A brief State of the Alex post

I realize I haven't talked much about my life on this blog lately. I'm guessing at least some people who visit this site may actally be interested in my goings-on and don't just come for the witty commentary on random stuff.

So, a brief rundown on all things in the world of Alex.

Classes are going well. The current lineup is: Civil Rights, Law & Psychology, FedTax, and Legal Aid. Civil Rights is interesting stuff. So far it's pretty much been all §1983 all the time (not that that's a bad thing). And sometimes we get fun multimedia presentations. Law & Psych is interesting stuff. A fair amount of it is review from my undergrad psych days. For example, we've talked about stats, corrleation not implying causation, and even looked at the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments. But there've also been some fun cases, like the infamous case that raised "the twinkie defense." FedTax isn't nearly as bad as one might think, and we even get to hear about interesting stories like setting up a baseball team as a charity or how Al Capone was ultimately brought down for tax evasion.

The Legal Aid classes are okay (sometimes it's actually fun - Professional Responsibility Jeopardy!, mock motion hearings, and a mock trial of Don Quixote), but the main reason to take Legal Aid is for the clinic. I can't go into specifics of what I do at the clinic (due to confidentiality), but so far it's been very interesting and rewarding. It's introduced me to a lot of law I haven't studied much in my other classes, so there's considerable learning on the fly. I've worked on guardianships, powers of attorney, and a social security benefits. I've also had a successful hearing in court, so my current trial record in actual cases is 1-0.

I only have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but I don't exactly have days off - I usually spend Tuesdays and Thursdays at the clinic. The clinic can definitely eat up time, but at least I'm enjoying it.

Outside of classes and the clinic, I've been trying to enjoy my third and final year of law school. There's ND football on Saturdays, with "tailgating without a tailgate" (which sounds like a great name for a show on TBS - along the lines of "Dinner and a Movie" or "Movies for Guys Who Like Movies"). I've had one friend visit and attend a game so far, and this weekend my sister and her boyfriend will be in town to see ND trounce Stanford. My friends and I have also been making regular outings to Fiddler's Hearth, the best Irish Pub I've ever been to. And while the weather's been nice, I've played the occasional round of golf. Or prehaps I should say I've gone out and tried hitting some golf balls around, because calling what I do "golf" is probably an affront to the game.

Ok, so enough about me. I want to hear about what you have to say about me. :)