The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I think this should be the motto of every law student.  The next time you discuss or read a case try exhibiting a “first-rate intelligence.”

If you are in any position of authority I am sure that you have been faced with opposing views on the same issue.  If you are a parent the same is true.  You are put in the position of listening to both arguments and trying to remain neutral while deciding how to handle the situation.  Get used to it.  As a lawyer, this is what you will do.  As a law student, this is what you should be doing now.

We are all human, and we all have our biases.  This is not a bad thing.  But to do really well in law school we must constantly distance ourselves from those biases.  We must think from both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s perspective.  We must anticipate arguments and counter-arguments.  To really understand a case (and the law) we must be dual-minded.

This is not an easy task.  If you had to argue an issue to a judge that was easily swayed, you would want to argue last.  Make sure your argument was the last one heard and the freshest in the judge’s mind.  But if that judge is truly intelligent the order of argument will not matter.  Both arguments will be retained and given equal weight.

To be a great lawyer someday let’s begin now while we are in law school.  Fight the urge to think on only one side of an argument.  As future lawyers we will be arguing one side, but should still be thinking on both sides.  If you can hold both sides of an argument in your mind at the same time and still remain unbiased and function, then you truly are intelligent.  God bless and have a great day.