Happiness is…

Walking into a review session with outline in hand and realizing that everything the Prof. had to say was on my outline, in proper order. Oh yeah. I’m happy. Now…on to Evidence.

Criminal Procedure

I do love criminal law. I love the idea of being a criminal attorney. And as a result, I enjoy criminal procedure. Overall, I have been disheartened that the protections offered by the constitution don’t offer as much protection as I thought they did. There is no protection for people who claim they are the victim of profiling or discrimination by the police. Those claims must be brought under the equal protection doctrine rather than under the 4th amendment. Consent doesn’t mean much. Voluntary doesn’t mean much. Reasonable suspicion doesn’t mean much. In general, protection doesn’t mean much if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Which can be anyplace, at any time. So…the good news? My criminal procedure outline is coming along. In addition, the Prof. distributed copies of the exam from the past two years, and it looks totally manageable. I can do this. I’m going to finish the outline this afternoon and then review some of my supplements. I hope everyone has a great day.

God is good

I didn’t even look at my exam schedule until today. As it turns out, I have PLENTY of time. One of my exams is take home and I get three weeks to do it. The two that I need to sit for are not scheduled until the 18 and 21 of December! All this loveliness and tomorrow is my last day of class! Now – there is absolutely no reason for less than perfection on these babies. Absolutely no reason at all. I need these grades to bring up my averages from last year. For tonight, reading for tomorrow. Tomorrow night I will plan my time. Motivation during the interim will be a struggle perhaps? We shall see. I’ll write again soon. Good luck to everyone.  (P.S. Yes, I do still have children. They are doing quite fine. I will be setting aside some time for them as well.)

Tax

So I got my tax midterm back today. One of those deals where it will only count if it helps and not if it hurts. I doubt it will hurt. BUT – the only ink on it is a grade. No comments. No feedback. No way of determining how to take my nice grade and make it nicer. And there is always room for nicer. So what exactly was the purpose?

I love tax. I think I could be happy being a tax attorney. I also think I could be happy being a criminal defense attorney. Or a civil rights attorney. Or an elder law attorney. Or an adoption attorney. Or a disability rights attorney. Even being a real property attorney has its nicer aspects. The only type of attorney that I am 100% confident I do not want to be is a divorce attorney. The thing is, I have no idea how a person goes from being a law student to a lawyer with actual work. I guess I still need to figure that out. For me, it won’t be because I have some great 2L summer job that materializes into the perfect job after graduating. I suspect that is true for most people, although I know plenty of people who believe in the myth. So….ignore this problem. It is irrelevant at the moment. Being a law student is my job, and I am getting better at it.

Current exam progress: Tax outline 90% complete, Evidence Outline 99% complete, Criminal Procedure Outline 15% complete. Guess what I am working on tomorrow?  Tax. I am saving Crim Pro for the weekend. Tomorrow I also go to the clinic, and I might get my client assigned for the appeal. Beyond this, I have a paper due for a two-credit class that sounded much more useful than it has proven to be.  There are 18 days remaining. Good luck to everyone, and I hope all those recent grads are enjoying their first holiday of freedom.

Evidence

So here’s the deal. I have worked hard in evidence all semester. I completed all my reading, organized my notes, and read supplemental material in the form of Mueller and Kirkpatrick Black Letter Law. I have a handwritten outline that totals 21 pages of awesomeness, and I was confident that it would be sufficient for my purposes. I purposefully did not look at any old exams prior to completing my own work. But yesterday I looked. And I’m not happy. These law school folks are out of their minds. I could do the work. My outline is sufficient. But the way these babies are done, it is going to be a mad-dash writing fest with no time to breath, let alone think. The model answers are twenty typewritten pages. I have three hours. And I use a pen. I’m not sure that this one final exam is really the best way to assess my learning. But so help me God, I am going to kick butt on this thing. I am going to write his model answers for the past three years. Word for word. Because that is how I learn. Then, when I sit down with his exam, hopefully the words will just flow from my pen, effortlessly. For today, I am done with evidence. I need a break. The remainder of my weekend will be devoted to Federal Income Tax. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday. I enjoyed mine. I got a lot done. But right now, my anxiety is on the rise. I’ll write again soon.

2L turkey

There will be a turkey at my house on Thursday. I will stuff it, cook it, and eat it. But the holiday is being toned down. I have no desire to have a house full of people, no desire to put an entire day into preparing, another into partying, and a third into cleaning up. No time, no energy, and no desire. I have a one track mind. Law school. That’s it, nothing else. I will eat some turkey. I did not invite anyone else to join me. And I am not going to feel guilty about this. [hint - yes, I am prone to feeling guilty about this - I can think of at least ten reasons why it is important to make a big deal about Thanksgiving and invite family, friends, and strangers to celebrate with me] If I were invited to someone else’s place for Thanksgiving, I would decline. I am simply not interested this year. Because when push comes to shove, the only thing that matters right now is law school and the person who that matters to is ME. For just this once, I am going to put myself first. I do not want any additional interruptions. Managing my life with three kids and a house and full time school is quite enough, thank you very much. And the best news of all? This makes me HAPPY. So long as I don’t fall into the guilt trap. . .

So, I hope my readers have a lovely holiday. My sights are set on December.

planning

I am oddly calm considering all things. I turned in my final paper for my clinic yesterday. I’m not overly thrilled with it. But I am curious to see how I feel about the same type of project when I have an actual client and it actually matters. I will be getting my trial transcript sometime before the semester is out. I won’t be able to write about it here, but I don’t think there is any harm in saying that I am going to be handling both the brief and the oral argument on a criminal appeal. I am really looking forward to it.

I haven’t applied for the FAFSE fellowship. If I’m going to do it, I need to get all over it this week. Otherwise, it will be too late. I’m leaning against it simply because I have so much to do between now and December. On the other hand, I would really enjoy it and would benefit from the experience should I be lucky enough to get in. I’ll let you know what I decide.

So, I luck out this semester and only need to prepare for three exams: Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and Federal Income Tax. The tax exam is take-home, which scares me more than a little. Still – if the only exams I need to take in class are Crim Pro and Evidence, then I had damn well better make them count. I want A’s in Crim Pro and Evidence. And Tax. I need to make up for last years fiasco. Possible? Well, we shall see.

Next Up

One application for the FASPE Fellowship at Auschwitz for the study of professional ethics. Now THAT would be something. I am going to apply, realizing that my chances are very slim.  That is the opportunity of a lifetime. Beyond that? I have finalized my schedule for the spring semester. It is a mixed bag. I have class five days a week instead of four, and I have one crazy day on Wednesday. On the other hand, I am out by noon two days a week. So, what’s on the list? Commercial Law (aka UCC), Law and Medicine, Administrative Law, Medical Malpractice, and the final semester of my clinic. I need to get that health law thing rolling along. I would really like a summer job in the health law field but I need to get my butt in gear if that is going to happen. Other news? Not much. My life has gone crazy, high school has re-entered my life, aka I got into a dispute with a fellow student, and that’s about it. I hope my readers had a great day. Let’s begin the countdown until exams are over, shall we?

Exams and taxes

I’m only 15 days late. I thought I might owe. I was right. That’s not really why I waited, but it sure didn’t provide any increased motivation to file early. So Civil Procedure took a back seat to taxes tonight. Something about the first of May got me scared. Now for the question of the hour: How the heck does my taxable income increase during my first year of full time school????? And the answer is: with a 20 hour per week cap on hours, I worked really hard between January and August to try to cushion myself. Result? Not worth it. Just in case anyone is thinking of trying it now to cushion for next year, I don’t recommend it. So….moving on.

Civil Procedure final tomorrow morning. I am ready. My outline is in fine shape and I spent several hours studying and reviewing. I will be bringing the text, the rules, and the outline with me. The text is a sign that I am not really comfortable. If I need it, it is there. Let’s pray I don’t. I hope my readers have a lovely day. I’ll be back tomorrow.

Property Exam Prep

Lesson of the day: Remember IRAC. If there is one class this semester where IRAC is going to make or break me, property is it. I took a sample exam and managed to hit most of the issues, but my answer organization was not satisfactory.  The real trick to this is to form the best answer, because everyone knows the material as well or better than I do. It is a closed book exam, and taking my time to construct the answer before I start writing could make a big difference. I’m off to do some memorizing on the property material and then moving on to Civ Pro. But over the next few days, my efforts on property need to involve writing answers so the form comes natural to me. I – R – A – C plus a few case names and I should be in good shape. Good luck studying.