Law School – Page 4 – The Rogers News

Illinois Bar It Is

I don’t know if deciding on a state in which to take the bar and subsequently practice law was easy for most, but it was subtly grueling for me. There are many factors I can cite that have complicated the decision. First is that I do not yet have a job lined up. If I did, it would be a no brainer to take the bar required to start my job. Second is that I’ve spread my networking base and presence a bit thin over the past five years by working in Virgina and going to law school in New Hampshire, and now have to make adjustments and work harder to make up for my past.

With that said I’ve decided to apply for the July Illinois State Bar Exam. My intention is to practice in or near Chicago. I like the city very much, it is close to family, and many of my friends now live and work there. Further, if the decision is between the Illinois bar and the Michigan bar, I have more leeway in transferring my MBE score from IL to MI (3 year) than I do from MI to IL (1 year).

While the Feb 1st deadline is forcing my decision, it is by no means the reason for my decision. I have for a long time been undecided, but MI and IL have always been the forerunners unless there was something significant that compelled me to go elsewhere. That hasn’t happened, and if it does I’ll deal with it in due time.

For the immediate future, my focus is on finishing the Illinois application in the next three days, then diving into the job search.

Spring Semester: Week 2

Considering this is my last semester of law school, it seems only right to document some of it. I’m starting a week late, but that is kind of the theme thus far into the semester. Just this morning did I receive my last of five grades from last semester. Administrative Procedure was the holdout. When you think about it, the drop/add day has already passed. Technically, had I not passed Admin Pro I would have to stay an extra semester because it’s a required course. I’m sure exceptions could or would be made, but the point is that receiving grades this late is unacceptable.

Concerning my own snafus, I’m just now settling into my course schedule. I had to drop the mini-course, International and Comparative Copyright Law because it conflicted with Estate Planning for a grand total of 1.5 hours later on in the semester. I was told by the registrar that that was unacceptable. I switched to Federal Trademark and Copyright Registration, but later had to drop than when I discovered that Copyright Licensing does not fulfill the upper-level writing requirement I need. So, my final course load is as follows:

Environmental Law (EL)
Judicial Opinion Drafting (JOD)
Business Entities Taxation (BET)
Estate Planning (EP)
Copyright Licensing (CL)

Last semester I had it good. The grading of most of the classes in which I was enrolled was heavily weighted towards the final exam or project. I liked that because it simplified the semester. I wasn’t bothered with writing projects, oral presentations, and midterms. I could learn for four months and then regurgitate it on the page. And, no, I don’t think I crammed and then just forgot it all. It was a solid semester.

This semester is a different story. Despite my weeks concluding at 10am on Thursday and having 3.75 day weekends for the entire semester, my courses are absurd. Judicial Opinion Drafting involves writing three opinions and a 45 minute oral presentation where I am to lead class discussion regarding a justice or judge of my choice. Stop right there. That is enough to ruin my semester. Legal writing AND oral presentations. I seriously considered whether I really wanted to finish this whole “law school thing” when I saw that in the syllabus. Then there’s Copyright Licensing which is “simple,” yet it involves negotiating (read: talking).

I guess it’s finally time to face my fears. To open my mouth. To crack open my BlueBook (legal citation reference) if I can find it in storage. This is going to be a hectic semester, and I haven’t even complained about life decisions, bar applications, and searching for a job yet.

To do this weekend:

EL: Read about Eminent Domain and The Takings Clause
JOD: Read “How I write” law review articles and draft standard of reviews for a NH trial court.
BET: Review partnership taxation.

Fun stuff. K. Time to work. Bye.

My Last First Day

Today was my last first day of law school, which started at 8:30am with Business Entities Taxation. The professor was 15 minutes late, which gave me time to order the third book in the Twilight series on Borders.com. (The book was actually sold out in the store!) Fifteen minutes late is not bad considering some of the roads around Concord right now. It snowed eight inches two nights ago and the city and residents are still struggling to find places to shovel it. Sidewalks won’t exist until late spring. “For Rent” signs are a no longer visible, not that they were of any help to me when I was apartment hunting three days ago. But, I’m situated now, so all is well and good. I’ll be spending the final months of my law school career in what will hopefully pass for a closet in my future. My room is two long paces by three long paces. It has wood paneling, which no matter how much I strive to move away from, keeps coming back to comfort me. Moving around and living in such a small room has made me realize what I actually need. I’ve boiled down my “necessary” possessions to a few pairs of pants, a handful of t-shirts and sweaters and a coat. My computer and TV distract me when necessary, and the few books I keep in my room are dry textbooks I’ve been required to buy for classes. All of this “stuff” would fit in my trunk, and is far less than I ever took when I shipped off to college. My point: I like less stuff over more stuff. It’s easier to manage at this point in my life.

There is a great deal ahead of me this semester. Mostly work. Some fun. And, eventually, goodbyes to friends and to Concord, New Hampshire. The later of which I’ve enjoyed, but have not taken advantage of enough. I’ve spent too much time reading, studying and worrying and not enough time hiking and exploring. Especially lately. I hope to change that (a little) this semester. I spent an hour walking around in the finger-numbing cold weather today shooting pictures of the city. I plan on doing more of this.

Along with Business Entities Taxation I’ll have Environmental Law, Copyright Licensing, Estate Planning and hopefully International and Comparative Copyright Law. Most of these classes have very low enrollment, which is good (no curve) and bad (more class exposure). I’ll reserve final judgment until I’ve had a few of each of the classes, but right now I am most excited about Estate Planning. It is a follow up to Wills, Trusts and Estates, which I enjoyed very much (read: did well in!). Further, I am starting to see some focus to my studies. Two and a half years in, I seem to have gravitated towards business planning-type courses, estate planning, and some tax. I’ve taken my share of soft IP courses, too, but have more difficulty imagining focusing my practice on that area of law and think of them more as informative knowledge that will help me be a more versatile lawyer.

Besides classes and taking pictures I have the very daunting task of deciding where to go after law school. I’ve written about this before and will write about it again. Job? Bar? Location? One of these things will dictate the other three. It’ll come together.

More soon regarding my final months of law school. I’ve always liked and overused the following T.S. Eliot quote:

What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning

Law school may be ending, but there’s more than enough ahead to keep me happy and full. I look forward to the challenges I face and hope to have the courage to pursue my dreams.

Bravery in Love and Life

I came across the following quote by Marianne Williamson, author of The Gift of Change, on Julia Allison’s tumblr. My response below was originally posted on my tumblr and I’ve copied it here for personal reference.

I don’t look back on my earliest forays into romance and think, ‘Oh, but that was only puppy love.’ Rather, I look back and think how courageously we loved, before we knew what there was to be afraid of; how strong we were, before any other agendas stood in the way of our love; and how pure our hearts were, when they were not yet tainted by cynicism or doubt. The older we are, the more we know some things; the younger we are, the more we know others. Age only makes us smarter if we retain our bravery.

I completely agree with this quote, but I think the concepts of “staying brave” and not letting age get in the way (or be an excuse) can be extrapolated beyond the reaches of romance.

I am finding myself once again at a point in my life where I have to make some big decisions. E.g., where to take the bar, where to live, and where to work. These decisions are interdependent almost to the point that I only have one decision to make. If anyone of them falls into place, then the others are mostly irrelevant. That is the harsh downside to attempting to be a practicing lawyer.

For whatever reason I am not drawn to a specific area of law or a specific area of the country. I am far from apathetic, and this relates closely to my first resolution of 2009 – too be more decisive and more critical. There should be a reason for what I want that outweighs my complacency. My life will live itself, but it won’t go as I wish if I don’t steer it.

This is where being brave comes in. The decisions come at a cost and I am going to have to be brave – fearless at times – and go out and get what I want from this world. I’ve been incredibly fortunate thus far, but it is time to stake my claim on what exactly I want from life – to take up my space in this world – to breath deeply the air that is here for me to breath. (High five to self!)

So, off I go into 2009 with a renewed approach. To be in the moment. To be willing to break out of my comfort-zone and to get going with my life. To love and live courageously every single day of 2009 and beyond.

P.S. – Yes, this is cliche-ridden. I’m okay with that for now. Ha.

Looking for Work

I saw this inspiring bit of information in my blog reader today:

Magdy told the publication he sent out about 300 resumes, but landed just one job INTERVIEW. “Every day I send out resumés, both electronically and through the mail, and every day I receive responses that the law firms are not currently hiring,” he said.

Magdy graduated from Michigan State University Law School and has an LLM from Washington University. (Link) Is it just me or does it not seem like he has to be doing something else wrong? One interview out of 300 applications. That is insane. I get one job offer or maybe a handful of interviews. But one – single – uno – interview. Wow.

I should have gone to dental school.

I’ve been ignoring a lot of negative news like this. Daily, blog reports of the number of associates and support staff being laid off by biglaw firms stream from top to bottom of my screen. Times are obviously tough. (It was just announced that Harvard lost 22% of its endowment.) The stock market is all over the place. The housing market has tanked. Jobs are few and far between.

I’m babbling now. But it’s time to get on the ball. Find a job. The best one I can get, considering the times. This downturn in the economy could be an opportunity to get started on the right track. Good saving habits. Get a new (used) car cheap. Get a house cheaper. Get going. Grow up (scream, clutch face)! Not sure what that even means. Growing up that is. But that’s a whole other post. For now, it’s about the job hunt.

Law Art Show Idea

I have this idea for an art show based on the law. I would display in clearly legible printed text various clauses of the United States Constitution, statutes, and case law. The laws displayed would vary in their difficulty of interpretation. It gets tricky at this point. My initial thought was to have a pad of paper underneath each “law,” but I’ve since wanted the idea to be more dynamic. Merely obtaining the observers’ interpretations would be interesting, but implementing their take on the law would bring the event to life. Perhaps their interpretations could be entered into a computer program with an algorithm that would weight them and change the original law accordingly. Then, at the end of the event (if it were to have an end), a new constitution, set of statutes and case law opinions would be released. In a way, it would be a microcosm of what happens in the legal system everyday. (Except the interpretation would be left to the people and not to highly trained judges and lawyers.)

Two things inspired this idea. First is the method of approaching problems taught in law school. Seek the issue. Find relevant law if it exists. Apply the law. At times, the process is a routine application of pattern. I.e., does my problem fit within the grid of a problem that has previously been heard? Second is the fine line between “the absurd” and “the clearly logical” in many cases — and the application of logic to the absurd.

Thus two of the things I would hope to learn from the law-art interactive show would be what methods of interpretation did the viewers use and how did they apply logic to the absurd. Or, if they didn’t use logic, what drove their decision.

Work and Creativity

There is a massive clash between the work I will end up doing as an attorney and my desire to be creative. Sure, many have bridged the gap, either (1) by finding creativity within the law, (2) by being satisfied to explore their creative interests outside of the law, or (3) by leaving the law to be creative — whatever that means.

#1 isn’t really the creativity I’m talking about. No matter how brilliant one’s ability is to view the law, it does not become art. In fact, if the law became art at any point, I think we would all be in trouble. There is already far too much room for interpretation in the law without it being subjected to the massive number of quandaries tossed around at art museums and shows. If law became art, law school would be irrelevant, lawyers would be useless, and there would be anarchy. There is no institution overseeing the creation and interpretation of art like there is the law. That just sounds absurd.

#2 is what most people do — they turn their dreams into hobbies. This is the sad reality of having to make a living. The opportunity cost of wanting material things, having a family, and living comfortably means saccrificing your dreams for most people. I do not dream of being an attorney. I see it as a way to make a good living. A way to support a family. A path to security.

#3 is what I would do if money were no object, and I hate that it comes down to money. I say that and I think of my friends that have corporate jobs. I think of the job I had at an Internet start-up. I think of the foolish demands to which we subject our precious time. I think back to my time in undergrad reading about Ponzi schemes and the “castle in the clouds” where as long as you can get the next fool to buy into your foundationless story you’ll be OK — never mind that what you are selling has no value if the next person doesn’t buy into it. That’s what life feels like at times — not that it’s valueless, but that we’re all doing something because it fits in the grid — because it propagates the masses — because it’s what was done before.

These thoughts are far beyond creativity. Creativity is the antithesis to work for me. The time I spent writing fiction, nonfiction, or pure gibberish when I was younger is the exact opposite of what is considered productive or successful now, yet it was freeing and inspiring. Although writing was far from easy at times, I loved the idea of it. I loved the blank screen — the blank page. I still love blank journals — I just bought a new one and plan to fill it with unproductive gibberish and stuff. Just stuff.

I’ve been thinking about all of this for a long time — years.