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William D. Randall's Blog (of no particular interest to no one in particular)
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"We Have Just Begun to Fight...." Winston Churchill "Audentes Fortuna Juvat" - "Fortune Favors the Bold"
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The Belated Reading Week Post Ah, the joys of being a Third Year law student. I have two serious classes (Remedies and Sales), an externship (five units), and a bar exam primer course (Basic Bar Studies). All of my classes ended yesterday, and the only thing I have left is a paper (18 pages on a topic that I can write a book on) and two finals. Despite the hard work, confusion, commute, frustration, getting back up to speed on summary judgment procedure, and having to take a significant amount of time out of my week to work the externship, I found it extremely rewarding working at the Court of Appeal. As for Basic Bar Studies, I felt it was a waste of time despite the fact that the professor is one of the best professors at my school. The class was more of a "here is a basic outline, here is an MBE book, do the reading on your own. When you come to class I'll give you a quiz and a bar exam question and that's it." The other problem was that the class was on a Saturday. This semester I had classes on Monday and Wednesdays, and the extern ship on Tuesday and Thursday. I tried to use Friday to prepare for Saturday, and by Sunday I was cramming for By Monday and Wednesday classes. It was not the best use of my time to say the least. Moreover, my remedies professor, shows about as much emotion in class as a toaster. I recently came across a post on the Law School Academic Support Blog mentioning the mindset of most third year law students. We're so busy trying to line up jobs in order to pay off our loans, prepare for the bar exam, make plans for graduation, and put our own lives in order to prevent total crash and burn by July. Most of us just want to pass, and have consigned ourselves to just doing the minimum required to get by. Every "One L" I have seen has had their nose buried in flashcards and outlines for the last week. Most of the Third Years I've seen have just buried their noises in canned outlines and briefs. I think I still need to finish my outlines out least. As for after finals, I've already made plans to get out of town the week between my last final and commencement as It will be the only week I'll have off between now and the Bar. One more thing, if you are a law student and you are reading this post, let me give you a word of advice, live at home with your family or significant other during your first and second year of law school, but move as far away as you can during your last year. Not a day goes by, where I am reminded about commencement, or asked about my plans for the Bar, or whether I've lined a job up for after graduation. Personally, I hate giving answers to questions I have not given a whole lot of thought to. I've been forced to take things one day at a time, and I've buried my calendar a long time ago. I'll probably have a post later today on Sales and Remedies, just to get it out of my system. W. Monday, February 04, 2008
Not even done with Law School and I'm worrying about the Bar Exam? I'm in my last semester of law school. You know, the semester where 3L's have to be dragged to campus kicking and screaming. Anyway, at my particular law school the bar exam is a big deal, mostly due to the fact that the passage rate is so low, yet the students are quite capable. In the past couple of weeks our "Dean of Bar Passage" has sent numerous e-mails to 3L's about preparing for the bar, not to mention holding meetings with us, in order to "understand the immense importance of the task we are about to undertake." A number of 3L's, including myself, are taking a basic bar studies class, in order to have a warm up and exposure to certain concepts prior to taking Bar/Bri over the summer. Well, to put things in perspective, I know the bar exam is nothing like storming the Beaches of Normandy, but it is extremely important. But there also is a disconnect between Law School and the Bar Exam. The bar exam tests bar law, whereas law school tests "law school law." Basically what this means is that if one attempted to write their exams in law school like they are writing for the bar exam, they may pass, but the grade may not be that great. A law professor would likely mention the lack of analysis and deficient rule statements. There have been two bits of wisdom that I have received from practicing lawyers regarding the bar exam. One, "There is the law you learn in law school, the law you learn for the bar, and the law you learn in practice. Never ever get the three mixed up!" and two, "The bar exam is an exercise in diligence not brilliance." Well the clocks ticking, but I'm not going to look at it until May.......WDR. Saturday, January 05, 2008
WHY I'M VOTING FOR OBAMA.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Just a minor musing..... Al Gore + Nobel Peace Prize = Next President of the United States? It would sure beat the current lot of Republican nobodies! Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
 Guten Tag! Been a little busy the last few weeks. Between classes, Vienna, Beer, Munich, Bertchesgaden, Salt Mines, Salzburg, and then later Berlin, I am somehow finding some time to study my material pertaining to Fundamental Rights in the US and Europe. I'll write a more lengthly post when I return, but here is a picture or two from my trip. Sunday, July 01, 2007
Wheels Up. Entering my Third Year of law school, I am finally doing something I've always wanted to do while I was in undergrad, Study Abroad. But the problem is that once you are in law school all the problems of adulthood and a professional education tend to accumulate which means paying the bills, setting the e-mail to "out of the office," tying up loose ends as the distance and time involved in travel makes it difficult to get things taken care of, and packing stuff that I think I need now (but will become a headache while abroad). I've been to Europe before, but this time I really will have an opportunity to enjoy it. My last visit to Munich was a quick visit to the Marienplatz, beers at the Hofbrauhaus, and then back on the bus. This time I'm going without a tour guide (and possibly without a net). Then I'll be in Austria, studying fundamental rights of the US and Europe under Justice Kennedy, for three weeks. A quick trip up to Berlin, and then back down to Munich. Berlin has always been on the "to-do" list for sometime, not only because of the WWII aspects and the Cold War history, but also because of the modern mystique of visiting a city that was once divided into two. But the magic mystery tour does not stop there my friends. When I get back I'll have about a week to relax and then it's off to San Francisco, to undertake my duties as the ABA Representative for Western State. So much for the slow summer, I can see the rest of it rolling down the runway. Bon Voyage......WDR |
