The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Hello? Did you really not know this was my doing?

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    Ruth Carter

    Photo by Adam Almaraz

    I love these types of flyers.  They always make me smile.  I am trying to add as much joy to my last days of law school as possible.  I’m so excited to be done.

    Improv Arizona got its hands on this Lionel Richie flyer a few weeks ago and hung some up around the Mill Avenue area of Tempe.  I decided to bring the Lionel Richie love to the law school on Tuesday morning.  I hung two of these up on bulletin boards in classrooms in the law school on Tuesday morning.  I didn’t see anyone reacting to it while I was in class, but later the responses to my friend’s picture of the flyer on his Facebook page showed that people enjoyed it.

    I was a little bummed that both flyers were gone by Wednesday morning.  I guess professors and future lawyers, as a whole, don’t have much of a sense of humor.  Thankfully I found one of them in a recycling bin and put it back up.

    If you want the Lionel Richie flyer, Improv Arizona has a linked to it on their blog.

  • The Marathon of Bar Prep

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    Ruth Carter

    I’m graduating from law school in 30 days, and I’m tired.

    Usually around this time of the semester, I’m gearing up for the sprint to the end of the semester.  There are many late nights of studying and writing papers and excessive caffeination.  Once finals are done, I’m exhausted, and usually get to collapse for a few days if not a few weeks.

    At the end of my first semester of law school, I went to my parents’ house for Christmas and I literally did nothing but sit on the couch for two days.  One day, I literally watched courtroom dramas (People’s Court, Judge Judy, Divorce Court, etc.) from 9am until 5pm, with the exception of one hour.  At the end of my third semester of law school, I drove for over 12 hours to my parents’ house and I was so exhausted that I have no memory of the trip.

    I don’t have the luxury of burning myself out at the end of this semester.  Three days after I graduate I will start BarBri, the class that teaches you how to pass the Bar Exam.  For this semester, once I finish the sprint to finish finals, I have to turn around and line up for the marathon of studying for the Bar.

    From what I’ve heard from other lawyers, all I have to do is follow the BarBri program and study schedule and I’ll pass the Bar.  My classmate looked at our study schedule and reported that we’re expected to study and/or go to class 8 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I did the math and considering study time, sleep, and everyday activities, I’m going to have maybe 4 hours a day for myself.  I suspect that my life is going to get really simple.

    My friends and I have been formulating our plan of attack.  We will have a focused study group in the morning followed by class in the afternoon.  Everyone will be banned from my house unless a specific invitation is extended.  All stressful people, places, and events will be avoided at all costs.  I contemplated having someone change my Facebook and Twitter passwords, but I decided I needed the ability to see what’s going on the real world on occasion.  My phone is usually on or near my person; however, when I’m studying, it will be in a place where I can’t see or hear it except when I’m not studying.

    I will still have scheduled relaxation and fun.  There are select fun events on my calendar during the weeks leading up to the Bar.  I’m hoping to keep a regular workout schedule – walking, hiking, biking, and/or yoga – to maintain my health and sanity.  I have great friends who will remind me how normal people live.  They are also on notice that when I finish the Bar Exam, one of them better be waiting outside the testing center with a strawberry milkshake and a hug.

    There’s a saying in the Carter family: “You can do anything for 6 months.”  I only have to make it through the next 105 days.

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  • Reputation Management – Learn From Others’ Mistakes

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    Ruth Carter

    There are two main ways to look like a prick.  The first is by the actions you take.   Case in point – GoDaddy CEO Bob Parson got a lot of flak, and lost a lot of customers, for his recent participation in an elephant hunt.

    The other way to look like a prick is to take an action that may be completely reasonable, but do it in a way that appears to be wholly self-focused and without consideration to the impact on others.  Such an act was allegedly committed this past week by one Paul Schiff Berman, dean of the law school at Arizona State University.

    Photo by Ryan Cassella, used with permission from WNPR

    In the last few years, ASU law school has added numerous programs and exalted faculty, increased the size of each incoming class, and added an undergraduate program.  Space at the law school is now at a premium and it’s been a challenge to accommodate everyone.  I would not be surprised if the school has given serious consideration to how it’s using its space and how it can use it more efficiently until the new facility is built downtown.

    A few suspicious things have happened recently within the law school.  First, on the schedule of classes for Fall 2011, some classes are located in the “Law Library Basement.”  There are currently no classrooms in the library’s basement, and no classes have previously been held down there.  Second, there is a rumor that architects were discovered in the law journal’s room taking measurements, allegedly for “code compliance,” but they also had design plans with them.  It looks like the school plans to take away the law journal’s space in the basement and turn it into a classroom.  The fact that space is being reallocated does not surprise me, and it’s even reasonable given the circumstances.  What disturbs me is the fact that it was done without consideration of or notification to the people who will be directly impacted, not even the journal’s faculty advisor.

    I’ve heard a few reactions from the law school student body regarding the expected changes and Berman’s reputation:

    • He made a bad assumption without proper investigation.  He assumed that journal doesn’t need the space because the journal’s layout is completed electronically instead of manually.
    • He’s a prick.
    • He acts in a way that says, “I do what I want and I’m not going to tell you about it.”

    Berman already has a reputation of acting without transparency or considering the impact of his decisions on all parties.  Here’s what Berman could have done that would have had the same result but without further damaging his already tarnished reputation.

    1. Identify that the school has a space issue.
    2. Notify anyone whose space could be changed to resolve the problem.  Explain what the problem is and what the school’s overall goal is in reallocating space.
    3. Provide an opportunity to everyone involved to express their concerns about losing their space and what their needs are regardless of what space they are in.  Providing at least a token opportunity to be heard goes a long way.  It at least gives the impression that you care.
    4. Inform people who are losing their space in advance of disclosing it directly or indirectly to the entire student body.  Apologize for any inconveniences you’re causing and try to make the transition as easy as possible.

    So what did we learn from this?  What you do matters.  How you do it matters more.