Send Law Students, Idealists and Grant Proposals. Was: Re: Lawyers, Guns, and Money

[r.duke at freedom.net]

At 23:31 21/08/2001 -0700, Black Unicorn wrote:

>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Tim May" <tcmay at got.net>
> > The question is this: is it a good idea for list members to go to law
> > school? Issues of accredited vs. unaccredited, reputable vs.
> > correspondence vs. diploma mills, etc.
>
>Unless you really love the law, really love spending hours and hours in dusty
>libraries looking at old books and enjoy the smell of moldy paper, don't
>bother.

(Another Internet centred lawyer wannabe speaks up.)

But is it worth it if you do? I like musty books. And I'm sufficiently 
antisocial
to find libraries quite pleasant. I suppose the problem is that like many 
on this
list (and in life in general), I'm not exactly fascinated by some parts of 
the law
that lawyers would realistically spend their time working on, such as wills.
Hold me back - I just can't stop reading them - if only I could write them.

>Do not go to law school suffering from the delusion that you are going to come
>out, join a big money firm and change the world by quashing the DMCA.  Perhaps
>you will, but the partners are hiring their little associates for one reason,
>to pay for those cherry wood offices and the but the odds are awfully slim you
>will be working on the DMCA.  There are so many lawyers out there right now
>you might find yourself stuck without much in the way of prospects.
>Professional basketball is a decent alternative.

What about those who manage to get into a group specializing in something like
the Internet & law? There are a few such groups, I think. I'm pretty sure 
Harvard has
one. Do things like that only make a difference if you manage to publish 
papers
while studying? (Something which, given the workload, is probably all but 
impossible.)

>I've never felt more like a prostitute than I did when interviewing for large
>corporate firms out of law school.  They send three or four senior associates
>to the city they are visiting, rent a hotel room in the Marriott and put a
>chair outside the door.  You show up five minutes early, sit in the chair in
>the hall, looking at the other candidate interviewing with another firm
>sitting at the other end of the hall in a chair, and knock when your appointed
>time has arrived.  The last hooker who was in there leaves and you go in, sell
>yourself in a foursome for 30 minutes then get up when you hear the next knock
>and prepare to turn your next trick 30 minutes later.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

You mean it wasn't like in "The Firm" where all the firms chase after you, 
offering you
wads of cash? That's a bit disappointing.

> > What I'm saying is that a few lawyers will end up in interesting areas.
>
>Yep.

Hmm. I guess I'll continue with the question from above - if you make a 
point in
specializing in something like International law and jurisdiction (while 
possibly being
active in a specialized group like the Harvard Internet Law group, or a 
similar group
in a school that would actually accept me), and have a good technical 
background to
back it up, what are your chances of doing something interesting? Any call 
for criminal
lawyers who actually understand how hacks and cracks work?

I was thinking about law because it interests me, and because I really just 
sort of fell
into programming and security as a result of not knowing what else to do. I 
never
meant for it to become some sort of "career."

>Lehigh ranked high for parties ** University nudges up to No. 15 among "Party
>Schools. ' It's 3rd best place to find beer, 9th best for pot.

Screw 9th - who was first?

++rd


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