associate needs to take before leaving law school’s protective cocoon.
After the jump, see the classes worth sleeping through.
4. Tax
Tax is for people of superior intellect that are also celibate. It’s the new priesthood. And just like dealing with the real clergy, all most Biglaw associates need to do is identify one tax attorney they trust, ask them questions, and keep quiet about all the “bad touches.”
Replacement Class: Partner Pleasing; A Seminar.
Every partner is different, but there are universal truths that can be learned. Partners believe that they are important, much more important than you. Eventually this will be beaten into you, so you might as well start in school.
3. Torts
B>PL. Palsgraf. The tort-lottery theory. Damnit Jim I’m a lawyer not a delicatessen owner. With all due respect to 1-800-LAW-CASH, you can skip this course entirely. Though, I do like knowing the answer to “what is a tort” for parties and random conversations with cab drivers.
Replacement Class: Poker.
If you want to make extra money on the side using your legal brain, poker is a fun and lucrative alternative to insurance liability defense. It requires logical thinking, concentration, and the ability to look confident even when you are completely full of it. If you can pass poker, you’ll be a star at every closing.
2. Constitutional Law
Con Law should just be renamed Gunner-Heaven. If that is not reason enough to avoid as many class sessions as possible, consider also that if you are a junior associate and you find yourself walking into a partner’s office with a research memo full of irrelevant SCOTUS cases, you had better bring your own lube.
Replacement Class: Clinic: How to Get a Clerkship.
Law schools will bring law firms right up to your front door, but when it comes to snagging a clerkship you’re better off turning to Survivorman Les Stroud for guidance. Just remember, dress in layers and stay hydrated, you might be off on a long trek.
1. Property
Unless you plan to be a squatter, property devolves into figuring out how to piss off your neighbors without going to jail. I suppose T&E attorneys use some of what they learn, but those people have their own separate class where they can learn how to restore power to the cold, dead hands of the landed gentry.
Replacement Class: Advanced Functional Alcoholism.
Of course, if you are a squatter, it’s probably because you failed this course. Most successful associates have mastered the binge, boot, “blackberry from home while pretending to be in the office” cycle that allows you to make friends and keep your job.
Did I miss anything useful in these course offerings? What else have you learned once and never used again?
(180) 
Comments
most useless class was NY practice, practicing in state court = TTT
every clinic. Like I have time for pro bono
1A law... all the uselessness of Con Law, twice the earnestness
Legal research
replacement class: how to make your office feel like a home since you'll spend more time there
"The work/life balance" oh wait, that is so fictional it doesn't even have a place on a list of fictional classes
No admin law? that was useless... only rule is there are no rules
Crim Law - worthless
Everything I took 3L year was just a way to pass time...
Professional Responsibility. No bearing on practice at all. Really.
replacement class: How to Fly Under the Radar
looooove the replacement classes... what about 'everything you ever wanted to know about Concordance'
Def professional responsibility. You can learn those rules in a day or two.
International Law - "well, here are some guidelines, but generally, do what you want."
we were forced to take gym class in law school, so wortheless
Property was completely worthless. There is nothing more to say. Worthless.
Might I suggest "Advanced Document Review"
This was a pretty well-done post. Probably best of the contest so far.
Privilege logging 101
I know it made sense to get rid of Marin last week, but this is just going to be a blowout
Sophist continues to put distance between him and F&D
Admin, Crim and PR have all been highly useful to me.
Property is a strange class, but it's not entirely useless. There's some okay stuff in there if you work in real estate or land use.
My most useless class was contracts. Not because it's a bad subject. I'm sure it's very important. But I had a professor who was truly incapable of communicating anything of value to virtually anyone.
Admin, Crim and PR have all been highly useful to me.
Property is a strange class, but it's not entirely useless. There's some okay stuff in there if you work in real estate or land use.
My most useless class was contracts. Not because it's a bad subject. I'm sure it's very important. But I had a professor who was truly incapable of communicating anything of value to virtually anyone.
I hate Sophist so much. But this post was really good. DAMMIT!
Replacement class-- how to ask for time off without the partner freaking out
You should use the royal we when you write.
I totally disagree with torts, even for those who never practice anything resembling tort law. It's such a basic building block of so much of our law that any legal education without it would be seriously wanting.
I'd agree with Property, not very useful for nearly anyone and not terribly important to other areas. Partner Pleasing should be a required course.
Great post by Sophist--very telling that more comments actually refer to the post than to the poster.
"It requires logical thinking, concentration, and the ability to look confident even when you are completely full of it."
Sophist has obviously never played poker. Looking confident has almost nothing to do with success at the table.
This contest is a joke. Good luck supervising a shitty blog, Lat.
Needs some work, but it's an okay post. But seriously keep trying to improve. I wouldn't come back often to read something like this.
15 = UPennSt alum
Replacement class: "How to do a good enough job to not get fired, but not so good that you get rewarded with even more work."
29-- when you play poker there are these things called bluffs, sometimes people use them to take lots of money away from you... look into it
I'd like to play poker against #29.
Jewish Law. I didn't show up for class and aced my final based up on my basic knowledge of the Torah (thanks for ONE thing, Yeshiva!). I'm still unsure of its relevance...
Can I get a shout-out for columbia people? FOUNDATIONS OF THE REGULATORY STATE!!! holla!
35: Did you at least get to haggle over the price of the text?
Lawyer Process (Legal Research for you Hofstra grads).
And this is an excellent post.
Lawyer Process (Legal Research for you Hofstra grads).
And this is an excellent post.
Professional responsibility...and the MPRE. Complete waste of time. We all know there are no ethics in law!
36-- totally! I am stupider for having taken that class
Advanced Seamless Web
This post was a wealth of banal info. Sophist deserves to get voted off the island.
All of them, being a lawyer is so TTT
Not to those naive 1L's out there. Never hurts to remind people that law school and biglaw collectively suck.
36 & 44,
Who taught that class?
Definitely Con Law. No bill of rights in Biglaw. Replacement Class: Phrasing "No. Actually, I'm going home, I've been awake for 70 hours straight" in a way that results in you going home.
This is without a doubt the most worthless post I have ever read. I truly fear for this blog once Lat leaves...
Ooops. I meant 36 & *41*,
Who taught that class?
Replacement class: How to successfully ask Westlaw and Lexis to do your research for you
this post sucks. i won't be looking forward to atl if it's going to be filled with posts like this one.
please bring exley back -- really.
No class in law school was more worthless than this post.
Law student topics = TTT
I went to The University of Penn State so pretty much every class was a worthless class.
didn't realize ATL's readers are primarily 1Ls seeking advice...
54 - a lot of ATL readers are law students. why do you think there are so many OCI open threads on this site?
Legal Process at Fordham - 1 credit class taken during orientation week with a Friday morning final, after a Thursday night "welcome to law school" bar night, that most people show up hung over to, or still drunk because they didn't bother to sleep. You actually have to work hard to manage to fail.
54- if you have some BigLaw gossip to share by all means... if not, meh this isn't bad filler and it makes me feel wise instead of old.
Survey Course: Best vacation spots without blackberry reception
Dress for Success: Looking Like a Lawyer
Crim, Admin, Property, Torts, ConLaw... all useless. Tax depends on the professor. If you take it with someone who teaches using problems and real world examples, it can be a useful class.
Would anyone like to weigh in on Elements? I've heard that it's a melange of philosophy and economics. Is it helpful?
"Tips for remembering your child's name."
I completely disagree with Sophist's list. While actual tort law is fairly irrelevant to my practice (IP Lit), my torts class at HLS was basically a class in law & economics and damages theory -- which is very relevant to any litigation practice at a big firm. Tort concepts like foreseeability and contributory liability also pop up all over the place. Putting con law on this list is also ridiculous. While it's true that most big law lawyers do not actually have a con law practice (though I've definitely had constitutional issues arise in a number of big impact pro bono cases), constitutional law is one of the main things that most people look forward to learning and discussing in law school. To write it off as irrelevant is to treat law school as nothing more (or better) than vocational school (which it is at plenty of law schools, but not at the best ones).
I do nominate Corporations for this list if you're planning on doing anything other than securities litigation (or maybe transactional work; thankfully I have no idea what those people actually do besides "go to the printer" and check for proper comma placement).
PLEASE LOSE THE STUPID "BRAIN" PIC. It makes me think you could be J. Crew's faggy brother, GAY CREW.
58: a very useful course...I'd at least like to see the outline for a course like that before planning my next vacation.
Replacement Class - How to Actually File A Document In A Court (AKA Not your law school's civil procedure)
63, you sound like an absolute delight to be around. You are now the gold standard of "How to sound like a pompous ass in 200 words or less."
Conflict of Laws. Had a horrid teacher (who's now a dean at a second-rate law school). Had a horrid time. Useless waste of three credit hours.
The list is all wrong, but this is a good idea for a thread. And The Brain pic is cool.
Its been said but its an easy call: PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY! Share your feelings class, discuss imaginary situations and whether to turn down imaginary money or not.
Contracts, torts and property, even though I dont use them daily, are necessary to a basic understanding of law. Especially contracts.
Most Useless Classes:
1) Conflicts of Laws
-Have you ever had a case where a guy throws a hatchet over a state in self-defense of his home? Come on.
2) Maritime law
-Interesting, but who ever uses this stuff?
3) Environmental law
-Only of interest to the public interest crowd
4) Sports and Entertainment Law
-Have you ever represented a sports star or a band? Its more fun representing a rapist.
Also, Fed Tax was hands down the most useful class I ever took in law school...considering I can fill out my own 1040 now...
Nice post sophist. Keep it up!
64 just tried way too hard.
If you want your bar studying to be easier take: Crim. Pro., Trust & Estates, NY Practice (if your school offers it), and Evidence.
In terms of practicing law, almost every course is a waste. At top-fourteen law schools, the majority of what you learn is theoretical or just outdated law.
Trial ad. and clinics where you get practice with oral advocacy are good for litigators. Classes in the business school are best for transactional lawyers (most of whom eventually want to be i-bankers, anyway).
67: all 63 had to say was "HLS" to get there.
63: Professor Hanson, then?
I love the people defending entire courses like property, crim and torts based on the fact that you learn one or two concepts from them. Almost all those courses could be consolidated into a Legal Fundamentals course which devotes ~3 weeks to each of them and lets you move the hell on.
36 & 51 - agreed. And add legal methods to it. Peter Strauss is a bastard.
15 -- Given the dough rolls I've seen stuffed into skirt suits and Brooks Brother's slacks on law school campuses and in the halls of law firms, I don't think gym class at law school is such a bad idea.
Nobody wants to say anything about Elements? How useful was it?
70,
"4) Sports and Entertainment Law
-Have you ever represented a sports star or a band? Its more fun representing a rapist."
Those aren't mutually exclusive - in fact, nowadays there is often substantial overlap.
Replacement class - "How to not embarass yourself at law firm softball games"
This sucked.
2:08 PM(2)
If you needed to take Tax to learn how to fill out your 1040, well... I'm sorry.
I disagree that conflict of laws was a useless course. I come across conflicts issues regularly and they regularly are outcome determinative.
Don't be fatuous, 26.
36, 41. 75: i learned more of use in reg state* than in PERSPECTIVES.
meanwhile, did you know that they don't teach either any more? high time but i'm a bit jealous of the whippersnappers.
* i can now toss around the phrase "race to the bottom." ooo, look at me!
Hands Down Winner: Space Law. Taught by Art Dula, who authored his own rediculous wikipedia page. Fantastic. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Dula).
84-- agreed, both were useless. I heard from the SAs that neither were required anymore and I am jealous as well.
-- 41
BTW Has anyone noticed this post was actually "good". Just the right level of self-righteous snark and solicits interesting commentary.
Certainly better than any of the self-aggrandizing drivel Marin used to write.
Fed Courts was a waste of time.
I had to take crim before I could properly identify with my extended family.
63: Wow. I mean, wow. Pompous prick much?
61, I took Elements years ago, from Ed Levi. I don't remember a thing about it, other than how funny Levi was.
My most useless class -- by far, Antitrust. Richard Posner may be a great writer, but he sucked as a classroom professor.
91: interesting. Any other professors you would recommend or steer clear of?
Does Elements require many hours of study? I heard the final is easy.
Duds:
Social Diversity & the Law
International Development Law
Subs:
Gourmand's Guide to Eating at your Desk
Paternity Leave: Trick or Treat?
Most useless: All except for Law Firms & Legal Careers and Business Transactions Practicum I & II. Thank you, Professor Lutz. Go Blue.
Replacement classes:
(i) "How to Blackline."
(ii) "How to Use Word Styles so as Not to Mess Up the Senior Associate's Drafts."
(iii) "How to Get Over the Fact that Corporate Attorneys Refuse to Use a Damn Serial Comma, Even When it Would Make Things Much Clearer."
(iv) "How to Remember to Bring Along the Dial-In to All Calls, Just in Case."
91: when'd you graduate? I looked up Ed Levi and he died in 2000.
The transnational law requirement at the University of Michigan Law School needs to be abolished. At the very least, it ought not to have a law summary/study guide as a required text.
Replacement Class: how to write a partner's CLE papers while still getting in all of your billables; a.k.a. how much caffeine does it take to work 72 hours straight.
Substantive Criminal Law in 1L year. Screw that noise. Totally useless for 95% of the class.
-
And I want to take Space Law.
96: I doubt you'd find a transactional lawyer who knows how to read actual cases anymore...don't they thrive off of summaries?
All Michiganders have to take Transnational Law. Like I give a shit about Canada...
If the goal of bluffing were to "look confident," then more poker players would be good at it. The goal is to look the same as if you had the nuts, that is, stone-faced.
Even if the goal was to look confident at the table, half the time you probably want to look weak, to get called. That's all I'm saying about Sophist. He shouldn't analogize to skills that he doesn't understand.
-29
96: 99 here...sorry, I misread your post. But, I still stand by my statement re transactional lawyers; no thoughts about transnational law.
International Law as taught in 90% of law schools is a total f'ing waste that has no bearing on actually getting an transnational deal done. Worse, it encourages people to think that's what they are actually going to be doing on said transnational deal.
anything that was listed as "[blank] & The Law" were the gut classes, be it "Psychologogy and the law", "literature & the law", "Religion & the law", etc.
they were like undergrad courses.
Replacement Classes:
How to Live with Yourself
Strip Club Rules and Regulations
Creative Arithmetic
George Costanza's Sleeping Under the Desk Clinic
Online Shopping Practicum
War Studies: Officemates
Sucking Up and Sucking Cock: An Interoffice Dating Workshop
Overcoming Existentialism
Yes 95, I'm so old, I find Cindy McCain hawt. UC, Class of 1984.
Yes 95, I'm so old, I find Cindy McCain hawt. UC, Class of 1984.
Goodness, I'm glad I have no plans to become a BigLaw associate. It appears that most of the law school curriculum is irrelevant to what they do, from what I'm reading here.
"How to Avoid Non-Billable Time-Sucks: ABA Deal Points Study, Articles from Which You'll be "Accidentally Dropped" as an Author "by the Publisher," and Futile Client Development Tasks."
"How to Extend Summer Lunches into Three-Hour Affairs." and "How to Avoid Going on Summer Lunches with Persons who Never Want to go for More than an Hour."
Replacement class: how to bill for your time spent trolling ATL
Con Law - has NO place in-house.
yup time to close up law schools and go back to how it was back in the day. Apprenticeship
109: I could some of the first courses mentioned right about now. In an effort to keep some credit for this paper, I've decided to take the first letter of each sentence in the opening paragraphs and spell out my name.
Guys in my law school took classes from dead men all the time. Or at least it seemed that way. It was no big deal.
Trial Practice is utterly useless--you may as well take an acting class.
104 wins. I didn't take any of those courses, but they all appear pretty useless to me.
BTW 106: Introduction to Legal Reasoning, by Levi, is a great book. A personal favorite.
Property and pretty much every class I took during third year.
78: HA!!!
“Actually, You ARE a Genius: Dropping your HLS Degree into Everyday Conversations”
Oceans Law - I don't even know what it is, but I took it.
113 - Not a bad strategy. I was "accidently dropped by the publisher" earlier this year from an article I was 80% responsible for (but co-written with someone on his "up or out" year, so he's taking credit left and right to try to make up for his inability to bring in business).
121: I hear ya, though I'm writing a paper (99%) for a partner who is a "noted legal expert" and I've noted on his previous papers that there are no footnotes thanking anyone for helping...and this guy has not written a brief, much less CLE paper, on his own in probably 10 years.
Good topic, Ok execution. Another B+ for the HLS contestant.
105: pure gold.
For any Northwestern grads out there, five words for you:
Ideas of the First Amendment
Not only is this class a useless exposition on pointless theoretical ideas surrounding a worthless amendment, BUT it is taught by Captain &hitstain himself, Andy Koppelman.
The answer is: Elements of the Law
I didn't need a whole class to tell me that Cass Sunstein: 1. knew more than me; 2. was incomprehensible and 3. made nerdgirls swoon. He was princess leia in a bikini get up for them.
The classics: http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2008/05/truly-useful-la.html
replacement class: Biglaw Douchebaggery 101
The posts by Sophist and F&D are boring, not at all engaging. I would not continue reading ATL if such content continues. Please entertain us like Lat.
Replacement Class:
How to Dominate ATL
Learn such important traits as: Frat Stud, A properly executed Fraternity Lothario, Judge Halverson jokes and the fundamentals of TTT.
Most useless class...How to act like a schmucky fratboy with a specialization in popped collars and general douchebaggery.
Replace with: Lawyers, Etiquette and Decency.
131 = Touro student
126: I don't follow. He was incomprehensible yet the nerdgirls swooned? That seems contradictory, unless girls like opaque statements from guys.
Any tips for that class?
36 -- I agree that Reg State was useless. The only more useless class of my legal career was Perspectives on Legal Thought. I'm kind of pissed Columbia doesn't make kids suffer through those anymore.
134 - That's how I felt when my high school stopped making everyone take Latin (and the smart kids Greek, too). We had to suffer through it in our sport coats, while they now have pinata parties in Spanish "class" in their "business casual" attire (and school-crested polos when it's warm).
128: I believe Professor 63 will be teaching that this semester, having received an A+ himself while at HLS.
61:
took elements with strauss. not particularly useful for anything, but interesting with no work required. i stopped reading about a month into the class, A on the exam. the question is just whether or not you can write a coherent essay.
don't know anything about sunstein's section. and i don't know who is taking over for sunstein.
Real Estate Transactions at a small law school in Rhode Island. I learned nothing, perhaps because I was so distracted by the professor's dress ensemble of heinous neckties coordinated with equally embarrassing suspenders.
110: Trolling ATL = "Document Review"
110: Trolling ATL = "Document Review"
110: Trolling ATL = "Document Review"
professional responsibility
legal process
constitutional law
actually
any class where you cant get an A is USELESS
jack up those gpa's - in the end retarded recruiters wont care that you took all the hard ass classes but will only look at your overall GPA regardless if you took classes like fairty tales and the law where turning in a 1st grade essay will net you a B+ min and showing that you can string several coherent sentences and a theme will get you A's -
rack up those easy A's boys and girls thats all that counts in BIGLAWS retarded recruiting methods - no wonder most are suffering from previous retarded hiring decisions.
142: uhm, you must be trolling. Obviously, some are capable of making A's in any class...some
I seriously would have liked a course about the different actual practice areas of law.
i.e. Your Future Job - Corporate/Transactional/Financial Law, Litigation, Real Estate/T&E Law, Government (inc. criminal law).
Also all 1Ls should be required to take get an Introduction to law school life: interviews and the importance of the 2L interview/summer assoc. job.
International Law
142: I see your point. I was on the hiring committee at my former firm and nobody paid any attention to the difficulty of certain courses, i.e., there is no way Federal Courts is less difficult than an Elder Law P/F clinic in any context. All they cared about was the GPA, which I found ridiculous given the blatant rank-protection most law students engage in.
As useless as international law may seem generally, it was made more useless for me as my professor was an international expert on war crimes and other similar issues. As soon as I realized that I wasn't going to work at the U.N., the Hague, the ICC, etc it became apparent that the class would be of marginal use to me.
in rank based grades - top 10 get A's but after the first year its all about grade protection and grade boosting - while students can improve their focus and their skills in 2nd and 3rd year - I find MOST students take the classes where a B+ is the LOWEST grade you will get. Seminars and paper courses - frankly you can boost your GPA and entire grade level by avoiding any class where the minimum isnt a B+ - needless to say you get a lot of transcripts with flookey liberal arts titles for classes which little more than college level english paper classes
When I took the Illinois Bar years ago, there was some fat kid in a huge maroon sweatshirt that said "HARVARD LAW" in huge White letters that were about 8 inches tall.
Without opening his mouth, he had everyone hating him. Not for going to Harvard, but for needing to let all bar takers know that he was a harvard kid. That doesn't seem smart to me.
149: Crimson. Not Maroon. Crimson.
Dumbass.
74: I thought 63 was generous in describing Hanson's class. Not that I don't love the man, but I don't remember any "damages theory." So maybe it wasn't Hanson after all? Duncan K used to teach torts, right?
Golden:
Advanced Seamless Web
"Paternity Leave: Trick or Treat?"
Other suggestions:
BigLaw Advancement Practicum - Spotting Typos, Missplaced Commas, and Formatting Irregularies After Billing 20 hrs/day
international law takes the cake
international law takes the cake
international law takes the cake
Copyright always struck me as useless because it's so fact specific and the law is basically "everyone has a copyright in everything they put in tangible form and if you blatantly steal it its a violation, but you can kind of do anything so long as you arguably did it independently. The whole class could be taught in a day and yet, one day or one year, you'd never have the answer to any actual set of facts before you in a real case (thus rendering it nearly useless as a class.) Oh, and everything is fair use. Unless it's not.
Most Worthless Classes (in order)
Int'l Law
Torts
CivPro
Conflicts
Evidence
Tax is actually rather important. While the basic tax class doesn't teach you anything relevant for biglaw practice it does educate on vocab and the basics of a tax code, something that a surprisingly high number of smart people have trouble with (I could make an Obama joke here but I won't).
151: I'm dating myself but Hanson performed the Macarena in front of my 1L torts class right before Thanksgiving. It was a rare display of humanity during my first semester.
I can't imagine Duncan K doing "economics" of any real variety. Perhaps 63 was referring to the mathematical calculation problem that Prof. Hanson at least used to put on his torts exam every year.
In other news, Randy K was actually a surprisingly good and competent contracts prof.
159: I'm not sure the same could be said of David Kennedy, who I had for contracts. It was definitely interesting being at HLS with 3 professors Kennedy.
University of Miami School of Law.. Elements... don't ask me what the class was about, 10 years later I am still trying to figure it out.
160: It is a shame you probably missed the parody last year. The Three-Headed-Kennedy might have been one of the best parody jokes in a long long time.
This is a pretty solid (and humorous) thread. Know what would make it better? LOLcats!!! Does Justin have exclusive use, or can others use them, too?
Note to ATL Idol contestants: Use of LOLcats guarantees at least one vote.
158: He no longer does that math thing. Last year was one big question on his pet theory. Of course, only after spending the entire review session going over the math of products liability (activity levels? care levels?). Nevertheless, I love him.
--151
Race and American Law
I will only vote for Sophist if he continues to use the LOL cats.
Have either Sophist or F&D stated their position on the LOL cat issue?
Elements @ University of Miami School = Humor your professor by listening to him ramble about the legal theory nonsense him and 5 other living people care about.
While you think it is worthless in school it is good training for dealing with:
a) Very Very Senior Partners that are kept around for their name, but whose minds and responsibilities left them long ago (like Stotzky)
b) Clients with more money than sense. “Of course that’s a good idea, everyone will want one I’ll get a deal team together right now.
1) Property
2) Research & Writing - Useful subject, but you get nothing out of it when it is taught to 100+ (okay, 40 attending) students in the same classroom. It just wasted my time (when I went).
Most worthless post. ever.
36 and 41 -- they dropped reg state, we now have an elective
So how'd the IL Bar turn out, 150?
"Advanced Legal Research" = having a librarian show you how to Google and use all the features of Westlaw that are free to law students to find dirt on people. (Although the later can be quite useful).
Also Caribbean Constitutional Law, taught by a guy with dreds.
All of 'em. Seriously. Maybe a slight edge to legal ethics.
No one here from New York Law School? We had something called Applied Analysis--consisted of the prof telling us what a genius she was and how IRAC stunk. Same semester the legal writng guy (an adjunct who didn't know how to teach) was totally anal about IRAC. Next semester--Lawyering--the whole grade based on a written exam critiquing a dopey staged attorney-client interview.
The coup de grace? The dumped App Anal (as it was lovingly called) the next semester!!
At least it made Torts, Property ,etc seem REALLY relevant!!
I agree with 2:07 and 2:08, Conflict of Laws can be boiled down to Erie. I also think that Tax was a waste, it was one class I just did not get.
I'm going to go in a different direction. Most of my classes were useless.
But my best class was titled simply, "Negotiation".
The class required us to negotiate for our grade with the professor, an entertainment lawyer who was trying to close some deal in a foreign country and make it back in time for class almost every week.
One "A" was offered. There were a number of "B" and "C" grades available, with a healthy portion of "F" grades available for those who should have taken that management gig at Burger King. "D's" were not available on the forced curve from hell.
There were no rules or specific format for the negotiation.
I lost out on the A when someone who received a B sued the professor, the school, the dean, and the board. Turns out, when the professor received pressure from those above him, he didn't mind adjusting his grading a tiny bit.
Although I did not take the class, we had a class called "Nontraditional Perspectives". I assumed it was a sort of a general law class taught from the standpoint of a paranoid schizophrenic.
I'm applying to BigLaw with cover letters stating that I am pursuing a position in their Con Law department.
What? My favorite class and favorite "area of law" has no place in BigLaw?
I guess I'll just change the cover letters to reflect my interest in becoming the hiring partner's trophy wife. And here's some letters of recommendation.
The fact that 70 actually fills out his own 1040 suggests to me that he (or she) didn't actually learn from his (or her) Fed. Tax class.
137:
I took Elements with Sunstein. I read everything but found him incomprehensible. A on the exam. Go figure.