New Post?

Merry Christmas all! I am at home and conspicuously NOT at school. Though I have work to do, it is nice to do it in Texas. I hope that I will be sufficiently relaxed by the time I leave that I do not go crazy when second semester starts... moot court and law review will be in full swing right when 2010 starts. Happy New Year to me...

I realized over this break that I use a great majority of my phone minutes on my family - I usually use about 2/3 of our allotted minutes each month, but this month I'm still under 100. Lame? Probably. Oh well.

Great break so far - lots of family, lots of movies, some work but not too much, and lots of crossword puzzles (NY Times of course). Charging briskly through my netflix queue. Love it.

More later, when things happen.

One down, two to go!

SO things have started calming down a bit (thank goodness). As of Monday I am done with my seminar paper and my Con Law final. I really haven't the faintest idea how I did on the final - it was my first open-book open-note test in law school, which was a bizarre experience. [I suppose it's more bizarre to expect students to come in with every scrap of information memorized, since lawyers in practice wouldn't write briefs using just the information in their heads. However, the norm in law school is a grueling, multi-hour, closed-book final so Con Law was a first.] Even though I had my outline with me, the multiple choice section was a beast and the two essay prompts were quite long and demanding. I'm pretty sure I did well on the essays, but my grade (as always) will be completely dependent upon the curve. We'll see how that goes.

I'm glad to have my paper done as well. After taking my first seminar class in law school, I think that I'm hooked. It was difficult throughout the course of the semester to have writing deadlines (which often would detract my time/energy spent on other classes), but it's REALLY nice only having three finals this semester. Also, I love to write papers. This particular seminar class was unlike any other law school class so the paper was a little different - in this class, the focus was on how law fits in society and how scholars in other academic fields approach and analyze various aspects of the law. It was interesting and challenging, but more importantly, it is over. I think as a 3L I'll be signing up for some more seminar classes...

Anyway, I'm marching steadily towards the end of finals and coming home! It is weird to think that it's already December of '09. Finals time is eerie because it creates this terrible vacuum; I know that Christmas is coming and I know I get to come home soon, but all I can focus on are the looming twin deadlines on the close horizon. I am sitting on my couch in my new house, ignoring the Christmas carols pouring from the radio and the commercials urging me to buy, buy, buy. I have a huge stack of notecards that I'm devouring slowly, willing my brain to absorb just one more case, just one more rule... I also have my cell phone, a glass of water, a snack and my computer. Until December 14th and 15th, this is my world. After that, holiday time and family visits will exist again.

Yuck

Today was the last day of classes - this semester really flew by. I'm glad classes are over but this also means that my deadlines are LOOMING.

-three days from now my seminar paper is due

-six days from now is my Con Law final

-thirteen days from now is my Evidence final

-fourteen days from now is my Legal Professionalism final

THEN I fly home to Texas.

Two weeks of horribleness. I have a ton to do but definitely feel that I have a better grasp on finals studying than I did as a 1L. Unfortunately I have a lot more going on this year. Fingers crossed that I survive.

Almost Thanksgiving??

Oh my, still so much to do. Instead of laundry-listing everything left to do, I'm going to write a list of things that are getting me through this semester.

1. FRIENDS who make silly jokes and help keep me on track and remind me not to take myself too seriously

2. Herbal tea (picked a bad time to stop drinking Dr. Pepper)

3. Husband (who has been really supportive even though he is so busy)

4. Exercise (makes me less grumpy)

5. Sleep (also makes me less grumpy)

6. The knowledge that I'll be done with classes after Thanksgiving and that three finals and a paper away I'll be back in Texas seeing the folks!!

T-23 to Texas!

K

It really never ends

I keep meeting deadlines and moremoremore keep coming up! 

Finished: 

class reading, Moot Court P&A, research assistance for my professor, additional research for Law and Society paper

To do: 

class reading, final draft for Law and Society paper, study for finals...

Lots to do. As always.

T-28 to Texas!

Ack!

Alright, I am writing since it's been a while but I am only allowing myself a five minute break... my Moot Court memorandum is due on Tuesday (yikes!) so I've been buried all weekend. Fortunately I have gotten most of my week's reading done already, but I still have a long ways to go. 

The memo is going well - our problem centers on an area of law I have NO familiarity with (insurance) so I've been playing catch-up and doing heavy research since the problem was released. I've drafted 1.5 of the sections and my Intro, but the other section is a little harder to construct. That's the rest of my Sunday right there. I also have some research to do for my Evidence professor because he wanted to see my footnotes this week (preferably Monday). Additionally I need to work on my Law and Society paper - my full draft is done (and presented), but I was given some critiques and some more work to do to improve the paper before turning it in. That's due at the start of December.

ALSO... studying for finals! YIKES those are soon. I am a little nervous because this time last year I was already well into studying... however, I am more efficient now as a 2L and will be able to use my time better, so I'm not panicking yet. My plan is to get the Moot Court memo in on Tuesday (hopefully in the morning even though it's due at midnight) then spend two afternoons finishing my Law and Society paper, then spend the rest of the time on finals. Fortunately we had an Evidence midterm so I have a jump on that topic. Also fortunately there is no Law and Society final (just the paper), so I only have two other finals besides Evidence. That is good news.

Right now I'm just ticking the days down from deadline to deadline until I get to come HOME for much longer than ever before (yay for being in school and having long breaks!). I wish I had more interesting things to say but this is all that's on my mind.... workworkworkwork finalsfinals workwork HOME!

That's 6 minutes.

K

Happy November

Gosh time is flying. Hard to believe it's November already. Unfortunately this means that November deadlines are imminent. Here's a taste: 11/9 post the 20 page draft of my Law and Society paper, 11/10 moot court problem comes out, 11/11 present paper in Law and Society class, 11/17 Memorandum of Points & Authorities due to my Moot Court team, and some time during this span of time I have to get in a round of edits on my professor's paper (I'm still doing research assistant work, though it often takes a back- burner to my other class work). This isn't news, though.

On a more fun note, C and I celebrated our first Halloween in our new house this year! I was working on my paper so I couldn't go out to any parties this year, and C stayed with me because he wanted to hand out candy to the neighbor kids. We had tivoed the UT football game from earlier in the morning, so it was a great evening. Highlight of the night was when some punk pre-teen kids decided they wanted to steal our pumpkin - C saw them through the window and ran out the door (bare-footed, of course), chasing them for two blocks down the street. They got scared and put the pumpkin down so valiant husband came back, extremely proud of himself, pumpkin in hand. Very exciting.

Anyway, going to continue working on my draft for 30 min before class starts. SO much to do, so little time, etc etc. More to report later when things die down!

K

Insanity

No time to write... so much work and it's only just beginning 

Perfect storm coming up:

November = moot court problem releases, moot court research/draft, draft of paper for writing class due

December = work on moot court problem, FINALS, edit moot court brief (Christmas break?)

January = moot court brief due, law review draft due, start classes

That's just the overview. Not sure how I'm going to make it.

October = whirlwind

So much going on... C and I are all packed up and about to take a red-eye to Florida for our friends' wedding. I'm excited to go to the wedding but I'm a little apprehensive because this is one of the worst/craziest weeks coming up, and I'm afraid that I won't be sufficiently prepared because I'm losing this weekend.

Today I took my one midterm (Evidence). I was nervous going into the exam because it consisted purely of 15 multiple choice questions - I do extremely well in essay exams but am not as strong at multiple choice. I studied like crazy in my "free" time after the PA and really knew the rules. I'm still a little nervous about the exam, though, because I could still miss every question even though I know every word of the applicable rules. The questions my professor wrote were complex and the answer choices were tricky. I went through the exam pretty deliberately (forced myself to slow down) so hopefully I didn't fall for any of the red herring answers. 

Mostly I'm glad the exam is over. I have SO much to do next week and definitely not enough time to get it all done. More so than normal. I'm bringing a bunch of work and hopefully will be able to sneak off to get some done at regular intervals during the weekend. We'll see... more to report later.

Off to Florida!

K

PA done!

Happy to say that my PA is done! I had it done on Sunday, turned it in on Monday, got a free donut from the law review office. I am tentatively relieved - I'll breathe easier if I make it to the end of the wee k without getting the project sent back for corrections. Hopefully I did it well...

After spending a full week on that project, I had put off much of my other class assignments. I am working double-time to catch up with the time I lost. Priority #1 for the next week is prepping for my Evidence midterm. I also have my law review outline due soon (though they pushed back the due date).

One more challenge is a prior obligation - C and I will be singing at a friend's wedding in two weeks... in Florida. I'm happy to attend their wedding and sing for them, yet I also am sad to lose the weekend. I'll just have to keep my head down and work work work.

So much to do...

K

Buried

Just coming up for air for one second to say that I'm buried with work... our second production assignment is due on Monday. I will be at school every day until then, cite checking my footnotes. Ugh.

So much else to do, not enough time to get it done.

Gotta love law school...

More after Monday

K

New Post

I don't really have the time to stop working and write, but I thought I should at least write something because it's been a while since my last post. I really haven't had a moment to rest - I've been meaning to take pictures of our house in its (mostly) set-up state but haven't gotten to do so yet. C and I also need to frame and hang all of our pictures/artwork, but that hasn't happened either. One of these days...?

We were just told from the law review higher-ups that our second production assignment would happen in the first week of October. Because this will take up SO much time, they recommended that we get our class work done ahead of time. That means double-reading this weekend. 

Fortunately, we have Monday off. Unfortunately, the mountains of work are unending. I spent most of yesterday reading an article for Law and Society (the writing class) and preparing for Evidence. I haven't touched Con law yet, or Legal Professionalism. (starting that soon). I have to write a paper topic memo for Law Review (mostly finished) and prepare a five paragraph paper abstract for Law and Society (not remotely finished). I have to start learning rules and outlining Evidence because we have a midterm at the end of October. I haven't outlined any other classes. ALSO I need to put in 10 hours/week of research-assisting for my Evidence professor.

I'm always sprinting to one deadline or another... sometimes I feel a little jealous of my colleagues who didn't put as much on their plates this semester. It would be so nice if I ONLY had to worry about preparing for class. I remember feeling so stressed and overwhelmed with the workload last year, and that was only a small fraction of what I'm doing now. I look at the 1Ls now and they are doing exactly what I was doing last year - stressing over the small things, trying to work ahead and outline without quite knowing what to do. It's kind of cute. I'm mentoring two 1Ls and (hopefully) will be able to impart some of this knowledge to them.

Back to the work-mountain...

K

Whew!

I just survived my second cold-call in Constitutional Law. Both went well - I had read the cases and understood how to apply them to the hypotheticals asked. Somehow the cold-calls as a 2L are less excruciating than as a 1L... so far so good this year...

K

No time!

I'm not even kidding. I have no time to stop and think or even breathe. I realized that I haven't posted in 10 days... the time flew by so quickly I forgot to remember to post!

Nothing new to report, really. We now have a dining table and chairs in the house (hooray!) which really only means that I have more options for places to study now. 

I spend most of the day hurtling from one deadline to the next - I really don't spend that many hours in class yet somehow my days are completely filled. That's law school.

My job interview is this Thursday, so I'll try to remember to post afterwards.

*deep breath* 

back to work.

Oops!

I was talking to Mom the other day and realized that there were a few major updates that I had neglected to tell her... and incidentally had neglected to blog. SO here's an update:

First of all, house update - we have all our appliances now! Our washer/drier is giving us a little trouble because the pipe under the house is capped, so the dirty water comes back up and needs to be siphoned out (thank goodness C takes care of this - I can't handle the added stress!). Besides that, though, we have a functioning fridge, stove and dish washer, which is awesome. 

ALSO our amazing friends have completely furnished our guest bedroom (they offered this to us as a housewarming gift) - the room is very cute and cozy and beachy. You'll have to see it to understand what that means. The room honestly defies description. Let's just say that there is a standing lamp that is shaped like a palm tree...

Second - I know I posted about Law Review (yay), but I'm not sure that I posted about Moot Court (also I'm too lazy to go back to read my old posts, so sorry if this is a repeat). I made the moot court team and will be competing as an oralist this coming spring. More news to follow as it becomes available (I think they release our problem in November).

Third - I received an award for my legal writing last semester - I got an A+ in the class which earned me a Witkin Award (yay). That's one of the things I mentioned in passing while talking to Mom who reminded me that I HADN'T mentioned it before, and maybe I should have? :D

Fourth - I have been trying to secure employment for my next summer. I know it's early to be looking, but I want to nail that down as soon as possible so that I don't have to worry about it in the spring. I sent in my resume/writing sample to the on-campus interview program and have been contacted for a job interview. I won't say who the possible employer is here, but it's a paying job, it's government, and it would be awesome if they decide to hire me! The interview is in a little less than two weeks, so I'll be sure to post about it once the time comes. More on that later as well.

I think that's it... despite all the work and obligations and craziness I'm miraculously caught up/ahead on my readings for class and am now doing some research for my law review Comment topic. I'm sure that everything will unravel again once we get our second Law Review production assignment, so I'm trying to stay ahead of the game. So far so good!

K

September already?

It's amazing how there's always more to do - I really have been working around the clock and the "to-do" list just keeps growing. I definitely have a better handle on my schedule and my assignments this year than I did as a 1L. Even though I have committed to more (much more), I am keeping everything pretty well balanced so far. Last year I think I wasted time on things that weren't as important; this year I don't have the luxury of extra time, so I don't make that mistake.

I'll write a longer post with actual tangible reflections re: 1L vs. 2L year. I have quite a bit to say on that subject. Right now, though, I'm trying to finish up my assignment for tomorrow's Evidence class... then I need to prep and write my Comment topic proposal for Law Review... then I need to do some research for my Evidence professor (just an hour or so)... then I need to research for my Law & Society paper (thesis is due in 2 weeks and I need to read more articles to put that together)... after that it will probably be Wednesday... at which point I have to prep for classes and keep juggling. I have so much going on at once - the key will be not to let anything fall behind. 

The poor house, however, is getting very little of my attention. We're poised in a state of half-unpack. Some of our possessions are still in boxes. Some are on the floor in piles because we haven't had time to buy any tables/containers/shelves. There are no pictures on the walls. Such is life... I'll deal with it the next time I'm free (which will probably be June of 2010. No kidding, I'll be working straight through Christmas break this year. More on that later).

K

STILL BUSY

PA is done!

...ok it was done a while ago. We turned our assignments in on Monday but I've been so busy since then I haven't been able to blog. After turning it in, I took a full afternoon to recover (I was a mental zombie afterwards).

Tuesday through Friday consisted of reading for class, attending meetings, holding office hours, attending class and organizing my brain. SO much going on. I have to take each day separately, planning and scheduling each hour as I go. If I look too far ahead, I get extremely stressed and overwhelmed. I make sure that I know the week's deadlines (of course), but I still have to take my schedule in baby pieces.

This applies to my weekends at well... tomorrow morning BRIGHT and early I'll be driving up to school for a three-hour workshop for moot court. I'll also be doing some legal research this weekend - research for my Law & Society class, research for my Law Review comment (to be written in the spring), and research for my Evidence professor for whom I am a Research Assistant. ALSO my goal is to send out a bunch of resumes for summer jobs this weekend. I know it's early, but I figure it's best to do the work now, while I'm somewhat less busy (that's a joke).

Sorry the posts are less frequent/redundant. I'm SO much busier now than I was last year... in a good way. I know I'll survive this stressful semester, but only if I stay on top of/ahead of my deadlines. 

More later, as things progress! 

K

BUSY

OK so I've been busy... school started this week. Because I haven't been able to keep up every day, my week went something like this:

Sunday: Law Review meeting - received first production assignment, due in eight days.

Monday: went to the library, worked on PA all day

Tuesday: went to the library, worked on PA all day

Wednesday: went to class, worked on PA, class, class

Thursday: went to class, office hours, worked on PA, class, PA

Friday: went to class, library for 6 hours, Moot Court meeting, home at 9pm

Saturday so far: woke myself up at 6am by dreaming that I had overslept. Up at 7am and started reading/briefing for next week. More PA work to come.

Short explanation: The law review is my school's scholarly publication. The law review staff, of which I am now a member, is charged with editing, cite checking, and polishing each article for publication. For this first assignment, I was assigned 40 footnotes in a particular article - my job is to cite check each footnote. This entails finding the cited source online, printing the relevant information from the source, highlighting the passages cited, putting the printed sheets in a binder with a tab for each footnote, then using the Bluebook to correctly format each citation. Additionally, I need to edit my section of the article and footnotes for proper grammar... it really is a lot. 

I've worked on it every day since Monday and I'm not quite done. I still have 4 or 5 sources to locate, I have to finish highlighting and stapling my tabbed sources, I'm halfway through the Bluebooking but I still have some sources I'm not sure about, and I haven't red-lined my draft yet. Ahhh! I also have to prepare readings for the next week of classes... and apply for jobs for next summer on top of that.

ALSO I was selected to join my school's competitive Moot Court team (yay!). Last night we were told our team assignments and our competitions. Fortunately I don't compete until the spring, so Moot Court work won't add that much to my current workload. Unfortunately, this means that my spring 2010 will be a perfect storm of Moot Court brief research/writing, preparing and practicing oral arguments, competition PLUS Law Review Comment research/writing PLUS classes PLUS getting summer job... I already know that my spring will be crazy.

More to come... work now....

K

never-ending cycle

This past week has been a blur of house-related activity. LOTS of painting - the office, kitchen, entryway, master bedroom, and half of the rec room are painted (yeah!!), which took the majority of every day since Sunday. As of tonight, we have purchased a washer/drier, a fridge, and a stove, all of which will be delivered this week. I have packed probably 75% of our belongings in boxes, and probably 50% of those belongings are in the house already. 

Tomorrow EARLY we are getting the fridge, then will be moving the bed and couch. This means (fingers crossed) that tomorrow night will be the first night we spend in the house!

C and his dad are out paying for the stove as I write this, so I'm blasting classic rock (CCR right now) and am packing what remains of our kitchen. It's getting tougher because all of the things that fit neatly have already been packed. Now it's down to all the odd-shaped left-overs... like the pointed glass drinking vessel and the large sword C brought back from Spain, and the various bowls, dishes and vases we received as wedding gifts. Ah well. 

On a different note, I have my first Law Review meeting on Sunday... which is when we get our first production assignment. I am supposed to have all my readings done by Sunday (I have done most of Con law, most of Evidence, none of Professionalism). I definitely need to schedule some dedicated book-time tomorrow... so much to do, so little time!

Starting to get stressed (already)... trying to breathe and remind myself that life is so much bigger than this moment, this day, this week... My friend told me to sing "just keep swimming... just keep swimming" from Finding Nemo... I think that will be my new mantra for the month :D

Swimming on,

K

It's official!

As of this afternoon, C and I own our first house! We've been working on it for the past several days, but now it is officially ours!

Even though we really have spent every day since Saturday there (father-in-law is in town as well, so we've had extra hands), we still have lots to do before we actually can move in. We still need to finish painting several of the rooms (though the office, kitchen, entry way, and master bedroom are all close to being done). We still need to buy appliances (hopefully doing some of that tomorrow). We still have to physically move over all the boxes, the couch, the bed, the dresser, etc, etc. 

I *hope* that we can get everything (at least everything important) moved in by this weekend. Odds are that won't happen, but that's my goal. Sunday we have our first meeting for Law Review, then Wednesday is the first official day of classes... thus, I'd like to have at least some sense of permanence in the new house before I have to blow off house work for school. I also want to get as much done as possible so that I don't leave C to do it all or have to put it off until I have the time "free."

In my "spare" time when not painting, I've been trying to squeeze in some reading for classes. So far I've made it through half a week's Constitutional Law assignments and that's it. As it gets closer to school time, I'll make that more of a priority. 

For now, we're just happy to own the house and to get our stuff in it!

More later, and possibly pictures as well, if I remember to take some...

K

House countdown

OK the house buying is getting close... the loan should officially close on Tuesday (8/11), which means that we'll "officially" own the house on that day (we signed the docs with the title company yesterday). Until then, though, we have the combination to the lock box so we can get into the house and start working on it now. I just got back from letting in a cleaning service to give us a cleaning quote... after talking about it, we decided that it's probably a better use of our time to pay someone to do a deep cleaning of the entire house so we can get right to the spackle and paint and installations.

I've been packing up all our junk in boxes which we'll start moving in once the house is clean. It's amazing - in such a small 1br apartment we do have a surprising amount of heavy things. Hopefully with the help of our friends and of C's dad, who is flying in tomorrow, the move won't be too painful.

Additionally, more of my books are arriving in the mail. All but one of my syllabi are posted as well... which means that it's just about time to start reading. We were instructed to finish our first week's assignments early because Law Review will give us our first assignment on the 16th which will be due a week after that. Good thing I enjoy editing and writing!

I'll write again this weekend and keep my reader(s? hi mom!) posted about the house as things develop. 

K

Mini vacation

The good thing about not having work is the freedom do do things that are unscheduled and out of the ordinary. 

For example: this weekend C and I drove down to San Diego to witness the wedding of a college friend. We were two of five witnesses to this wedding which took place on a large ship, conducted by the ship's captain. The wedding itself was quite short and amusing (the bride's mother called in the middle of it so she could hear the vows - so C stood between the captain and the bride holding out her iphone stiff-armed with the speaker pointed at everyone's mouths... ALSO the bride couldn't quite understand what the captain was saying, so he had to repeat some of the lines a few times over, i.e. "for richer or for poorer"). Definitely a fun/unusual weekend.

Further, we just purchased a huge mess of cardboard boxes from a nice lady on craigslist. Thus, starting tomorrow I'll be packing and boxing much of our less-often-used household paraphernalia in anticipation of the move next week. We have yet to close, but I figure it'll be easier in the long run if I do the bulk of packing and prep beforehand. The amount of time between now and school starting is so limited... and I already have starting piling on extracurricular activities for the next semester.

OH things are happening so quickly! We really don't do things halfway... 

summer for real!

Yesterday was a fantastic last day of work. It began with a Goodbye card from the city secretary (so sweet!) who connected with me earlier in the summer based on our shared obsession with "So You Think You Can Dance." The attorneys seemed genuinely sorry to see me leave. They made a mini fuss about me at the staff meeting when they found out I had made Law Review. My supervisor made it clear that I had done a great job this summer and asked that I keep in touch. 

I think I was extremely lucky (do I keep saying this over and over? It's true) - I learned so much and was able to experience so much this summer during the eight week externship. The attorneys were great mentors and I feel as though my "lawyer" skills improved immensely over the course of the job. All in all, a wonderful first-job experience.

Currently I'm finishing up my paperwork - tomorrow I have to turn in my final reflection paper and examples of work product (I chose a mediation brief and the demurrer I wrote at the start of the summer). I'm also writing thank-you cards to the attorneys, per the suggestion of my supervisor. Lots to do today...

I see this next few weeks as my time to pause and breath between sprints (literally and figuratively). We have lots of preparation to do before the move - packing, buying of supplies, picking paint colors, purchasing furniture and appliances... the list goes on. I also will need to get mentally and physically ready for school to start again. Once the books arrive, it will feel more "real." Until then, I am already planning and scheduling my time between now and August 16th. (Apparently my 'relaxation' time needs to be tightly scheduled and choreographed - that's just how I am!)

I'm looking forward to falling back into a routine, but also am enjoying this semi-structured yet deadline-free time. More to report as things unfold...

K

Penultimate work day

SO today is my almost-last day of work. I really don't have that much to do, since very few projects can be started and wrapped up in two days. Thus, I blog.

This has been such a great job... the attorneys have been so friendly and helpful, and actually gave me many assignments where I was able to do lots of "real" lawyer work. I will leave this job with a decent amount of work product, (hopefully) stellar recommendations and 5 hours of school credit! I will be sad to leave this job, for sure, though I am happy to have a few precious weeks of freedom between tomorrow and the start of school.

I most likely will be spending this "free" time getting ready for the move. Lots of packing, lots of planning...

As soon as my school books arrive, I also need to get started on my first reading assignments. Law Review has already informed us that we have a production assignment due right after the first week of school. Busy busy!

More family!

Tomorrow I will be taking off work because my youngest brother is coming into town! Hooray! I haven't seen him since December when he and I drove his car from Austin to North Carolina right before the start of 2nd semester. I'm so excited to see him! AND extra added bonus, he just turned 21 so C and I will have to take him out legal-style!

The externship is winding down - my last day is next week. We've already ordered my textbooks for the next semester (almost $500, sheesh) which should arrive in the (hopefully) near future. Before I know it I'll be back in school mode...

BUT before then, hopefully we'll close on the house. We're just waiting for the loan to close at this point, after which we can set a signing date. Hopefully sooner than later... the time between end-of-work and start-of-school is very short...

I suppose C and I just love doing everything all at the same time and very quickly.

K

Good news!

I just got some awesome news!

I was invited to join my school's Law Review!

This means LOTS of extra work and energy, but it's quite an honor. The write-on competition was so long ago (the weekend after finals ended in May) that I had to search my computer for the essay I wrote because I couldn't remember my submission. I'm so glad to have made it! Because I'm not top 10% (I was top 20% at the end of 1L), I didn't automatically make Law Review. I 'wrote on,' meaning I was invited based on the merits of my paper.

What a great way to kick off the (almost) start of my 2L year! 

K

Still waiting to hear from Moot Court... more to come later!

Visitors!

This past month has been a little empty and lonely with C on the east coast for the past four weeks. It has been quite a challenge to coordinate with him, get all our documents signed, send our personal information to various necessary parties and otherwise wade through the red tape that is purchasing a house.

FORTUNATELY I was far from lonely this weekend! My awesome parents jumped on a plane early Friday morning in TX and came to CA for the weekend in order to visit and to take a look at our property in escrow. Straight off the airplane on Friday, quick stop to the apartment to drop off suitcases, then back in the car to meet our realtor at the house! Dad being Dad wanted to see EVERYTHING. This included shimmying up the hallway closet to the attic door (without a ladder, naturally) to take a look at the underside of the roof, and climbing up on the empty trash cans to take pictures of the roof from the outside.

I was incredibly nervous before their visit. It's overwhelming to be a first-time home buyer. I know that C and I are uniquely situated and am confident that we are making the right financial decision to buy property. I was concerned, however, that this older house was going to be more trouble than it's worth. The house was built in the 20's and has undergone a series of additions and renovations. Though we're already in escrow, I was fully prepared to cancel the whole deal if Dad and Mom had reservations about the house or found huge problems with the roof or foundation.

Good news, though - the house is structurally sound. As an older house, it has many minor issues that need to be monitored or addressed, but nothing that is a major deal-breaker! Also, we're getting the sellers to cover some of the minor fixes, including the installation of smoke detectors and building a weather-protected cover for the water heater at the back of the house. As of this weekend we are full-steam ahead! Just waiting to hear from the loan underwriters, then we should be able to close!

Besides the house visit, I had a great time with my parents in town - the last time they visited I had JUST moved out here and didn't really know where to take them. This time we ran around in Santa Monica on the Promenade, took a stroll down Rodeo Drive, hung out with friends in Redondo Beach, and my folks even made it down to Long Beach on Monday while I was at work. We rounded out the trip yesterday with a few hours at the Getty museum, where my parents took more pictures of the building's exterior and gardens than they did of the artwork inside. The weekend was so busy and flew by so quickly. I was sad to see them go back home, but happy that I was able to show off California more than I did last time.

It's hard to believe that two full years have almost passed since C and I, only married for three months, came out to California for the first time. Two years filled with making new friends, C's rotating jobs, my school adventures, occasional trips home, and PERFECT weather! Two years in which we have experienced our first earthquake (and second, and third) and have learned how to accept the ridiculous gas prices and occasionally horrendous traffic. Two years in the same tiny apartment, which we are now preparing to leave.

More news on the house as we get closer to closing!

K

News

I've been relatively busy since the last time I posted - busy being an adult.

With the husband out of town, I've been doing lots of (very necessary) apartment cleaning - getting into those boxes and piles that accumulated when we first moved in two years ago - the piles I would "get to" eventually. Very interesting living alone for this month. It occurs to me that I have never lived alone... went from home to college, back to home, then moved in with the husband. It is lonely sometimes, but I like being responsible for everything at home (except this week when the cable died - not really equipped to deal with that!).

The NEWS though, is that we are currently in escrow! We put an offer on a house in Hawthorne a few short weeks ago, have sent in waves and waves of paperwork and reports (all of which had to be signed and faxed in CA to DC, signed and faxed by C, then sent back to CA), and now finally are in escrow. Major hurdle #1 was done last week (the physical inspection), which showed no major damage or deal-breakers - TONS of little things, though. Major hurdle #2 was yesterday (the appraisal), but we haven't gotten the results of that yet. Major hurdle #3 will be the OK from my parents, who are flying out to CA this weekend to see the house in person.

It's scary but very exciting to think that we might OWN this house by the end of the summer. My goal was to get all of this done and to be moved in by the time school starts - on our current schedule, we will be cutting it very close.

I can see why most law students don't undergo such a life-changing process during the course of school - the stress and anxiety and TIME spent merely finding a house and putting in the offer has already been astronomical. Once we close, we have to get everything packed, move it, unpack it, change our address, etc, etc. Many awesome friends have offered to help us when the time comes... which is sweet... but the prospect of doing all this is quite overwhelming. Exponentially more overwhelming is the prospect of doing all this while also trying to start my 2L year... definitely glad I got the "marriage thing" out of the way before starting law school!

More as this develops,

K

Basically, we are freaks of nature

So... I don't want to jinx us... but C and I are in a position to buy a house this summer. I've alluded to the house hunt in prior entries, I think. It's a tedious, frustrating, heart-wrenching, exciting and terrible process. Ever since finals ended, we've been on the hunt (well mostly C - he's very good at trolling the listings for potential properties). FINALLY found a place in our price range, in a neighborhood that we like, that wasn't a slummy shack (we saw several of these during the hunting process).

Again, don't want to jinx anything, but my fingers are crossed. We have offered, they have countered (with different provisions - we agree on the price), and now we have sent our counter-counter. I think the waiting part is the worst. I can mentally prepare myself for either getting the house or losing the house, but I can't stand being suspended in this limbo where any of fifty things could happen...

On top of that, C is out of town working on a satellite that was just launched - he'll be gone for another three weeks or so (I don't want to count down the days until it's July). Consequently, all the paperwork has to be signed, then faxed, then signed, then faxed (then send an email notification to the realtor)... much more difficult this way. I'll try to blog more about it once it gets closer...

I do wonder, though: how many law students buy houses during law school? Probably not very many. With the massive amounts of debt and the dearth of free time, it's probably too overwhelming for most law students to purchase property during school (many of my fellow students moved back in with their parents so they don't have to pay rent).

C and I have always been a little bit ahead of the curve - we were engaged during our last year of college while most people our age were living out their final glory days of senior year. We were married a little more than a year after that when most of our fellow graduates were still trying to figure out the "real" world (though to be honest, we were doing that as well). Now, while most of our friends are still focused on their education and careers (already not the norm for people our age), we're in a position to buy property on our own. I'm not sure if this is a function of our individual personalities or whether we have combined to create a new type of two-headed precocious aberration... but whatever it is, it works for us. We do always like to have a million things going on at once...

Hopefully this house purchase works out well (fingers crossed, breath held)... ... ...

50% interned

Slow day today at work... the legal secretary who sits near me isn't here today (I don't have my own office; the other intern and I have desks in a large open space near the entrance). Also, one of the attorneys (unfortunately the one who gives us the most work) is out as well. I suppose that's what happens during the summer... but it means a lighter work load for us. Honestly, I would prefer to have more work and would prefer to be busier - it makes the day go by more quickly and it makes me feel more useful and productive.

The work I'm doing still mostly consists of legal research and writing. At this point I am halfway through the internship and so far I have written several memos, I have ghostwritten two letters, and I have worked on a few motions (one of which was submitted my first week here). I have also attended several city meetings and have been in court for several hearings and one jury selection. This seems to be a pretty accurate distribution of how the attorneys for the city spend their days (the ones on the civil side).

I am enjoying my time here, but I am looking forward to next summer. After taking Evidence as a 2L I can be certified, which means that I'll be allowed to be in court and actually do things. Next summer I think I'll be applying for clerkships and certified internships - mostly criminal jobs. At this point in my law school career, I have found criminal law to be the most interesting and to be the doctrinal area in which I perform the best. I also think I might try for an internship or externship during the fall or spring of my 3L year, but that's thinking pretty far ahead. Mostly, I like the fact that I have a plan. I do very well with plans.

On that note, I've been trying to schedule a time to visit home before the next semester starts. It's tough to plan around my schedule (end of this job, start of the school year - only a few weeks free in between) and C's (currently in DC, needs to pick another rotation/more permanent job once he returns) and my parents' schedule (they are planning to travel out of state during some of my free weeks). Lots to juggle.

BUT the good news... my baby brother (who will be 21 very shortly) is coming to visit! I've been in CA for two years and this will be my first brother-visit. It's very tough having a family so spread out (brothers are both on the east coast, I'm on the west coast, in-laws and parents are in the middle). He'll be out here for a long weekend at the end of July and I'm pretty pumped! Can't wait to show off my home-away-from-home!

K

Summer, continued

Summer weekends are the best! I love not having homework (though a small masochistic part of me does miss it...). In order to get credit for my internship I have to do weekly "guided reflections" = kind of a pain but my only real take-home assignments for the next two months!

Work is still going well - still doing research and writing, still learning a lot about the ins and outs of everyday government law jobs. No real changes on that front.

C and I have been researching real estate lately - we're considering buying a house out here in CA (or maybe a condo). It's been very frustrating, though, because the CA market is still pretty over-priced (compared to the cost of property at home). Even tougher, C is about to leave town on work for a month, which will really stall our house-hunting plans. I'm not really excited about the prospect of searching on my own, and I definitely don't think I'd be comfortable putting an offer on a property that C didn't see/like as well. However, we're in a bit of a jam because our lease agreement ends in August... basically it's tough being an "adult" and I still don't feel like we're old enough or mature enough to be making these types of decisions!

Anyway, lots to consider this summer, not the least of which is a choice of career. Based on my experiences in the public sector so far, I intend to research govt jobs and possibly appellate law... jobs focused on research/writing. Definitely one path to consider.

K

Government externship, pros and cons

Last week I discovered one definite perk of government work: our office takes off every other Friday! Thus yesterday was the first glorious day of my glorious three-day weekend. Excellent. 

Besides the surprise three-day weekends, the job is actually going very well. Because I haven't had Evidence yet, I cannot be a certified intern, which means that I can't have any responsibilities in court (bummer: all the cool jobs are only available for certified interns). However, the city attorneys are extremely overworked which means they have plenty of research to pawn off on the interns - I've only been in the office for a week and I've already been given two large research projects and have written my first motion that was submitted to the court on Wednesday!

The work is challenging but I am learning a lot very quickly. This job has confirmed my love of legal research and writing - many of my fellow law students find it tedious and a necessary evil, but I really do enjoy it. I also get lots of on-the-job advice from the attorneys who are usually happy to talk about their jobs, career path, law school stories, etc. Quite a few of the attorneys are alumni of my law school, and almost all of them had started out as interns when they were in law school as well. (one of my goals for the summer is to maintain a good rapport with the attorneys in the event that I decide I want to apply to work for the city some day...).

As far as I can tell, the largest drawback for government law jobs is the money - attorneys make SO much more in private practice, working for the larger law firms. However, most of the attorneys I work with have multiple children, so they enjoy the hours and relative flexibility that the government job affords them (not so with a large law firm that would require 85-95 hour weeks). 

ALSO, I really enjoy the people I've been working with. I'm not sure if it's just this specific office or this combination of people... everyone is so nice and so helpful. By my second day at the office, everyone knew me as the city attorney's intern and greeted me by name. The legal secretaries went out of their way to show me around the building and answer my questions (even the mundane ones I was a little embarrassed to ask, like where the bathrooms were or where people tended to go for lunch).

Sorry, this entry has not been organized well. I should have structured it before I started writing - oh well. Welcome to the inside of my brain...

K

Reading

People always say that law school changes you... and it's true, to an extent. I do think that the people who take the LSATs, apply to schools, then enter law school generally already have that competitive, ambitious, hard-working attitude - that's not what changes. In my experience so far, law school teaches a method of thinking and analysis - how to take the words on the page and construct an argument; how to relate the facts of one case to a set of similar yet distinguishable facts; how to see the weaknesses and strengths of a particular position; how to buttress your argument against potential attacks, and the list goes on.

This happens subconsciously - I definitely could not do this on Day 1 or probably even on Day 20. However, around Day 100 I looked up and realized that the analysis was becoming more comfortable and I was less intimidated and swamped by my assignments. I know that I have miles to go still before I can become a proper "lawyer," but I can recognize that I have the tools to get there, if I put the work in. 

On that note... funny story.

This past semester was pretty demanding and tough in terms of workload and expectations (moreso than first semester, for sure). Thus, I spent all of second semester missing and looking forward to reading for FUN. After the finals were done and the write-on was submitted, I rushed down to the library to check out some books to read before starting the externship. 

As I paged my way through the first book, I realized I was having trouble "just" reading. I seem to be out of practice reading for pleasure. I caught myself distilling the chapters into their most important points (with the voice in the back of my head saying 'remember that for later! that could be on the final!'). I realized that I would mentally skim the 'less important' parts and focus on the 'important' stuff. This approach works well with casebooks, however is not conducive to enjoyable pleasure-reading. For the first book or two I ACTIVELY had to slow my brain down, had to remind myself to stop and savor the words, focus on the 'feel' of the language rather than its content - basically, I had to remember what it was about reading that I used to enjoy and had to get back to that place.

Very funny what brains can do when you don't pay attention to it...

K

Externship day 1

As of today I am gainfully employed! Today was the official start of my city attorney externship. Because I haven't had Evidence yet, I can't be "certified" and thus am not able to do anything in court (which is the reason why I couldn't work for the moot court judge this summer). Bummer. The good news, however, is that the city attorney has several divisions (including a civil and a criminal division) and I will be assisting ALL the attorneys. Hopefully this will help me in my search for a career path - if nothing else, I should be able to determine the things I particularly like/don't like about day-to-day attorney work!

So... this morning I did the little kid first-day-of-school thing and woke up about 2 hours earlier than I needed to. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to drive to work either, so I ended up getting there about half an hour too early (so I called C who is in DC for three days for work). When 8:00 am finally rolled around I went in, much to the surprise of the attorneys who were not expecting interns until June 1st (my school designated May 27th as the official start of the externships. Apparently the other externs arranged their start dates for June 1st and no one told me). 

They were very friendly and accommodating, though, and I was set up at my own desk with my own computer. One attorney was more than happy to outsource some legal research to me as well, so I spent most of today reading an extremely interesting criminal case and researching on Lexis (a search engine for all things law - good thing the office uses Lexis too - I much prefer Lexis over its competitor, Westlaw).

I also ended up going to lunch with three of the attorneys today as well - three very boisterous and extroverted people who told some very amusing stories and gave me some good in-the-field advice (e.g. be extremely nice to your clerks who can make your life very easy or VERY difficult). 

All in all a successful first day!

ALSO I didn't get lost either on my way to work or on my way home = double plus!

Off to work again tomorrow

K

P.S. Torts

I realize that I said I would write about the Torts exam but I never did...

Now that two weeks have passed, I am less upset/anxious about it. Walking out of the exam I felt so crushed. I studied very hard, I thought I knew everything I needed to know, and I thought I had my professor's style figured out. If only.

One of my classmates said it best - he said he would have done well on the Torts exam if the test was written about a class we took. It seriously felt like we were taking a final for a completely different class. The multiple choice were brutally tough (on several I was honestly unable to narrow the four choices down because I wasn't sure what issue the question was testing). The essay questions were equally unclear. Additionally, I was so frazzled by the multiple choice that I ended up writing what felt like awkward, stilted answers that didn't clearly or properly answer the questions. As I was writing I knew in my gut that I wasn't doing my best, but for some reason I was unable to change my path. It was a pretty awful experience over all. Essentially, Torts kicked my butt. Good thing I did well in other classes - I'm hoping it all balances out!

K

Write-on done!

Done and done! A few hours ago I finished and submitted 6 1/2 pages of write-on... I do hope that it was good enough to make Law Review. The chances of making it are slim (see previous entry), but at least I did my best with the cases we were given in the time we were given. I am glad that I tried for it - but I'm mostly glad that it's over!

The grades are starting to come back in... so far I have an A+ in legal writing (HECK yes!), a B in contracts (not so great, but at least it's only 2 credits), and an A in criminal procedure (heck yes! I felt good about that exam, so I'm glad that it came out well). So far I am on track to make my goal for this semester, which was to improve upon last semester's performance. I make this statement tentatively because I haven't gotten my Torts grade back yet... but at least I'm doing well so far. Fingers are crossed!

Now I have one full week of glorious freedom before my externship starts. On my agenda for this week:

-apply for Moot Court

-read books!

-watch movies

-clean the apartment

-finish the wedding photo album (I've selected most of the pictures - the hard part will be to get them printed)

-write emails to people I ignored all semester

...that's it! 

[I do realize it's crazy that I made a checklist and schedule for my free time... that's just how my brain processes things! I don't do well with tons of unscheduled, unstructured time. I have to make mini-deadlines for myself or I go nuts.]

Movie time!

K

Write-on

Well... finals are over yet here I am, sitting in the study room of the library, getting geared up to write a paper. More specifically, the write-on competition for Law Review. Even after my success in Moot Court (and in my Legal Writing class this semester - the only grade we've gotten back so far but I rocked it!), I still am anxious about this write-on.

To make it on Law Review, you have to be top 10% grade-wise (which I am not) OR you have to write a brilliant paper (that must be grammatically pristine). AND it's super competitive because it looks amazing on a resume. I'm not even sure how many people will be submitting entries or how many people they accept - all I know is that I have to be brilliant in order to make it. Also, the write-on lasts two days; thus, I not only have to be brilliant, but I have to do so in a ridiculously short amount of time. No pressure...

I'll update about the write-on, if I have time, over the next two days (not sure how much of a time crunch there will be). All I know is that I'll be writing my brain off for the next two days and hopefully it'll come out well.

ADDITIONALLY when the write-on is done, I'll have a week to write and submit a personal statement to apply for the competitive Moot Court team next year. Even though I did well in the competition, I still have to apply and interview (which means more writing... of course). I guess I'm never really "done"!

Anyway, I'm off to prepare...

Bring it on, write-on...

K

It is finished.

I am sitting on the couch, willing my body to remember what it feels like not to stress. Yesterday was my final final as a 1L (the exam was great - it was straight-forward, I knew all the topics, and I wrote a decent essay. I don't know how that will translate into grades because of the curve, but at least I know I did a good job). Today, for the first time in several months, the calendar square on my refrigerator-white-board-calendar is blank!

Somehow the end of finals this semester was not the same boisterous, exuberant celebration as last semester. I think that we were just pleased/surprised/proud/amazed that we had survived last time. Perhaps we are wiser this semester? This time, leaving the exam room, I did not feel the same rush of relief and accomplishment. Instead, I felt more sedated and wistful. I am definitely relieved that this semester is over (it was much more strenuous and demanding than last semester; or at least, I knew what to expect from class and finals this time around); however I also feel the weight of my upcoming summer externship, my 2L classes, the bar (distantly) and the need to find a fitting career path. 

Yesterday after the exam, the school provided some beer/pizza/soda outside as a reward for completing another round of finals. We stood around, holding red Dixie cups, blinking in the sunlight we've been avoiding for months, saying our goodbyes. It was interesting to hear what everyone is doing this summer - many of my friends are studying abroad in London, some have externships, some working for judges, some with paying jobs that are not law-related in the least. I think back to the first days of school, when we were all fresh, energetic pre-law students, so excited about starting school and so unaware of what we were beginning. In the course of one short yet interminable school year, we have evolved into confident, battered, strong, somewhat cynical 2L's, joined by the shared experience of suffering through and surviving the first year of law school. It's hard to believe that in another two years we'll be taking the bar, and then hopefully a short time after that, will be lawyers. Somehow I feel like 3 years isn't enough time! Such responsibility!

Law school really has changed the way I think, the way I perceive the world, the way I argue and the way I speak (for example, the Classics major created my obsession and deep respect for words and language. Law school has magnified and expanded my respect for words astronomically!). It has altered my view of the future as well. I have never had a clear career path/concept of what I want to "do" or "be" in the future. Though I'm still working on choosing a proper "path," I think law school has given me some much-needed direction and has forced me to start planning ahead in ways that I never have before. I both hate and appreciate law school for this. 

I will write more about this as the summer progresses. For now, I must enjoy this "free" time (if I can still remember how!). My short-term goals are to CLEAN the apartment, to search for houses (yes, we're still looking), to apply/interview for Moot Court, and to get ready to start my externship!

K

Law school = brain damage

Words I never used before law school but now use constantly and often gratuitously:

-Fungible

-Dispositive

-Litigation

-Subjective/Objective

-Disincentivize

-Precedent (I guess I used this sometimes before, but never quite as often)

-Prejudicial

-Exigency

...there are more...

K

(Studying Civ Pro like a fiend today - lots to memorize - brain is beginning to reject new information...)

P.S.

The torts exam yesterday was awful. Just awful. Both the test and my performance on it. I'll talk about it later when I've mentally recovered from it...

Brain getting hurt-y

Burn-out beginning... have been studying the past two days straight, working on Torts non-stop. I secretly spent this time being jealous of people who were enjoying their weekends. Also studying for Torts. Did I mention my brain hurts? 

Hopefully I'm more eloquent on my test tomorrow. This one will be tough because it's 4 hours (9am - 1pm). The last hour is always the worst.

Last two finals as a 1L in T-1, T-4.

K

Two down, two to go!

Criminal Procedure today!

I felt really comfortable going in to this exam - knew the issues, knew the rules, had a great number of cases names memorized to drop strategically into my essays. It was one of those tests where there were no real surprises and I just went in and did what I had planned to do while I was practicing. What a great change! I haven't felt this comfortable about a test since college. 

The bad news (as always) is that we're graded on a curve, so my grade will depend on how well everyone else did. Most people probably knew all the rules and understood the issues as well, so I hope that I was able to hit enough of the point-rich issues (as always). 

The good news is that I'm done with two exams and I only have two more to go before I am officially done with my 1L year! Expect a post-mortem on my first year of law school this time next week!

(Off to study for Torts then have a nice dinner out with the husband)

K

One down, three to go!

Contracts is done! What a relief - even though it's only a 2 credit class, it's the class where I felt the least comfortable based on the complexity of the topic. This exam was tough for one, because we only had 2 hours for it, so it was a huge sprint to get through the essay, but  particularly because the question was open-ended (= did the party breach the contract?). After the exam a bunch of us were quickly de-briefing and realized that we approached the question quite differently - hopefully I hit enough of the right points and issues to get me a solid B or a B+. At least it's over...!

The good news is that, in retrospect, I think I'm getting better at studying for exams. Looking back, I realize how much time I wasted last semester reviewing things that weren't very important, or memorizing things that weren't going to earn very many points. I felt that I did a good job prepping for Contracts, now that I've taken the final. Hopefully this translates to the rest of the classes! 

Little breather now, then on to Criminal Procedure (incidentally, the class I feel the best about).

How did it know...?

This morning I was particularly cranky because of the stress of studying for finals, so I wasn't very nice to C before he left for work. After studying for about an hour, I took a break to play Wii fit, to blow off some steam.

I turn on the game and the first thing that pops up is a question (usually it asks something like, how are you doing today? Did you eat breakfast this morning? Did you sleep well?).

Today the Wii asked: Have you seen C lately? How does he look?

me: umm.... the same?

Wii: Are you sure? Maybe you're not paying enough attention to C... (not joking, the Wii told me this)

me: You're so right, oh wise Wii! How did you know?

...so because the Wii told me so, I called C at work to apologize and thank him for dealing with my crankiness during study time. Thank you, Wii! What a worth-while investment!

P.S. Thank goodness for the Wii too, because C's been playing Zelda for the entirety of the week, so I feel less guilty that I've been ignoring him for my studying... just a few more days!

Yikes

Brain... rapidly... imploding...

Memorizing/practice essays/multiple choice/review/reading... I have spent over 14 hours per day for the past 5 days STRAIGHT preparing for finals. The more I practice and study, the more I feel that I don't know enough. I think that's normal for law school, but it makes me nervous.

Contracts all day today and tomorrow, then contracts final on Wednesday.

Finals in T-2, T-4, T-7, T-10

K

The Final Countdown

Yesterday was our last day of classes - very bittersweet last day as a 1L! It's nice to know that my classmates and I have survived a full year in the most notoriously challenging time in law school. Now it's a marathon sprint until finals - first final is one week from today. 

It's hard not to be exhausted at this point. So worn out from the weeks and weeks of reading cases/outlining/paper-writing/oral arguments. Thank goodness there are no classes for the rest of the week - just my outlines, practice essays, multiple choice, and I. It's on! Doing what I can to keep the energy level and focus high. 

Finals in T-7, T-9, T-12, T-15...

BUSY

Countdown to finals... 

Because of all the Legal Writing stress + oral arguments, I'm behind in outlining. STILL. This time last semester I had all my outlines done. Not so right now. I'm at least one month behind in each class, and more than that in Civ Pro specifically. I'm doing my best to keep on top of the readings and outlines, but I have a feeling that next week and the week after won't be fun.

We have ONE more week of classes this semester - after next week plus one day it's over. Then comes dead week (i.e. study-like-crazy time). Then two weeks of finals. I can't believe how quickly this semester is going...

C finished his first set of MBA classes (yay) so he has a little less stress than I do. I currently have sooo much on my plate, so it's nice that he can help pick up the slack around the house while I am quietly going crazy. I actually need to stop writing this entry now - I'm reading Crim Pro for next week's classes, then will switch to outlining Civ Pro. This weekend is all catch-up, then outline-outline-memorize-practice essays-multiple choice-outline-study. Counting down to May 14th!

K

Good news!

SO much has happened since I last posted (which is why I haven't written in so long). Last time I wrote, I was in the midst of oral arguments. (Be warned... this is a reeeeeeally long post)

A little background: our school does its 1L oral arguments in conjunction with the Moot Court team, which essentially act as an audition for the Moot Court honors program. After the first two voluntary rounds, the 1Ls can volunteer to argue a third round of arguments. After this third round, the top 16 finalists are selected. From there, the actual competition starts. The top 16 argue one-on one in pairs in single elimination rounds. After each round a winner is chosen to go on to the next round. The top 16 is narrowed down to 8, then to 4, then to 2 then to one. Pretty intense.

Basically, the last time I wrote I was prepping for the mandatory round.

THIRD ROUND

The week after that (last weekend) were the optional third rounds. It turns out that 160 of the 1L students opted to argue these rounds, which were conducted downtown at the CA Superior Court building. My partner and I were able to argue in that round together, each of us on our own separate issue, for 10 minutes each (both arguing for the plaintiff). The judges in that round were alumni of my law school. The judges we had for that round were pretty aggressive (one in particular) - lots of questions, very critical, really pushing our arguments. After arguing this round, we went home to await the results.

FOURTH ROUND

On Monday after the third round, the Finalists and Alternates were announced for both Writers and Oralists. Both my legal writing partner and I were announced as members of the 16 Finalists! From this point on in the competition, each of us was on our own, arguing both issues (one of which we had not ever prepared/argued), so Monday through Thursday was spent RAPIDLY learning the entire second issue. Even though my partner and I weren't arguing together, we collaborated all week and prepared one another for the opposite issue. The fourth rounds were scheduled on Thursday evening (April 2nd), after classes (this was awesome because C got to come watch... he was out of town during the third rounds, so he was unable to see my partner and I kick butt the weekend before).

Fourth round is tough because each of us were paired up head-to-head and had to argue for a full 20 minutes each, both issues. I happened to be paired up against one of my friends from my section. This round was judged by a panel of alumni as well, and was held in the CA Superior Court again. In this round, even though I was learning a new issue, I still got to argue the same side (plaintiff) that I had prepared for the first and third rounds. It was tough to argue for a full 20 minutes again, and the judges were also quite aggressive.

Directly after the fourth round, we were all taken to a holding room, where the winners of each round were announced. I was announced as the winner of my round, and my legal writing partner had also won her round, so we both moved on to the quarter-final round, consisting of 8 quarter finalists...

FIFTH ROUND

The tough thing was that this quarter final round happened RIGHT after the fourth round. The fourth round winners were announced, then we had 15-30 minutes to get ready for our next round against one of the other quarter finalists. Fortunately, the guy I was arguing against was originally arguing for the defendant, so each of us elected to stay on the same side (I argued for the plaintiff again, though I had prepared to argue for the defense just in case). Our judges were ready to go, so after 15 minutes of waiting, we were hustled into the court room and started our arguments.

Fifth round was definitely tough. The judges were very critical, asked very pointed/specific/difficult questions, and really kept us on our toes. I came out of the round, having argued the full 20 minutes successfully, but not knowing how I did. Of all the rounds up to this point, I felt as though the fifth round was one of my weakest because the judges were so rough. However, C, who had watched the previous round, said he thought that this fifth round argument was better than my fourth. 

At the end of this round, the winners were announced. My legal writing partner (who had to argue for the defense, not by choice) was knocked out of her round, but I was announced as a winner of my round again! This meant I was one of the top 4 semi-finalists. I was paired up against another one of my friends who also had been arguing for the plaintiff. At this point, something inside me wanted to argue the opposite side (maybe I'm a little crazy). I ended up getting assigned to argue the defense for the semi-final rounds, which were scheduled for Saturday (April 4th), which meant that I had one full day to prepare arguments for the opposite (off-brief) side.

SIXTH ROUND

So the semi-finals (top 4) were argued on Saturday (yesterday) at the California Court of Appeals in Pasadena. GORGEOUS location. Even though it was Saturday morning (first day of Spring Break, incidentally), my two best friends from school, the devoted husband, and many of my teachers and other friends from my section were there to watch the arguments. For some reason I was so very calm...

Sixth round went really well, actually. My opponent went first (representing the plaintiff), arguing for 20 minutes. I was glad to be arguing second, because it gave me a chance to watch the judges. As the defendant/appellee, it is helpful to listen to the points the judges focus on with the plaintiff, since those will be my strongest arguments as defendant. After my opponent, I went up to argue my side. Of all my rounds, I felt the most confident for this one, even though I was off-brief. I picked my strongest three points for each issue and was able to bring my arguments back to those points well. The judges ask a ton of pointed and critical questions, so it's our job to answer the questions while also directing the argument through the points we need to make. I felt that I was able to do that the best in this round. I wasn't sure how I did, though, because my opponent did a spectacular job as well.

At the end of this round, the judges came back and announced that I had won my round (!!!). They gave very complimentary feedback about our arguments. The chief justice for that round was actually a Federal Judge in California, and he offered both my opponent and me summer externships in his office (!!!!!!!!). [side note: earlier in this crazy week on Tuesday, I had just interviewed and landed an externship working for a city attorney... however, I will have to decline that offer because the job working for this judge is such an amazing opportunity! Yay for summer employment!]

SEVENTH ROUND

So after I won the round and was given the job offer, I was pretty much in shock... but there was still the final round. The winner of the other quarter round was another girl, so I was arguing against her head-to-head in the final round. She had also argued for the defense in her quarter round (also off-brief). My strategy was to really focus on preparing the defense side, and then to stick to that side again if I advanced (it is VERY hard to argue one side then turn around and argue the opposite side 30 minutes later). My opponent had the same plan, so we had to flip a coin to see who got to stay on the defense. Fortunately, I won the coin toss. I spent the 30 minutes between rounds relaxing and mentally preparing... I didn't practice at all because I had JUST argued that side in my sixth round.

The final round was big-time. The three justices judging the round were all actual judges (11th circuit, New Mexico Supreme Court, Wisconsin Supreme Court) who had flown in for this round. The round was video-taped (I think because the legal writing professors next year will use this round in order to instruct the 1Ls about how to do oral arguments). Several of my professors, my friends, and all the current moot court members were there watching the round. As I said, it was big-time.

The last round was very difficult. The judges basically took turns throwing questions at us, and very aggressively attacking our arguments. I had a tough time, too, because I was arguing on behalf of the big drug companies of the fictional state of Westmoreland, whereas my opponent was arguing for the injured plaintiff whose hands had been paralyzed (no sympathy factor for my side at all!). The judges basically grilled both of us for 20 full minutes, then went back to deliberate. I honestly had no idea how I did at the end of the round since it was so tough to get my points out between the questions. The judges asked fantastic questions, but it was very tough to keep my argument on track and focused.

The judges came back out after what felt like an eternity, and announced me the winner!!!! Me!!! I was so shocked. I felt as though I had done well in the previous rounds, but I had never dreamed that I would be the one to win the competition. Very overwhelming. After this round we went to the Moot Court awards dinner, which was a blast. (I also won a pretty sweet goody-bag with some great prizes!)

AFTERMATH

It's such a relief now to be done with all of this. I had been working on this fact pattern for months, preparing my paper with my partner. Then, even though the paper was done, we still had to live with this case for a month, arguing every weekend for the past four weeks. Looking back, it was a very difficult path, but it was worth all the time/energy/sweat/tears that went into it. 

I sit here on Sunday, still a little amazed. I'm attempting the mental transition from Moot Court argument-mode to preparing-for-finals mode... even though it's spring break, I now have to start working on finals prep and outlining each of my classes. As always in law school, one thing ends and then another fifty things are lined up, waiting to go. It was nice to take this moment to recap and defragment - deep breath - time to outline Criminal Procedure.

: D

K