Blog Conversations

Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for anecdotes, opinions, and comments about law students and blogs. So far the best response has been from Pre-1Ls and new bloggers. Anyone else out there care to comment? If so, please email or comment on this post or the earlier one.

My question and its response raises more questions. First, why do people prefer to email rather than comment on the blog? Second, why do you think a post about ironing elicits so many comments, while posts about more "serious" things (i.e. blogs and law school or myriad posts here and elsewhere on subjects of politics, current events, history, social justice, etc.) elicit none? This may relate to my thinking out loud about the effect of blogs on the public/private sphere: Do blogs encourage talk about personal/non-public issues at the expense of discussion about public or social issues? Are law school blogs as popular as they are primarily because they give us an outlet for narcissism, a chance to revel in the daily travails of wrinkled shirts and annoying classmates who talk too much and professors who teach badly? And if so, is that really valuable? Or are law school blogs doing something more?

Again, I'm just thinking out loud. All/any comments/thoughts definitely welcome.

Posted 06:42 AM | Comments (12) | law school meta-blogging

Non-Firm Summer Lunch

While Jeremy humorously recounts the way summer associates scramble to get free lunches from their firm, my non-firm summer job has bought me (and the other summer interns) lunch only one time in three weeks. Pizza. Good pizza. We loved it.

Meanwhile, Sam says lunches with firm partners can be awkward. Not a problem in our public defender's office; even the head attorney—the Public Defender—is cool and easy to talk to. The general lunch deal is most of the interns bring a bag lunch, while the attorneys go get something from a local "budget" establishment (top contenders: Chipotle, Subway, Popeye's, local non-chain sandwich shops). Then everyone takes their food to the conference room and we all eat together. It's really the best part of the day, and so far there hasn't been a single awkward moment.

So although some people may be making thousands of dollars this summer working at firms, see what they have to put up with? Stressful email competitions to get a place at the table, and awkward silences with partners. You're not likely to have these problems at your public interest summer internship. In fact, if you're like me, you won't even have a computer or an email address/program with which to compete in an email competition. (I can't believe how little our office uses email, but then, most accused criminals who qualify for a public defender aren't going to have email, are they?)

Yep. The public interest summer legal job. That's where the fun is!

Posted 06:40 AM | Comments (2) | 1L summer