Law Student Hypochondria

Posted by lukegilman

October 31, 2006

Just as first year medical students are said to suffer a sort of mass hypochondria as they become aware of the cornucopia of diseases that might one day afflict them, so I think first year law students undergo a paradigm shift when they realize the simmering cesspool of liability through which they daily swim. It’s something akin to a fish thinking it’s drowning.

It occurred to me that I might be undergoing this ‘change of life’ the other night when I walked across the street to get a six pack. There’s a convenience store directly across from my house. There’s a crosswalk, but it’s about 100 yards up the street. It’s a residential neighborhood, but it’s a fairly busy street. As I scampered across on the way over via the quickest straightest line, it occurred to me that if a crazed Mr. McPsychoDriver ran me down going 20 over the limit with no headlights, no working breaks and talking on his cellphone while taking a hit from his crack pipe, Mr. McPsychoDriver’s attorney would point out that I was not using a crosswalk. I’ll let you guess which way I went home.

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