So, 450 Law Students Walk Into a Bar...

...and realize that they have NO IDEA how the unique Louisiana system of Civil Law works.

What a cruel joke.

By Bar, I am referring to the Louisiana Bar, which contains a system of legal interpretation and jurisprudence that is completely foriegn to us. By us, I mean law students from the other 49 states that have only studied the Common Law legal system. Actually, I think that during the first week of law school some professor or casebook mentioned how Civil Law works, but that's all the exposure we've had. To simplify, Louisiana is the stubborn Euro legal outcast/lone CL holdout of the American legal system. Even more unfamililar than the "crazzzzy" 9th Circuit aht in Cali. Lordy.

I tried to dig up an explanation of the Civil Law system:

Great differences still exist between Louisiana Civil Law and the Common Law found in her 49 sister states. While some of these differences have been bridged due to the strong influence of the Common Law in the United States, it is important to note that the "Civilian" tradition is still deeply rooted in most aspects of Louisiana private law. Thus property, contractual, business entities structure, much of civil procedure, and family law are still mostly based on traditional Roman legal thinking and have little in common with English law. In contrast, criminal law and public administrative law are entirely based on the Anglo-American Common Law. Moreover, as in the rest of the U.S., federal law in Louisiana is entirely Anglo-American Common Law, except in the rare case where it deals with an area of Louisiana law that is Civilian (e.g., property law).
(Here's the rest of the Wikipedia article.)

OK, lemme get this straight: Katrina completely devastates Newalins. And although there are many lawyers & law students willing to lend a legal hand, um, we are going to be a tad confused with this whole French/Euro legal system. Supersweet.

Isn't it ironic? Don'tcha think?

I have some research to do before March 5th...