Kings for a day

Dean Lombardi (left), president and general manager of the 2012 Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, listens to a lecture given by law professor Joel Friedman on Thursday (Sept. 20) morning. A 1985 graduate of Tulane Law School, Lombardi brought several members of his coaching staff to the law school to sit in class and absorb the Socratic method of teaching.

In an interview before the class, Lombardi said his intention was to sharpen his coaches' skills by observing Friedman, one of his favorite professors. "Coaching is not only knowing your material," said Lombardi. "It's being able to get the other guy to also figure it out. The teachers here are great teachers. Procedurally, their ability to get you to think, to think for yourself, to ask the right questions — that has resonated with me throughout my career." Dubbed the "Mad Scientist," Lombardi is credited for the spectacular turnaround of the Kings franchise.

In teaching civil procedure to a class of first-year law students, Joel Friedman details the circumstances concerning a hypothetical case of food poisoning contracted at — where else — an L.A. Kings match.