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I'm not a 1L prof so can't really answer questions about 1L. I teach at a T50ish law school. Attended a T5 and got this job after a few years in government work.

LawProfessor123 wrote:I'm not a 1L prof so can't really answer questions about 1L. I teach at a T50ish law school. Attended a T5 and got this job after a few years in government work.

Best advice for success?

Should I read Getting to Maybe?
Should I do LEEWS?

Feels like some TLSer got bored and decided to post as a prof.

...

Kobe_Teeth wrote:

LawProfessor123 wrote:I'm not a 1L prof so can't really answer questions about 1L. I teach at a T50ish law school. Attended a T5 and got this job after a few years in government work.

Best advice for success?

Should I read Getting to Maybe?
Should I do LEEWS?

Before my 1L year, I

1) Read the first 100 pages of Getting to Maybe
2) Read Delaney's Learning Legal Reasoning
3) Read the first 100 pages of Glannon's Civ Pro E&E

That worked out wonderfully for me. I thought Getting to Maybe became repetitive, and hence I didn't read all of it. I think Delaney's book is awesome. Glannon's book was good primarily to give me a preview of 1L; I don't think I was necessarily better or worse for prepping with that book.

Ragged wrote:Feels like some TLSer got bored and decided to post as a prof.

That's the same thing as I would think if I were in your shoes. But if you have any Q's, the most you have to lose is typing time.

I am a prof, but have no way of proving that without compromising my identity, so I understand your skepticism.

Bump?

How ya feel about the legal market?

How are students at your school doing at OCI?

What are you drinking right now?

What time is it for you right now?

Kobe_Teeth wrote:How ya feel about the legal market?

How are students at your school doing at OCI?

What are you drinking right now?

1. Pretty negatively. I feel that the current batch of graduates is really screwed. I have a number of students who plan to graduate in Dec/Jan and I try to convince them to graduate in May, unless they have a job lined up.

2. From what I can tell (I'm a new prof), only the top 5% or so lands with a big firm.

3. I drank a bottle of Yellow Tail and am now working on a 6-pack of Corona.

Kobe_Teeth wrote:What time is it for you right now?

4am.

I might be getting intimately involved with my cute neighbor, but I'm somewhat hesitant to throw on a rubber and get serious cause I'm going to be a 1L soon.

Should I get serious with her and begin a serious relationship while starting law school?

Thank you for answering questions.

1. An increasing number of law professors are starting to have PhDs in other fields. Do you think that it's possible that a lot of these newly hired JD/PhD professors will start to prefer lawprof candidates with similar credentials?

2. Is doctrinal scholarship starting to lose its value in the legal academy (Compared to the last decade)? Those who don't have PhDs are pretty much limited to producing doctrinal or theory pieces, but there's a lot of talk about "interdisciplinary scholarship." I honestly dislike the whole "interdisciplinary" approach to legal scholarship and am curious as to whether other law profs feel the same.

3. I take it that as long as a person produces legal scholarship consistently while practicing law (even after ten years), then there shouldn't really be a problem in terms of judging that person's committment to producing scholarship as a faculty member. But a lot of law professors are suspicious of those who have had too much practice experience; do you think that this attitude/trend will persist?

Nervous about moving to a new city, and potentially bringing along my gf of 3.5 years. Any advice on how to balance the 1L life and personal life?

Best thing about your job?

Yellow Tail? And you're a law prof? Come on!

I'm still gonna play along...even if you are lying...who cares?

For the incoming class...are they doomed?


What area of law do you teach?
Know anything about copyrights/trademarks? Is there work?

How do you feel about law schools not hiring or only hiring a select few of their own graduates as professors?

SwollenMonkey wrote:I might be getting intimately involved with my cute neighbor, but I'm somewhat hesitant to throw on a rubber and get serious cause I'm going to be a 1L soon.

Should I get serious with her and begin a serious relationship while starting law school?

I had no luck with the ladies my 1L year (although I'm now married), so I can't comment on how to balance the two. I imagine a *healthy* relationship would be good, but if you are fighting frequently and getting stressed out, your grades will invariably suffer. If she's "the one," it may be worth it.

Some more questions, if you will

4. What made becoming a law professor difficult for you (i.e. personal/financial sacrifice, meat market/job talk, publishing while practice law)? Could you elaborate on this, please?

5. Did you have to go through visitorships/fellowships (either at the school that you currently teach at, or some other VAP program) in order to secure a faculty position? How many years did you practice law?

LawProfessor123 wrote:

SwollenMonkey wrote:I might be getting intimately involved with my cute neighbor, but I'm somewhat hesitant to throw on a rubber and get serious cause I'm going to be a 1L soon.

Should I get serious with her and begin a serious relationship while starting law school?

I had no luck with the ladies my 1L year (although I'm now married), so I can't comment on how to balance the two. I imagine a *healthy* relationship would be good, but if you are fighting frequently and getting stressed out, your grades will invariably suffer. If she's "the one," it may be worth it.

Thanks.

tadams86 wrote:Nervous about moving to a new city, and potentially bringing along my gf of 3.5 years. Any advice on how to balance the 1L life and personal life?

Best thing about your job?

If you really have two lives to balance, as many 1Ls do, then I would suggest treating law school like a job and busting your ass 9-5, and focusing on other things after that.

I love being my own boss. I hate the isolation of it, though.

MorningHood wrote:Some more questions, if you will

4. What made becoming a law professor difficult for you (i.e. personal/financial sacrifice, meat market/job talk, publishing while practice law)? Could you elaborate on this, please?

5. Did you have to go through visitorships/fellowships (either at the school that you currently teach at, or some other VAP program) in order to secure a faculty position? How many years did you practice law?

4. The financial sacrifice was significant (I received an offer to join a top firm at around the same time I was looking for govt work). Also, the personal sacrifice was significant. I moved to an area where I knew no one and continue to know few people (outside of colleagues). Luckily my fiancee (now wife) agreed to move with me. I couldn't have done this without her.

5. I practice for 4 years. I was an adjunct for one semester, but did not do a VAP/fellowship. Those programs are a great way to go, though.

Kobe_Teeth wrote:How do you feel about law schools not hiring or only hiring a select few of their own graduates as professors?

The problem is that most professors attended a law school that is higher-ranked than the school at which they teach. Thus, they don't have a bond with the school. A Yale grad teaching at Missouri wants to hire Yale grade, not Missouri grads.

I think that this is a bad thing and that more schools should have faith in their own product (i.e., hire their own grads). You may note that schools at the very bottom of the rankings do tend to hire a large number of their own grads, although this might be because Yale grads don't want to work there. But the T50-T150 schools are unjustifiably snobby because they want to patter themselves after Yale.

Kobe_Teeth wrote:Yellow Tail? And you're a law prof? Come on!

I'm still gonna play along...even if you are lying...who cares?

For the incoming class...are they doomed?


What area of law do you teach?
Know anything about copyrights/trademarks? Is there work?

I drink cheap alcohol except when it comes to whiskey or scotch.

I think the incoming class is in a far better position than the graduating class. I think (cross your fingers) that there is going to be a shortage of junior level lawyers by the time the classes of 2012-2014 graduate.

I teach in transactional areas. I know little about copyright/trademark law. I think people with a patent prosecution skillset (including a technical UG degree will always be in demand). Looking for a "soft" IP job, absent strong credentials, seems like a sure way to end up empty.

From a financial perspective, at what point is it foolish to attend a school ranked similar to that at which you teach? Giving the figure in terms of tuition per year would be most helpful. Off to GTL.

How carefully are 1L grades scrutinized in academic hiring, assuming a few years in firm or government practice? For example, can a CCN grad overcome mediocre (say top 30/40%) 1L grades in his or her 2L/3L years by rising to top 10% upon graduation? This is of course assuming a non-clerkship oriented path to academia.