Lucky you...two posts this evening

Hah!!! This is great. I often jot down great quotes that I hear during class, either from the professor or other students. I also jot down stupid quotes from stupid people during class for my later enjoyment. As I was studying this evening, I came across a page of notes and at the top I wrote (verbatim):

"Are there any supplements that tie all of these laws together?" Quote from Dumb-ass #2 (10/03/07).

This was in reference to the Louisiana Civil Code which is nothing but statutes...oh and by the way, they're organized by category. You're in law school dude...learn to comprehend.

I'll catalog my collection of this semester's quotes after finals. You'll be entertained by my note taking.

Three of my favorite quotes from professors this semester:

"Life sucks, get a helmet. While you're at it, grab a bag of Trail Mix and a canteen full of water."--In reference to sissies who sue.

"Don't be stupid. Eat the cheese when I give it to you. It's not a trap."--In reference to hints given for a writing assignment. Later in the semester, I noted:

Dumb-ass # 2 again: "Can we have more cheese?" 11/07

"They give you crack for free as a law student. You become a fiend and depend on it when you get out. Learn to use the stacks. During a clerkship, judges don't have money to waste on your lack of research efficiency."--In reference to not becoming too dependent on Lexis and Westlaw since they are very expensive online law library services.

Time keeps passing me by

Something about law school seems really strange to me. This semester is nearly over and I feel as if I just had my first day of class a couple of weeks ago. I remember that prior to starting law school I kept telling myself, "Oh great! Another four years of school. Will this ever end? I just want to relax and be satisfied with my education." Maybe it's the constant pounding in my head due to the severe stress caused by the law school experience. It's hard to notice years of my life slipping away as I'm reading endlessly into people suing other people. One thing I do have to give the law school experience credit for thus far is that I actually feel much smarter than I did 3 months ago. Not only can I argue with a brick wall now, I can do so intelligently. I feel as if I now have a certificate/license to argue. It's my duty to the public.

In high school, you just want to get out. You become legal, you're closer to the drinking age, and college partying is just a few steps away. In college, you drink yourself stupid and just want to get finished so you can start making some actual cash. Then you get out, and at least for me, you want to go back. In graduate school, you feel like you're almost there. Then, of course, comes the Ph.D which I've postponed for now. Now it's law school. I still can't wait to get finished, but for the first time in my higher education experience I look forward to going to class and learning more about the law. Maybe I've found my true calling. Although it's a major pain in the neck, I enjoy going to law school. I'm surrounded by some very brilliant people, many more than I encountered during my undergraduate/graduate experience. Law school is unique. Everyone is a Type-A personality...very aggressive and competitive. At the same time, however, there exists a camaraderie between the students. These are now my brethren. I look forward to kicking their tail in the court room and subsequently inviting them for a weekend on my yacht.

Highlighting at bar

I suggest for students in higher education to learn how to study in the bar. It builds skills needed to overcome distractions. It's not easy at first, but you'll learn to adapt. Here is a method that I gathered from various sources for bar study. In briefing cases, you need to be aware of the Facts, Procedural history, Issues, Rules, the Holding, and most importantly the analysis of the case at hand. You can't really take the laptop to the bar because you might spill your beer on the keyboard. The same goes for pen and paper. So your best option is to book brief and pray you don't soak the pages in suds. Use 5 different color highlighters. Yellow for facts and procedural history, orange for issues, green for rules, blue for analysis, and pink for the holding. When you get home, all you have to do is brief the cases on paper according to your color coded pages. Simple, eh? Genius it is, but I cannot take credit for inventing this method of study.

Warning: You will attract bar sluts that seem to think it's cute to study at the bar. Take caution though or I'll be representing you on your future negligence claim.

Can't discuss it now

I'll discuss my analysis of the facts in my previous post (yes I know I originally screwed up the aliases by mixing and matching them which may have confused you if you read it prior to 5 p.m. Wednesday, but it's fixed now) after my assignment gets turned in.

In class, we discussed the duty that our client's boyfriend owed to her in not disclosing his prior relationship before having unprotected sex with our client. First, he was aware of the fact that HIV can be transmitted via sharing needles with HIV infected persons. Knowing this, he still did the dirty-dirty with this whacked out drugged up chick. I think it's a slam dunk case, but that's just my opinion. I wanted to discuss the duty element in detail this evening, but I better not...just in case I negligently state something that violates our honor code. So I'll spare the details of my analysis until after the assignment is due. I know you were anticipating my comical analysis, but you'll just have to wait. I would apologize for getting your hopes up, but that would require me being nice. I don't see that happening.

I'm attempting to finish up the paper this evening so I don't have much time to discuss anything tonight. However, tomorrow I look forward to sharing my "Studying in the bar techniques" with you. Yes, I said "Studying in the bar" not "Studying for the bar."

Injection Please

Here's a little background on the facts for the final writing assignment that I've been busy working on. A chick (a.k.a "V" for self proclaimed virgin, although she may be a closet whore) met some dude in one of her college classes. The two began dating in January of 2004 and became involved sexually with one another shortly thereafter. In May of 2004, they were engaged to be married and the wedding date was set for May of 2005 after V finished her undergraduate degree. Shortly before May of 2005, the boyfriend requested to postpone the wedding so they could save up some money to buy a house together. V started pursuing a graduate degree. Upon finishing the degree, V broached the subject of marriage again. This time the boyfriend told her there could be no marriage because he was still in love with a previous lover in which he continued to meet on occasion during their relationship. He broke up with his previous lover before meeting V because his previous lover had a drug abuse problem. He often frequented parties with his former lover (a.k.a. "D" for druggie) and witnessed her shooting up with needles shared with some friends known to have HIV. He warned D about the risks of sharing needles with HIV infected persons, but D didn't listen. He never used condoms with V, instead claiming that he didn't like to use them. After stating to V that there could be no marriage, he admitted that just recently his former lover (D) had called to inform him that she tested positive for HIV. Obviously, V was upset. V went to get checked out and found that she too had contracted the disease. V comes to me (the kick-ass lawyer) to sue her boyfriend for negligence. Will she succeed on a negligence claim? Of course she will, I'm the attorney.

Although not verbatim, the above facts comprise a short synopsis of our assignment. Credit must be given to whoever wrote the assignment.

To be successful on a negligence claim in the state assigned to us, the plaintiff must prove the following elements:
(1) Duty
(2) Breach
(3) Cause in fact
(4) Legal cause
(5) Damages

Tomorrow I'll discuss duty as we argued it in class tonight. I have some rather amusing comments to make. It's against the honor code to discuss any independent research we perform that's particularly relevant to our paper, so I'll have to spare some of the more exciting details of my research results until after we turn in the assignment.

Efficiency

I'm satisfied with my weekend production. Usually I get a lot of crap done over the weekend, but I always get into bed Sunday evenings telling myself: I coulda, shoulda, woulda (or however that saying goes) done a lot more, yet I was just too damn lazy. To my surprise, this weekend proved to be much different. I spent Friday night finishing up the majority of my research for my final paper. On Saturday, I plopped my fat caboose on the couch in front of a muted TV at ~11 a.m. and stayed put for the majority of the day. I suffered 3rd degree burns on my legs from uninterrupted usage of this energy inefficient laptop. However, in doing so I managed to get half of my final paper finished. Carrying the energy of self-satisfaction into Sunday, I commenced to partake in the same routine. Around noon or so, I again refrained from any physical activities and instead grabbed a beer and started in on my studies. Other than grabbing a quick bite to eat in the late afternoon, I was able to stay on the couch throughout the day and get all of my reading done for this coming week. Finishing this week's readings today was essential. It allows me to concentrate on finishing my paper over the next few days and will allow me to devote the remainder of the semester to the three classes in which I have final exams to take. Instead of wasting any more time writing this post, I think I'll stop to get some quality rest tonight. Then again, if I go to bed now, I may just continue to question myself as to whether I 'coulda' done more.

Day before Friday

Thursdays are good. Thursdays are bad. No more school until Monday, but now I have 3 days of grueling research and writing for my final Writing assignment accounting for 60% of my Legal Research & Writing grade. However, before diving into my weekend studies I must still complete a full day of work. Work + Law School = Major Sux0r. To anyone debating the option of going to law school, I highly suggest to not work. Go to school full time and get it over with. Bite the bullet, go further in debt, and just pray it pays off in the long run. They say you can work full time and go to school part time completing the degree in 4 years rather than 3. They're full of crap. They make very little mention of the fact that in going part time 2-3 of your summers will also be spent studying the law if you wish to graduate on time. Having to work and study every day, including the weekends, is mentally draining. I enjoy doing the work that I'm doing now, so I refuse to give it up. At the same time, it's 30 additional hours a week that could be spent studying. I rarely get more than 6 hours of sleep at night during the week. I'm able to catch up some on the weekends, but that just keeps me from getting the opportunity to go outdoors and catch a fresh breath of air. On a more uplifting note, they claim that after the first year you have more time available. If that's the case, then 1/2 of the 1 year Hell is nearly complete. Yippeeee!!!