Reasoning

My mother asked me what I was learning in law school. Despite the fact I devote huge amounts of time to studying, I couldn’t think of a thing to say.

But here’s one thing I learned: It's good to be reasonable.

There’s a saying, “What would Jesus do?” Christians are supposed to evaluate their actions by that standard. The law evaluates people’s actions by a standard too. But instead of Jesus, their standard in determining negligence is a “reasonable person.” Would a reasonable person have acted that way?

This is not what’s reasonable for you. For example, because I’m sensitive to sounds, I flip out if I’m exposed to prolonged loud noises. I would consider it reasonable to take a baseball bat and smash to smithereens whatever is making that noise. But the legal standard is NOT what’s reasonable to me. I have to conform to that Reasonable Person, who, surprisingly enough, probably is not inclined to smash things with bats no matter how annoying.

If I’m sound sensitive, mentally challenged, given to fits of rage, inexperienced or really old, the law doesn’t care. In deciding if what I did was negligent, it just compares me to Ms. Reasonable Person. There are a couple of exceptions, of course. (Absolutes are not allowed in law school!) If I have a physical handicap, like blindness, then I get compared to Ms. Reasonable Person Who Happens to Be Blind.

Children are another exception. Kids don’t have to be Reasonable People either. (Parents of young teenagers will confirm that!) Instead, the standard used for children is what’s reasonable for a child that age.

I don’t know what a Reasonable Person would think of all this. But it sounds about right to me.

How Law School Students Celebrate Thanksgiving

I am emeging from my All Law School, All the Time fog to host Thanksgiving at my house. I have assigned to friends and family: appetisers, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, salad and THE TURKEY! My contribution will be buying the wine and running the vacuum. (And if the truth be told, I MAY not even have time to run the vacuum!)

Law school keeps me busy. A second year law school student said it best: "I study all the time just to try to stay in the middle of the class. I work harder at this than anything I've ever done--just to be mediocre." I don't know anyone in my class, inlcuding me, who's taken a day off from studying since classes started in August.

One of my classmates is sending her family out of state to celebrate Thanksgiving with relatives while she remains in town to study. Compared to her, I am practically Ms. Thanksgiving Spirit of 2008.

This Thanksgiving, I am going to try to take a day to stop and give thanks for my friends and my family who are so dear to me. And while I'm being thankful, as demanding as it is, I'm also happy for the opportunity to be in law school.

My Scary Suburban Life

We are studying cases about fright in Torts. We got to read true cases about bloodied severed legs in paper bags. This is how law students celebrate Halloween.

Actually, I celebrated Halloween by buying a pumpkin, lighting lots of candles and displaying dancing skeletons on my welcome mat. I decoratively arranged ten pounds of candy in my carved Ecuadorian leaf bowl. Lastly, I turned on my porch light. That was all the time I'd allocated for Halloween so I retreated to my library to study. Taylor was on hand to distribute the treats.

The next time I emerged from my study fog, I realized it was 9 p.m. and we hadn't had any Trick or Treaters! I sadly blew out the candles and turned off my porch light. Growing up, I didn't have computer games, cellphones or text messaging. But I had the fun of dressing up and collecting candy all over the neighborhood.

It's too bad that Halloween has turned so scary.