I know the law is supposed to be about following the rules "to the letter". Presumably, any deviation is malpractice. But thinking beyond the books, the horribly boring lectures, the bleeding papers, I am reminded of another group of people who were supposed to follow the law, and reminded still of how far they fell short.
The nation of Israel was "under the law", and repeatedly was unable to follow God's commandments. "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify."..."for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." (Romans 3:21-23).
Ok, now, I am not trying to call my professors apostates or hypocrites, or those that should be called "least" in LegalLand. My point here is that it is pointless (fruitless if you will, per the blog title) to try to get everything right. NoONE is perfect, noTHING is perfect.
So what, then, is the purpose of grading assignments using a rubric that takes off for a misplaced space after a comma? Why do professor's insist on being so anal? Perhaps it is that they are scared of what they will find if they "chill" a bit. What I posit they will find is this: the "law" isn't everything, law school is not life, and their law journal articles, speeches, and whatnot are not as important as they think they might be.
So, law isn't life. It is a part of life, smoothing over life's rough patches. And yet, to see the forest despite the trees, dogmatic adherence to rigid ideals should be left out in the cold, in favor of a greater understanding of what our legal system is all about. That would be people, which includes law students (who knew!). Going back to beginning, that is what it is all about. From Adam and Eve, to Moses, to Christ, from Aristotle, to Martin Luther, to Locke, laws and government are only here to help people to accomplish what they were created to do: worship an almighty God.
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2 comments:
I'm no law student or specialist but, I have benefited from a incorrectly constructed sentence in a contract. The gist was clear if you knew the person that I was entering into a contract with, but luckily for me the gist wasn't open to interpretation if you wanted to get out and looked only at what was on paper. It saved me from having to work a 3 month notice and missing a great opportunity because of it. So maybe that is why your professors are soooo anal.
When it comes to law in the bible I love how Jesus steps one step back and say, hey guys, what was the idea behind this here law? Lets rather read it through the glasses of love than the glasses of condemnation. If it wasn't for Jesus opting for the gist rather then the letter of the law, we would all be in some mighty deep doodle.
The gist of the law was that we should all act in love at all times, subjecting our own desires to the desires of God the Father and His son Jesus and the Holy Spirit and in doing so covering those that we interact with in His love so that He could be glorified. Instead the students and professors of law of the day went and wrote some extra laws to "clarify" what the gist of the initial law was. messing up the entire gist and reducing it to loveless monotony void of any purpose. It had turned into a form of godliness lacking any power.
As far as words go, they are the craft of a lawyer. In fact, I very much enjoy that portion of law school. And of course, no matter how good you are with them, there are always times words will be used against you.
However, as far as law professors go, I suppose my 3L (final year) status makes me jaded, but professors go far beyond the words and spirit of the law and impose their own nuances and idiosyncrasies on us law students. Can this be beneficial? Sure...it can teach us how judges will be. That said, it could also be argued that emotionally abusive parents are beneficial because they teach kids that the world is tough. To me, it doesn't make sense. For us to be excellent lawyers, we must first learn in a nurturing environment. Not one that allows for slacking, not one that is easier, not one that allows its students to get by...but nurturing. And for some of my professors, nurturing is the last thing they make their classes.
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