OPEN THREAD: Brother Can I spare an Outline?

There is an interesting phrase in the landmark book Law School Confidential - it's something along the lines of "Anytime someone asks you for notes, or any other materials for class, you give it to them no questions asked . . . it's the right thing to do . . . and it never hurts to build up some 'favorable equity' with your classmates."

But several people emailed us over the most recent finals period, wondering how much is too much?

[D]ood, you should do an open thread on note sharing. specifically, what to do when a fellow classmate, who regularly misses class and takes terrible notes when in class, asks for all of your notes and/or an outline from the entire semester.

OK. I think most of us would give another classmate notes for a missed class. All of us I hope. What about an outline? We probably would give one of our amazing outlines to someone who asked, even if they missed a lot of class (who knows why they missed class? Could be illness / family stuff / etc.) But what about if you know the person was just a slacker and asked for an entire semester's worth notes, or an outline? Law School is a zero sum game, after all. But then again, UVA

Feel free to sound off in the comments - Happy Holidays!

Just Finished Outlining for Crim Investigations

In related news, outlining is still awful:

I. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

II. Summary of cases glossing on this: BUT WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINE?

III. Conclusion - don't forget to read people their rites!

Streamlined. Efficient. Now back to watching football, enjoy flipping threw 100+ pages of Scalia verbiage . . . I think this one is going up on SBA site after exams are over.

EDIT: SwampPoodle wants me to point out that this is my ENTIRE outline for the course and not just the Table of Contents, because it might be unclear . . . OK, you win - this is my entire outline for the course . . .

Grisham on Gunners

Rather than go some place warm for break, we're in Charlottesville for the moment enjoying the snow. We also got a chance to read John Grisham's new book, The Associate - and, really, it's pretty good (so far, on p. 200). The novel opens with the protagonist as a 3L at a school almost as prestigious as Virginia and trying to decide whether to work at a legal aid place in Central Virginia assisting migrant workers or to become an associate at [insert fictitious NYC BIGLAW firm that sound suspiciously like a real one]. I don't want to get in to how he chooses to the latter because it would spoil the plot a bit, but Grisham spends a lot of the novel exploring the glitz and glamor of Manhattan firm life. And then, there is this gem on page 138:

The first gunner appeared. There is at least one in every class, whether it is first-year contracts in law school or a group of fresh recruits on Wall Street. A gunner sits in the front row, asks complicated questions, sucks to whoever happens to be at the podium, works every angle, cuts throats for better grades, stabs backs to make law review, interviews at top-rated firms regardless of how bad their reputations might be, and arrives at the firm with every intention of making partner before every other member in in his class. Gunners suceed magnificently; most make partner.

That's a pretty comprehensive definition - and the wikipedia stub does need some work, though some might quibble with the broad applicability of the last line (emphasis added, naturally) . . .

Related:
Read the First Chapter of The Associate (.pdf) [Amazon.com]
A Time to Pay Attention: Grisham Visits UVA Law

For the 1Ls

We HTH:




Sincerely,

Rule 12 (f) & FFJ

EXAM ADVICE: The True Gunner Never Takes His Fingers Far From CTRL + S

So we were taking an exam yesterday, gunning away with our 200 pp. outline, fair trade coffee, protein power bars, and creatine supplements, when wouldn't you know it - MS Word decided to pick this time of all times to spontaneously close for no reason. FANTASTIC. Just as we were about to give up anyway and spend the rest of the time poking people on facebook and fretting about the curve (which there is plenty of time for later, believe us!), everything goes blank save our desktop background of Clinton Portis and we get a message telling us that MSWord has closed for no reason; would we like to send a report to headquarters.

Oh yea - we're in the middle of an exam that determines our entire grade; of course we want to send an e-report to Microsoft Headquarters! Idiot.

So, we open Word, and there is a recovered version of our exam - 謝天謝地！ - now seeing as we've already lost valuable seconds of time putting us at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis our classmates, especially in this economy, we wasted no time in plunging back in to the fray, producing our magnum opus of [whatever class it was - Va. L. Rev: you'll get the note material as soon as I can get the Prof's permission], but after another 10 minutes MSWord crashed AGAIN - for no reason other than the law school gods had chosen Rule 12 (f) as the target for their daily amusement.

This time we were scared because no recovered version popped up. Oh noes - but NOT. Because this time as we were utilizing our 170 WPM typing skills (anything else is too slow, especially in this economy), we integrated the CTRL+S meme. The median students simply writes: "Most jurisdictions treat a mortgage as a lien as oppsoed to a transfer of property;" the true gunner (risk averse to the max like all law students), types "Most jurisdictions [CTRL+S] treat a mort [CTRL+S]gage as a li[CTRL+S]en as opposed [CTRL+S] to a trans[CTRL+S] of proper[CTR+S]y." Accordingly, in typing this blog post we have hit CTRL+S 87 times.

Motion to strike? Not when Rule 12 (f) is on the case; everything you type gets sent to the professor. (1Ls: Generally you need to write at least 22 pages or so to even have a shot at the median; A- exams will generally be longer).

NB: We realize on a mac, which we use because we are crafty consumers, it's actually "Command" not "CTRL"; however, the risk-averse gunning principle is basically the same. HTH.