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May 20, 2004

Necessity

My first little "project" of the summer internship has been to research whether the necessity defense could pass the "smile test" to get a misdemeanor case to the jury. I'm being vague because it just seems like a good idea, but suffice to say the necessity defense (aka "choice of evils" if you're a Model Penal Code (MPC) type) is only successful in a very narrow range of circumstances.

Aside from learning a bit more about necessity, I've also learned that the "research memos" I wrote for my legal writing class were much more works of art than real work products. Where I spent weeks or days developing those memos, when my boss asked for a memo on the necessity defense she was thinking of a project that should have taken me a couple of hours, an afternoon at most. Steep. Learning. Curve.

Meanwhile, check out Steven's 1L review over at Half-Cocked.

Posted May 20, 2004 05:51 AM | 1L summer


Yeah, the 1L research memo is pretty silly. They're really just an elaborate presentation of your research. Most of the memos I've done at work so far have been emails consisting of some case cites and analysis. I think a two page "Statement of Facts" would get me a swift kick in the ass.

Posted by: Steve at May 20, 2004 06:58 AM

You mean I'm not going to have three weeks to feverishly research all the way back to the dawn of English common law and revise forty-two thousand times? Ack! Seriously though, I often wonder if I am going to be prepared this summer for exactly what you describe...scary!

Posted by: energy spatula at May 20, 2004 09:30 AM

I had the same thing today! I wrote a summary judgment and did it in a few hours -- SO not like legal writing. I still had to obsess over form, but a LOT faster. It had me very freaked at first.

Posted by: Shelley at May 20, 2004 10:27 PM

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