Win a Rap Slam, Earn a Full Ride to Law School

Unable to pay for law school? Take up rap!

The editor of Atlanta Progressive News, Matthew Cardinale, is a fixture at Atlanta City Council hearings, where he’s known to bust into self-composed raps to express his policy preferences. It’s about time someone made public access coverage of city council meetings watchable, without being the dumbest person in the world. Thankfully this is preserved for posterity on YouTube.

According to Cardinale, he “received a hand-written note from someone in [a law school] admissions [department] saying they enjoyed my City Council rap… they said the whole committee watched it.” I like to think admissions also sent him a note asking, “If you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?” But I’m sure they didn’t.

Video of the rap in question and more details about the law school that handed out a scholarship for rap….

Without further ado, here’s video of Cardinale’s mad skillz:

Not exactly Grammy-winning material. But when you think about it, it’s probably better than the rap stylings we’ll be treated to during Law Revue season. And at least it’s not autotuned to death unlike some aspiring legal rappers.

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But Cardinale’s rapping was just enough for Gonzaga Law School to hand out a full ride. Hopefully they weren’t relying on that sweet NCAA Final Four money to fund this scholarship.

Don’t expect to hear that Gucci Mane is heading to law school any time soon. While Cardinale’s rap skills played a role in his scholarship, he’s actually cobbled together an impressive amateur legal career:

In 2010, Cardinale filed suit against the city arguing that members of the City Council violated the state Open Meetings Act by failing to record the names and votes of members during a retreat in 2010.

Arguing his own case, Cardinale failed to persuade a Fulton County judge and the Georgia Court of Appeals that the law mandated that such votes be recorded, but in February 2012 a narrowly divided Georgia Supreme Court agreed with Cardinale, earning praise from state Attorney General Sam Olens and other open government advocates.

In 2012, Cardinale filed another suit claiming that the City Council routinely violated the law by closing committee briefings to the public. Earlier this year, the council’s seven committee chairs voluntarily agreed to open all briefings to the public.

On March 19 Cardinale dismissed both suits.

For his efforts, Cardinale managed to score $1,000 in fees from the City of Atlanta, which is not a bad haul for a non-lawyer.

Good luck to Cardinale. Transitioning from Atlanta to Spokane can be rough, but at least he’ll have Taco Time, and I’d give my right arm for reliable access to Taco Time.

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And to Gonzaga Law, maybe consider giving Gucci Mane a crack at a J.D. He could definitely use one.

Rapping reporter settles city suits, lands law school scholarship [ATLaw]

Earlier: Every Day This Lawyer’s Hustlin’ — And Rapping, Too