Archive for the 'Law School' Category

A Third of the Way There

Published
by
Christopher Meredith
on May 13, 2008
in Law School
. 1 Comment

Exams finished up last week. I barely had time to catch my breath from the incessant studying before beginning work as a summer clerk yesterday! Looking back at the whirlwind of what was my 1L year, it’s hard to believe it’s over. Sometimes, when I forget where I am, I still find myself worrying about starting law school, wondering what it will be like and if any of the other kids will like me. Then I snap out of it and realize that I learned a lot, made some good friends, and even got a job or two as a lawyer lite. It was a good year. I never realized how fun law school would be. Well, fun until exams roll around, that is.

So now we’ve got one year down, two more to go. Here’s to hoping the next two are as fun as the first.

Spring Break

Published
by
Christopher Meredith
on Mar 14, 2008
in Fun and Law School
. 2 Comments

Since Spring Break is now upon us, and upon many other law students around the country, I’d like to share some wise words from our Director of Placement:

Do NOT, and I repeat, do NOT do anything stupid that you will have to report to the Board of Bar Admissions. Need I remind you that you a spending a great deal of money for your education…..don’t blow it all by doing something that will make all your hard work be for naught!

Butchering English to Stay PC

Published
by
Christopher Meredith
on Feb 13, 2008
in Law School and Politics
. 2 Comments

When I was in the 10th grade only a decade ago, my English teacher made it perfectly clear: in English, the generic singular pronoun is masculine. If someone wants to object to this convention, he should take it up with the Saxons. This is not difficult and following this rule merely places us in a long line of English-speaking people. But now that I’m in law school, I’m noticing an apparently concerted effort to change this convention. What I don’t see is a good reason for doing so.

The issue has been discussed in many fora, including this representative article. The use of the masculine pronoun is now viewed by our culture as inherently sexist. The alternatives range from illogical to utterly bizarre:”she,” “(s)he,” “he/she,” and, “they” are some common examples, the latter of which amounts to a decision to replace the singular pronoun altogether with the plural. Some of the more creative approaches involve alternating “he” and “she” every time a generic pronoun is required.

The solution to this imaginary problem which legal writers have apparently adopted is the blanket use of the feminine. Therefore, whenever examples are given in law school (and there are lots of examples), all the criminals, tortfeasors, parties, judges, attorneys, witnesses, and victims are women.

Since English has no separate generic pronoun, we obviously have to use something. The compound pronouns (he/she) are unwieldy and the plural pronoun (they) is just simply wrong: Any student interested in the optional seminar should bring their enrollment form to class. That is (and should remain) a wrong answer on the SAT.

So then what’s the answer? It is suggested that using the masculine is sexist. If this is true, using the feminine is no less sexist. Since we are resolved that our only options are sexism or the devolution of the English language, let us err on the side of sexism. Furthermore, though the number of women in the legal profession is increasing, men still constitute the vast majority of American judges, lawyers, and criminals. So if we are going to be sexist anyway, let us do so in a way that is not only supported by over a millennia of tradition, but is also likely to be accurate four times out of five.