We’ve been talking a bit about the legal profession and its relationship with the Differently Animated here on the blog lately, and that got me to googling, as per usual.

Also, sadly, as per usual, I did not like what I found.

Case in point, this unfortunate article from the ABA Journal, the ‘flagship magazine of the American Bar Association’:

Some applicants to Yale Law School love to argue. Some love THE LAW. Some failed a math class, but managed to carry on.

Yale Law School associate dean of admissions Asha Rangappa, however, is not impressed. In a series of posts on (203) Admissions Blog, Rangappa covers common errors on personal statements by law school applicants, including:

1) The Law Zombie, a common but not-so-impressive applicant. “This is a person who really loves THE LAW,” Rangappa explains. “He is passionate about THE LAW, loves debating THE LAW, and can spend hours reading about—yes, you guessed it—THE LAW.” But the applications office is not impressed. “In fact, when I read this kind of application, I get flashbacks to the toothpick scene in Rain Man, and imagine admitting a legal genius who shuffles around muttering Supreme Court holdings under his breath, sometimes startling bystanders by randomly shouting ‘SCALIA!’ very loudly.” Law Zombies should tone it down, she says, while being a little more specific about what, specifically, led to their interest in THE LAW.

Honestly, this attempt at prejudice comes across as sort of.. half-baked, doesn’t it? I mean, if they’re going to defame Zombies by stating that they are similar to someone who repeats themselves verbally, why not go the full Russo and drop in a ‘Braaaaaaaains?’

Good grief.

As it stands this is, of course, just another sad, even if phoned-in, example of what the ZRC blog calls the ‘Don’t Use the Zed Word’ phenomenon, where a lack of vocabulary or willingness to put forth effort leads a writer to slander the Zombie Community instead of picking up the thesaurus and finding an appropriate, if less inflammatory and insulting, choice of words.

Odd, that sort of behavior coming from a lawyer’s rag. Almost.. unprofessional?

Just another piece of evidence that Zombies need good legal representation. Which again makes me ponder something…

Tags: Don't Use the Zed Word, Journamalism, Mainstream Media

This entry was posted by John Sears on Monday, December 19th, 2011 at 11:57 pm and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.