Paul Campos on the evolution of law schools and their professors

Knightly studies the law

This excerpt is from a larger blog post by Paul Campos.  Campos, of Inside the Law School Scam fame, first takes aim at a typical law school professor.  I don’t know this particular prof or his work, but from what I know about the academy, Campos’s target is indeed the prototypical, modern law prof.  Campos writes:

[His] career path is this: he was an undergrad, then he was a law student, then he was a law professor. That’s it. That’s all he’s ever done. He’s never had a job as a lawyer, or indeed as anything but a professor, at least not as an adult anyway.

But it wasn’t always that way at American law schools.  There was a time, before I went to law school, where law profs had actually practiced law before joining the academy to teach.  And law schools embraced their role as professional schools or trade schools — much the way medical schools do. 

Speaking and Writing Tips from The Legal Watchdog

Being stuck at home has caused me to watch more TV than I usually do.  This, in turn, has exposed me to more talking heads than usual.  And this has given me the opportunity to compile a list of things that everyone should immediately stop saying.  Plus, there's a bonus tip for writers:

1.  As a general rule, don't begin sentences with "so."

2.  Stop asking whether you're "right?" in the middle of a sentence or even between sentences.

3.  Don't overuse the word "space."  E.g., you are not a leader in the fashion space; rather, you are a leader in the fashion industry.

4.  Stop trying to start a "national conversation" or "raise awareness."  Find new labels to exaggerate the scope of your endeavors.

5.  Don't begin a new point with "that said" or "having said that."  It's a sure sign you're about to contradict yourself and it makes me want to punch you. 

6.  Stop saying "again" as a preface to sentences.  Often, the information that follows isn't even repetitive.  And if it is, stop repeating yourself.

7.  Don't say "not to mention" before you mention the thing that you just said you weren't going to mention. 

8.  Don't say "it goes without saying."  Because apparently it doesn't.  See also #7. 

9.  Things don't center around other things, they center on other things; they do, however, revolve around other things.  E.g., The President’s existence doesn't center around the Corona-Chinese-Wuhan-Covid19 virus; it revolves around it, or centers on it.

10. Don't "reach out" to me.  Call, email, or put a letter in the U.S. Mail.

11. BONUS WRITING TIP: On a related note, always use your Oxford comma. See, e.g., #10 and #12.

12. Stop referring to someone's position, claim, or argument as a "narrative."

This public service has been brought to you by Knightly.

The Great Divide

I saw an exchange during Trump’s press conference today on the Corona virus that is emblematic of the divide in politics.  I realize that if Christopher Hitchens was still alive, he’d be the first to correct me: “Politics is division by definition, if there was no disagreement there would be no politics.”  But I’m talking about a new divide—call it the great divide.

Deal Jumpers

Wisconsin judges are allowed to accept a defendant's plea pursuant to a plea agreement, then disregard the state's sentence concession that induced the defendant to plead in the first place, and then slam the defendant with any sentence the judge wishes to impose.  Worse yet, the hapless defendant is left without recourse.  

This is one of those things to which we criminal defense lawyers in Wisconsin get conditioned, yet is surprising to many outsiders.  Read all about it, including how defense lawyers might be able to constrain this insidious practice in certain circumstances, in my new article Deal Jumpers, 2021 U. Illinois L. Rev. __ (forthcoming, 2021).  You'll find the abstract after the jump.  You'll find all of my articles on the articles page of my website.