Nobody's Free Until Everybody's Free

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Darius Adel ‘24
Satire Editor

“Nobody’s Free Until Everybody's Free.”  - Fannie Lou Hamer

After listening to Robert Kennedy Jr.’s fireside chat last week, I was left with a mix of emotions. The most surprising one was disappointment. As Kennedy used our school’s platform to spout hateful propaganda against Muslims and Arabs, what astounded me most was the silence in the room. No one wanted to speak up even though we had just listened to almost an hour of discussion on the importance of free speech. It made me angry to see people doing little more than snickering as the man on stage dehumanized an entire people. It would be easy to criticize others for their indifference, but the fact is I’m no better.

Last fall, shortly after the Homer statue had a noose placed on it on Main Grounds, I was contacted, through the National Lawyers Guild, by undergraduate members of UVA’s Black Student Alliance (BSA) to provide legal aid for their upcoming protest. I had been wanting to do something in response to the horrible hate crime. To me, this was the perfect opportunity to use my legal skills to actually make some sort of difference.

I won’t go into the details of what occurred at the protest, but it was physically and emotionally draining for both the protesters and members of the legal aid team.  Even though I felt tired, the thanks I got from the undergraduate students made the hours out in the hot sun worth it. I felt that I had done what was expected of me as both a law student and an activist, I was giving back to the community and actually doing the work. But, I was wrong. At least in part.

Soon after the event, I attended a dinner with other student leaders led by Dean Goluboff. We discussed the work we did for the law community and the difficulties our respective communities faced. When the subject of the Homer noose hate crime came up, I stopped eating and got ready to talk about the aid work my organization and I had done for our fellow students. A friend of mine at the table spoke up and voiced his frustration with the UVA Law community. Not one student organization had reached out to him or the Black Law Students Association to check in and see what could be done to help our Black classmates.

I was initially confused by his comment. I had done my part, right? I spent the better part of a whole day helping undergraduate BSA students protesting for more information on the perpetrator of the hate crime. What I had actually done was less than the bare minimum. I had ignored the plight of the individual students in our own community. In a way, I had become desensitized to their pain. To me, this was a political issue, not a personally traumatic experience for my peers. I addressed it in a way I felt comfortable doing regardless of what was actually needed by the people I care about.

When the hate crime happened, I didn’t do the one thing I should have done which was reaching out to my classmates and finding out what they needed. How can I expect my peers to show solidarity in the face of hate when I myself failed to do so. Our gut reaction is to want to feel comfortable and safe, claiming we can do nothing of substance for others. But, it is not enough to retreat back into powerlessness. Trans people are being attacked, the right to get an abortion is being whittled away, and people of color continue to be seen as lesser than.

Intersectionality requires empathy. We have to be able to help others without getting anything in return. To view our respective communities transactionally is a tool of our oppressors. I share some of my experiences here so that you can hopefully learn from my mistakes. The vast majority of us will soon be in positions of immense power. It is up to us to do what we can for each other no matter where we come from.

While it may be uncomfortable or even scary to speak out against injustice, we owe it to others, past, present, and future. I implore you to start close to home. Check in with your friends, have those hard conversations. Not every action needs to be a heroic deed. Not every sacrifice needs to be martyrdom. To come out of your comfort zone for others is at the core of what's most needed. Intersectionality isn’t some sociological framework to toss into a law review article, it is a call to action.

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dsa7st@virginia.edu

Lets Get Reoriented: Student Affairs Talks 1L Spring

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Ethan Brown ‘25
Features Editor

On Tuesday, January 23, this tired 2L did something deserving of a medal: I voluntarily sat through Student Affairs’ “Reorientation for 1Ls and LL.M. Students.” Surrounded by throngs of plucky 1Ls dying to hear if they’re going to flunk out of UVA Law because they got a B+ in Torts,[1] I listened to Deans Goluboff and Davies describe to students the various obstacles of the spring semester, offering words of encouragement about the same.

I remember the class of 2025’s Reorientation last year quite well—namely, how much everybody hated it. Last year’s Reorientation largely centered around a panel of three UVA Law alumni who talked at us about how miserable legal practice is—surely a valid topic, but not exactly what you want to hear when you’re already feeling a little negative about returning to school after a bruising 1L fall.

So even though it wasn’t my dream way of spending half an hour on a Tuesday afternoon, I was at least a little interested in seeing if Student Affairs had tweaked things from last year. And to my welcome surprise, this year’s Reorientation did seem better, both in content and audience reception. Most of the 1Ls I spoke to about the event didn’t have the same vitriol that last year’s meeting attracted.

Dean Risa Goluboff spoke first. Echoing many of the sentiments she expressed last year, Dean Goluboff reminded the 1Ls and LL.M.s present that the first semester of law school is meant to be hard—and that there is no shame in feeling that way. She noted that after her first semester, she too feared that she wasn’t getting the whole “thinking like a lawyer” thing. But obviously, with time, it clicked. She encouraged students to be patient until it does for them too.

Dean Goluboff also touched on the frustrations that many 1Ls feel after taking four months of Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, and Torts, all of which might feel distantly removed from the topics that brought students to UVA Law in the first place. She said that these courses—even if they aren’t the sexiest in the world—help form a solid foundation for students’ legal education, a foundation that will no doubt help them in their elective classes this spring. 1Ls are eligible to take up to seven credits of electives in areas of personal interest, a tantalizing prospect but one that segued nicely into Dean Goluboff’s next point. It is impossible to do everything at UVA Law, and she cautioned students against biting off more than they could chew.

Indeed, there is a lot for 1Ls to chew on this semester, as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Sarah Davies ’91 and Student Affairs Director Megan Durkee ’15 made clear. Once Dean Goluboff had concluded her remarks by encouraging 1Ls to seize the exciting months ahead of them—and by strongly reminding 1Ls that their fall grades do not define them[2]—Student Affairs took over to outline the items on the agenda until May. The list is long. 1Ls this semester face two heavy doctrinal lifts in Constitutional Law and Property; classes for the first time with 2Ls (gasp) and 3Ls (bigger gasp); journal tryouts in February and March; student organization leadership elections; job applications; networking events; LRW briefing and oral arguments; the list goes on.

Dean Davies cautioned the importance of staying sane during all of these events. Even during things as daunting as the journal tryout, take time to talk with friends, exercise, shower, sleep, eat, and relax. She said that the same logic should dictate for every other event during the semester, which as someone who has recently gone through the gauntlet of 1L spring, I wholeheartedly endorse.

Keeping to a tight hour-long presentation, Dean Davies then invited four UVA Law alumni—Joe Charlet ’18, Jonathan York ’18, Dascher Pasco ’18, and Rambert Tyree ’22—to the stage. Your humble writer left just a few minutes after they began talking because he got hungry. But I am sure they offered similar advice to Deans Goluboff and Davies: Keep calm, take a deep breath, and do your best.

As a closing message, I will offer my own unsolicited Reorientation advice. 1L spring is hard. I found the second semester of law school to be much more challenging; much of 1L fall is laid out for you, whereas the spring semester is the first chance to truly make UVA Law “yours.” This is exciting to be sure, but scary—how can anyone, after just four months of study, know what paths to start taking and which ones to leave temporarily unexplored?

To that, I say: please lean on the 2Ls and 3Ls around you. Law students are narcissists who love to talk about themselves, including their study strategies, favorite professors, relaxation techniques, and everything in between. I feel so grateful to the upperclassman who helped me navigate the spring last year, and I don’t know a single 2L who doesn’t relish the opportunity now to repay the favor. So please—let us help you, whether it be over coffee, or through a reassuring email, or whatever makes the next several months feel less stressful to you.

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bwj2cw@virginia.edu

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[1] They absolutely will not.

[2] They absolutely do not.

A 3L's (Unsolicited) Advice for Your 1L Spring

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Monica Sandu '24
Production Editor

As the snow thaws over Grounds that come back to life with the arrival of the spring semester, some of you are experiencing your first ever law school classes without your trusty 1L section. Just when you thought you’d conquered your fear of cold calls, casebooks, and 8:00 a.m. classes without coffee, you suddenly find yourself thrust into the world with few, if any, other 1Ls around you. Now that add/drop is over, it is time for this 3L to share some sage wisdom as you navigate this new, and often unexpected, side of 1L.

First, realize that you’re going to be in classes with spring semester 3Ls. That alone should make you feel better. But even knowing that the curve was safe, one of the most challenging things I encountered as a 1L was the sense of isolation that came with being in a class where it seemed like everybody knew everybody, and I didn’t know anyone. While it’s certainly easier said than done, this can be a chance to make connections with 2Ls and 3Ls. Some may have already taken classes you’re interested in for the upcoming semesters (and have the outlines to prove it). Even if they haven’t, simply talking to them can be a way to combat imposter syndrome – they’re often as just as confused as you are, if not more.[1]

You may also be able to seek out fellow 1Ls who are in other sections, especially those with whom you don’t have classes otherwise. It’s a good middle ground between meeting new people and having someone who can fully sympathize with your LRW oral argument stress. Still, don’t feel like you have to turn every lecture into a networking event. Spring provides many opportunities for extra-curricular socializing. You have Feb Club and Barrister’s Ball in February; the Libel Show, whether you’re part of the cast, the crew, or the crowd;[2]  countless student group events; and the tried and tested method of joining the always-prestigious and ever-welcoming Law Weekly.[3]

Next, the 1L job application process is in full swing. You’ve certainly heard this many times before, but Career Services will be your best friend through this process. Their resources are at your disposal, and their job is to help you find a job. Many students use their 1L summer to explore a particular field they may be interested in, while others want to gain general experience in the practice of law. Some use it as an opportunity to experience public service law before going into the private sector, or to do private work before becoming a public service lawyer. Spending some time pinpointing what you want to get out of the summer is crucial, not only for targeting applications and getting interviews, but for your personal fulfillment and wellbeing.

While it’s a good idea to have a general sense of the direction you want to pursue, you don’t have to know exactly what specialty within the law you are going to go into, nor are you expected to already be an expert in your area of interest. Potential employers understand that you are a law student. While you should definitely research the firms, programs, and practice areas you apply for, you should also demonstrate your dedication, your passion for knowledge, and all those things that make you someone with whom others will want to work. These will also help you decide where you see yourself working.

There will inevitably be some rejections. But these rejections are not personal failings – it’s just the nature of the application process. Be sure to work with Career Services to navigate your applications, find open positions, prepare for interviews, and draft cover letters and resumes. Communicate so that your concerns can be addressed as soon as possible.

Lastly, and perhaps most crucially, be kind to yourself. Try to not treat your milestones as stepping stones. Celebrate your accomplishments by recognizing them for what they are – accomplishments, not just meeting expectations.[4] Hold tight to the friends you make, and be one another’s support system. This semester may have fewer breaks than the fall, but it goes by much more quickly. And although 1Ls always lose in the Court of Petty Appeals, we at the Law Weekly still want you to see you succeed.[5] Good luck out there, kids.

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ms7mn@virginia.edu

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[1] Bonus points if you watch them online shop through an entire lecture.

[2] Be sure to come on 1L night to see all your favorite professors (congenially) roast you in song form!

[3] Every Monday at 5:45 p.m. in SL279. We have free pizza and the satisfaction of winning an ANGus beef with VLR.

[4] For example, getting through an interview that made you extremely anxious is something to be proud of, regardless of whether or not it results in a callback.

[5] Or at least bring us a COPA suit funny enough to rule in your favor.

RFK Jr. Returns to UVA Law for "Fireside Chat"

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Andrew Allard '25
Executive Editor

While Harvard may have the Obamas, we at UVA have the Kennedys. “You’ve all heard of his family,” the emcee announced as music blared. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ’82 strolled on stage, greeted by Alexander Szarka ’24. I had been sitting next to a UVA Law alumnus from the class of ’76. “He’s late,” he grumbled to an usher. “It’s not good to make the electorate wait. That doesn’t make him more important.” The alum told me that he doesn’t think much of Kennedy, but he had made the drive from Richmond “for the history.”

For Kennedy, history is a comfortable topic. Szarka rattled off a list of the Kennedy family’s historic ties to the Law School, pointing out the law library’s shrine to Kennedy’s father, Robert Francis “Bobby” Kennedy ’51, and his uncle Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy ’59’s Lile Moot Court championship title. Kennedy cheerfully responded with a lengthy tale of his father’s efforts to invite Ralph Bunche, the first Black Nobel laureate, to speak at the Law School. Virginia state law in 1951 required public events to be segregated, but the senior Kennedy fought successfully to get Bunche before a desegregated audience.

Twenty minutes in, Szarka appeared poised to throw Kennedy a hardball. “I just want to respectfully disagree, because you talked about how the moral leadership of your uncle [John F. Kennedy] and your father was the supreme achievement of the administration. I think that that’s very important, but I would say that the supreme achievement of the Kennedy administration was averting nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

Though beginning with a disclaimer that this was not a campaign event, much of the interview was dedicated to praising Kennedy’s legacy and expounding upon his policy views. The event was dubbed a “Fireside Chat” by the Student Bar Association. Szarka compared Kennedy’s frequent appearances on podcasts with FDR’s use of radio and Trump’s use of X (formerly known as Twitter). Kennedy welcomed the comparison. “I think this election will be the first election that will be heavily influenced, if not decided, by podcasts.”

Bouncing from his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, to the war in Gaza, to claims that “deputies of Fauci” are profiting from mRNA vaccines, Kennedy was happy to steer the conversation toward controversy. For many supporters, Kennedy’s unfiltered style is no doubt part of his appeal. It’s also an essential aspect of his politics. Asked about the recent resignation of UPenn president, Liz Magill ’95, Kennedy said that universities ought to be havens for free speech. “We ought to be able to all talk. And that’s critical for democracy.”

Kennedy’s strong pro-speech stance has not saved him from bad blood with the press. He explained that he turned to podcasts because he had been snubbed by TV news. “For years, I’ve not been allowed on the mainstream media, and to this day, they will not allow me to do a live interview. The first one I’m ever going to do is tomorrow morning with Michael Smerconish.” In recent months, Kennedy has appeared on the PBS NewsHour[2] and CNN.[3] But Kennedy said that these were live-to-tape interviews. “Live-to-tape means that they can cut you afterwards, which is what they always do.”

Despite the alleged media blackout, Kennedy claimed that he’s polling quite well, saying that he was leading among Americans forty-five and under in battleground states and for people under thirty-five years old. “And I’m trouncing President Trump and President Biden among the independents, which this year for the first time will be the largest party.” While early presidential polling numbers tend to be dynamic, Kennedy’s favorability rating is among the highest at 52 percent, according to Gallup.[4] But recent national polling data shows Kennedy trailing Biden and Trump at 12 percent.[5]

Kennedy said that he believes his support for affordable housing has caught young voters’ attention. “I think I’m doing well with those groups because I’m talking about issues that particularly concern young people. I’m the only one talking about how to get young people into houses.”

But if Kennedy’s strategy is to capture the youth vote, then his stance on Israel-Palestine could be a problem. While Americans under thirty-five tend to have greater sympathy for Palenstinians,[6] Kennedy downplayed the war in Gaza. “All of this stuff about Israel being an apartheid state is propaganda. Israel has no apartheid goals . . . If you’re a Palestinian, and you want to criticize your government, [then] you’d better be in Israel. You can do it without any recourse. If you do it in Gaza, you’ll have your throat slit. If you do it in the West Bank, you’ll be jailed and tortured.”

Szarka, shifting in his chair, asked Kennedy to “focus a little bit more on the American perspective.” Kennedy demurred. “Why is there a concentration camp? Because Israel put a fence there to keep Hamas from sending terrorists across to kill its people. What country wouldn’t?”

Before leaving, I asked the alum sitting next to me if it was worth the drive from Richmond. “I learned a lot,” he replied.

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tya2us@virginia.edu

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[1] Feeling sorry for Andrew after his thorough defeat before the Court of Petty Appeals, Garrett willingly gave up his dibs claim to the RFK story.

[2] PBS NewsHour, WATCH: RFK Jr. on abortion, immigration, YouTube (Nov. 7, 2023), https://youtu.be/tzisLdj7fjQ?si=erZ6LQs2KOxSDlff.

[3] CNN, CNN anchor confronts RFK Jr. by replaying his comments on vaccines, YouTube (Dec. 15, 2023), https://youtu.be/G4vP4GdHhoA?si=zJJ7d5_YxbqoHZRX.

[4] Lydia Saad, Biden and Trump Evenly Matched in U.S. Favorable Ratings, Gallup (Jan. 9, 2024), https://news.gallup.com/poll/548138/american-presidential-candidates-2024-election-favorable-ratings.aspx.

[5] Matt Holt, Messenger Poll: Trump Leads Biden by Seven Points (Exclusive), The Messenger (Jan. 24, 2024), https://themessenger.com/politics/messenger-poll-trump-leads-biden-by-seven-points-exclusive.

[6] Brittany Gibson, The generational divide over Israel and Palestine is widening, Politico (Nov. 16, 2023), https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/16/israel-palestine-quinnipiac-poll-00127726.

What Your Favorite Thanksgiving Dish Says About You

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Noah Coco '26
Staff Editor

Throughout the Thanksgiving break, I was constantly reminded how much “law student” has become one of my dominant identities. Between updating my uncle on my summer plans, explaining to my brother-in-law what a tort is, or getting in a few class readings before joining the rest of the family for brunch, I annoyed even myself with the law school talk. Expectedly, even Thanksgiving dinner was overcome by thoughts of law school as I started to think about the food that I was about to share with family in terms of common law school stereotypes. So without further ado, what does your favorite Thanksgiving dinner food say about you?

1. Turkey

Your palate is not very refined. You want to be the star of the show, and perhaps you are, but you nonetheless lack much depth or nuance. That, or you are just a gym-goer thinking about how much lean protein you have to complete your meal prep for the next week, in which case you might just not be an interesting person. You probably read the Wall Street Journal and most likely came to UVA because of the softball.

2. Stuffing

You are warm and wholesome. You respect tradition, but not the rough edges of it that your uncle keeps bringing up over Thanksgiving dinner. You are more than the sum of your parts and are a dependable member of your friend group. You probably have a reasonable bedtime most nights. You are likely a big fan of cookie Friday and frequent the Student Affairs office for some midday snacks.

3. Dinner Rolls

Honestly, you are pretty basic. You sound a little bland and are probably not a very big fan of Thanksgiving either. Seriously, why not opt for the infinitely more interesting stuffing, which is, after all, just flavored bread? You have questionable judgment and probably should not become a judge. Maybe tax law will be a more appropriate option for you to pursue?

4. Sweet Potato Casserole

You are flexible but probably try too hard to have it both ways. Are you a deliciously crisp and sweet praline topping, or just…mush (albeit very vibrant mush)?  You might even be a self-deprecating Virginia Law Weeklywriter. Either way, you’re quite indecisive and are still probably trying to figure out if you should do litigation or transactional work.

5. Corn

You’re a nerd. Or you are from the Midwest. I guess you care about healthy digestion, which is great, but really? Unless you are the source of a beloved internet meme, it’s just not cute. You are probably a week ahead on your readings and like to talk about Civ Pro cases at parties.

6. Mashed Potatoes

You're sturdy yet unremarkable. Not bold enough to go for the sweet potatoes, yet competent enough to forego the dinner roll for your starchy fixing. Suffice it to say, there are better options out there, but there are also many more worse ones. You may actually be the quintessential risk-averse lawyer type, which is frankly a safe place to be.

7. Cranberry Sauce

You’re quirky but also sweet. You might be shy, but you also harbor some zest and pop. You’re unabashedly yourself even if you are not always appreciated. Good for you! You probably do your grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, buy your clothes from thrift shops, and start your day with a dose of NPR. You’ve probably taken Animal Law, but if not, there is still time.

8. Green Bean Casserole

Your life is truly about balance. A balance between what is good for you and what is a little more indulgent. You bring energy and a case of White Claws to parties, but you probably went to the gym earlier in the day. You’re not going to stay up late to finish those readings, and Celsiuses fuel your days. You might bomb that cold-call, but you always ace the exam.

9. Pumpkin Pie

You are honestly just here to skip straight to the end. You’re probably the first person to bring out a sweater once the first leaf changes its color and spend too much time on Instagram when you should be at least skimming your casebook for tomorrow’s readings. You are probably a big fan of Quimbee and have been to every bar review. You will end up just fine though, enjoying your just desserts on that Big Law salary.

10. Leftovers

You are creative and free-spirited. You didn’t let this listicle confine you to the artificial constraints of actual Thanksgiving dinner. You just can't help yourself from picking on cold leftovers right out of the fridge, and more power to you. You may even like to wear flannels. But you certainly don’t always follow the rules, which is an interesting trait for an aspiring attorney. Tread carefully, perhaps.

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cmz4bx@virginia.edu

Law Weekly Runs the Philadelphia Marathon

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Ethan Brown '25
Features Editor

Two weeks ago, I finally did something that I’ve wanted to do since I started running in high school: I ran a marathon. To anyone who’s talked to me for more than a minute during the past four months, this is probably not news, because I’m (a) annoying and (b) repetitive. But I have a good tradition in the Law Weekly of reviewing different runs—including the Law School’s annual “Run with Jim” and the Charlottesville Ten Miler—so it feels essential to now recap my experiences training for, and running, the 2023 Philadelphia Marathon.

Pictured: Nicholas Sheets '25 and Ethan Brown '25 running at mile six
Photo credit: Matthew Lowrie

Training[1]

I came into marathon training with about a decade of casual running experience. I never ran cross-country competitively, but my sister did, so from ages fourteen to eighteen my running was pretty piecemeal—a few miles at a time, a few days a week—and usually happened only when she wanted company on her easy runs. I started running on my own in college. By the time I registered for the Philadelphia Marathon back in July, I’d run five half-marathons, and usually ran about twenty-five to thirty miles a week. So, I wanted a training plan that didn’t start from the ground floor, but was also realistic about the fact that this was my first time running more than 13.1 miles.

I settled on Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 training program. This plan provides for four days of running—including a long run on Sunday—as well as one day of cross-training and two days off each week. The plan is eighteen weeks long, so I started it in late July. I did a decent job of adhering to it, save for a few missteps, like not cross-training during about half of the weeks and skipping one long run (my nineteen miler) on a particularly rough weekend for work where I just couldn’t be bothered. At most, the plan as written peaks at thirty-five miles a week, but I exceeded this occasionally and hit up to forty-five miles a few weeks in October. All in all, the plan felt incredibly accessible. Next marathon, I’m certainly going to follow a plan with more guidance for speed workouts, but I am glad I chose this one for my first go.

Why Philadelphia?

I knew I wanted to do a fall marathon—what’s better than a weekend long run in Charlottesville during autumn?—but unsurprisingly, there are many September, October, and November races out there. I thought about doing the Richmond Marathon in mid-November (just a week before Philly!), but I had already run the half marathon there twice and wanted to try something new. So, when I heard over the summer that several other UVA Law students were running Philly, I figured I would join the herd.

On that note, there were a genuinely staggering amount of UVA folks running the race despite it being almost 300 miles away; I know of about ten other 2Ls who ran it too. Among them was Bryce Campanelli ’25, who in addition to running an incredibly speedy race, led a fundraiser through Movember to publicize men’s mental health issues in the weeks preceding the marathon.[2]

Pictured: Movember fundraiser participants
Photo credit: Bryce Campanelli '25

Race Weekend

 Philly totally passed the vibe check, which I aptly described in my article reviewing the Ten-Miler as being based on three factors: weather, route, and spectators.

First, the weather was fantastic; we enjoyed a crisp, sunny 37 degrees at the start line, which warmed up gradually over the course of the morning. I overdressed a little because I was nervous about being chilly, so I wore shorts and running tights, as well as a long-sleeve top. Next time, I’ll stick to just shorts.

Second, I loved the route. Since I’d never been to Philadelphia before, I appreciated that the route covered some of Philly’s most notable sights, including City Hall, Independence Hall, UPenn, suburban Manayunk, and the iconic “Rocky steps” at the Museum of Art. My only qualm is that the last eight or so miles were an “out-and-back” between downtown Philly to Manayunk, and if there’s anything you don’t want to see at mile seventeen, it’s the mile marker for mile twenty-three that you happen to be six miles away from passing.

Third, the spectator game was strong. Luckily, the points of the race where I felt most worn down were also the places with the most spectators. A surprisingly high number of them called out their encouragement using my name, which I had printed on my bib; it’s lame, but the personalization helped. I also was very fortunate to have my boyfriend and my former college roommate travel with me to Philly to cheer me on.

So yes, every factor was there for a good race. But honestly, I enjoyed the marathon even more than I thought I would.[3] Everyone always calls law school a marathon, so it felt deeply poetic to run a “real” marathon as I near (almost exactly) the halfway point of this one, with my 2L fall almost over. And I obviously found it rewarding to check something off my bucket list that’d been there for almost a decade, especially since I’d made the time to do it during a particularly stressful few months. I am already excited for my next marathon, and if this article piqued your interest, I hope to see you out there next time.

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bwj2cw@virginia.edu

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[1] I am genuinely the world’s most average runner—I placed just above median in my age division of men 20-24 at the race—so take my training “recommendations,” if you can even call them that, with several grains of salt. I’m out here for vibes, not speed. If you want tips from faster folks, reach out to some of the cool people at the North Grounds Track Club!

[2] You can donate to Bryce’s fundraiser here: https://movember.com/m/14977163?mc=1.

[3] This is in no small part to the fact that I ran every step of the 26.2 miles with my friend Nicholas Sheets ’25.

Open Democracy: A New American Experiment?

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Andrew Allard '25
Executive Editor

For the American public, it is a truism that ours is a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” But how well does our democracy succeed in meeting this high standard? Today, Americans deeply disagree over whether our elections produce results that accurately reflect the public’s wishes. The tragic events of January 6 made this especially clear, but America’s democratic woes long predate that unfortunate day. Voters’ concerns about elections are wide-ranging, including debate over Voter ID requirements, absentee voting, and ballot collection. These concerns reflect disagreements about the balance between election security and access to the ballot box. But such disagreement also extends to more fundamental structural issues, such as how we should draw voting districts and whether the electoral college’s occasionally counter-majoritarian results are desirable in a modern democracy.

Pictured: Hélène Landemore
Photo Credit: helenelandemore.com

Lawyers have an especially important role to play in answering these questions. Because in the American tradition, the law itself is legitimated by the consent of the governed,[1] protecting democracy is tantamount to protecting the rule of law. Recent Supreme Court decisions—such as those interpreting the Voting Rights Act and addressing partisan gerrymandering—illustrate the importance of lawyers’ role in shaping democracy. Similarly, Congress cautiously stepped into the role of protecting democracy when, in the wake of efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, it passed the Electoral Count Reform Act.[2]

But the gravity of democratic decline requires more from us than a reactive posture. We must consider how democracy can be revitalized, and we must remain open to innovative and experimental alternatives to the existing paradigm. We must, like the Founders, look to nascent ideas rooted in the principles of self-government for inspiration. As lawyers, we should familiarize ourselves with these ideas, vigorously debate their utility, and determine how they can be adapted to our existing legal framework.

In that spirit, Hélène Landemore’s Open Democracy[3] is an excellent place to start. Landemore is a professor of political science at Yale University who specializes in democratic theory. In Open Democracy, Landemore argues that traditional legislatures often fail to meet the ideals of self-government. “Modern parliaments themselves are intimidating buildings that are hard to access for the vast majority of citizens. They are typically gated and guarded. It also feels to many as if only certain types of people—those with the right suit, the right accent, bank account, connections, or even last names—are welcome to enter them.”[4] To supplement traditional legislatures, Landemore proposes, among other things, a system of “open mini-publics”: randomly-selected assemblies of citizens, gathered for the purpose of lawmaking. Such a system, Landemore argues, allows the citizenry to participate directly in governing when representative authorities have failed to enact popular legislation.

Landemore’s ideas are admittedly radical. But American lawyers should appreciate them for many reasons; I will offer three. Firstly, Landemore’s ideas are rooted in history. As Landemore explains, modern democracy looks very little like its historical predecessors. As examples, Landemore cites the use of democracy by lot in Athens, the Icelandic Vikings’ practice of gathering in a field each summer to form a parliament,[5]and New England’s historical use of town hall meetings. Contrary to popular belief, early democracies did not generally engage exclusively in direct democracy. They, too, were representative, but representation was decided by lot or self-selection, rather than by competitive elections. These historic systems—though not without their flaws—emphasize openness and participation.

Secondly, Landemore’s ideas build on an existing American legal practice: the jury. Landemore compares the mini-public to “a supersized version of the criminal jury in the American system.”[6] Landemore points out that juries are too small to offer an accurate sample of the population. But they are nonetheless rooted in the ideals of community wisdom and participatory democracy.

Lastly, Landemore’s ideas, like the legal system itself, rely on deliberation and pluralism. As lawyers, we understand that truth can be frustratingly elusive. For that reason, we have the adversarial system, which searches for truth through zealous argumentation between parties with opposing interests. As Justice Kagan once eloquently put it, “No one has a monopoly on truth or wisdom. We make progress by listening to each other.”[7] Landemore’s open democracy ensures that we listen to each other, and not just those with the skills, capital, and connections necessary to win elections.

Of course, reasonable people can disagree with Landemore’s proposals. But no American should reject them as too extreme. The United States is an experiment in self-government. To advocate for innovative and even radical approaches to self-government is deeply rooted in our nation’s history. In the face of new challenges to our democracy, perhaps that history is the answer.

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tya2us@virginia.edu

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[1] The Declaration of Independence para. 2 (U.S. 1776) (“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed . . . .”).

[2] H.R. 2617, 107th Cong. (2022) (clarifying that the Vice President’s role in presiding over vote counting in Congress is “solely ministerial” and raising the number of objections required in each house of Congress to challenge a state’s slate of electors).

[3] Hélène Landemore, Open Democracy: Reinventing Popular Rule for the Twenty-First Century (2020).

[4] Id. at 2.

[5] The Icelandic “Althing,” founded in 930 A.D., is one of the world’s oldest national parliaments. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Althing.

[6] Landemore at 13.

[7] Excerpts of Elena Kagan's Opening Statement Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, The White House Off. of the Press Sec’y (June 28, 2010), https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/excerpts-elena-kagans-opening-statement-senate-judiciary-committee.

A Runner's Guide to Charlottesville

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Caitlin Flanagan '24
Staff Editor

As both a Double Hoo and a person who finds it difficult to relax by staying still, I’ve been running around this town for (going-on) seven years. Somehow, I’m still finding new fun routes, and love being shown hidden charming neighborhoods by friends. I’ve never encountered as many former cross-country stars in one place as I have here at the Law School. So, this crowd-sourced runner’s guide to Charlottesville aims to save newcomers to the area from pounding out too many miles in the tepid climate of the North Grounds Recreation Center or, perhaps worse, running along Route 29.

Best Routes:

(1) The Corner to W. Main Street to the Downtown Mall:

 If you’re looking for a relatively flat route buzzing with the quirks of city life, from the sounds of the accordion on the Mall, to the smell of several bakeries, to the trudge of hungover undergrads on the Corner, look no further than running down West Main Street and down the Mall. Sometimes the sidewalk is a bit narrow, but that seems a worthy price to pay in exchange for one of the livelier routes in town.

(2) The Rivanna Trail

There are several points of entry to the Trail. Some are more running-friendly, and some require a lightness of foot that I, unfortunately, lack. Lately, I’ve been running from a small trail-like path over by the Wool Factory to get onto the larger, paved trail. This is a lovely (above pictured) run alongside the Rivanna River that is, miraculously, also flat!

(3) The Monticello Trail

The Saunders-Monticello trail is four miles of paved walking path. It is runnable, but as the path does wind its way up to Monticello, it is a challenging uphill climb. Worth it for the views, though!

(4) John Warner Parkway

I am a bit directionally challenged and therefore have not yet entirely pieced together how each part of this route comes together. But every time I find myself on a piece of it, it is really quiet, except for the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

(5) Main Grounds

Running from the Rotunda over to First Year dorms is a real walk down memory lane for me, and a run through a beautiful college campus (Grounds) for you! I recommend swinging a left once you get to Alderman Road and then running over in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood, too—lots of cute streets and homes.

Best Races:

(1) Charlottesville Ten Miler

The Ten-Miler somehow manages to be the perfect soft launch for spring every year. The course is perfect, and so many people come out to cheer. Usually, the trees have begun to bud, but there’s a bit of a chill in the air. And ten miles is so impressive, yet also so doable!

(2) Richmond Marathon, Half Marathon or 8K

Richmond is a charming and often under-explored (for UVA students) city. They call it “America’s Friendliest Marathon” for a reason: There are so many happy runners and happy onlookers!

(3) Charlottesville Marathon or Half Marathon

For whatever reason, the energy around these races never seems as electric as the Ten-Miler. I think the course is far hillier, and when I convinced my mom to do it with me, she said this is “the last half marathon” she’d ever do. So, not my favorite.

Best Ways to Make Running Friends:

(1) Send a message in your Section GroupMe!

I made some friends from these early “Anyone want to run?” type texts and still run with some of those buddies today.

(2) Try out Cou Cou Rachou Run Club

You wake up early, show up at 6:30 a.m. at Cou Cou Rachou, run three miles, and get a couple dollars off whatever delicious pastry you want! I cannot imagine a better way to start a Thursday morning.

(3) Prolyfyck

I haven’t been, but have heard from friends that this Black-led running group has a “no one left behind” policy, where they wait for you at the top of hills, which seems really nice if also potentially embarrassing. They were also at the Richmond races this last weekend and cheered me on in a moment of real desperation.

(4) Random Row Run Club

If beer is more your speed than pastries, try out Random Row Run Club! They meet at 6 p.m. on Mondays to run a 5K, followed by beer deals! 

(5) Run with Jim Ryan!

I am not sure how often this happens, but it seems cute.

Best Place to Buy Running Gear:

Ragged Mountain Running Shop! Although I actually can’t even think of anywhere else in town, this is my favorite place even taking my hometown running store into account. They’re so helpful and friendly, and there’s even parking behind the store if you, like me, generally avoid the Corner for parking reasons.

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cf3tf@virginia.edu

Plaintiff-Side Litigation: Instead of Answering, You Can Also Write Complaints!

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Garrett Coleman '25
Managing Editor

Because there is such a dearth of knowledge on the subject, the editorial board of this paper has coerced me into writing an article on plaintiff’s side litigation. This was something of an odd choice given that I am privileged and happy to have a job at a large firm specializing in defense work. But since I interned at a plaintiff’s firm this past summer and have a father who is a terrific plaintiff’s attorney in California, I am an expert in the area as far as fancy law schools go. Before you quit reading and rest easy in the comfort of your future career at Simpson Thacher, remember where your bread gets buttered—Apple will only consider paying those exorbitant fees because of the sweat and tears of the plaintiff’s bar, the men and women who, though few, take on large teams of T-14 dweebs.

The first thing to note about plaintiff’s work is the character of people who are attracted to it. These are righteous men and women willing to risk it all, with a predominantly old school bent. On nearly every car ride to lunch with the attorneys I worked for, they would mention how the named partners really cared for their clients. They were old people harmed by nearby construction, the families of minors killed in car accidents, and consumers who consistently lost money from monopolistic practices. Seeing those attorneys interact with clients, I believed in their sincerity. Even when there was no settlement to be obtained, my boss would routinely take calls from struggling people in his community looking for help. Similarly, my dad has spent the bulk of his career suing insurance companies who, in bad faith, deny benefits to their disabled insureds. Many of his clients have to live on credit cards through the litigation process. Because of this righteous cause, tensions would get high in the office. There was (some) yelling, a good amount of cursing, and plenty of aggressive walks through the halls. Good plaintiff’s lawyers are like crusaders, totally devoting themselves to a cause and willing to destroy everything in their path.

The second notable element strongly influences the culture at these firms: how they get paid. There are no billable hours, beyond estimates for calculating attorney fees when a statute allows for it. Instead, a plaintiff’s attorney worth his salt will charge on a contingency basis, meaning that he gets paid a fraction of the settlement or judgment award, usually in the range of 18 to 33 percent. This setup has certainly been good for the manufacturers of blood pressure medication. Complex cases will take years to resolve, while these entrepreneurial attorneys can do nothing but burn more time and money. This is a far cry from the constant streams of cash flow that defense firms garner.

There are, of course, some criticisms of contingency work. The first is that the payouts on large awards can dwarf what a defense attorney would have billed. Though after you calculate the expected return—factoring in the risk of dismissal—and discount it over the years of litigation, I am not sure that is true. And, more importantly, it gives anyone with a valid legal claim access to our judicial system. A more valid criticism is that contingency work functionally excludes small claims. A plaintiff’s attorney who wants to keep the lights on cannot take a tenant rights case for $5,000. That money is probably the difference between life and death for the client, but the expected payout is simply too low to justify the work. My response to this problem is that plaintiff’s work cannot be expected to remedy every societal ill, and these cases are best addressed by non-profit legal aid groups or state attorneys general acting as consumer watchdogs.

If none of this appeals to 1Ls or other students contemplating a career shift, you should also consider the experience opportunities that plaintiff’s work offers. Every young associate at the firm I worked for managed several small cases, arguing before the court along each step. We all know that this experience is more beneficial to the lawyer than being the third seat in a deposition. Plaintiff’s work offers its lawyers a trial-by-fire environment and should be attractive to anyone interested in jump-starting her career.

None of this is to say that plaintiff’s lawyers are God’s gift to man. After making fun of me for applying to Big Law firms, my former supervisor admitted that business would grind to a halt if plaintiff’s attorneys got everything they wanted. If judges did nothing more than greenlight their complaints, then this would absolutely be true. Zealous defense attorneys have an important role to play in preserving a workable economy and defending their clients. Further, there are undeniably bad incentives for the less-skilled plaintiff’s attorneys to harass defendants with untenable claims, hoping only to survive a motion to dismiss and settle. In such cases, it is the defense bar that has the better claim to a righteous cause.

But at a fancy law school like ours, the defense perspective is omnipresent. All I hope to convey is that plaintiff’s work can be exciting, morally gratifying, and lucrative. Even though I have chosen to take another route, I do so mindful of the fact that not everyone sitting on the right side in a courtroom will be a conman.

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jxu6ad@virginia.edu

First-Gen Law Students Stand Up and Stand Out

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Ryan Moore ‘25
Law Weekly Historian

Last Wednesday, November 8, the Virginia Law First-Generation Professionals (VLFGP) hosted an event celebrating National First-Gen Day. First-generation UVA Law students gathered in WB 125 for community, as well as hot chocolate, coffee, and free t-shirts. VLFGP President Ugomma Ugwu-Uche ’25 organized the event as a way for first-generation members of UVA Law to gather and share our struggles and successes as  first-generation law students.

I say “our” struggles and successes because I am a first-generation law student as well. VLFGP’s event induced me to do my own research into first-generation law students because when you are a first-generation law student, it can feel like everybody else has lawyers in their family and knows how law school operates. The truth is not far off.

A first-generation student is typically someone who is among the first in their immediate family to attend higher education. First-generation professional students would therefore be among the first in their family to attend a professional school (medical, business, law, etc.). Per The National Association of Law Placement (NALP), first-generation college students made up about 23 percent of 2020 law school graduates.[1] But this number breaks down by race. Out of the Class of 2020 nationwide, 42 percent of Latino law students, 36 percent of Black law students, and 55 percent of Indigenous law students were first-generation college students.[2] By comparison, white law school graduates were most likely to have at least one parent who is a lawyer, at 18 percent.[3] Unfortunately, I do not have UVA Law specific numbers.

VLFGP’s goal is to address these disparities between first-generation and other college and professional students by facilitating the transition to law school. The organization is geared towards assisting first-generation college students, first-generation professional students, students from immigrant backgrounds, and students from low-income or working-class backgrounds. VLFGP addresses barriers that exist in the legal profession with the goal of making law school, and the legal field itself, more inclusive. Most importantly, VLFGP helps first-generation students feel that we are welcome and supported at UVA Law.

Several of my classmates and I were interviewed by the Law School about what being a first-generation law student means to us. During my portion of the interview,[4] I mentioned that being a first-generation student was defined by “determination” and “difficulties.” “Determination,” because to be the first in your family to do anything takes a lot of drive and determination to chart your own path and make your own way. I said “difficulties” because, in any field, when you are first-generation, you lack that built-in familial knowledge of how the system works.

In law school, unfamiliarity with how legal education and the legal field works truly sets you behind. Law is, as we all are painfully aware, a field that values tradition. For the most part, the Socratic method, 1L curriculum, journal tryouts, casebook readings, and exams have all remained the same since our parents entered law school when they were our age.[5] Law itself is ever-changing as legislatures draft new laws to address societal and technological transformations, and judges issue opinions interpreting those laws. But legal education and the legal field itself remain relatively static. And if a process or institution remains static, there is a premium placed on those with prior knowledge of how that institution operates.

In law school, that can look like parents who understand the stress of 1L year and send you care packages. It can look like family members who understand you cannot make the same time for them as you could before. Maybe you have an aunt or uncle who can review and provide you feedback on your first year LRW memo.[6] Maybe your parents drill you on doctrinal law over Thanksgiving break to prepare you for exams.[7] Getting quizzed on the elements of negligence by your parents over Thanksgiving dinner sounds like my personal Hell and gives off major gunner energy. But the food at white peoples’ Thanksgiving dinners usually sucks anyway, so how could things get any worse?[8]

I do not resent my classmates with lawyers in their families in the slightest for these advantages. I think America needs the best trained lawyers that our society and educational system can turn out. And if your parents have trained you to study the law since birth like a Soviet gymnast, good for you, you freak. All I mean is to highlight the differences between first-generation law students and those who have lawyers in their families. These differences are not “good” or “bad,” they just are. There is nothing any student in this school can do about their family situation. I am just glad there is a student organization at UVA Law that recognizes us.

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tqy7zz@virginia.edu

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[1] https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/having-lawyer-parents-boosts-job-prospects-salaries-law-grads-2021-10-20/.

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] You can find our interview in full as a Reel on the UVA Law Instagram page. I highly encourage you to check out what our classmates shared about themselves.

[5] Except my parents, because again, you know, the whole first-gen thing.

[6] This is a true story.

[7] Again, also a true story.

[8] I took my wife to Thanksgiving hosted by the Black side of my family and she cleaned plate.

The Unique Joy of Weekend Dim Sum

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Andrew Allard '26
Executive Editor

The weekend brunch is a staple of young adult life. So broad is its appeal that even busy law students have been known to partake. And with good reason—what other meal offers such a wide variety of sweet, savory, and boozy options? Best of all, brunch's late afternoon availability allows diners—encourages them, even—to laze away their Sunday mornings. But in this writer’s view, another weekend culinary outing is unjustly overlooked: dim sum.

Dim sum and brunch have little in common besides their loose time frames. At dim sum, tea takes the place of booze, the meal is predominantly savory (though sweet options are available), and the overall mood is hurried as compared to the sauntering pace of brunch. But even dedicated brunchers should have dim sum at least once during their short time on this earth. Trust me—you won’t be missing your mimosa when you’re sinking your teeth into a crispy roast duck.

Sadly, Charlottesville is sorely lacking in dim sum.[1] But this did not stop me, and it certainly should not stop you. The nearest dim sum restaurant[2] is Full Kee, an hour's drive away in Richmond. But I suggest you make the trek up to North Virginia for the full experience at Hong Kong Pearl. I realize that I'm suggesting a two-hour drive for food, which takes us squarely out of "lazy Sunday morning" territory. Trust me. I have my reasons.

1. I know my audience.

I am writing for UVA Law students, who together account for 63% of all annual utterances of the phrase “I'm going up to DC this weekend.” So I know you have the time for a DC trip. In fact, you were probably already planning one. Stop in Falls Church for dim sum on the way.

2. You cannot fully experience dim sum without The Carts™.

A meal is more than just the food. It is an experience. And this is especially true of dim sum. Don't be fooled—a restaurant can serve siu mai[3] and lo mai gai[4] fit for a king, but it is not a true dim sum restaurant without the swarm of carts.

At Hong Kong Pearl, shortly after you have been seated, waiters pushing carts full of food will ambush your table at breakneck speed. Armed with a variety of tasty dishes, the waiters will call out their menu offerings to your table. The enthusiasm with which waiters peddle their dishes is a unique and delightful element of any good dim sum restaurant.

But it is also perilous. Even an experienced dim sum goer can let their appetite get the best of them, seizing on too many dishes too quickly. And for the first timer, the shouted laundry list of menu items can be intimidating.

Worry not. The fear is by design. Imagine if eating on a rollercoaster were possible, or for that matter enjoyable—a place where dining meets thrill-seeking in an awesome culinary experience. That is dim sum.

3. The food speaks for itself.

Dim sum plates are small to medium sized, making them ideal for sharing. The plethora of dishes include steamed vegetables, soy-soaked rice noodles, fried shellfish of all kinds, and dumplings galore. The list goes on. Bring a few friends and you can try a bit of everything.

Be sure to make it before 3 p.m. when the carts are still in service, keeping in mind that there is usually a line on weekends. If you make the trip, send me an email. I’d love to hear about it. Or better yet, bring me with you.

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tya2us@virginia.edu

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Pictured (left to right): Char siu bao (叉燒包), a dim sum classic: Sweet barbeque pork wrapped in a fluffy wheat bun. Shrimp cheung fun (腸粉), a personal favorite: Shrimp in rice noodle rolls, doused in a sweet and salty sauce. Har gow (蝦餃), one of many dumplings served at dim sum: Filled with shrimpand have a thin, but pleasantly chewy skin. Roast duck (烤鴨): Not the famous Peking duck, but its lesser known (no less delicious) Cantonese cousin. Salty, fatty, heavenly.

Photo and Caption Credit: Shen Zhu and Andrew Allard '25

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[1] To any enterprising Charlottesville restaurateurs, you can expect my business every weekend if you fix this problem.

[2] That is, the nearest one that I am aware of. Reader, if you know of a closer dim sum restaurant, I implore you to email me about it.

[3] 燒賣, a steamed pork and shrimp dumpling and a favorite of many dim sum goers.

[4] 糯米雞, a delicious medley of sticky rice, chicken, sausage, mushrooms, and other goodies. Lo mai gai is served hiding in a lotus leaf, like a gift waiting to be unwrapped. This makes it easy to miss for first timers. You should avoid this mistake at all costs.

PILA Auction Items for Fall 2024

Ethan Brown '25
Features Editor

Last weekend, many UVA Law students attended the annual PILA Ball, put on by our wonderful public interest organization here on North Grounds. I did not attend this year—which is somewhat ironic given that I ended up being the only person writing about it—but I had a fantastic time going last November. I actually wound up winning two auctions, one from the Libel Show and one from none other than Professor Joe Fore’s Punctuated Law Designs.[1] 

Was it worth the more than $200 I ultimately ended up spending? Well, that’s debatable. After all, all I got from the Libel Show was a name shout out in a skit.[2] And I lost half of Professor Fore’s basket during Thanksgiving break, when I left its cutesy monogrammed Constitution water bottle on a park bench. (Hilariously, a kind soul of a law student—Michael Pruitt ’24—found it and returned it to me, but guess what I did three days after that? Lose it again). Regardless, my PILA Ball memories have lasted forever, even if that poor water bottle didn’t in my clutches. 

Still, as the diligent Law Weekly reader has learned, I am at my happiest when I can prattle off suggestions for how to improve things that I have no knowledge of. To that end, here are some ideas for things at the Law School (and around Charlottesville!) that I’d love to see auctioned off at my 3L PILA Ball next November. Come to think of it, next year’s event will probably happen the weekend before the presidential election. So, yikes. We’re going to need some fun stuff to distract ourselves.

A Gunner Pit Lamp That Works

Blah blah blah, I know. “It’s toxic to work in the Gunner Pit.” But sometimes I like to pretend I’m a fancy boy, and the Pit is quite conducive to that, with its cozy wood paneling and congressional records that no one (except for the sycophantic 2Ls on VLR) have touched since 2004. My love for the Gunner Pit is why I’d pay an exorbitant amount of money to actually have a frigging lamp that works there. Some are too bright. Some are too dim. Some just straight up don’t have knobs. Seeing me at 8 a.m. in the morning trying to find the best one is like the world’s saddest rendition of Goldilocks trying the different bowls of porridge. So PILA, make this sad boy’s life a little better, and put a functional lamp on the auction list next year. I promise to bid.

Individually Controlled Shades for the Gunner Pit

See above, but the opposite problem: sometimes there is also too much light in the Gunner Pit. This, too, is deeply distressing. (And clearly, I am spending too much time in there). At around 11 a.m. or noon each sunny day, the light streams in with an intensity that makes me fear God. (Photographic evidence is attached). So, I propose the Law School contribute a set of shades for the Gunner Pit skylight, which one lucky winner will have sole proprietary rights over. This is an awesome burden to carry, but I trust my classmates to use their newfound power responsibly, and hopefully make it so that I never have to look like a ninety-year-old vampire in the library again.

Pictured: Ethan Brown '25 in his absolute glory in the Pit sun
Photo Credit: Molly Gibson '25

Fifteen Minutes of Access to the Law School Foundation on the Top Floor of the Law School

In my headcanon, the Law School Foundation is a sort of Atlantis—a forbidden, unfamiliar world just out of grasp. What goes on up there? Surely nothing too exciting. But until proven otherwise, it feels like a shadowy underworld, and it is one I have an irrational desire to investigate. This is probably something that most law students wouldn’t pay more than ten dollars for. But I’d probably cough up at least twenty.

A Bodo’s “Jump the Line” Pass

This one I’d really mess up my financial future for. Every Sunday I make my pilgrimage to the Emmet Street Bodo’s. Also every Sunday I stand in line for fifteen minutes cursing myself for my decision to wait in the cold, in my ugly little Hoka slides, for my silly little bagel. I dream of a DisneyWorld-style pass where I could skip merrily to the front of the line with a simple wave, and would probably surrender my life savings for it.

Poker Night with Lisa Napier from Student Affairs

The professors are cool and all, but I’m sorry, this is Lisa’s world, and we’re all living in it. PILA could fund 1Ls at a big law rate if this one went on sale next year.

 Hilariously, I have made it through 800 words by essentially complaining about how bad the lighting in the gunner pit is. And if that isn’t lawyerly loquaciousness at its finest, I don’t know what is. Happy PILA season!

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bwj2cw@virginia.edu

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[1] Dropping the link to his merch because low key, it’s really cute. https://punctuatedlaw.myshopify.com/.

[2] Honestly, the thrill of hearing “Ethan Brown!!!!” shouted loudly in an auditorium was less exciting than I anticipated.

From UVA Law Student to Beloved Nintendo Character: The Story of John Kirby, Jr.

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Ryan Moore ‘25
Law Weekly Historian

As the Law Weekly’s self-appointed historian, I often wander the halls of the Law School. This week I found myself standing before the wall of William Minor Lile Moot Court Competition winners. The names of prior winners are etched into plaques affixed to the wall for all eternity. The most notable name by far is the late Edward “Ted” Kennedy ’59, the eight-term Democratic senator from Massachusetts and one-time primary challenger to President Jimmy Carter. Ted Kennedy was a notoriously bad law student, maintaining a C average. But, relying on that old Kennedy oratory charm, he pulled through and won the 1959 Lile Moot Court Competition.

But this is not an article about Ted Kennedy; much ink has been spilled on him and his family, the only political royalty this country has ever known. This article is about the 1966 Lile Moot Court winner whose name and plaque sit directly below Kennedy’s: John J. Kirby, Jr ’66. Only a few law students know that John Kirby is known inside Nintendo as their “savior” after defending the company in 1983. Even fewer know that John Kirby is the namesake of the Nintendo video game character “Kirby.”

Pictured: John Kirby's Moot Court Plaque
Photo Credit: Ryan Moore '25

Pictured: Nintendo's Kirby
Photo Credit: Nintendo

In 1983, Nintendo was an upstart video game company trying to break into the American market. Originally founded in 1889 as, of all things, a playing card company, Nintendo entered the video game arcade market in the late 1970s. Nintendo struggled to gain a foothold in the United States until their 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong. In Donkey Kong, you play as “Jumpman,” tasked with rescuing “Pauline” from the evil “Donkey Kong” who kidnapped her. The player engages in a series of platform jumping puzzles as they climb up a series of ladders. Donkey Kong was so popular with the arcade gaming public that, in less than a year, Nintendo sold 60,000 Donkey Kong arcade machines and earned $180 million in the United States alone.[1]

Astute readers might notice that “Donkey Kong” sounds a little too much like “King Kong.” Universal Studios, which had released a 1976 remake of the movie King Kong, thought Nintendo’s giant ape resembled their own giant ape enough to warrant suit. Universal Studios sued Nintendo for trademark infringement, alleging that “Donkey Kong” was an unlicensed version of the ape from King Kong.[2]

This is where 1966 UVA Law grad and Moot Court co-champion John Kirby comes in. Nintendo hired John Kirby, then a partner with Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon, to represent them. During Kirby’s research, he discovered that Universal Studios had previously represented in court that the story and character of “King Kong” were in the public domain. In 1975, Universal Studios sued the studio behind the original King Kong film. Universal Studios successfully argued that because the character and story of “King Kong” were in the public domain, they should be allowed to remake the movie without paying royalties. Kirby also identified key differences between “Donkey Kong” and “King Kong.”

After a seven-day trial, Kirby’s arguments ultimately prevailed. District Court Judge Robert W. Sweet held that, while “this is a dispute over two gorillas,”[3] both apes were sufficiently distinguishable. “King Kong [is] a ferocious gorilla in quest of a beautiful woman.” Meanwhile, “Donkey Kong is comical and entertaining . . . farcical, childlike and nonsexual.”[4] Those are not the words I would use to describe Donkey Kong, but then again I do not hold life tenure on the federal bench. Yet.

Nintendo was allowed to continue using the name “Donkey Kong.” Nintendo used the success of Donkey Kong to market their new home video gaming console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). To ensure the successful launch of their new system, Nintendo re-branded Donkey Kong’s Jumpman character as “Mario” and gave him his own video game franchise, Super Mario Bros. The rest, as they say, is history.

To thank John Kirby, Nintendo named the video game character “Kirby” after him. The character Kirby is, to quote my wife, an “elastic pink puff ball that can transform into anything it inhales.” Kirby was also the first character I played as in Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64. Nintendo also gifted John Kirby a twenty-seven-foot sailboat aptly named “Donkey Kong,” and granted him the exclusive right to use the name “Donkey Kong” for all sailboats in perpetuity. In 1992, Kirby was gifted an advance copy of Kirby’s Dream Land, one of my favorite childhood Game Boy games.

Kirby died on October 2, 2019, at age seventy-nine from cancer. But his memory lives on in the UVA Law community through a name on a plaque on the second floor of Slaughter Hall. And, of course, through the cute, loveable, little pink character that shares his name.

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tqy7zz@virginia.edu

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[1] Steven L. Kent, The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World (2002).

[2] Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., 578 F. Supp. 911 (S.D.N.Y. 1983), aff'd, 746 F.2d 112 (2d Cir. 1984).

[3] Id. at 913.

[4] Id. at 928.

Office of Financial Aid, Education, and Planning Leads Budgeting Workshop

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Brent Rice ‘25
Staff Editor

On Halloween day, the Office of Financial Aid, Education, and Planning put on a workshop entitled “Budgeting for Life.” I, alongside a group of my classmates, filtered into WB 128 partly to get my spending situation in order, partly due to the promise of sweet treats included in the email about the event, and mainly for the reason that I could not think of anything scarier than coming to terms with the reality of my finances. The session did not disappoint as Jennifer Hulvey, Senior Advisor to the Office, donned a witch costume (complete with a black hat) and cast a spell on the room with stories of financial mastery.

Pictured: Jennifer Hulvey in costume
Photo Credit: Brent Rice '25

First, Look Back

Instead of seeing the future, a look into Hulvey’s crystal ball would likely reveal a trip into the past. Hulvey shared, “every decision you make [about money] today is impacted by the nuclear family with which you grew up.” She encouraged the room to think about whether their memories about money growing up were good, bad, or something they didn’t have to think about at all, before sharing a few personal stories that have come to shape her relationship with money today. Her relationship, like the relationship of others who have come from relatively modest means, is centered around a discipline, guilt when spending, and a scarcity mentality that impacts all of her financial decision-making.

Then, Start Where You Are

As the presentation shifted more into the mechanics of budgeting, Hulvey emphasized that she understands how hard it can be to get going while stressing that budgeting, in order to be successful, needs to become a habit. If you are not sure where to start, she suggested you begin by simply tracking what you spend with a goal of understanding “what it costs to be you.” While there are numerous apps and tools out there to accomplish this task, Hulvey seemed particularly fond of a website/app called “You Need a Budget,” which offers a free year of service to students and comes with a suite of reporting and analytical tools.

The Four Rules of Budgeting

The conversation next turned to the magic formula for financial success—Hulvey’s four rules of budgeting.

Rule 1: Give Every Dollar a Job. This stands for the proposition that a budget should begin by taking a look at your income and spending/saving plan such that when you subtract the latter from the former, you are left with zero dollars remaining. For those who are not yet sure about what their income will be, Hulvey recommended visiting www.paycheckcity.com, where you can put in your projected salary and have it adjusted for federal, state, and local taxes.

Rule 2: Embrace your True Expenses. The goal behind this rule is to keep your budget level and avoid any large spikes in spending by accounting for everything in advance. This may involve saving each month for large holiday spending at the end of the year, adjusting for expected end-of-year tax expenses, and planning for annual vehicle maintenance.

Rule 3: Roll with the Punches. Recognizing that a budget is a tool to help you, Hulvey encouraged attendees to move spending allocations around in their budget when needed (either voluntarily due to desired purchases or involuntarily due to unexpected expenses) to make their budget fit their changing needs.

Rule 4: Age your Money. This maxim stands for the idea that you should live on your last month's income, rather than paycheck-to-paycheck, to avoid risk during unexpected turmoil.

Final Tips

The afternoon’s conversation also included a discussion of working with your life partner to understand both of your goals and make a plan that everyone can live with, a recommendation to get receipts for all purchases so that multiple items bought at one store can be properly allocated to their appropriate spending category, and to automate any payments and expenses that you can to take advantage of interest rate discounts and save time. It’s no TRICK; if you’ve found this article beneficial, my last piece of advice to you would be to stop ghosting your financial responsibilities and TREAT yourself to an appointment with the office to get more individualized assistance today.

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wrf4bh@virginia.edu  

Five Takeaways from 1L So Far

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Brooke Boyer '26
Staff Editor

It’s strange to think that just a little over two months ago, I had not even set foot inside a law school class, briefed a case, or heard of “outlining.” Fast forward two months, however, I’ve read and briefed tons of cases, attended networking events, and started to contemplate summer internships. Final exams are quickly approaching, and the outlining process has begun. As we pass the mid-semester mark, I’ve had the time to reflect on some of the key things I have learned as a 1L here at UVA Law.

1. Law school is hard!

This one may seem a bit obvious, but law school is hard. I learned very quickly that I may have initially underestimated how challenging law school really is. On top of reading hundreds of cases and taking notes, we juggle our involvement in student organizations, the search for summer jobs, our social lives, and the tasks of everyday life. Sometimes twenty-four hours in a day just doesn’t seem like enough time to get everything done. Even though it can feel a bit overwhelming and difficult to keep up, the busy nature of 1L year has motivated me to develop a more consistent routine and find balance amid the chaos. Specifically, I’ve learned how important it is to prioritize taking time for myself, even if it’s as simple as going to bed early or getting a matcha latte at Starbucks.

2. Cold calls aren’t *THAT* scary

Long before even deciding that I wanted to go to law school, I distinctly remember watching the first episode of How to Get Away with Murder and feeling Wesley’s fear as Professor Keating intimidatingly pressed him on the meaning of “mens rea.” As Wesley desperately searched his criminal law casebook for the answer, Professor Keating chastised him for his lack of preparedness, and his peers laughed at him. That scene was what I envisioned law school to be like until I actually became a law student.

After being cold called several times and seeing others get cold called, though, I learned that the televised portrayals of what law school is like are far from accurate. In reality, no one really cares if you bomb a cold call or volunteer the wrong answer in class. No one will laugh at you and the professor will probably just move on to the next student. Even though I have undeniably felt embarrassed in the moment after not giving the greatest answer on a cold call, I’ve learned that others will forget about the incident in minutes, and I eventually will as well.

3. You WILL start thinking like a lawyer—inside and (weirdly) outside of the classroom

When talking to those in the legal profession, I have been told time and time again that law school classes are meant to make students “think like lawyers.” Little did I know that this new way of thinking would not only happen in class, but extend far outside of the classroom as well. I find myself unironically making law-related jokes while out at Bar Review, thinking bitterly about the times I potentially could have sued, and hesitating to immediately click the box accepting the terms and conditions on a website. While the neurological side effects of law school are certainly strange, I take it as a good sign that I’m learning a lot and processing that information.

4. Having a solid support system makes all the difference

To reiterate the point stated in Takeaway #1, law school is HARD. As a result of these challenges, I’ve learned how important it is to maintain the important relationships in my life and have a solid support system of family, friends, and classmates to rely on. Whether its asking classmates in my section for help when I feel confused after a lecture (shoutout Section E), FaceTiming my parents to talk about completely non-law-related topics, or chatting with my roommate about our days, having people to count on and talk to when things get stressful has made navigating law school a lot less scary and lonely.

5. Law school is fun!

Even though law school is hard (see Takeaway #1), I’ve also learned that it’s a lot of fun—especially at UVA. Although there is a lot of work to be done each week, it is an amazing opportunity to be surrounded by so many driven individuals, learn from exceptional professors each day, and be a part of student organizations I am passionate about. There are also so many fun events both on campus and around Charlottesville. Whether it’s going to Carter Mountain for the Thursday Sunset Series, cheering for my sectionmates at softball games, hanging out in Spies between classes, or dressing up for Halloween, there is little time left over to be bored.

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ews6tm@virginia.edu 

Law Weekly's Spring Course Suggestions

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Ethan Brown ‘25
Features Editor

It’s the loveliest time of year at UVA Law: course selection. Each fall, about eight weeks from finals, we get to forget about the classes we’re actually enrolled in and instead focus our energies on deciding what classes will consume our lives in the spring. I always find this to be welcome news, because searching for and adding classes to my LCS list feels productive but requires no brainpower, unlike the thirty-five page paper I’m procrastinating.

But despite being very excited by many of the classes that our faculty are offering next semester, I have a few suggestions for classes I’d like to see added to the Course List, too. I’ve already done Dean Dugas ’01 and faculty members the courtesy of writing the course descriptions, so really, I see no excuse for these not being promptly added to my LCS log.

Uncivil Procedure

You’ve taken 1L Civil Procedure, but now, learn how to navigate the federal court system like a complete and utter jerk. Welcome to Uncivil Procedure. In this three-credit class, you’ll learn how to get under the skin of opposing counsel by everything from cleverly skirting around their discovery requests to the point of infuriation, to belittling them based on the law school they went to. Enrollment is limited to the most annoying gunners from your 1L section. If none come to mind, then surprise! You’re that gunner. Uncivil Procedure has automatically been added to your schedule accordingly.

Vampire Law (SC)

Inspired by the hit TV show What We Do In The Shadows, a mockumentary profiling the lives of three vampires in suburban Staten Island, this one-credit short course delves into the intricacies of vampire law. Topics include: jurisdictional authority of the Vampiric Council; legal and ethical considerations regarding the slaughter of innocents for their blood; intestate succession of the undead; and tort reform to provide a cause of action for dignitary torts involving a familiar’s request to be “turned” by a vampire other than his master.[1]The class runs during the coldest week of January from Monday, January 22 to Saturday, January 27,[2] from the stroke of midnight until the first sign of dawn. Professor’s identity unknown.[3]

Law and Attachment Styles Colloquium[4]

A lot of law students are in therapy. Who knew that putting a bunch of insecure, competitive, Type-A people who’ve based their entire worth on external validation for two decades might cause some heartache. But don’t worry; your maladaptive ways of coping with trauma and stress fit in neatly with the practice of law, which sustains itself on the constant neurosis of its practitioners!

In this four-credit class that gets curved to a B at the end of the semester—no floating curve for this bad boy!—students with Anxious, Avoidant, and Disorganized attachment styles will learn how being a lawyer will embolden their most toxic traits. For example, anxious students will be able to engage in simulations where their strong fear of authority-figure abandonment causes them to overcommit to projects in their first six months of Big Law. Avoidant students will get a glimpse at how they’ll shut out loved ones—and fall into a chasm of loneliness—as they navigate representing their first criminal defendant in court.

Academic Credit for Journals

LOL, what an unbelievable thought, even to this satire writer.

Constitutional Law XXX

We’ve all taken (or will soon take) Constitutional Law, and many UVA Law students have also taken a second sequence of the course aptly entitled “Constitutional Law II.” Those classes have historically tackled important topics like religious liberty, freedom of speech and the press, and poverty. But now try Constitutional Law XXX: Obscenity (which imports the Law School’s jovial Roman numeral tradition for these courses as a clever nod to its content.) Imagine how sick this one’s going to look on your transcript.

Passive-Aggressive Litigation Clinic

This yearlong clinic offers students a masterclass in passive-aggressive lawyering. Participants will learn how to apply their legal research, writing, and oral advocacy skills to future situations in their career where open negativity is discouraged, such as in the workplace or the courtroom. Students can expect to learn how to best use curt turns of phrase in emails to junior associates, how to communicate intense disdain through non-verbal cues, and how to convey a sense of unbridled disgust with those around you in just a few words.

After the first semester, students will be assigned to clients in need of passive-aggressive lawyering in the Charlottesville area. For example, some students can expect to help locals with drafting text messages to their far flung children, guilt-tripping them over not coming home for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Others may be assigned to the local office of the DMV, assisting those who need cutting yet subtle insults to direct towards the innocent people working there.

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bwj2cw@virginia.edu

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[1] Fans of the show who actually understand these references should listen to my boyfriend’s WWDITS show rewatch podcast, Brain Scramblies, available on Spotify. I promised him a promo.

[2] Vampire Law does not meet on Sundays, because duh.

[3] Because vampires are not a protected class under Title VII, they may not be protected from employment discrimination on the basis of their vampirism.

[4] Not endorsed by CAPS.

Legal Research Gets Spooky

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Ethan Brown '25
Features Editor

I learned two important things this week.

First, never trust Andrew Allard ’25 to be your advocate at the Virginia Law Weekly’s Monday meeting; despite pleading that he bring up my unavailability to write an article for this week’s issue during article assignments,[1] I now find myself typing furiously on my computer on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, relegated to committing what borders on journalistic malpractice by squeezing out an article as quickly as humanly possible.

Second, there’s a lot of litigation surrounding the holiday that soon approaches us: Halloween. To Andrew’s credit, when he informed me that I was on deck to write an article this week,[2] he gave me a pretty bang-up story idea: to investigate Halloween through the only lens a law student knows how—haphazard searches on Westlaw. The idea came partially from Andrew’s job as a Legal Writing Fellow for Professor Joe Fore, who introduced a new problem for this year’s 1Ls concerning the legal standard for impersonation of a federal official. While I was dismayed to hear that Professor Fore had retired the awesome saga of Chris Hopper’s Hop Lobster persona that dominated my 1L LRW experience, his new fact pattern made me think of a fascinating legal question. How, if at all, does October, and specifically Halloween—a holiday notorious for its elaborate costuming and deception—impact the ability to bring impersonation claims?

This seemed like a great question for about ten seconds. Until I did literally an ounce of research into it on Westlaw and realized that this idea, as hysterical as it sounds, has gone literally nowhere. Unsurprisingly. A quick query on Westlaw for “halloween” /p “false impersonation” yielded precisely zero results. But then my interest was piqued; what if I broadened the search to “halloween” /p “costume”? Then, my friends, things got good.

There are actually so many cases involving Halloween across so many legal fields. Torts, contracts, and criminal law predominate, but there’s a little something for everyone, just like the Halloween trick-or-treat bags of our youth.[3] As if everyone reading this article doesn’t have enough legal research in their life, I’d like to share some of the “bests” of Halloween law with you all. (And by the “bests” of Halloween law, I definitely don’t just mean some of the first several articles that come up on Westlaw.)

First, consider Guyer v. School Board of Alachua County.[4] In this thrilling Florida appellate case, a concerned parent sought a permanent injunction preventing the county’s public schools from displaying imagery of witches, cauldrons, and brooms. Appellants argued that these depictions constituted an endorsement of the Wiccan religion, thus violating the Establishment Clause. The fun-loving Florida District Court of Appeals had none of it, holding that Halloween festivities “serve a secular purpose” that “enhance[] a sense of community” and “do not foster any excessive entanglement between government and religion.”[5] So when you see spooky Halloween decorations around the Law School, thank the brilliant minds of the Guyer court and their like-minded jurists.

Second, consider a classic slip-and-fall accident exemplified by Bellikka v. Green.[6] While I’m not going to get into the granular details of this case, the basic premise is that the plaintiff fell into a large, partially concealed hole on the defendant’s driveway as she trick-or-treated with her preschool-aged children. Tort law aside—1Ls, this is an excellent opportunity to brush up on your premises liability, take notes—reading this case activated my fight-or-flight response. When I was a kid treat-or-treating in suburbia circa 2004, my neighborhood was particularly hilly; it took about ninety seconds to hike up to each house. One house was especially scary because the couple who lived there would purposefully turn off every light along their path and force you to walk up to the front door in total darkness. Some years, they’d dig little divots in the ground next to the path with the goal of tripping you up. I’m not saying I almost peed myself one year in my Mario costume, but I’m not not saying that. All this to say to the plaintiff in Bellikka: I really feel you, dude.

The treasures—or horrors?—continue. There are cases involving people using Halloween trick-or-treat messages to induce fraudulent signatures;[7] litigation over whether certain criminal defendants were above or below the acceptable age of trick or treat;[8] and so on. If you have a few minutes to spare while you’re dressing up for HalloQueen this Friday,[9] go ahead and treat yourself to the splendors of spooky-themed legal research. You (probably) won’t be disappointed.

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bwj2cw@virginia.edu

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[1] You might ask why I wasn’t there to plead my own case, but I had another meeting, and I really thought I could trust the man. Devastating.

[2] Again, I cannot reiterate enough how writing a weekly article is literally my only responsibility for the Law Weekly–the hint’s in the name—but I’m truly just so whiny.

[3] Minus the disgusting thirty Tootsie Rolls that I somehow always managed to end up with, ugh.

[4] 634 So.2d 806 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994).

[5] Id. at 808.

[6] 306 Or. 630, 762 P.2d 997 (1988).

[7] Fox v. "John Doe", 12 Misc. 3d 1168(A), 820 N.Y.S.2d 842 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2006).

[8] State v. Watson, 144 Mont. 576, 398 P.2d 949 (1965).

[9] Be there or be square!a

Careers in Immigration Law

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Ryan Moore '25
Law Weekly Historian

On Tuesday, October 17, the Immigration Law Society and International Refugee Assistance Program hosted an immigration law career panel. The panel featured speakers David Sobral of Montagut & Sobral, PC; Marissa Baer of the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC); and Hannah Flamm of the International Refugee Assistance Program. Like all good panels, lunch was provided at the beginning[1] of the event. What follows is a condensed and paraphrased summary of what was discussed.

Why practice immigration law? 

Baer works with H-2A farm workers for LAJC. During the farm season, she drives across Virginia to conduct “Know Your Rights” presentations for farm workers. She said it is important for H-2A immigration lawyers to build trust with the community to help workers overcome a fear of retaliation if they report labor violations. During the rest of the year, she works on large, impact litigation and class action projects for LAJC. She has also lobbied the Virginia General Assembly.

During her undergraduate years, Baer interned in a public defender’s office. She was originally interested in the intersection of criminal law and immigration (“crimmigration”), but once in law school, she realized she did not enjoy criminal law. Instead, she focused on immigration and fell in love with it. Baer said she enjoys how immigration law changes all the time, especially between different presidential administrations. The constant change and the fact that immigration law is in a state of flux keeps practice interesting.

Sobral is a private practice attorney who works with clients to obtain visas and green cards. He actually focused on intellectual property law while in school and interned in the Washington Post’s IP law office. Upon graduation, he began working in corporate law before transitioning to in-house work. He stuck with immigration law as he found it more rewarding. While at a firm, he worked on one asylum case and got his “first taste of what it means to change someone’s life.” He won the case, and his client was not deported.

Flamm began her career applying to every job she could find until she finally got an offer. She worked on non-detained, youth-focused removal defense for about two years. She previously worked for a boutique law firm in California that focused on Alien Tort Claims Act litigation. She has also worked on housing rights, tenant side.

What skills do you use on a daily basis? 

Flamm says she experienced a high volume of practice during the Trump administration. So, being able to manage your own workflow and, in essence, be your own “assembly line” is paramount. Organization and preparation are key because immigration litigation is high stakes. She points out that your clients bear the brunt of all your shortcomings in addition to the injustice of the law. Your greatest obligation is to the client. Baer’s favorite class was Spanish, and studying the language offered her the opportunity to travel to Spanish-speaking countries and become immersed in the culture and language. Sobral, initially an intellectual property lawyer, suggests taking immigration law classes and clinics to prepare. He promotes moot court practice to develop your oral advocacy skills. He notes that most representation in immigration courts is on-the-fly oral advocacy.

Q&A

The panel ended with several student questions. I found the discussion between Sobral and Baer on the advantages of practicing immigration law in private practice versus public interest most interesting. Baer pointed out the challenges in private practice of balancing billable hours and profitability with serving your clients. Building trust and a relationship with immigrant communities takes time, which can be looked down upon in high volume private practice. However, Baer misses the opportunity to do direct client services. Non-profit immigration law organizations typically do not do a lot of individual client representation and focus more on impact litigation. Sobral practices immigration law in a small firm, which is common, as most immigration attorneys are solo or small firm practitioners. Like Baer, he stressed the value of direct client services.

Final thoughts

The presenters left the audience with some additional takeaways. Most importantly, the American Immigration Lawyers Association is hosting a conference at George Washington University Law School on November 10, 2023. Registration is done through their website,[2] costs $20 for students, and ends October 27, 2023. Second, for those podcast addicts among us, Flamm recommended the Immigration Review podcast. It has a significant audience, including members of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Finally, a helpful resource for writing immigration law briefs is the Index of Unpublished BIA Decisions.[3] Bookmark this link for future review.

I became interested in immigration law after my internship with the Fairfax County, Virginia Public Defender’s Office last summer. Criminal law and immigration law intersect when individuals without legal immigration status face criminal charges that can jeopardize their ability to remain. In short, certain “crimes of moral turpitude” can render an alien deportable, and public defenders must keep that in mind when they negotiate plea deals with prosecutors. This semester, I am taking Immigration Law and Policy with Professor Amanda Frost, my 1L CivPro professor. I highly recommend her class for those interested in careers in immigration law. Professor Frost will also teach a class on “crimmigration” in Spring 2024 that I plan to take as well.

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tqy7zz@virginia.edu

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[1] Take notes, FedSoc.

[2] www.aila.org.

[3] www.irac.net.

Networking at the Annual Firm Mix & Mingle

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Noah Coco '26
Staff Editor

And thus it began, the initial contact in a nearly year-long courtship ritual that unites aspirational 1Ls with their post-graduation private firm employers. On Tuesday, October 17, over 200 1Ls met at the Grove Ballroom at the Forum Hotel in their crisp professional attire to begin to ingratiate themselves with their potential firm suitors at the Office of Private Practice’s (OPP) annual Firm Mix & Mingle. Nearly forty private firm employers attended, coming from markets as near as Washington, D.C. and Richmond, to the more distant New York, Boston, Dallas, and Atlanta. The firms were represented by approximately eighty practicing attorneys, nearly seventy of which were UVA Law alumni.

The Firm Mix & Mingle is billed as a relatively low-pressure environment to introduce 1Ls to professional legal networking and OPP matchmaking services. Through matching 1Ls to practice areas and markets of interest, these 1Ls were given the opportunity to hear directly from practicing attorneys with direct experience in their areas of interest.

Several weeks in advance of the event, 1Ls made OGI-style bids on the forty available tables of attorneys. To emphasize the main objective of the event, however, OPP did not publicize the firm names until after the assignments were made. Instead, 1Ls were presented with minimalist Hinge profiles of participating firms that listed only their respective markets and practice areas. Participating 1Ls attempted to match with the most promising prospects as they ranked all forty from high to low.

The matchmakers at OPP subsequently assigned 1Ls to four of their highest bids. The 1Ls were given an opportunity to speak directly with attorneys from their matched firms during four rotating twenty-minute sessions at the event. This was followed by an open period of thirty minutes, where the 1Ls were permitted to connect with the attorneys that they were not originally matched with.

The firms’ brilliant plumage intended to woo potential matches was certainly on display throughout the night. Entrants to the Grove Ballroom were greeted with spreads of branded pens, highlighters, and water bottles sprawled across the sea of tables.[1] But the 1Ls, armed with knowledge gathered from their research into their assigned attorneys’ biographies, a list of questions suggested by OPP, and their knowledge of employee interactions also obtained through the counseling of OPP, were equally prepared to impress their potential employers.

For many first-timers in the firm networking process, the experience did, in fact, feel like a round of speed dating. “The attorneys didn’t know anything about us, and often we didn’t know much about the firm,” said Rose Blackwell ’26, “it was a good introduction to how firms explain and show their differences and was a nice way to start thinking about which firms I like or don’t like.” For Blackwell, the event was useful for scoping out the “general vibes” of potential firm matches in her targeted Washington, D.C. market. Although initially a little nervous about managing the perceived “complexities of networking,” she walked away from the event with two great contacts from firms that she met with and additional information from one of the firms about another practice group that she intends to follow-up with.

A fellow 1L, Ryan Keane ’26, attended the Firm Mix & Mingle prepared to explore his private firm employment options for the coming summers and post-graduation. “I got to talk to a good number of people and feel like I learned a lot,” reflected Keane after the event, “it was also a really low stakes environment, so it was a nice way to warm up to the firm process.” For Keane, many positive interactions emerged from the event, and he came away from it with the perception that “[the firms] really want to talk to us [1Ls], which makes the conversations go a lot easier.” He has become reassured in his ability to be more comfortable in firm networking settings going forward.

Some 1Ls, however, were not taken in by the prospect of private firm romance and decided to refrain from Tuesday’s affair. Confident in her non-private firm career path, Kate Harter ’26 used Tuesday evening as an opportunity for a “post-contracts afternoon nap,” followed by some readings in preparation of freeing up her Thursday night for the much less corporate romance of The Golden Bachelor. Harter is planning on becoming a JAG Officer upon graduation and intends on serving in that role or transitioning to government service for the remainder of her legal romantic life—or rather, career. Although she did consider attending the Firm Mix & Mingle “for a brief moment” to get some networking practice, she was ultimately dissuaded after witnessing the intense efforts of her section-mates in preparing for the event.

For those 1Ls who did not participate in the initial courtship practices of the Firm Mix & Mingle, but who still have a desire for private firm matchmaking, more opportunities will become available through the OPP. In particular, such students should remain on the lookout for the City Days series hosted by OPP in the Spring, which will provide similar opportunities to meet with potential firm employers.

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cmz4bx@virginia.edu

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[1] And cable adapters, notebooks, straws, chapstick, Tide sticks, tissue dispensers, etc.

Discovering Virginia's Elusive State Fruit

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Monica Sandu '24
Production Editor

Florida oranges. Georgia peaches. Maine blueberries. Nearly every state has its own official fruit, a symbol of horticultural pride and agricultural delight. But despite living in Virginia since I was three, I recently came to the realization that I had no clue what Virginia’s state fruit actually was! Could it be the huckleberry, like Montana?[1] Was it a variety of apple, like so many other states? Surely it couldn’t be the tomato.[2] I was wrong on all accounts. The state fruit of Virginia? The pawpaw.

Pictured: A cut pawpaw fruit
Photo Credit: Food Network

Ok, so it’s not Virginia’s official state fruit.[3] Virginia doesn’t actually have an official fruit, though it does have, among others, an official beverage (milk), official rock (Nelsonite),[4] and even an official motor sports museum (Wood Brothers Racing Museum and Virginia Motor Sports Hall of Fame).[5] In 2020, to remedy this fruitless oversight, Virginia House of Delegates Representative Elizabeth Guzmán filed a bill proposing the adoption of the pawpaw as the official state fruit of Virginia.[6] But what is the pawpaw?

Bearing the largest edible fruit native to North America, the pawpaw is a small understory tree and “the only local member of a large, mainly-tropical plant family,” according to the National Park Service.[7] The fruit is at peak ripeness in September through late October and resembles a small papaya, with a flavor described as “banana-like with hints of mango, vanilla, and citrus” and a pale yellow pulp that has been called “a natural custard.”[8] One botanist even wrote that pawpaw fruit is “rather cloying to the taste and a wee bit puckery.”[9]

The pawpaw goes by many names, including the “poor man’s banana,” the “Quaker delight,” and the “hillbilly mango.”[10] From Kansas to the Chesapeake and the Great Lakes down to Georgia, the pawpaw’s natural range covers most of the central and eastern United States.[11] For centuries, Native Americans cultivated it for both its fruit and fibrous bark; in fact, the scientific name for the pawpaw, Asimina triloba, comes from the Powhatan word assimina.[12] Chilled pawpaw fruit was said to be one of George Washington’s favorite desserts, and Thomas Jefferson had pawpaw trees planted at Monticello.[13] With such a long history, why do we not see pawpaw fruit besides our peaches and plums today?

The short answer: commercialized agriculture. More specifically, pawpaw doesn’t store well. Even when refrigerated, fresh pawpaw fruit will only keep up to a week, and that time goes down to a mere two or three days at room temperature.[14] Furthermore, the fruit bruises very easily, so it is extremely difficult to ship if not frozen.[15]

It is also worth noting that the pawpaw has been designated a plant of “low severity poison characteristics” because ingesting the fruit’s outer skin or seeds causes stomach and intestinal pain; mechanical separation can easily contaminate the otherwise safe-to-eat pulp.[16] The pawpaw’s leaves can also cause skin irritation.[17] In addition, the tree’s small purple flowers “emit a faint odor of rotting meat or rotting, fermenting fruits” when they bloom, since its pollinators are mostly scavenger insects like blow flies and carrion beetles.[18] Overall, the pawpaw is simply unable to compete with apples, oranges, and other grocery store staples mass cultivated nationwide.

However, that does not mean that the pawpaw of today is useless. Far from it! The tree has “no serious insect or disease problems,” meaning its cultivation requires little to no pesticides.[19] Because they prefer wet soil and “multiply to form dense and well-rooted thickets,” pawpaw trees can protect vulnerable areas from erosion and runoff.[20] Furthermore, areas where the pawpaw grows are less likely to suffer deforestation due to logging since pawpaw wood does not have any real commercial uses.[21]

The pawpaw is an important food source for its local ecosystem. Birds, squirrels, opossums, and raccoons all eat the fruit, while the zebra swallowtail, Tennessee’s state butterfly,[22] feeds exclusively on pawpaw leaves.[23] In contrast, the pawpaw’s irritant sap causes herbivores to stay away.[24] This means that pawpaw trees can be used to restore forest understory in places where deer would otherwise decimate the vegetation.[25]

Pawpaw fruit are also extremely nutritious, with three times the vitamin C of an apple, potassium comparable to a banana, one and a half times as much calcium as an orange, and all of the essential amino acids.[26] They definitely appear to be worth your time…if you can find them. But that, my friends, is a story for another article.

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ms7mn@virginia.edu

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[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_foods. See also, The Huckleberry Trail.

[2] The tomato is the official state fruit of Arkansas, Ohio, and Tennessee. Id.

[3] Although it is the official state native fruit of Ohio, a totally different category from the state fruit. Id. The pawpaw tree is also Missouri’s official state fruit tree. See, https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/pawpaw (hereinafter MDC Field Guide).

[4] Named after Nelson County, Virginia, but of no apparent relation to our esteemed professor here at UVA Law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelsonite.

[5] Code of Virginia, §1-510. Official emblems and designations.

[6] https://www.virginiamercury.com/blog-va/pawpaws-may-become-virginias-official-state-fruit-whats-behind-their-rise-in-popularity/.

[7] https://www.nps.gov/articles/pawpaw.htm.

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimina_triloba.

[9] Werthner, William B. (1935). Some American Trees: An intimate study of native Ohio trees. New York: The Macmillan Company. pp. xviii + 398 pp.

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimina_triloba.

[11] https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=ASTR.

[12] https://gardens.si.edu/learn/blog/way-down-yonder-in-the-paw-paw-patch/. In 1612, a Jamestown settler transcribed Assimina as “wheat plum.” Other languages’ words for the pawpaw include tózhaⁿ hu in Kansa, umbi in Choctaw and riwahárikstikuc in Pawnee. See, MDC Field Guide.

[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimina_triloba.

[14] Id.

[15] Id.

[16] https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/asimina-triloba/.

[17] Id.

[18] MDC Field Guide.

[19] https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b500.

[20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimina_triloba#Range_and_ecology.

[21] Id.

[22] https://sos.tn.gov/civics/pages/tennessee-state-symbols#insects.

[23] MDC Field Guide.

[24] Id.

[25] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimina_triloba#Range_and_ecology.

[26] https://web.archive.org/web/20191230230839/https://kysu.edu/academics/cafsss/pawpaw/pawpaw-description-and-nutritional-information/.