Cardozo Law School, Law Schools

Law Student of the Day: Dave Johnston

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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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