Gallagher's Fun Friday Tip - April is National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month and the Academy of American Poets put together a list of 30 ways to celebrate poetry in April for poetry lovers.  If you've checked out Gallagher's Judicial Humor page, you have already seen the hilarious highlights where the law and poetry have intersected.  Judges have quoted poetry in their opinions, written opinions entirely in verse and even lifted poetic language from sources like Edgar Allen Poe and Wayne's World.  Excellent!

If you had dreams of becoming a rapper before you decided to attend law school, you might be excited to know that a dual career is attainable!  In 2003, a judge granted Eminem's motion for summary disposition in rap:

If writing an opinion in rap seems like a lot of work, imagine an entire symposium dedicated to a musician.  In 2005, Widener Law School hosted a symposium "The Lawyer as Poet Advocate: Bruce Springsteen and the American Lawyer" and then published an entire law journal issue with articles focused on Bruce Springsteen and the law.  I don't know if "the Boss"  could say he had "Better Days" than February 24, 2005 when over 200 lawyers and law students traveled to Pennsylvania to discuss his impact on the law. 

Though Springsteen may have had an entire symposium dedicated to him, he is not the most-cited rocker in judicial opinions!  In 2007, Professor Alex B. Long published an article in Washington & Lee Law Review on the uses and misuses of song lyrics in legal writing where he compiled a list of the top ten most popular musicians in legal writing:


If this fails to lift your spirits as you begin to trudge through the last quarter of the year, stop by the Poetry Month display at the library entrance and recite the Lawyer's Prayer!   

Photo Credit 1: www.thesmokinggun.com
Photo Credit 2: www.nytimes.com