Still here

Yes everyone, I survived finals. Many apologies for the lack of posting. After finishing up the first semester of law school, I spent a relaxing week cruising the Caribbean aboard the ms Oosterdam. I'll post more about that in a later post. For now, I just wanted to reassure my readership that I'm well, back in Ohio, and will be blogging more frequently soon. (Hopefully- this whole "dial-up" business really sucks.)

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and such. Seems the world is going crazy with winter storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, and asteroid scares, but I've avoided calamity thus far. Of course, I might be singing a different tune when grades come out...

Stay tuned.

The Final Countdown

5 down, 1 to go.

A three and a half hour Torts final is now the only thing standing between me and the end of my first semester of law school. Ok, so there are hours and hours of studying for that exam standing between me and the end of the semester too.

For the sake of Argument

As you've undoubtedly noticed, I've changed the name of the site. I'd like to thank everyone who submitted suggestions for the new name. While I've decided to go with something completely different, I did carefully consider all of your suggestions. Some of my favorites:

• The Irish Buckeye - submitted by Brendan, the Irish Trojan
• The Ho Knows - submitted by Jenni
• A day in the life of A Ho - submitted by Casey

I decided to incorporate arguendo because it's a legal term, in Latin, and rhymes with my name. It means "for the sake of argument," which kind of sums up a lot of what we seem to do in law school. Let me know what you think of the new name. If someone thinks up something more clever or public outcry demands a different name, I might have to change it.

In other news... Crim review today with the Smiling Assassin himself. Good times. Tomorrow's the exam, which will be something completely different from good times.

Also, Professor Seckinger has decided to add an additional section to the spring Depositions course. Since he needs two additional witnesses, he asked some of us seasoned veterans if we'd be interested in reprising our roles. Since all of the prep work is already done, I decided to do it again. This time I'll be several steps ahead of the students taking the course. Those poor hapless deposers-in-training won't know what hit them...

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Four finals down, two to go.

Today's final was CivPro, one of the shorter exams 1Ls at ND take fall semester. It's only a tow hour exam because it's only worth two credits. They don't get much shorter than that, except for LegRes which was a mere 60 minutes. (And for an interesting point of comparison, consider that LegWri, also worth two credits, had a final on which I probably spent more time on than all my other exams combined.) So due to the shortness of this one, you might expect things to go fairly smoothly. But you'd be wrong. What is law school without the drama?

While the vast majority of students are taking their finals on their laptops via Secure Exam (tm) -- a new option for law students at ND -- there are a few who still have to hand write their exams. This is mostly because Secure Exam doesn't run on Apple computers. So all the law students with their cool-looking Mac laptops (personally, I think the glowing Apple logo is pretty cool) are basically out of luck. Some of the profs will let these students type up their exams anyway, but others make them write.

So all of the students writing their exam today were put in the same room. Unfortunately, the two CivPro profs didn't give the same time instructions. The prof who teaches my section of CivPro was supposed to give us an additional 15 minutes to complete our exam (so we worked on it for 135 minutes); the other prof did not allot extra time. This became a problem when time was called for the writers -- the end result being that those students writing their exam in my section were not given the additional 15 minutes. This is a pretty big deal considering that the writers may already be at something of a disadvantage since most people type faster than they write. It's not clear yet what will be done about this, though early reports suggest that the administration has so far taken a "What do you want us to do about it?" attitude. It is difficult to envision a viable solution that will remedy the situation. Until then, hopefully Professor Bauer will be understanding and sympathetic when reviewing the written exams.

Ok, on a tangentially related but much lighter topic: the world is going crazy. Again. In addition to the whole exam craziness here in South Bend, here are some other examples:

• As I mentioned in my last post, Derek is considering abandoning civilization for several months this summer.
• Brooke's laundry went missing for a while due to a mix-up by the ND laundry service.
• Brad is hallucinating, envisioning law schools subjects as marauding demons.
• And Niki ran head first into a wall of bureaucracy.

Hang in there everyone. Christmas break is right around the corner. If we can all just stay sane for another week, I think we can make it.

UPDATE: Another source says that the Bauer writers were probably not deprived of the entire 15 minutes; it may have been closer to 8 minutes. I think that it's probably still significant, as I didn't really finish my exam until 2 minutes before time expired.

Ningat, Ningat, Ningat

South Bend got its first (strike that, second) substantial snowfall today. We got several inches today, though it's hard to tell for sure because high winds kept the snow drifting. Anyway, here are some cool pictures that Brendan took of campus today, covered in white.

And the Hits just keep on comin'...

Ok, I know it's been a little while since I last posted (because of this whole "finals" thing). But since I've done enough studying for CivPro that I think I might recite Rule 12 in my sleep tonight, I figured I should take a little break and post an update.

We're in the middle of finals season. It sucks. A lot.

I took my first "real" law school exam on Friday. Contracts. Who knew three hours could fly by so quickly? The exam was a little different from what I was expecting from looking through Rougeau's old exams and talking to 2Ls. And I honestly have no idea how I did. I didn't feel great about it, but I'm pretty sure I didn't fail it either. Really, that's about all I've got. And I bolted as soon as the exam was over. I had no desire to post-mortem the test to death with a bunch of other 1Ls who have no idea how they did. Just hearing people talking about it in the hallways as I made my exit was annoying enough.

The law school's become ground zero for stress, anxiety, and all-around craziness. I'm not studing there at all this week. I'll go to the other libraries, hole up in my apartment, go to a bookstore... anywhere that isn't the law school. I plan to be there for the exams themselves, and that's it.

To make things even better, I got my first law firm rejection letter today. One down, a whole bunch to go. Hopefully the stream of rejections won't be enough to make me want to desert civilization and become a nomadic wanderer like Derek. If I don't get a job with a firm this summer, I'll probably end up volunteering my time to get some law-related experience, and I might still go study abroad in London. Career services did say that London's something to consider if my grades could use a boost...

Ok, enough doom and gloom. Back to studying for the three remaining finals. This time next week, it'll all be over...

Closings

First to dispose of the most important news of the day:

LEGAL WRITING IS OVER!!!
...until next semester.

After some final polishing and tweaking, I dropped off my legwri final today (the day it was actually due... see yesterday's post for more on that). If you're interested in some ND law school gossip regarding people who are not Alex having trouble turning in their finals, see Brendan's recent entry. At any rate, it's good to close that chapter of my 1L adventure.

Today was also the last day of classes for the semester. Our profs have scheduled some review/Q&A sessions over the coming week and a half, but no more classes. Profs have done what they can in the past few classes to bring the course full circle, where possible. But the winning "closer" was Professor Tidmarsh.

After putting the day's reading into context with the bigger picture, he tied up most of what we've learned in Torts this semester to one concept: Foreseeability. To further illustrate his point, he performed a little magic trick. (He's done this once before, making a cup of water disappear during our discussion of Rylands v. Fletcher, a case about a dam breaking and flooding a mine shaft.) Now some people say that knowing how a trick is performed ruins it. I think it lets you focus more on the style and presentation of the trick.

Tidmarsh came into class today with two items that immediately drew the classes attention. First was the mystery box he had brought in on the first day of class. Flashback: The box was marked "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 12/7/04." Inside was supposed to be a product that would change the lives of millions of people, but might end up killing many people as well. Tidmarsh used this to launch into the course. The other item he brought to class today was an envelope; as soon as he got to the front of the class, he taped the envelope to the board.

Tidmarsh told us we'd finally get to see what was in the box. He asked for volunteers to open it. He picked two people, and had them cut a deck of cards to see who would get the honor -- high card wins. After we saw the contents of the box and talked about foreseeability some more, Tidmarsh finally told one of the students to open the envelope and read the note to the class, which "foresaw" which cards the students drew. Ah, clever.

After "officially" ending class, Tidmarsh strode out of the classroom to a well-earned round of applause. It reminded me of a scene in The Paper Chase, when the professor concludes class and receives a standing ovation on his way out.

Thanks for a great semester, Professor Tidmarsh.

Ahead of schedule? That's unprecedented.

It's true. My legal writing final is actually done* early. Not early by a few hours, but a whole day. Unfortunately this isn't so much the result of me being studious and industrious, but rather because I thought it was due today. How did this happen, and how did I realize my mistake?

*"Done" is, of course a relative term. More on this below.

I'm not sure when I first got it in my head that the final was due today. My guess is that the last assignment we turned in was on a Monday and I had calculated that there was about two weeks between that assignment and the final. Because the final is something of a large assignment -- 3 different papers totaling close to 30 pages -- I actually got an early start on it. Heck, I even worked on it during Thanksgiving "break." I read through the fact pattern, the statutes, the cases... I took copious notes in yellow legal pads (anyone who knows me from my undergrad mock trial days knows what this means)... I outlined each paper. Then things got really busy this week. Bar/Bri held review sessions for each of our core classes (CivPro, Torts, Crim, and Contracts). This consisted of watching hours of videotaped lectures and taking notes as they essentially attempted to outline the semester's material. This took a good 3-4 hour chunk out of four days. While I found the sessions helpful (for the most part), every hour spent there was one fewer hour I could devote to legal writing.

Ok, so the weekend comes around. I get some serious work done. Then as I'm reading my papers, I spot some gaps that need to be filled. Only now the structure doesn't work. So I scrap it all and start from scratch. (Well not entirely from scratch. I completely overhauled the organization of my papers, though.)

At long last, I get my final to a state such that it's fit to be turned in. Not perfect. Like most works of art, legal writing papers are never truly finished; they're merely abandoned. After a final proofreading, it's time to print it out. I planned to print it a few hours earlier before it's actually due, since I'm expecting a run on the printers in the last hour or so. I submit the print order, then around lunchtime make my way up to the law library... only to find that the printers are down.

I still think that my final is due in 3 hours, and I have no way to get a copy into my hands. My mind rushes through possible alternatives. Print from another computer lab on campus. No good, the system is down throughout most of the university. Hook my laptop up directly to the printer. No, my laptop doesn't have a serial port or an infrared port, and the printer doesn't support USB cables. Email my professor. Nope, their computers are down too. Run home and print off my printer... might work, but I have class in half an hour. Maybe my prof's in her office... probably not, since she's rarely there. Well, maybe there'll be someone else to talk to.

So I rush downstairs to the legwri profs' offices. After confirming that my prof isn't there (typical), I talk to one of the profs from another section. It's then that I learn that the final isn't due until tomorrow. I'm sure a wave of different expressions washed over my face: surprise, confusion, skepticism... She pulled out the syllabus and shows me. Sure enough, "DUE: Tuesday, Dec. 7" right there on the page. Clear as day.

I felt a bit like Phinneas Fogg at the end of Around the World in Eighty Days. If you've read the book, you'll probably get that. If not, go read it and come back. Unless you're currently in law school, in which case wait until after finals. (Or if you're lazy and don't mind me spoiling the ending, email me and I'll explain. If you really care.)

So now I have time to polish my legwri final a bit more before abandon- er, I mean turning it in tomorrow. Then it'll be 1L finalmania. Let the good times roll.

Ice Master Ho Loco

That's my pimp name courtesy of playerappreciate.com.
Hate the game, not the playa. Yo.

Thanks go out to Brooke who's post originally directed me to the site.

P.S. The site generates a new name every time, so typing my name into the generator may not yield the same result (my second name was Sheik Alex Glide, also cool). So if you don't like the first one you get, you can keep trying until you find a keeper. Feel free to post your playa name below.

The Checkered Flag

That's right folks, we're into the final lap. 1L first semester exams are (about) a week away.

Which means... tons of work. I'm still working on the legal writing final (3 documents: an office memo, client letter, and 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss) that's due on Monday. I can feel it hanging over me like the Sword of Damocles. Although we're no longer attending classes for LegRes and LegWri, my days are still chock full of studying and all-round yummy legal goodness. (Hmmm... I could go for a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie about now...)

Also on the docket for the upcoming week: Deposition finals. Since I'm a witness, that means I have the distinct honor of sitting through ten (10) hours of exciting, edge-of-your-seat deposition finals. They're split up into two hour blocks over four different days, at least. I don't think it's going to interfere with my ability to study for finals, but I'm expecting it to be a bit draining, to say the least. Still, all sarcasm aside, I think it'll be fun. The first couple at least.

The exam lineup: Next Friday, Contracts. Next Monday, CivPro. Wednesday, Crim, and Torts on the following Friday. I've been attending the Bar/Bri review sessions which vary in their usefulness. Sometimes they're funny. Sometimes they're very repetitive. All of them eat up time. But I figure it's the closest thing to studying by osmosis, and at least suggest one kind of structure to use on exam essay questions.

There are a few good things about classes wrapping up (aside from the obvious, that is). First, as professors race to try and cover the remaining material on the syllabi, there's more lecture and less Socraticism (Ok, I think I made up a word. Primary brain power has been redirected to retaining legal knowledge, and I hereby reserve the right to make up words at my discretion.). This means that 1) there's less fear of being called on in class, and 2) the discussions are more directed. Take Torts for example: Tidmarsh leads us on meandering philosophical discussions enough as it is without the unscheduled detours of student input. Additionally, many of the professors are holding review sessions or taking time during the final few lectures to give us the bigger picture. Ah, now they show us the ball. Well, at least we get to see it at some point.

Oh, and as a side note, we've been filling out the teacher evaluation forms for all our classes. I had many good things to say about all my core classes. The ability to rant a bit for Legal Writing was cathartic. And afterwards, I reflected how grateful I am that none of our writing submissions were written by hand.

Everywhere I turn I seem to see stressed out 1Ls. Even the law school lounge has become a site for ad hoc study groups to obsess over legal details from various classes. That's why I try to get away from the craziness from time to time by retreating to a different building on campus or hiding in some quiet nook in the library.

For better or worse, the first semester is coming to a close and will soon be over. There's still a lot to be done, but the end (of this phase, at least) is in sight.