December 3 2007 Legal Blog Roundup

The Judge

The University of Chicago has one of the most informative and regularly updated student law blogs out there. Aptly named A Day in the Life, it features regular entries about not only the biggest news on campus but also the legal goings-on of the Chicago area, which, if you've ever lived there, you know is an incessant parade of idealism, frustration, and change. The site also features tips on applying for your first job, which recruiters to meet with, and how to survive that oh-so-important first year of law school. Here's an interesting tidbit about U of C Law: Barack Obama was a senior lecturer in law at the school prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate.

T Sinister is a much more lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek blog maintained by a "left-handed Californian" at Harvard Law School. Its tagline is "Truth, Justice, and Other Delusions of Grandeur," which should give you sufficient warning about the site's content and tone. It's not so much focused on torts as it is on news and pop culture — check out the YouTube clip of striking studio writers in Hollywood. T Sinister's comment on the situation? "I support the strike, even if it's taking away all of my beloved shows. It helps that they're, you know, right." The author, Trevor (a 3L native of San Diego), states unabashedly, "This website is intended to be primarily humorous. Our mission statement, which I have shamelessly cribbed from elsewhere, is to entertain people who are procrastinating."

Columbia Law School's Federalist Society Blog, Ex Post, is very well written and highly informative — the only problem is that it doesn't get updated very often. But check it out for firsthand musings on the now infamous speech delivered by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in late September, who famously (and stupidly) stated, "There are no gays in Iran." I guess it's safe to assume he owns no boxed sets of Will & Grace...

Nuts & Boalts is UC Berkeley's legal blog and describes itself as "stories from the fruits and nuts of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)." It's updated fairly regularly with a ton of links and lots of readable posts. Be sure to check out November 3's "What I Wish I Knew as a 1L," a list of the 29 most important lessons learned by a panel of law students. A sampling of the entries: "9. Lawyers are happy" and "10. Lawyers are suicidal/drunk." Who said you can't have it all?

Harrell Blog is maintained by Yale 3L Peter Harrell. It's exceptionally well written and insightful, though if you like Dick Cheney, you won't find much to cheer about on Harrell; it's overtly liberal (Harrell is former co-chair of the Yale Law Democrats) and unapologetically so. But if you take time to read it, you might learn a little something — and laugh in the process. Plus, the layout, while simple, is outstanding. Highly recommended.

Happy blogging,

The Judge