Law School – Page 3 – The Rogers News

BarBri Early Start

I’m about to start the BarBri Early Start program. For some reason the name makes me think of a sober house or clean living – preparing for the bar is quite sobering, albeit less of a health risk.

This is the beginning of my formal bar training. It seems far too early, but there’s a few of us here – the few who have paid at least $1500 out of $3000 due to be re-taught what we’ve learned during the past three years of law school.

These Early Start sessions take place on each of the next five weekends, take about five to six hours each, provide general test-taking advice, and cover broad legal topics often tested on the bar exam such as Torts, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Contracts, Property, Evidence and Constitutional Law.

I arrived early enough to get my seat at the top/back of the tiered classroom and donuts were provided – I got my butternut. Cheers to a fun Sunday of bar prep followed by more work! At least it’s sunny out.

I am here because…

In working on a cover letter it dawned on me that there is much more to who I am, where I am, and how I’ve arrived at this stage of my life than my academic and vocational accomplishments. The formality of a cover letter – especially one targeted to lawyers conducting serious business at prestigious firms – is constricting. Thankfully, my blog is none of those things! So, what I have to say follows.

I was born in the cherry capital of the world to the two greatest parents in the universe. I am here because I watched hours of Voltron and Thundercats, experienced the creative wonders of Disney World at an early age, and learned hockey stickhandling from Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe. I am here because I spent every spare second from my 9th birthday through the beginning of college consumed by the sport of golf, which taught me the value of patience, brutal honesty, and friendship. I am who I am because of the many wonderful people who have been kind enough to say hello to me when I was too shy to say hello to them and because of the few great friends I’ve had over the years and because of the girls with whom I’ve fallen in and out of love. I am here because my sister has made me laugh, inspired me and nudged me in the right direction.

I built monsters and houses from LEGOS and Lincoln Logs. Refrigerator boxes became spaceships. Summer days ran until dusk then darkness. I fell down, then stood up again. Those hours of sax practice – or the lack thereof – are not lost on me. I will never forget the dinners at Mabel’s. I studied economics in college while wishing I was a writer. When not writing and reading, I played poker with friends until the sunrise. Law school has been a good excuse to explore New England, a place that reminds me of home. And a reminder of home is always a good thing.

I am here in Concord, New Hampshire two months away from graduation to the next phase of my life because I’ve done a million different things in my past. I have a feeling, regardless of how I package who I am on this cover letter, it will matter more that I’ve been where I’ve been, seen what I’ve seen, and met the people I’ve met.

Here’s to the next step – the great beyond. I love looking back, but I have to move forward. There’s a ways to go.

Should I Quit Facebook?

First, read the following excerpt of the “Licenses” clause of Facebook’s new terms of use:

You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.

If that’s not bad enough, read the “Termination” section:

The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the Facebook Service: … Licenses …

Since I’ve been alerted to Facebook’s new terms of service, I will not longer be importing the posts from this blog to Facebook’s Notes application. Further, I will no longer be importing photos via the “my flickr” application or directly into Facebook’s default photo application.

Facebook is now just an elaborate address book to me.

Update: Consumerist has a nice summary and highlights that if you restrict your privacy settings then you may not be as exposed to the drastic licensing provision quoted above.

Romanettes

No, “romanettes” is not the name of a female punk band. It’s the little-known and scarcely used terminology for referring to little roman numerals. This comes up a lot in my tax class. We find ourselves saying, “four little eye,” to verbalize (iv). When you think about it, “four little eye” could be quite confusing. It could be interpreted as (4)(i). Saying “romanette four” is clearer.

Here’s a humorous exchange from the Supreme Court regarding romanettes:

MS. SAHARSKY [of the Solicitor General’s office]: What I’m suggesting, Your Honor, is that the “that” refers to everything that is in Romanette (i) and (ii) up to the break with “committed by.” So that it is an offense that is a misdemeanor and has as an element “committed by.” You know, these — these two different clauses both modify “offense,” just as a grammatical matter, not looking at this Romanette (i) and (ii), but just looking at that sentence.

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Romanette?

MS. SAHARSKY: Oh, little Roman numeral.

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: I’ve never heard that before. That’s — Romanette.

(via The Volokh Conspiracy)

Book: The Associate

I just finished John Grisham’s The Associate. It was good enough for me to spend the last few hours finishing instead of working on my draft order, but not great. The plot – and all there is to Grisham books is sturdy plot – opened with great potential. The first 75 pages drew me in. The book starts by introducing the reader to the protagonist, a third-year law student named Kyle. From there his well ordered life as a high-potential student and editor of the Yale Law Review is thrown into disarray thanks the resurfacing of a long-forgotten college incident.

The suspense was linear. There were no twists. No big revelations at the end of the book. Nothing that made it necessary to finish. In summary, reading the book was like being promised a bonfire and receiving a smoldering fire pit. It kept me warm, but I had to stay too close.

I’m going to read The Partner next and see if it’s any better. I’ve heard good things.

Spring Semester: Week 4

It’s already the middle of the week – nearly the end of my school week. I’m done at 10am on Thursdays, which is great for now but will make adjusting to an actual job environment all the more difficult.

In an attempt to sabotage my studies, I bought and have been reading John Grisham’s latest legal thriller, The Associate. The story is making me want to go into big law and be worked to death to the tune of a $200,000 salary. The character states that if he works 56 hours a week for 11.5 months, he’ll bill approximately 2500 hours. An impressive number.

Of course, actually getting to 56 (or 2500 for that matter) is harder than it seems. Can’t bill at lunch, in the bathroom, or while chit-chatting. I worked longer hours than 56 during some weeks at Ruckus. I arrived to work at 7am and left at 10 or 11pm. I’m not sure what the hourly breakdown between work and play was, but I worked a lot. I think I could handle the legal work.

Aside from the novel, there’s lots of reading about various topics of law. We’re finally getting into actual environmental law in Environmental Law. For a while there I thought it was a trick to get me to retake Administrative Procedure and Con Law. We’re still covering Partnerships in Business Entities Taxation. I’ve got a decent grasp on the material, so its somewhat enjoyable. Wait, that was the wrong word. It’s not horrible. The other classes are fine. I have an Order due on Monday for Judicial Opinion Drafting. I’m procrastinating on that with this post.

Not much else going on at school worth talking about. More next week.

Litigation Batman Style

I have never wanted to be a litigator because I’m a baby when it comes to public speaking. I’m sure if you examined my childhood there would be explanations for this. Regardless, the following quote from The Dark Knight made me rethink litigation. I would appear in court if just to say this:

Sometimes, truth isn’t good enough; sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.

In what context could I say this?

Is it possible to deliver something better than “truth” in a system that so cherishes it? At what cost?