Professor V: “What is that ringing sound?” Jill: “I think it’s coming from the hallway.” Professor V: “Hm.” Jill (opening door): “It’s coming from out here, but I’m not sure what it [...]]]> A few minutes into my Conflicts class we heard a ringing sound from the hallway. Jill sits by the door, which has a window to the hallway:

Professor V: “What is that ringing sound?”
Jill: “I think it’s coming from the hallway.”
Professor V: “Hm.”
Jill (opening door): “It’s coming from out here, but I’m not sure what it is. Carbon Monoxide?”
Jack: “Is that a fire alarm?”
Professor V: “Probably not. Jill, let us know if you see flames.”
Jill: “Will do!”

A little Carbon Monoxide isn’t going to interrupt Conflicts.

• On the Record: Civil Procedure
• Hysterics
• Your chance is now
• Jack has no idea
• Professor V couldn’t do it
• OTR: Professor V
• Cmon just hit me! (Personal Jurisdiction fail)

Oh and classes are still going on apparently. Most of my section has become impatient with classes. Here’s a rundown:

The mediator blindsided our “mock attorneys” by quizzing them about the hypo’s fact pattern during [...]]]> It is Alternative Dispute Resolution week in Civil Procedure.¹ Although Professor V has a lot of ADR experience, she has brought in a guest mediator for our in-class ADR simulation. The mediator specializes in employment law, specifically discrimination and sexual harassment.²

The mediator blindsided our “mock attorneys” by quizzing them about the hypo’s fact pattern during an impromptu “scheduling-call simulation.”

The mediator basically said, “Okay, I’m going to pretend to call you guys now. Be prepared to answer questions. Hello? Is this the attorney for the plaintiff? What are the important issues here?”

I was mortified for my classmates, but it wasn’t that bad.

After the “scheduling-call” Jill asked a question:

Jill: “Why do the attorneys in ADR become so entangled and angry at each other? I mean at the end of the day, it should just be a job…”
Mediator: “Well, keep that in mind! Attorneys are just as subject to unmanageable conflicts as anyone else!”

The full ADR simulation is next week. It should be amusing…

Prof V: It’s hard to remember that before 1875, the Federal Government had a very limited role, especially today when the government is taking over banks and the entire economy…

I couldn’t commit to Thursdays, nor creativity…but I did take a few snaps of my study spaces over the past week.

This disaster is in the “computer lab” area of the law library:

There’s an interesting series of posts over at Kootoyoo¹ called “My Creative Space.” Kristy takes a picture of her creative space every Thursday.

I couldn’t commit to Thursdays, nor creativity…but I did take a few snaps of my study spaces over the past week.

This disaster is in the “computer lab” area of the law library:

The “computer lab” is really a series of study carrels. I think there were computers there at one point, before they forced everyone to buy overpriced laptops.  And yes, that’s 100% Cacao. Delicious.

More after the jump!

This picture was somehow still on my camera:

This picture is from Purple Onion Café in Dinkytown. Stella and I were studying Civil Procedure…sort of. Here’s a video.

I need to get better about throwing out my trash as I create it. I usually wait until I’m ready to leave, which means passersby get to see a nasty heap of trash by my books. Classy!

Complaining that “when Burger King is the plaintiff, you won’t ‘have it your way’ because it sues all franchisees in Miami,” Brief for Appellee 19, Rudzewicz contends that Florida’s interest in providing a convenient forum is negligible given the company’s size [...]]]> Professor V just pointed out a funny footnote in a Burger King personal jurisdiction case¹.

Complaining that “when Burger King is the plaintiff, you won’t ‘have it your way’ because it sues all franchisees in Miami,” Brief for Appellee 19, Rudzewicz contends that Florida’s interest in providing a convenient forum is negligible given the company’s size and ability to conduct litigation anywhere in the country. We disagree. Absent compelling considerations, a defendant who has purposefully derived commercial benefit from his affiliations in a forum may not defeat jurisdiction there simply because of his adversary’s greater net wealth.

My classes this semester are hilarious. Here’s a rundown:

Property: Even compared with the other UMN faculty, Professor P has a monster CV. I was expecting a reincarnation of Ben Stein in [...]]]> I mentioned that this semester feels busier. That was an understatement. Comparing first semester to second semester is like comparing Enya to a Revlon Ball.

My classes this semester are hilarious. Here’s a rundown:

Property: Even compared with the other UMN faculty, Professor P has a monster CV. I was expecting a reincarnation of Ben Stein in Bueller’s Day Off ¹, and was pleasant surprised. Professor P is formal, but not boring.

Property is an extremely practical course. I now know what my obligations are if I find something valuable, and how to successfully capture any foxes (or bats) that I might come across…

The reading is interesting so far, but we start Estates and Future Interests this week. Our SSG has made several dark references to Future Interests, so we’ll see if my enthusiasm survives the week…

Civil Procedure: Civpro never disappoints. On Wednesday the law school’s auditorium was turned into a court room for a motion hearing. The case² involves a pastor who came to Minnesota for a religious conference. The pastor dumped pipe ashes into a pot on his friend’s deck. The ashes started a fire that burnt down the friend’s house.

The angry homeowner was present Wednesday and sat next to one of my housemates. The awkwardness was delicious.

The losses calculated by the homeowner were creative. The plaintiff priced his used mid-90’s model cars using 2008 models. The plaintiffs also wanted compensation for a lost job and wages³ at $320/hour for the husband, and $125/hour for his retired wife.

The judge questioned the compensation:

Judge: “One of the arguments was that the loss of job isn’t compensable under Minnesota Law. Do you think the jury could connect the fire with the loss of a job?”
Attorney: “You’re speaking to a defense attorney your honor, so my answer is absolutely not! But consider the source…”

Corporations: The reading for this course is a bit bizarre. Each assignment starts with what is essentially definitions in paragraph form. “Shareholders do this. A proxy contest is this. Etc.” After five pages of definitions comes the case, which is usually a scandalous hot mess (porn emails, sexual assaults, swearing, swindlers…etc.)

I dropped out of the business school my first semester of undergrad, so all of the terms are new to me. A few of my classmates with business degrees are bored to tears, but I’m still interested.

Criminal Law: Ah, the Law & Order class. The reading is heavy on theory but mercifully short. It is hard to pay attention in class because the professor puts all of the slides online and doesn’t cover much beyond them (hey! The slides are thorough!)

What makes Crimlaw amusing are my classmates. We have Crimlaw with another section full of… strong personalities. I appreciate that they are so engaged with the material, but they seem to rub my section the wrong way. The tension (and facebook threads) are hilarious.

The ridiculousness started when one of my classmates planted a remote fart machine under the gunner’s seat. My classmate set off the fart machine during class. Erm. Yeah. Some people thought it was the best thing ever, while  others were extremely offended by it.

Legal Writing-Statutory Interpretation: Sometimes I wonder if the sole purpose of legal writing is to terrorize my schedule. Our brief this year involves a statutory interpretation question, so UMN decided to smack us with an additional statutory interpretation class with its own meeting time and assignments.

The reading for statutory interpretation involves sifting through dense committee reports about whales and assorted randomness. Most people stopped reading two weeks ago, so the class is carried by the four people who religiously outline and annotate everything, including Chinese takeout menus…

The biggest problem with statutory interpretation (and some of the library exercises) is that the librarians assume first year law students use books. (shocking, I know.) This makes the $15 Xerox packet for Statutory Interpretation especially useless.

If I pull up a committee report on Westlaw, I just hit CTRL+F and cut through the irrelevant debates. But instead, I have to pay for a packet of the committee reports and floor debates in 5-pt font, and pray I don’t miss something hidden on page 432. This is why we have the four super-annotators…

I didn’t have to deal with the microprint this week because statutory interpretation was canceled. The wrench in this week’s schedule was the Fees Committee. We met for 7 hours on Sunday, and 3-4 hours on Wednesday night. Preparing for the meetings and writing rationales ate up a few more hours.

Despite the time and mind-drain, serving on the Fees Committee is a lot of fun. The Committee is comprised of students from all over the university. The clash of personalities makes American Idol look like a lovefest, but I get to see how undergraduate organizations work and engage in… rigorous debate.

I was sick for most of the week, but I was more productive at home among tissues than I would have been at school.

I also dragged my snot-clogged-self to the gym for the placebo effect. The good thing about being diseased is that it forced me to stop and take care of myself. 14 hours of sleep. Water, sleep, chicken noodle soup…

I feel better now and I’m ready for my “break week.” This is the week before the big honking public hearings for the Fees Committee…which should be interesting.

² Case 0:07-cv-03905-JRT-RLE

³ The plaintiff’s attorney (essentially) said at one point, “Just because we are double dipping doesn’t mean we aren’t entitled to anything… erm, assuming we are double dipping of course.”

Today our SSG instructor for Civil Procedure asked:

SSG Instructor: “You guys haven’t had multifactor balancing tests yet right?” Jill: “Yeah, in legal writing last semester, but that was a disaster too…”

What’s so funny? Well, Stella and I are at the Purple Onion Cafe, and the guy in line at the register is saying this to his female friend (verbatim):

Guy in Line: [...]]]> Everything is funny right now. I might be delusional from my 7-hour fees committee meeting and two hours of Civil Procedure reading…but I suspect not.

What’s so funny? Well, Stella and I are at the Purple Onion Cafe, and the guy in line at the register is saying this to his female friend (verbatim):

Guy in Line: “Do you just not shower? Is that how your hair gets so nice? It’s cute. I think it’s cute. IT’S CUTE!”

I snicker about this and then read the following hypo in my book:

“Would it have made a difference if the product that exploded had been a toaster that the defendant also manufactured and distributed only in the Northeast?”

I think things have reached that point where it’s best to close the book and walk away…

“Nevertheless jurisdiction has continued to plague lawyers, judges and law students. Many, no doubt, would agree with the judge who observed that “the legal issues raised in these cases are rather dull. If Judge Wapner had to worry about personal jurisdiction, [...]]]> I know I’m in trouble when my CivPro book tells me a chapter is dull…

“Nevertheless jurisdiction has continued to plague lawyers, judges and law students. Many, no doubt, would agree with the judge who observed that “the legal issues raised in these cases are rather dull. If Judge Wapner had to worry about personal jurisdiction, ‘The People’s Court’ would not be on television.”

The book quoted Hall’s Specialties, Inc. v. Schupbach, 758 F.2d 214 (7th Cir. Ind. 1985). The judge went on to say:

A greater sin than dullness, however, is that the cases are often difficult to decide because the body of law that has developed is confusing and contradictory.