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The Midway Dinner is peculiar of course in part because it's the celebration of a midway point, rather than a beginning or an end, which are what we usually pause to recognize. This is a moment of transition for you, as you enter the final half of your time at the law school. And of course it is a time of transition for the law school itself, as well. The law school's moment of transition coincides almost perfectly with your own. You are thus the lucky class that will have the chance to experience half of your time here under the old regime, and half under the new. It's always tempting to look back at an old regime with a sense of nostalgia. But I don't think that's appropriate. To be very honest with you, many people thought that the old regime was overly rigid, excessively difficult, and not fully responsive to the realities of the modern legal education. Many students think that the new regime will be a major improvement. And they might very well be right. The new regime I'm speaking of is, of course, our new, two-tiered substantial writing requirement.

echoi wrote:I asked about the two-tiered substantial writing requirement on the facebook group--hopefully one of the current students in that group will be able to explain it further. If i get an answer, I'll repost it here.

Rand M. wrote:No chance this refers to the recent change in Presidents? Levmore ---> Schill?

upgrade wrote:I'm sure it was a tongue-in-cheek, but I'll explain the writing requirements. Instead of two required substantial research papers (the "old regime"), we have one substantial research paper and one other required writing project. The second required writing project has a standard that is less onerous than the standard for a substantial research paper.