Who needs to be Ethical anyway?

As I've posted elsewhere, I did not receive the grade in Ethical Lawyering that I thought I would. I'm pissed, honestly. I studied super hard for the final and went in there really feeling like I had a handle on the Model & Cal Rules. I also felt like my partner and I did an OK job on our oral presentation and we worked our butts off on the paper. In fact, I'm quite certain we worked harder than most people. I don't know where it all went wrong...but it did. I didn't FAIL (thank God), but I was 1 point below the mean. Which is FINE, but not what I was hoping for to bring my GPA up this year. Now I'm going to have to score well above the mean in my 3 other classes in order to make up for that and bring up my GPA. I just don't know if that's going to happen. I thought Eth Law would be one of my good grades.

This is the most surprised I've been about a grade since my Crim Law grade. And that was partly due to a proctor error. I don't know what this is due to, honestly. I really don't. And since I thought this would be my best final...and it turned out badly, I don't have much hope for the other 3. Let's think good thoughts...and maybe, somehow, the curve pulled me out on the others. Grades don't really bother me. But since I found out that the legal community are complete WHORES for grades, I thought if I could at least get onto the Dean's List, it would be better than merely "Top 30%" which seems to have gotten me bupkiss.

Anyway...I'm trying not to freak out about it. Because I sort of KNOW I will end up getting a job somehow, somewhere...even if I'm top 30%. But that grade still hurt. Darnit.

In other news, I've been working on the prof's research project. The first chapter took me WAY longer than I imagined and I'm now a little worried about being able to finish in time. I am at least onto Chapter 2, Subsequent Remedial Measures, and did a pretty good search on Lexis. I'm not sure how much more I can drum up on the subject...so hopefully, it will go somewhat faster than Chapter 1. It's hard to sit here researching for hours and hours at a time. Hard on my back and my eyes. I need a real desk and real desk chair. Oh where is my massage chair?

Have postponed looking for a job until after this research thing because honestly if I do anything else right now...I won't finish in time.

Over finally...

I made it thru 2L. No more professors, no more books, no more 1L dirty looks.

The exam yesterday was pretty difficult, but I feel like I did OK. The multiple choice portion was sort of horrible because the choices were all somewhat wrong and you had to pick "the most correct" answer. Yuck. I hate that...cuz then you can't really do the old process of elimination. So it's not really "objective" at all any more, is it? Because couldn't I make a case that several of the answers were "the most correct?"

Oh well. Part of the second essay question was on pleas which I thought was sort of unfair since we literally spent ONE class on that and that was the last day of class. I read everything and took copious notes, but honestly didn't think I understood everything to write a massive essay on it. So I just did the best I could.

And it's over now.

Time to shove the books and notes under the bed and just be happy I made it through all this. And wait for the grades. BLEAH.

The Last day of the First Day of the rest of law school

Well, I've made it to this: the last official day of my 2L year. I have my Crim Pro (4 hour) exam at 1 p.m. I studied quite a bit for this, plus found the subject matter pretty interesting, so I'm HOPING to do all right. You never really know with this stuff, tho.

I stayed up later than I'd hoped doing a case list, because I spent the day yesterday doing the practice questions in the Emanuels I borrowed. So last nite, realizing I am SO BAD with names, I basically just made a list of cases by Amendment and one-liners to help remember them. I literally woke up this morning with things like "Caballes = dogsniffs not a search" and "Dow = aerial surveillance" and "Katz = phone booth REOP" running thru my head. If you haven't taken Crim Pro, none of that means anything to you. If you have, I probably just gave you hives.

I'm trying to do mnemonics right now to help myself. Like, for example, there is a case about Ineffective Assistance of Counsel called "Nix" which is an exception to Cronic (which I love the name of cuz I always imagine Snoop Dogg tokin on a fattie) where a defendant cannot claim ineffective assistance of counsel by conflict of interest where he told his lawyer he was going to perjure himself and lawyer told the judge. I remember it like this: Nixon was a liar. Nix = perjury. Nice, eh?

I also have one for the "beeper" cases: Knotts and Karo. I just made up the phrase "Knott's Karo Beeper" as a takeoff on Knotts Berry Farm. I'm strange. But this shit works for me.

I will post when this is all over and hopefully the post won't begin..."What the hell have I done?"

WISH ME LUCK!

Detour

Well, searing back pain yesterday put a bit of a wrench in my studying game plan. I almost had to postpone taking my exam today...but I just wanted it to be over, honestly. So I did everything in my power to get my back to a point I could sit for 3.5 hours and take the exam. I learned I can massage my own back if I need to (tho I almost dislocated my shoulder doing it) to work thru the muscle spasms. I took a lot of Advil, hot baths and used all kinds of Flexall, Icy Hot and both a heating bad and blue ice alternatingly. I was able to at least go thru my Flash Cards once and still make it to the exam with time to spare. My grasp of the actual elements of each rule were kind of shaky since my brain was a little addled from all the Advil (Advilled?) and I had sort of a traumatic day yesterday. I honestly was really scared because I couldn't MOVE AT ALL when the spasms kicked in and it felt like someone sticking a knife in my back and then twisting it every few seconds.

I'm pretty proud of myself for even taking the exam, honestly. But I really am a fighter. I've been thru way more pain then this and somehow made it thru.

Unfortunately, I also lost part of my Crim Pro study time to the back spasms. So, probably can't do a real outline, but will have to figure out SOME way to study effectively for 2.5 days. I'm worried about my back and sitting for that long each day...so might have to sit on the couch with the heating pad for part of it.

I had to take tonite off because my brain was just dead. I'm off to take another bath and then do some stretching. Wish me luck on the final final.

When will this be over???

I haven't even really started studying for Crim Pro yet -- unless you count printing out my notes, Matt's outline and reading thru the prof's Q&A sessions. I had to take a huge chunk of my day on Thursday to do the MONTH of laundry that's been piling up and then spent the evening with P. Friday, I ran a bunch of errands, studied and went out with Liz for my birthday. I actually came home and studied some more, tho. But was exhausted by midnite.

Yesterday, I studied Torts II all day, went to dinner with my Aunt & Uncle and then studied a but more until I was literally falling asleep at my computer by 11 p.m. Today, I've been making flash cards for Torts and reading the RS rules and comparing them to the Cal Rules. I liked my Torts II prof, but he's sort of all over the place and I realized my notes don't make the most sense EVER. So the making of the flash cards is kind of tedious because I have things written like "Cal overruled this in 43 CalApp 3d 1267" and then when I look up the citation, it's not right. And I can't figure out where it's wrong and the parties I have written down don't bring anything up. Eeek.

I've made flash cards thru Week 8, tho (Defamation) and have already dealt with "actual malice" in 2 other classes (Con Law II and Entertainment Law) under NY Times v. Sullivan, so those cards should go pretty fast. I really have to move over to Crim Pro tomorrow, tho, if I'm going to effectively study it before the Friday final. The good news about BOTH of this weeks finals is that they are in the afternoon (thank you!) which is so much easier for me. (a) I don't have to worry about oversleeping (tho I have found a nifty Wake Up call service) and (b) I can study on the day of the final a little bit.

The plan is to finish the Torts Flash Cards tomorrow morning and then move over to Crim Pro in the afternoon and then back to Torts II in the evening/Tues Morning. He's giving us a 3 hour final even tho, technically, it's only supposed to be 2 hours since it's only a 2 unit class. UGH.

I am so tired of studying, I can barely stay awake. I actually fell asleep on the couch today for an hour while studying Torts. I think I'm going to make a few more flash cards and then head off to the sack, so I can get up at a decent time tomorrow morning. At least these are interesting Torts!

Not half right

Well, I'm half-done with my finals. My Bus. Assoc, 4-hour final was pretty shitty, but at least it's over. I spent the rest of the day after the final yesterday sleeping, eating and drinking. I deserved all of it. Now I've gotta get crackin on Torts II and Crim Pro. Torts II is only 6 people, so there's no curve (which could help or really hurt me, honestly). Crim Pro is scaring the daylights out of me...but it's the last one (Friday the 13th!), so hopefully I can get some good studying done on it. The Torts II final is only a 2-unit grade and Crim Pro is 4, so you know where I'll be concentrating my efforts!

Gotta print out my notes for both classes now and definitely have to do some laundry today since I'm completely out of underwear.

Did you ever know that you're my hero?

Alex @ The Staples on Santa Monica/Vermont is totally my hero. I finished my Bus.Assoc. outline at approximately 8 p.m. and then FOUGHT with shitty MS Word trying to add the Table of Contents for 20 min. I hate that program. I don't know whomever programmed that crap, but when I add a Table of Contents, I really don't want my entire OUTLINE numbering system changed!

Who would want to do that? ever????!

So, after 5 min of printing, I skidded to the Staples only to have Alex tell me he couldn't do it for me. I started asking people where the nearest Kinko's was and Alex said "hold on. I'll do it for you." and he did. I love him. He was so swamped with like a million jobs back there that apparently someone else had dropped off late and I cannot thank him enough. I was so stressed out, he must've seen the fear in my eyes. Of course, while he was binding my outline, some crazy freak made me read some newspaper article about how blacks and latinos shouldn't move up to the Antelope Valley because it's just white farmers up there and there isn't the right kind of healthcare for the types of "problems black and latino babies have." I mentioned that maybe the State could create an incentive program to lure better doctors up there with the right credentials, rather than shunning those communities and he actually said "Those sensitives don't work. They take money." ack.

I came home and fed my cat some baby food (her poor stomach has been horrible today and I figured baby food is made to be gentle on baby tummies). I just have to tab my outline and then I'm ready to get some sleep and get up EARLY for the exam which starts at 9 a.m. tomorrow and goes until 1:00 p.m.

I feel Ok about most of the stuff I learned in Bus Assoc, but have to admit being kind of shaky on the proxy stuff. I missed a few classes toward the end. BLEAH.
I'm really pretty nervous about this exam. And will be glad to go out to dinner with Liz tomorrow nite and be study-free for ONE nite.

One Down!

Finished my Eth Law exam at around 11:40 a.m.! I'm really glad I did all those practice questions yesterday (even though they were incredibly tedious) because 4 of the questions were on the exam verbatim! YAY! I also felt like I knew most of the answers to the other questions. There were definitely a couple that were really close between two answers and I just had to pick and a couple that I honestly had NO CLUE and just guessed. But all in all, not a bad first exam.

Tomorrow's will suck FAR MORE. Must get crackin on the Biz Ass outline as we speak.
Crack
Crack

Club Dread

In just two hours, I will be sitting with my pencil poised ready to tackle my Ethical Lawyering final. I finished my flash cards on Sunday nite and literally spent the ENTIRE day yesterday doing the practice questions in our book. They are those long, rambling multiple choice questions that take a full minute and a half to read and another minute almost to answer. Also, because I remember things by writing them out, I began by writing out all the questions AND answers AND the correct answers. By about halfway through, I was only writing out the answers and the book answers. I hope it will also help me study for the MPRE in August.

The bad thing about the book practice questions is that, despite being called California Legal Ethics, the questions only dealt with the Model Rules. I honestly don't see why they didn't go the extra step and give the difference in the CA rule where applicable in the answer explanation, since I'm going to be tested on that and the bar exam tests on that in essay form. Lame.

I still can't believe how long it took me to do all those questions. There were 7 - 8 questions per chapter and 14 chapters, tho...so I guess it adds up. I also had to break to (a) shower, (b) go to the grocery store and (c) hang out with P for 2 hours watching a live Radiohead DVD -- which was the best part of my day, hands down.

Since no computers are required for this exam, I'm heading over a little early and will probably sit in my car and do my yoga breathing to calm myself. I honestly have no idea how I'm going to do on this exam. I did OK on the practice questions (tho some were harder than you can imagine). The only good news is that it's only 50% of my grade. But I don't feel amazingly confident in my oral or my paper, either. Oh, well. Not much I can do about that now!

If you are somewhere reading this between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and noon PDT, send smart Ethical thoughts my way, would ya?

As soon as I get out of the exam, I basically have to rush home and finish my Bus Assoc outline for tomorrow. I don't even know how late I can get that thing bound at Staples, so gotta call about that. I hope I can finish it. Oy.

Are we there yet?

I am about halfway done with my Bus. Assoc outline and finally done with all my flash cards for Eth law. I took a break around 6 to go get some Mexican food with my friend Jeff and talk about my love life which was breaking my heart this weekend.

I also took a break to talk to P. (the love) and my mom. But then right back to the cards. Those last few nearly killed me, I tell ya. Damn Advertising and Solicitation rules!

So tomorrow, I can awake refreshed (or MORE refreshed) and begin actually going thru the cards and doing the practice questions. It would nice to be able to work on my Bus Assoc outline some more so that I'm not truly waiting until the day BEFORE the final to finish it -- but it wouldn't be the first time. I do need to be able to finish it in time to get it bound at Staples, tho, so I have a feeling I will HAVE to work on it SOME tomorrow.

T-32.5 hours to Eth Law exam
T-56.5 hours to Bus. Assoc. exam

Beat-nik

I am so BEAT TIRED right now.

I have been working on Business Associations for MOST of the day (except when I was talking to Sheridan on the phone for 2 hours!). I read thru all my notes and highlighted them and then printed out my friend Matt's outline from his class at Boston (removing the bits beforehand that we didn't cover in my class). I also tabbed my notes with all the rules (which I found really helpful in Evidence last year, just in case I couldn't find something in my outline). Now for the past 4 hours or so, I've been working on my outline. I'm only thru Week 5. Oof. There were 14 weeks of class. This is the exam which I have on Wednesday, so I actually have MOST of the day on Tuesday to finish this up. I need to return to old Ethical Lawyering, unfortunately, so I think my plan will be to wake up tomorrow and slog thru as much Bus Assoc as I can by about 2 p.m., then move over to Eth Law. Bus. Associations is my only Open Book final, so the key to that one is all about the outline and the fabulously tabbed notes and rule book (which I have done already).

I still have SO MANY MORE rules to learn for Eth Law. It is truly going to be the death of me. The good news is (a) it's multiple choice, (b) it's only 50% of my grade. But, on the other hand, we've done so much work for this class already, it should really be about a 5 unit course (rather than 3). Lame!

I will be glad when these first two finals are behind me (May 3rd and 4th). Then it will be all about Torts II and Crim Pro! WHEE! Won't that be a fun way to spend my birthday on the 6th? gah.