[Low Conversation]
Mr. Hart...
will you recite the facts of Hawkins vs. McGee?
I do have your name right? You are Mr. Hart?
Yes, my name is Hart.
You're not speaking loud enough, Mr. Hart.
Will you speak up?
Yes, my name is Hart.
Mr. Hart, you're still not speaking loud enough.
Will you stand?
Now that you're on your feet, Mr. Hart...
maybe the class will be able to understand you.
You are on your feet?
Yes, I'm on my feet.
Loudly, Mr. Hart.
Fill this room with your intelligence.
Now, will you give us the facts of the case?
I haven't read the case.
Class assignments for the first day...
are posted on the bulletin boards...
in Langdell and Austin Halls.
You must have known that.
No.
You assumed this first class would be a lecture...
an introduction to the course.
Yes, sir.
Never assume anything in my classroom.
Mr. Hart, I will myself give you the facts of the case.
Hawkins vs. McGee is a case in contract law...
the subject of our study.
The boy burned his hand by touching an electric wire.
A doctor who was anxious to experiment in skin grafting...
asked to operate on the hand...
guaranteeing that he would restore it 100%.
He took a piece of skin from the boy's chest...
and grafted it onto the unfortunate boy's hand.
The operation failed to produce a healthy hand.
Instead it produced a hairy hand.
A hand not only burned...
but covered with dense, matted hair.
Mr. Hart...
what damages do you think the doctor should pay?
What did the doctor promise?
There was a promise to fix the hand...
back to the way it was before it was burned.
And the result of the operation?
The hand was much worse than before he went to the doctor.
How should the court measure the damages?
What should the doctor pay the boy?
The doctor should...
The doctor should pay for what he did...
and he should pay for the difference...
between what the boy had... a burned hand...
and what the doctor gave him, a...
Oh...
a burned and hairy hand?
Mr. Pruit.
[Toilet Flushing]
Man: Aah!
Ha ha ha!
That's just the screamer, men.
Screams every Friday and Sunday night at exactly 12:00.
It's all right.
Nobody's ever seen him. Not that I know of.
It's my third year now, and he's been screaming since I came.
Right at the stroke of 12:00.
Story is it was Kingsfield.
Kingsfield drove him mad.
He's driven a lot of lawyers mad over the 40 years...
since he's been teaching here.
I just heard he ripped up a one-L this morning...
so bad that the guy lost his breakfast.
That's true. That was me.
Hardly a propitious start.
[Snorts]
Well, let's see, I guess I covered...
everything I'm supposed to tell you about the dorm.
There's no cooking. No hot plates.
There's intramural football and basketball...
if you have the time.
Where's the pool?
It's across the square behind Holyoke Center.
You a swimmer?
No. Just relaxes me.
There's one more thing.
All that stuff about grades is true.
You gotta work like hell. No kidding.
Nobody jokes about grades.
Try getting a job without them.
It's stacked against you if you don't have the grades.
Don't think you're made 'cause you go to Harvard.
Maybe I better start studying then.
That's it. Study.
If there's any law around the dorm, that's it.
That's the main rule.
Remember, I'm here to answer your questions, so just ask.
And I'm the only third-year student you can trust...
so talk to me.
Okay. Thanks a lot.
Right. So long.
[Mumbling]
[Knock On Door]
[Door Opens]
Man: Hi.
My name's Ford. I'm across the hall.
I knocked, but you didn't hear me.
Hi. My name's Hart.
I came to ask you to join my study group.
What's a study group?
It's a device. A tool.
Groups of first-year students...
get together a couple times a week.
Review the class work, the casebooks.
They make outlines and then share them.
It helps at exam time. You interested?
Yeah. I'm interested.
You plan to study all night?
No, I'm finished. Five hours is plenty.
You want to get drunk?
[Classical Piano Music Playing]
Of course you have to have the grades.
I mean, hell, you can't wear "Harvard"
on a sign around your neck. [Clink]
You gotta have the grades and you have to look good.
Where you from, Hart?
Minnesota.
You went to the university there?
Yeah. Where'd you go to school?
Harvard.
In the grand tradition of the Fords.
I'm something like fifth generation Harvard.
Harvard Law School.
And depending on if I get the grades...
and then make the Law Review...
I'm on my way to Wall Street.
You'll make the Law Review.
Well, why not? After all, I am a genius.
I've got an IQ of 190.
[Snorts]
When I was a freshman at college, I had 3 roommates.
One was a genius, and one was crazy...
and one was inconsequential. Kept to himself.
It was the genius who told me about Kingsfield.
First guy to tell me all about Kingsfield.
He read an article about him in Life or Time.
Something about a book he wrote.
It was called Contracts in Our Daily Lives.
Yeah.
To make a long story short...
genius took the law school admission's test...
but didn't score high enough to get into Harvard.
Genius.
[Hisses]
Ah.
The study of law...
is something new and unfamiliar to most of you.
Unlike any schooling you've ever been through before.
We use the Socratic Method here.
I call on you, ask you a question...
and you answer it.
Why don't I just give you a lecture?
Because through my questions, you learn to teach yourselves.
Through this method of questioning, answering...
we seek to develop in you the ability to analyze...
that vast complex of facts that constitute...
the relationships of members within a given society.
Questioning and answering.
At times you may feel that you have found the correct answer.
I assure you that this is a total delusion on your part.
You will never find the correct, absolute, and final answer.
In my classroom, there is always another question...
another question to follow your answer.
Yes, you're on a treadmill.
My little questions spin the tumblers of your mind.
You're on an operating table.
My little questions are the fingers probing your brain.
We do brain surgery here.
You teach yourselves the law...
but I train your mind.
You come in here with a skull full of mush...
and you leave thinking like a lawyer.
Ford's study group?
Yeah. Yeah. James Hart.
Hi. Kevin Brooks.
[Clears Throat]
This is Hart, Kevin, and O'Connor.
This is Anderson and Bell.
We were just talking about the most sensible thing...
to do at the beginning is divide up the courses.
Each person be responsible for his particular course.
Each person do an outline.
Then at the end of the year...
we have them Xeroxed and exchange them.
Now, I propose that nobody buys any outlines...
because they won't reflect the work we've done together.
I'm gonna take property.
There's no guarantee we'll all be here in the spring.
Some of us might have nervous breakdowns.
I think we should do research on nervous breakdowns.
I want property.
I've already started property.
Hart, don't you think this is the most logical thing...
to divide up the courses?
Yeah.
Let's divide the courses up.
We've divided them. I'm taking property.
I think we should talk about who gets which course.
Maybe we should draw lots.
Like I said, I've already started property.
Forget it, shorty.
Listen...
Bell, try to think of this in terms of maximum utility.
Try to attain the highest average possible.
Treat all your courses as of equal importance.
They're not equal.
My father is in property. I know that stuff.
That's different. Go ahead and take property.
If you like and you know it, you'll do a better job.
I can outline something else.
Anderson, which course would you like?
Doesn't matter to me.
I've made my study schedule out to the end of the year...
dividing my time equally among all the courses.
I'll outline anything.
Kevin?
I don't know which course I'll be best at.
I don't think you should outline your best course.
Perhaps your overall average would improve with your worst.
I don't know which course will be my worst.
I don't care as long as it's not contracts.
I hate that son of a bitch Kingsfield.
Hart, which one do you want?
Contracts.
You sure? Yeah.
Okay, I'll take criminal law.
You guys who haven't decided...
can divide up the other courses any way you like.
O'Connor: Civil procedure.
[Knock On Door]
I'm going up to Mass Avenue to get something to eat.
You want to go?
No, thanks.
What is this, some sort of endurance contest?
No. This is a really fascinating case...
about this guy who went around killing everybody...
walking in his sleep.
Well, you want me to bring you back a pizza?
Oh, no. No, thanks.
Yeah. All right.
Yeah. Good-bye. Yeah.
Hello. Do you mind? There's someone following me.
Just to the corner's all right.
I'll walk you home.
All right.
I knew law school was hard...
but I didn't think it was going to be as hard as it really is.
You're up against some incredible minds here.
I think this guy's gonna be a supreme court justice...
this guy's gonna run Wall Street...
this guy might be president of the United States.
What it is, though, is this incredible sense of power.
This is where I live.
- Know what I mean? - Yes.
Have you ever walked through the law school campus?
- Yes. - Then you know what I mean.
When I walk down those streets...
I get the feeling that behind those doors...
minds are being formed to run the world.
Good night. Thank you.
Pleasure's been mine. Good night.
[Whispering] Ford?
Hey, Ford, wake up.
Huh?
What the hell are you doing?
Shh.
Where the hell are we?
Langdell.
I know that, but where?
In the heart of the beast.
Ah, this goddamn building gets to me.
Comforts me...
restores my soul.
Yea, though I walk through the valley...
of the shadow of ignorance...
I shall fear no evil...
for the law is with me.
Okay, get the book you want and let's get out of here.
[Footsteps]
Wait a minute. Whoa.
There's somebody else in here.
Hey...
that's Kingsfield. Come on.
We're gonna have to get up so early to keep up with him.
What are the elements that can lead to a party...
being excused from performing his part of a contract...
and yet not paying damages?
Mr. O'Connor?
O'Connor: Both parties predicate their contract...
on an assumption about a state of facts...
and the assumption is untrue.
Elaborate?
Mr. Anderson?
Both parties must share the assumption.
The assumption must be material, i.e., that the true state of facts is that it is impossible...
to complete the contract in any reasonable manner.
Both parties must be dealing with each other in a fair manner...
and neither party may obtain an unfair advantage...
because the contract is dissolved.
Example?
Um, well, suppose I were to agree...
to rent an apartment from you...
an old apartment which you hadn't visited in a while...
and the time came for me to move in...
and we discovered the apartment house had burned down.
That actually happened to me.
Personal comment is not necessary.
[Knocking]
Hello.
I was walking by and I saw your light.
How nice. Come in.
Hart: It's very interesting to me how quickly...
the classes have divided up into three factions.
One faction being the students who sit in the back.
Given up sitting in their assigned seats...
preparing the cases.
What is it, only October?
They've already given up trying.
Cowards.
The second group are the ones who won't raise their hands...
or volunteer an answer, but will try when called upon.
That's where I am, right now...
living in a state of constant fear.
And then there's the third echelon.
The upper echelon.
The volunteers.
They raise their hands in class.
They thrust themselves into the fray.
I don't think they're smarter than anyone else...
but they have courage.
And they'll achieve the final recognition.
The teachers will get to know their names...
and they'll get better... better grades.
Past couple weeks, I've been preparing for the upper echelon...
and this weekend if I get all my work done...
I'm going to enter it Monday morning.
In Kingsfield's contract law class.
[Clears Throat]
The facts of Carbolic Smoke Ball.
Miss Farranti?
This is a case where the defendants...
entered an advertisement in the Pall Mall Gazette...
November 1891...
stating that a £100 reward would be paid...
by The Carbolic Smoke Ball Company...
to any person who contracted influenza or a cold...
or any disease caused by taking cold...
after using the ball 3 times daily for 2 weeks...
according to the directions.
Now, on the strength of this advertisement...
a Mrs. Carlill bought a smoke ball...
used it according to the directions...
until she developed influenza.
What were the reasons for the court's finding...
in favor of Mrs. Carlill?
She had fulfilled the conditions of the offer.
The bargain was complete.
Was there a bargain?
Was there communication between the parties?
Was she not obligated to notify the company...
that she had accepted their offer?
Mr. Hart.
It's obvious that notice is not important here.
The offer requires no notice or personal communication.
What is important is consideration.
Question... Did Mrs. Carlill give anything to the company?
The company argues that Mrs. Carlill, in using the ball...
did absolutely nothing for them.
All they were interested in was the sale itself.
The answer to that is obvious.
Of course, they benefit from the sale itself...
but beyond this...
consideration does not necessarily in all cases...
have to pass to the other party.
Mrs. Carlill suffered the inconvenience...
of having to use the ball.
She gave something up...
even if it didn't pass to the other party.
So, you can only have a binding contract...
when each party gives something to the other...
or suffers an inconvenience by or from the other party.
- Damn good. - A good answer.
Not a complete analysis, not a hard question...
but the point is I did it.
I did it in Kingsfield's class.
This is a goddamn dance!
I'm telling you, the worst thing a law student can do...
is get involved with a girl.
Affairs by their very nature are time-consuming.
On the contrary, it's the best thing you can do.
Nothing makes you hornier than studying.
My father warned me about that.
Your father's full of shit.
He said the celibate mind is sharper...
retains more information.
The third year you can get laid all you want to.
The only sensible thing to do in a mess like this...
is find a woman that doesn't make demands and hang on.
Hang on like hell.
Grab onto her boobs and don't let go.
[Alarm Clock Ringing]
Oh, no.
What?
I thought you set the alarm at 12:00.
I gotta study.
Oh, crap, I got Kingsfield at 9:00.
Kingsfield: The auctioneer is the agent of the vendor...
and the assent of both parties is necessary...
to make the contract binding.
An auction, is not unaptly called then...
Iocus poenitentiae, which means?
Mr. Hart?
Hart: Uh...
Mr. Bell?
Bell: Locus poenitentiae means place of repentance...
or for changing one's mind.
You asleep?
No.
Where you been?
Walking on the point.
I was watching the rowers.
I've been thinking.
About what?
The trouble with entering the upper echelon...
is you have to work harder to stay in it.
And you haven't been working hard enough?
I haven't been working hard enough...
since I've been seeing so much of you.
[Sighs]
I'm not getting enough sleep.
Ohh...
I shouldn't have drunk so much wine.
Seems so much energy gets wasted.
Kingsfield caught me Friday unprepared.
Not following the discussion.
I swore he'd never catch me unprepared again.
And it's all my fault? Is that what you're saying?
Well... you don't give me very much sustenance, Susan.
Much what?
Sustenance.
Alimentum victus.
Way of life. Livelihood.
Nourishment. Support.
Susan?
Susan!
You bitch!
Susan!
Hi.
I'll meet you out front. Where have you been?
I've been sleeping in the park.
You ought to try it sometime. It's wildly therapeutic.
Hey! You missed the meeting of the study group.
I'm sorry. It won't happen again.
Anderson's right. You cannot balance...
girls and law school at the same time.
Kingsfield's having a party in 2 weeks.
Day after Thanksgiving.
- What? - He gives one every year according to Toombs.
- We all got invitations. I put yours on the typewriter. - Fantastic.
I get enough of the old bastard in class.
I don't have a decent tie to wear.
Good night, Hart.
Yeah. Good night.
"Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr.
"Pleasure... cocktails...
"Friday, November 24.
R.S.V.P."
[Low Conversations]
Greetings.
- How are you? - Good.
Hi.
How are you?
Asheley, sweetheart...
I want you to meet my friend.
Hart, I want you to meet my wife Asheley.
This is Hart. We're in the same study group.
Oh, hi. How do you do?
Hello.
Jesus. If this is supposed to give us...
closer contact with the faculty...
someone made a terrible mistake.
This place is fantastic.
It's just like I thought it would be.
- It gives me the creeps. - Don't be nervous.
Everyone's running around getting bombed...
or trying to kiss Kingsfield's ass.
Excuse me, Asheley.
Just make like you can vanish or materialize...
anytime you like.
Anytime you like.
Have you said hello to Kingsfield yet?
It's too crowded. I thought I'd wait.
Oh, no, that's his daughter.
Can you believe Kingsfield has a daughter?
She just got back in town. She's been in Europe.
He's in the study, running this party...
just like he runs his class... fear.
He's in with his pictures of the Law Review of 1929...
a big leather chair, and all his casebooks.
He needs a setting.
Kingsfield: Wouldn't dream of it.
Besides, I don't think you'll earn a goddamn penny.
Oh, let's not argue. Hello, how are you?
Hart, have you gotten into Warner vs. Davis yet?
Excuse me, Ed.
You going home? You haven't paid homage to my father.
Why don't I take you to meet him?
Why didn't you tell me you were Kingsfield's daughter?
I'm not his daughter very much. Why didn't you call me?
Wait a minute. You left me in the park.
Why didn't you call me?
I knew I'd see you here today.
You lied to me, Susan.
You told me your last name was Fields.
My last name is Fields. I'm married.
Oh, man.
We are...
We're separated.
He's still in Europe, and we're getting a divorce.
So why come back?
Because my mother is in a mental institution.
That's why I came back.
Sorry.
She's crazy as hell, but I'm not.
Couldn't prove it by me.
I have spent my required hour.
Would you like to take a walk?
No. You look too different dressed like that.
I've got to think. Please, excuse me.
I'll be home at 9:00.
[Door Closes]
Did you have a nice walk?
What?
I can see the resemblance.
I was just looking at some photographs of my father...
and I don't see the resemblance at all.
I look much more like my mother.
It all makes so much sense.
The way you looked at me when I talked about him...
telling you things that happened in class.
Didn't you ever want to burst out laughing?
No. It's very serious. I've been here before.
What do you mean?
My husband Philip was a law student too.
It's some curse of my father's that follows me around.
And that's why I didn't invite you in the first night.
But when you came back, there wasn't much I could do.
Where is Philip? Is that his name?
Yes.
Where is he now?
We were married for 2 years...
and I saw where my life was going...
and I didn't and I don't want that kind of life.
You haven't answered my question.
Where is Philip now?
Wandering around Europe with a knapsack.
He dropped out of law school.
Why?
I refuse to answer on the grounds...
that it may incriminate me.
I don't like the way you're looking at me.
It was much nicer before not having any background.
I wouldn't say that.
Our relationship has changed.
It certainly has.
I'm going to ask you a question.
You came back here because I'm Kingsfield's daughter.
That's not a question. That's an answer.
Now...
suppose I write you a contract.
It says...
"I agree for $100
to paint your apartment with white paint."
Is there any difference between this...
and a contract which says...
"You agree to paint my apartment with white paint...
provided I pay you $100."
Mr. Brooks.
You won't find it in the casebook, Mr. Brooks.
It's just a hypothetical.
I am waiting, Mr. Brooks.
I'm not sure I understood it all. Could you tell me it again?
In one case, there are two mutual promises.
In the other, there is a condition on a promise.
Mr. Brooks, do you know the difference between...
a condition on a promise and a promise?
Mr. Brooks, did you read this material?
Yes, I did read the material. I memorized the facts.
- I have a photographic memory. - A what?
A photographic memory.
Would you repeat that?
A photographic memory.
A photographic memory...
is of absolutely no use to you, Mr. Brooks...
without the ability to analyze...
that vast mass of facts between your ears.
Did you hear me, Brooks?
Yes, sir.
Could you give me the hypothetical again?
I didn't understand it.
Mr. Ford...
do you know the difference between...
a condition on a promise and a promise?
It's a very difficult concept.
A very difficult point in the law.
You just shouldn't have raised your hand in class.
I thought he was going to ask me the facts.
I couldn't hold the hypothetical in my mind.
It's like my mind was outside his...
watching myself unable to bring it together.
People laughed, didn't they?
I didn't hear anybody laughing at you.
I heard people laughing.
Hey, relax.
We'll have a swim.
Feel better.
Mmm.
- Aah! - Aah!
Justice Douglas...
Franklin Roosevelt...
[Chuckles]
Ernest Hemingway...
Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Geez.
Adlai Stevenson.
Helen Keller. Oh.
Interested in his study?
I played in this study when I was a little girl.
I used to run the dictaphone.
Kingsfield: Adequacy. As long as one gets...
what he has bargained for...
and it is of some value...
No, turn it off.
I feel like an intruder.
Not in his bed, but in his study.
What?
It's funny.
This is his special room.
Do you think he would mind me drinking...
in his special room?
I don't know.
You can call him in New York and ask.
I think you're behaving...
just the way he'd want you to behave.
Picking up his little silver mementos...
Iooking at his Law Review picture.
I think he'd like it...
just to have you fondle his things.
Have you ever told him about me?
About you and me?
No.
Well...
when I'm in his class...
I feel like he knows me.
As though when he calls upon me...
he's got it all planned out.
Like he...
Like he's watching my progress.
You know?
Like he cares about how I do.
[Door Closes]
Oh, my God. He's back.
Listen, get out through the kitchen.
Just go out the kitchen.
My clothes are upstairs.
I'll get 'em. You just go.
I'll take care of this. Just go on.
- So what did he say? - Well, he just said he hoped it wasn't a law student.
Now, will you state the facts...
of the case of Vigers vs. Cook?
Mr. Pruit.
Cook's son died. Vigers was the undertaker...
Or was Cook the undertaker?
Mr. Sanders.
You just want the facts?
Mr. Fisher.
This undertaker agreed...
to provide the usual funeral services.
Mr. Knight.
Vigers gave Cook an estimate...
that the whole thing would cost about £49.
Thank you, thank you.
Now, the rest of the facts, Mr...
The body was placed in a coffin...
Kingsfield: Ford.
Ford: The body was placed in a lead coffin.
The coffin was soldered without a vent hole.
The coffin then burst...
owing to decomposition of the body...
and it was impossible to hold the services...
in the church.
I never said anything.
I just went upstairs, I got your things...
I put on my coat, and I came right down.
Then why did he look at me that way in class?
He questioned the student on my left...
on my right, in front of me...
behind me, and then, glaring at me...
asked somebody else the question.
I don't know, but believe me...
you're just a name on a piece of paper...
a picture on a seating chart, and that's all.
You're only one out of thousands...
over the past 40 years.
I don't believe that.
He knows who I am.
Susan!
What?
We can't go on like this.
Like what?
Look, I've gotta get organized.
What is it? The middle of February...
and I've got 4 months till exams.
I never know when or if I'm gonna see you.
What kind of organization did you have in mind?
When's your divorce final?
Oh, no more contracts, Mr. Hart.
- Thank you, no. - [Sighs]
Are you really serious?
Well, if not the honorable thing...
why not the dishonorable?
I'd prefer to live alone.
I don't know what you want.
I don't know what to do with you.
Well, I don't want to live in the married students' dorm...
and have neat friends down the hall and walk babies with them.
I've been organized like that before.
You law students, you're all the same.
You can't let things alone.
You have to organize.
The endless defining of irrational human behavior...
into tight little patterns.
People are not rational. People are irrational.
[Sighs]
What do you want?
Do you want me to be irrational?
All right.
I shall be irrational.
[Laughs]
I'm gonna walk on the water!
[Laughs]
Is that irrational enough for you?
No? Okay.
I shall walk on my hands on the water.
Now that's more like it.
[Ice Cracking]
Oh, my God!
Aah!
[Ice Cracking]
Give me the coat.
The coat.
Keep off the ice!
Here.
Oh, God!
Ohh!
Oh, crap. It's only 3 feet deep.
God.
Waaah!
Aah!
Get out, Hart.
I gotta go back and get warm.
I know there's a lot of things to say...
but it really isn't worth saying...
so please just get out.
Think about me...
and think about yourself.
Don't call me. I know you're gonna want to...
but just don't, okay?
I Xeroxed an article I found in the library...
called Blessings of Consideration.
Kingsfield wrote it 30 years ago.
Well worth the time.
What are we gonna do...
about practice exams?
Nothing.
Practice exams don't count.
They don't mean a thing.
Look, Kevin, just keep aiming towards the end of the year.
You'll just have to relearn it all then anyway.
I thought it would give us a chance...
to see how we stand.
Whether one of us needs special help.
You need special help...
and you, too, O'Connor.
You both need a shrink.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to touch your outline.
I agree with Ford. I've given this problem considerable thought...
and in terms of maximum grade point...
the most sensible thing is not to study.
See how much you retain...
as a result of normal study procedure.
And then you'll be able to measure accurately...
how much extra work you'll need...
when it comes to take the real test in the spring.
I thought we might all study together for the practice exam.
It would give us a chance to see how well...
we'll work together at the end of the year.
But we don't have time to get up for this test.
We just take it. It doesn't count.
But what I really would like to do...
is just talk about how to take the exam.
That's not so bad an idea.
I'd like a session on examsmanship.
Maybe you need somebody to hold your hand.
Okay, this article has a very interesting relationship...
to the statute of frauds...
which I thought we should get into today.
I'm not ready yet.
Okay, the statute of frauds was passed in 1677.
It was called An Act for the Prevention...
of Frauds or Perjuries.
I said I'm not ready yet.
We can't wait for you.
Who the hell do you think you are?
King bow tie shit?
You don't run things around here. You don't run me.
The statute of frauds is, in some form or another...
the law in almost every state in the union.
You're giving everyone a pain in the ass.
If you don't like things, leave.
We can get along very well without your outline.
I don't know how well you're gonna do without ours.
Shut up.
Just shut up.
Okay. Certain kinds of contracts...
have got to be put into writing.
Marriage contracts, buying and selling of land...
any contract that is not to take place within a year.
Does this cover international law?
With holdings in the United States. Yeah.
I failed, Hart. I flunked every damn exam.
I don't know what happened.
I can't tell Asheley.
Her father's got a summer job waiting for me...
if I get the grades.
Well...
uh...
it's just a practice exam.
You know, practice.
Doesn't really count.
Yeah.
They gave me the name of this tutor...
so I called him up.
He told me to come over on Saturday.
Mm-hmm.
I don't suppose you'd have time...
to come over with me, would you?
Sure. Just come by the dorm.
Pick me up.
Thanks.
Oh, hey, Hart.
Don't tell anybody. Don't tell Ford.
Yeah?
I'm looking for a William Moss.
You've come to the right place, all right.
Moss, you've got company!
He's in the kitchen.
Moss!
What time is it?
It's ten after 10:00.
I didn't see you at the mixer last night.
Yeah?
Sorry about that.
Couple of guys at the door.
Yeah, back to that interview I was telling you about.
Yeah, it's a New York firm.
See, New York people...
hate to hire people from New York.
I'm from New York.
They want people from the South.
Yeah, they don't have to teach 'em manners.
Which one of you is Brooks?
I am.
Moss: What are you doing here?
I asked him to come. He's in my study group.
Want me to leave?
No, no. You can stay as far as I'm concerned.
So, you flunked every one of your practice exams, huh?
Every one?
Uh, yeah, every one.
That's quite an achievement.
Oh, my God, man.
Don't look like that.
You'll be saved. Every guy in this house...
almost flunked out the first year.
It's not too hard to see why.
They had broads on the brain.
It's the worst thing that can happen...
to a first-year law student.
I don't suppose that's your problem.
No, no, I'm married.
Moss: Well, the vote's split on that.
But I've saved all kinds.
I moved in here and saved all these dum-dums.
They'll all graduate.
All from Harvard, all good jobs.
I give them a little lecture before each exam.
They go out and take it on their own.
They remember things for about a day or two.
They're not stupid.
Did you bring any samples of your work?
Yeah, I brought some notes.
Notes don't mean a thing.
Why don't you go get dressed?
Take this down.
All set?
Imagine an old woman comes to dinner with you.
While you're mixing her drink, she slips on an ice cube...
slides across the room...
smashing into your new breakfast table...
demolishing it, and killing herself.
Got that?
Yeah. Kills herself, right?
After you've cleaned her up off the floor...
you discover a statute which says that homeowners...
must keep their land free of dangerous ice...
especially, but not exclusively, ice on their sidewalks.
And you find out that the old lady suffered from dropsy...
a falling sickness.
So you're sued on two accounts.
The one relying on the statute...
and the other, ordinary negligence.
Can they recover from you...
for having caused the old lady's death?
Can you recover the price of the breakfast table...
from the old bag's estate?
Write out an answer. Take half an hour to do it.
No help from your friend.
Come back a month before exams, and we'll go over it together.
Don't worry.
There's no possibility of error in my analysis.
Thanks.
- Good morning, Mr. Bell. - Good morning.