Smith on Calabresi on Alito:
Judge Guido Calabresi, Sam Alito's Torts professor at Yale, had the following comment about Alito's performance as a first-year law student:
"I remember his exam, and I remember that it was lucid, well-written and that he had an imagination which, like many first-year students, he was careful about exercising," Calabresi said. "He was careful to walk before he would run."Over at The Right Coast, Yale Law grad Tom Smith is, well, a bit skeptical. An excerpt:
I mean, seriously. A first year torts exam from thirty years ago? I can barely remember my own life thirty years ago. I took torts from Guido and actually attended many of the classes, and I remember it only vaguely. I have not the faintest recollection of what I wrote on my exam. Guido is much smarter, richer, and more accomplished than I, but I simply do not believe it. And I say that as a Catholic, a Republican, a middle aged novice surfer, and someone whose spouse still tells him he is good looking, i.e., a person prepared to believe a lot of improbable things. By way of disclosure, I should say I certainly hope my teachers at Yale do not remember me, since I was, in retrospect, pretty insufferable, but then, in my own defense, so were many of my teachers.There's more over at The Right Coast.
But really....who cares? A liberal COA Judge says something nice about the conservative nominee for SCOTUS and we challenge his recollection? Give me a break.
>Not sure I buy that. About 25-40% of Guido's students are "editors on the Yale Law Journal," and it is hard to believe that Guido still remembers even the best exam from each of the hundreds of classes he has taught.(He also pointedly didn't say that Alito's was the best.)
Of course, this doesn't prove that Guido is full of it. My guess is that at some point in Alito's career (perhaps now) Guido's curiosity led him to go back and look in his file -- and that jogged his memory.
What I find hardest to believe is that any good response to Guido's torts exam, which unless things have changed consists mostly an issue spotter, could reveal a cautious or reserved approach to law. The whole point of the exercise is to spot as many potential issues as you can --which you'd think would require being imaginative as well as comprehensive. Maybe Guido is putting him down a little, no?
Some are more adept at this art form than others, Calabresi's attempt here is pretty lame.
In any event, the reason I'm writing is that the Right Coast doesn't permit comments. So just for the record- Michael Graetz is a man who combines practical knowledge, true wisdom, and an extraordinary talent for teaching. The reason Graetz gave the commencement address is that our graduating class voted for him to give it. He was new to the school then, and his speech - both the words and the delivery - showed that he was moved to have been given this honor in his first year. It was an emotional moment - I for one felt abashed to be on the receiving end of this great teacher's gratitude. I had forgotten that speech, until Tom reminded me of it, for which I thank him.