The IJ Summer Seminar
is a great opportuniy
to be exposed to a lot of cutting edge legal theories and ideas about property rights, economic
liberty, free speech and other important things. -The Law Student Conference
is a great way not just to
meet IJ attorneys, it's a great way to learn for yourself what's
the best way to go about incorporating public interest law
into your career. -In addition
the IJ seminar teaches students
a new and different critical set of skills that will
help them understand how the political process interacts with legal dynamics for instance
and even to reexamine some of the classic cases
of constitutional law
with a new set of eyes
and a different set of critical perspectives.
-We have a whole segment on each of the 4 pillars, that gives a sense
of how we are trying to revitalize
the vision of America's founders,
and actually using the Constitution to protect individual
rights. -I teach a section on public choice and law,
public choice being the application of economics
to politics, so for instance through the tools of public choice we can understand why
the political process deviates in reality
from the way in which many people think
of the political process as working
and even the assumptions of the way the Supreme Court of the United States often
assumes that politics actually works. -The Institute for Justice
started as an institute
of practical jurisprudence
and that distinguishes it from some of the things you do in law school
which can sometimes be quite abstract
and occasionally even
artificial.
-You learn things like media training, how to deal with coalition building
and outreach efforts, and thats something
you don't really get in law school. -You spend a whole year in law school,
going over the law, how to work
cases, how to read cases, but something
that IJ is really good at is winning in the court of public opinion,
not just in the court of law. -Well IJ clearly attracts the most talented
and energetic and creative law students out there in the country today. Students who are interested
not only in studying law,
but what they can do to advance
individual liberty and the rule of law in America.
-Something that I really noticed when I got here is the personal interaction
of all the attorneys who work for
IJ. -And you actually see how the IJ lawyers want to help these people,
out of the goodness of their own hearts as opposed to other lawyers where you don't see that as much.
And I really appreciated that,
I've never seen an attorney from that perspective before -It was just
awesome to be able to meet the very people who are litigating
these really important issues in front of
the Supreme Court.
It's such a collegial environment.
-I've not just heard the rumors and read their briefs but I've actually got to meet them
and got to learn from them, it was a great experience
-What do you get when you get to come to an the Institute for Justice summer? You become part of
a network of individuals
who understand the value
of the law as an instrument of change.
-It actually motivated me to want to help
when I'm done, even if I'm not with IJ because of the network.
-It gives you the
opportunity to both understand the basics of the
constitutional doctrine that affect these
primary questions
and also to directly help those who are being
obstructed.
-By far my favorite session was listening to the panel of current and past IJ clients, it was nice
to see the real people behind the posters, behind the media
behind the promotions. -What's great about IJ is
that you really get to meet the clients
and you get to
hear their stories, and you get to
understand their problems from their perspective as opposed to
a law firm where you see clients on a piece of paper. you don't see their faces.
see their faces -And really get the feeling
from them that
IJ is helping them. It was a very genuine feeling
that they believe in the cause, believe
that IJ is there to help them, and believe that IJ
is there to do something good for the entire country. -Each summer
is new and fresh
and yet consistently aimed at
the principles
of economic freedom that the organization and Chip Mellor idealism brought to it
from the very beginning. -5 stars, 2 thumbs up.
-It's been a great week, and I would encourage any
law student interested in public interest or constitutional law to seriously consider coming.