Why Return to Law School

-- By DanielRosenfeld - 09 Mar 2017

In this essay, I will explain why I will return to law school for my 2L year.

Section I: Justice and Injustice

On the first day of class, maybe even last semester, Eben told us that he knew of only two reasons to come back to law school next year. He said that the only two reasons that he knew of were loving justice and/or hating injustice. There could be more, but he knew of only those two.

I’ll admit, those words kind of freaked me out because I have no idea what justice or injustice are. Most people might scoff and laugh- “Come on, Daniel- you really don’t know if slavery is unjust or not?”

However, the identity of (in)justice is unclear to me. How can I love or hate something if I don’t know what it is? I initially thought I knew at the extremes, but then I struggled to come up with clear examples of injustice. Even murder, depending on the context, can be “just” or “unjust” (self-defense vs. reckless killing). Outside of slavery and rape, I don’t know if there are clear examples of injustice that I think everyone could agree on.

That's injustice. Defining and finding justice in the world is impossible. Affirmative action? A progressive tax code? Blind grading? Rule of law? I could see all of these things being just or unjust, depending on one’s point of view.

Surely, Eben doesn’t think that justice and injustice are completely subjective. I don't think that they are either. However, it is incontrovertible that there is sizable disagreement about what they are. Maybe it is just subjective,or maybe many/most of those people are wrong.

Personally, I think that justice and injustice are probably experiential knowledge, not theoretical. One has to experience justice and injustice to know their true nature. It is one thing to think that it is wrong to intentionally kill another person. It is another thing to have done it. In self-defense? To protect someone else? In rage? For your own gain? I think the experience of doing such a morally gray act would shape my world view. I’m only 23, I’m confident that I don’t know what justice or injustice are, but I hope that I’ll learn as I experience the world.

In conclusion, loving justice or hating injustice are not going to provide me sufficient reasons to return to law school in the fall because I’m very uncertain what justice or injustice are. However, I still am going to return.

Section II: The Consumption Value of Law School

It seems to me that Eben misses a crucial aspect of life in defining the purpose of returning to law school so narrowly. While he doesn’t rule out other reasons, he strongly hints that none exist. I’d like to posit that a third reason for returning to law school does exist. Consumption value.

Simply put, I’ve enjoyed law school more than any other school experience I’ve had so far. I’ve progressively enjoyed school more as the complexity has increased. So far, I would say that law school has proved to be an immensely more complex task than almost any of my undergraduate classes.

I’ve enjoyed learning doctrine, which answers everyday questions I’ve had (How can I get out of a form contract? How could I be evicted?). Further, I’ve appreciated doing meta-analysis on rules. Why are they are the rules ? What would be a better rule? What constitutes a better rule? What constitutes better?

I’ve enjoyed being able to be creative with regards to law school academics (I’ll admit to not being creative at all in my approach to my career, which is one reason among many why I took this course). I’ve enjoyed trying to use the law I’ve learned to create wild scenarios (can the Wicked Witch of the East implead Dorothy to avenge her sister, assuming there is diversity jurisdiction?). Now that I have access to LexisNexis? and Westlaw, I can research the answers to all the questions that I’ve wondered about (what are my rights to refuse to be searched by police?)

Of course, I can’t find the answers to those meta-questions on LexisNexus? . For those, I need to rely on my peers. While lawyers generally get a bad rap, I’ve immensely enjoyed getting to know my classmates. To a person , they have proved to be brilliant, analytical, funny, and most importantly, always up for a discussion. Being able to have a rich, thoughtful discussion on almost any topic at any time of day is a true privilege- one that I won’t always have. In short- I really like law school, and it makes me be excited for being a lawyer.

Section III: So What?

In this paper, I’m not arguing that loving justice or hating injustice aren’t good reasons to come to back for 2L. They are. I’m simply arguing that I think that I’ve found a third way forward.

I understand that law school is very different from being a lawyer. I want to be careful that what I like about law school is essential to law, not the part essential to being a student. If I liked the short days, the sitting in class, or the freedom to center my education around my interests, I’d be worried. I know that in the practice of law, lawyers don’t sit around talking about whatever they find interesting. Instead, they practice what clients will pay them for. However, I hope that I can creatively find a space where clients will pay me for work I find intellectually interesting, and where I can make things happen in society using words. Eventually, one day, if I figure out what the hell justice or injustice are, I will work towards those as well. For now, I’ll have to content myself with working towards knowing what they are.

• #Set ALLOWTOPICVIEW = TWikiAdminGroup, DanielRosenfeld
• #Set DENYTOPICVIEW = TWikiGuest

Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules for preference declarations. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of these lines. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated ALLOWTOPICVIEW list.