A cautionary tale for law students in November:

My 2Ls are working on their final appellate briefs. The assignment says "if you have questions, do not ask your classmates, ask Prof. Sherowski." 1/

Some students didn't heed that advice. This morning the law school grapevine (profs hear it too, you know) was buzzing with the news that the assignment required a "two-prong test." The assignment said nothing about such a test. 2/

Students went to the Associate Dean and complained that they weren't being given enough guidance on the assignment, because why didn't the assignment say to use a two-prong test if they were supposed to use one? 3/

Confused students came into my office, panicking: "I thought I understood, the issue, but I can't find a two-prong test anywhere in all the cases!" The students who came to see me where stunned to learn... 4/

(you guessed it) THERE IS NO TWO-PRONG TEST! As we discussed in class, our narrow issue has several good arguments for each side (case law, statutory interpretation, policy, leg history) and they should make the two arguments they think are most persuasive. 5/

Somehow, in the game of telephone that is the law school grapevine, this got misinterpreted as a "two-prong test" and sent two sections of LW II into a collective tizzy. I have spent all morning clearing up this misunderstanding... 6/

...and students spent the last 24 hours in a panic, all because no one bothered to ask the professor if, in fact, there was a two-prong test (also, no lie, I panicked a little when I got the email from the Assoc. Dean :) 7/

I realize that this collective panic is a result of the stress they're under right now, with assignments due and finals looming. I get it. When we're on the edge, any suggestion that something's amiss can send us into panic mode. 8/

But, guys -- and I (quite literally) cannot stress this enough -- if you have questions ASK YOUR PROFESSORS! Our #1 job is to help you succeed, but we can't do that if you're making an end run around us to other students or the administration. 9/

Please save your precious time and sanity (and ours) by asking right away if you don't understand something. We're here to help!

Now let's all take a deep breath and get back to writing that brief! /fin