I taught my class on closing arguments last night. Very timely, no? How could I not reference the media focus over the past week on the candidates' self-described "closing arguments?" And more specifically, ask if anyone had seen Obama's infomercial the night before and what about it made it a "closing argument?"The classes went great (I teach two back to back, same topic, different students). Lots of engagement, lots of discussion, lots of joke-making, lots of disclaimers by me that I wasn't endorsing anyone. I explicitly directed the students to discuss the "how" of Obama's "closing," rather than the "what" -- e.g. the technical elements that made it a closing. The whole thing took less than 10 minutes, and then I proceeded with my regular class on the topic. Here's what I got from one of my students, almost immediately after the second class ended:
Prof. Gross [sic]:
We all know you’re in the tank for Obama. He can certainly read from a teleprompter and over-produce an infomercial with funds questionably raised.
If you are going to hold out his television show as a good example of a closing argument, you should include in your analysis some criticism to go along with your gushing admiration. Isn’t a closing argument still controlled by the rules of evidence against hearsay, foundation, truthfulness? Can I, in giving a closing argument parade before the court people whose stories are unproven and haven’t been tested under cross? I could go on. Maybe you’d like to use Boston Legal as a great example of life in the typical law firm?
What BO gave last night was a sales presentation, a brochure made for TV. To elevate it to the level of a quality example of a closing argument in a law school class calls to question the value of the education I’m receiving in that class. I strongly resent your dragging into my class, a class I pay dearly for, your political adulations. And then you insult my intelligence by using Q&A to recruit the class to join in and reinforce your views of that television program as some great example of a great closing argument.
The student sent this email not only to me, but also to the Dean of the law school, and the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs. Luckily for me, I teach at a wonderful institution that values academic freedom and creative teaching. Here's what the Vice Dean replied to the student:
Dear Mr. -----, I understand that you are upset with what you perceive to be an inappropriate use of a political TV commercial in your class. Quite apart from the merits of your concern, I am writing to comment on your inappropriate, insulting and highly unprofessional tone. Please understand that this is a professional school, in which we hope to train students to act like the lawyers they will one day become. Whatever the merits of your complaint, you obscure them entirely by communicating them in this way. To put it another way, your advocacy for your own position in this matter is very poor indeed. While it is clear that you have strong personal feelings about this, it is likely that in the future you will be professionally involved in matters that also raise strong feelings. When that happens, it will be important for both you and your client that you react appropriately. Many of us, myself included, weren’t born with this skill. It is, however, our responsibility to learn it, lest our clients bear the burden of our shortcomings.
It is mightily convenient, if you deprive your citizens of political liberties, to portray these as a bourgeois luxury.
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