http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:11:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en One of the great things about living in a city is that there is never a lack of things to do.  One of the great things about living in Washington, DC is that there is never a lack of great FREE things to do.  JFK said of DC, "it's a ... http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog/index.php/2009/11/08/rare-advice-for-the-rookies/ Since we have entered law school we have been inundated with gloom and doom advice about the state of the legal economy.  Each week's ABA newsletter last year seemed to highlight another several hundred jobs cut at some big city firm, partner's asked to give up some job perk, and ... http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog/index.php/2009/10/19/bull-rushing-a-bear-job-market/ A lot of wonderful folks yet to take the Bar ask for my advice these days, and I think it’s time to share my enlightened wisdom with the masses… 1. To Thine Own Self Be True By the time you sit for the Bar, you’ve been through three long, hellacious years of law ... http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog/index.php/2009/10/14/passing-the-bar/ Last year, I was having a discussion with my writing professor about 9/11.  I was telling her how close I was to the Pentagon and the chaos that erupted from the lack of ability to use cell phones and check on loved ones.  A classmate of mine interevened saying she ... http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog/index.php/2009/09/09/the-stagflation-of-social-development/ First year law students seem to have it made.  There is a brief 'smack in the mouth' period until you realize how to adjust to a new life style, but ultimately you still hold the power.  Unhappy with your school?  Transfer up.  Need more scholarship?  Transfer Down.  Unsure how to ... http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog/index.php/2009/09/01/middle-children/ This is the third and final installment of guest posts derived from my recent book: 1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor’s Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School (Thomson West 2009). Part I addressed psychological distress in law students. Part II explored the perilous second semester.  ... http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog/index.php/2009/06/04/three-things-i-learned-part-iii/ “I began by saying that our history will be what we make it. If we go on as we are, then history will take its revenge, and retribution will not limp in catching up with us.” Edward R. Murrow spoke those words in 1958 during a notorious speech in which ... http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog/index.php/2009/05/22/a-legacy-of-dissenting-opinions/ Okay so law school doesn’t actually get harder per se - but it does get busier. 1L year is tough. It’s was all about the learning curve for me. You have to re-learn how to think, analyze and study. You have to realize you take the professor, not the course. And ... http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog/index.php/2009/04/22/and-i-thought-1l-year-was-supposed-to-be-the-worst/ “What if I got it wrong, and no poem or song could put right what I got wrong…?” -Coldplay- My mother makes the most beautiful baskets. From scratch. By hand. Really, they’re just unbelievable. I told her to sell them, and her response was that she couldn’t possibly; not because she’s attached ... http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog/index.php/2009/04/14/paralyzed-by-perfection/ A long while ago I wrote a blog entitled “A Culture of Complaining or Why Law Students Are Whiny Brats.” I argued that changing rules, deadlines, practices, and policies because students incapable of following them whine to you achieves naught but the following: >>It sets everyone up to fail: the students ... http://idd.elon.edu/blogs/CELLblog/index.php/2009/03/31/empty-threats-or-introducing-the-%e2%80%9centitlement-generation-of-lawyers%e2%80%9d/