OCI

OCI is going on. I have 20 minute appointments randomly scattered throughout the next few weeks. Surreal.

Victory!

Exams are over, celebration all around.

We're no longer 1Ls. If we passed. But that's the sort of thing we don't think about ;)

Posting slow down

All I would be doing is to complain about exams, so posts will slow down.

Haiku

Swooping overhead
Terrorizing days and dreams.
Cicada? No! Finals.

School is...

Over for some people and beginning for the 1Ls. The 3Ls had their graduation dinner thing and the 1Ls are just starting to crack their books.

I'm so far behind in every class that there may be no recovery. Perhaps we should all join together and not study for finals. Eh? Eh?

Back to Contracts.

Bigelow Moot Court

Bigelow Moot Court was an interesting experience. I think I learned something - think before you speak. But not for too long. And not too hard. And not too complex of thoughts, at least not so complex you can't say them clearly.

The professor judges were an interesting experience. Most students said good things about Stone especially. Strauss and Strahilevitz were supposed to be tough. And Samaha is said to be just brutal. Samaha would make people talk themselves in circles.

It was nice to see that the judges disagreed on points of specific performance. Two would say "That was a good idea to use those words," and then the next would say "I disagree, that wording was awful."

Will I ever do moot court again? I'm not sure. I had a good enough time, but I never want to see a brief again, and I typically don't subject myself to writing 30 pages on something that has no practical use. What would a utilitarian have to say about Moot Court? I'm sure Law & Econ folk must despise the wasted effort.

UChicago Faculty Blog

http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/

The faculty blog is not something I read often. It's not that I don't find the topics interesting; it's that I don't have the energy. As 2L year draws ever nearer, I can't imagine how I used to have the energy to do all the things I did. Hobbies: gone. Interests: none. Favorite Books: Dukeminier on Property, Anything by Emmanuel.

Maybe life will change 2L year to something remniscient of what it once was. Maybe I'll pull out my college resume to see what I used to consider my interests.

But until then, I shall not be reading the faculty blog.

Amount of Work

I don't know about most people, but the level of work I've been doing recently is patheticaly low. The amount of work I should be doing is excruciatingly high. This may have something to do with burnout, but I suspect its much more about the LRW brief.

Talking to some 2Ls, they seem to think most 1Ls are in this same boat. The level of unpreparedness for finals this quarter is going to be embarassing. Hopefully, the curve is going to fix some of the problems I have with what unpreparedness entails.

It also doesn't help when some professors assign more reading than can possibly be done well. It's tough to know what to cut, and I'm not terribly happy with professors that don't respect the fact that I have 3 other classes.

I think it's high time we apply behavioral economics to law school and reduce the workload and expectation level. That would make my life easier, and that is what is most important, right?

0L: Should you buy a copy of Black's Law Dictionary?

I've found my copy of Black's portable edition useful. The others seem to be a bit cumbersome, especially since you can look words up through Lexis or WestLaw. Also, it's not like they're using too many crazy legal words or anything. The need to look things up in the dictionary goes down considerably after the first month.

Oral Arguments

Oral Arguments begin today.

Also, it's insanely hot in Regents.

Briefs Returned

Most of the briefs were returned.

Woohoo.

Law School Prom

Prom finally happened. That lowers the number of things to be stressed about. But it really shouldn't have been something to stress about. Selling it as prom is a hard call. Prom implies dates, stress, and high school. Not many people brought dates. Not many of us were great at high school. I was incredible, of course. Not selling it as a prom would just be a formal, and those are not as cool as prom.

Food was OK (they were really betting on the "presentation is half the battle" theory of cooking), open bar was nice, so on and so forth. Everyone drank too much and thus wasted the entire weekend, a few weeks before exams start. At least everyone is in the same position, I'm sure there's some term like "reciprocity" that I ought to know that would describe this well. I guess I like the curve sometimes. Ask me again in a few weeks.

However, we can't forget that the practice moot court rounds start this week. Great.

Law School Idol; Pizza

I was hoping Helmholz would be a bit more cruel, but other than that it was pretty entertaining.

On a related note, please stop serving Pizza Capri. I don't care if it's cheaper, or whatever. All I know is that I came to Chicago with one chief goal: pizza. Eduardo's, Giordano's, Leona's, something please. Give me an apostrophe and I'm happy. Pizza Capri is the Cici's of Chicago pizza.

That goes for you too Federalist Society.

Hornbooks, Commercial Outlines and the Like

So far, hornbooks have been an invaluable expenditure. But not because they have any value as far as learning the law goes. No, they're worth it because they let me sleep better. They make me feel better about exams. Most of them have been bought on someone else's recommendation, and then tossed aside. Others actually have some value. Some seemed useful my first quarter, and now I read them and get nothing.

Here's what I recommend for UChicago:
Understanding Property - great, all around
Understanding Torts - more useful first quarter when I was confused about everything
Civ Pro E&E - useful for jurisdiction stuff, especially on the brief
Understanding Crim - good for trying to figure out if you actually ever learn anything in crim (answer: very little)
Emmanuel's - only useful when keyed to the book, and then, invaluable

Not recommended:
Gilbert's on Property, by Dukeminer - got nothing out of this. A super outline of all of property, written like the common law was codified. Not useful for my purposes. Understanding Property gives ambiguities and conflicting cases, as well as minor discusison of such issues. No such luck here.
Torts E&E - didn't find this useful, barely looked through it. Understanding answered my questions more clearly.
BarBri Outline - not sure why I have this, I've gotten nothing out of it.

I haven't bought many others, or I don't know enough about them to give any advice one way or the other

Today's Link

http://barelylegalblog.blogspot.com/

Barely Legal is one of the best cynical law blogs. They no longer post, but read the older posts.

Not everyone is so displeased with law school, but many are.

I'm not. I like it.

Judge Easterbrook

Judge Easterbrook came and gave a lecture on oral advocacy in an appeals court setting. It's always nice to hear from someone who is out in the field, as opposed to people who have never tried a case. I think each person in the system has their place (academics may never actually need to try a case), but the variety is nice.

The talk was interesting and, although it lasted a bit over an hour, I was able to listen to all of it. It puts aside some fears having to do with the moot court rounds that start in a week.

A week! Ack!

LSAT Courses

Here's my LSAT course primer:

The LSAT is a learnable skill. As such, most people should take an LSAT class. The few exceptions know who they are. LSAT courses help you focus, force you to study for the LSAT.

There are 4 major LSAT courses out there, and they can be divided into two subsections. There are few differences within the subsections.

Kaplan and Princeton Review
No one I know that has taken these has been overly happy. Compare to the endless praise given by PowerScore and Testmasters folks. They're supposed to do a good job on most everything but the logic games section. Most people I know that took Kaplan or Princeton Review recommended buying the Powerscore Logic Games Bible to supplement.

PowerScore and Testmasters
PowerScore is becoming the most recommeneded LSAT course, in no small part because of its LSAT Bibles it releases. Powerscore is an offshoot of Testmasters. Their methods are similar, if not the same in almost every respect. Each of these companies are praised by everyone I've talked to. A final note, Testmasters is known as ScorePerfect in Texas. Something about copyright infringement?

Bottom Line
Take an LSAT course. It's more important to take the course and do the practice stuff than to take the right course. It's better not to take a course and take practice exams than to take a course and think classroom time is going to save you.

Hope that helps.

0L Literature and Cinema

There's quite the market for 0L books out there.

I am part of the problem. I have quite a few of these on my bookshelf.

Looking at Amazon, some people have made "Books to read before Law School" lists. My view, which of course is the correct one, is that most of these are worthless for all practical purposes, but necessary for social purposes. Parents, friends, and lawyers are all going to ask you which you read. You have to be able to say "1L, of course, but that hasn't really reflected my experience here at [my school]. I also read [some other book] that seemed to get some things right and most things wrong."

If you are going to read something before your 1L year, here's the reading list:
One L by Scott Turow - Every Lawyer and Law Student has read this.
The Paper Chase - The classic law school movie. Not close to accurate, but we've all seen it.

Honorable Mention:
Getting to Maybe - Everyone I know that has read this says it's "OK, but repetitive". A copy is on most students' shelves.

Other books often recommended:
Law School Confidential - This book is more about fear and less about help. I tried to use some of their methods (5 highlighters?), and switched to other methods soon after. Factual issues seem to be correct, however.
Introduction to the Study and Practice of Law in a Nutshell - This is one of the only 0L books you can buy that doesn't attempt to scare you. It was useful in relieving some of the 0L stress, and it has some interesting essays by people with law degrees about life after school.
The Complete Law School Companion - I've only skimmed this one, can't say much. It covers more topics than most books, including LSAT and applications.
Planet Law School II - Often seen as taking second place to Law School Confedential in every respect, including amount of fear created. Haven't read it. Yet.

There's a DVD now - "All About Law School" - I'd love to watch this thing; the Youtube ad is a bit over the top.


Summary:
Buy a copy of 1L and read it. Watch The Paper Chase. Pick up a copy of Getting to Maybe an never read it in its entirety. Get at least one of the scary books and skim it, realizing that the more they can scare someone who is skimming the 0L section at Borders, the more copies they sell. If you're scared of law school already, read one of these and see that your imagination is far more active than it ought to be.

Civ Pro

Civil Procedure is a necessary class, sure.

But it should never held early in the morning.

Nor in the afternoon.

Crim Law

What are we supposed to be learning in Criminal Law? It seems like it's a lot of theory, and an occasional statute. Surely the exam isn't going to be straight theory. Are we going to have to know the Kansas murder statute and then compare that to the Model Penal Code?

And no, I refuse to check past exams to answer my question, I prefer to complain and be flustered.

Classes and All That - Take 2

Oops, seems like people are doing the reading. In a school where the grade is a strict curve, this sort of thing may matter. Maybe.

Classes and All That

It seems that no one is doing the reading these days. Everyone seems to be taking a break. I think this is the sort of thing that would get the administration thinking of cutting the brief or something like that. I think the brief is a fine exercise, and probably necessary before the first summer, but something must be done. Class is borderline worthless this week.

Life, Sleep, and Everything

The Bigelow Brief assignment is still throwing off my sleep schedule. Good luck waking me up before noon.

The quarter system is a strange beast. I cannot tell whether I should love it or hate it. Since Christmas, I've taken two big exams spanning a total of four quarters, had two writing large writing assignments, and am looking forward (?) to six quarters worth of exams in about four weeks. Also, oral arguments about the brief. Half of my grades for the year are still in the air.

Friends at other law schools also have half of their grades in the air, but they've only had one round of exams. Exams are a strange experience, where students who don't spend much time studying suddenly do. Most students tend to start studying at the same time - it almost feels like Watership Down. Exam rounds are intense and awful and I'd rather have 2 big ones than two not-as-big ones and one big one. Everything is on a curve, so easing people into things tends to even people out as far as math majors vs. philosophy majors go.

I'm currently ambivalent.

Shell of a life

After finishing the brief, I've come to notice that I don't know how to spend free time. I've been asking around, and it seems that I'm not the only one. We've got nothing to do. The administration forced us to abandon our lives. We're trying to go back, and we're finding that our lives disappeared and refuse to be reclaimed, possibly because they feel abandoned.

Sorry, friends and family. I've forgetten some of your names.

Sorry, Lost, American Idol, Grey's Anatomy and Prison Break. I'm too far behind to catch up.

Sorry, jogging in the park, reading for fun, cooking, and coloring books. I've lost all the motor skills you required.

And you, food other than pizza, I'll miss you too. If I could only remember what you are...

Law Shows

One of the upsetting things about law school is watching Boston Legal, Law & Order, and other legal shows. What we notice now are the specious claims (we also use the word specious), the contrived circumstances, and the questionable, if not outright wrong, legal rules. However, they often get things right, especially when the thing isn't driving the plot.

They also say things like "I became a lawyer because of blah blah blah." These people don't really exist.

Long story short, if you love your Law & Order, prepared to be let down.

Professors - Notice for this week

Any professor who calls on a 1L with the expectation that they'll have done the reading needs to do a reality check on how interesting their class readings actually are. Next week, we'll play along again.

Brief

The brief is done. Things left to stress out about:

• Oral arguments. They're all gonna laugh at you.
• Exams. You've been slacking on your reading.
• Summer job. You're either going to not have a job this summer or screw up at the one you got. Either way, you lose.
• Prom. Like this wasn't stressful enough in high school.
  

7th Circuit - Hypocritical?

http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/
http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/Rules/type.pdf

The 7th Circuit is notorious for its high standards when it comes to typeface choices.

However, they seem to make some blunders when it comes to web design.

1. Main site's title is "Untitled Document"
2. Ugly blue as the main color. Note that PowerPoint doesn't come with that color blue for templates anymore. That color went out with the .com boom.
   
3. http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/Rules/briefex/BRindex.htm
• Brief examples page is very Web .01 Beta.
• Pay special attention to thier animated gif.
• Check out that floppy disk icon. Computers don't come with those anymore

Necessary Reading

http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/

Take a look at the ads on the right side. There's an ad for Reutter's The Law of Public Education, 6th Edition. Do people who read legal blogs impulse buy $100+ casebooks? I'd love to see the ad revenue charts on those links.

Open Letter to Lexis

Dear Lexis,

I do not need any more Ultimate Reward Points.

Ever.

I do not need whatever training it is you offer. Please save your paper, your e-mails, and my time. Perhaps if you offered a noticably superior service to your competitors I would use you. Perhaps.

Statement of Purpose

This blog was created to give those thinking about coming to law school a candid perspective of how one's priorities change as they go through law school. Before entering law school, I'd have never cared about personal jurisdiction, whether the UCC existed, or Plum Cafe coffee.

Now I hate all of them.

Additionally, this blog was created to serve as the focal point of scandal and rumor mongering.

Assignment taken from University of Alabama

The Bigelow Brief from this year was taken from an assignment at the University of Alabama assigned in 2005. Surprised me, at least.

http://www.law.ua.edu/llmtax/Legalwriting/DistrictCourtOrder.doc
http://milkyanyes.blogspot.com/2005_04_01_archive.html

There's more, do a Google search for "Jayme Olive Emerald Legacy".