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Get used to jokes, author tells law students
Marc Galanter had them laughing Wednesday with lawyer jokes. What's the difference between a dead snake in the road and a dead lawyer in the road? he asked. Skid marks in front of the snake. Galanter is no comic. He's a University of Wisconsin law professor, who analyzed the modern lawyer joke for a lecture hall full of future targets at Washington University School of Law. "If the feelings for snakes are higher than for lawyers, we learn something there," he said. Amid the giggles were a variety of messages intended to widen the understanding and thicken the skin. Ultimately, Galanter urged tomorrow's lawyers not to take it personally, to understand what's behind the humor and to do the right thing regardless of perceptions. Galanter has packed a slew of jokes into a new book, "Lowering the Bar: Lawyer Jokes & Legal Culture," to be published next month by the University of Wisconsin Press. It sets out a history of the genre -- and Galanter's theory on why it has evolved over the decades from gentle mockery to harsh jabs. … Ben Daniels, a first-year law student from New York, said Galanter's jokes were "hilarious," but he worries about the negative sentiments he will face when he joins the bar. "Even though it was a dark message, it's inspiring, because we're going in and we have a chance to change the public perception," Daniels said. Washington University law professor Karen Tokarz said it's good to take the jokes head-on. "We can't hide it," she said. "We need to talk about the realities."
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