Feb 21, 2008 :: First client helped

For one of my clients with a jury trial, I spent at least 15-20 actual hours of preparation, not counting all the off hours, rolling through the voir dire, opening statement, closing statement, all the facts, all the direct testimony, and cross-examination.

We all showed up at 8am as court set it on the docket for the jury trial. My witnesses were there and were going to do slendidly, they were prepped and ready. My defendant was clearly in the right. I will probably never know what actually happened, but my suspicion is that all the preparation showed. I would expect that law students spend exponentially more time preparing for these "smaller charges" than a government prosecutor ever could or would spend. The fact is that the prosecutor, who spoke with the complaining witness, decided just before the case was assigned to a court with a jury, to dismiss the charges.

All dressed up with no place to go, and the client's goal was certainly fulfilled, without spending the day to do it. And then I got to go to a class I was certain I was going to miss.

Maybe it all does work out in the end.

May 12, 2007 :: 1L Life, The Summer, and Resting

This is day two after life as a 1L has come to an end with successful (I hope) completion of second semester finals. Of paramount importance, I don't think I failed anything. I have never been able to peg quality of law school grade from feel. In retrospect, it seems the british saying "slap-dash" would work, or in american geek: indiscriminant. We'll know when we know.

The photo is climbing on April 29th, but I hope to get some good climbing trips on this summer's weekends!

I'm still tired, and on the 11pm to 5am sleep schedule. Yesterday, I organized and cleaned the house for a couple hours, giving the shower it's due scrubbing (and it needs more this weekend). I did a couple errands and watched tv. It was a nice first eight hours of the day, topped when I was starting to doze in front of "Deadliest Catch: Best of Season 1, Part 1," Holly came home after eight days of being with her family. That was a nice treat, as she got home 30 minutes earlier than she planned...tailwinds, I suppose.



Then our day got even better! We got a quick snack together and fountain drinks at a convenience store. Then we enjoyed coffee in the nice warm afternoon shade before trekking (accross the parking lot) to a couple g-stores for misc sundries. Then we got to REI and spent too dang much money, again. Penzey's Spices in Rockville was well worth a lightning $30 spree of spices. Then a none too romantic, but wonderful dinner where neither of us left stuffed.

In summary, it was a really nice day yesterday, despite the heat/humidity, but I'm still tired, and will either visit M&D today or tomorrow, but I think today would be better, for the buffet traffic tomorrow is going to be hellish for all who attend, and I just want to give my parents a hug for all their support (no small amount, by a damn sight!) this first year of law school being now officially completed. Sigh.

January 24, 2007 :: Snow, Cold Weather, and Grades

Bella going for a walk in the snow covered roads of D.C.

It finally winter here in D.C. and the snow is still on the ground from Sunday night's 1-2 inches of snow. It was very pretty out.

I've gotten all but one of my grades from law school, and when complete, I'll post a summary (maybe). If you know me, you probably already know that I've done pretty well.

One change this semester: I've had two of my casebooks bound by section to allow me to carry less tonnage in my pack. My criminal procedure book was 1600 pages and now is in 300-600 page sections which are, clearly, around one third of the weight of the book as a whole. Turns out that the binding alone is 6 ounces or so. My torts casebook before binding was 5 pounds 2 ounces. Now, each section is a little over one pound, or two pounds max for the largest section. So, for a day that I have either of those classes, or any day I'm reading those subjects, I have at least three to four pounds less to carry. Imaging carrying your books for a semester then finding that not only can you put down the equivalent weight of one half-gallon of milk, but also reading gets easier with a spiral binding that can be folded back on itself, suitable for "easy-chair" reading instead of "table-only" reading. Nice. :)

December 1, 2006 :: End of 1L 1st Semester Classes

Classes on the first semester of the first year of law school. Ahead now is a week to prepare for final exams on Civil Procedure, Torts, Contracts, and Criminal Law. As a gesture of good will, Professor Thomas threw a small pizza party after contracts class.



Yesterday, Friday, I took the afternoon and xbox'd watched tv, and got coffee with Bella. We enjoyed the afternoon of relaxation.

This morning, I have made a study schedule where I will tackle one subject per day, except for today, where I will work on Torts and Contracts. I need to wrap my brain around the major points of negligence firmly, and rewrite my outline to reflect better organization around the five main points: duty, breach, cause in fact, proximate cause, and harm. So, now I become a law hermit.

November 18, 2006 :: Torts Outline at Panera

I've completed half of my first version of my Torts Neglegence outline, and transferred half my notes into it. Holly is cheerfully enjoying the morning smell of microwaved cinnamon scones and lunchtime loaves of bread baking and french onion soups being ladled and wafting through the coffee laden air.

This morning was interesting, as we got my Jeep's Virginia state inspection, and met some interesting people. Getting up at 6am was the easy part. Bella's nibbling on my ears as an early alarm is honestly charming. Getting to Virginia this early with Holly was a little more demanding, but she's usually cheerful, too. We went accross DC, through tenleytown, and over the Chain Bridge into Arlington. South on Glebe past Marymount University got us to a familiar Exxon which boasted inspections and emissions testing at precisely 8am. We waited until the owner arrived at 8:30, and talked with a really nice, large framed, thirty's aged asian man named Dung, who wanted to practice his english.

Dung is a really nice guy who sounded more slavic than asian, so I asked and he said that he was speaking Mongolian with his colleague at the garage. Their "R's" were very russian sounding, with a distinct roll of the tongue, completely different than the french or pretentious english rolling of "R's." He was a fast worker who, when his boss, the short, friendly, but brusque looking asian owner, asked him to do something, there was a spring in Dung's steps. I was struck by an apparent presence of strong work ethic by his manner. I didn't get the owner's name, but walked with purpose, and a scowl. But when he spoke, he smiled and called everyone, "brother."



We left with renewed energy in the innate friendliness of people. Many District of Columbians are wrought with the "get out of my way" mentality, even when not in a hurry. Times like these refresh my memory that there are many, many nice people who enjoy being around nice people. Plus, if you need a friendly garage in northern Virginia, I cannot vouch for their ability, but I give this service station an A+ for friendliness.

early morning reading.

I, of course, moved to the breezeway to read most of the time before class, as any part of the inside of the building is closer to 82°F than anything comfortable by humans. The administration said that the heat has something to do with the temperature outside being in the 60's which causes the heating system to spew hot air in the 90's unchecked. It creates a hot, dry air environment. Those of our class lucky enough (no sarcasm) to have Professor Thomas for contract law were also lucky enough (sarcasm) to take a mid-term in that swealtering heat this past tuesday.



This themometer shows the mid-eighty's temp.

Law school is fun :)

November 15, 2006 :: Criminal Law TA Session

We are reviewing defenses like Neccessity, Entrapment, Mistake of law, Mistake of fact, and Duress.

We are also talking about attempted crimes and strict liability, etc.

Sigh.

Late at night, Reading 1L

Reading torts material and thinking about the structure of my 1L classes so far. Today was my first Civil Procedure (Civ Pro) quiz... I know I missed at least one question: can punitive damages be included in total damages when filing in federal court under diversity requirements? Apparently not...