I received the following email today:
I am a second year student at [Ed.: name of law school deleted] and a member of the [Ed.: name of law review deleted]. I am writing a student note about the [Ed.: name of case deleted] case this semester. I was concerned about the comments about the [Ed.: name of case deleted] case you wrote at your website.
I’m wondering if you could please expand upon your analysis of [Ed.: deleted]. Do you think this is a compelling issue ... I would appreciate any assistance you could offer me. Thank you very much for your time.
It's a better question than most of these emails, the gist of which seem to be: "You wrote the case book I had to buy for class, so tell me what to write for my law review note."
I will be happy to answer these sorts of requests, provided you: (1) can prove that you have bought at least one copy of each of my books; (2) you swear a blood oath to cite at least one of my books and my blog in your comment; and (3) you pay my usual hourly rate of [Ed.: outrageous figure, which nobody ever pays him anyway, deleted]. PS: Half-price for UCLA students!
