I feel like all I ever write about anymore is Moot Court...
My coach/advisor/master of all things legal and written hailed the team to his office for a review of the practice brief. It started off well enough, with the comment "I was surprised, I didn't think you guys would be able to write at all."
Moving on from that, he explained that this is because you don't get very many opportunities to practice and perfect good legal writing in law school. And this is entirely true. As Coach pointed out, even when you do have writing assignments, they are always framed in the panic that is exams, classes, internships, and life. Therefore, you often don't get a chance to do that really deep, high level, word by word editing that you would with a work assignment. Also, the first few assignments are overwhelmed by learning a new system for citations, analysis, style, even pagination, that make it difficult to really refine your skills.
So, low expectations, well exceeded. Not so much an insult as a statement of fact.
However, he then proceeded to utterly destroy our beautiful little brief. In some major, major ways. Things like point headings, completely missing the standard of review, and a failing to apply the legal test we painstakingly described.
Two major points in our defense: First of all, this was a closed universe problem, and we simply didn't have access to cases that supported certain legal elements that were lacking in the brief. You can't discuss legal presumptions if none of the cases you have to cite to do either. Secondly, our coach is an awesome writer. Although his resume includes time at nationally prestigious firms and work on Supreme Court cases, I really had no idea just how good he was at appellate writing. I was blown away as he slowly and calmly pointed out the narrowest distinctions in the technical aspects while weaving in subtle but beautiful style points.
I am really nerding out right now, but it is somewhat inspirational to get to sit and learn from a master. I have been carrying around a brief he wrote while in practice, treating it like an idol. Seriously, I checked my bag every five minutes to make sure it was ok, but ended up leaving my jacket on the train.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Be Gone, You!
Well, the practice brief is finally done. It was a ton of work, I haven't even thought about totaling up the hours invested in it. We sent it off a few hours before the final deadline, and so far all the interested parties seem to have received it, and are more or less satisfied.
Actually, we will be scheduling an appointment with the team coach shortly. He will be sure to let us know how well we did (or didn't) do.
Speaking of writing, I have an interview for an unpaid internship coming up shortly. It is a research assistant type position. I am pretty excited about the possibility of the topic, it is really an area that I think I could see myself doing some serious work in the future. The real point of this story, though, is that it required my creating a writing sample.
Writing samples are just what they sound like, a sample of your writing! The idea is that, as has been discussed here ad inifitum, legal writing is a different beast from other types. Therefore, prospective employers like to get an idea that you know how to do it before they hire you. This is especially true for a lot of internships, where you will primarily be tasked with looking up an obscure legal topic, and then trying to convey the whole law in a few pages to a busy partner who doesn't have the time to really learn it themselves.
My first year of law school, I did five writing assignments. The first was a closed memo for my first year writing course. This, unfortunately, would never work. While my legal analysis was actually pretty decent, the paper itself was a bit of a mess. Half of this is my fault for really doing awful, but a lot of it was simply because 1Ls don't know any better.
The second was an open memo for the same class. This one has potential as a writing sample, except I never got a graded copy back from my professor, since we handed it in at the end of the semester.
The other major paper was a lengthy appellate brief I did for the second half of my first year writing course. This one was out because of the same half and half rule from earlier. On the one hand, I could have done a bit better of a job with the second element. On the other hand, I don't think even the professor fully understood the second element or how we were supposed to approach it in light of the assignment.
So that leaves two other possibilities, my Moot Court brief and my law review write-on. Well, the law review one, while not bad, was never scored. So basically, that left Moot Court brief. This was from the competition to get on a time during the winter last year. The good part about this is 1) it was some pretty tight legal writing, 2) it was the ideal 6 pages and 3) it was already pretty heavily edited by yours truly. So I decided to put it in blue book format (yeah, we used a modified style guide for the competition) and send it off.
No lie, I spent a solid 8 hours cleaning up the six pages. It wasn't all bad, I have just really grown as a writer from last year. I found so many improvements to make, and I am proud of the final output. But when potential jobs are on the line, wow, do you look at everything a little more closely. I suppose this is good, it means that whenever I am actually in practice, I have a very deep place I can go to get the best product out there. But when it is a Friday and you really just want to have some fun, it is not fun at all.
Actually, we will be scheduling an appointment with the team coach shortly. He will be sure to let us know how well we did (or didn't) do.
Speaking of writing, I have an interview for an unpaid internship coming up shortly. It is a research assistant type position. I am pretty excited about the possibility of the topic, it is really an area that I think I could see myself doing some serious work in the future. The real point of this story, though, is that it required my creating a writing sample.
Writing samples are just what they sound like, a sample of your writing! The idea is that, as has been discussed here ad inifitum, legal writing is a different beast from other types. Therefore, prospective employers like to get an idea that you know how to do it before they hire you. This is especially true for a lot of internships, where you will primarily be tasked with looking up an obscure legal topic, and then trying to convey the whole law in a few pages to a busy partner who doesn't have the time to really learn it themselves.
My first year of law school, I did five writing assignments. The first was a closed memo for my first year writing course. This, unfortunately, would never work. While my legal analysis was actually pretty decent, the paper itself was a bit of a mess. Half of this is my fault for really doing awful, but a lot of it was simply because 1Ls don't know any better.
The second was an open memo for the same class. This one has potential as a writing sample, except I never got a graded copy back from my professor, since we handed it in at the end of the semester.
The other major paper was a lengthy appellate brief I did for the second half of my first year writing course. This one was out because of the same half and half rule from earlier. On the one hand, I could have done a bit better of a job with the second element. On the other hand, I don't think even the professor fully understood the second element or how we were supposed to approach it in light of the assignment.
So that leaves two other possibilities, my Moot Court brief and my law review write-on. Well, the law review one, while not bad, was never scored. So basically, that left Moot Court brief. This was from the competition to get on a time during the winter last year. The good part about this is 1) it was some pretty tight legal writing, 2) it was the ideal 6 pages and 3) it was already pretty heavily edited by yours truly. So I decided to put it in blue book format (yeah, we used a modified style guide for the competition) and send it off.
No lie, I spent a solid 8 hours cleaning up the six pages. It wasn't all bad, I have just really grown as a writer from last year. I found so many improvements to make, and I am proud of the final output. But when potential jobs are on the line, wow, do you look at everything a little more closely. I suppose this is good, it means that whenever I am actually in practice, I have a very deep place I can go to get the best product out there. But when it is a Friday and you really just want to have some fun, it is not fun at all.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Moot Court - Practice Brief Continued
Whoa... this thing is killer. The good news? Almost done. Hours and hours of work, but nonetheless, its almost complete!
It is, of course, one of those things that feels awesome when it comes together!
In other news, I blogged a little while ago about being on a focus group for the new UB website. Well, today the school sent around this, if anyone is interested.
Finally, I have applied for a research position which I am pretty excited about, but apparently there was enough interest to warrant an interview... So wish me luck!
It is, of course, one of those things that feels awesome when it comes together!
In other news, I blogged a little while ago about being on a focus group for the new UB website. Well, today the school sent around this, if anyone is interested.
Finally, I have applied for a research position which I am pretty excited about, but apparently there was enough interest to warrant an interview... So wish me luck!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Moot Court - Practice Brief
Why the lack of updates, you ask? It's the Moot Court practice brief. My life has been utterly and completely consumed by this.
Those of you who have followed this blog may have heard me rant and rave about legal writing, and how it is a completely different beast. Those of you who are either in law school, or have previously attended, know exactly what I am talking about. Those of you who are in neither category, let me just sum it up by saying legal writing is the slowest, most deliberate, and careful writing you will ever do. I know, I know, everyone always says what they are doing is the worst. This is not the case. I will concede practical tests to nursing programs, I will concede exams to medical school, but legal writing is tough.
That doesn't mean it can't be completely exhilarating when you put something together. When the arguments start coming together in your head, when you begin to see a brief or memo take form, it is awesome.
Writing a memo with someone else is whole 'nother story. First of all, everyone has a "writing process." Mine involves procrastinating, so having a partner actually helps. I absolutely cannot be unprepared when someone is counting on me. So that is good. Plus, the research is easier, as you both read the cases, and even if I miss something, chances are MCP (that's Moot Court Teammate) will catch it. And when you sit down and start looking at the problem, you get to bounce ideas off each other.
For example, ours is a 4th Amendment issue, that is, search and seizure. We both read the cases, and the problem. I thought we should take the approach of arguing how the suspect's actions justified a more thorough search. She thought we should take the approach of arguing the government's strong interest. It turns out, we need to do both.
So that is all great, but writing with someone else? That is difficult. We came up with a decent outline, then sat next to each other, and said "Ok, what should the next sentence be?" We each dictated one, then worked out which was best. "Ok, next sentence." We each dictated one, then combined them. Needless to say, we worked for about 7 hours, and wrote 4 pages. And I thought it was pretty productive.
Now tomorrow, we have to write the last 4. Then we get to edit.
Side note: With Moot Court this week, for the first time in my life do I understand what other people mean when they say loved ones complain about them never having time. So far in my life I have always been able to balance the two, but Moot has recently made this near impossible. So to my loved ones, all I can say is sorry, and thank you for your patience. I'll be back soon.
Those of you who have followed this blog may have heard me rant and rave about legal writing, and how it is a completely different beast. Those of you who are either in law school, or have previously attended, know exactly what I am talking about. Those of you who are in neither category, let me just sum it up by saying legal writing is the slowest, most deliberate, and careful writing you will ever do. I know, I know, everyone always says what they are doing is the worst. This is not the case. I will concede practical tests to nursing programs, I will concede exams to medical school, but legal writing is tough.
That doesn't mean it can't be completely exhilarating when you put something together. When the arguments start coming together in your head, when you begin to see a brief or memo take form, it is awesome.
Writing a memo with someone else is whole 'nother story. First of all, everyone has a "writing process." Mine involves procrastinating, so having a partner actually helps. I absolutely cannot be unprepared when someone is counting on me. So that is good. Plus, the research is easier, as you both read the cases, and even if I miss something, chances are MCP (that's Moot Court Teammate) will catch it. And when you sit down and start looking at the problem, you get to bounce ideas off each other.
For example, ours is a 4th Amendment issue, that is, search and seizure. We both read the cases, and the problem. I thought we should take the approach of arguing how the suspect's actions justified a more thorough search. She thought we should take the approach of arguing the government's strong interest. It turns out, we need to do both.
So that is all great, but writing with someone else? That is difficult. We came up with a decent outline, then sat next to each other, and said "Ok, what should the next sentence be?" We each dictated one, then worked out which was best. "Ok, next sentence." We each dictated one, then combined them. Needless to say, we worked for about 7 hours, and wrote 4 pages. And I thought it was pretty productive.
Now tomorrow, we have to write the last 4. Then we get to edit.
Side note: With Moot Court this week, for the first time in my life do I understand what other people mean when they say loved ones complain about them never having time. So far in my life I have always been able to balance the two, but Moot has recently made this near impossible. So to my loved ones, all I can say is sorry, and thank you for your patience. I'll be back soon.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Moot Court - Practice Problem
Today is an exciting day, the day the Practice Problem for Moot Court was released. Our school requires students to complete a practice brief prior to the actual competition.
While at first this sounds like one of the worst ideas since fanny packs, it actually has some practicals implications. Sure, myself and my partner will be responsible for two 30- page briefs, plus a full oral argument, so why would we want to take on ANOTHER extra assignment that offers no additional credit?
Well, first of all, the practice brief is a closed problem, meaning no research outside of the cited cases. This, right away, makes the entire process easier and smoother. No need to spend the first month looking up and reading cases, the first week of which are completely useless. Nope, all the cases are presented, just read and digest. This also means that there is no worrying about making sure all the authority is good. So right there, major help.
The second is the page limit. The practice brief is a paltry 8 pages. Including a statement of facts. And only one position must be presented.
Overall, I don't think the practice brief is really designed to have us improve our legal writing skills, instead the focus seems to be on developing a system for working together as a team. Which is a much more manageable task indeed.
And with that, Moot Court has officially begun! Keep reading for more
While at first this sounds like one of the worst ideas since fanny packs, it actually has some practicals implications. Sure, myself and my partner will be responsible for two 30- page briefs, plus a full oral argument, so why would we want to take on ANOTHER extra assignment that offers no additional credit?
Well, first of all, the practice brief is a closed problem, meaning no research outside of the cited cases. This, right away, makes the entire process easier and smoother. No need to spend the first month looking up and reading cases, the first week of which are completely useless. Nope, all the cases are presented, just read and digest. This also means that there is no worrying about making sure all the authority is good. So right there, major help.
The second is the page limit. The practice brief is a paltry 8 pages. Including a statement of facts. And only one position must be presented.
Overall, I don't think the practice brief is really designed to have us improve our legal writing skills, instead the focus seems to be on developing a system for working together as a team. Which is a much more manageable task indeed.
And with that, Moot Court has officially begun! Keep reading for more
First Week of Classes Review
Constitutional Law II - Oh Con Law, how you continue to excite me with your insane decisions and twisted logic. Actually, this class is so far a lot better than Con Law I. I think Con Law II is strictly First Ammendment, or at least most of the semester is. This class is interestingly enough taught by the Dean, who taught this course for years before becoming a Dean. He takes an awesomely practical approach. Also, this class is two credits, and therefore meets twice a week for 50 minutes each time, so that makes it much easier.
Sales and Leases - This class is bar tested, so I thought it would be a good idea to take it. It is basically the Maryland Commercial Code. The reading is only one or two pages per night, but we also do one or two problems, which can take 45 minutes each during class. It is a step-by-step analysis. Very exhausting, but so far I feel like I am learning a ton in this class.
Civil Procedure II - Civ Pro II is actually Civ Pro I everywhere else in the country, but for some reason UB does them backwards. I wasn't entirely smitten with my Civ Pro I professor's teaching style, but at the same time I found her exam entirely fair and reasonable, so I took her again. She is somehow more enthusiastic about Civ Pro II, so that is good.
Professional Responsibility - Required of all law students... I signed up for it this semester because the professor is awesome. This class actually has some surprisingly practical implications.
Patents, Trademarks, and Technology - Required for my participation in IP Moot Court. We have actually covered surprsingly little material so far, but I am really excited to be finally taking courses that I selected purely from an intellectual cuiriousity standpoint.
All in all, not a bad looking semester!
Sales and Leases - This class is bar tested, so I thought it would be a good idea to take it. It is basically the Maryland Commercial Code. The reading is only one or two pages per night, but we also do one or two problems, which can take 45 minutes each during class. It is a step-by-step analysis. Very exhausting, but so far I feel like I am learning a ton in this class.
Civil Procedure II - Civ Pro II is actually Civ Pro I everywhere else in the country, but for some reason UB does them backwards. I wasn't entirely smitten with my Civ Pro I professor's teaching style, but at the same time I found her exam entirely fair and reasonable, so I took her again. She is somehow more enthusiastic about Civ Pro II, so that is good.
Professional Responsibility - Required of all law students... I signed up for it this semester because the professor is awesome. This class actually has some surprisingly practical implications.
Patents, Trademarks, and Technology - Required for my participation in IP Moot Court. We have actually covered surprsingly little material so far, but I am really excited to be finally taking courses that I selected purely from an intellectual cuiriousity standpoint.
All in all, not a bad looking semester!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
UB Newsy Stuff
The new school year has of course brought the University of Baltimore back into my life in a big way. Of course, it always is there, but during the summer I find myself going to campus only occassionally, and therefore, falling out of the gossip, if you will.
Before classes even started, I stopped by the new bookstore, and checked it out. I mentioned it briefly during this post, and for the most part, the analysis still stands. It is new and clean, but also increasingly less student friendly.
Then I assisted during new student orientation, which was really fun and rewarding.
Within the first week of classes, our school celebrated the groundbreaking of the new law school building. Of course, yours truly, while paying for its construction, will never see the inside of it unless I decide to take a tour after graduation. Nonetheless, the event was attended by the local Baltimore and Maryland dignitiaries. It has created a bit of a buzz around campus. The current buidling, as I have written before, is practical, but a bit dingy and dour. It has a very old, institutional feel. Faculty offices are spread around 4 floors, the classrooms are all completely indistinguishable, the library is seriously outdated.
And to top it all off, the building is kind of hidden amongst other UB buildings. Even people who have lived and worked in the Baltimore area have no idea where the law school is located. A new building will hopefully give UB a little more status around the city, especially since we quietly are a major force in the area.
A second really cool UB news item was my chance to participate in a focus group session for the new website! Our current website is functional, but the new design looks much better. I had some detailed feedback to offer, and it will be interesting to see if any of my ideas get implemented.
I have never been in a focus group before, although I had some idea of what they entailed. While generally given a negative public review (this movie seems like it was focus tested down to blandness, those new ads seem overly focus tested) for anything that is generic, being on the other side was new. They showed us some proposed designs, and compared them to the current version. We filled out a survey, which I am sure was decent, but then there was simply a roundtable discussion of the versions.
While school and life in general prepares us so much for getting critiqued, doing it is a completely different experience. It can be hard to simply say, "This new design is useless to me," more so when you know the designer is sitting in the room with you. At the same time, it was kind of cool to feel like I was seeing something that the rest of the UB community won't see for weeks!
As UB's blogging hasn't gotten up and running yet, continue to look here for weekly posts.
Before classes even started, I stopped by the new bookstore, and checked it out. I mentioned it briefly during this post, and for the most part, the analysis still stands. It is new and clean, but also increasingly less student friendly.
Then I assisted during new student orientation, which was really fun and rewarding.
Within the first week of classes, our school celebrated the groundbreaking of the new law school building. Of course, yours truly, while paying for its construction, will never see the inside of it unless I decide to take a tour after graduation. Nonetheless, the event was attended by the local Baltimore and Maryland dignitiaries. It has created a bit of a buzz around campus. The current buidling, as I have written before, is practical, but a bit dingy and dour. It has a very old, institutional feel. Faculty offices are spread around 4 floors, the classrooms are all completely indistinguishable, the library is seriously outdated.
And to top it all off, the building is kind of hidden amongst other UB buildings. Even people who have lived and worked in the Baltimore area have no idea where the law school is located. A new building will hopefully give UB a little more status around the city, especially since we quietly are a major force in the area.
A second really cool UB news item was my chance to participate in a focus group session for the new website! Our current website is functional, but the new design looks much better. I had some detailed feedback to offer, and it will be interesting to see if any of my ideas get implemented.
I have never been in a focus group before, although I had some idea of what they entailed. While generally given a negative public review (this movie seems like it was focus tested down to blandness, those new ads seem overly focus tested) for anything that is generic, being on the other side was new. They showed us some proposed designs, and compared them to the current version. We filled out a survey, which I am sure was decent, but then there was simply a roundtable discussion of the versions.
While school and life in general prepares us so much for getting critiqued, doing it is a completely different experience. It can be hard to simply say, "This new design is useless to me," more so when you know the designer is sitting in the room with you. At the same time, it was kind of cool to feel like I was seeing something that the rest of the UB community won't see for weeks!
As UB's blogging hasn't gotten up and running yet, continue to look here for weekly posts.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Moot Court
2L also means participation in Moot Court for myself. As a member of the IP team, I am both excited and nervous about this opportunity.
The excitement comes from the chance to get my name out there in an inter-school competition, in front of current practitioners, and be able to show my skills. As someone who was highly involved with competitive sports growing up, I sometimes miss the adrenaline rush of really getting in there and destroying your opponent. Oral arguments do a great job, however, of providing that kind of outlet. There is something amazing about the feeling you get when you hear a question coming, and you not only know how to answer it, but to bring it back to your argument and your theme, and man, does it just feel great.
Otherwise, I am also excited that I will get to really do some in-depth work in a narrow area of the law, and to top it all off, one that I am very, very, interested in. If nothing else, I will be able to learn it inside and out. And I will get to practice my brief writing skills in a big way, since we are required to write two briefs of 30 pages each, and we are a two person team.
And yet I am very nervous. It is going to be a lot of work. During orientation/training, they provided a suggested schedule. It involved 8 hours per day, everyday, for over a month. I have no idea how I can possibly fit that into my schedule. I don't know if I have 8 hours per day that aren't already scheduled for class...
And I am a little nervous about pulling my weight. I never want to be the weak link of a team, but when the team is only two, and your teammate is on law review, scored higher in the try out competition, gets better grades than you, and has landed better internships than you, it gets tough.
Luckily, its still early. We haven't even done the practice brief at this point. Yeah, the required practice brief, in case the regular one isn't enough work already. Either way, I am pretty excited, so look for more coverage of this in the coming months.
The excitement comes from the chance to get my name out there in an inter-school competition, in front of current practitioners, and be able to show my skills. As someone who was highly involved with competitive sports growing up, I sometimes miss the adrenaline rush of really getting in there and destroying your opponent. Oral arguments do a great job, however, of providing that kind of outlet. There is something amazing about the feeling you get when you hear a question coming, and you not only know how to answer it, but to bring it back to your argument and your theme, and man, does it just feel great.
Otherwise, I am also excited that I will get to really do some in-depth work in a narrow area of the law, and to top it all off, one that I am very, very, interested in. If nothing else, I will be able to learn it inside and out. And I will get to practice my brief writing skills in a big way, since we are required to write two briefs of 30 pages each, and we are a two person team.
And yet I am very nervous. It is going to be a lot of work. During orientation/training, they provided a suggested schedule. It involved 8 hours per day, everyday, for over a month. I have no idea how I can possibly fit that into my schedule. I don't know if I have 8 hours per day that aren't already scheduled for class...
And I am a little nervous about pulling my weight. I never want to be the weak link of a team, but when the team is only two, and your teammate is on law review, scored higher in the try out competition, gets better grades than you, and has landed better internships than you, it gets tough.
Luckily, its still early. We haven't even done the practice brief at this point. Yeah, the required practice brief, in case the regular one isn't enough work already. Either way, I am pretty excited, so look for more coverage of this in the coming months.
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