Law Student of the Day: Dave Johnston
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law 3L Dave Johnston recently made a good showing on the online game show, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”
He’s not a millionaire, but thanks to his performance, and a little help from TruTV (formerly Court TV) anchor, Ashleigh Banfield, he is $50,000 richer. She was the celeb expert the show offered him for his “ask the expert” lifeline. He used it when he didn’t know the answer to “‘One woman writes a novel, another reads it, and the third lives it’ is the premise of what movie?”
His answer options were “A: Cold Mountain, B: The Hours, C: Memoirs of a Geisha, D: Atonement.” From the New York Post:
Banfield correctly told Johnston it was “The Hours,” which won him $16,000. He went on to win $50,000 and promised to take Banfield to lunch. Banfield told us, “He took me to Gus’ Place in the Village today and brought along friends from the office where he’s a summer intern. But since he’s using his winnings to pay the nearly $40,000 tuition for next semester, I picked up the check.”
We’re not impressed by Johnston’s lack of familiarity with chick flicks, but we are impressed by his finagling a celebrity lunch out of the experience. The moment was captured by his BlackBerry in the photo at right.
Johnston notes that Banfield was slightly off. His 3L tuition will be $44,000, not “nearly $40,000.” So he appreciated the free lunch even more. He tells us about it, after the jump.
Johnston is working at the Social Security Administration Office of the General Counsel this summer. Here’s the background story on the free lunch with his Millionaire savior:
On the show, Ashleigh noted that she had the answer, and that we’re both in NY, so she asked where I was going to take her for lunch. I mentioned I knew a place in the Village. Then she gave me the right answer when I was otherwise clueless.Ashleigh was truly riveting and the sweetest person I’ve met in a long time. She ended up spending 2 or 3 hours with us, and refused to let me pay, even though that’s what I promised on the show, and even though she effectively won me an extra $42,000.
So why didn’t Johnston win an extra $950,000? When he got to the $400,000 level question about the first food eaten by John Glenn in space, he was stumped and decided not to answer, instead walking away with $50K. It was a good thing. He would have guessed that the answer was chocolate pudding, but the correct answer was apple sauce.
The Millionaire PR folks tell us they’re looking for contestants for next season. If you’re deferred from law school, deferred by your firm, or generally in debt, maybe you should look into it.
ASHLEIGH’S LEGAL LIFELINE [New York Post]
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Comments
FOIST AGAIN!!! FOIST FOIST FOIST!!!
That pic makes her look a good bit younger. I would still plow her fields.
He's having a good summer. But he would have made more money by getting a good deferral package.
he'd be better off dropping out and using the cash to flee sallie mae's jurisdiction
Chump change for Kash.
Can someone tell me how to avoid motion sickness while playing metal gear solid 4 for the PS3
The guys a moron, nicole kidman had a fake nose in the movie. He should pick up a peoples digest once in a while.
Cardozo is the Community College of NYC law schools.
A friend of mine did Paula Zahn.
Finally an uplifting story.
There's a report that Michael Jackson has been taken to the hospital unconcious. Can anyone confirm?
4 - Fill me in on the Kash is a millionaire talk.
11 = Internal Revenue Service
12 -- 11 here, very nice . . . and possibly correct.
"Ashleigh Banfield" and "celebrity" have not been in the same sentence in, what, ten years?
Kudos for not being able to answer a question about The Hours. Hetero cred stays in tact that way. Swinging a date with the news chick = bonus.
Is it true that George Washington grew pot and had slaves?
Is it true that Jane Velez Mitchell is a descendant of the Chilean land rat?
is it true that everyone that comments on this blog is a moron (absent myself)
Is it true that one goes to Cardozo AFTER NYU, Columbia, Fordham, Cornell, Brooklyn, Harvard, Yale, BU, BC, Penn reject their application?
Someone explain the Kash=millionaire ballooey or stop posting it! For the love!
I suppose that I should know the answer to this question, but is Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law accredited by the American Bar Association?
Kash, you're our hero. Don't listen to the anatomy commenters. We know you've nothing to do with seafood of any sort.
Love,
The other ATL commenters
19 = Brooklyn 1L who will cry when their ranking plunges next year.
FWIW unless you are in top 10% at T6, nothing will save you this fall
The Hours was a book by Michael Cunningham long before it was made into a movie. Just saying...
kash can i see your butt
kash can i see your checkbook
either one will do
but i think your posts are typically at least b+ (i'm ending with a compliment so i don't get banned)
Oh #10 is way too funny today...
I thought since today is such a quiet day at the office that loads of firms would be announcing bad news?
This isn't news.
Dave Johnston is a HUGE FUCKING DOUCHE.
while I was a freshman at UCSD, Dave Johnston was a rising upper classman on a "varsity" mock trial team. The fucking twat could never get off his ego trip to help out the younger guys.
To be fair, the lack of a cooperative, instructional atmosphere on UCSD's mock trial team predictably produces a really SHITTY MOCK TRIAL TEAM. Which is why I transferred to UCLA and went out to compete for them.
Hold on to your briefs folks, I've got news: just heard Michael Jackson is sick. Supposedly not too serious, but I have a bad feeling about this. We don't need to lose him this soon. Keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery. I'll keep ABL in the loop.
Kash makes all of her money off of her asslobster. It is her "sugarlobster."
Wait - $40K per semester for Cardozo?
28-Whoah...that is QUITE POSSIBLY the single nerdiest posting I have ever read, anywhere.
NERDS!!
Holy smokes, someone get 28 his own reality show. Coolest dude of all time.
Dear Dave,
Enjoy your $50k at 40 year annuity--will add up to a nice 500 bucks/year after taxes.
33: Holy smokes is right. When I went to UCSD all we did was smoke pot.
Girls in my highschool used to prefer ass-squid to ass-lobster all the time, it was no big deal.
Kash to ass-squid!
http://trueslant.com/KashmirHill/2009/07/02/ass-lobster-in-urban-dictionary/
Is it true that someone stood up in a barbri class today and yelled at the top of their lungs, "I AM THE HAITIAN SENSATION!"
Serious question here. I am a rising 3L who is very concerned about Fall OCI. Rather than spend a couple of years unemployed, I am thinking of applying to the Tax program (LLM) at New York Law School. Any comments pro/con about NYLS LLM program would be appreciated.
Nice of the lady to pick up the lunch tab. I don't think I've ever heard of her - she's a celebrity?
On another note, this guy is an idiot if he's using 50k to pay off his tuition for next semester. He should invest that cash in some index funds. The market is down in the dumps right now. In 8 years, when he's still struggling to pay off his loans, it'll be up again. Then he can cash in part of the investment and pay it off. And if he's really risk adverse, he can stick it in T-bills.
Dave Johnston is totally sleepwithable.
40 here. Forgot signature
--Elie Mystal
He should have given her the high hard one.
I hope the $65,000 question was how he could parlay the lunch date into subsequent dinner and breakfast dates. She's a looker.
Kash, I love you.
I'd do him
I'd like to make sweet and tender butt love to Ashleigh Banfield while she talks smack to me wearing only those glasses and a smile.
Paula Zahn? Really?
Did 19 really try to bury Brooklyn Law in that list??
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Paula Zahn, really. About 7 years ago.
28 sounds like a really cool guy who would be fun to hang out with.
39: If he's taking out federal loans, that's 6.8% interest we're talking about (albeit, the subsidized part won't start accruing interest until he graduates). Why would it be smart to invest in the market instead of paying off / preventing himself from having another $44,000 at 6.8% in student loans? In this market, a 7% return is anything but a given and he could just as easily invest in something that tanks even further versus finding something undervalued.
Also, student loans are extremely tough to discharge -- basically, can't be excused via bankruptcy and under the government's new program, the idea of paying 15% of yearly salary for 10 (public interest) or 25 years (everyone else) to get them discharged that way isn't too appealing either.
Lastly, he's not even working at a firm job this summer so odds are, he's headed to the government sector or some other place that's not going to be paying him $160k / year. If he can reduce his overall law school debtload from $120k to $80k (assuming he's been paying basically the same amount each year), that's a damn good head start to getting himself debt-free.
51 is right. It's sort of like when I inherited assets worth roughly 2.3 million when I turned 25. That was a damn good start to paying of my loans. Find me at Harry's Bar, n00bs
Hey MysTTTTAl, what are you on a donut break??? No threads since 2:00?!?!? Some of us are still grinding away while your fat ass is eating perogies and pickled sausages.
Hey, Kash.
I'm always perplexed by the numbers thrown around is the comments. Government loans at 6.8%? I graduated in '05 and the bulk of my loans (government) are locked in at 2.63%. Even my variable rate private student loans are at 3.25%. Who are you people borrowing from?
53 - are you really grinding away if you are refreshing ATL and then ragging on mystal? Apparenlty you define "grind" as simply being in the office.
But seriously Mystal, you suck.
53 - he's working on a really big story. Huge. It's gonna blow this whole thing wide open.
55: The whole system changed for the worse in 2006:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stafford_Loan
Instead of being based on the T-Bill rate plus a premium, they locked all rates in at much higher rates, which especially stings now. Unlike the undergrad rate (where the unsubsidized part can have a lower interest rate), grad Stafford loans rates are locked in at 6.8% for the foreseeable future.
Fuck you, Mystal.
Kash = Johnny Tran, seriously.
So it jumps from a $50k question to a $400k question? What am I missing here? Isn't there like a $250k question or something?
Lat = Ying Mystal, serious.
Roxana = Joey Boddafucco, serious.
I'd hit that ass.
Everyone knows John Glenn's first food in space was applesauce. Don't you remember the song: "John Glenn, he's from Ohio, John Glenn in history, he's got his place, John Glenn, soon he's gonna die-oh, John Glenn, Apple Sauce was his first food in space." Geez, seems like they really DON'T teach anything at Cardozo.
I'm on a boat!
The only thing dumber than this story is paying $44k a year to go to Carbozo.
67
What about paying to go to Brooklyn?
19, they go to Northeastern - much more efficient way to destroy your life than Cardozo, which at least claims to send people into private practice for their $40k/yr tuition, as opposed to sending people to Greater Boston Legal Services for $6/day.
Shhhhhh Shake, shake that ass girl. I would so tag that.
She is worth alimony.
39 knows where the market will be in EIGHT YEARS - idiot.
32,
Sorry. Post 28 is hilarious. It sounds like Dave is a douche. I love idiot mock trial lawyer wannabes who can't get into a top school.
This is awesome. I saw that episode, and I was thinking to myself that it would be cool if he actually took her up on the lunch offer. Way to go Dave.
#7 - why the hating on Cardozo? I mean everyone knows it's not NYU or Columbia caliber but I can think of a lot of schools in NYC that are more deserving of the community college title such as Touro, Hofsta, St Johns, NYLaw, Pace, CUNY, etc. Though there are smart kids at those schools too. The students at Cardozo - and oftentimes at Brooklyn Law as well- have the same avg LSAT/GPA & come from equally impressive backgrounds as many law schools in the top 25-30 range. No need to shit on a good school with a solid student body and good placement.
Ashley is still hot as hell, and obviously stays in great shape as she's super-lean.
Yum!
sitelink
SO WHAT!?
I'm a top student at WESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW.
The students and faculty at my school kiss up to me at every moment they get because success oozes from my pores.
I love it when the new incoming 1L's ask me the school. I try to find every way I can to segue the conversation into my high grades.
Every time some student asks the professor a question, I like to roll my eyes and say to the person next to me, "I wonder what his/her numerical ranking is."
Sometimes I go into a class, strutting like I was a cowboy, just to let everyone know how much of an alpha male I am.
I am 30 years old. How many other 30 years old can you name from the top of your head that are as successful as me?
77,
30 years old!? Western State University College of Law!? Bragging about grades!?
You either still live with your parents or your penis is smaller than your ball sack.