Thoughts

Cell phones are to law school as oil is to water.

Does that take you back to the SATs? Anyway, in class last night a cell phone rang in the middle of discussion. The mobile device in question belongs to the person who sits to my left. He quickly fumbled around to pull it from his bag and cease its siren. His "fun" downloaded ring tone only sounds once, but that was more than enough; the damage was done.

Some law schools have different methods by which they call on their students, but many use their right to call on the students at random. Typically you will not be called on more than once in a particular class period, though the possibility exists under the system, or as we'll see here, or when your phone rings.

This student to my left, we'll call him "Stan", had arbitrarily been called upon to help us with the first case discussed last night. After his phone rang, he had the pleasure to brief about four more cases as well. Our Wednesday night professor is a lighthearted person. She has conducted class with authority, but while allowing us the ability to have fun while we learn. You could almost feel the room get colder after that cell phone went off; her entire demeanor had changed.

When a student is called upon to discuss a case, in the rare event that they are unable to answer a particular question, it then becomes open to the floor. Any student may raise their hand at that point and offer an attempt at the answer. It just so happened that the student who had the pleasure of the case in discussion as the phone rang was unable to recall a particular point about the case.

"Stan, you want to help her out?" asked the professor, without even surveying the room for volunteers.

It was at this precise moment that most of the air in the room was sucked out as each of the rest of us in our seats gasped then stared wide-eyed at our notes, hands in our laps. Stan, I would say, does not exactly have the best track record for having completed all of the assignments. This is not necessarily something that is brought to light in front of the professors, but you can often tell from pre-class discussion. Luckily last night he appeared more prepared than ever. He did well answering the questions posed to him and never wavered from being called upon. I think he expected it. To tell you the truth, I did not know what to expect.

Through orientation and even into each class, everyone tells you to be sure and turn off your cell phone or at least place your ringer on vibrate when you enter class. Professors all have horror stories of Judges who have imposed ridiculous penalties upon members of their audience who fail to observe the "turn it off" guideline. The atmosphere in law school is one where we have been fully warned.

That said, I feel Stan got off relatively easily. He escaped rather unscathed. I am not saying that he should have been punished to a greater extent, we are after all in this together are we not? It was not long before the professor's lighter side resurfaced and her smile returned.

Who knows, maybe this is now a cross he must bear for the duration of the term; stigmatized as the outcast, rogue student who disobeys the turn-off-your-cell-phone "advisement". Then again, maybe he has been punished to the full extent of his crime. Only time will tell.