Case Western Reserve University School of Law 2011 Forum

[snowpeach06]

All you 1L's must be moving to the Cleve soon huh?

[ravkhinda]

All you 1L's must be moving to the Cleve soon huh?

Yes! I am coming in on Tuesday. I would like to go out for some drinks with the 2Ls if you guys are up for it.

[snowpeach06]

All you 1L's must be moving to the Cleve soon huh?

Yes! I am coming in on Tuesday. I would like to go out for some drinks with the 2Ls if you guys are up for it.

Yeah, I bet I could work that out. I'll pm you my number, and you can let me know when you want to go.

[ravkhinda]

All you 1L's must be moving to the Cleve soon huh?

Yes! I am coming in on Tuesday. I would like to go out for some drinks with the 2Ls if you guys are up for it.

Yeah, I bet I could work that out. I'll pm you my number, and you can let me know when you want to go.

PMed you back!

Anyone else want to join?

[snowpeach06]

How safe is it to walk around University Circle at night, or from the law school up to Coventry/ little italy? I forgot to ask that question a the admitted students thing and am wondering if any current students can chime in?

Reading through this question, I think it warrants some more detailed information.

DON'T walk around University Circle by yourself at night. If you must, walk through campus, not on Euclid or the little area with the fountain by the art museum (there have been a few rapes there). For some reason, the shady people stay off the trails, ect. of campus. There is a bridge on Euclid that separates campus from "the ghetto." Unfortunately the rapid (train) stop is right after the bridge. So, if you are taking public transport, try to avoid it at night. Ditto for the super cheap gas station that is right under the bridge. Safe during the day, not so much at night - but it is 20-30 cents cheaper, so I would still recommend it.

If you are walking from school to Little Italy/Coventry, taking Mayfield up through Little Italy is safe. But, Mayfield between Little Italy and Coventry is not. At that point, go behind some of the apartment buildings, walk through people's parking lots, turn right onto Hampshire and then turn left onto Hampshire (yup, two streets called Hampshire). Same for if you are walking back. I haven't had any problems walking home by myself, but the back roads are considerably more safe than walking along Mayfield.

As for safe ride, it has odd cutoffs. For instance, it won't pick you up from or take you to Coventry. It stops around the top of the Little Italy hill. Keep that in mind before depending on it.

Also just keep in mind that Cleveland has very clear cut-offs for safe v. not safe areas. One block will be perfectly safe when literally a block later is the ghetto. So, just take note of your surroundings. And don't walk around carrying your i-phone. It makes people think your rich when you aren't. I know a few people have been robbed for theirs. Ohh, and don't get too freaked out by the crime reports we get. If you are fairly careful, you won't be in one.

Hope this helps for the people that are concerned about safety.

[dstr15]

All you 1L's must be moving to the Cleve soon huh?

Yes! I am coming in on Tuesday. I would like to go out for some drinks with the 2Ls if you guys are up for it.

Yeah, I bet I could work that out. I'll pm you my number, and you can let me know when you want to go.

PMed you back!

Anyone else want to join?

That sounds like fun but Im not moving in till next saturday/sunday. Ill definitely be down after that.

[dstr15]

How safe is it to walk around University Circle at night, or from the law school up to Coventry/ little italy? I forgot to ask that question a the admitted students thing and am wondering if any current students can chime in?

Reading through this question, I think it warrants some more detailed information.

DON'T walk around University Circle by yourself at night. If you must, walk through campus, not on Euclid or the little area with the fountain by the art museum (there have been a few rapes there). For some reason, the shady people stay off the trails, ect. of campus. There is a bridge on Euclid that separates campus from "the ghetto." Unfortunately the rapid (train) stop is right after the bridge. So, if you are taking public transport, try to avoid it at night. Ditto for the super cheap gas station that is right under the bridge. Safe during the day, not so much at night - but it is 20-30 cents cheaper, so I would still recommend it.

If you are walking from school to Little Italy/Coventry, taking Mayfield up through Little Italy is safe. But, Mayfield between Little Italy and Coventry is not. At that point, go behind some of the apartment buildings, walk through people's parking lots, turn right onto Hampshire and then turn left onto Hampshire (yup, two streets called Hampshire). Same for if you are walking back. I haven't had any problems walking home by myself, but the back roads are considerably more safe than walking along Mayfield.

As for safe ride, it has odd cutoffs. For instance, it won't pick you up from or take you to Coventry. It stops around the top of the Little Italy hill. Keep that in mind before depending on it.

Also just keep in mind that Cleveland has very clear cut-offs for safe v. not safe areas. One block will be perfectly safe when literally a block later is the ghetto. So, just take note of your surroundings. And don't walk around carrying your i-phone. It makes people think your rich when you aren't. I know a few people have been robbed for theirs. Ohh, and don't get too freaked out by the crime reports we get. If you are fairly careful, you won't be in one.

Hope this helps for the people that are concerned about safety.

Thanks again snowpeach. My apartment building is actually right next to the school of the arts. not the actual art museum, so the quickest way to the law school runs through there. I might have to find a different route at night or maybe get my car after class if i plan to stay late at the library or whatever.

[DorothyV]

I just got back from Orientation today and I was wondering if some of the upperclassmen/women had any wisdom they could share on the following profs/courses:

Barrister Section

Contracts - Yearby
Torts - Strassfeld
Criminal Law - McMunigal
Core I - Gordon

Thanks!

[ravkhinda]

Wondering the same thing, I'm in section C.

Contracts - Basas
Contracts - Leatherberry
Torts - Kenny
Torts - Mehlman

[snowpeach06]

Wondering the same thing, I'm in section C.

Contracts - Basas
Contracts - Leatherberry
Torts - Kenny
Torts - Mehlman

This I can help with. Sorry to the person who is in B.

Leatherberry is the epitome of "law school professor." He uses the socratic method, two students a day. I found him extraordinarily boring (as was the textbook he had us use), but, some people say he is funny if you meet with him after class/in his office. I wrote him an e-mail once, but he never responded. In hindsight, I think I should have sucked up to him a bit more, because he runs the judicial externship program. It's grades based, but, I know one girl who got one when someone else dropped out, because she sucked up and nagged him constantly about it. Also, the E&E for this class was amazing. The ONLY time i paid attention in this class was when I was being questioned, knew NOTHING about contracts and still did fine because I read the E&E the week before finals.

Kenny is the "hot teacher," - so say the guy students. She uses powerpoints for everything and she reads off of them with a voice I once found sort of annoying. But, she'll teach you how to write. She used to be a partner at Squire Sanders, so she has a lot of real world experience. Key to success with Kenny is 1. learn what passive voice is and never use it 2. have good spelling/grammar 3. pay attention in class - because she'll tell you what arguments she wants to see in papers, although she does value arguments you come up with yourself (if she agrees with them, which you will know, because she will tell you in a meeting) and 4. mimic her wording from the sample things she gives you - she won't realize your doing it, she'll just think your a good writer. Ohh, and the syllabus has assigned readings, you don't have to do them. I don't know anyone who did past the first week. Also, one of my good friends is the writing tutor, so, hopefully she'll be helpful to you.

Mehlman - he's been teaching for years and he knows Torts and how to explain them (and more importantly, the differences between them, as many things are confusingly similar). I found him to be a really enjoyable teacher. He isn't the funniest, but, he tries, and you have to give him credit. He uses the socratic method, but, only for a few questions at a time. Finally, he tells you exactly what he wants to see on his exam - it's an issue spotter, where you simply write everything you can think to write (including for instance, on a negligence question "this is not an intentional tort", and give a little bit of analysis. We all called him mail-man.

Do you not have Benza for crim, or was that just a horrible typo? I'll go into Benza anyway. Benza is my favorite teacher. We had crim at 8:30 am, even on Friday, and he not only kept me awake but kept me paying attention. It was the only class that I never surfed the net in. Benza is young, and so a bit more relateable than the rest of the professors. He tries to make jokes or tell stories. The class is all hypos, though, and very little actual material. We cover murder, rape and that is about it. You'll be wasting your time reading supplements because he doesn't care. All he cares about are statutes. He'll want you to analyze EVERY single word of the statute that he gives you (he'll give you statutes from different states, for example), and how that wording impacts the situation. Ex - if your statute is for stalking, which is a pattern of behavior, you better analyze weather or not what the person is doing is a pattern or not, and what a pattern is. If you are having difficulty with this, fear not. Benza is the only professor I had that semester that had no qualms about going over exams with me. I met with him 3 or 4 times, with a sample exam, and he would tell me exactly what I did wrong and I could do it better. You'll also notice that he is very defense oriented (an in fact he defended someone on death row in the supreme court). He doesn't, however, judge people who think differently from him. He'll say again and again that any answer is correct as long as you defend it well. So, fear not about expressing your opinions.

Ohh, and if, perchance you are in firm V, name your firm Victory, because it would be awesome to keep that going.

[ravkhinda]

wow, thanks so much.

[SplitLife]

Are there still Case students here willing to answer questions for incoming students?

[DorothyV]

Are there still Case students here willing to answer questions for incoming students?

I just saw this, so sorry for not responding earlier.

I am a rising 2L and I'd be happy to answer questions.

[Ersatz Haderach]

3L here, feel free to ask questions.

[L-girl]

Hi. I'm also a rising 2L. I'm from Cleveland and can answer questions.