Elon Law Talent Show

I apologize for the late notice, but Debris readers in Greensboro (or willing to make the trip) are cordially invited to the inaugural Elon Law School Talent Show, which takes place at the Law School (201 North Greene Street) tomorrow evening. Admission is $4, with the money going to support student activities.
I will be performing [...]

Cheese, Flies, & Business Organizations

BYU law professor Gordon Smith has embarked on a fascinating study of business organization and relations among cheesemakers in Wisconsin. What a great idea — he’ll undoubtedly have loads of fun collecting his data, and the study promises to shed light on the interesting, and underexamined, world of business cooperatives. And it gives me a [...]

It’s a Wonderful Second Life

For about the past month, I’ve been exploring the virtual world of Second Life, with an eye toward research on legal issues and legal communities there. What I’ve seen thus far has been fascinating. Right now, a controversy is brewing over a decision by Linden Labs (creators of Second Life) to shut down in-world “banks” [...]

Taking stock, and finding a bull market

As the year winds to a close, it is customary to reflect on the past and look toward the future. For me, the most significant development of this past year was my move to a new city and my start at a new career. Nearly 6 months in, I remain unreservedly happy about both. Being [...]

Music to grade law student exams by

I can’t believe I never heard this song before.

Santa’s little faculty helpers

Ho-ho-ho! I’m guessing it was an Elon Law student, seeking to blow of some pre-finals steam, that prepared this. “Elfin” is about the last word that anyone would use to describe me. Which goes a long way to explaining why I laughed so hard.

Question Presented: How to dispatch an LRW memo. Brief Answer: Kaboom!

As a responsible faculty member, I can’t condone this sort of behavior; but as a former law student, I can certainly understand the impulse.

(Thanks to Dave Hoffman at Concurring Opinions for the tip.)

Perhaps I should have gone with “Win One for the Gipper”

Motivated by these posts about law professors’ pre-exam pep talks, I decided that, in lieu of giving a pep talk of my own, I’d show my students this one. I just hope that, after nearly a semester, they understand my sardonic sense of humor!

Always look on the bright side of life — except in law school

From the annals of non-surprising research results:
Surveying law students at the University of Virginia, ["happiness" researcher Martin Seligman] found that pessimists got better grades, were more likely to make law review and, upon graduation, received better job offers. There was no scientific reason. “In law,” he said, “pessimism is considered prudence.”
(Thanks to Rick Bales at [...]

Quote of the day

Once again, from Jeffrey Harrison at MoneyLaw (who attributes it to “a friend”):
[Y]ou can talk about race and you can talk about gender but when you talk about class it is way too serious.
He’s talking about law faculty hiring, but the same is true in countless other contexts.