Law Schools

Law School Event Cracks Joke At Expense Of Public Interest Lawyers

This didn't go as planned.

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If this was an attempt at self-deprecating humor, it may not be going over well. There’s an event at Indiana University Maurer School of Law this week — hosted by the Public Interest Law Foundation — that somewhat unflatteringly compares attorneys who do public interest work to 5th graders.

Perhaps they meant the event to be read with a knowing wink, but that’s not how everyone at the school is taking it. Here’s what our tipster has to say about the event:

In their attempts to be cute, Maurer students and CSO Asst Dean Anne Newton McFadden sell the stereotype that public interest attorneys aren’t as smart as other lawyers and might only be as bright as 5th graders.

Here’s the flyer that is causing so much consternation at the law school:

Yikes. It certainly feels like public interest lawyers are being positioned as the rudimentary baseline that the rest of the law school should obviously be smarter than. Then again, willingly foregoing higher salaries to pursue meaningful employment that works for the betterment of an unappreciative society may just be the definition of childlike naïveté.

UPDATE: We’ve received an update from the law student who claims to be the person responsible for naming the event. Shocking exactly no one, they can’t imagine anyone being upset with the event name. Consistent with longstanding ATL practice, we are not naming the student involved to keep their Google footprint clear, at least until graduation.

I am not a member of the Public Interest Law Foundation’s Executive Board, but I do participate in the group’s fundraising efforts–funds that help law students interested in public interest work pursue those summer opportunities that do not provide pay. Events like this are an integral part of that fundraising.
Reports of this joke not going over well are greatly exaggerated. I’m usually a modest guy. I buy most of my clothes on clearance at Kohl’s or at garage sales. I once found a pair of shoes in the back of a bowling alley and bought them for one dollar after intense negotiation. That said, I am proud to take the credit for coming up with the name “Are You Smarter Than a Public Interest Lawyer?” Is it one of my crowning achievements? No. But I think I did okay.
As an aside, did you know that only two contestants won the grand prize on “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” One of the winners was a Nobel Laureate. Those are some smart fifth graders. These are the kind of kids that could actually pull off getting into a rated R movie by stacking themselves inside a trench coat. They’re pros, and they deserve your respect.
Look, all of this is to say that no one means any offense. The answer to the question upon which the event’s title is based could just as easily be “nope, I am not smarter than a public interest lawyer.” And, to be fair, my original idea was to suggest that the event be called “Are You Smarter Than an Above the Law Blogger?” but I thought better of it. Could you imagine how one of our law students would feel if they had to answer “no” to that question?!? Talk about a real crisis.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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