In three years of law school, your author can’t recall thinking – even once – “wow, that’s a really stupid answer, what an idiot” or hearing someone else make a similar comment about a peer’s answer. And DO NOT be intimidated simply because they appear to know more than you. They are the law school equivalent of the overzealous military recruit that makes everyone look bad in boot camp only to wind up torturing an enemy combatant and bringing great shame upon the United States. Moreover, everyone is in the same boat. Listen up, people. Generally, law students are not paying enough attention to one another’s responses to form that sort of opinion, whether it is because they are too busy trying to be prepared in case they get called on, or because they are just bored and are surfing the web. You are attending school with these people because you belong there. They have read the professor’s books and publications, and have done background research before the class even began. [2] Your author has some proof of this last part and would share it, but the research is, sadly, incomplete at this time. No group represents a more destructive force in a law classroom. Do not think that they are representative of everyone in the class. Fact: Human beings are far too self-absorbed to really notice what sort of answer you are giving unless you do something that really annoys them. This brings your author to another important issue regarding the self-esteem element of classroom discussions: the negative impact of “Gunners.”[1]
Gunners will enter class possessing (or, at least, believing they posses) a wealth of irrelevant and unnecessary knowledge, and they will claw each other’s eyes out for the chance to extol this knowledge to the professor. We’ve got more Socratic method fact and fiction for you. Okay, that might be harsh, but let’s just say that a gunner’s star will certainly fade, and it will happen quickly. Professors are not impressed by this kind of lunacy. Fiction: If you do not know an answer, everyone will think you are an idiot who should be at the Tijuana School of Law and Cosmetology. Do not be unnerved by this bizarre behavior. If you do not know the answer, you are probably not the only one in the room in that predicament. Everything that you need to know, and are expected to know, is in the assigned reading. In fact, professors do not like it when students do extra research, both because it distracts from the general instruction they are giving, and because it exposes these students as exactly what they are: insecure know-it-alls who need constant approval from authority figures because they were not hugged enough as children.[2]
[1] These fellows will be discussed at length when The Legal Ease starts to break down “The Cast of Characters,” but they warrant special attention here.
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