Dubitante

Blogger Emeritus

2005-01-05T10:51:00.000-05:00

As you may have surmised from the infrequency of my postings, I have basically retired from the blawgosphere. Between classes, law review, law fellow, wedding planning (August 6th is fast approaching), and watching TV, I simply ran out of time for posting. In addition, the excitement of the first year is gone and school has become much more predictable. As a result, there are fewer interesting happenings to report. I will try to check in from time to time or perhaps I will catch the spark again and start this thing up again. But, until then, farewell to my three loyal readers.

A really bad blogger

2004-10-06T20:45:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been flying back and forth to California every week for interviews; Law Fellow has become a ton of work; Journal is never-ending; and then there's those pesky little classes... The job hunt should be over soon and hopefully I'll be able to post more often as things will calm down a bit.

Until then, I want to wish Ditzy Genius all the best as she rides off into the sunset. You will be missed.

I'm a Bad Blogger

2004-08-31T21:41:00.000-04:00

My sincere apologies for the utter void of recent updates. Life is full. Really full. Too full.

JOBS
Last week was GULC's awe-inspiring and remarkably efficient On-Campus Interviewing event. 500+ students, 400+ firms, 5 days, 1 hotel, one raucous good time. I received 15 interviews via the lottery and another 5 or so by dropping resumes. All in all, I think it well. The call-backs have started to come in (though I'm still awaiting word from many of most desired firms) and I'm confident I'll find acceptable employment. My biggest concern is with scheduling call-backs and the amount of class I am likely to miss to accomodate my cross-country trips...

SCHOOL
The Semester is off and running. I'm less than enthused thus far with my classes, but such is life. Evidence should be interesting, and the professor is rumored to be fantastic. Corporations will be corporations. Admin Law will be like Con Law I from hell. But, the Prof is a Circuit Judge so I can't complain that I'm not getting my money's worth.

I teach my first LRW workshop tomorrow. I'll report back with the results.

JOURNAL
Work. Lots of work. Although next week we have an orientation and convocation to welcome us to the journal. Rumor has it that the 3Ls dress in druid robes and the 2Ls are placed in coffins, only to be "reborn" as members of the journal. Or something like that.

More to come soon, I promise. But, for now, I need to finalize my lesson plan...

Sin

2004-08-26T21:44:00.000-04:00

You are Wrath/Anger! Wow... who got you so mad huh ?? You have serious
anger issues!! with a rage that seems somewhat
deadly, and a temper that is easily raised, you
are by far the scariest sin. You tend to let
the little things get to you, and are stressed
fairly easily - and woe be it to any of your
enemies. On the positive side, you're
independent, powerful and a definite leader, if
you could just control your moods!Congratulations on being the toughest!! ...and the
most independent of all the 7 deadly sins!

?? Which Of The Seven Deadly Sins Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

Link from Sua Sponte.

In sharp contrast, my fiancee was rated an "Angel," completely without sin.

Busy Times

2004-08-19T08:13:00.000-04:00

My final interview in Portland went well (in my opinion, anyway) and after spending a few hours crafting thank you letters for the attorneys I met with, I was able to actually relax and enjoy a few days of vacation. I'm glad I did.

On Monday, I began training for Law Fellow (legal writing fellow, whatever you call it, I teach weekly LRW workshop to 1Ls). Eight to nine hours a day of "training," followed by 2-4 hours of "homework." The week has been full of grand concepts and optimism. The cynic in me is stewing. I like thinking everything will be great (and our students will love us and really care about the class, etc.) as much as the next guy, but it's simply not the case. Not at Georgetown anyway. There will inevitably be some pompous idiot who thinks his Yale communications degree or failed internet start-up or "excellent" writing skills mean he doesn't have to try. There will inevitably be the person who thinks the assignments suck. Or the professor sucks. Or law school sucks. Or everything sucks. There will inevitably be the student who just doesn't get it and is questioning his/her very presence in law school. There will be the insecure, former straight-A student who is afraid to do or say anything that he/she didn't hear directly from the professor.

All the optimism in the world doesn't help when we're dealing with the realities of what we're likely to face. I think part of the problem is many of my colleagues came straight from undergrad and haven't yet faced some of the harsh realities of the world. Or maybe they didn't have the same experience as I did during the first-year. I was pragamatic. I wanted to learn how to do it so I could get good grades. Period. Save the optimism and waxing poetic about the intrinsic value of writing for somebody else. But, I will teach the curriculum I am given and I will do my best to teach it well. And it matters not because my class will love me. After all, my fiancee offered to make them cookies.

Last night I went to my first journal event. It was held at the offices of Firm X and it was quickly apparent that the event had less to do with welcoming us to the journal than it did recruiting us to the firm. I did meet some of my journal colleagues and there seems to be some folks I could get along with. All in all, I think the journal experience will be doable and, at times, even enjoyable. I just need to brush up on my schmoozing.

I've got an interview tomorrown and 15 scheduled for next week. Not to mention the half dozen firms I'm not scheduled with that I plan to harass. I hope I have the stamina.

Interviewing (and vacation) Bliss

2004-08-10T20:30:00.000-04:00

I just wrapped up five hours worth of interviews (two firms) that I was able to schedule during my trip out west. It went fairly well I think, although it's always tough to tell. But there were no awkward silences, no fumbled questions, a good amount of laughs, and a generally pleasant conversation with the 7 attorneys I met. My advice for those interviewing: come up with lots of questions ahead of time. I had several prepared, but ran in to one attorney who had nothing to say, and quickly exhausted by question bank. It was no big deal, you can always BS a quick question or ask something you already know, but it's always nice to be overprepared!

I was skeptical about the first firm and after spending a few hours there much of my skepticism remains. The atmosphere was more relaxed than I expected, the offices plush, and the attorneys were friendly. The second firm, on the other hand, far exceeded my expectations and I left with a good feeling that it could be a "right" fit for me. It was very relaxed, collegial (the attorneys had nicknames for each other), and comfortable. Associates seems to have quite a bit a freedom and the work appears to be interesting. It looks pretty good.

Unfortunately, we will have to wait and see what happens before there's anything to get excited about. Since both firms are smallish large firms, they will only be hiring 4-5 summers associates. As such, neither firm makes their offers on a rolling basis. Instead, they hold off until they have completed their on-campus recruiting interviews. That means I won't hear much until September. In the meantime, no news will be considered good news, as both firms do "rolling rejections."

I'm spending the night in the city and have one more interview tomorrow morning. After that, I can return to the pleasant void of activity that is my vacation. I'm enjoying the rest while I can. On Monday, law fellow training begins. We've already been given our first journal assignment. And OCI is the following week...

1L No More

2004-08-05T08:20:00.000-04:00

It's finally, completely, and officially over. I am a 1L no more. I realize I've claimed this rite of passage before, but I have since decided that both my summer job and the write-on competition are technically 1L events. Both are now complete and my 2L year begins with a few interviews next week at Portland firms (along with a much needed vacation to visit family and friends on the North Coast of Oregon). The week after that is Law Fellow training. The week after that is OCI. And the week after that, classes start. No rest for the weary.

My last day in chambers was good. The Judge and clerks surprised me with a very nice card and some gigantic (and quite tasty) cookies. The Judge said some nice things, admonished me to drop his name loudly and frequently, and said I had a standing invitation to return any time. I will likely come back in September to observe some hearings for the cases I've been working on. The clerks also said nice things and offered to help me out in my firm search and to get me interviews at their future firms (which I will likely take them up on if the OCI lottery fails me). I finished my last assignment about 7pm, placed my key to chambers on the desk, and left.

I could not have asked for a better summer job. While it required a lot of work, it was also an invaluable experience. The time I spent in court, reviewing motions, and talking with the judge taught me more about this little system we call justice than my entire first year. My assignments were interesting, challenging, and substantive. They didn't waste my time, and I didn't waste theirs. I leave with an incredible reference (the Judge) and contacts with several attorneys in the area (both clerks and some other attorneys who appeared before the Court), in addition to an increased confidence in my own ability (although my fiancee would probably tell you that increased confidence is the last thing I need) and a much better understanding of the law and the legal system.

To all Pre-Ls out there: go for a judicial internship during your 1L summer. It may not pay, but it offers an unparalleled experience and opportunity (and from what I can tell so far, future employers dig the sight of it).

In other "official end-of-1L" news, the Write-On results are in. I was invited to join the Georgetown Law Journal (aka main journal, law review, whatever). I think I'll accept.

Off to Oregon tomorrow. Hooray!

We Don't Need No Water

2004-08-03T17:48:00.000-04:00

Let' see . . . what's been going on? Oh yeah, the courthouse burned down.

Well . . . not exactly, but the chambers of Senior Judge Laurence Silberman of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (who also happens to be a Georgetown Professor) did. And the rest of the courthouse suffered smoke and water damage. Our chambers are directly below Judge Silberman's and got it pretty bad. Despite numerous cleanings, chambers remains covered in a fine layer of soot. The smell is like a wet ashtray and it burns the eyes and throat after awhile. Our courtroom also suffered fairly severe water, smoke, and soot damage and will be closed for awhile. At least, tomorrow is my last day; I only hope I don't leave my internship with a fresh case of lung cancer to go with my nice letter of recommendation.

My last day should be an interesting one. I have quite a bit more work to do on my final assignment, so it could be a late night. Yesterday, I finally finished a two-week, 33-page memorandum outlining why a Title VII plaintiff, despite nearly 2000 pages of "evidence," simply cannot survive summary judgment. Since then, I have made good progress on my last assignment, which is a fairly complex question of Article III standing, but much more remains to be done. We'll see what happens; either I'll get it done or I'll be a complete failure in the eyes of all I care about. Either way, I'm heading to the West Coast on Friday.

Write-on results are also supposed to be available tomorrow. While the pragmatic and ambitious law student in me hopes I make main journal (aka Law Review), my heart and desire to minimize the misery of the journal experience is pulling for my second choice. Either way, I'm heading to the West Coast on Friday.

Judges, rappers, felons

2004-07-30T18:29:00.000-04:00

Today, during a sentencing hearing, the Judge talked about 50 Cent. The defendant had spoke about his dreams of being a rapper and the judge responded at length, and in surprising detail, with a discussion of 50 Cent and how far he'd come despite the trouble he'd had. Who knew the judge had such far-reaching musical tastes?

Actually, I think it has less to do with musical tastes, and more to do with the Judge's profound interest and concern for people. The Judge routinely spends an hour or more just talking with defendants prior to sentencing. He patiently listens to their excuses, their problems, their plans. He wishes them good luck and he means it. One can only hope all judges are so conscientious.

Controversy and Interviews

2004-07-30T18:04:00.000-04:00

Apparently, my expressed displeasure about the journal/resume upload fiasco has not been well received at Career Services. I e-mailed them a day or two ago outlining a few of the reasons I feel their recent decision (or indecision) disadvantages students. Rather than simply saying "we're sorry you're upset" or "we understand your concerns," I was treated to a very defensive, coarse, "go screw yourself"-type defense of their decision, rehashing all the "justifications" I had poked holes in originally. Oh well, I guess I struck a nerve.

The funny thing is this whole thing is not likely to affect me one bit! I had no intention of ruffling so many feathers; I simply wanted to point out some consequences which had obviously been overlooked. I never intended to be drawn into such a heated debate.

Update: I just talked with the folks at OCS. They finally admitted their decision may disadvantage certain students. They also finally admitted that the reason behind their decision was not for the students' benefit, as they originally claimed, but because of their own (legitimate) logistical problems. They said they were "sorry I felt let down." And so it ends. Group hug, everyone!

In other career news, I sent three resumes to three Portland, OR firms last week, inquiring about interviewing while I'm traveling in the area next month. All three offered me full (3-4 hour) interviews. If all goes well, I'll have a few offers on the table before OCI even starts.

That's the good news. The bad news is a day and a half of the eight days of vacation I managed this summer had to be sacrificed. For those who care, these firms are my top 3 choices in Portland, and Portland is my second-choice market (SF Bay Area is first, but an offer from one of my top 3 DC firms might have the power to knock everyone else down a peg).

Journals and Resumes

2004-07-28T20:31:00.000-04:00

Today the Office of Journal Administration informed us that the Write-On results will not be announced until August 4th (as opposed to August 2nd, as originally scheduled). I find it a bit odd that OJA can announce going to be late FIVE DAYS AHEAD OF TIME. You have 5 days! You're not late yet; there's still time! So much for optimism. Oh well.

The two extra days really doesn't bother me much, but it's caused a bit of an uproar at the Office of Career Services. You see, originally, the resume upload deadline for OCI was scheduled for August 3rd. When OJA announced its delay, it also announced that OCS would be rescheduling the resume deadline to August 5th. Five hours later OCS e-mails us to announce they would not be extending the deadline and that we would have to upload our resumes without knowing which (if any) journal we were selected for.

OCS justified its decision by claiming (1) one day is not enough time for students to update (add three or four words to) their resume, (2) because OCI bidding is by lottery and not pre-screened, not having journal on your resume won't make any difference in your interview schedule, (3) telling the interviewer which journal you were accepted to will be a great icebreaker at the interview, blah, blah, blah.

What nonsense. One day is more than enough time for such a minor revision. While OCI scheduling may not be pre-screened, you can bet that the randomly-selected candidates are screened before their interview. When half the class bids for firms which only hire the top 10%, it is absurd to think that every candidate gets the same quality interview. I have no doubt resumes are reviewed ahead of time and firms decide who they'd rather not waste their time with. Finally, announcing your journal is only a great icebreaker if (1) you make a journal and (2) you make a "prestigious" journal. How much more is it going to stand out when everyone is announcing their journal first thing, and you're not saying anything?

Perhaps I'm being too hard on OCS, but it really bothers me when I'm fed a bunch of BS justifications for an obviously capricious decision. OCS made its decision and that's fine. But, please don't patronize me by pretending you made it for me. In the end, none of it really matters and I could really care less. I'll get my randomly selected interviews, I'll tell them which journal selected me (assuming one does), and we'll go from there.

That said, I do resent being caught in the middle of some sort of intramural pissing contest between OJA and OCS over who gets to set OCI deadline.

Where I'm At

2004-07-25T10:56:00.000-04:00

I'm coming in to the final two weeks of my internship, with several projects outstanding and not a lot of time to get them done.

It's been two months now since my last cigarette. I kick arse.

I've begun work on some of the assignments for my Law Fellow duties. So far, I have been less than impressed. Why would a prof instruct students to look up a current law in a regional digest that stopped publishing in 1969? Why wouldn't someone spell-check or proofread assignments before distributing them? Why? Why? Why? So maybe I'm a Type A+ personality, but I am bound and determined to fix some of these problems before they reach the 1Ls. There are few things more frustrating than paying $32K a year only to receive poorly written and conceived assignments (from the WRITING department, no less). Unacceptable.

My OCI bid list is finally finalized. I have culled the 400+ choices to 50 firms, 20 of which I could actually give a hoot about. How one is expected to distinguish between choices 26-50 is beyond me (Oh, you mean they all have the same practice areas, crappy hours. and ridiculous salaries? Who knew?). The bottom line is I intend to get an offer from one of my Top 15 choices. Period. I have no reason to suspect that won't happen, BUT if it doesn't, I may start questioning the soundness of my investment in GULC.

My bid list is focused on the SF Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest, with the remaining spaces filled with DC firms. I want to get back out West and there are really only three DC firms with the power/prestige to make me consider staying here (DC's a nice place, but the weather is dreadful!). Here's hoping the lottery is kinder to me than that of the Registrar.

Oh, and the eAttorney interface sucks. See, e.g. here. For the bazillions undoubtedly invested in the program by Lexis, Matindale, and the participating schools & firms, you'd think they could take 10 minutes and ask some students what they don't like about it. Even the ranking system for GULC's Write-On competition was more sophisticated and user-friendly.

Speaking of Write-On, I am still awaiting the results (first week in August, I am told). However, congrats are due to Ditzy G and AmbImb and numerous other fellow blawgers who have been invited to join Law Review or other journals at their respective (and apparently more efficient) schools.

The Haps

2004-07-20T08:08:00.000-04:00

My apologies for the lack of updates. The pace of my summer is quickening. Only 2 and half weeks left in chambers before I head out west to the beaches of Oregon for a much needed vacation.

I was able to sit through a jury trial (guns & drugs) from start to finish the week before last. It was eye-opening. Fairly miserable lawyering all around. I'm not entirely sure what the Defense's theory of the case was, but it certainly wasn't a very good one. Numerous questions about and discrepancies in the Governments case went unasked and unanswered, despite practically being lit up in flashing neon, and the Judge alluding to them with his infrequent words from the bench. The jury was out almost three days before returning a guilty verdict. For what it's worth, I believe the Defendant was probably not innocent, but any attorney worth her salt should have no problem making a stronger case for his being "not guilty." Now, the Defendant is facing 10 to 12, and he's only 23! I wish I thought he'd come out a better person in 8 or so years, but I'm not so confident.

I spent last week sorting through a "bulky pleading" in an employment discrimination case. The plaintiff may have a legal argument worthy of examination somewhere, but her attorneys certainly didn't shed any light on it. Note to self: when crafting a memorandum in opposition of summary judgment, don't bury the court in 1,000 pages of "evidence," and hope the interns can figure out your case.

This week I'm tying up loose ends and drafting some orders the judge issued based on my disposition recommendations, all in an effort to leave an empty plate when I leave here next month. Unfortunately (and also fortunately), the Judge has taken to assigning me new cases for that "should only take a minute" on a fairly regular basis. I'm sure I'll get through it all.

As for fall recruitment. My OCI firms are reviewed, rated, and finally ranked. My resume is up-to-date. I'm ready. I'll be sending out a few letters this week to some Portland, OR firms to see if I can land a couple interviews while I'm traveling in the area next month.

As for other school matters, my Law Fellow duties have begun and I will be spending the coming weekend writing the students' first memo and completing their research projects. These things don't need to be done until Law Fellow training next month, but I'm hoping to scratch them off the list before I head west.

That's all I can think of. I better get to work...

Run On Sentencing

2004-07-13T08:21:00.000-04:00

For all the other geeks out there who can't get enough of the Blakely sentencing guideline carnival, Professor Berman's blog is the best resource I've found for the latest developments. Stay tuned because the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet in a few hours to discuss the current upheaval.

Quick Recap: At least six District Courts (I've lost count) have declared the federal guidelines unconstitutional; one Circuit (7th) declared the Guidelines unconstitutional, another Circuit (5th) upheld them, and another (2nd) dodged the issue by certifying three questions to the Supreme Court for guidance.

In the small corner of federal jurisprudence where I spend my days, we had a "guilty" verdict yesterday and the Judge was prepared to have the jury reconvene to separately decide sentencing enhancements, but the prosecution was ill-prepared and could not point to the specific guidelines at issue. As such, sentencing will proceed (pending DOJ appeal) without any enhancements.

Destroyer of the Weak

2004-07-09T21:58:00.000-04:00

I'm not usually one for online quizzes, but if both Ditzy Genius and Beanie thought this personality quiz was worthwhile, surely I could spare a few moments. My results were eye-opening and fairly insightful (no matter how much I may want to deny it), but I think it vastly underestimated my wackiness.

Here's what I learned.

Wackiness: 8/100
Rationality: 50/100
Constructiveness: 46/100
Leadership: 50/100

You are an SEDF--Sober Emotional Destructive Follower. This makes you an EVIL GENIUS. You are extremely focused and difficult to distract from your tasks. With luck, you have learned to channel your energies into improving your intellect, rather than destroying the weak and unsuspecting.

Your friends may find you remote and a hard nut to crack. Few of your peers know you very well--even those you have known a long time--because you have expert control of the face you put forth to the world. You prefer to observe, calculate, discern and decide. Your decisions are final, and your desire to be right is impenetrable.

You are not to be messed with. You may explode.

Sometimes People Are Nice

2004-07-09T08:12:00.000-04:00

The subway conductor speaketh:

"Metro would like to remind its riders that today is Friday, so perk up, look sharp, and have a great day."

No News is Good News

2004-07-05T12:49:00.001-04:00

I apologize for the lack of updates recently, but there wasn't a whole lot to report. There have been some interesting cases coming through the court lately. Unfortunately, I can't say too much about them. Federal courts are in a bit of chaos and confusion regarding how to respond to the Supreme Court's Blakely decision. The Court slipped this little bombshell in under the radar the same day Cheney came down (or didn't, depending on how you look at it), and in so doing cast severe doubt over the continued viability of the federal sentencing guidelines.

Many folks are cheering this development, but my response is a bit more measured. I'm not a big fan of the Guidelines, but I truly fear what might replace them. Anyone thinking the Guidelines will be jettisoned and replaced with unfettered judicial discretion is deluded. Instead, I see fixed term sentencing coming into play, with no discretion at all. In the alternative, Congress may drastically increase the length of sentence across the board, and allow judges to depart downward under certain circumstances. The end result of either option is likely to be longer sentences for all and even less corrolation between real conduct and real punishment. If Bush & Ashcroft keep their jobs it could be even worse. But, I digress. If you want the opinion of some other folks, check here, here, here, or here.

Other than that, things have been pretty uneventful. The 4th came and went with barely a whimper. I had no intention to battle the throngs of people down at the Mall, and the thunderstorms just sealed the deal. We were able to watch the show from our balcony and actually could see things pretty well. We barbecued, ate a lot, and watched The Sopranos. What's more American than that? On a sidenote, July 1 was Canada Day and the Canadian embassy across the park from the district court was in full celebration. There was bad music and a giant BBQ with hotdogs and hamburgers (traditional Canadian cuisine?). The whole event unnerved me. Not only is Canada right on our border, but they look just like us. We must all stay vigilant.

I've got my classes for next year pretty well sorted out and am still in the midst of selecting the firms with which I will seek interviews. I've got 10 or 15 I'm certain about and another 50 maybes. One thing I've noticed: the more "presitigious" the firm, the less inviting the culture, and the more miserable it sounds to work there. Oh well.

The only other thing on my plate right now is journal preferencing for the write-on competition. What should be a simple process has become a bit of a headache for me. I can't decide if I want to preference the Main Journal at all. I think I have a realistic chance of getting on it, but have little desire to do so. I'm sure there must be some good folks on the Journal, but the few I've met have been a bit, shall we say, off-putting. In contrast, the folks I know at some other journals seem a bit more down-to-earth and fun to work with. Journal is a two-year committment, and two years can be an awfully long-time if you hate what you're doing.

Main Journal certainly carries the prestige, but at what cost? And it's not like the other journals are "unprestigious"... Advice anyone? I'll probably end up preferencing Main and possibly regretting it for the next two years. But, if I don't preference it, I'll always wonder: what if? I'm growing increasingly tired of the hoops and the jumping through them...

Scheduling Crapola

2004-06-28T20:47:00.000-04:00

They have finally released the registration results for next year (after two months!) and my schedule is crap. Apparently, my strategy failed. To complicate things further, one of classes I did get into conflicts with the LRW class I'm one of the Fellows for, so it will need to be dropped. In addition, I was able to get my top choice for Spring, but not the prerequisite for it in the fall; either I need to get into the pre-req or it will have to be dropped, as well. Basically, my schedule as it stands is worthless and a whole lot of tweaking will have to occur during the add/drop period... We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

Here's where it stands now:
Fall
Admin Law
Evidence
Law Fellow
(Need Corporations here) UPDATE: Got Corps (although not with my desired prof)

Spring
Securites Reg
Trademark & Unfair Competition
International Law
Law Fellow
Plus one more class: Labor?, Antitrust?, Tax?, who knows? UPDATE: Added Decedents' Estates & Labor Law as space holders.

Moore Thoughts

2004-06-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

We saw Fahrenheit 9/11 last night and it was pretty good, as far as unabashedly one-sided op-ed pieces go. Moore, as is his M.O., draws a lot of conclusions, but fails to make many connections (A=C, but very little in the way of B). Also, I felt the film's narrative was undermined by Moore's digressions into his tangential vendettas. But, overall, the message was clear. And it was definitely eye-opening. However, when you're spoonfed only one side, it's tough to leave the theatre with any new (and defensible) opinions. Some of Moore's points are incontrovertible; others are pretty weak. Nonetheless, I think the film is definitely worth checking out; while it doesn't offer "the answer" and won't change the election, hopefully, it will open a dialogue between all Americans about what our leaders are really doing in Washington... Unfortunately, those who might benefit the most from such a dialogue will never see the film.

For those still interested, AmbImb offers a much more thorough post about the film (from which I stole most the links for this post) or you can check out the film's unofficial blog here, or some other articles here or here.

Observations & Luncheons

2004-06-25T18:36:00.000-04:00

I couldn't help but smile when I heard of Cheney's outburst; and all this time I thought he was a robot. The news also left me sometwhat confused. You'd think he'd be happy and it'd be W on edge. Go figure.

In other news, The Honorable Alberto Gonzales, counsel to President Bush, came to the Courthouse today for a lunch/speech/q&a session. I was fairly impressed. He seems pretty smart and is quite adept at dodging questions. Plus, the knot in his tie (a double-windsor, I think) was something to be admired.

Nobody Likes A Quitter

2004-06-24T07:07:00.000-04:00

As of today, it's been one month since I last smoked a cigarette. And, as anyone who has spent more than an hour or two with me can attest, such an achievement is nothing short of a small miracle.

I smoked alot. A pack or more a day. For the last 9 years. And my longest previous smoke-free stretch during that time was 8 days (and that was more 8 years ago!).

So far, quitting hasn't been as bad as I feared it would be. It hasn't been a barrel of laughs, mind you; but, it's been tolerable. The strongest cravings have pretty much passed, and now it's mostly my deeply engrained habits which cause the most trouble. Sometimes, I still instinctually reach into my pocket for a pack when I finish eating, or complete a writing assignment, or get on the phone, or receive some good news, or receive some bad news, or get off the Metro escalator, or just about anything. I've been using 3-4 nicotine lozenges a day, which helps take the edge off, and am starting to cut back on those. Hopefully within another month, I'll be completely nicotine free. We can hope.

I'm far from ready to call myself a non-smoker, but one month is a good start. If I can keep it up, I may actually live long enough to pay back my loans...

In The Books

2004-06-23T16:23:00.000-04:00

Grades are finally in. I'm pleased.

Sometimes I Read

2004-06-21T20:25:00.000-04:00

For those of you who pay any attention to what I am "Currently Reading" (see right), you may have noticed The Illuminatus! Trilogy, an 800+ page paranoid "epic," has disappeared after barely a week. Unfortunately, I had neither the patience nor the time for this sprawling, at times incoherent, diatribe. I really wanted to like it (I'm always up for a good conspiracy theory), and I gave it 100 pages or so to convince me, but I simply wasn't up to the task... I've now moved on to Mark Haddon's much lauded debut, hoping for better results. I'm a firm believer that first novels are often an author's best work (See, e.g., Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye; Dave Eggers' Heartbreaking Work....); hopefully, Mr. Haddon won't let me down.

In other book news, I just finished Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, a fantastically interesting and consistently funny treatise on the sad state of proper punctuation. I can now sleep more easily, knowing I am not alone in my involuntary proof-reading of all I lay my eyes on. At some point, I plan to post some of her especially entertaining passages; in the meantime, I highly recommend the book for all my fellow "sticklers" out there...

Disillusion

2004-06-17T21:06:00.000-04:00

The Most Shocking (although, sadly, not surprising) Thing I Learned At Work Today:

In the 10 months the clerks have been working in chambers, having seen 100's of criminal cases come and go, NOT ONE DEFENDANT HAS BEEN A FIRST-TIME OFFENDER! That's right, every single one had prior convictions. To be fair, part of the reason for this is that many of the first-timers or petty offenders are brought across the street (to the municipal court), but the statistic is still an eye-opener. So much for rehabilitation...

Guns and drugs, guns and drugs, guns and drugs, G-d bless D.C.

(In)decision

2004-06-17T20:48:00.000-04:00

Like so many 2Ls-to-be out there, I've been spending recent days culling down the firms coming to campus for Interview Week. The first cuts I made were based solely on geography. Not interested in NY, the Midwest, the South, or the Southwest. That leaves me with the West Coast and DC. And I'm not entirely sure about DC.

I like it here for the most part. And there are ton of ostensibly good firms. But, the weather sucks. Today's meteorological madness may have sealed the deal for me. As I began my walk to the metro station after work, the sky was clear. Five minutes later and halfway there, clouds had moved in. A few moments later, it began to rain. Hard. This freak storm (a few days before the start of summer) was stronger and dumped more rain than any storm I have ever seen in 20 years in California. My umbrella was no match for its ferocity. My suit and shoes were drenched instantly. It was miserable. These summer storms, coupled with the heat and humidity which oppresses the region, are gradually making DC a far less desirable location to begin my career.

I will probably still preference plenty of DC firms (there simply aren't enough West Coast firms coming to campus), but I will also be applying to a few more West Coast firms which don't participate in OCI. We'll see how it turns out. But, I suppose I ought to wait until my 2nd Semester grades come in (next week?) before I get too far ahead of myself.

Hearsay

2004-06-14T20:40:00.000-04:00

Overheard tonight on the series premiere of North Shore (Fox's futile attempt to replicate the magic that is "The OC").

Some Girl: "Can I ask you a question? Do you want to do it or what?"

Ahhh...isn't that sweet? And 15 minutes later came this little gem:

Idiot A: "She's been jocking me since she got here." ....
Idiot B: "I can verify that."

Fantastic. I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that this show will be lucky to last the Summer. What makes "The OC" great is that it walks the fine line of absolute absurdity with its melodrama and teenybopper slang, but does so with a sense of humor and the self-awareness that it neither is nor is trying to be a serious drama. Fox's latest piece of crap draws no such distinction...

Of course, plenty of freaks out there disagree...

Oaths and Reprimands

2004-06-14T19:14:00.000-04:00

Today, the Judge swore me in. I pledged to uphold the Constitution and a variety of other things. I wasn't expecting such a formality for a summer internship, but it was an interesting experience, nonetheless.

In other internship news, court was more exciting than usual today. The discussion ranged from mass fornication in RFK stadium to the various types of attorney sanctions. With regard to the latter, the Judge chastized an attorney to such a degree that the entire courtroom must have felt a bit uncomfortable and I desperately tried to avoid looking the browbeaten attorney in the eye.

Word to the wise: if you want to avoid costly sanctions (both personal and evidentiary) and/or being compelled to withdraw from any pending cases before a judge and/or being barred from appearing in a judge's courtroom ever again, don't wantonly deny court orders for over a year and then attempt to justify it with feeble excuses.

A Day Off

2004-06-11T08:42:00.000-04:00

Home from work on this National Day of Mourning (It's a shame about Ray Charles...), I have some time to comment on my first days interning for a federal judge.

So far, the experience has been phenomenal. I'm in and out of the courtroom all day, seeing everything from the mundane (status hearings) to the somewhat exciting and often contentious (motion hearings) to the truly eye-opening (sentencing hearings), with some full trials on the horizon. The variety of cases that come before the District Court are astounding. From guns and drugs (and the full range of criminal cases) to the panoply of civil claims (contract, discrimination, general torts, etc.). The judge and his clerks are phenomenal in their vast knowledge of the law in these incredibly diverse areas. It's truly inspiring.

The workload is intense. 15-20 new motions come to the court each day. Many of these can be dispensed with quickly, but some require siginificant amounts of time. My primary responsibility is the so-called "six-month list." Twice year, all federal courts are required to resolve any motions which have been pending for more than six months. Right now, chambers has about 100 such motions (and that's far less than many other judges!).

I am assigned a particular case and then review the various pending motions, research the law behind them, and write a memo to the judge outlining my recommendation for their dispensation. The judge reviews my memo and will either approve my recommendation (in clear cut cases) or will call me in to chambers to grill me on my analysis and reasoning before making a decision. Once the judge decides the motion, I draft an order announcing the court's decision. After some revision, following additional give and take with the judge and his clerks, the judge will sign the order and it will be entered into the electronic filing system where it instantly becomes part of the case record and each side's attorneys are immediately notified of the outcome.

The clerks took it easy on me this first week, only giving me one motion to wrestle with. I finished the memo yesterday and am awaiting the judge's response. In the meantime, I am on to the next case. It's fascinating.

Perhaps the most eye-opening aspect my work thus far has been the prevailing mediocrity in the legal profession. In the two cases I've dealt with, the four lawyers are all equally inept. Misspelled words (including the Judge's name!), missing or incorrect punctuation, inaccurate quotations, incomplete, incorrect, or nonexistent citations, poor grammar, broken syllogisms and fatally flawed arguments (I see your A, I see your C, but where is your B?), and countless other examples of genuinely bad lawyering.

In one case, plaintiff's lawyer's mistakes (filing suit in the wrong court under the wrong law) will cost the plaintiff the opportunity to ever have her day in court (the statute of limitations under the proper law has run). Some of these lawyers are solo practitioners, some work for prestigious "Big Law" firms, some work for the government, some are general counsel for major corporations, all are equally inept (or, at the very least, careless). It's shocking. I think the problem must be systemic. I refuse to believe these attorneys can't write a decent brief or perform very basic research; they simply don't! Undoubtedly, these documents are written at the very last moment and apparently there isn't the time to proofread or adequately research the issues. The trend is troubling.

I talked with the clerks about it and they warned me not to expect it to get any better, and reminded me that the poor lawyering of others should make me feel good about the type of lawyer I intend to be. I suppose, but that doesn't make the incredible mediocrity any easier to swallow. On we trudge...

Fun with Judges

2004-06-08T18:02:00.000-04:00

For those of you out there slaving away pro bono in a judicial internship, here's a surefire way to make your time in chambers more enjoyable.

The next time the judge offers his opinion to you about something mundane, e.g. "Restaurant X has the best sandwiches" or "I'm sure you'd enjoy Movie X" (but not "this case is directly on point for your assignment"), promptly respond with: "I'll be the JUDGE of that."

Such a quip is guaranteed to get a few chuckles from the judge. Of course, this depends on your judge...

Place Your Bets

2004-06-07T20:42:00.000-04:00

I typically try to avoid spewing my political views on this blog. However, I simply couldn't pass this one up, even if it is leaning far more left than I do. That said, check out Osama Bin Lotto (any proceeds supposedly benefit public schools). NOTE: Turn down the sound if you're at work...

Thanks to Brent @ BAER for the link.

The Irony of Idiocy

2004-06-03T21:45:00.000-04:00

So I was watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee tonight. (OK. I realize that probably sounds like the nerdiest thing someone could possibly do. But, they show it on ESPN so I count it as a sport; plus, the fantastic film Spellbound got me hooked.)

With only two contestants left, the show's announcers listed the various prizes the winner receives. I quote: "...the Encyclopaedia Britannica gives them a set, along with a CD for the computer. 'Cause they're all so computer illiterate..." I kid you not, the idiot host said "ILliterate." I Tivo'd it to be certain. Sure enough, illiterate. Hosting the National Spelling Bee. The irony is overwhelming.

By the way, the winning word was "autochthonous," an adjective meaning indigenous, native, or aboriginal.

In Memoriam

2004-05-31T22:19:00.000-04:00

On May 29, Georgetown lost one of its most revered faculty members: Professor Samuel Dash. While I never had the opportunity to sit in a class with Professor Dash, I know he is considered a legend on campus, and will be missed. Prayers to his friends and family.

The Job

2004-05-31T17:15:00.000-04:00

My job starts tomorrow with an all-day orientation with the Judge's clerks. I'm a little excited, a bit nervous, but mostly curious. I really have no idea exactly what I will be doing this summer. How much responsibility I will have. What kind of deadlines I'll be operating under. What's expected of me.

And whether or not I can do it.

I've had a handful of "real" jobs in the past, but, with no offense to my former employers intended, none of them were real brainbusters. They had their challenges, mind you, and mistakes I made could have real consequences; but, nothing I have done to date seems quite as "real" as the type of assignments I anticipate being responsible for this summer. But, just like anything else, I'll give it my best shot and hope for the best. That's all I can really do.

In more immediate concerns, I am still far from recovered from last week's surgery. Prior to surgery, I swear they told me: 7 days recovery tops. Now, each time I talk with the doctor, it gets a little longer. 10 days. Really 14 days before you're starting to feel much better. A good three weeks before things are back to normal. It sucks.

I really don't like the idea of starting my job with a fever, unable to talk or eat, and doped up on liquid vicodin. Today was the worst post-surgery day in a while. I was nauseous all day, with a slight fever and a tremendous headache, and basically unable to swallow anything. Apparently, in addition to my surgical wounds, I have contracted some sort of infection in my throat (which I'm assured is "quite typical with this procedure") that my body is attempting to fend off. This immune system battle causes the headache and the fever, which, in turn, cause the dizzyness. The anti-biotics help my fighters, but cause the nausea. Add in the hyrdrocodone, and I probably shouldn't be giving my opinion on any summary judgment motions any time soon.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a bit better.

Taxes and Tort Reform

2004-05-30T09:24:00.000-04:00

Only Arnold could come up with a scheme like this. Interestingly billed as a new tax (from a Republican? the horror!), Gov. Schwarzenegger plans to inject a little reform into torts suits in the great golden state. Here's how I understand the proposal (bear with me, I'm still fairly heavily medicated from surgery!):

1) Tortfeasors can only be held liable once for similar conduct. - Depending on how they define or determine "similar," I may be OK with this. Provided, of course, this relaxation of liability is coupled with more stringent mandatory class action laws.

2) The state takes 75% of any punitive damage awards. - Huh? And this is not a taking, how? Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely concept: punitive damages are meant to deter and punish, not reward, so any benefit derived from them should go to society. That's fine, except for the fact that it doesn't work like that. Punitive damages are viewed as an award entitlement to plaintiffs. If the government wants them, the government must pay for them.

3) Plaintiff's attorneys will only be able to calculate their fees based on the 25% actually paid to Plaintiffs. - In other words, P wins $1 million in puntive damages, the state takes $750K, P's attorney gets about $85K (roughly 33% of 25%), and P gets the rest ($165K). And, presumably, P will get taxed on his final award also, leaving him with roughly $100K. The winning plaintiff loses 90% of his award. The attorney loses over $250K in fees. But, the state is able to "tax" the jury award. Twice.

I'm no genius, but this system seems troublesome. If you strip the lawyers' fees to such an extent, you also strip the ability for most people to get their case heard at all (if the lawyer can't make money, he won't take the case). Furthermore, if you strip away 90% of the awards Plaintiffs ultimately reap, fewer plaintiffs will deem it worth the hassle to pursue the case, even if a lawyer was willing to take it. In the end, the deter/punish aspect of punitive damages is destroyed because cases aren't brought and companies aren't held liable.

So, in one fell swoop, Schwarzenegger's little plan does nothing to improve the system, but only leads to increased negligence and less liability. Less suits will be brought, less damages awarded. As such, CA's dream of reaping huge profits from punitive damages ($450 million) will never come true. In fact, the decline of cases being brought will likely result in an overall decline in revenue generated from jury awards through standard taxation...

Nothing New

2004-05-29T09:45:00.000-04:00

I apologize for the lack of updates recently, but there is simply nothing new to report. My throat is still quite painful from surgery and I am still unable to eat solid foods. The surgeon removed a portion of the back of my palate, and this is by far the most painful element of my recovery. I can't really pinpoint the pain from losing the tonsils, but the soreness in the roof of my mouth is unmistakable.

I begin work with the judge (and clerks) on Tuesday. I'm really hoping I feel a bit better. I called one of the clerks back today and my voice sounded absolutely horrible. Frightening almost. Oh well.

Off to drink some breakfast....

Home from the Hospital

2004-05-27T08:15:00.000-04:00

I was released from the hospital yesterday after having some minor surgery (tonsils, palate, etc. to treat sleep apnea). The surgery went fine, but the hospital is run by monkeys. Tuesday, I spent 10 hours in "recovery" staring at a wall before they managed to find me a room to spend the night, despite their constant assurances that "the room will be ready soon." In fact, the only reason I got a room when I did was because I timed an outburst, storming around the recovery area, IV in hand, just as a group of residents/interns was being led around the area. The head doc asked what I was upset about, and, lo and behold, I was moved to my room 15 minutes later. The raspy voiced wheel gets the grease...

And then there was checkout yesterday. The monkeys discharge me at 7:00am in the morning, leaving me with two unfilled prescriptions. Why they didn't fill the scripts themselves or at least leave me with a few days worth of samples is beyond me. But, no big deal, I'll just get them filled at the hospital pharmacy. Or not. The hospital pharmacy doesn't open until 9:30. So, I decide we'll leave and fill them at a CVS on the way home.

Prior to being discharged, I asked for a parking sticker so E. didn't have to pay $15 for the 45 minutes she was there picking me up. My nurse told me she didn't have any permites, and directed me to three other spots where I should be able to get one. Two of the three were unmanned, and the third was too busy to help.

So, we headed out to the parking garage, showed the attendant my bracelet and discharge papers and she refused to let us out. After my protestations and requests that she call the desks where you allegedly could get the sticker and verify that no one was available...she called security on me. So I stormed back inside the hospital. There was still no one at the first two designated parking pass locations, so I head to the third. There's still a line of people, so I head right in the Employees Only door and, in the loudest raspy voice I can muster, demand a parking permit. They comply immediately.

I head back outside, where security is now harassing E. He says something to me as I approach the car and I respond that it's not a good idea for him to talk to me right now. We hand our permit to the gung ho parking attendant, pay the $2, and are on our way. It's now 8:00am.

We find a 24-hour CVS on the way home to fill the prescriptions. But, there is no one manning the pharmacy. Apparently, the pharmacist was supposed to be there at 8, but is "stuck in traffic." The pharmacist finally shows at 8:40, and 20 minutes later, I have my prescriptions. Another 15 minutes, and I'm home.

What could have been a 25 minute relaxing car ride home, had the hospital provided me with filled prescriptions and a parking permits, had turned into a more than 2 hour battle against idiocy and ineptitude, fought by a 26 year old law student, operating on no sleep, doped up on codeine, and incapable of yelling. It was quite the sight.

Thanks to E. for enduring the ride with me. I'm a pretty intense guy to begin with, but throw in a little surgery, a little pain, and a few stupid people, and things tend to really get interesting...

It's Official

2004-05-24T10:04:00.000-04:00

I just turned in my write-on packet. I am done. Officially. Handing it in was less momentous than I had anticipated. The journal offices were plain and unassuming. The guy manning the desk was friendly. There were no security checkpoints, and no fingerprinting or retinal scans. All in all, it was a bit of letdown. But, at least it's over.

Two L (finally)

2004-05-23T20:23:00.000-04:00

The Write-On is finally complete, and with it, my first year of law school. It feels good. And to all the GULC 1Ls wrapping up their own papers, congratulations! We can officially call ourselves "Rising 2Ls!"

Sometime soon I plan to post my final thoughts on the first year. But, for now, it's a day off tomorrow and surgery on Tuesday. Stay tuned...

So close...

2004-05-22T17:02:00.000-04:00

The Write-On nears completion. The comment is written. The footnotes are formatted. All that remains is some massive revision and cite double-checking. All in all, I don't think my paper turned out too bad. It certainly is not my best work to date, but it's a respectable effort. Here's hoping Spring grades will come through OK and help offset the importance of the comment...

For now, I am putting the paper to one side. I plan to quickly proofread my personal statements and take the rest of the night off.

Nothing New

2004-05-21T16:55:00.000-04:00

Progress continues on the write-on. The writing is giving me more trouble than I had expected. Not sure why, but I seem to be fumbling with my words. I'm confident it'll work itself out in time. The due date (Monday) for this annoyance seems both very far away and frighteningly soon. But Monday will be a good day, regardless, because I'll finally be able to bury the first year for good. (Or, at least until grades are released).

Game Over

2004-05-19T23:18:00.000-04:00

When does football season start?

Something

2004-05-19T19:18:00.000-04:00

I managed to clock a full day (9-7, with about two hours of lollygagging dispersed throughout the day) on the Write-on today. I feel as though I finally made some progress and will hopefully have a workable version ready by tomorrow night, leaving me 3 full days to obsess, revise, cite check, and obsess some more.

This competition has really become a thorn in my side and it took a lot of discipline to avoid procrastinating one more day. For me, the more important something is, and the more I remind myself exactly how important something is, the longer I put it off. To combat this tendency, I decided today that journals suck and I don't want to be on one anyway. Here's hoping this technique will help keep me motivated again tomorrow.

The Kings are on tonight and KG has vowed to bring out the big guns (what an idiot). You should watch.

Better than nothing

2004-05-18T22:06:00.000-04:00

Well, I wasn't quite as productive today as I had hoped I would be. I did, however, manage to accomplish a few things (which is more than can be said for yesterday). My Bluebook exam answers for the Write-On have been thoroughly double-checked and I am as confident as one can be (given the nature of The Bluebook) of their accuracy. I have transcribed them onto the Scantron and can check one thing off my list. I also managed to draft personal statements for the five journals that require them. It took longer than I had expected and I'm certainly glad I got them out of the way. If I hadn't, they would have undoubtedly remained neglected until the 11th hour and amounted to meaningless drivel, unlikely to make a rousing first impression.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the personal statements was the journals which requested them. Of the 10 journals, the five which requested personal statements are commonly thought of as the less "prestigious" (and almost certainly less popular) of the journal choices. Ultimately, I ended up writing a statements professing my desire to join their journal, despite the fact that they will undoubtedly be at the bottom of my preferences. I can hear them now: If you really want to be on this journal, why did you rank it 10th? Liar. You're a frickin' liar.

Stalin like Josef

2004-05-18T08:46:00.000-04:00

I've always wanted to write a book about procrastination techniques, but, somehow, I never get around to it. Yesterday was a shining exemplar of non-productivity for me. Here's how it happened (or didn't):

The fiancee gets a raise. (Translated: she's moving up in the world, and one person in the family making progress is enough for one day. So, I'll watch TV.)

I agreed to go with a friend to purchase a new laptop. (Translated: I only have 90 minutes until she is supposed to pick me up, I don't want to get on a roll and have to stop in the middle of something. So, I'll watch TV.)

The fiancee just got home from work. (Translated: Since I started school, I haven't spent enough quality time with her. So, we'll watch TV.)

It's 9pm. (Translated: It's too late to get anything done. Plus, The Inferno finale is going to be on soon. So, I'll watch TV.)

The above techniques worked like a charm and I accomplished absolutely nothing yesterday. Today, the procrastination begins with a decision to review the Bluebook exam to ensure I made no silly mistakes and to write Personal Statements for the four journals that require them. It all has to be done, right? This counts as work, right? I'll start the real paper when I'm done, right?

Congrats and Excuses

2004-05-17T12:37:00.000-04:00

The fiancee received a sizeable raise today and a hearty CONGRATULATIONS to her are in order!

I wonder: Does this excellent news justify my NOT working on the Write-On for the rest of the day...?

Commemoration

2004-05-17T09:12:00.000-04:00

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), ostensibly "ending" school segregation. Articles abound for those interested.

Personally, I can't help but question to what extent the dream of Brown has become a reality and ponder what the case's legacy actually is (or will be). In other words, 50 years later and much remains to be done.

The Good News

2004-05-16T22:22:00.000-04:00

Best news of the night: Denny Crane (William Shatner), TV's best new lawyer, will be returning in the fall on ABC's "Fleet Street" spinoff of the now-defunct "The Practice."

Plus, the Kings won.

Progress (and lack thereof)

2004-05-16T14:44:00.000-04:00

The Read On is complete, and the Write On can finally begin.

I still need to re-read some of the materials, brief some cases, and formulate some semblance of an outline (both of the key materials and of my argument), but I consider such activities to be an aspect of the writing portion, as opposed to the voluminous preparatory reading I've been entrenched in since Friday.

Somewhere along the way, a few good arguments popped into my head, and I now think I have a pretty good idea of where I am going with my Comment. Of course, actually getting my thoughts onto paper, in a coherent form, is another matter entirely.

Wish I could say more, but the Honor Code gods are watching, poised to strike me down for any indiscretion. Per the rules, I'm not allowed to discuss the topic or the substance of the competition (and necessarily, my argument) with anyone. Not even the fiancee.

Perhaps when it's all over, I'll post more about the substance. But, probably not. By then, I figure the last thing I'll want to do is discuss the topic some more...

For now, however, my progress must cease: The Kings are poised to play what could be their final game of the season.

My New Vocation

2004-05-16T09:06:00.000-04:00

Comcast has come and gone. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, I already have the full range of skills employed by cable techs. Last night, I checked the stats on my connection and noticed a lot of "noise" on my line. While I didn't know exactly what that meant, I figured it might be caused by a bad cable. So I changed the cable and the connection came back up. I didn't cancel my repair appointment, figuring there must be something more to it than that (and I still think there is...). But, when I told the tech I had changed the cable, he said that was all he was going to do and, if it's up and running now, there's nothing else he can do.

So, that's that. Until the next time it goes down at precisely the wrong moment.

...and on and on...

2004-05-16T08:35:00.000-04:00

Up early on a Sunday to await the Comcast repairperson. My internet service has been sporadic at best of late and they have promised to "fix" it today. I'm not holding my breath. Comcast Internet has been one of the single most disappointing aspects of my move to the DC area.

Any Internet provider who gets taken completely offline by a Windows virus (Mydoom) that was announced on every single newscast across the country, and that Windows Update and/or Norton AntiVirus managed to prevent from attacking my computers, with absolutely no action on my part, needs more help than I can give. The problem is, I'm told the DSL options out here aren't much better. In sunny California, my hi-speed internet was never down. And the streets were paved with gold.

In other news, the Read On continues and I'm trying to take advantage of my early rising to finish up the rest of the packet (about 60 pages left). Then, I plan to reread and brief (very brief briefs) the cases I intend to focus on. Then, I will sift through the rest of the material again, rereading my margin notes and highlights and come up with some sort of "outline" for source materials so helpful quotes and supportive (or contradictory) citations will be at my fingertips. This source outline is critical for my style of writing, which tends to be: start writing, see what happens.

To close out the day, before settling down to a night of rewinding and pausing my TV just because I can (the Tivo arrived), I hope to construct a general outline for my paper. Of course, I will promptly abandon said outline when I start to write tomorrow, but it's still worthwhile to create one.

Read On

2004-05-14T16:03:00.000-04:00

...and the Read On continues. It definitely ain't Harry Potter, but it could be worse. I managed to tackle the accompanying Blue Book test this afternoon. As psychotic as it may sound, I rather enjoyed it. Like a good old fashioned scavenger hunt.

In other news, my Tivo should arrive today. G-d bless us, everyone.

CORRECTION: ...our Tivo should arrive today.

Right On!

2004-05-14T08:10:00.000-04:00

Play time is over, the Write-On has begun. I printed out the materials on campus yesterday (all 400+ pages of them) and am planning to begin sifting through it all today. Fun stuff. I can truly think of nothing I would rather be doing right now except for, oh, about a thousand different things! Oh well, it will be over soon.

I'm hoping the sheer size of the reader will turn some people off or prevent them from giving it the attention it requires (last year, I'm told the reader was only about 250 pages or so; and the Moot Court packet this year was roughly half the size, yet still seemed to cause about a 50% attrition rate, though I'd be surprised to see that many casualties here). Time will tell, I guess. In the meantime, all I can do is give it my best shot.

BTW, does anyone know exactly where the $10K they collect in Write-On fees goes? Just curious...

Electric Relaxation

2004-05-12T15:57:00.000-04:00

I've spent the past two days slowly unwinding from the Finals marathon. This semester, like last semester, I've been feeling slightly ill in the aftermath. Nothing major, just some aches and pains and a general sense of restlessness. I think my body, as much as my mind, was in need of a break.

The good news is that during the past two nights, for the first time in weeks, I was able to get to sleep without the help of a cup of Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Extra Tea or Valerian Root Extract (by far, the smelliest herbal supplement I have ever encountered!). If anyone is having trouble sleeping, I wholeheartedly endorse either product. They saved me from insomnia-induced madness many a night.

In another day or so, I think I will be completely back to "normal." Today, I even managed to go at least 45 minutes without thinking about school. That's progress. There's no rest for the weary, however, as my e-mail kindly reminded me this morning. The Write-On starts tomorrow. I couldn't be more happy. Seriously.

For those of you still in the thick of it, best of luck, it will all be over soon...

The End

2004-05-10T18:25:00.003-04:00

Check the last one off the list! I am done with my first year of law school. Hooray for me! Today's final in Professional Responsibility consisted of hypos and questions (the profs are really stuck in this hypo/question rut!). It was a whole lot of frosting and not a lot of cake, so I really hope my BSing skills were up to the task.

Out to dinner with the fiancee and some friends tonight to celebrate and then, nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just me and my couch and the remote control. I may buy a mini-fridge to place near the couch to maximize my laziness. For two days, anyway. And then the Write-On...

One sidenote: Within an hour of the end of our last exam, Prof Torts (from first semester) sent the entire section an e-mail congratulating us on finishing our 1st year. It was nice. He's a good guy.

I plan to post a summation of my thoughts about the first year at some point. But, I think I require a little "distance" before I can effectively do so.

Masochism

2004-05-09T10:14:00.000-04:00

The worst thing a law student can do for his/her sanity is to run GPA scenarios. After the Property debacle, I spent a good chunk of Friday night trying to guess my grades and tallying the possible GPAs. There is no comfort in such an activity. I vowed to not do it again. I managed to hold out until this morning. As I sat looking at my Ethics notes, wondering if I'll be able to tap into the long-lost touchy-feeliness, which this Prof seems to require, and questioning whether I'd be able to dust off the formidable BSing skills acquired during undergrad, I decided to take a break and run some more scenarios. I even whipped up a quick spreadsheet to automate the torture. I began to bleed from the ears.

There is no such thing as complacency during the 1st year of law school. For anyone. If you did really well in the first semester, the pressure to maintain is incredible and the grades necessary to do so nearly impossible. If you did pretty well (above the curve), the pressures are pretty much the same, with the added desire to do a bit better with the hopes of bumping yourself up to the next ranking bracket. If you were right at the curve, there's still no relief from the pressure, given the irrepressible desire to separate yourself from the rest of the pack. Finally, if you underperformed, you simply must do well in order to salvage the GPA and any hope of a successful life (as a group, law students are fatalists). It simply doesn't matter where your 1st semester grades landed, the situation is equally bad for all.

For my sanity's sake, however, there can be no more GPA scenarios. It's beyond my control and I don't need any extra fuel for my neuroses. 31 hours to go...

Wrong. Just Plain Wrong.

2004-05-07T18:14:00.000-04:00

The Numbers, a movie box office site I visit from time to time, is predicting that "New York Minute," the Olsen twins new film, will not approach the level of success the twins have enjoyed in the home video market. Why you ask? Apparently, because much of their home video fanbase consists of lecherous old men who would be unlikely to show up in public for an Olsen twins film. The site suggests you try a google search for "Olsen Twins Countdown" and note the 3000+ sites you find counting down the minutes until the girls reach the age of majority. I have no idea if this theory about the potential success of their film holds any water, but the google search was fairly disturbing...

Four Down, One to Go

2004-05-07T16:45:00.000-04:00

LRW...check.
Civ Pro...check.
Crim...check.
Property...check.
Up next: Professional Responsibility on Monday.

Property is behind me. That's good. Ross and Rachel ended up together. That's good. My performance on today's exam? Not so good. I'm not sure what I could have done different or exactly what went wrong, but something seemed to go off track... Oh well. I have no regrets, I gave it my best shot and simply felt that, on the whole, it was a difficult test. Hopefully, enough of the class had similar experiences, and the curve will be kind enough to salvage me a decent grade (at this point, I'll take anything that doesn't require me to take that dreadful course again). If not, life goes on. It's one grade of many. I've never been very accurate in predicting my law school grades. Here's hoping my inaccuracy continues.

I'm taking the rest of the night off before diving into the Model Rules tomorrow. The end (of the first year) is almost in sight...

Self-Appraisal

2004-05-06T12:54:00.000-04:00

How my day has progressed thus far: 15 minutes of studying, 30 minutes of wasting time, repeat. During the "wasting time" portion, I decided the following:

When it comes to preparing for exams, I am neither fast nor slow, but shamefully half-fast... (read aloud for maximum effect)

And so it continues...

Private Nuisance

2004-05-04T21:23:00.000-04:00

I've been studying property pretty much non-stop all day. I took a stab at a past exam this morning (before I'd reviewed anything). Ugly. The good news is there's still plenty of time before the exam, and I've got an infinitely better grasp on things right now than I did 12 hours ago, so there's hope. The problem is that studying this stuff makes me want to go to the middle of the Library atrium, lie on the floor, curl up into the fetal position, and ask everyone who passes to kick me. Seriously.

Today's Stress Relief

2004-05-04T09:42:00.000-04:00

This morning's momentary diversion, courtesy of Kanye West (on Twista's "Slow Jamz"):

"...She's got a light-skinned friend, look like Michael Jackson
Got a dark-skinned friend, look like Michael Jackson..."

It's the little things that keep me going...and on we trudge. Servitudes, here I come.

Three down...two to go

2004-05-03T19:02:00.000-04:00

LRW.....check.
Civ Pro.....check.
Crim.....check.
Up next: Property on Friday.

While I won't discuss the details of today's exam. Rest assured it contained some hypothetical fact patterns and questions relating to them about the intricacies of Criminal Procedure. It lasted three hours.

Thank You Note

2004-05-02T19:03:00.000-04:00

Many thanks to JCA over at Sua Sponte for this week's "waves" of positivity. They are both much needed and greatly appreciated...

Study Break

2004-05-02T16:44:00.000-04:00

In the midst of frenzied studying for tomorrow's crim exam, I took a break to check yesterday's mail. There I found a postcard from my sister (vacationing in Hawaii, poor thing). It's amazing how the little things in life can relieve some of the stress and brighten the dreariest of moods. It reads:

B & E:

Aloha - I made it safely to Kauai yesterday. Today I hiked about 6 miles and now am sitting down to lunch. I'm having a chili dog. Then I will be going snorkeling. Tomorrow I scuba dive. You guys should come here, it's nice.

Love,
S

PS $2.30/gal for gas!!!

This was just what I needed...

Friendship on a Curve

2004-05-02T14:07:00.000-04:00

The Law School Curve: my nemesis, my best friend. It's a thing of beauty. The puppetmaster of law school, pulling the strings of every ambitious student.

Law students must be constantly aware of the omnipresence and power of The Curve. And such awareness necessarily affects our interpersonal relations. Here's how The Curve governs my life.

Average semi-anonymous classmates: I'm not sharing anything with you; no outlines, no notes, no brilliant observations or fabulous flowcharts. Nothing. (except class notes, maybe...if you ask)

Large study group (and a handful of select friends outside my study group) (8-10 people total): You get anything I inherit (outlines, flowcharts, etc.); In addition, you are eligible for class notes upon request and pieces of my own personal study aids if you ask or on a quid pro quo basis.

The smaller study group within the study group (3 people): you have access to most anything, and you don't even have to ask. If it's useful, I'll give it to you. However, I may not send my final, final study aid (the super-condensed one-page issue spotter), unless you ask.

The carte blanche study partner (one person): you have access to everything I have. If I think it will help, I'll send it to you. Including, the most useful exam aid: the one-page outline... (Note: people from other schools and/or sections have these same privileges, too. So, if you fit that category and need something, just ask).

That's how The Curve works in my life. It may seem harsh to those unfamiliar with law school competition, but it's how it has to be for me. Mind you, there's no animosity involved (and it goes without saying, I would never do anything to hurt another's chances), it's simply a matter of self-preservation...

A Jedi on the Bench

2004-05-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

jewishbuddha dot org recently shed some light on the striking similaritiy between a 77-year-old concurrence by Brandeis and the words of a great Jedi Master. At this time in the finals parade, this observation somehow made me feel as though my time in law school will be well spent. Check it out here.

Hell

2004-04-30T12:24:00.000-04:00

I used to believe that Hell would be a place much like Earth, with the small but meaningful distinction that no one would have elbows. After a year of law school, my views have changed somewhat.

I now think Hell will consist of eternal condemnation to life in a perpetual law school hypothetical. You see people in classroom hypos have terrible lives. They're hit by buses, crushed by buildings, decapitated by lawn-mower blades. In the context of a law school hypo, you can consider yourself lucky if you only end up with hairy hands or other superficial maimings. Life in a hypo is hell. Just imagine an eternity spent as the victim of negligence, intentional harm, police misconduct, discrimination, etc. Over and over again. And the salt for the wound is, immediately following each new tragedy that befalls you, a classroom of extremely lucky, healthy, and generally well-to-do twentysomethings will sterilely discuss your fate as if it were a baseball boxscore. Hell, indeed.

Momentary Lapse in Focus

2004-04-29T17:10:00.000-04:00

While googling the web to see if I could come up with any incredible crim procedure flowcharts (I didn't and have made my own), I came across this truly fantastic "The OC" Flowchart. It's a little outdated, but should serve as good primer for those interested in getting into the incredibly effective law school distraction and all-around fantastic guilty pleasure that is The OC. On next week's season finale, "everyone's life (maybe even your own should you decide to tune in) will be forever changed." You can't ask for much more than that from an hour-long show.

Two down...three to go

2004-04-28T13:28:00.000-04:00

LRW.....check.
Civ Pro.....check.
Up next: Crim on Monday.

Today's exam featured a hypothetical fact pattern and several questions relating to it, concerning various facets of civil procedure. That's it.

I make it a point not to discuss the substance of any exam untill all is said and done and grades are in. It's not superstition. It's pragmatism. I am simply unable to find any benefit whatsoever that could possibly come from a discussion of the details of a past exam. At least, not until the other exams are over, and scores available.

Continued good luck to all test-takers out there...

Loose Ends

2004-04-22T17:52:00.000-04:00

I have officially submitted my schedule requests for next year. Thank g-d. I won't go into the complicated strategy I employed in selecting my courses because I'm not sure I understand it yet. Though I can say it involved a blindfold and several different colored highlighters, mostly.

The scheduling process at GULC, in my opinion, is needlessly complicated and the course variety surprisingly sparse (at least until I get 3L standing and/or some pre-reqs under my belt). However, I must say I love the fact that GULC manages to turn something as mundane as scheduling into a competition among students, with people closely guarding their ranking strategies. But, I suppose there's no other way. If you're interested in which classes I end up getting into, be sure to check back THE LAST WEEK OF JUNE! Apparently, the Registrar's scheduling program is run on a Commodore 64.

In other news, the Students Against the Death Penalty organization offered a keg on the quad today. "The Death Penalty is unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment, responsible for killing X number of innocent people over the years! Cheers!" Truly bizarre.

Perspective

2004-04-22T16:04:00.000-04:00

Today, I learned that a colleague in my Section has been hospitalized for the last two weeks and has been diagnosed with cancer. This incredibly sad news really put things into perspective for me on my last day of class as a 1L. Suddenly, the magnitude of my imminent finals became less. Law School really isn't a matter of life and death. In fact, I am incredibly lucky to be worrying finals. I only wish my classmate had the good fortune to be worried with such trivialities. The Section is in her corner, and I hope and pray for her speedy and full recovery.

That said, best of luck to all my classmates and fellow blawgers out there as we begin this hectic and stressful time. May you all score just below me. ;-)

The End of the Beginning

2004-04-22T16:02:00.000-04:00

The next time I attend class I will be a 2L. My 1L year is done (except for those pesky Finals things). It feels good.

The Good and Bad of It

2004-04-21T17:36:00.000-04:00

The Good:
I was selected as a Law Fellow for next year. Now, the eager minds of 15 1L's will be in my hands for an hour a week. Scary.

I had my last Property and Ethics classes today. I must say those two classes, basically back-to-back pushed me to brink of insanity this semester. The former because of the (in my opinion) wholly uninteresting subject matter, the professor's lulling voice, and the routinely hot temperature of the room. The latter because of the hippies.

The Bad:
The final few classes in Civ Pro and Prop have cemented the fact that, at this point, I am woefully unprepared for exams. On the plus side, there's still plenty of time...

Tonight:
Finalize next year's schedule
Do the last of my Crim reading
Watch the OC

The Last Weekend

2004-04-18T19:28:00.000-04:00

It was a good weekend. I got caught up on my reading. I finished my crim outline. I found time to watch three movies (two of which were actually pretty good). I ate well. The weather was nice. And the Kings won the first game in their playoff series. No complaints.

Unfortunately, this is likely to be the last relatively quiet weekend for awhile because the fun is about to begin.

My first exam is in 9 or 10 days (I should probably check...) and from there, the finals parade continues until May 10th. On May 12th or 13th (again, I should probably check...), the journal write-on begins and runs until the 24th. Then some minor surgery and a week of recuperation before I start my internship the first week of June.

Here we go...

Cruel and Unusual

2004-04-18T16:06:00.000-04:00

The weather in DC has been absolutely perfect of late. Today, the temperature is approaching 90. And for the third day in a row, I have been tempted from my balcony by the enticing jingle of the ice cream man. And for the third day in row, upon investigation, I have been unable to locate his elusive truck. Each day, I have walked around my neighborhood to no avail. I am beginning to think a neighbor is cruelly taunting the neighborhood with a false jingle. That's just wrong.

Golf as Metaphor

2004-04-17T19:40:00.000-04:00

Many thanks to D.K. for the following nugget of wisdom...

A law school semester can be likened to a golf tournament. Four days in a golf tournament, four months in a semester...

Thursday & Friday (Months 1-2)
You can't win a tournament in the first two days, but you can lose one. The same holds true for a semester at law school: it can't be won in the first two months, but it can be lost. Miss too much class or fall too far behind in the reading, and you will almost certainly "miss the cut."

Saturday (Month 3)
You've made the cut, now it's time to make your move. The sole object is to get yourself into position for victory. It's about catching up where you've fallen behind, getting the outlines going, looking at some past exams. Whatever it takes to put you within striking distance.

Sunday (Month 4)
If you did what you were supposed to on Saturday, your score isn't likely to change too much on Sunday (and it shouldn't need to!). You may drop a stroke, or hopefully, pick up a couple. But, major drops or gains are unlikely. If you've done what you were supposed to in the first three months, it's not likely you will fall too far at exam time. At the same time, if you're not where you want to be going into the last month, it may take a miracle to boost your scores. Ultimately, your exam performance is likely to mirror your preparation in the first 3/4 of the semester.

While I'm not sure if the analogy will hold for everyone, for me, it seemed an appropriate comparison...

One down and...

2004-04-16T11:22:00.000-04:00

Four to go. I had my LRW "exam" today. And I believe I am now officially dumber for having taken it. We were asked three questions:

1) Talk about legislative history and the research process for finding it
2) Comment on the effectiveness and/or problems of a sample brief
3) Describe the Administrative Law research process

That is all fine and good, except the test was open book. The entire class had printouts of the research guides and tutorials for Leg Hist and Admin Law research available from the GULC library. Ultimately, the test amounted to who could copy the research guides the fastest and most legibly. Why bother?

The exam is worth 15% of our total grade, so it was not totally pointless. The problem is 99% of the class undoubtedly wrote the same thing and will all receive full credit. If everybody gets full points, the course grades will have to be curved solely on the other portions of the course. The end result is the other 85% of the course becomes weighted more heavily and, in effect, becomes the basis for 100% of our grade.

If that's the case, I don't understand why we bothered with today's exam at all. Oh well. At least it's done. One down, four to go. Up next, Civ Pro.

Law Fellow Round 2

2004-04-16T11:20:00.000-04:00

I had my second "interview" for the Law Fellow Position yesterday. The three questions I was asked were:

1) Do you have any questions for me?
2) Anything else?
3) Do you have any other questions for me?

No further comment until I found out if I will be offered the position next Wednesday...

I like Scalia

2004-04-13T08:31:00.000-04:00

There, I said it. May the Georgetown gods strike me down on my left side as I enter campus this morning. I like Scalia. Said it again. It feels good.

Now for the qualification. It's not that I agree with his political views or the outcomes he prefers. Rather, I like Scalia because he is principled. I can disagree with him, but at least I know where he stands. Every opinion, concurrence, dissent he writes is consistent. Plain meaning, framer intent, historical practice, judicial restraint.

Take his scathing dissent in Dickerson where he chastizes the rest of the Court (including the Chief) for their inconsistency and for hiding behind semantic distinctions and rhetoric, rather than taking a stand and admitting they were wrong in the past. I respect that. Mind you, I also think Miranda is a valid decision. But, Scalia's reasons for wanting it overturned are compelling. He is principled.

He (and his clerks) are also consistently the best writers on the Court. "Nine-headed Caesar, giving thumbs-up or thumbs-down to whatever outcome, case by case, suits or offends its collective fancy." - It doesn't get much better than that.

I disagree with him, but I respect him. And the hate I have for him when he writes a scathing dissent against an issue I believe in comes not from the fact that I disagree with him, but from the fact that he's probably right.

Law Fellow Round 1

2004-04-13T08:25:00.000-04:00

My first and probably most important law fellow interview was yesterday. It was a group interview, with four applicants and three professors. While it was more intense than I had expected, all in all it wasn't too bad. The group interview format brings with it certain variables different from the standard interview. It's all about walking that fine line between asserting yourself and stepping on toes. I didn't want to dominate and I certainly didn't want to disappear into the background. I think I managed to walk the line appropriately. I spoke 1st once, second twice, third once, and fourth once. I didn't curse. I didn't let my ego run wild. I listened to the other applicant's answers. I was on time. I smiled. I think it went well.

Round 2 on Thursday.

Wholly Unsubstantiated Rumor

2004-04-11T13:23:00.000-04:00

Prof Crim is on the short list for the High Court if a Democrat takes over the White House. Or so some members of the 1L Smoking (tobacco) Circle claim. While I tend to trust people with cigarettes in their mouths, I have nothing else by which to judge the veracity of this claim. Here's hoping...

It seems plausible, I suppose. Prof Crim is brilliant. His left leg is definitely shorter than his right. He's represented some of the "highest ups" in the Democratic Party at the highest levels of litigation. He's hilarious (though I'm not sure that's a prereq for a nomination). He has the degrees from the right schools.

I certainly hope it's true. Of all the potential candidates I can think of, he is by far the most likely to lay down a "Dubitante" opinion...

Scheduling Bliss

2004-04-10T15:11:00.000-04:00

I've managed to get nothing done on my real studies today. Instead, I have spent the day steadily sinking into next year's scheduling quagmire. Two semesters. Seven classes/seven alternates each. Strategically ranked according to Prof popularity. Manageably spaced exams. Time conflicts allowed only when the likelihood of getting into the higher ranked class is slim. And the icing on the cake...I have to do it twice because I won't know if I was selected as a Law Fellow until just before my selections are due.

I think I have finally got it though. And next year is sure to be a blast. Corporations, tax, copyright, con law II, evidence, white collar crime (hopefully), securities regulation (if I'm lucky) and then trademark, admin law, labor law, and antitrust as some alternates. And the law fellow seminar (again, if I'm lucky).

Hmmm....second thoughts served up with a side dish of self-doubt, anyone?

Progress

2004-04-09T18:01:00.000-04:00

Civ Pro is up-to-date. Crim is next.

I truly love this time of year. The weather is simply beautiful, baseball season has begun, the NBA playoffs are around the corner, good movies begin to come out again, TV sweeps are imminent, and where am I? Holed up in my office staring at two computer screens and a casebook.

Not complaining though...it is what it is. And, it's a small price to pay for the opportunities on the horizon... I think I'll take the rest of the night off though...

About

2004-04-09T12:17:00.000-04:00

AI recently made a request for an "About" section in the various blawgs floating around. So, for those interested, here's the rundown on Dubitante.

-Law School Bio: 1L at Georgetown (I had intended to keep my school anonymous, but managed to let the cat out of the bag a few weeks ago).

-My Opinion of Law School: So far I'm pleased, both with the experience and my performance. No regrets (yet).

-Dubitante's Purpose: a place for me to comment about my law school experience, the world around me, and anything else I choose. A place for other law students, lawyers, or curious folk to get a glimpse into my life, law school's role in it, and offer their thoughts or comments.

-My Political Leanings: Left, though compared to my classmates, increasingly right.

-Personal Bio: I'm 26. I grew up and did my undergrad in Northern CA. I plan to return to the left coast after graduation. I am engaged to a lovely young lady (who also posts occassionally to offer the S.O. perspective on the law school experience).

-Interests (things I used to like to do before I started law school and free time became scarce): read a good book, watch a good movie, listen to some good music, support the Sacramento Kings...

-Summer Job: Judicial Internship at DC District Court

-Plans for the Future (in no particular order): Get married. Graduate. Pass the bar. Clerk. Work in indentured servitude until the loans are paid. Be happy. Teach. Quit smoking. Get a dog. Have some kids. Be a good Dad. Be a good husband. Retire from the law. Open a bookstore. Be happy.

You can also check my first post if you're still interested...

A note about comments

2004-04-09T11:11:00.000-04:00

There seems to have been a breakdown somewhere along the line with some people's understanding of exactly what is or isn't appropriate in comments posted to this site. Most people get it and this post is not directed to you. But, for the few who don't, here's the deal.

What you can do
Add to the discussion. Disagree with me if you wish, offer an opposing argument, whatever you like, provided it is related to the post on which it is commenting and is written in appropriate language.

What you can't do:
Use inappropriate words to derogate me or anyone else. If you disagree with me, fine, tell me why, but don't simply call me some epithet rather than construct an argument against what I have said. General rule of them: if you wouldn't say it to your mother, don't post it here. Any posts containing foul words or derogatory language will be deleted.

This is my soapbox, not yours. If you can't handle these simple rules, Blogger is free, get yourself a blog and curse at will...

The most important law school skill...

2004-04-08T20:51:00.000-04:00

So I think I have finally figured out what the single most important skill necessary for success in law school is: strategic ranking. That's it. Never mind case synthesis, reading comprehension, time management or any of the typical traits listed as vital to success. If you are able to strategically rank stuff, you will succeed.

For example:
Today, we were introduced to the somewhat elaborate ranking process for course selection next year. We rank seven "first choice" classes and seven "alternate" classes for each semester. If you don't get into your first choice, the system will go to the alternate. Given that certain classes and professors are extremely difficult to get into, strategy is critical. Should be fun...

We also learned about the ranking process for firm interviews during OCI in August, where we get to rank 50 firms, each with varying difficulty of actually landing an interview. Still more fun...

Plus, we get to rank our journal preferences during the write-on competition.

Strategic ranking, that's all there is to it...I wish I had known.

Progress (or lack thereof)

2004-04-08T08:24:00.000-04:00

3 weeks to go...

Civ Pro outline nearly done. The other 3 hardly begun. This weekend is a big one. I simply have to make some progress on my outlines. The goal: complete Civ Pro, complete Crim. It should be doable, but I may have to forego the all-important Lakers-Kings game on Sunday. Such is life.

The stress is starting to build a bit, but is not yet overwhelming. There is still time. Plus, our schedule is quite friendly with several days between exams. It is doable. Here we go...

Soapbox

2004-04-06T18:56:00.000-04:00

Adult ADD*: I'm not buying it. Apparently drugging every child in America to "treat" this "disease" is not enough and the ever thoughtful folks at Eli Lilly have started a massive advertising campaign to drug all the adults who suffer from ADD and simply "don't know it." Bollocks. What you don't know won't hurt you. For each psychological discovery, the world gets progressively sicker. Adult ADD is just the latest, greatest new disease we can all scratch and claw to acquire. Call me heartless (many of my hyper-liberal classmates would), but I come from the "suck it up" school of thought. Or more precisely: the "take responsibility for yourself" method of treatment.

...uh...er... what was I talking about? Oh yeah... Adult ADD is over-hyped.

Diagnosing every kid in America is one thing, but diagnosing yourselves, give me a break! I understand it's much easier to blame a disease for your child's poor grades or bad behavior than it is to look at your own parenting skills, but when it comes to placing blame for your own shortcomings, isn't it time to take some responsibility? I fully understand the allure of Adult ADD. I didn't get into Harvard, blame the ADD. I got passed on a promotion at work, blame the ADD. My marriage failed, blame the ADD. And on, and on, and on....

Suck it up, people! Take some responsibility for your own lives (and the role your play your kids'!). If you don't like what you see, do something about it. Looking for another excuse is not the answer.

Saying this, I must acknowledge that I believe there are genuine cases of ADD out there (in both kids and adults). If you are one of them, this post is not for you. Get the help you need. I am simply suggesting that the number of people who fall in this category pales in comparison to the number of people currently being diagnosed... And that the drug companies' promotion of this disorder is extremely troubling to me...

* I find it very interesting how this purportedly helpful and purely informational site is hosted by the only company producing an FDA-licensed drug (Strattera) to treat Adult ADD.

War Story

2004-04-06T08:24:00.000-04:00

It's been seven months since I started law school and I finally have had an experience worthy of all the hype afforded to the rigors of law school. As the loyal reader knows, I had a take home final due last week. No problem. I had it finished at 11pm the night before. But, when I attempted to go to sleep, I couldn't do it. Cases were floating through my head. Insecurities and questions were swelling my brain. Why do I have the feeling I cited Miranda wrong? There must be a better case to use than X. Did my case comparisons have enough penny and franc (don't ask!). And on and on. Ultimately, I did not sleep the entire night.

I left the house for 9am class and all was well. I had my coffee, adrenalin was pumping, I was awake. One class down. Two classes down. The final is to be turned in at 3:30. No problem. I went to my third class at 1:20. After 10 minutes, I was sweating. I took off my sweatshirt. I'll be OK. 10 more minutes and my head started spinning. I felt nauseous, dizzy, and lightheaded. I left the class for some fresh air. I felt as though I was going to faint. I walked around the block. I drank some orange juice. I ate a powerbar. I was feeling worse. My legs were week, my vision blurred. I went to the campus doctor. I had a fever. My blood pressure was 140/110. He told me to go home and get some rest. But, I couldn't.

The exam was to be collected at 3:30. No exceptions. The doc told me he couldn't do anything to convince the registrar to let me turn it in early. I wasn't bleeding. I didn't need to be hospitalized. There was nothing he could do. It was 2pm. I had to make it until 3:30. My head was still spinning. My legs were weak. But, I made it. I turned in the bloody thing at 3:30. I came home and wrote my personal statement for my law fellow application. I couldn't sleep again that night. I had now been up for about 50 hours. I headed to campus the next day to turn in my application. Done. I took the rest of the day off. I'm OK now.

The sweet sound of my inkjet

2004-03-30T23:34:00.000-05:00

I'm done. I have obsessed enough and it is time to go to bed.

Thank you, Professor, may I have another?

2004-03-30T16:41:00.000-05:00

Silly, silly me. I nearly forgot I still have all my reading to do for tomorrow's three classes... Looks like the mind-numbing revisions will have to stop for a few hours...

Who loves law school? I do, I do.

Am I done?

2004-03-30T15:17:00.000-05:00

So, my LRW take-home final is technically complete. I could go turn it in to the Registrar this afternoon and avoid tomorrow's torturous spectacle of inefficiency that is the designated hand-in time, but I can't. I am held hostage by two of my more overbearing character traits:

1) I am lazy. Real lazy. To turn it in this afternoon would require a shower or, at the bare minimum, changing out of the comfy fleece sweatpants I've been wearing since I started working on the final, five days ago. I'd also have to comb my hair and put on real shoes. Not to mention the fact that the fiancee has the car, so I'd have to endure the 90-minute Metro roundtrip. I can't do it.

2) What does "done" mean, anyway? My OCD simply prevents me from being "done" until I absolutely have to actually be done (when I leave the house tomorrow morning). There's 17 hours till then. I can't help but read through my paper about 100 more times before then. What if there's a missing comma or I forgot to close a quote? What if a pinpoint cite refers to the wrong page? What if there's only one space after a period instead of two? What if, what if, what if?

And so it is. I am powerless. I will have to turn it in tomorrow. In the meantime, I look forward to driving myself insane with eye-blurring, perpetual, and, ultimately, inconsequential revisions. That's just who I am.

This is not my blog...

2004-03-29T16:36:00.000-05:00

Anonymous Lawyer recently posted about the controversy currently brewing in law firms over the blawgs of associates (including summer hires!). Just as I have always feared, despite the sheer vastness of the Web, there is no such thing as anonymity. People (including hiring partners) are watching (and reading).

A few months ago, I received an IM from someone who really liked my webpage. The thing is, I didn't have a webpage a few months ago. Where did she find my IM address? Why did she think I had a webpage? After a short IM conversation, I realized she was viewing a webpage I had created my freshman year of college, 8 years ago!!! I did a couple Internet searches and, sure enough, there it was, in all its ignominy. Buried deep within the files of my former roommate's engineering account, my website persisted, nearly a decade since the last update. Most of the links still worked, and, more troubling, all of the content remained. What I though was funny when I was 17, will keep me off the Supreme Court when I'm 67.

I don't anticipate these revelations will affect my posts on this site. But, I will be watching my words so they won't be able to haunt me in perpetuity (Isn't there some sort of Rule Against Perpetuities?) And, if you know who I am, this is not my blog and nothing I say is true.

It's that Time Again

2004-03-28T22:07:00.000-05:00

There is a general feeling of calm, relief, even peace that comes just after my fiance's finals have concluded. A feeling of relief for us both. That bliss that comes only with a new semester, new classes and new cases is no more. This weekend marked the start of my second least favorite time of year, second semester finals. (Second only to first semester finals) I have adjusted to the regular stresses or rather, I have adjusted to my fiance's regular stresses. But, finals offer a new level of stress. One test that's outcome will either validate or negate his entire semester's efforts. Compared to his worries, mine are miniscule. Mine are grounded in my inability to ease his. I miss the days when a chocolate chip cookie could solve every problem, relieve every worry. Cookies don't work for this. I know. I tried tonight.

Company

2004-03-28T21:46:00.000-05:00

As I seem too busy of late to post often enough to satisfy my readers' insatiable appetites, and because law school is rougher on the significant others of law school students than it is on the students, themselves, I am pleased to announce a new contributor to Dubitante. From here on out, my fiancee, EAA, will be making the occasional post. I hope you'll enjoy the new perspective. I know I will.

Nemesis

2004-03-28T21:10:00.000-05:00

Courier New, 12 point, is pure evil. It makes Arial look small. It turns a 5 page paper into 8. It allows only 6 words per line. It relishes bumping the 13-letter topic of your paper to the next line. It taunts you with its ridiculous spacing between letters. It laughs at your efforts at conciseness. It mocks your page limit, as it discusses the preferability of word count limits. It wallows in its largeness, ridiculing standard fonts like Times New Roman. It haunts you.

(sighs in resignation)

New Dean

2004-03-25T16:59:00.000-05:00

Apparently, we have a new Dean (thanks to Disputation for the heads-up). I'll leave it to smarter people to comment on whether this is a good thing or not, though I assume it is. Until then, congratulations to Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff and a happy return to teaching to Dean Judith C. Areen.

So you want to be a lawyer...

2004-03-25T16:17:00.000-05:00

Some recent observations from my ethics class:

Apparently, I'm a bad man. In the endless parade of hypothetical situations we are confronted with in class, very few have even tickled my moral barometer. This concerns me a bit. I don't think I'm an immoral person and I don't intend to be an immoral lawyer. That said, I think lawyers have a unique role. We have a duty of zealous advocacy for our clients. In my eyes, that means you do whatever you can, within the bounds of the law, to help your client win. Certainly, there are situations where the moral price of such advocacy is extremely high and the lawyer must make a choice: win or do the right thing? Or is winning the right thing?

We watched a video about negotiation the other day where high-powered Attorney A walked the line of dishonesty during settlement negotiation with less experienced Attorney B. Attorney A told no lies, but also didn't freely offer any information. In the hypo, the law had recently changed from contributory negligence (barring recovery for B's client) to comparative negligence (allowing recovery for B). B was unaware of the change and A did not tell him about it. As a result, B accepted a very low settlement offer. The Prof intended the video to elicit outrage about Attorney A's behavior and, indeed, most of the class thoroughly attacked A. Yet I sat there thinking "B should have done his research. Good for A."

In nearly every other hypo we've discussed, the bulk of the class* takes the moral highground, promising to recuse themselves from the case, refuse the client, or quit the job. Such thinking is absolutely absurd. You simply cannot quit a job every time your idealism is challenged. What about the mortgage, the car payment, the wife's shoes, the kids, the student loan debt?

That said, I believe there are certain things you can do to minimize the chance of ethical distress.

Choose your practice setting carefully. I believe this is the only true moral choice a lawyer gets to make. When you choose to be a criminal defense attorney, you are signing up for a whole slew of moral dilemmas. Except as a criminal defense attorney, you cannot afford to have them be dilemmas; you must play your role and do your job, regardless of personal belief. The same goes for other practice areas. If you want to make more money than G-d and go to work for some high-powered corporate firm, be prepared to compromise your own beliefs to those of the client or your bosses. Quitting is not an option, but choosing where to work is.

This seems like common sense to me, but apparently much of the class doesn't get it. And, frankly, I am concerned that many of them are either poised for a very rude awakening or are simply not pursuing the right profession. I am not suggesting a lawyer gets a free pass to act immorally, but am only pointing out that a lawyer also doesn't get a free pass to forget he's a lawyer when confronted with a difficult choice. The bottom line is: do what you feel comfortable with; don't lie; don't break the law; choose your practice setting carefully; and all will be well.

* Interestingly, the other students from my section tend to be closer to my views, taking a more realistic view of the hypos and being less inclined to up and quit a job when faced with a tough choice.

Taxpayer Dollars

2004-03-23T19:16:00.000-05:00

Today, in Criminal Justice, we discussed the profoundly troubling case of Jacobson v. United States, 503 U.S. 540. The case concerns government entrapment of Jacobson on child pornography charges. The government spent 2 1/2 years sending fake correspondence to Jacobson, including phony "pen pal" letters, promoting the desirability of child porn and lamenting government censorship of it. The court found for Jacobson and the majority opinion demonstrates the apparent evolution away from a purely subjective test for determining entrapment.

The legal stuff aside, it turns out Professor Crim was clerking for the Court when the case was decided and was able to provide the class with copies of some actual evidence presented in the case. And, the grotesque proclivities of Jacobson aside, this is where the case, and the government's "investigation," truly becomes disturbing...

For example, one of the fake "pen pal" letters says: "I know a guy in Omaha who's [sic] fantasy it was to tie up Scott Baio (Chachi in 'Happy Days'), he had about 100 pics of Scott Baio."

Bizarre. Charles in Charge? Why? I can't help but wonder what was really going on with this investigation...

Justification

2004-03-21T10:38:00.000-05:00

It's my birthday...and I'll stall if want to.

Productivity is a bit down this weekend, but fear not faithful reader (and co-signers of my loans), it will all get done... Up next, reading cases for the brief and writing a personal statement for my law fellow app, and then I take the rest of the day off in honor of my birth.

In other news, Charlie Kaufman has done it again. Though perhaps not quite as good as his Spike Jonze collaborations, Kaufman's latest mind-bender, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, is simply fantastic. I highly recommend it to all.

Just Nod Your Head

2004-03-20T12:50:00.000-05:00

And today's horoscope, courtesy of Astrology.com, is:

"You're a legend around here. Your exploits make what passes for headlines in the gossip community. Even though fame and fortune move in cycles, people always nod their heads and smile knowingly when your name comes up. If you really need to analyze this phenomenon, it's your air of deep mystery that makes you so great. You're usually in the middle of some assumed adventure even when you're quietly minding your own business. Why not play the game and live up to your reputation? You'll get more invites and dates that way, positioning yourself to really get things cooking."

I must say, truer words have never been written. I wonder if staring blankly at a stack of cases and accomplishing absolutely nothing today will add to my "legend."