Woot woot for Moot moot.

Yea, so since I was apparently really good at OA's, I was confident going into Moot Court tryouts. At my school, there are two -- International and Regular ol' Moot Court Society. My TA was in International, so I was familiarized with them since the beginning of the year. I knew others on that society and was interested in joining also because of the international travel on the school's budget :).

How bout...I definitely was OFF at International's tryouts. The day before, the President basically told me that everyone knows I'm good, so expectations are high. To anyone else, that comment may have been a confidence booster. But for me, expectations always play psychological games with me. I'd much rather be a surprise hit -- less pressure. AND, there's always the thought of being a complete and total letdown. Unfortunately, that was my story. To say the least, I was unimpressive. I'm sure the people I argued before were like, "This is the chick we heard about."

I wouldn't have picked me.

Fast-forward to Regular Moot Court tryouts. I aced 'em. I got my swag back or something lol. But, unlike International, half your score to get the second round is comprised of your Legal Writing & Research grades. Yea....we know how that ended up.

But I was comforted the next day when the Chief Justice (who is also my friend) came to me and informed me that my judges were thoroughly impressed with me and were fighting for me to be on there. However, the numbers wouldn't budge, so they couldn't tweak 'em...even if they thought I was Moot Court material. This lifted my spirits.

So, all that's left is Law Review. A 10-12 page case comment due over summer...yuck. But since I'll still be here and not home, I'll have an opportunity to actually do my best.

Looks like I'll be doing alot of writing: revamping my appellate brief since it's my only legal writing sample that has the best bones and trying to write-on for Law Review. I'm a ball-o-fun.

Legally,

Kendall

fight with your words.

So....oral arguments today based on our appellate briefs. Three judge panel: Attorney, TA, Moot Court representative. I was the overachiever who volunteered to go twice because our class is an odd number of students. When I volunteered, I strangely thought that I was good at public speaking and since she would take the higher of the two grades, I had nothing to lose. I definitely regretted that decision right before my first argument. I wanted to do one and one only!

I literally freaked out. I went to Wal-mart and bought two bananas for 34cents, scarfed 'em down and I surprisingly felt better. Maybe it was psychological, but the potassium settled me some how. So, I went over my notes, engaged in some chit chat outside in the Atrium and said a little prayer before responding to, "Counselors?"

After the first one, I felt like -- "I can do this again. I don't really want to, but since I have to, I can." When I exited the room, my teacher was there as a cheerleader to encourage us after being verbally attacked by a "hot bench". After a few moments, she pulled me aside and said:

Teacher: The attorney judge was really impressed with you and said you definitely should try out for one of the Moot Courts.
Me: But you know my writing sucks.
Teacher: Well, you can get better.
Me: :-/

I got the usual critique that I spoke a little fast at the beginning, but settled into a nice pace as I went on.

The second one didn't go as smooth, I thought. But the attorney critiqued that I was "outstanding" and that my brief was "well-written". That was the highest compliment he could've paid me, because my writing is apparently very weak.

All in all, I'm glad these things are over. Now I can be a regular student and not this crazed, stressed version of myself. Trial Court Brief done, Appellate Brief done, and Oral Arguments done. Gimme finals week.

Hm, on second thought. I haven't consistently read for classes in awhile. Now I can get back on track with that. Maybe not too prepared for finals week. :-/

One more stressor under my belt, I may just be turning into a lawyer, well law student yet. :)

Legally,

Kendall

riddle me this.

Ok, this legal writing class is making me crazy. I'm beginning to have nightmares about it.

The class, specifically my teacher, kinda gives me the creeps. She is very effective at challenging me all the while terrifying me throughout the whole process. Her sense of humor is classic, because she pretty much says anything she wants.

I took the time to jot down a few of her wondrous quotes:

"I don't care, I'll tell you your writing sucks to your face."
- (in regards to anonymity and preferential treatment if she knew whose paper it was)

"I had two options: whether to take the razor down my vein or across it. Yea, my life was sh*t."
- (referencing a busy 10 days while she was in practice)

"I don't wanna d*ck around with word count affidavits. Yes, I check those small things. I have a really, really boring life."

I turned in my trial court brief last Thursday, it's 25% of our grade. I had a dream last night that I got a 55% where she marked me down 20% because my paper didn't look professional. I woke up a little disturbed to say the least. *le sigh*

I'm stressed because this class was my WORST grade and if I have a chance at cutting my rank in half, I must do better. The pressure is on. *crosses fingers*

Legally,

Kendall

grades are in!

So, I was a ball of nerves before looking at my grades...literally. I couldn't sleep through the night. They were up on a Monday, and I heard the mumblings around the halls. But, I couldn't bring myself to go to the website to see my first semester fate.

I think the nerves I was experiencing was more guilt than anything. Because the long and short of it is --> Kendall = SLACKER. Don't tell my mom; she'll be mortified. I still procrastinate. I read my cases the morning of (I truly believe I'm more efficient when doing this). I didn't really outline. I didn't do the study groups.

IN MY DEFENSE, my brain works differently than others. The way I outlined looked alot different than what one would normally imagine. Early on, I didn't find outlining very helpful in me digesting the law any better. To me, it was simply a typing exercise. So, I was...resourceful :). Secondly, the study group thing never worked for me in college, so I wasn't gonna reinvent the wheel. Every brain understands concept in different ways. Study groups are either counterproductive or over-social. No thanks. If I plan on wasting time (and I do that well might I add), I'll watch YouTube videos or follow my choice blogs.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES: God blessed. Even I was shocked.

With all that said, this semster is a totally different ball game. I feel like they upted the ante like 10x. And all the things I didn't do last semester, I'm sure to follow with to ensure I survive (or I plan to).

PS. I've really got to pray about this procrastination thing. I honestly believe it's the thorn in my side.

Legally,
Kendall

gray matters

Its kind of weird to force your mind to go from a school of thought where at the end of the road, there is a right and a wrong. Yet in law school, there are just stronger and weaker arguments. Interestingly enough, gray is how my mind usually operates, but not in a school setting. I’ll read my cases, and think, “The Supreme Court made sense with that.” However when I get to class, we challenge everything that’s written. I know that helps us learn and think independently as future lawyers, but its hard to get into the habit of not holding what’s written in the textbook as “right.”

Oh well. I’ll get used to this murky area.

Sidenote: Its ironic that my school makes such a big deal about honor code (in attempt to preserve the integrity of the profession) when lawyers  are viewed as the most unethical sleaziest creatures.

Guess they can’t help trying. :-/

 

Legally,

Kendall

First Impressions

The first day of school didn’t feel so bad. My 8o'clock happened to be with the professor from the program, so there was a level of familiarity there. Here’s what I thought about each class while trying to concentrate on the material and not my body temperature. (I was actually prepared for the extreme A/C, but my body adjusted to the layers by 9)

Contracts: I like my prof. The material seems like it will be intriguing. Because contracts is inherently apart of everyday life (even though we may not be aware of every single one), I’m…I guess open to exploring how it affects the way business is done, how people view promises/agreements, etc.

*Seeing as how the abbreviation for Contracts is “K”, there may be a perfect match there. #fingerscrossed

Civil Procedure: [sigh] This class is going to be boring. I can already tell. My professor had the most notorious reputation from 2L & 3L’s for being a stickler for punctuality & professionalism (if your cell phone rings, you’re thrown out of class…seems fair until I’m the one who forgets to silence my calendar reminder :-/). The prof is a smart lady – USC & Stanford-educated – but that doesn’t change the material. I can see that she’ll probably infuse a lot of hypos to keep our minds working. Since it’s a 2.5 hour class, minds tend to wander -- at least mine was today. She doesn’t scare me per se, but I can see why a lot of people would be intimidated. However, I was praying I didn’t get called on today. Now I know how to prepare for her class, and I would have been thoroughly embarrassed had I been called on. I feel for those that were on the hot seat today. Oh yea, this is FIVE-HOUR credit, the weightiest of my load. Splendid.

Criminal Law: [smile] This is the shortest class of my week, unfortunately. This prof had the best reputation for being an engaging, funny, nice guy. That he is. He’s an older guy, but still sharp. This class seems like it would be the most comfortable to speak in. He made the atmosphere a lot lighter than my previous class, and I desperately needed it.

Predictions: All of it gets my wheels turning, but I feel like I’ll find the most practicality with Contracts and thus have more an affinity to it. But Criminal Law, off top, could be a surprise hit. I’ll monitor that one…that would be interesting if I actually like the stuff. Civ Pro doesn’t stand a chance for being labeled anything positive, but keeping me on my toes, physically and mentally will serve to keep me motivated. And I can’t be mad at the lady for that.

Legally,

Kendall

Just call me Rockefeller…

The more I learn about how we are a civilization that sues anybody for anything, the more frustrated I get about my potential for a cushioned life. Yes, I said cushioned. I’ve only spent 1 week in a legal environment, reading cases about how a random person strategically found a large corporation liable for some minute repercussion by way of a murky cause-and-effect. But this one thing I do know – I was duped.

Let me explain.

My father, in his days of youth and poverty, washed windows downtown. Due to some mishap, he fell from the contraption and was injured (his limp is not a pimp walk). Now all I can think about in this product liability case is all the people my parents could’ve sued and how SET we would’ve been. !&#%@

Who were my parents talking to??? Where is the legal advice in my family? Its beyond me that no one advised them to seek legal counsel.

If there was faulty equipment, they could’ve sued the a) company he worked for for putting an employee in such a dangerous situation (if there was a known danger) b) the store the apparatus was bought from, c)manufacturer, distributor, or service station that handled the faulty apparatus. The list goes on!

Plus, my father is 54 and he still limps to this day. Has his quality of life been affected due to his limp? Yes. Could he have performed other duties if not for his injury? Maybe. Did his resulting need for a knee replacement have any connection to his early injury? Possibly.

Any affirmative answer or probably affirmative answer means damages = money.

I’m upset now -- not even at my parents, but for whoever didn’t tell them what semblance of a case they might have had.

smdh.

Legally,
Kendall