I’m great at lying—for better or worse. I’ve been performing magic my entire life, which is to say, I’ve been deceiving people my entire life.

(I bent the fork with my mind, by the way.)

I regularly look people right in the eye and say, “Now, I have no idea what your card is,” when I know that their card is the three of clubs…because every card in the deck is the three of clubs.

I keep my deception separate from my law school career, but last week in Negotiations, I was encouraged to merge the two.

We had a simulation in which I was playing the role of a landowner who wanted to buy an easement running through a neighbor’s property. I was planning to develop the land and build 8 condos on it….but if the owner of the neighboring land found that much out, they’d likely refuse to sell me the easement or charge me an arm and a leg for it; they didn’t want a lot of traffic running through their land.

The point of the assignment was to get the easement for as little as possible…only I wasn’t allowed to directly lie about my plans to develop the land. (The Model Rules of Profession Conduct prevent that.) I was encouraged to provide half-answers and dodge questions and that sort of thing.

Long story short: I struck the best deal in the class. By far. Here are some bits of conversation from my deal.

Land Owner: What are you going to use the land for?
Lawyer Boy: If we strike a deal today, I can promise to use it for only residential purposes.

LO: How much traffic will there be on my road.
LB: Is traffic a big concern for you?
LO: Sure is.
LB: Me too. My last house was on a main road and there’d be cars going by at all hours…

During the post-negotiations wrap up, the professor, who had been monitoring all the negotiations, said, “Mr. Lax, you were doing everything you could to avoid the issue at hand, and it seems as though you succeeded in doing so.”

I hope my time spent doing magic will help me in my legal career…but I also wonder whether it might get me into trouble one day…

Technorati Tags: magic, tricks, magic tricks, lying, lawyering, lawyer liar, deception, negotiation, negotiations, class, book, books, opinion, risque, law school blog, lawschoolblogger, lawschoolblogger.com, lawyer boy, lawyer, boy, rick lax, law, law school, legal, education, blog, writing, class, school

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So…I just got a cease and desist e-mail from Kenyon & Kenyon LLP telling me I could no longer blog under the name “LawSchoolBlogger.” Being April 1st, I assumed this was an April Fools’ Day joke set up by one of my classmates. Long story short: it wasn’t.

Here’s what happened: I just got off the phone with Kenyon & Kenyon attorney David Darschlaw, who told me that a guy named Phillip Roth, who owns and operates LawSchoolBlog.com, owns right to the name “LawSchoolBlogger” too.

My dad says he’s not so sure that Roth has a valid claim against me, but that this is a battle not worth fighting. So right now, I’m not sure whether I’ll continue to blog under a different name or whether this order is maybe a sign that it’s time for me to stop blogging and focus more on school, the Bar Exam, and promoting Lawyer Boy.

Either way, this will be my last post on “LawSchoolBlogger.com.” So let me say, thank you so much for all the time you’ve spent on this blog. Thanks so much for reading, and thanks so much for all your great comments. In writing them, you’ve actually helped me a lot with lots of things.

That’s all for now.

-Rick Lax

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Wills, Trusts, and Estates class was canceled. Of course, I didn’t figure that out until after I showed up for class and nobody else was there.

I called my friend and asked if class had been canceled. She said that it had been and that our professor said so at the end of last class. So I opened up my notes from last class and read, “NO CLASS NEXT WEEK!!! DON’T FORGET!!!”

I showed up to class ten minutes early because I had nothing else to do, I hung around the classroom to see if anybody else might have forgotten…which would have made me feel a little less incompetent.

Finally, two minutes before class was (not) set to begin, somebody showed up and said, “Where is everybody?”

“Class was canceled,” I said.

“Really? I don’t remember Prof. O saying that.”

“Who’s Prof. O?” I asked.

“Wait a second. I’m on the ninth floor, aren’t I? Wrong floor! Never mind!”

She had meant to go to room 805, not 905…leaving me the only student in a class of 100 who had forgotten about the cancellation.

(By the way…I’m reading through the Cartoon Caption Contest entries…I think y’all can do better….)

Technorati Tags: class, forgot, forgetful, wills, trusts, estates, stupid, mistake law school blog, lawschoolblogger, lawschoolblogger.com, lawyer boy, lawyer, boy, rick lax, law, law school, legal, education, blog, writing, class, school

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I just wrapped up my last-ever spring break.

(Real lawyers don’t get spring break—right?
It’s a student thing—yes?
Yes.
Moving on…)

Here are the photographed highlights:

First I became a superhero: Black Suit Man.

Then I hosted a fancy dinner party.

Derek the Djembe player stole an unbaked brownie bite.

Counselor Elliot scolded him.

And I was left to clean the mess.

A few days later, I let Cyborg Sandy read Lawyer Boy.

And she liked it so much that she insisted on having her photograph taken with the author.

One day I wandered around the city and got lost in the rat race.

I found myself at Schubas, where Tally Hall was playing to a sold-out crowd of teenagers…

…many of whom were clumped together in the least-threatening mosh pit I’ve ever seen.

After the show, Zubin in Blue and I in my tie thought about whether we should get something to eat.

We decided that we should.

And now I’m back in school. Got a 22-page Negotiations paper due tomorrow, actually. I encourage you to write words of encouragement below.

Technorati Tags: spring break, photos, chicago, rat race, dinner party, clean, cleanup, clean up, pan, brownie, browny, scold, elliott, downtown, nonfiction, memoir, characters, plot, law school blog, lawschoolblogger, lawschoolblogger.com, lawyer boy, lawyer, boy, rick lax, law, law school, legal, education, blog, writing, class, school

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Today’s Guest Post comes from Counselor Chuck: 

(Pictured here with Counselor Fruvous)

Admittedly, it was a long time ago. Dick Nixon was the President, Spiro Agnew was the Veep, and we were still fighting another war that we could not win. I was a 3L with only two months left in my law school career. While time has eroded some memories, there is one I will never forget. I was scared; not about graduating, or about finding a job, but about passing the bar exam. It was at times all consuming.

I knew I would be practicing in Michigan, so where I would be taking the bar exam was not an issue. The only decision to be made was which of the two recognized bar review courses would I take: either the old tried and true course (Nord) or the new up-and-coming course (Josephson). It never occurred to me, or for that matter anyone I knew, that self study was an option. With a great deal of trepidation and a lot of hard work, I passed, and for that matter, everyone I knew also passed.

Last weekend, Ricky and I had a serious discussion about his impending bar exam. First of all, it appears that he will likely take the Illinois bar and he seems comfortable with that likely decision. The discussion, however, took a turn when he informed me that he was not going to take a review course, but instead intends to self study. Basically, he reasoned that sitting through the lectures (whether taped or in person) would be a waste of his valuable studying time. This is most troubling since I do not know any attorney who passed the bar by self studying. I pointed out to Ricky that if his theory is correct, why did he ever bother to attend classes during undergraduate or law school?

My question to all LSB readers: is Ricky making a huge mistake if he forgoes a review course and opts for self study?

-Counselor Chuck

Technorati Tags: barbri, bar bri, bar exam, test, test taking, class, review, review session, chuck lax, self-study, passing the bar, studying for the bar, barr exam, nonfiction, memoir, characters, plot, law school blog, lawschoolblogger, lawschoolblogger.com, lawyer boy, lawyer, boy, rick lax, law, law school, legal, education, blog, writing, class, school

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Got the LAWYER BOY Advanced Reading Copies in the mail today.

They’re used primarily for publicity. Another thing publishers do to promote books is have their authors complete Author Questionnaires for the media. Here was one of the questions on the Questionnaire:

What kind of experience has writing your book been for you (fun, exciting, agonizing…)?

And here was my answer:

It was really easy. My editor tells me that saying this is a sure way to alienate other writers and potential readers…but it’s true; the words just came out. Never had writer’s block, never drank to excess, never pulled my hair out and questioned whether what I was writing was any good. It was just really easy and that’s all there is to it. I think the bulk of the ease had to do with the genre. When you’re writing a memoir, unlike fiction, you don’t have to think up memorable characters and a compelling plot. And unlike most nonfiction books, you don’t have to do any research.

So are you alienated?

Technorati Tags: book, galley, gally, writing, author, publicity, publicity campaign, nonfiction, memoir, characters, plot, law school blog, lawschoolblogger, lawschoolblogger.com, lawyer boy, lawyer, boy, rick lax, law, law school, legal, education, blog, writing, class, school

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That’s me studying Wills, Trusts, and Estates today.

As you can see, I’m back in the digital camera business. And to celebrate LawSchoolBlogger’s glorious return to the photo blogging scene, I hereby offer you this photocentric blog entry:

On Friday Counselor Laurel rolled into town.

On Saturday we went to a Down The Line rock concert.

After the show, I fixed my left cufflink,

Had my nose picked by Bookstore Girl,

And took one too many photos of Counselor Laurel and H-Lo.

On Sunday I walked up Michigan Avenue…

…to the grocery store.

(Editor’s Note: I also eat solid foods.)

And that’s how I spent my weekend.

AND NOW…the winning entry of the Law School Blogger Cartoon Caption Contest #2…

…is that of…counselor…Lax. Mine. Sorry…but I do think I had the best one this week.

“Ooo…the technological advances in ambulance chasing are amazing.”

Please post your complaints below.

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Okay, gang, where the hell am I going to practice law?

Right now, here’s where I’m at: Chicago: 75% chance

New York: 25% chance.

And here’s my thinking:

CHICAGO UPSIDE
-I’ve really liked my past three years here.
-I’ve made a handful of friends I don’t want to leave.
-I know some people who know some people who might know some people who could get me a job.
-The city is close to home (Michigan).

NEW YORK UPSIDE
-I’ve always wanted to live in New York for part of my life.

CHICAGO DOWNSIDE
-If I didn’t move to New York, I’d always be wondering what I was missing out on.

NEW YORK DOWNSIDE
-I can’t work from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM every single day…and I’m told these hours, for New York attorneys, are not at all uncommon. Actually, I called my ex at 10:30PM Chicago time (11:30 New York time) last week and she said she couldn’t talk because she was still at work. She finally called me back at 12:05 Chicago time (1:05 New York time). She had just gotten home.
 
SO, what do I do? Keep in mind this decisions needs to be made in the next few days/weeks…

Technorati Tags: chicago, new york, newyork, living, law, practice, bar exam, deadline, upside, downside, city, new york time, chicago time, work late, office hours, life, where to live, law school blog, lawschoolblogger, lawschoolblogger.com, lawyer boy, lawyer, boy, rick lax, law, law school, legal, education, blog, writing, class, school

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Last week in Negotiations we learned about “Power Tactics.” Power Tactics, according to my professor, are credible threats used to leverage power in the negotiations. The most obvious example is threatening to walk away from the negotiations table. The thing is, if you’re going to make the threat, you have to be willing to carry it out, because if you don’t, the other side will know you’re weak and take advantage of you.

Today I successfully used a power tactic. See, my digital camera has been broken for a while. (You might have noticed the lack of original pictures on LSB this past month.) The thing is, it’s been broken before, and I fixed it myself by banging it against the table…so I’m not sure just how broken it is.

I finally got around to taking it to the repair shop today. And the guy said I’d have to pay $80 up front and that if the repair would cost more, he’d let me know. I told him that I wouldn’t pay that much up front. He told me that it was standard. That it would take his technician two hours to examine the camera. So I said no thanks and walked away. Slowly. See…I was the only person in the store and I could tell this guy needed business. And sure enough, after I took a few steps, he called out “wait!”

And then he told me he’d take the camera and give me a free diagnosis.

Technorati Tags: digital camera, digital camra, digetal camera, camera repair, fix camera, negotiations, negotiation, class, power tactics, law school blog, lawschoolblogger, lawschoolblogger.com, lawyer boy, lawyer, boy, rick lax, law, law school, legal, education, blog, writing, class, school

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I’ve been studying at the Barnes & Noble next to DePaul for three years now. Most of the time, they play classical music and jazz…only now, they’re starting to play more and more techno, and they’re starting to play it really, really loud, and it’s starting to really piss me off.

Is the bookstore hoping to “make reading cool again?” Does techno music actually increase sales? Or does Barnes & Noble just want me study somewhere else?

IN OTHER NEWS,

Two posts ago, I wrote about a case that contained the line, “The plaintiff’s Jew is quite unlike the defendant’s.” That case, I will reveal to you now, was a copyright case. Somebody wrote a play called Abie’s Irish Rose about a Jewish and Irish family’s quarrels and then somebody else, the playwright claimed, turned it into a movie without his permission. The court ruled in favor of the defendant, citing significant differences between the works…specifically between the Jewish characters.

Technorati Tags: law school blog, lawschoolblogger, lawschoolblogger.com, lawyer boy, lawyer, boy, rick lax, law, law school, legal, education, blog, writing, class, school, music, techno, tekno, tecno, bookstore, barnes, noble, barnes and noble, barnes and nobles, dj, dj am, jewish, irish, jew, rose, play, copyright

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