I am not a number. I am a free man.

I move that we stop calling grades in law school "grades".  It's a term that is technically correct, but what is important about them--their essence--is how they translate into numbers.  And as such we should just call them that--"numbers".  Not to sound synical or bitter, because I'm actually happy with my numbers. 

It's just that now we've entered the beginning of the On Campus Interview ("OCI") part of the law school process.  For those not familiar, the OCI is where law firms come on campus and interview students (mostly 2L's) and hire them for the following summer.  The students and the firms use that summer to sort of get a feel for each other and if both sides feel like it's a match, they are in a good position for employment after the third year of law school.  Both sides win.  But at the beginning of the process (right now for me), it is very daunting.  And it feels like one of the biggest factors in getting an interview with any firm is your numbers--your GPA, class rank, and whether you're in the top 10%, 20%, 25%, or what-have-you-%.  And it's hard to not think that a lot of the grading process is there to put people in order of most likely to be hired to least likely. 

Maybe that's a synical way to think of things, but that's how it feels sometimes.  But there is more to me than my numbers.  I hope I can make that pretty clear from my resume and cover letter.  We'll see, I guess. 

The sad truth of it is that I should get used to it.  If I get hired to a firm, I will likely have to account for my time through billable hours, which will go a long way in determining whether I get a bonus, whether I'm on track to become a partner, and probably other things that I'm not thinking about at the moment.  And if I don't go the firm route, there's still caseload requirements and other numbers that account for your productivity and success in cases.  So, it's not like this is a law firm "problem".

What's going to be key for me is not letting the numbers mean more than they should. 

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Speaking of numbers, can we talk about what sabermetrics has done to the game of softball? 

I play in a softball league on Tuesday nights.  This league is sponsored by the Bar Association, so it's played mostly be attorneys and folks who work in the legal field.  Many of these players are young and like sports.  In other words, young people who work in an industry that closely examines rules and procedures and figure out the most advantageous way to work within those rules and proceudures.  Introduce sabermetrics and its appreciation of the value of a walk and you have chaos.  People saying things like, "Walks as good as a hit."  I mean, yes, that's true, but a walk isn't as fun as a hit.  And it's way less sporting when you're playing people who aren't professional ballplayers. 

Look, I'm a por-sabermetrics guy.  I love me some WAR and ERA+, and the many other numbers they've come up with to measure the effectiveness of professional baseball players.  But, seriously, walks have no place in a recreational game of softball.  Get up there and swing people.

Unless they're really bad pitches...which happens, I guess. 

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I've continued posting the gumshoe stories at this blog.  I'm up through what was part X.  Thanks if you have been re-reading these, or reading them for the first time.  I really do appreciate it.
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