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Some Answers About Questions
Learned from decades of practicing law and being married
The other day I read about a politician who was asked by a reporter from a national magazine, “Is Vladimir Putin a dictator?”
The politician said that he had not been elected to respond to gotcha questions from nosy mainstream media reporters.
I know how the politician feels. Not because I’m a politician or because I need to conceal my opinions about Vladimir Putin. I know because I am old, a retired lawyer, and married.
I never worried much about questions until law school and Professor Rayne’s contracts class. Contracts, like all first-year subjects, was mandatory, and terrified all of us. It was there I first encountered Socratic method and learned to fear questions.
For fifty minutes, Professor Rayne peppered us with questions about cases from the courts of medieval England, often involving farmers, livestock or feed crops. Professor Rayne never revealed the answers to any of his questions. He walked back and forth in front of us, calling us out by name, intuitively knowing who was unprepared. After class, foolish students rushed to the front of the room hoping that after the bell Professor Rayne would reveal some answers. The best they ever got from him was a vague statement such as, “I thought…
