Wall of Shame: Does Med Mal Make Attorneys Crazy?

This is a gem of a story.  A Texas Medical Malpractice attorney with 25 years of experience is arrested for attempting to kill a census worker with a shotgun who wouldn't get off her property quick enough.

Police say on May 8, Kathleen Gittel, an employee of the U.S. Census Bureau, stopped by Barnes' Leander home to "make contact with the resident," presumably as part of the bureau's effort to complete a Census count with residents who had not turned in their forms.

Barnes reportedly pointed her gun at Gittel, and then fired the weapon five times as Gittel tried to run. Williamson County Sheriff's Office spokesperson John Foster said none of the bullets hit the census worker.

I wish that was the whole story, because that's certainly enough--but there is so much more.  Carolyn Barnes, 53, once failed to obey an officer during a traffic stop.  She continued to rummage around below her seat contrary to orders and continued to inch her truck up, contrary to orders.  They had to spike her tires to get her to stop.  She was also arrested for assaulting a court officer who told her to keep her knife in the car.  She's a classic. I wish I had someone like this around the courthouse to entertain me.

Following her most recent arrest, Ms. Barnes submitted affidavits and other official looking documents to the press calling the Prosecutor's Office a "criminal street gang" engaged in a "conspiracy" against her her.  That's not crazy.   Actually, I found this little clip on her website which certainly is consistent with her views on the criminal justice system:

We soon realized that our expertise was needed in the area of Constitutional and civil rights violations and the dire need for criminal justice reform, prison reform, and exposure of corruption and abuse in these areas.  We are committed to truth and justice and represent our clients zealously in the area of criminal law.  We do not cut deals or coerce our clients into accepting a plea bargain that is not in their best interest, especially when they are NOT GUILTY.  If you are NOT GUILTY, then you need us more than ever.  

The Prosecutor also mentions that she has been more aggressive in court, interrupting the judge and such. I don't think that's a big deal. I interrupt the judge regularly when they are wrong--which is all the time.

Clearly this woman is suffering from a mental illness. I find it hilarious that she hasn't been disbarred yet.  High caliber attorneys out there in Texas, huh?  Shout out to University of Texas School of Law, Ms. Barnes' alma mater. I'm sure you're proud!

Bet You Didn't Know that Legal Research and Writing was NOT Required at Every Law School.....

As our readers know, law schools do a horrible job of preparing one to be an attorney.  The day after graduation, family and friends come out of the woodwork and ask you for legal services varying from writing wills to reviewing leases to suing the local TGIF for a slip and fall.  The irony, of course, is that you are unable to assist any of them. You have no real skills.  So, you MUST work for a law office or a non-profit or somewhere to learn how to do what you thought you went to law school for three years to learn--how to practice the law.

Surprisingly, there's a First Tier school that is WORSE at preparing you for real life than others.  Apparently, the University of Texas School of Law is notorious for not preparing students for life.  Apparently, UTLS [my own acronym] has developed a bit of a reputation for not considering the future of their graduates as practicing attorneys.  Of course, that's probably true of most law schools--but I would venture to say that UT is worse.  They don't require Legal Research and Writing as a first year class!  "In a survey of accredited law schools, Texas was the only school without a mandatory brief-writing course. In fact, only about half of first-year students surveyed reported being able to get into a brief-writing course. As a result, they will not be trained how to present arguments to a court — one of the most basic legal skills."
Since that is the only class in law school that is somewhat practical, you can imagine how their graduates feel floating in the legal industry on a raft of incompetence and lack of practical skills.

Judge Harry Edwards once wrote a scathing review of Law Schools, and UT in particular, when  a well known UT constitutional law professior confided to the judge that he was "unwilling to redirect his activities in useful ways," even though he recognized that the school's approach to a legal education was failing the graduates in their long term career goals.  Then, just recently, a law professor at UT delayed releasing his grades by two months--costing a student a summer internship (the spots were filled while he awaited the grade).  Also, at an ALI conference, a UT professor said, “In the academy we are tending too much to pretend that we are a think tank and a graduate school and forgetting that the high percentage of our graduates are going to go into the practice of law and ought know at least a little about what lawyers do and how they ought to do it.”
Hmmm.. I thought all law students seek to practice the law. Nonetheless, very observant.

A well-known lawyer even wrote to the UTLS dean, informing him that his graduates are "incompetent legal writers and he would never hire a UT Law graduate again.

But, instead of taking the advice and criticisms to heart, and changing the curriculum to make better lawyers, UTLS is actually making the situation worse. "UT Law instead chooses to steer law students away from taking practical courses by offering grossly grade-inflated first-year electives on such totally impractical topics as Race and Gender in the Constitution.  The first-year curve in all courses is set at 3.3; the average in these “electives” is a 3.8." 

Race and Gender?   That has got to be the fluffiest class ever.  Furthermore, to reward students that are avoiding bar subjects with a higher GPA is a little wacky. I only took bar classes, so that I could pass the bar.  I thought that was a practical use of my time. This set-up allows kids to pursue higher GPAs in lieu of practical skills.

"A student in Race and Gender in the Constitution commented, “The class is a complete joke and a waste of time, but the professor gives almost everyone A’s.” Since law students’ employment is determined by their first-year GPA, creating such an exception to the curve is unfair to other students and misleading to employers relying on the veracity of student transcripts."

What a joke.  And this is considered a T1?  It's no wonder that lawyers are unemployable.