On the clock

The good news is that Moot Court is over after one more month. The bad news is that the following month will be spent cuddling up with my law school material in the fetal position in hopes that my case books have an osmotic effect. It will be a month long period of catch-up going into final exams. You've seen the shirts saying, "If you can read this, put me back on the bar stool." In my case it's going to be, "If I'm on a bar stool, tell my grumpy ass to go back to the library." Our partner assignments for the final oral argument have finally been released. Although I would like to see my partner prevail against the other students, a stumble on her part may make my crappy presentation look that much better. After all, we're graded individually. I guess that's the competitiveness in me.

T's

While I was out grabbing a bite to eat for lunch I noticed a guy wearing a shirt that said: "Make Love Not Law Review." The person who coined that phrase is a genius. Other than the fact that he probably ranked on the lower end of the totem pole. Nonetheless, that is a classic. After noticing the phrase, the lawyer in me started questioning the logic behind the phrase. Will making love land you a large firm job with a guaranteed six figure income? Well, I guess it might if you make love with the right person. Apparently there is some logic behind the phrase.

Wow, I must be bored. What kind of idiot would explore the logic of a phrase pasted on a t-shirt? Me.

Jibberish

Wow! Only one more oral presentation left in Moot Court before our final oral argument in front of the panel of judges. I'm becoming more and more comfortable with public speaking but my skills are by no means bling, bling. The final argument is a month away and the 30-page brief is due in 3 weeks.-->I guess I better get working on that.

Since getting my jewels handed to me on a silver platter in Contracts, I've devised a scheme to prevent further mishaps. I've noticed that when the professor randomly calls on people from the seating chart, she'll say to the people that she has already heard from that day, "Oh, you've already said something. Let me find someone else who hasn't." So from now on my goal is to raise my hand to answer a question to prevent her from drilling me when she goes to the seating chart. It's all about strategy.

I was invited to a law firm social Monday evening for the Top 10% of the class. It was basically a networking opportunity to meet and greet the attorneys from a large firm here in town. The firm provided beer, wine, and food. They generally hire only those in the top 10% with law review and/or moot court experience. To land a job with such a firm I'll need to continue to produce the same quality of work. Fortunately, a few a my friends that I hang out with in law school are also in the top 10%. We went to the event in a group which made it much more relaxing...of course the beer helped as well.

Slacking

I have too much to do to humor you with my thoughts and observations. You should be receiving some updates by the end of the week. For now, I figured I would let you know that I'm still alive and kicking. I've been researching cases and writing papers. Right now I'm working on drafting 15-20 pages discussing the First Amendment and its application to the disclosure of confidential communications. Last semester we had the sex-happy parties contracting various venereal diseases. This semester we have people who like to shoot innocent people (well sort of) and then discuss it with their psychiatrist. I must say that the folks who pull these ideas out of their rear end have quite the imagination.

Anyone need vaseline?

And today was my turn with the beast. I got nailed in Contracts. I now know what its like being Bubba's playtoy. She got me. I was fully prepared in class, but when I got called on I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. She jumps around so much from thing to thing. I thought she was still discussing the case analysis but apparently she was discussing a particular article in the code. So she said, "Could you please list the exception to the rule in da da da da da?" I said, "um, you mean when the court held this...?" She said, "Are you not with me?" I said, "Apparently not." She said, "Well let me help you..." as she walked to where I was sitting. I was on the right page. So she pointed to the answer and said, "Read that!" So I read it. "And now in your own words..." So I explained. Then she left me alone. It could have been worse, but I still felt like a total dumbass. I was completely humiliated. Oh well, I'm just 1 of 20 that she's belittled so far.

It won't happen again.

Reserve tank

This semester is 1/4 of the way through. Last semester my level of stress didn't reach the boiling point until a couple of weeks prior to finals. This semester is a different story. The stress reached its boiling point beginning with the first oral assignment this semester. That pot of stress has completely evaporated 3 times already...thank the lucky stars for beer. It refills the pot.

Digging for gold

Our contracts professor is a tough cookie. Going to her class is like preparing to get pricked in the rear for a booster shot. You never know what to expect other than knowing it's going to be a real pain in the butt.-->like the analogy? I've been fortunate to not have been called on thus far, but the list of names is getting thinner and thinner. I'm due for humiliation. For most classes, the key is understanding the cases--the issues, rules applied, analysis, etc. In Contracts, however, you must be prepared to pull out some totally minute particle from a sea of water. It's not easy. Just when you think you got what she's looking for, you feel like a total incompetent freak. I must say that I am learning the material quite well, but that's mainly due to re-reading the cases 5 times in an attempt to dig up the not-so-obvious. This post has got to be cut short. I have to re-prepare for my Moot Court presentation tomorrow as well as polish up this paper that's due.

Madness...and it's not even March

This weekend has really sucked. I took it upon myself to do diddly-squat for school work over the Mardi Gras weekend. Man oh man am I paying for it now. I spent all of friday night (til 12 a.m.), all of Saturday/Saturday night, and a few hours Sunday morning finishing up a paper. Not to mention, I'm still behind in my other courses. So, I've spent the remainder of today (Sunday) reading and briefing cases for my other classes. I'm almost caught back up, but I still have about 60 pages of Torts to read and brief before Tuesday. I'd be lying to you if I said I spent less than 25-30 hours doing school work during this weekend alone. The lesson learned is that whenever you're given a holiday break during law school, it's meant to be used as study time. I forgot...I am supposed to have no family now, no social life, no friends outside of law school, no time for rest, etc. I'm a slave to the study of law. This semester is starting to take a toll on me. Freedom o' freedom, where art thou?

Back to school

My Mardi Gras break is finally over. It's back to reality. Tonight I was given a mulligan for our 4th oral exercise. The professor lectured too long before getting into the presentations, so I was fortunate that my turn didn't arrive before class was over. The bad thing is that now I have to re-prepare to do it next week. The good thing is that I have some extra time to prepare my presentation. Moot Court is eating away my free time. Presentation, paper, presentation, paper...it's a never ending process. On top of that I'm due to be called on in Torts. In addition, I have to keep on my toes for the Contracts professor that likes to rip us apart. Nothing much else has taken place, but I'll keep you informed. Quote of the day coming from the Moot Court professor:

"Don't bullshit the bullshitter!"--In response to someone quoting a particular page in the case file. If you're going to spit out a page reference, you better be correct because the professor will be sure to check.