Discussion of Robinson's Metamorphosis

I do agree that Robinson is not just talking about solving a legal issue when he talks about “taking care of a legal problem.” He seems to be talking about working with the legal system, and maybe even manipulating the system. Just adding on Lauren, I thought it was interesting to see that Robinson presents the same questions we asked repeatedly in class. Does the judge make an arbitrary decision that he just covers up with logic later? Here, the judge’s decision seems pretty arbitrary. When Robinson says he can “take care of a legal problem,” maybe he is saying that it is a lawyer’s job to merely predict how the judge would decide? Also, is Robinson merely predicting the judge's decision or actually influencing the judge's decision? His skill to read people and him discreetly threatening the judge do seem to influence the judge’s decision. But, you can also think that he is just predicting that the judge will rule that way at a given circumstance (even though the circumstance is changed a little by Robinson)… Answering Lauren’s question, I personally think that it is possible to improve certain skills like reading people by practice and experience…

-- EstherKwak - 17 Feb 2009