Honors Alum Bonnie Leiby -- Knee Deep in the (Law School) Big Muddy

Bonnie Leiby, MSSU Honors Class of 2005, check in from Baylor Law School:


Dear Friends,

I hope you are all doing well. In case you were wondering if I am still among the living, I wanted to reassure you that I am.

The first quarter of law school ended on Friday, so I *briefly* relaxed this weekend for about four hours. The next quarter, however, begins tomorrow, and that means I have plenty of reading to finish prior to class tomorrow (over 125 pages of material to know for Monday). It is not sufficient to have read the material; you must be able to know the material so well that you could teach the class the material yourself. My teachers constantly say, "You should treat every day in law school as if it were a test. Even if you aren't the person that gets called upon in class that particular day, you should answer every question silently in your head." In law school, it is rare for a teacher to lecture. The teachers ask the students the questions instead of providing the students with the answers. While asking questions, the teacher leads the student to the right answer if the student doesn't know or didn't understand the answer already.

I already have law school "horror stories." One time this quarter, a teacher asked a student a question. Four students in a row were unable to provide a satisfactory answer. The teacher became really angry, ranted and raved about the "dumb-*@# gas" that was circulating around our class, and stormed out of class 15 minutes early. Another time, it was obvious that a student had not explicitly followed the teacher's instructions. The teacher kicked him out while saying, "Your excuses are the excuses of a child. This is not Kindergarten." After that incident, the teacher told the class, "Lawyers are strictly liable, and there are no excuses. If your spouse has cancer, that's too bad. Your clients come first. If you miss a filing deadline, then you have committed malpractice. If someone working for you makes a mistake, then that is your fault. That is the way it is, and you better get used to it." If you are so much as ten seconds late to class, you do not get to come inside and listen to the lecture. If your cell phone goes off in class, then you will be meeting with the teacher after class. If you do not follow instructions and follow them precisely, then you fail. If your legal memo is a sentence over the specified length, the teachers refuse to read the memo because you refused to follow their instructions. I've accepted these things as just being part of the nature of the beast that is law school.

All that being said, I am very happy to be here. Law school is a lot of work, but I am used to working hard, so that's not a problem. On the first day of class, I was the first person called upon in two of my classes. I don't mind being grilled by teachers because I believe it will ultimately prepare me for the courtroom. I feel like I am getting an excellent education and am in an environment that pushes students to excel.

I'd love to hear from you, and I wish you all the best. I hope everything is going well at Missouri Southern.

Bonnie