Novalawcity

25 Greatest Legal Movies?

The ABA Journal has published its list of the 25 greatest legal movies of all time  Take a look and see if you agree.  Hard to argue with the top three, IMO. 

Michael Clayton and the legal profession

Frank Pasquale over at Concurring Opinions has published an interesting post analyzing what the film Michael Clayton says about the current status and public perception of the legal profession.

Music education: what's the impact on lawyers?

The ABA Journal's Question of the Week last week was an interesting one for this former orchestra nerd--we're the lesser known companion to the more common band nerd. Mentioning guitarist and actor Steven van Zandt's protest to cutting of arts education funding and a correlation between those with higher incomes and musical inclination, the Journal asked:

Did you take music lessons in school? And if so, how did participation in that garage band, glee club or orchestra influence your career and outlook on life?

The answers (scroll past "related stories" to read them) from lawyers with backgrounds ranging from amateur to professional musician are really great. Some talk about how music keeps them sane while dealing with the pressure of the billable hour, and others tell how the lessons they learned as musicians have been useful in the practice of law. One lawyer noted:

A music career gives one perspective for the practice of law: musicians spend hours of time practicing for auditions, competitions, etc.  We learn that sometimes you can do everything right and still lose.  Trial lawyers learn the same thing.

Are you a Shepard Broad Law Center musician? We'd love to hear about your musical experiences in the comments!