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Larger than Law

I find this question extremely appropriate and in keeping with the "Nessonesque" style. It is a question that I have continuously asked myself throughout this winter semester, and until now have been unable to arrive at a satisfactory answer. In answering this question the best I could do was try and figure out what exactly it is that I have learnt from Nesson, and use that as a proxy for what it is I think Nesson has been trying to teach. I trust that since I was attentive (even at 9:00 in the morning) to Nesson’s riveting class presentations that the message I got from Nesson was the message that Nesson sought to deliver.

Beyond just teaching the fundamental rules of evidence and their operation in quite a novel way, Nesson delivered a message of not getting trapped in the mire of law school, substantive detail, perceived authority, fears, common practice, life, and what "they say". The main theme of Nesson’s message was identifying, re-analyzing, and freeing yourself from whatever it was that confined and clouded your character, ethos, and intellect. Woven in this general message which had many strands, was the sub-message that not getting trapped in the quagmire is essential for a liberated and objective search for and powerful presentation of truth. Truth on a metaphysical level, but also on the more mundane level of presenting the most "convincing truth" in a trial, thus ensuring that your truth becomes the "truth" on the record. On this level, the Rules of Evidence are vital tools for a lawyer to use both to construct his case, and to chip away at his adversary’s to ensure that his/her presentation of the truth is the most persuasive and the one that will prevail.

Nesson’s personality, exam and style (both within and outside the classroom) seemed to support his message. - From the showing of "My Cousin Vinny" as part of a ‘Harvard Law School’ class, to his asking the class to dance, to a "renewed" listening of R.E.M.’s "Man on the Moon" (do you believe what "they" say?). The group projects together with his thought of setting up an arena to conduct jury trials via the web also contained and emphasized elements of Nesson’s message of viewing legal issues and life in an emancipated way. - The Berkowitz and Cyberjam projects were prime examples of not allowing oneself to get bogged down in the swamp of perceived authority. Finally, the feedback memos played an integral part in the delivery of Nesson’s message in two ways. First, by allowing us at frequent intervals to pinpoint possible external or internal factors that could lead us to feel trapped and unsure either at present or in the future, and second, the feedbacks allowed Nesson to gauge whether he needed to alter the form of his message.

Being able to recognize the quagmire and being able to rise above it is one of the things that Harvard Law School is training us to do. However, the Law School’s concept of the quagmire seems to be limited to the problem of getting bogged down in the substance of the law rather than viewing the law from the vantage point of "Law Lords". On the other hand Nesson seemed to teach a message of a quagmire that had various forms, and extended beyond the boundaries of Law.

Because Nesson’s message was delivered in separate 3-hour segments over a 14 day period, it appeared disjointed, and in the beginning it was drowned out by the pressing fear that no evidence would be learnt. However when my fears subsided the waves of the message came to me like noisy static, the kind that makes you want to tune in and find the station because you know it is something you want to hear. I have gotten much more than a mere understanding of the rules of evidence and a 3-hour winter credit. Way to go Nesson!