Practical scholarship

Supreme Court at night

Supreme Court at night

In the throes of finals prepa­ra­tions, I have been cir­cling an idea that I decided needed to be recorded. I took Fed­eral Juris­dic­tion this semes­ter with a bril­liant pro­fes­sor who was extremely capa­ble of both com­mu­ni­cat­ing the intri­ca­cies of the mate­r­ial as well as boil it down to what it means to a prac­tic­ing attorney.

The issue that is gnaw­ing at the back of mind is that the prac­ti­cal use of the class can be cut short to maybe a week of mate­r­ial. Most of it ends with, “…and the Court will end up doing what­ever it feels like, so hedge your bets.”

I found the class and mate­r­ial fas­ci­nat­ing, but was it nec­es­sary? All I needed was for some­one to tell me the impor­tant cases to cite in cer­tain cir­cum­stances and warn me that there’s no telling what will hap­pen… Which, I gather, is the first piece of advice any lit­i­gat­ing attor­ney has to offer.