{"id":23578,"date":"2018-09-06T12:58:27","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T16:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hlrecord.org\/?p=23578"},"modified":"2019-07-23T23:25:01","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T03:25:01","slug":"now-that-ive-got-your-attention-heres-a-listicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hlrecord.org\/now-that-ive-got-your-attention-heres-a-listicle\/","title":{"rendered":"Now That I\u2019ve Got Your Attention, Here\u2019s a Listicle!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Dear 1Ls,<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Welcome to Harvard Law! I know you\u2019re all coming in with different backgrounds, expectations, and experiences, and that\u2019s part of what makes HLS such a unique learning environment. I\u2019m also aware that I wrote a similar piece last year, but I\u2019ve changed a lot in the past year, and I certainly hope the same is true of all 2Ls and 3Ls who feel they have room for personal growth. That said, my advice this year will be less conventional than it was last year. What can I say? I\u2019m a 3L now. This issue is full of great advice, and I\u2019m just trying to fill in the gaps for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Treat every exam like a closed book exam<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Look, the reality is you need to know the material if you want to do well. Just because a lot of your exams are open book\/outline exams, doesn\u2019t mean you should be using them every five seconds during the test. Oh, and the people who tell you grades don\u2019t matter are lying. They do. Worse, in most cases, grades serve to close doors when they are inadequate rather than open them because they are exceptional, unless you are very charming. Don\u2019t let that scare you; if you\u2019re resourceful enough to be here, you\u2019re resourceful enough to build a future worth celebrating, and what\u2019s more, some people do still recognize the value of a Harvard Law degree. If nothing else, you can never practice too much at interviewing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Work harder at being kind<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Not sure if you were aware, but this school is full of <i>smart people<\/i>. Smart people are wonderful. They change the world, do their best to educate others, and help people solve their problems. It\u2019s why so many of them want to be lawyers. But the best smart people are smart people who also have good character. If you\u2019re here, you\u2019re probably self-disciplined and hardworking, which are both incredibly important to being a virtuous person.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">But law school, despite the administration\u2019s largely successful efforts to make it less so, can be a competitive and difficult environment. Everyone is under a lot of stress, and differing expectations and priorities can collide. Moreover, political issues and the law go hand in hand, and as the editor-in-chief of this publication, I have to say I think it\u2019s important to confront those with whom you disagree, especially when the disagreement goes to the core of your beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">However, I\u2019ve never been kept sleepless by being kind and respectful to people with differing views. I\u2019ve only ever regretted being mean. To be sure, I\u2019ve done and said mean things in my life, knowing it would make me feel bad, and I\u2019m confident many of you have as well. But every day is a new day, and regret is our better angels\u2019 way of telling us to learn from our mistakes. If you\u2019re not the type to feel regret, there are other incentives: no one will remember if you got an H in Property. They\u2019ll remember if you made them feel stupid on purpose, were inconsiderate, used people, or were hard to get along with in other ways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Everyone makes mistakes, especially petty mistakes. People sometimes say the wrong thing, and maybe we don\u2019t need to ruin their lives over it if they demonstrate a capacity to change their minds and be better. But character is a skill that you can develop over time, and the more energy you put into developing it, the more people will respect your diploma from Harvard Law School, especially when you leave Cambridge and you need to work closely with people who didn\u2019t go here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Contact your Senators and stop Judge Kavanaugh from being put on the Supreme Court<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">This advice, of course, only applies up to the point where he is probably confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice. I took a course with him last Winter Term, and it was a good course. I have no personal animosity against Brett Kavanaugh, the guy. He was a fair professor who taught us a lot not only about the Supreme Court, but about how to carry ourselves as professionals. One of the things he told us was that loyalty is important, but to be careful of, according to my notes, \u201cloyalty over the ethical cliff.\u201d I don\u2019t doubt that a lot of people who took that course alongside me felt a sense of loyalty to him, and as such, have only spoken privately. Letters went around the student body, both supporting and opposing his confirmation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">I signed the letter opposing it, because I believe that despite my respect for his differing views and successful legal career in the public service, to support his confirmation on the basis of having taken a class and had a few beers with him would constitute \u201cloyalty over the ethical cliff\u201d in this situation. I think President Trump nominated Judge Kavanaugh knowing that he believes <em>Morrison v. Olson<\/em>, a case you will read about in Legislation and Regulation, should be overturned, which would mean President Trump could not be indicted for his crimes, despite the fact that we now know that Michael Cohen has implicated him in a criminal conspiracy. I don\u2019t believe that being a nice person who generally deserves a good future is a sufficient condition for being put on the highest court in the US. Further, believing that the President should be immune from checks on illegal behavior outside of the political process ought to be disqualifying, especially if you\u2019ve been nominated by a President who participated in a known criminal conspiracy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">I realize this advice is general rather than 1L specific, and I must clarify that I only speak on the behalf of myself \u2013 not the staff of <em>The Record<\/em>, and certainly not all of our wonderful contributors. But if he is confirmed, it will have consequences for the rest of your legal careers. I believe that to be silent when as of this writing, his confirmation hearings start the day this issue is released \u2013 or to just give you general advice like \u201ccontinue to pay attention to what\u2019s going on outside\u201d \u2013 when I have this platform is more dangerous than saying something that may upset people I know and even people I care about who happen to disagree with me. Which is why you should&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Join our staff<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Seriously, I can\u2019t do this job forever. Someone needs to replace me, and if you\u2019re still reading this, it could definitely be you. I want to work with people who are dependable, easygoing, quick-thinking, practiced in writing, and passionate about current affairs with a desire to be part of the most important conversations on campus, even in the face of disagreement. If that sounds like you, please reach out. I\u2019d be happy to speak with you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Enjoy 1L as much as you possibly can<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">The real world awaits, and there are not, in fact, constant parties and social events where you will see all of your friends (unless you end up in New York after graduation). Joking aside, regardless of where you end up, you\u2019ll eventually have to <i>grow <\/i>up and build an adult life. That\u2019s why your parents wanted you to go here, isn\u2019t it? You have the rest of your life to do that, so 1L is not the time. Have some fun, get to know people who aren\u2019t necessarily like you, and don\u2019t be the one who gets in their own way of that. Easy enough, right?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Take care, and I hope to hear from you soon. These issues don\u2019t write themselves, you know.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>The opinions expressed herein are solely the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of <\/i>The Record<i>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear 1Ls, Welcome to Harvard Law! I know you\u2019re all coming in with different backgrounds, expectations, and experiences, and that\u2019s part of what makes HLS such a unique learning environment. I\u2019m also aware that I wrote a similar piece last year, but I\u2019ve changed a lot in the past year, and I certainly hope the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[349],"tags":[436],"class_list":{"0":"post-23578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features","7":"tag-dear-1ls"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v14.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/hlrecord.org\/now-that-ive-got-your-attention-heres-a-listicle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Now That I\u2019ve Got Your Attention, Here\u2019s a Listicle! - The Harvard Law Record\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear 1Ls, Welcome to Harvard Law! I know you\u2019re all coming in with different backgrounds, expectations, and experiences, and that\u2019s part of what makes HLS such a unique learning environment. 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