Jules Coleman On Law Preview . . .

Why do you teach for Law Preview?

I love teaching; I love torts; I love Don Macaulay and I love participating in something I believe in. It sure as hell ain't the money.

Why is Law Preview better than other modes of preparing for law school?

Quality instruction and insight into courses and strategies are unsurpassed -- at least in torts.

Jules Coleman On Law School . . .

What is the most important skill law students lack when they begin law school that Law Preview teaches?

How to use time effectively and listen attentively without falling asleep.

What are your favorite study aids for the subject-matter you teach at Law Preview?

Immanuel Kant's Critque of Pure Reason and the Rolling Stones' History of Rock and Roll.

What is your favorite fiction/non-fiction book for the subject-matter you teach at Law Preview?

The story of 'O' and the Life of the Marquis De Sade.

What is your favorite casebook for the subject-matter you teach at Law Preview?

N/A.

What's your favorite thing about teaching the law?

Seeing students come to appreciate the promise of law, the value of living under law, and the great risks of abuse that inhere to the law. Bob Dylan rightly pointed out that you can steal with a pen as easily as with a gun.

Jules Coleman On Life . . .

What is your greatest accomplishment, professional or personal?

I have been asked to give the Clarendon lectures in law at oxford, the fresco lectures in Italy, and was named outstanding graduate of Brooklyn college. Professionally it has been mentoring and helping to develop those who had too little confidence in their own ability. Above all else, my greatest accomplishment is fathering three talented kids who love each other, their mother and me who know that talk is cheap and that a good song is hard to find.

What organization are you most proud to have been a part of in law school?

Yale faculty basketball team that constantly beats the pants off the Harvard team though they have twice as many faculty members. We had a civil liabilities faculty team when I first joined the faculty that was so good we won the intramurals championship against all student comers.

What person in the legal profession do you most admire?

Serpico.

If you weren't teaching at your school, what would your "other dream job" be?

Playing guitar in my kids' band -- Murder Mystery or touring with Dylan or Neil Young.

What are your 3 favorite websites?

YouTube, MySpace, ESPN.com

What are your 3 favorite movies?

Greaser's Palace, Life of Brian, My Favorite Year, The Ruling Class, and the most uplifting of all films: Magnolia.

What are your 3 favorite musicians/bands?

Now we are in my ballpark of genuine expertise Murder mystery is my favorite band. Jeff Beck is my favorite musician (basically just a great guitarist) Curtis Mayfield is my inspiration. Lou Reed; can't sing or play, but can write incredible songs; Magic Sam, what Chicago west side blues was all about; James Brown, sex machine; Prince, sexier machine; Beatles because they are the Beatles; Joni Mitchell, a genius who is undervalued because she is a woman; Coltrane, whose value can never be overstated; Kinks, because they have always understood rock and roll the last poets. Before there was rap there was the last poets; Chuck Berry, because even though he stole his signature lick from T-Bone Walker and took credit for songs his piano player wrote, he is in fact Chuck Berry.

What are your 3 favorite songs/tracks on your iPod?

iPods use MP3 technology which sucks. Buy a turntable so you might have a clue what music sounds like. If I had an iPod, the three favorite tracks would be People Get Ready, Because We’ve Ended As Lovers, Stairway To The Bronx.

What are the best/worst things about your job?

The freedom to think and write; the responsibility of grading.

How do you relax?

I play guitar, tell jokes about myself, write reviews of audio equipment, records and pop culture, tell jokes about other people and do massive amounts of drugs -- mostly diet pills.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

I have received a lot of good advice -- mostly from psychiatrists and at 200/hr it better be good advise:-) To trust others is to make yourself vulnerable to the defects in their character. Don't follow leaders and watch the parking meters. When you get to it and you cannot do it, there you jolly well are, aren't you. Wherever you go, there you are.

What's the invention you'd most like to see introduced?

Something that would make my money last longer and go farther. Something that would make the bad people in the world disappear.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

A friend in need ain't half as good as a friend in deed (made that up myself).

If you could choose 3 dinner guest in all history, they would be . . . ?

Freud, Marx, Einstein and Jesus; we'd eat Kosher or take out Chinese food.

What are you most afraid of?

That i will make the same mistakes I have made over and over again; never really learn who I am or learn who I am and stop caring or that I will end up alone, or that I will end up with Don Macaulay as my only friend. (btw, you can trust Don Macaulay)