Thursday, June 23, 2011

The farcity of fairness

Law school, like life, isn't fair. Professors sometime ask questions on tests that weren't covered in class. Or the moot court professor overrules your valid objection in order to enable the other side to make their point.

Law school isn't about being fair. Because the law isn't always fair. There's no way to obtain perfect justice in a system that was and continues to be developed by fallible human beings. Law school prepares you for the real world, not some perfect utopian legal world that doesn't exist.

Case in point: last year Civil Procedure was an excruciating class. I left every class confused and nervous about the final and midterm. The midterm was brutal. There were questions that weren't addressed in any form or substance in lectures. I got a C on the midterm. In essence, it was unfair. I don't study to make C's. I study to make A's. I felt cheated.

But what was I supposed to do? Complain to the professor that the test was unfair?

 No. 

I took my frustration from that midterm and made sure I understood the material to where I wouldn't make the same mistake on the final.

I busted my ass for the Civil Procedure final. Tens of hours, maybe even a hundred were spent fine tuning my understanding.

I ended up making an A in the class.

My point is this: when an injustice happens, rise to the occasion. Tackle it. Overcome it. Don't mope on the ground and argue why it shouldn't have happened. Get up and just go!

Law school is designed to be incredibly difficult, that's why everyone isn't a lawyer. 

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