Who is at the bottom of the class? Forum

[spleenworship]

Also, having a good memory helps a lawyer, but isn't necessary. A good lawyer could have a bad memory, but as long as they are smart and can reason, research, and logically argue, the only time bad memory would be an issue would be for trial lawyers (who are less than 20% of all lawyers). Every other lawyer could be amazing at their job with a memory like a sieve.

[ksllaw]

Is there no building up of a storehouse of knowledge that becomes useful in one's later legal career? I perhaps had this romantic preconception that great lawyers, in addition to having sharp logical and analytical skills, also had an encyclopedic knowledge of their areas of legal expertise.

Can a law student genuinely forget all of the material and become a great future lawyer? Maybe it's my academic-mindedness and genuine love of learning, but I would still find learning and mastering a particular body of knowledge rewarding for it's own sake. Learning for learning's sake.

Are You trolling me? Because this love of learning crap is making me want to vomit.

Hahaha. Made my day! What is it they say? Different strokes for different folks?

But to answer your question, I think there absolutely is beauty and pleasure in learning, investigating, and analyzing something. Or, as Feynman put it, "the pleasure of finding things out." [If you're a fan of Feynman, you'll know exactly where that quote came from.] We're all wired differently and that's just fine.

Just hearing how others approach things here is kind of neat and interesting to me.

[ksllaw]

While lawyers do have a good knowledge of cases and statutes that relate to their area of law that they practice, good luck getting a lawyer more than a few years out of school to know more than a few con law cases that they studied academically. It just isn't possible to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the law. Have you seen how many pages of Statutes and Regulations a State has, much less the behemoth that is the CFR? Even if you specialized you still have to look everything but your 10 or so everyday use laws to make sure you got it right. And since 90% of what they teach you in law school isn't practical for an attorney who actually practices, this means that practicing attorneys are constantly having to do at least minimal research to draft motions, briefs, and what have you.

Yeah, perhaps what I meant is a relatively encyclopedic knowledge of the law! I have seen the law shelves at my local university law library. I think I might know what you mean.

[manofjustice]

Also, having a good memory helps a lawyer, but isn't necessary. A good lawyer could have a bad memory, but as long as they are smart and can reason, research, and logically argue, the only time bad memory would be an issue would be for trial lawyers (who are less than 20% of all lawyers). Every other lawyer could be amazing at their job with a memory like a sieve.

Why is a good memory most important for a trial lawyer?

[spleenworship]

Also, having a good memory helps a lawyer, but isn't necessary. A good lawyer could have a bad memory, but as long as they are smart and can reason, research, and logically argue, the only time bad memory would be an issue would be for trial lawyers (who are less than 20% of all lawyers). Every other lawyer could be amazing at their job with a memory like a sieve.

Why is a good memory most important for a trial lawyer?

Because sometimes you are arguing something that just came up and the judge is going to make the ruling right now, whether you like it or not, like during a sidebar, and having cases in your memory is going to be invaluable. Also, having to flip through your FRE during trial makes you look weak to the jury, for instance.