Law Journal Journal: Part 1

Ho! And what a witty title indeed!  After reading I Don't Wear Skinny Jeans' Diary of a Writing Competition, I thought it might be a good way to share my own experience with the write on competition to the law reviews at UB.  I had been planning on writing this one for a while now, but never really had the motivation.  Please note that all credit for this style really does go to IDWSJ.  Additionally, the writing there is 1) much more regular than here and 2) much more funny than here.

Sometime in the first week of May: I finish my last exam, and begin binge drinking.

A few days later: I wake up, sit at my computer, and do nothing for two days.  I move from my chair once or twice per day to open the door for the Chinese delivery.

Monday, May 10: I begin my internship.  It is awesome, to say the least.  More on that later though.

Tuesday, May 11: The internship continues.  I tell My Judge that my weekend plans involve working on the compeition packet for the write on.

Wednesday, May 12-Sunday, May 16: The competition packet is released, but somehow my college buddy convinces me this would be the best time for him to visit.  I agree.  Drinking, eating, and Wii ensue.

Monday, May 17: My Judge asks me how the write on is going.  I mumble something about reading the topic case when I get home that evening.  Instead, when I get home I play Portal for three hours.

Tuesday, May 18: I spend my lunch break walking to the Barnes and Noble in an attempt to purchase a bluebook.  They are sold out.  So is the law school bookstore, and the University of Maryland bookstore.

Wednesday, May 19: I read the topic case and order all the cited cases printed at the library.  I check FAQs for Portal, but they make no reference to Fourth Amendment rights or DNA search and seizure.  Oh well, it was worth checking.

Thursday, May 20: I go to school and pick up the cited cases, check all the Baltimore area bookstores, still cannot find a bluebook.

Friday, May 21: I spend 9 hours in the library struggling through the case note.  After I get home, I call one of my buddies.  His intentions had always been skip moot court, but get onto law review.  He explains that he worked on it the past two weeks, but has "been drinking for a couple days" and thinks he isn't going to finish it.

Saturday, May 22: I go back to the library for a solid 7 hour session.  I also discover one copy of the bluebook, marked up 10% from the normal price.  I buy it anyways.  On the way home, same law school buddy calls.  We both discuss saying "F%*^ It!" to this whole thing and resuming drinking.  Somewhere during the commiseration, I recount how many hours I have already invested into this whole thing.  He reports similar numbers.  We both agree that after all this time, the only logical step is to finish.

Saturday, May 22, 11:00PM: I count my endnotes: Needed: About 50. Current: 45.  Number Bluebooked: 0

Sunday, May 23, 12:01AM: I have a solid 10 pages written, and begin seriously working on endnotes.  Brew pot of coffee.  Law School Buddy calls, absolutely jubiliant.  He has just changed his font to "Courier New" as per guidelines, and discovered that what he thought was only 6 pages is actually 12.

Sunday, May 23, 12:02AM: I decide to take a nap while the coffee finishes.

Sunday, May 23, 2:14AM: I wake up, curse myself for sleeping too long, and begin drinking cold coffee.

Sunday, May 23, 6:00AM: My endnotes are formatted mostly correctly, so I decide it is time for another nap.

Sunday, May 23, 7:30AM: Alarm clock goes off.  Snooze.

Sunday, May 23, 8:10AM: I decide it is now or never, do or die.  I begin fixing my endotes.

Sunday, May 23, 3:00PM: The packets are due at 6:00PM.  Knowing this, I save my final work, and head out for printing.  What happens next could not be imagined.  Seriously, my little printing excursion makes "The Office" seem like a reasonable place of buisness.  I also discover where the maxim, "If you want it done right, do it yourself" comes from.  I also discover just how little effort minimum wage gets you.  But this post is already too long.  Check back next time for the stunning conclusion.

1L Summer Reading List

Take a look at this 1L reading list I found through Ann Levine of Lawschoolexpert.com. Let me start off by saying that I am a strong supporter of the "don't study for law school the summer before" club. First of all, you have no idea what you are even reading. Sure, you can pick up a casebook and try to brief cases, but you honestly have no idea what you are looking for, and even if you do, the particular professor you get next fall may want something completely different. Second of all, you are going to overwhelm yourself. 1L year is full of panic and rumors, don't get yourself worked up before it starts. Third, you need a break. You are going to be busy, and neglecting friends, family, and your down time. This is probably the last summer you have for a while to relax, take advantage of it. And finally, the law of diminishing returns applies, the amount of time you spend reading tough material will provide miniscule benefits once the year actually starts.

But since you are going to law school, in all likelihood you will have to read. From Michelle Fabio's About.com list, here are my thoughts.

First of all, fiction is a great way to keep your mind working and practicing reading without much effort.  Bleak House is an amazing book, and one of my all time favorites. It also offers some highly relevant commentary on the legal profession. Billy Budd is a cool story, but I don't know if the legal connection is worthwhile. I have no idea how one could come up through the American school system WITHOUT reading To Kill a Mockingbird, but if you haven't you can probably get through it in a day. It is fairly inspirational. As for John Grisham, Lisa Scottoline, and Scott Turow, John Grisham is my recommendation of the group. His books are smart, easy to read, and each takes a different approach to the legal field. The legal principles discussed won't get you any points on an exam, but they do give a better idea of possible fields to go into. There is a the public defender fighting for the poor defendant, the corporate, in house lawyer dealing with business politics, the mob lawyer dealing with ethical questions, even the solo practitioner taking regular divorce cases.  I haven't read Lisa Scottoline yet, and Scott Turow hasn't left an indelible mark on me, but I imagine they are similar to Grisham.

As for the non-fiction of the list, A Civil Action is the only one I have personal experience with.  It was fun, but a bit wordy.  Check out the movie version with John Travolta if you like a laugh or two.  I actually think the movie does a great job of capturing those little "lawyer jokes" that might not be very funny to you right now, but you will find hilarious once you start school.

One L by Scott Turow seems to be the single most widely read law school book, I cannot escape it.  I suppose I am going to finally have to sit down and read it, since everyone talks about it, all the time.  I have flipped through it while browsing the shelves for other books, but I think I will withhold judgment until I get to really deal with it.

Check back here for my recommendations of summer before 1L prep, because I did read some particular books, and some were helpful, some were less so.  I will share other things I did that did not involve reading, and how each helped.  But most importantly, relax, you will have plenty to worry about once school starts.

What Is Coming

As I mentioned a week or so ago, this is being revived, especially in light of the end of my University of Baltimore blogging duties. I have been interning two days a week with a judge, and have some awesome experiences to share from that. In addition, I took part in the law review write on competition, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts about that as well. Unfortunately I have been pretty busy and haven't been able to sit down and write recently, but keep checking back, it is coming soon.

Student Update

Well, I told you I was planning on reviving this, so here goes.

Currently, I am working on my internship Monday and Tuesday. I have been taking some notes on the daily proceedings in order to begin sharing fun stories, legal insights, and more about the law school process.

Additionally, I am currently working on the write-on for the 4 legal journals at UB. Right now I am actually taking a break from beginning to write my case note, or at least the rough outline. It appears that the Casenote is a great example of how most legal writing is: slow and laborious. But you know how they say, practice makes perfect...

Revival

I am making it my intention to revive this blog, especially during the interim from my University of Baltimore blogging duties. I have some exciting stuff going on, including an excellent internship. Continue watching this space.

Updates

Just an FYI, I continue posting every Wednesday at 8 am at the University of Baltimore Blog.

http://ubaltblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Posts:

Halloween, November 4, 2009

Bar Bowl, October 28, 2009

Ongoing Orientation, October 22, 2009



Continue checking that space for now. Like I said, every Weds.

MidTerms

Well, midterms week continues. So don't expect much, but I did make it a point to wake up early after going to bed late this morning and do my post for UB.

Check it out by clicking here.