Legally Blonde is a movie that follows the Harvard Law School journey of Elle Woods,
who starts off as an intelligent but otherwise superficial blonde from southern California.
Have you wondered how much of the movie accurately portrays law school life?
Today I will go through the legal parts of the movie explaining what's real and what's fiction.
Hello lawlings. This is Professor Beau Baez.
My goal today is to provide you with my observations on Legally Blonde,
bringing over two decades of teaching experience at six law schools.
So without any further ado let's begin.
Well you know how we've been having all kinds of fun lately.
Yeah.
Well, Harvard is gonna be different. Law school is a completely different world Elle, and I need to be serious.
Of course.
I mean my family expects a lot from me.
Right.
I expect a lot from me.
I plan on running for office someday.
And I fully support that Warner, you know that right?
Absolutely.
But the thing is, if I'm gonna be a senator by the time I'm 30 I need to stop dicking around.
Warner, I completely agree.
That's why I think it's time for us, Elle, pooh bear...
I think we should break up.
What!
Well I've been thinking about it and I think it's the right thing to do.
You're breaking up with me?
I thought you were proposing?
Proposing?
Elle, if I'm gonna be a senator, well I need to marry a Jackie not a Marylynn.
He is absolutely correct that law school's hard
the top law schools provide opportunities not only in politics but also government, nonprofits,
large law firms, the judiciary, and academia.
But getting into law school isn't enough.
The best opportunities go to those at the top of the class and that means minimizing outside commitments.
The unfortunate reality is that many marriages don't survive law school let alone dating relationships.
Hi my name is Elle Woods and for my admissions essay I'm going to tell all of you at Harvard
why I'm going to make an amazing lawyer.
As president of my sorority I'm skilled at commanding the attention of a room and discussing very important issues.
It has come to my attention that the maintenance staff is switching our toilet paper from charmin to generic
All those opposed to chafing please say aye.
Aye.
When I was in the law school admissions committee there was a student who submitted a video essay.
I'm going to recommend against this as there is a huge risk that it will backfire,
alienating some people on the committee.
Work on creating a great personal essay instead.
But if you do submit an optional video essay make sure it's not you in swimwear.
And that's why you should vote for me, Elle Woods, future lawyer for the class of 2004.
She does have a 4.0 from C.U.L.A. and she got a 179 on her LSATs.
A fashion major?
Well sir, we've never had one before and aren't we always looking for diversity?
Her list of extracurricular activities is impressive.
She was in a Ricky Martin video.
Clearly she's interested in music
She also designed a line of faux fur panties for her sororities charity project.
Uh-huh, she's a friend to the animals as well as a philanthropist.
Elle Woods?
Welcome to Harvard.
Most admissions decisions are not made by the faculty but rather by the admissions department.
Faculty set policy and decide difficult cases such as students at the bottom of a law school LSAT and GPA range,
or students with legal problems, like a drunk driving charge.
And today expect to see women and minorities on the faculty admissions committee.
With a 4.0 and a 175 Elle's application would never have gone to the committee.
Okay, welcome to law school.
This is the part where we go around in a circle and everyone says a little bit about themselves.
Let's start with you.
Uh, my name is David Kidney.
I have a master's in Russian literature, a PhD in biochemistry, and for the last 18 months I've been deworming orphans in Somalia.
Awesome what about you?
Hey, how you doing, I'm Enid Wexler.
I got a PhD from Berkeley in women's studies, emphasis in the history of combat.
And uh, last year I single-handedly organized the march for Lesbians against drunk driving.
Killer.
Thanks, good times.
Aaron Mitchell, I graduated first in my class from Princeton.
I've an IQ of 187,
and it's been suggested that Stephen Hawking stole his brief history of time
from my fourth grade paper.
I never met any true geniuses in law school.
Now some very smart people and a few PhD's in my class.
And the PhD's were actually kind of fun.
Regardless of where you go, you will suddenly find that you are a small fish in a big pond.
This will be different for many of you, who were at the top of your college class.
Suddenly there will be a lot of other bright people around you.
Don't let that bother you but rather let your new friends challenge you so you can become the best you.
And guess what?
After finals you'll find out that someone who you thought was super smart did not end up with one of the best grades.
A legal education means you will learn to speak in a new language.
You will be taught to achieve insight into the world around you and to sharply question what you know.
The seat you have picked will be yours for the next nine months of your life.
And those of you in the front row ...
beware.
Some professors, including me, assign seats on the first day of class,
and pass out a seating chart just like you see here.
If you're not sure what your professor will do, arrive early on that first day and pick your seat.
I recommend sitting towards the front of the class so you remain engaged.
The law is reason free from passion.
Does anyone know who spoke those immortal words.
Yes?
Aristotle.
Are you sure?
Yes.
Would you be willing to stake your life on it?
I think so.
What about his life?
I don't know?
Well I recommend knowing before speaking.
Ahh, the eager student, who in law school lingo is called the gunner because they are constantly raising their hand.
See how the professor tries to rattle him, causing him to doubt himself.
Many professors do this not to embarrass but to help students develop conviction.
Just a few days ago I was able to move one of my students from the correct answer to them saying they didn't know.
I would rather that a student exude error with confidence than a correct answer with trepidation.
Now I assume all of you have read pages 1 through 48 and are now well versed in subject matter jurisdiction.
Who can tell us about Gordon vs Steele?
Let's call on someone from the hot zone.
Elle Woods.
Oh, um, actually um, I wasn't aware that we had an assignment.
Oh. [laughing]
Vivian Kensington, do you think it's acceptable that Ms Woods is not prepared?
No.
I don't.
Would you support my decision to ask her to leave class and to return only when she is prepared?
Absolutely.
The first day of class has required reading and you should be prepared to answer questions.
Professors deal with unprepared students in different ways.
Booting someone out of class is very old school,
but i did have one colleague who did it that way.
No one ever wanted to be kicked out of class, too embarrassing.
So students were always prepared.
By the way, for a professor to ask a student whether she should kick someone else out of class is completely out of line,
and this is in the movie to add some drama to the storyline.
In addition to competing against each other for the top grade in this class you will also be competing for one of my firm's highly coveted four
internship spots next year where you will get to assist on actual cases.
Let the bloodbath begin.
The professor refers to his firm.
Under accreditation rules a full-time law professor cannot be part of a law firm the rule is different for adjuncts but in a first year class it would be very unusual to have anyone but a full-time faculty member now let's commence with our usual torture
ms woods would you rather have a client who committed a crime malam insay or malam prohibitum
neither and why is that i would rather have a client who's innocent
dare to dream miss woods
ms kensington which would you prefer malam prohibitum
because then the client would have committed a regulatory infraction
as opposed to a dangerous crime well done miss kensington you've obviously done your homework
now let us look at melon prohibitum a little more closely it has been said yes mrs woods
i changed my mind i picked the dangerous one because i'm not afraid of a challenge
what the professor is really trying to get at is whether the student bothered to look up these two
latin phrases many students feel so overwhelmed that they don't look up words they don't know
so many professors will pick out those unique words and ask students about them this means
that you must look up all new words before class it will be laborious at first but you'll start
building your vocabulary i'm elle woods miss bonafante's attorney and i'm here to discuss
the legal situation at hand during law school you might be tempted to provide legal advice
don't do it one you really don't know that much in law school to provide competent legal advice and
two it's illegal if the bar finds out this could cause problems with your application to become
a lawyer after graduation well according to swinney versus newbert swinney who was
also a private sperm donor was allowed visitation rights as long as he came to terms with the hours
set forth by the parents so if we're sticking to past precedent i mean mr latimer wasn't stalking
he was clearly within his rights to ask for visitation but swinney was a one-time sperm donor
and in our case the defendant was an habitual sperm donor who also happens to be harassing
the parents in his quest for visitation well yeah but i mean without this man's sperm
the child in question wouldn't exist now you're thinking like a lawyer
yes ms woods although mr huntington makes an excellent point i have to wonder if the
defendant kept a thorough record of every sperma mission made throughout his life
interesting why do you ask well
unless the defendant attempted to contact every single one-night stand to determine if a child
resulted in those unions he has no parental claim over this child whatsoever why now why this sperm
i see your point and for that matter all masturbatory missions where his
sperm was clearly not seeking an egg could be termed reckless abandonment
i believe you've just won your case
ms woods you did well today this is the type of discussion that goes on in american law
school classrooms you are assigned to read an appellate judicial opinion before class
and then the professor engages in a socratic dialogue
sometimes as we see here a student brings up a point that the professor has
not thought about before it doesn't happen often but it's always nice when it does happen
we're defending brook windham whose very wealthy husband was found shot to death in
their beacon hill mansion gold digger you'd think so since the stiff was 60 but she was rich on her
own some kind of fitness empire faculty let alone faculty members who also have a high profile case
would not have the time to bring an intern up to speed this task would be given to a paralegal or
maybe an associate it's about ferocity carnage balancing human intelligence with animal
diligence knowing exactly what you want and how far you'll go to get it how far will el go
are you hitting on me you're a beautiful girl
so everything you just said i'm a man who knows what he wants
and i'm a law student who just realized her professor is pathetic [ __ ] there are
professors who hit on their students either for a short-term or long-term relationship this was
tolerated in the past because the students were adults but more and more law schools have created
policies prohibiting dating relationships between faculty and students due to the power imbalance
first of all i would like to point out that not only is there no proof in this case but there's a
complete lack of men's react which by definition tells us that there can be no crime without a
vicious will i am aware of the meaning of manzrea what i'm unaware of is why
you're giving me a vocabulary lesson when you should be questioning your witness
yes your honor and this is exactly why law students aren't allowed to try murder cases
the lawyer's role is to ask the witness questions not to state the law that being said
judges do tend to be gentler with law students recognizing that this is a learning experience
for them ladies and gentlemen i present the graduates of harvard law school class of 2004.
i am personally very honored to introduce
this year's class elected speaker after getting off to a quite interesting start here at harvard
she graduates today with an invitation to join one of boston's most prestigious law
firms i am sure we are going to see great things from her ladies and gentlemen l woods
harvard law school graduates can practice law anywhere in the country
they don't have to stay in boston unless they want to
and as you look at that room far too small for the graduates and all of their guests
it's highly unlikely that he would have had no job offers
we know that he comes from a politically connected family this means getting hired
at a firm that understands his connections and potential to get elected to high
office overall this movie captures some of law school's reality it's a fun movie and i recommend
you watch it if you've never seen it before it shows how someone can reach their full potential
when they look for validation within new videos every other wednesday so
make sure to tune in so you can become a better student and a better lawyer