DOM's blog repeated the 11th Circuit's announcement will live stream oral arguments. What a hoot!
Judge: Counsel you are asking this court to reverse a criminal conviction based on the admission of 404b evidence. When was the last time we did that?
Lawyer: Ummm....when Eisenhower was President?
Judge: Exactly.
Now everyone can see you lose.
THE PAPER CHASE
Not us, but the generation of lawyers just before us were most likely influenced to attend law school by the novel The Paper Chase by John J.Osborn, Esq, who passed away this week.
The book became a movie starring John Houseman as Professor Kingsfield, and then a television series.
But John Houseman will forever be the archetypical law school professor, frightening students into studying the law.
https://twitter.com/ScottHech/status/1584525192159580163
ReplyDeleteGreat film. Having started law school in 1979, just six years after this film was released, some of my law professors fancied themselves as Professor Kingsfields. Although I never heard one of them offer a student a quarter to call their mother, some of the exchanges were equally brutal.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who went to Miami law (where Osborn actually taught) at least 20 years ago will have flashbacks when they see the clips to Professor Richard Hausler, who once told a friend of mine in Contracts that he best have a job waiting in the janitorial profession b/c he would never make it as a lawyer.
ReplyDeleteI remember Professor John Gaubatz telling a kid who was unprepared that he was giving him the Professor Kingsfield advice, and commenting that the current rate for a call was thirty-five cents.
ReplyDelete1. In hindsight, the professors that imitated the John Houseman character ( like UM’s Hausler) were silly
ReplyDelete2. The law school scenes in Paper Chase were terrific; the other part of the movie focusing on the Lindsey Wagner love story was terrible and boring
3. Getting an A from Hausler was pretty elusive but my wife did earn an A from his UCC class
@1:53
ReplyDeleteAny memory of John T is so welcome. He had a thin crust of Kingsfield (especially early in the first semester when teaching Elements), but was a deeply compassionate man and -- unlike too many law professors -- dedicated to being a good teacher.
Loved that guy.
Today it would be “take out your cell and text your mother you are not going to be a lawyer “
ReplyDeleteMore like today it would be “I hope each of you are comfortable in your safe space, I’m not allowed to call on you anymore, but I’m sure you will be able to blame everything on the judge when you can’t put three words together in court.”
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