Law Schools, Small Law Firms

Special Snowflake Syndrome Trigger Warning: I'm A Jerk

The practice of law is hard. Life is hard. Get used to it.

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So when did law students start acting like a bunch of wimps? Cause that’s the takeaway I’m getting after these past couple of weeks. Don’t get me wrong, some pretty upsetting events have gone down recently. But that doesn’t translate into Harvard law students asking to delay their exams because “feelings.” It’s also bizarre to expect to go into a criminal law class and never discuss rape law. What happened? When did law students become so spineless?

There has been speculation around the web. Notably from Judge Kopf in his post Batshit crazy law students:

I am very serious. Some law students who call themselves feminists have gone batshit crazy.

If you care about the ethics and customs of American lawyers who actually practice law or you care about American legal education and intellectual honesty, please read Debra Cassens Weiss, Is teaching rape law too risky? Sensitive law students don’t want to discuss it, law prof says, ABA Journal (December 16, 2014). After you have finished screaming, crying or vomiting, tell me what you think.

And from Scott Greenfield, in The Environmental Cleanup of Toxic Academia:

It’s easy to make fun of this burgeoning insanity, and indeed, it well deserves whatever ridicule it receives.  The primary enablers are academics, who have given away their classrooms to their special little snowflakes.  Frankly, the response of Professor Raney at Oberlin, the guy who said “no,” is both remarkable and refreshing. But Columbia Law School lacked his fortitude.

During a Twitter discussion with David Ziff, who lectures at University of Washington Law School, he responded to my “just say no” to the inmates running the asylum with the astute point that it’s ineffective pedagogy. Students don’t respond well to a stiff slap these days.  Nobody has ever told them they’re wrong. Nobody has ever said to them “denied,” without a heart-rending explanation and gratuitous tummy rub. They can’t handle it.

It drives me crazy to think that there are law students out there with nothing better to do than wring their hands in desperation as they look at their Twitter feed and have their feelings hurt. I mean really? Something happened 1,000 miles from you and you have to have your exams delayed? You’re in crim law and you want to bury your head in the sand and pretend that rape law doesn’t exist because it might trigger you?

You do realize you’re in law school to become a lawyer, right? Adversarial system, competition, zealous advocacy for your client, etc.? I’ve made the point before, but it bears repeating: lawyers are professional a**holes. Like, that is your job. More importantly, it’s going to be other people’s job to be an a**hole to you. I mean, if these law students think this stuff is offensive, I’m pretty sure they’ve never strayed out into the world wide web outside of Facebook and Instagram. If not, allow me to welcome you to the internet. Hell, you really want to get traumatized? Head into the comments on any post here on ATL.

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Newsflash: outside of your very small circle of family and friends, no one cares about your feelings. Even then, some of those people are probably faking it and just being nice because they only have to interact with you during the holidays. How you “feel” about an issue or problem should have no effect on your ability in dealing with it. That’s not what clients hire you for. From earlier this year, What Clients Don’t See (And Don’t Care About):

The hours of toil behind the scenes to draft a contract, prepare a brief, or develop an argument are not seen by our most critical audience – our clients. Clients only see the performance, the final act, the end result of the late nights at the office and time spent away from friends and family. The client sees the trust, or the email, or an argument before the court. The technical skill, the effort involved, and the nuance of language are all lost on the client. It is unlikely they will ever have an educated appreciation for the work you have done.

And let’s be clear, largely speaking: They. Do. Not. Care.

Clients don’t care about your work, your feelings, or your attitude. They have a problem, they want it solved. Period. Judges don’t care about your feelings. They have a docket, they want it cleared. Opposing counsel doesn’t care about your feelings. They just want to beat you. And actually, sometimes they want to do it vindictively. And at no point in time in dealing with these people in practice do you get to hit the boohoo button and get to have a time out. Sorry, that’s not the way the real world works.

The practice of law is hard. Life is hard. Get used to it.

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Keith Lee practices law at Hamer Law Group, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama. He writes about professional development, the law, the universe, and everything at Associate’s Mind. He is also the author of The Marble and The Sculptor: From Law School To Law Practice (affiliate link), published by the ABA. You can reach him at keith.lee@hamerlawgroup.com or on Twitter at @associatesmind.

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