Joe Fore

Joe Fore

@joefore.bsky.social

Teacher, lawyer, writer, angler, unapologetic Blue Devil | Co-Director, @UVALaw #LegalWriting Program | Founder, Punctuated Law Designs (http://punctuatedlaw.com) | Writing Coach

1.8K followers151 following327 posts

Joe Fore reposted

Reform here is much needed, as hiring has absurdly moved to midway through 1L year.

Jeanne Fromer@jeannefromer.bsky.social

“We propose that state supreme courts amend their rules of professional conduct to impose a uniform ‘hold open’ date for offers until Oct. 1 of students’ 2L year for 2L summer positions.” @marklemley.bsky.social & I have an op-ed in Bloomberg on early recruiting news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

We’ve gone from real-life Veep to Silicon Valley.

KP@gokp.bsky.social

@robertdownen.bsky.social, we don’t talk about the elephant pissing in the room

One of my all-time favorites, from a few weeks ago

David Ziff@djsziff.bsky.social

Okay #LegalWriting Sky, a little survey: What's your legal writing "thing" that puts you outside the norm for good legal writers? I really dislike definitional parentheticals to the extent that I think I over-exclude them, a few standard deviations away from normal.

In Baltimore for the Capital Area #legalwriting conference and visited the terrific Maryland Center for History and Culture. One treat: a reproduction of Key’s original, handwritten poem, which shows that Key first wrote “*through* the dawn’s early light” before changing it to “by”

Joe Fore reposted

Seems like a great job! #LegalWriting

Robin Allan@robinallan.bsky.social

Lawyers and law profs of Bluesky! The Berkeley Law Legal Research, Writing & Analysis program is hiring! 2 new profs will join a group of 10 faculty for an August start. We take our work and students seriously and have more fun than anyone else in the school. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05371

I watched a webinar that was ostensibly about how law schools can better prep students for using AI. But it was woefully short on details. One partner at a major firm said “We expect new attys to use AI effectively on day 1.” But no mention of any specific use-cases. 1/

So, lawyers of Bluesky, how are *you* using AI right now, if at all? And what tasks would you expect summer associates/new hires to use AI for effectively on Day 1 (if at all)? Administrative tasks (emails, timekeeping, etc)? Research? Creating outlines? Doc/evidence review? Drafting? Editing?

The blanket, vague message that “students need AI skills” is like saying in 2001 that new lawyers need “computer skills”. Sure they do. But which ones? Typing? Programming? Word? Excel? Online research proficiency? Digital source literacy? Those are hugely different things.

Max Kennerly@maxkennerly.bsky.social

Typos happen and aren't normally worth clawing at, but Judge O'Connor is violating his oath and arrogating to himself the power to control a parallel federal district court, so I have no choice but to ask: is he a cat?

One of those great things about adulthood: waking up, seeing that your tap water is tinted orange-brown, and realizing, “Welp, that’s today’s project.”

This reminds me of something I heard years ago at one of our many, terrific #legalwriting conferences: “We tend to think that students mainly care about how much we know. But just as often, they want to know how much we care.”

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social

'The key findings were said to be “surprisingly simple”: “a good student academic experience ultimately comes down to quality teaching, access to in person interaction with teachers and a strong sense of belonging”.' 2/3

Joe Fore reposted

Law students should be taking State Constitutional Law. If your law school doesn’t offer it, ask for it.

Matthew Segal@segalmr.bsky.social

I know this isn't a quick fix, particularly in Virginia, but remember: SCOTUS probably isn't riding to the rescue. Rights and liberties increasingly depend on state courts. You can help: *Clerk in state courts! *Practice in state courts! *Try to become a state court judge!

Joe Fore reposted

When I was in law school, working for the Justice Department was this prestige career that students dreamed about having someday. Now, Trump has so thoroughly poisoned its reputation that it’s dangling $25K to get people to *consider* jobs that literally thousands of lawyers would have killed for.

open.substack.comThe Justice Department Offers America’s Least Employable Lawyers $25,000 to Humiliate Themselves In PublicIn response to an ongoing staff shortage, the Trump administration launches a real-world experiment to see how much an attorney’s reputation is worth.

Props to my afternoon #legalwriting students—who managed a very simple, but effective April Fool’s Day prank: precisely swapping their regular seats two that the entire classroom was a mirror image of the normal arrangement. It messed with my brain way more than I could have expected.

Joe Fore reposted

Teaching law students the practical skills of lawyering—writing, research, and analysis—is an important job.

Jake Anbinder@jakeanbinder.bsky.social

I think we need an inverse thread where we talk about things that normal intelligent people universally agree upon that are for some reason hot takes within your profession

Joe Fore reposted

First time really digging into using AI in oral argument prep, using a couple of different methods, to mixed results. Pros, so far: 1. oral argument questions that I wouldn't necessarily anticipated. Like participating in a decent moot. 2. offered some decent one-liners.

Joe Fore reposted

I know it's a lot easier when someone sends you a redline, but really you should know how to compare versions in Word. It's a basic skill in the lawyer toolbox.

When I was growing up in Winter Park, FL (15 minutes from downtown Orlando) in the late 80s/early 90s, there was a 100+-acre orange grove next to the middle school. It’s now a subdivision w/ dozens of million-dollar homes.

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“I refuse to acknowledge the validity of your show-cause order because it’s not signed by an Article III judge” is giving off some strong sovereign-citizen vibes.

Mrs. Detective PikaBOO, Esq.@clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social

Everyone stfu the Sixth Circuit issued *gigantic* AI sanctions storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

This seems like a big deal.

Reuters@reuters.com

The ​head of ‌the United States' ​National Counterterrorism ​Center, Joseph Kent, ⁠has ​resigned over ​the US-Israel war in ​Iran, ​saying in a ‌letter ⁠to President Donald Trump posted ​on ​X ⁠that 'Iran posed ​no ​imminent ⁠threat to our ⁠nation' reut.rs/4uAz1NV

Joe Fore reposted

Once again, a self-professed champion of "Western Civilization" shows disdain for its basic concepts, such as "the unexamined life is not worth living," attributed to Socrates, who is not exactly "modern."

More Perfect Union@moreperfectunion.bsky.social

Billionaire Marc Andreessen says he has "zero" introspection, and that the idea itself is a modern invention.

Joe Fore reposted

✋ Former USG war crimes lawyer here. Apropos of SecDef's remarks this morning: Denial of quarter—even the declaration of no quarter—is a war crime. And recognized as such by the US Government. From DoD's Manual for Military Commissions.

Last semester, one of my courses was 2:10-3:10. The first week, I felt a bit rushed toward the end of class, but I wrapped up right on time, and the students quietly walked out—at 3 pm sharp. Props to the first-week 1Ls who overcame the collective action problem, kept quiet, and just left.

Paul Gowder@gowder.io

I have to look up the start and end times of my seminar *EVERY WEEK* because for some mysterious registrarial black magic reason (tbf the reason is we don't have enough classrooms) it starts at 2:35 and ends at 4:25. I still routinely forget and carry on until 4:30. My kingdom for an even number

Joe Fore reposted

My periodic reminder (especially with law-firm interviews in full swing): Law students looking for BigLaw jobs should absolutely consider whether the firms they’re interviewing with align with their own personal and professional values.

Sean Marotta@smmarotta.bsky.social

Just in: The Government's opening brief in the law firm executive order appeals. drive.google.com/file/d/13F9m...

My periodic reminder (especially with law-firm interviews in full swing): Law students looking for BigLaw jobs should absolutely consider whether the firms they’re interviewing with align with their own personal and professional values.

Sean Marotta@smmarotta.bsky.social

Just in: The Government's opening brief in the law firm executive order appeals. drive.google.com/file/d/13F9m...

Joe Fore reposted

Unironically love my opposing counsel, who called me back after a meet and confer today because he forgot to ask how my family in Israel is doing (which reminded me to ask about his extended family in Iran). He's wrong about EVERYTHING substantive, of course, but just a good human being