Columbia Law School

Some Weekend Odds and Ends

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Rose Garden White House Above the Law blog.jpgIt’s a beautiful April afternoon (at least here on the East Coast). You shouldn’t be in front of your computer right now.
But in case you are, here are a few quick items of interest:
1. Columbia Faculty Hire Faces Human Rights Questions [New York Sun]

We went to law school with Matt Waxman (OT 2000/Souter). It’s unfortunate that he’s the subject of such controversy, because he’s a true mensch — and one of the “good guys” with respect to human rights issues. As the Sun notes:

“The criticism of Mr. Waxman as insensitive to human rights concerns is seen as paradoxical in some circles since he dissented from aspects of the Bush administration’s policy on detainees and argued that the Geneva Conventions should be the official policy for all those in military hands.”

2. Another Development in Sullivan & Cromwell v. Charney [Leonard Link]

There’s always something to say about the Aaron Charney / Sullivan & Cromwell litigation. In this excellent post, Professor Arthur Leonard offers some intriguing speculation about some recent (and bizarre) developments in the case.

3. Tampa stadium authority asks court for tighter security [ESPN.com]

The federal government is being represented by Jonathan Cohn (OT 2000/Thomas), another former O’Scannlain clerk, currently serving as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Appellate. Good luck, Jon!

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Congratulations to America’s Coolest Law School: UVA!

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Our March Madness contest, an NCAA-esque tournament for the title of America’s coolest law school, is now over. Congratulations to the very deserving winner:

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF LAW!!!

In the final round, UVA went up against Columbia. It wasn’t even close:
UVA coolest law school University of Virginia School of Law Above the Law blog.JPG
After the jump, a few pieces of evidence in support of UVA’s coolness. Nice work, guys!

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The Columbia Law Revue Redeems Itself

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Congratulations to the Columbia Law Revue crew for putting on a great show, which we attended on Thursday night. We were lukewarm about some of their prior efforts, but our opinion has changed entirely.
Check out this great clip, a parody of this SNL video, which is currently #61 on YouTube in today’s Top Favorites for Comedy:

Additional videos are available here. Enjoy!
P.S. Despite their video-making prowess, the CLSers are still a lost cause when it comes to the coolest law school competition. They’re getting a beating at the hands of UVA (which, to be fair, also makes excellent video parodies).
A Special Finals Care Package [YouTube]
Columbia Law Revue [official website]

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Our Visit to Columbia Law School: A Photo Essay

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CLS 2.JPG
We spent a fair amount of time at Columbia Law School last week. We attended their moot court finals, gave a talk sponsored by the Federalist Society, and enjoyed ourselves at their Law Revue (more on that — including a video clip — later).
Here are a few photographs we took while up at CLS. If you’re a Columbia student or alum (the people most likely to find these pictures interesting), or if you’re on the fence about whether to vote for Columbia in ATL March Madness, check out the pics after the jump.

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ATL Public Service Announcement: Please Donate Blood

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This poster caught our eye when we visited Columbia Law School earlier this week:
Sullivan & Cromwell Columbia Law School blood drive Above the Law blog.JPG
The point of the flyer is to encourage CLS students to participate in the upcoming blood drive (Monday, April 16, Drapkin Lounge, 11-5:30 — we encourage you to go). The strategy of the poster is to “shame” law students into participation, by showing that even the employees of a big bad law firm like Sullivan & Cromwell give blood at a higher rate.
You can’t really read the small black text in this photograph, so here’s what it says:

“Sullivan & Cromwell gave 48 donations of blood per 100 employees in 2006. 1230 students at Columbia Law School gave 25. Total. That is 2 from every 100 students.”

“Even accounting for the pints of associate blood that were set aside for drinking by Alexandra Korry, S&C still kicked our ass. Please give blood on Monday!”

Columbia Law School Blood Drive [CLS Public Calendar]

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Wherein We Embarrass Ourselves at the Moot Court Finals

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Next time you hear a cell phone go off in a movie or at the theater, and think to yourself, “What an a**hole!”, remind yourself: Someday YOU might be that a**hole.
Watch this video, from the start of the Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court finals, which we attended at Columbia Law School earlier this week. Pay special attention to what happens around the 18-second mark:

Yes, that’s right. The judges entered the room, their robes billowing out behind them. The court crier made the very formal and grandiose announcement: “Oyez, oyez…” The room fell into a solemn silence. And then, at that precise moment, our computer — which was in the process of turning on — made that annoying Windows start-up noise. Loudly.
One could feel a wave of horrified embarrassment sweep through the audience. Justice Alito chuckled, so hopefully he wasn’t too offended. But we were mortified (and rightfully so).
In our defense, this was a complete accident. We were in the process of setting up and turning on our computer, and we didn’t know when exactly the judges would be arriving. We turned our computer on, and it began the start-up process (which can take a little while). Unfortunately, just seconds after we turned it on, the judges made their entrance. And even more unfortunately, as the silence settled over the room, our computer made that colossally loud cyber-fart.
In any event, our apologies, Your Honors! Please do not blame the CLS audience for this rudeness. It was completely our fault.
We took some rough notes on the proceedings. They will probably interest you only if you attended the Moot Court finals yourselves. Or if you care about the hairstyles of Article III judges.
If you want to see our commentary, it’s available after the jump.

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At the Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court Finals

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Yesterday afternoon, we attended the Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court finals, at Columbia Law School. We interviewed the four finalists prior to the arguments.
Here’s our interview with Eric Chesin and Geoffrey Reed:

And here’s our interview with David Gringer and Patrick Somers:

After impressive arguments, and deliberation by the distinguished panel — Justice Samuel A. Alito, Judge Susan P. Graber, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Judge Sonia Sotomayor — the best oralist prize went to Eric Chesin. Congratulations, Eric!

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Programming Note: If We Can Make It There…

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New York City skyscrapers Above the Law blog.jpgWe’ll make it anywhere. We’re about to leave Washington for New York, New York, where we’ll be spending the rest of this week.
We have multiple reasons to be up in New York. We’ll be giving a talk at Columbia Law School, attending the CLS Moot Court finals and Law Revue, and covering a major hearing in Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell.
So we’re going to be offline for a little while. If anyone resigns or raises associate salaries to $175K while we’re gone, please let us know in the comments to this post. Thanks.
Earlier: Our Upcoming Visit to Columbia Law School

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LLM Students: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

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It seems that LLM students are an endless source of stories — and not just those continually squabbling Harvard LLMs. In advance of our upcoming visit to Columbia Law School, here’s an amusing little anecdote about LLMs at CLS:

John Coffee John C Coffee Above the Law blog.JPGI was amused to learn last semester that Columbia Law Professor John Coffee is a rock-star to LLMs. Last fall Coffee held a review session before his Securities Law final. The review session was your basic, bland review of the material covered. The session ended and the class did the customary applause. I stood up to leave, when I saw a few “LLM gunners” approach Professor Coffee. I assumed they were just going to ask him questions, but then I saw him pull out a pen and began signing their casebooks.

I practically fell to the floor laughing. I know Coffee is a Corporate God, but come on. Do you really get your Con Law book signed by Larry Tribe or your Admin book signed by Tom Merrill? Besides, how could you worship someone that turned to teaching only after he failed in becoming a partner at Cravath?

[Ed. note: That last sentence is merely the speculative opinion of our tipster. Another CLS source tells us, "There are some who claim that, but I don't believe there is any real basis for it."]

Coffee is an extremely colorful professor. You really should do a small piece on him and you’ll get some interesting stories.

If you have anything funny or interesting to share about Professor Coffee, please feel free to email us (subject line: “John Coffee”). Thanks.

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Our Upcoming Talk at Columbia Law School: An Update

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Columbia Law School CLS Above the Law blog.jpgOur appearance next week at Columbia Law School, previously mentioned here, has been moved by half an hour (so that it won’t conflict with the star-studded Moot Court finals).
Here are the new details:

Wednesay, April 11, 5:30 PM 6:00 PM
Columbia Law School
Jerome Greene Hall, Room 102
435 West 116th St. (at Amsterdam Avenue)

It’s open to the public, so feel free to swing by if you’re in the neighborhood. Thanks!

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