I just remember the guy talking about Brazil having a civil legal system and speaking Portuguese. I just had an immediate reaction that it was a really bad question to ask, but that was the last I thought of him until reading about it here. I didn't see him in the other event though. I don't think things against people, as I know I don't always make the best impression either. If it wasn't for my Larry David 'tar I would be hated (more) here as a troll lol.

i'll be honest. i'm a 1L, had limited interactions with you all this weekend, and i knew immediately exactly who you were talking about.

The question was something along the lines of "If you're studying at an American law school and your 1L classes focus on common law, then how can you do anything effective in Brazil, where they use a civil law system, and I'm assuming you all speak Portugese because otherwise you couldn't communicate with anyone." The question was inflammatory, hasty, and just all-around ill-conceived. It was more like a cross examination than a question designed to help the group distill any useful information about the law students' trip to Brazil or the law school. Even if he wanted to glean some detail about whether or not LLM students or international-focused students learned about civil law, he could have asked a much more polite question in the assembly or just asked one of the students individually after the panel concluded. Since the question was posed in a somewhat bombastic manner in front of the entire assembly of admitted students, their guests, Dean Hoye, and the current student panel, everybody witnessed it and started talking about it.

Alright, since I helped move this conversation off track I'll try to steer it back by offering some details that have not been previously mentioned:

I thought it was really awesome that Duke has been able to mobilize its faculty and alumni so effectively to find jobs for its students. As I overheard Dean Hoye say, "our alumni are happy to write checks but they really like to be able to work with our current students". The faculty seem really proactive too - one 2L told me that Prof. Seale (the one on the faculty panel who marched up and down the isles) recently saw him in the halls and exclaimed, "You need to come see me! I've been thinking about who you should clerk for!"...despite the fact that the student had never discussed clerking with her before. Someone also pointed out to me that Duke maintains some good connections to the private sector - one professor is of counsel at O'Melveny & Myers and the Dean's brother is a hiring partner at Sidley Austin. Those connections (particular through the Dean) means Duke can get constant feedback on its curriculum and keep its finger on the pulse of Biglaw.

Also, before I forget, huge props to Duke for including their placement lists in the registration packet. AFAIK, only Vanderbilt is as transparent, and I was particularly gratified to see Duke be open in such a down year. I did notice that there were a lot more NC destinations for the 2L summer of the class of 2010, but the overall picture was not that bad and if I hadn't already seen the summer placement of the class of 09 I would have been pretty dang impressed.

+1. The full 2010 summer and c/o 2009 placement lists were spectacular. Someone in Career Services promised to e-mail me a full listing of employers at OCI in the markets I'm interested in, as well.

I totally forgot I got a phone call during the ASD from an Alum working in Dallas Is it rude to call back at this point? Should I wait till the weekend?

I think the finger on BigLaw is a good observation. I was shocked by the amount of 1Ls helping out and participating during the programs. For all of the other ASDs I went to there was only a single 1L at each.

I remember the Brazil question now, although I couldn't have told you who asked it.

I too was impressed with their handing out so much employment information, and with.... well just about everything they did really. And the way the alumni network and the faculty mobilize to help students find jobs sounds simply incredible.

If you sit front row, dead center, wear a full suit, bowtie, and suspenders when the dress code is casual, Im going to notice you even if you dont say a word.

I only saw him walking the hall once, and so did I.

Wait, was this the same guy that asked about the political leanings "vis a vis" of the faculty?

That was someone else I think. I also liked the question about why we should pick Duke rather than the '11 other top 10 schools.'

rotfl!!!!!! I assumed he was a current student, faculty, or had some other connection to Duke at first. Then when he started talking I thought "whoa, this guy's a prospective student, no way!"

I'll echo what the rest of you have said - overall, this was a GREAT group of admitted students and current students: very laid-back, respectful, and friendly. To only encounter 1-2 exceptions out of the entire group was just awesome.

I am really pissed at myself for not finding the time to go see the lemurs. Really, really pissed. Oh well, it gives me something to do during the orientation week.

With 3 schools tied for the #10 spot, technically there are 12 top 10 schools.

If they didnt mark everything with those scent glands and didnt attack straight for the face, a lemur would be the coolest pet! Do you know if you are allowed to touch them or if they are just in cages?

Not sure, but if they attack straight for the face I doubt you can touch them lol.

Only when they have not been clipped http://www.critterhouse.com/ringtail_lemurs_as_pets.htm

My cat kind of looks like a lemur, do lemurs sleep a lot? Maybe he's part lemur.
So I read your Penn v. Duke thing, and I would say for $60k to take Duke. You did say that you were interesting in financial regulation policy, right? I don't think you could get that working in Texas, but at Duke at least you would have the opportunity to do Duke in DC and aim for that (or in NYC) and if it doesn't work you could then aim for Texas. Chicago would be a different story though, but I don't see Penn being such a better chance at a public policy job to outweigh the possibility of not being able to go to Texas.

If you're into financial regulation, or really any other topic for that matter, you may want to check out our faculty bios just to get an idea of some of your opportunities here. http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/index

Thanks to soullesswonder for alerting me about this thread's existence.

I had a really great time. I would echo most of the previous sentiments: the law school is beautiful, the area is much nicer than most would think, the faculty seems very impressive, and the open house itself got me really excited.

Oh, and the basketball team is on the verge of a national championship.

My fiancee and I LOVE the area. While this is most certainly jumping the gun, we could foresee ourselves staying here after we finish up our degrees. Another surprising thing was the mildness of the cold weather, as weird as that sounds. When I was visiting Penn, it was 40 degrees and freezing. At Duke, it was 40 degrees and mild (which works for me since I'm used to South Florida weather).

Staying there after graduating doesn't seem so bad. The industry in the area interests me, so thats a big plus.

I think Raleigh has a decent legal market, but I think that's it for the triangle. Charlotte got demolished with all the ITE stuff, though.

Ya, I would just want something related to the RTP and biotech companies.

The alum they hooked me up with works in the area and appears to be quite successful. He set up the research triangle office for his law firm, which he said it a Top-100 firm.
FWIW, he was Duke UG and Duke Law. Very smart guy, and he does ridiculously interesting work (IMO).