Moot Court

Sorry for the lack of recent updates.  I have been very, very busy and to top it all off my computer is currently in the shop.  This means that not only do I have less time, but when I do have free time it doesn't involve internet access.

The biggest news to report, however, is the start of Moot Court proper.  The problem was released two weeks ago.  The fact pattern is utterly absurd, which is a good thing.  If I am going to have to live and breathe this thing for the next three months it might as well be interesting.

You know, as much as everyone says it, it is true.  You can never be truly ready for something like this.  Despite my best efforts to stay on top of my work and keep everything under control, the first week was utter madness.

First of all, one of the two issues in the problem is one that we have not gotten close to covering in class.  Therefore, neither myself nor Moot Court Teammate (MCT) had any idea of how to approach it.  The first week, very minimal work got done.

Then we met with our coach.  He asked us what we thought of the problem, and we did the best we could to say somewhat intelligent things.  He nodded polietly, then pointed out problems with each of our approaches.  Law students are generally the people who always have an answer ready, and it is very tough to sit in an office and not have ANY of the answers ready.  On the flip side, learning from a master is an unforgettable experience.  Without even trying, he seems to know pretty much everything there is to know about appeallate practice, patents, and legal writing.

Anyways, after that browbeating, it was back to work.  Since then, MCT and I have begun to read up on the problem and the current case law.  It seems to be moving along, but it also continues to seem like there is more than we could ever handle in front of us.  And the due date continues to approach.

So, as always, it is both exciting and terrifying at the same time.