Tuesday, August 7, 2007

ACL? Worse. Law School.

I may not post as much today as I normally do because, unlike most days, I won't be in my office with my laptop at the ready. Instead, I will be conducting on-campus interviews of law students for my firm. While some lawyers hate interviewing, I actually like it. I like to meet new people, and there's nothing like the optimism of a 2L to help one shake the off the cynicism and burnout that is endemic to more seasoned lawyers, even if only for a few hours.

One thing I don't like about interviewing, however, is that one person on my schedule -- and there's always one -- with a resume that makes daVinci look like a specialist. You know the guy: majored in some exotic language; spent a few years in Europe learning how to cook; built houses for Bangladeshi refugees; managed a quixotic third-party political campaign; writes light opera; and recently married the third runner up in the 1998 Miss Sweden pageant. That guy who seems to have no shortage of interests and no shortage of talent for them yet, somehow, ended up in law school, and here he is in front of me pretending that he wants to litigate reinsurance claims or some such nonsense. I never have been able to figure these guys out.

Starting next year there will be a new one in their ranks, as Parker Brooks, a player in the Dodgers' organization retired yesterday and plans to go to law school at Georgetown.

OK, Brooks is a utility infielder in his mid 20s who can't get out of A-ball, so law school may be a good move for him. Still, if I found a former professional ballplayer on my interview slate next year, I'd probably spend most of the interview trying to figure out why he doesn't want to coach or get his foot in the door of a team's front office or something that, you know, isn't boring like the practice of law.

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