Legal Evolution - a Chicago Best Idea

University of Chicago law professor Saul Levmore gave a lecture on legal evolution October 12 as part of the series "Chicago's Best Ideas". Legal evolution, the idea that the Common Law evolves towards efficient results, was first presented by Richard Posner. 1hour (45 min. of Levmore, 15 min. audience questions), good subtitles on YouTube.

Justice Elena Kagan at Harvard Law School

Speaking to a group of first year law students, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan recalls her experience as a law student at Harvard, giving a good description of the « intellectual feast » aspect of law school combined with its « real life » aspect. She also talks about her years as the dean of the law school and finally about her Supreme Court experiences. 54 min, you can turn on subtitles (which have a few inevitable mistakes).

For Free Speech Junkies

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, with close ties to the University of Virginia, has sponsored a symposium concerning free speech at colleges and universities with three panels, each about an hour and a half long. No transcripts available.

Free Speech In and Out of the Classroom
Free Speech and Equal Dignity
Free Speech vs. Hostile Environment

Scotusblog Interviews with Orin Kerr

SCOTUSblog is posting a series of five interviews with Orin Kerr, a young professor at Washington University Law School who is an expert in computer crime law. In part three, Kerr discusses oral argument : the interaction between lawyers and justices, how lawyers prepare for them, how legal academics influence the Court through Supreme Court clinics in law schools, through amicus briefs, or legal blogs. 10 min, no transcript. 
In part four, Kerr discusses what he thinks the background Supreme Court Justices should have, whether we should view the Court through a political lens, and does the Court reflect public opinion, 20 min, no transcript

Advice from Justice Elena Kagan

Justice Elena Kagan of the U.S. Supreme Court spoke at Georgetown University Law Center, answering questions from its dean about her career in the law. Her remarks from when she was dean of Harvard Law School are particularly interesting for law students. She also goes into some detail about how she writes her opinions at the Supreme Court, how she uses her law clerks, and the role of oral argument. 1 h, no transcript

Investment in Law School

NPR's Morning Edition of March 28 has a story entitled "Comparing Law School Rankings? Read The Fine Print". It speaks about the economics of the investment in a law school education  - which can cost $50,000 a year - and the information law schools give about the jobs their graduates get. 5 min 19 sec, transcript available.

English Common Law: Structure and Principles

This six week online course offered by the University of London International Programme began June 24th. You can sign up for the course and download the videos until Sept. 1 (it's really the last minute!) or sign in to be advised when the course will be offered again.
The course is offered by Coursera, a provider of what are known as MOOCs (massive open online courses).  Several other courses on legal topics are starting soon. For instance, Introduction to International Criminal Law begins on Sept 1 and Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy will begin on Sept. 16.

Words for Graduates - Yale Law School

Yale Law School has posted a video of graduation ceremonies for the class of 2013. The Dean begins with lots of cheerleading describing YLS as the best of the best You can see each graduate get his/her diploma and a handshake, and sometimes even a hug. At just after 1 hour, Anne Alstott, a professor at the law school, gives a 30 minute talk about generational justice. She is followed by Justice Sonia Sotomayor who speaks of how to have a successful life in the law. 1h 50 min, no transcript. It is not clear how long this video will be available.

Video/audio materials about legal studies from Cambridge University

As part of the Cambridge Law: Public Lectures from the Faculty of Law, a site which apparently appeared in 2011 (some lectures were recorded before that) you will find:
Why study Law at University if I want to become a lawyer? 8 min 33 sec and Why study Law at University if I don't want to become a lawyer? 7 min 32 sec — audio and video versions and transcripts available
You can find the information to help LL. M. students choose what subjects they will study here.
An interesting presentation of career options for law students by Geoffrey Shields, former dean of the Vermont (U.S.) Law School can be found here - 45 min, audio and video available, no transcript.

Two videos from the Texas Lawyer site

Valerie Barker and Kevin Douglas talk about their upcoming term as summer associates with Baker Botts a international law firm with 725 lawyers which started out in Dallas. In this short video you can notice the two future lawyers have very different attitudes toward their summer employment - "I'll be working for..." vs "I'll be working at..." You can spot many other differences in their expectations. 2 min 43 sec, no transcript
From the same site, something longer and more technical — Patent Practice: A View From the Bench.
Two patent jurists and two U.S. District judges from the Northern District of Texas discuss the practice of patent law. 65 min, no transcript

Law School Exam Tips

University of Virginia School of Law professor Anne Coughlin offered law students tips on how to take an exam on Dec. 2, 2011. The explanations she gives offer an insight into legal reasoning in the United States. She contrasts "doctrinal" and "policy" analysis. "Doctrine" here does not mean the opinion of law professors. It's a rule or principle that is widely adhered to. "Policy" arguments involve, for instance, discussions about what a rule should be or what the effects of a particular rule will be in practice. The talk is available either in mp3 or video. 47 min, no transcript.

Becoming a Barrister

The Bar Council in England has started a site, "Why become a Barrister?" with two short (7-8 min) films for  which gives information about the attraction of a career as a barrister and a very good short FAQ page. Very well done.
The titles of the clips are "Why become a barrister?" and "The bar is open to all".
no transcript

Big Law

For those curious about the transformation and growth of law firms (DLA Piper will soon have some 4000 lawyers), New York University law school hosted a forum on February 16th entitled “Big Law 2021 – And What it Will Mean for You”. Speaking were partners from two traditional "big law" firms - DLA Piper and Skadden, Arps, in addition to the founder of a new form of "firm" - Axiom Law. ± 1 h, no transcript.

Judges (and other legal professionals) in England and Wales

The official site of the judiciary of England and Wales has some very interesting activities, including "you be the judge" as well as interviews with district judges (what qualities are needed to be a judge, what are the most difficult decisions...)
Adobe flash required, subtitles (closed captioning or CC as it is known) and transcripts (with a few mistakes).

The site also has a link to an interview with Lord Neuberger, now Master of the Rolls and former Law Lord, who talks about his career. The interview is on the icould site which also has 4-5 min. interviews with different kinds of solicitors, a former barrister now a solicitor, legal executives, heads of legal departments, a paralegal, and prison officers. 

shorter versions (±1:30 min.) of these interviews are also available - transcripts available.

Judges and Judging in the U.S.

The Goldfarb Center at Colby College in conjunction with the State-Federal Judicial Council for Maine and the Maine Council on Social Studies has produced a video which contains interviews with many state and federal judges and a detailed (29 page) study guide. The judges talk about how they became interested in the law ("all judges had lives before they became judges..."), their experiences in law school and in their first jobs as lawyers, why they decided to become judges, how they were chosen (election or appointment), examples of prejudice against women. The video goes on to describe the working of the judiciary (state and federal) at the trial and appellate levels.
54 min. no transcript, quicktime
Interesting and useful, but it's best not to watch too closely or you will probably be distracted by the lack of syncronization of lips and sound.

Fordham Law School videos

Fordham Law School in New York has a series of short videos to show prospective students why it's a great place to go to school. For instance, you can follow the story of a young man who got into debt and felt that he wasn't treated fairly who got help from students participating in the Tax & Consumer Litigation clinic. 7:20 min., no transcript
Another short video takes you inside a class of civil procedure. 3:17 min, no transcript

Why my law school is the best

New York University Law School's web site has added a feature it calls "student voices" to explain what it's like to study at NYU. In short videos (1 to 3 min.), students give explanations of why they find a given class wonderful.  The videos are classified either by student (Maggie, Patrick...) or by topic (business, criminal, international, tax...). On the topics pages (business, for example), you can also find professors vaunting their programs ("There is no other law school that has a program anywhere like this...").

The Future of the English Legal Profession

Inside Track, by Charon QC (aka Mike Semple Piggot) recently began a new series 'The future of the legal profession'. The series will present a "range of perspectives from some of the leading figures in the profession on what the legal services arena will look like in five years time and how the employment market in the sector will develop. Interview guests will give their advice on how the next generation of young lawyers can prepare for that market."

Nicholas Green QC – Chairman of the Bar - began the series on May 17th. ± 25 min., transcript available, downloadable .mp3.

There will be an interview each week until 14 June.

A reminder - all of Charon's podcasts can be found here.

"How to" videos from the 9th Circuit

 There is now an official YouTube Channel for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The first videos are "A Court for All Seasons" - about the courthouse (20 min.); "Perfecting Your Appeal - A Civil Case"(27 min.)  and "Perfecting Your Appeal - A Criminal Case"(27 min). The two "how to" videos are mostly identical, obviously because much of the same advice applies in both civil and criminal appeals. The Ninth Circuit includes Hollywood, and it shows.

Career Possibilities in International Law

What does "international law" mean? Does it even exist? How can one become an international lawyer? What do international lawyers do? To find out, you can listen to a talk given on Oct. 27 to students by Tom Ginsburg, professor at the University of Chicago,
flashplayer and .mp3 - 49:42 min. - sound quality not very good