The Red Velvet Lawyer

Groundhog Day as an Analogy This week, I taught my Qatari students the difference between Common Law and Civil Law systems.  As I heard myself explain the major differences, I found myself wondering which system might be "better." In doing the research for the class, I learned that the civil law system has the widest application worldwide.  About 150 countries have adopted it.  Born in Europe and derived from Roman law, it found its most famous expression in the Napoleonic Code of France.  The idea behind it is simple.  The code organizes the law in a small book, easily accessible by the common man, who then knows with much greater clarity his or her legal rights and the procedures required to enforce those rights.  That citizen does not need to review -- at least in theory -- any case that has applied a particular section of the code.  Instead, the code serves as the primary authority and judges applying it are not bound by legal prece...

Growth Sucks! "We were hoping the college would drop the requirement. That's why we waited so long to take the course."  So said a candid senior student this past week. I teach Legal Research and Writing 1 at Qatar University College of Law.  Even in the U.S. students find the course challenging.  It forces them to grow in ways they resist.  And, it's a lot of work! No passive learning in this course.  Students produce a Memorandum of Law over the course of the semester. And learn critical thinking skills. So, the course is hard even for native English speakers.  But here, in Doha, I am teaching Arab students who take the course in English. Some students have very good English language skills, even if they are not so confident about them. Some students read at about a fourth grade level.  My job is to help them engage in very sophisticated legal thinking while they read and write in English. Why English!  Many of my student ...

Working on Your Craft This week, I began discussing some of the ideas in Elizabeth Gilbert's new book:  Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear  (2015). Today, I want to summarize some of her suggestions about doing creative work.  She says: Make things. Then share them with an open heart. You can live a long life, making and doing really cool things the entire time. Thank creativity for having blessed you with a charmed, interesting, passionate existence. Simply vow to the Universe to write forever, regardless of the result. Be brave. Grateful. Uncomplaining. Never ask writing to be easy. Ask only that it be interesting. Sneak off and have an affair with your most creative self. Curiosity is the secret.  Curiosity is the is the truth and the way of creative living. Curiosity is the beginning and the end. You will have the satisfaction of knowing that you passed your entire existence in devotion to the noble human virtue of in...

Devotion to the Work I've been sharing some of my favorite quotes from Elizabeth Gilbert's new book:  Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear  (2015).  These quotes explore attitudes about doing the work: Measure your work by your dedication to your path. Focus on the devotion to my creative work.  That is how to measure my worth.  I only have control over my discipline. Just say what you want to say, then say it with all your heart. Write a book to entertain yourself, not to help someone else. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart. Work on your craft every day with steady discipline and love. Make absolutely whatever you want to make.  It's nobody's business but your own. Write with the fealty of a holy pilgrim. Frustration is not an interruption of the process.  Frustration is the process. Mere completion is an honorable achievement in its own right.  What's more, it's a rare one. Rele...

They Are Big Magic At the end of last year, I read Elizabeth Gilbert's new book: Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear (2015).  You know her from her earlier work: Eat, Pray, Love . I loved the central theme of the book.  She argues that creativity is our birthright and inheritance. Birthright because we are part of a profoundly abundant and creative universe.  Inheritance because we come from generations of people who got things done through creative problem-solving.  They created useful and beautiful tools, objects, art, books, music, and other forms of expression. She says: "You will find people who spent their lives making things.  This is where you come from. This is where we all come from.  Human beings have been creative beings for a really long time -- long enough and consistently enough that it appears to be a totally natural impulse." And this: " I have the right to collaborate with creativity because I myself am a pr...

Committed to  High-Quality Legal Education So, I am re-posting these teaching tips here for easy retrieval as I need them.  Two law professors that I admire for their commitment to high quality legal education offer them for our use. Students? What do you think of these suggestions?

Information for Law Scholars Thanks to Brian Leiter for providing this updated guide for submitting law review articles.