Osler's Razor

I've heard that the mandatory minimum for cross-blogging is the same as that for providing material support to Al Qaeda. Or something like that.
 

Exam Brutal.
 

Haiku Saturday

Exam pretty hard
Question form unexpected
Am I ethical?
 

Um.... didn't I make it clear that it was short essays?
 

Yes you made it clear. It was not unfair. I personally expected hypos or issue spotting, that was my first test of yours I ever took. It was fair enough though and some of us just didnt study the right way. Thanks for the quarter, I enjoyed having you.
 

You kind of look like Joye Walford's dope smoking little brother in that picture...Thanks for a short test!
 

Thanks for a great quarter...after that test I figure I should thank you before the grades some out :) You did an excellent job. I took a lot away from this class. Thanks. And though I appreciate the gift, this new definition of honesty doesn’t seem to sit so well with my friends and family…maybe you should start an online class to spread the ethics :)
 

I realize that you want us to be ethical lawyers and learn the rules for Texas. But I hoped this class would prepare us for the MPRE and I hoped that your exam would be similar to the MPRE. I really am disappointed on both accounts. I too expected hypos on the test, I realized that the test would not be multiple choice, like the MPRE, but I expected that it would give scenarios and then ask for identification of the ethical problems, which I feel would be helpful in both preparing for the MPRE and in recognizing ethical issues in our practice after school.
 

9:18-- I can't have the ethics class just be an MPRE prep, but I do think the test, though not similar in style (It would be much easier for me to give a multiple choice, believe me...), covered material that mostly is exactly what you will need for the MPRE. It was on the Texas Rules, like I said. It was only on those rules we covered in class. And it was mostly on those rules that are similar to the model code.

That said, I think in teaching the class in the future, I will probably make clearer distinctions between the Texas and model rules (and require that code to be read), and definitely will structure the test differently. (I may hire an evil consultant). There were, of course, things I could have done better in teaching the class, and I have taken notes on those changes based in part on comments by students. It was my first crack at it this fall, and of course there is plenty of room for improvement.
 

Wherever did you get that old picture of my Aunt Agatha (the one with the wooden leg--my other Aunt Agatha had a glass eye). Anyway, the Aunt Agatha with the wooden leg once dated Charlton Heston. She said he was small.
 

I think fact patterns would be good too. Since professional responsibility is much more applicable to us in real life situations as lawyers as opposed to arguing substantive law on paper, it seems to me the perfect class to be more engaged. The exercise was neat because we could see the rules in action how we will be using them in our careers. I think more exercises in the future would be helpful, or maybe some short in-class role-playing scenarios.
 

Law school is not and should not be designed to help students pass the bar. Law school is not an LSAT prep course.

During my time in law school, none of the profs "taught the test." Heck, our Torts prof never bothered with definitions of assault, battery, etc. The materials were all theory -- we were expected to learn the theory behind the law.

I found this to be quite irritating at the time. I wanted to be able take the MPRE and ba exams and pass. Wasn't that the point of law school? To teach us to be lawyers.

The facts crammed down our throats during the BARBRI bar prep courses helped me and my classmates pass the bar.

In the long run, however, it was the theory taught at law school that helped us become good lawyers.
 

9:18...You can study for the MPRE yourself in about 10 hours. The BARBRI questions will give you plenty of practice. Study them and you'll do fine.
 

There were fact patterns on there; they just weren't a page long. Last week, we got a long fact pattern with the ethics exercise. There was even issue spotting on the test; it just wasn't the kind of issue spotting that would be on a first-year test. Osler made it clear that the test would be short answer, 12-15 questions, and told us what it would cover. It covered exactly that. If you read for class and went to class, you did fine. If you listened in class, you did better. It was very fair. Osler, all in all, it was a great class. Maybe a little bit long reading for some nights (especially when the point made about ethics was a 4-page fact pattern + one paragraph of ethical analysis), but overall, the class was good.
 

correction to my 8:10 post re: the long reading--
Maybe a little bit long reading for some nights (especially when the ONLY point made--in a 30-page case--about ethics was a 4-page fact pattern + one paragraph of ethical analysis)...
 

good class, thanks.