Why I'm such a fanatic about exam deadlines and following instructions.

See here.  Hat tip to my buddy Seymour Serebnick for passing along this great object lesson.

Why writing well matters, part n.

See this news story, especially about the court's reaction to a long, wordy brief.

If the story being posted at Above the Law is true...

Then we've hit the ultimate "don't try this at  home" story (here).

More on the issue of reporting jobs.

Bernie Burk has compiled information on how many of the most well-regarded law schools are hiring their own graduates to make sure that they have jobs.  See the post at The Faculty Lounge here; hat tip to TaxProf Blog.  And, speaking of TaxProf Blog, it points out that some potential law students are backing away from considering law as a viable career option.  See Decline in LSAT Test-Takers Portends 'Death Spiral' for Low-Ranked Law Schools here.

How to tick off a stodgy old law professor, part n.

Call her by her first name without her inviting you to do so.

What do you do when you don't like a judge's ruling?

Pick one:

1.  You say:  "Thank you, your honor."  Then you think about filing an appeal, if one's appropriate.
2.  You file a pleading that says, among other things:  "It is sad when a man of your intellectual ability cannot get it right when your own record does not support your half-baked findings."

Yep.  Someone picked #2.  Bad idea (here).  It was also a bad idea when the same person sent a bottle of wine to the judge to try to deal with the aftermath of the legal wrangling.

My guess--and I don't know this lawyer at all--is that the lawyer started to identify too personally with his client's case.  It's not that difficult to make that step from being your client's advocate to feeling as though your client's case is YOUR case and getting too overwrought when things aren't going your way.

There's a fine line between being an impassioned advocate and being someone who's too wrapped up in the case to be able to depersonalize things.  I remember being a baby lawyer and having a much-more-seasoned lawyer scream at me during a phone call.  I don't remember what the issue was, but I remember asking him why he was yelling at me.  As I explained, "This isn't your problem.  It's your client's problem.  So why are you yelling?"  He calmed down, and we worked well together thereafter.

Again:  the proper response when you disagree with a court's ruling?  "Thank you, your honor."

Wonderful opinion from the 7th Circuit about why writing matters.

See here.  Good writing is part of competence--well, at least decent writing is, and bad writing isn't.

And now, a reminder about Facebook.

See here.

Ohio law grad fails Ohio character & fitness interview for the bar because of educational debt.

Cautionary tale -- see the TaxProf Blog entry and related articles here.

Over at Female Science Professor's blog, some of the all-time "best" exam excuses.

The blog's here, and the post is here.

We're siding with Lucy Kellaway on this issue.

In today's Financial Times, Lucy Kellaway points out that Steve Jobs was right (and impressively--and clearly--terse) in refusing to do a student's legwork for her homework.  See here. 

The best lesson that you can get from her column today is that your need to get some information may not correspond with your target's obligation to give it to you (absent, of course, a legitimate subpoena).  The second best lesson is that asking for information respectfully is more likely to help you than is demanding it based on a sense of entitlement.

Two slices of life about the current law student job situation.

Hat tip to Above the Law for both of these stories (as well as to two buddies of ours who pointed them out to us).

First, Michigan Law is being direct with its students about the upcoming year's market for law students (see here). 

Second, if you're looking for a job, the story of one outrageous law student falls under the "don't try this at home" category (see here).   Not only did this student jeopardize his future career, he's likely going to have some explaining to do to the state bar before he is allowed to sit for the bar.

Great sense of humor, or just a little too picky these days?

You be the judge (here).  Hat tip to Above the Law.

Another cautionary tale about a job-seeker.

This one comes to us courtesy of Nancy's dad:  here.  To steal a line from humorist Dave Barry, we are not making this stuff up.

Update on job-search etiquette (in the "what not to do" category)

See here.  Hat tip to our buddy Kathleen Lyon.

What not to do as an admitted student, part 1.

See here.  Holy cow!  At some point, law school is supposed to teach students how to communicate their arguments persuasively.  Apparently, this student missed those classes.

Hat tip to our buddy Bernie Burk.