The Law School - It Starts

[varkam]

You remember back when you were an undergrad and no one went to the first week of classes because all that they did was hand out a syllabus?

Yeah. I seem to remember something like that.

I have homework. A lot of homework. A lot of dense homework. Filled with wonderful legaleese like "assumpsit" (at least I'm getting to make friends with my Black's Law Dictionary).

It's good, though. I'm really glad to be back in school, and the assignments are actually interesting once I can start to understand what they're saying.

I figured I would post this here since I consider pretty much all of you to be my friends. I probably won't be around as much as I'd like to be, but I'll try to pop by as much as possible.

Okay, I'm off to go read some criminal law.

Oh, and I almost forgot:

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I remember undergrad being like that, until I got to classes like the 4000 level biochemistry. You will really be missed in the health scare lounge.

[trotsky]

2. Wow, I got a headache just from reading the word "assumpsit."

Good luck and you rock, v.

[varkam]

26. Thanks, trotsky.

And I can never rock nearly as hard as yourself, unfortunately.

[salvorhardin]

3. You'll kick legal ass varkam

Or is that, you'll legally kick ass? Hmm. Anyway, good luck in your studies.

[varkam]

27. Lol! I'm not sure if there is such a thing as legally kicking ass...

I guess I'll find out :D

[TZ]

4. Good luck varkam

I'll be sure to let you know when the check from the FDA comes in for all the legal work you are doing to get around all those messy regs....

[varkam]

28. Thanks!

:hi:

[jberryhill]

5. After a while...

...you'll figure out what you really need to read.

Take your outline and curl up with the hornbooks a week before finals.

And don't forget they are serious about the attendance requirement.

[varkam]

6. Hornbooks? Why you sound like a law student.

Or former one, anyway.

Any other advice for me?

[jberryhill]

9. Umm... I've been a lawyer for nine years...

Just do what they tell you to do for the first two semesters. You'll figure out what to do for the next four (or six if you do it at night like I did).

[varkam]

11. Sorry! I realized after I posted...

that "former law student" could be interpreted at someone who dropped out, though what I meant was "lawyer".

What sort of law do you practice?

[jberryhill]

14. screwing around with right wingnuts....

http://polunatic.blogspot.com/2004/10/john-berryhill-2-dick-cheney-0.html

That and patents, copyrights, and trademarks. I was an engineer in a former life.

[dropkickpa]

7. Have fun!!

Just getting the books upped your evul meter 12 points!

[uriel1972]

8. Good luck

I must say I don't really envy you in your war on legalese :)

[cosmik debris]

10. I'm kinda jealous

I'm retired now, but next to retirement, the best gig you can get is going to school.

[skepticscott]

12. Good luck!

And if there's one piece of advice I'd offer through the whole process..keep your humanity. Depending on where you are, the competition can be cutthroat and there will be people there who would slice off your gonads with a rusty tin can to get an edge. Don't become one of those people. Concentrate on learning what you need to learn and don't worry about who's ahead of you or behind.

[onager]

13. Yep! De minimis non curat lex and stuff...

:hi:

Best of luck, Mr. V. Do you plan to practice criminal law? Just in case I run into Sylvia Browne and...er, never mind.

[varkam]

15. Lol!

The plan is to work as a public defender - you know, fame and fortune. Who knows, though. I might take a class in corporate tax law and fall in love.

[skepticscott]

24. Nobody falls in love

with something that mind-numbingly boring, no matter how lucrative ( with the possible exception of John McCain).

[varkam]

29. I don't want to be that person.

In the end, I know that there are many people who are more talented and much more intelligent than I am or could ever be - and I try to be okay with that (though I'll admit that I struggle with it - on a theoretical plane I'm fine with it, but it's becoming more and more of a reality).

I think when the going gets tough, I should try to remember why I wanted to go to law school in the first place: to help people (corny, I know).

Anyway, thanks for your message. I'll tuck that one away in my mind and revisit it from time to time.

[HamdenRice]

16. Law school is much easier than it at first appears to be

The reading burden is about 1/10th to 1/20th of the reading load of a graduate program in history, for example. The reading, though, does appear dense, but after a while you'll realize that most cases have just a few significant sentences.

When you master finding those sentences, the entire process will become very easy.

I have to disagree with jberryhill, though. Do not get used to relying on hornbooks and outlines. Read them only after you have mastered the cases, and then, only use hornbooks. Outlines are so badly written that they are often just flat out wrong. Also, if you only read hornbooks and outlines, you basically won't be able to write a coherent law school exam, which are asked and answered in the form of cases. The only decent "outlines" -- and they are not actually outlines, but something between a hornbook and outline -- are the "Nutshell" series.

Some of the hornbooks, though, are masterpieces -- Grant Gilmore and Charlie Black on Admiralty, for example. After you've worked through the cases, the hornbooks can really put it all together.

[varkam]

19. On outlines:

the point is not to read another person's outline, as near as I can tell, but to create your own. Learning takes place in the process of writing all that stuff out.

[HamdenRice]

20. I was probably unclear, or maybe misunderstood jberryhill

I thought he was referring to "commercial outlines" (like "Legalines") which are truly terrible, and often dead wrong. Don't buy them, please.

As for your own outlines, these are recommended. One typically produces them as the course progresses, or at the end of the semester. This is absolutely critical to do. Although it scarily piles the work up in a mad rush, end of semester outlines are better, because you have a more accurate idea of what the early semester cases meant.

Also it is a very, very good idea, actually, to work with other students on creating a set of end of semester outlines. The reason it's good to work with other students, is that you give each other reality checks on interpretation. It's also less work. You divide up the course, and check each other's work. Much easier to do in the age of computers than it was in the past.

I did not mean to discourage use of either your own or student co-created outlines.

Outlines passed down from students who took the course in prior years are to be avoided even more stringently than commercial outlines. They are often hilariously wrong.

Good luck!

[varkam]

22. The general advice that I have been given on outlines...

is to start outlining well ahead of finals. I can, of course, go back and update as things go along.

[HamdenRice]

23. Suggesting waiting till the end

was the pre personal computer me talking. If you had to revise at the end of the semester back then, it was a complete retype! On an electric typewriter.

[LeftishBrit]

17. Congratulations and good luck!

[realisticphish]

18. i wish you luck as well

today is my first day of class in grad school; i also probably won't be around is much, but i have a feeling that you will have a LOT more reading than i will

[varkam]

30. Hey, good luck to you!

I think, actually, that you might be doing more reading than I am. I'm not doing a great volume of reading, but the reading is jam-packed. Where I could normally read fifteen pages in twenty minutes or so, now it's taking me upwards of an hour what with all the note-taking, highlighting, and briefing cases (not to mention wrapping my head around pretty big concepts).

One thing I do miss about grad school is the smaller classes. My first couple of classes had about 40-50 people in them, whereas in grad school the total size of my incoming class was about 10 or so. I miss that sort of intimacy - this feels more like college in that respect.

[realisticphish]

32. right now the reading is pretty light

it's all intro stuff right now. My first class, at least, was around 30 people. my other class, which is tomorrow night, i'm not sure on. To make it all worse, i'm starting class as we're finishing up moving, a week earlier than we expected. It's been hot as hell, and a long-ass weekend.

but it's wierd; my classes were actually pretty small in undergrad. the largest i EVER had was 70 people, and that was a basic science GEC. Considering I went to ohio state, where there are 600 student lectures, i was practically one on one with professers

[SidDithers]

21. Best of luck, varkam...

Enjoy every minute of it. :)

Sid

[varkam]

31. Oh I will. Even when I'm not.

:D

[beam me up scottie]

25. You know we're here for you.

Don't forget you have a safe place to vent even if it's not DU related.