At the Movies

Posted in Hype on Friday January 29 2010 @ 7:14am

What happens to English majors who go to law school? They write fun books (some even -- gasp! -- become bloggers).

One such book is Movie Therapy for Law Students (and Pre-Law, Paralegal, and Related Majors), by Maine lawyer Sonia Buck.

The book reads like a study guide outline -- which is exactly what it is, albeit in a more entertaining form. For each film, there is a synopsis, analysis of legal issues grouped by topic (say, witness testimony and judicial notice under the evidence heading), exam tips, and Legal Briefs & Movie Extras, which gives backstory, fun facts, etc. Buck includes study tips for law school exams as well as for the LSATs.

Buck also gives advice on what to do during the admittedly boring portions of some of these films: To avoid sheer boredom while waiting for trial [in Inherit the Wind], I recommend watching this movie while engaging in some secondary task (such as knitting, sewing, exercising, cooking, cleaning, emailing, texting, Facebooking, on-line shopping, etc.).

Fun for listophiles, the films are indexed in a variety of ways: chronologically (which is how the chapters flow), but are also sorted by legal topic and alphabetically. Pauly Shore's Jury Duty is blessedly absent from each and every list.

This would make a fantastic teaching tool or law student movie club agenda. Pick a film to watch together, then go over the notes and discuss amongst yourselves. Buck asks some good questions, such as How many ethical violations can you find by how many attorneys in Liar Liar? Best to share this book and its ideas with fellow students -- your non-legal friends and family might not appreciate the fun of pointing out every legal misstep made by Jim Carrey.

Al Nye the Lawyer Guy also has a review.

We'd love to see a squeakquel... -- um, make that sequel -- for legal tv shows.

Permalink to this post.
Add a comment...