"Recent" Law School Etiquette Piece at AmericanBar.org Forum

[scifiguy]

http://www.americanbar.org/publications ... peril.html

Wasn't sure if this was posted here before, but I personally just came by it myself. It's a few months old, but quite interesting.

[anyriotgirl]

.... There are people that needed to be told the things written in that article? D: D:

[Nonconsecutive]

.... There are people that needed to be told the things written in that article? D: D:

You would be very surprised.

[TheodoreKGB]

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[sd5289]

There was a bro looking at porn in class?!

[First Offense]

There was a bro looking at porn in class?!

I've been tempted.

[TigerDude]

what's up with law professors wanting to be called "Professor?" That's not how business school was at all.

Are law professors really that stuck on themselves?

[sd5289]

There was a bro looking at porn in class?!

I've been tempted.

It was you, wasn't it?

You're among friends here.

[sublime]

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[TigerDude]

"Bob"

Like people talk in the real world.

[A. Nony Mouse]

"Bob"

Like people talk in the real world.

Except law school isn't the real world, and they're your professor, not your best bud. I mean, professors at pretty much every level of education get called "professor whatever," it's not like law profs are doing something weird in expecting that.

[yossarian]

"Bob"

Like people talk in the real world.

Except law school isn't the real world, and they're your professor, not your best bud. I mean, professors at pretty much every level of education get called "professor whatever," it's not like law profs are doing something weird in expecting that.

Yes and no. Many, many liberal arts professors insist on their first name on the first day, to everyone. I don't think it is at all unreasonable to expect to be called Professor X, but people with, say, an English degree may have no experience with this.

[A. Nony Mouse]

"Bob"

Like people talk in the real world.

Except law school isn't the real world, and they're your professor, not your best bud. I mean, professors at pretty much every level of education get called "professor whatever," it's not like law profs are doing something weird in expecting that.

Yes and no. Many, many liberal arts professors insist on their first name on the first day, to everyone. I don't think it is at all unreasonable to expect to be called Professor X, but people with, say, an English degree may have no experience with this.

I think it varies more by school than field. I worked at one school where even the chancellor went by his first name to students, and another where even faculty addressed the president to his face as "President Smith" and the dean as "Dean Jones." It's far less common to have everyone go by first names than by titles. I suppose one exception is if you were taught primarily by grad students and/or adjuncts, who aren't always comfortable claiming "professor" (some adjuncts - more grad students). And I know the person above mentioned business school - who knows what crazy things they do there.

But I guess I should retract my comment to the extent of saying that while there are contexts in which profs go by their first names, I think going by "professor" is common enough that whatever other criticisms you can levy at law profs, that's a fairly silly one.

[TheSpanishMain]

"Bob"

Like people talk in the real world.

Except law school isn't the real world, and they're your professor, not your best bud. I mean, professors at pretty much every level of education get called "professor whatever," it's not like law profs are doing something weird in expecting that.

Er...yeah. Calling your professor by his first name strikes me as pretty presumptuous. Better to just err on the side of caution. If they tell you, "Oh, you can just call me Jim" or whatever, then fine.

[yossarian]

But I guess I should retract my comment to the extent of saying that while there are contexts in which profs go by their first names, I think going by "professor" is common enough that whatever other criticisms you can levy at law profs, that's a fairly silly one.

Yeah. Definitely agree with that being a silly criticism. FWIW, my personal experience double majoring in the same school at a public university. I called all my poli sci professors "Professor X" while all my English professors cringed at the title.

[iamgeorgebush]

the only profs i've ever called by their first names have been performing arts profs and sociology profs. all the other liberal arts profs were "professor" or "professor smith."

[sublime]

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[Iroh]

Most of this stuff seems like common since. However, since I'm a clueless 0L, can someone explain to me why it's perfectly acceptable to ask for notes, but presumptuous to ask for outlines?

[sublime]

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[A. Nony Mouse]

Also, if you miss class you don't really have any other way to get the material you missed, but if you have class notes you can make your own outline. (That said, I ran into plenty of people happy to share outlines.)

[sublime]

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[Iroh]

Ok, that makes sense. It struck me as odd when I first read it, because people on TLS seem pretty happy to help each other out on all sorts of things, and refusing to share an outline seemed kind of gunnerish at first glance.

[sublime]

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