“Got a Minute?” with M.J. student Fred Wade

Welcome to UW Law’s “Got a Minute?” series. These are fun, short-answer interviews with 20 rapid-fire questions. We’ll find students throughout William H. Gates Hall as they study, wait for class or hangout with their classmates.

This week’s “Got a Minute?” interview is with M.J. student Fred Wade.

UW Law: Are you originally from Seattle, and if not, where?

Fred Wade (FW): No, I'm actually from Henderson, Tennessee. I came up here by way of the Air Force and retired up here. And I love the weather, the mountains and the water.

UW Law: What's one interesting thing about where you're from?

FW: Henderson is the home of Eddie Arnold. He's a famous country singer from back in the day.

UW Law: Where did you earn your undergraduate degree?

FW: University of Maryland.

UW Law: Did you take time off between undergrad and law school?

FW: No, I graduated one semester and went right into the graduate program the very next semester.

UW Law: Who would play you in a movie about your law school journey?

FW: My favorite actor is James Earl Jones, so I’ll go with him.

UW Law: How many glass structures are in the courtyard?

FW: Four. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. When I first started here I named them. I don't know why.

UW Law: Which fictional lawyer do you think would make the best law professor?

FW: I just binged Suits a couple months ago, so I'm going to say Mike Ross.

UW Law: What's the strangest legal case you've come across in your studies so far?

FW: Hawkins v. McGee. A patient goes to a doctor because his hand is all messed up. The doctor says, “I can repair your hand, but it won't be perfect, but you'll still be able to use it.” And so, they take a transplant from his chest and attached it to his hand. And then, of course, you know, a month or two goes by and he's got a hairy hand. So, he sues the doctor and loses the case because the doctor said he wasn't going to give him a perfect hand. It’s still a functioning hand. It works. He can still grab things and use it.

UW Law: If you could give out one superlative to any professor, what would it be and who would win?

FW: Professor Myhre and Most Likely to be a Supreme Court judge.

UW Law: How many different Law & Order TV shows have there been?

FW: I'm going to go with lucky number seven.

UW Law: Close — eight. Which historical legal case would you time travel to witness in person?

FW: That's easy, Brown v. Board of Education. My parents went to segregated schools, and I was the first person in my family who got to go to a desegregated school as a result of that.

UW Law: If you could have any superpower related to law, what would it be?

FW: I wish I could be like Mike Ross and have a photographic memory where you turn the page and you just suck it all up. You could basically flip through a book and be like, “Okay, got it.”

UW Law: Which legal term would make the best name for a band?

FW: Let's say Certiorari because probably not many bands have that name.

UW Law: Which three lawyers, real or fictional, would make up your legal dream team?

FW: Perry Mason, Atticus Finch and Thurgood Marshall.

UW Law: Where's your favorite spot to get a bite of food nearby?

FW: Samir’s Mediterranean Grill.

UW Law: What was the name of Elle Woods’s dog on “Legally Blonde”?

FW: I just saw it like three weeks ago. I forget. Coco?

UW Law: Bruiser. Which Professor do you think would do the best on Jeopardy?

FW: I think Professor Myhre.

UW Law: If you could ask any professor for a book recommendation on anything that doesn't deal with the law, who would you ask and what would the subject be?

FW: It would be Professor Kuszler and something about AI and medicine or medical ethics.

UW Law: What's one class you're hoping to take while you're here?

FW: There are a lot, but specifically administrative law and employment law because those are things that I deal with every single day.

UW Law: What's one interesting thing about you that people may not know?

FW: Back in the early 90s, there used to be these medical shows that would show full surgical procedures. All the blood and guts and gore and everything — and I absolutely loved them. Nowadays, they clean it all up and sensor it, so you can't actually see the incisions and all that stuff. I'm like, “No, I want to see what it is that you're cutting. I want to see blood. I want to see the doctors put the blood vessels back together. I want to see all that stuff.”