Osler's Razor

Here's the thing with Baylor Law: The students work incredibly hard, and get a great education. My job is made much better by the fact that the students take their studies seriously. When I call on a student in class, I can have a conversation where we are both informed on the subject, and that is because they have done the reading and briefed the case. Sometimes I talk to friends who teach at other schools (where students are allowed to "pass" on the reading), and they envy my opportunity to teach people who care enough to prepare.

One problem is that this quality is great for preparing actual lawyers, but does not show up often in rankings, other than in the bar pass rate (which is great here). I really regret that, too, when I see the importance put on rankings in the legal academy. People outside Baylor do not know how good we are.

Except, that is, when someone like Danny Back or Jen Seale comes to their town and kicks their ass. Danny, Josh Hedrick, Dan Stokes, James Williams and Lauren Davis just won the National AAJ mock trial tournament (formerly the ATLA tournament), beating 240 teams. It's our second championship in that competition in the past three years. I'm proud of them, and proud of this school.