How many law students does it take to change a light bulb?

Three. 1 to change the bulb, and 2 to talk about law school because apparently there's nothing else to talk about outside of class. I've experienced this before. Being on the rowing team in college, whenever rowers would hang out, the topic of conversation would inevitably turn back to rowing somehow. It was alright, but law school seems to have taken it to a new level. Countless dinners and meals begin with "no law school talk" only to revert back to law school talk faster than you can say "Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right To Life." And so I say to my collective colleagues, "C'mon, my babies!" Surely we can do better than this. There has got to be a way! Sports, current events, the weather, pop culture, irresponsible fertility doctors, youtube videos about boats, stop me any time - the list of other things to talk about is longer than a pause after a ConLaw question.

Now, I am just as guilty as the rest. Often I make a lawschool-related joke, thinking it will not derail the real world conversation, but somehow it does. And so, I have compiled a few tips on how to avoid the traps of slipping into converslawtion (conversation about law).

1. Avoid use of terms which my fit the sentence, but have legal context. Examples: liable, moot, library, class, promissory estoppel, rum-stealing, reckless, whether.

2. Should the words "It's like that case..." ever escape your lips at a social setting, slap yourself across the face and say, "Man, I just slapped myself. Who does that?" I've seen this done - works like a charm.

3. Pitfalls often occur because the facts of a story relate to a case. If your friend starts the move, analogize back to the present. Example:
Person A: "And then he came at the guy with a knife!"
Person B: "That sounds like assault to me. Assault is defined as..."
Person A: "So do you think Chris Brown will be able to have a career again? If Ray Lewis can do it, why not?"

4. If the conversation starts to turn, create a comical physical distraction. Options include
-fall out of your chair
-throw a glass of water into someone else's face
-pretend to juggle
-actually juggle
-get up and dance
Feel free to be creative.

5. Many people think the best way to start a conversation is to ask a question where both sides can be debated. I prefer the opposite approach - ask a question that is completely one sided. Example: "Puppies - Cute or Ugly?" Conversation will immediately switch to cute puppies. And if you would rather talk about cases than about cute puppies, well then there are issues I don't think I can work out right now.

These are just a few of my strategies. It's a group effort, people. Together we can fight L-TOOLS
syndrome (Law-Talk Outside Of Law School) And the world will be a better place...one meal at a time...