the commentatorThe Student Newspaper of the New York University School of Law Volume XLIV, Number 12 April 18, 2011 New SBA Officers Elected West Fourth Story Tackles Rankings Tumble President Scot Goins ‘12 Vice President Sam Jackson ‘12 Secretary Stavan Desai Katrina Henderson ‘13 Law Revue’s West Fourth Story pitted gunners versus slackers in assigning blame for NYU’s slip in rankings, with a little bit of jazz hands, humor, sex, drugs and rock and roll. For more coverage of the Revue, including a review, see page 8. Treasurer Law School Magazine’s First Public Forum Vanish Grover ‘13 Debates Law, Media in WikiLeaks Era BY JOSEPH JEROME ’11 ing Forum gave the assembled Neuborne wondered if part MANAGING EDITOR audience a boisterous debate on of the problem were not the in- national security and the role of creasing desire of government Each year The Law School investigative reporting from all for more secrecy. He suggested magazine presents a roundtable angles in Greenberg Lounge on the impetus behind WikiLeaks discussion that gathers members March 23, 2011. was the notion that, “a gov- of the wider law school community As a snapshot of the ernment that doesn’t want to Social Chairs together to discuss a current topic. greater NYU community, the respect my privacy shouldn’t Jehiel Baer ‘13 According to Jeanhee Kim, Manag- roundtable featured a diverse have any secrets of its own,” ing Editor of The Law School, the mixture of viewpoints from and he compared Wikileaks to idea behind the roundtables was, guests including Brian Markley Gutenberg’s printing press in its “to showcase the interests and ’00, who represented disgraced capacity to disrupt government Christopher McBrady ‘13 professional strength of our com- New York Times journalist Judith control of information. munity on major topics.” Past years Miler; and vocal press critic and “The press is freaked out have confronted issues involving NYU journalism professor Jay by WikiLeaks,” Rosen said, global governance, immigration Rosen; young law school fac- calling the entity, “a state- and children’s rights behind closed ulty like Samuel Rascoff; and less news organization.” He doors, but this year The Law School senior faculty, such as Norman criticized the American press’s worked with the Forum to present Dorsen and Burt Neuborne, “distorted, disappointing, and its first public roundtable on the who cracked wise about fight- error-strewn” treatment of topic of law and accountability in ing for civil liberties alongside WikiLeaks, suggesting it was the age of WikiLeaks. President Lincoln. Professors emblematic of a bigger prob- It “made sense” to partner Simon Chesterman, Katherine lem. “Sources are voting with Student Senator with the Forum, Kim said, even Strandburg and Diane Zim- their leaks,” he said, and he Andrew Avorn ‘12 as she worried accommodating merman rounded out the panel, argued that the eagerness of a roundtable where the speakers which was moderated by Pro- sources to choose WikiLeaks spoke with their backs to the au- fessor Ira Rubinstein. over more established media dience was contrary to the usual Rubinstein began the dis- outlets reflects a problem with spirit of the Forum. “I like to have cussion by asking what the the Fourth Estate. people riff off each other,” she root of the anxiety surrounding Chesterman refuted the no- said, “and I think it’s important for Wikileaks derives from. tion that WikiLeaks is anything everyone to sit face to face.” According to Rascoff, like the Gutenberg’s printing 3L Represenative “I don’t like to make people WikiLeaks demonstrates that press or that anything WikiLeaks Nick Rowe ’ 12 wait,” Kim said. “I like it when “we seem to be structurally has done is comparable to The everyone just starts talking.” In incapable of keeping secrets New York Times’s release of the that spirit, introductions were ... law doesn’t seem up to the kept to a minimum and the result- task.” See WIKILEAKS page 4 2011-12 2L Representatives The Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor make their heroic exits. page 2-3 Cora Fanning ’13 Eli Fuchsberg ’13 Two reviews from two eager readers. page 7 Hannah Rodgers ’13 Infra We’re still mad that The Commentator wasn’t in this year’s Law Revue. page 8 Page 2 Opinions c& Editorials April 18, 2011 Still Nitpicking After All These Years: Editor-in-Chief Bids Adieu BY MICHAEL MIX ’11 after-school special but I actually always starving for content to utes into class. That way, after I write over 800 words about EDITOR -IN -CHIEF think it is particularly appropri- put in The Commentator, the col- the 10-minute break, there is when is the best time to take a ate for law school. umn I wrote on Jan. 20, 2010 was 50 minutes left for the second break during class? Why is it so hard to say When I think back to my the gift that kept on giving. In it, half. Everybody recharges their Since Managing Editor Jo- goodbye? first days as a 1L, I thought that I argued that the Special Com- batteries right as their attention seph Jerome and I took over I’ve been asking myself that everyone was supposed to brief mittee to Review the Lawyering is waning, and comes back for The Commentator at the beginning question over the past week as every case with five different Program should definitely keep the second half refreshed and of our 2L year, I am immensely I try to write my last column as highlighter colors. I thought that the non-traditional elements of ready to go.” Truer words were proud of what we accomplished. the Editor-in-Chief of The Com- everyone outlined for only one Lawyering, such as client inter- never spoken. Among other things, we rede- mentator. I even wrote about 250 class each semester and met with views and negotiation. I wrote, Over the next two years, my signed the paper, created new words of a previous draft that their study group at least weekly “the Special Committee should theory was proven time and time staff positions, published two I scrapped and then wrote a re- (I probably got this notion put on their Harry Chapin eight- again. I’ve had many professors fantastic four-page April Fools view of The Killing in the interim from the filmThe Paper Chase). I track and listen to ‘Flowers are who have no idea when to take a issues and instituted column just to keep myself occupied thought that everyone had to use Red.’ Just because Lawyering break; it infuriates me when we monikers, Commentator candids and delay the inevitable. I was a computer to take notes. and Commentator crosswords. For stumped because I had pretty Fortunately, I soon realized our readers out there, whoever much tapped out all of my good that I was wrong. I soon devel- you may be, I sincerely hope law school-related ideas. oped my own style in order to that we’ve put out a quality In search for inspiration, I better understand the material product over the past few years, read through my old columns I was learning in class — I did and that we could make the law and noticed a number of pat- indeed use a computer, but I omment The Guy Behind school experience slightly more terns, as is typical for any writer. only use yellow highlighters and c entertaining. As the hook for my final column, my notes about cases aren’t as The Guy Behind the Guy So as to avoid making this I thought that would revisit three comprehensive as formal briefs. article carry onto another page of the themes that ran through Everyone at this law school (which is a pain), I am not going my articles in order to sum up made it here for a reason, and doesn’t conform to the notion are at a natural breaking point to include a laundry list of good- my experiences at The Commenta- there is no need to conform of a traditional legal-research- 50 minutes into class, but the byes, but I would like to point tor and NYU Law. to a certain style just because and-writing course does not professor decides to move on out a few people that influenced 1) Be Yourself — In the that’s the way law students are mean it should be abolished.” A to a new case or a new issue. If my time at The Commentator. Sept. 16, 2009 issue, my first as supposed to act. I know people friend of mine disagreed with a class goes more than an hour Thanks to Andrew Geh- Editor-in-Chief, I wrote: “ev- who don’t outline, have never me and wrote a letter to the edi- without a break, everyone starts ring ’09 and Robert Gerrity eryone needs to find out what been in a study group and don’t tor. Then, in the two subsequent getting restless and people stop ’09, the former Editor-in-Chief specifically works for them; your even read for class (shhhh, don’t issues, others responded to his paying attention. Therefore, I and Managing Editor respec- study habits will probably trans- tell the faculty). Therefore, “be letter to the editor. All in all, still wholeheartedly believe that tively, for showing me the ropes late to law school. Don’t change yourself” is the best advice I there were four and entrusting the things up just because you are can give any incoming or new separate articles/ It has been a fantastic experience to paper to two ris- ‘supposed’ to do something a law student.