Pollux
Member
From where?
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Law School & Lawyer GAF
- Thread starter SD-Ness
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same here. I have one for Wills and Trusts (probably same class) and its massive. We do state law and upc/restatement/utc side by side though.
I have my appellate procedure test in the morning, thinking of staying up all night cause damn, I could not sleep for shit last night.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
We don't do UPC since we aren't insane :lol
Friends, upperclassmen, or if all else fails, outlinedepot.
When you reach 2L year and decide you don't want to take notes, do the reading or do anything other than post on GAF in class, you've gotta have alternatives to find the material.
SerArthurDayne
Member
MPRE passed, presumptively good enough for all states, based on NY/CA standards.
Bar- not yet
Job- not yet
Fucking GPA, man!
Bar- not yet
Job- not yet
Fucking GPA, man!
mikeybwright
Banned
Well Law-Gaf, my Torts exam is in 3 hours. I'm doing a last run through of major topics and going to the gym for a bit to clear out the nervousness.
To all of you that have exams now/soon, good luck. To those that have recently found they've passed something...anything...congrats.
My big takeaway from my first semester is that nothing is given to you like it was in undergrad. Very deep and insightful I know.
To all of you that have exams now/soon, good luck. To those that have recently found they've passed something...anything...congrats.
My big takeaway from my first semester is that nothing is given to you like it was in undergrad. Very deep and insightful I know.
Pollux
Member
How did you do? I had Contracts this morning and I completely blanked on a couple things. But overall I think I did pretty damn good.
How did everyone else do?
mikeybwright
Banned
I have Contracts on Friday, open notes and you can bring the UCC and Restatement (whew). Glad to hear you did well, and don't worry about blanking on a few things my Contracts prof said that last year the person with the highest grade in his class only got 80% of the total possible points...we all blank on some stuff. Contracts is the one class I'm not feeling confident in but with open notes I should be fine.
Torts was surprisingly easy, 30 multiple choice and 3 essays. Finished with 2 minutes left with a smile on my face. The sheer look of fear that some of my fellow classmates had when they hit submit (love examsoft) leads me to believe I didn't set the bottom of the curve in that class.
RandomDancing
Member
Damn. I can't believe some of you have already taken exams. We're still in classes until tomorrow!
First exam: Dec 14th. Just heard back that I didn't get a job I was pretty certain I wouldn't get, but am still kinda disappointed. Motivation to do well (since now these grades actually matter), GO!
First exam: Dec 14th. Just heard back that I didn't get a job I was pretty certain I wouldn't get, but am still kinda disappointed. Motivation to do well (since now these grades actually matter), GO!
brucewaynegretzky
Member
So I spent the last few days learning corporations. I feel like I actually learned something! Now all I have left are Unocal and Revlon. :/ Unfortunately Admin is a takehome I have to take on Sunday. Switching gears! Back to Corps on Monday!
Congrats to all the 1Ls finishing up their first exams. It's a big hurdle. The rest doesn't get easier necessarily, but it doesn't get much harder either really.
Congrats to all the 1Ls finishing up their first exams. It's a big hurdle. The rest doesn't get easier necessarily, but it doesn't get much harder either really.
Pollux
Member
I would have killed to bring the UCC and the Restatement lol
Glad to hear that you were confident on Torts. Good luck tomorrow with Contracts.
I have Torts Sat. morning, 2 essays. Should be interesting. But we can bring one sheet of paper, with whatever we want on it. So that should help if I end up blanking on something.
Yes, examsoft is amazing.
Good luck man. And congrats on learning something?
I think getting through that first exam was hard just because we didn't know what to expect. Yes we've taken the practice exams, talked to upper class students, talked to GAFers, but until you sit down in the exam and take it for yourself...it just doesn't matter.
Now it's out of the way and I'm not even worried about any of the others just because I've been through it. All I need to do now is focus on getting this Torts sheet written up and reviewing for Property which is next Wed. That's going to be the hardest one for me tbh.
It's tricky, open book exams. Every minute you spend going through your books/notes is one less minute you have to work on your exam, which matters.
ZackieChan
Member
Just realized that my Wills and Trusts professor wrote the commercial outline I have. That will help. Especially his exam tips, etc. It tracks almost 1:1 with the course material.
RandomDancing
Member
That'll be super helpful.
I think I started studying too early. I'm way too burnt out and my first exam is still 4 days away.
ZackieChan
Member
Lucky you. I've done two already, with three more this coming week. The rest should be semi-easy, though. At least Ethics is open-book. (most of ours are closed)
chrisisawesome
Member
I'm bored...tax exam on thursday morning and just finished re-listening to lectures. Last exam of the semester so thats something to look forward to
Pollux
Member
How are everyone's exams going so far?
I got a civ. pro. question.
So far we've just covered Personal Jurisdiction, Subject Matter Jurisdiction, and the basics of Venue.
Our question is going to be one of these, "Identify the issues with each party..."
So should I just identify the parties, and then break it down by topic, and within each topic break it down by party?
For Example:
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Plaintiff A - Diversity (yes/no) and why...
Plaintiff B - Diversity (yes/no) and why...
Defendant A - Diversity (yes/no)and why...
so on and so forth.
Then yes or no for amount in controversy, federal question, talk about removal.
Personal Jurisdiction
Minimum Contacts to Defendants.
General Jurisdiction
Proper service
Is there an effective challenge to PJ
Venue
Then a general question...For there to be Subject Matter Jurisdiction in a Federal court there has to be diversity and amount in controversy OR a federal question?
I got a civ. pro. question.
So far we've just covered Personal Jurisdiction, Subject Matter Jurisdiction, and the basics of Venue.
Our question is going to be one of these, "Identify the issues with each party..."
So should I just identify the parties, and then break it down by topic, and within each topic break it down by party?
For Example:
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Diversity
Plaintiff A - Diversity (yes/no) and why...
Plaintiff B - Diversity (yes/no) and why...
Defendant A - Diversity (yes/no)and why...
so on and so forth.
Then yes or no for amount in controversy, federal question, talk about removal.
Personal Jurisdiction
Minimum Contacts to Defendants.
General Jurisdiction
Proper service
Is there an effective challenge to PJ
Venue
Then a general question...For there to be Subject Matter Jurisdiction in a Federal court there has to be diversity and amount in controversy OR a federal question?
brucewaynegretzky
Member
That's gonna depend on the prof. Some profs don't care for an entire analysis when a particular question is clear. If you have multiple questions and PJ/etc. is clear they may not want you to address it, or they may be the type who will just give points. Gotta figure that out for yourself. This can apply to individual parties as well. Sometimes "Party X obviously meets X requirements for A, B, C." is all you need.
On the second one... yeah... that sounds right to me... Sec. 1983 claims get fed pj and they don't meet the amount in controversy so it sounds right. Keep in mind that an assumed affirmative defense based in federal law does not satisfy a federal question, so challenging a local nuisance law is not automatically in fed court just because you expect the D to claim first amendment protection.
MPRE passed, presumptively good enough for all states, based on NY/CA standards.
Bar- not yet
Job- not yet
Fucking GPA, man!
Are you at UF?
Pollux
Member
Great advice btw. I think I did really well on it this morning. 18 multiple choice and one essay. Wasn't 100% with a couple of the multiple choice but think I did great on the essay.
I used your "Party X obviously..." example for a number of issues in my essay and I got all the facts and issues down because of that. If I had tried to put everything in it's own mini-paragraph I would have never finished the essay. So, good call.
brucewaynegretzky
Member
As long as you feel comfortable with it then you should theoretically be fine. Like I said, depends on the prof. I've come to never rely on my feelings about an exam afterwards. I just wait for the grades. Always surprised, good and bad. Hope it pays off for you.
Thanks for asking haha; well, had civpro on wednesday and that was a fucking blur, like i said I had to cram an entire semester in three days. Bout to do the same thing (ie cram my face off) for K's on monday, and then try and go 3/3 for torts on thursday.
I'm hoping to just hit median
Pollux
Member
Have property on Sat., but haven't done a damn thing today...did some laundry, went for a run, sat on GAF for a while and watched ESPN. Then it was 12:50 am, and I'm thinking wtf am I going to do for this property exam.
Ah, good times
Congrats! Welcome to the club.
SerArthurDayne
Member
What school do you go to that you have finals on that 22nd? That shit is crazy.
I had a week off before my first final that I blew being a lazy fuck. Still, I feel pretty good about my two finals: IP and Business Associations.
I am inevitably fucked by the curve. To be fair, I'm a bad student. I get by on smarts, not work ethic!
UT (The Texas one)
UF was my undergrad
I have only applied to prosecutor's offices, which is what I want to do. Most of them aren't hiring, only hire after you pass the bar, or aren't hiring me.
I'm about to broaden my parameters just to get a job, rather than the one I want.
Thanks! Is most of law-gaf American? Are there any Canadians in here?
NYU. I too feel like I'm about to get wrecked by the curve, people are beasts when it comes to studying. Realistically, I'm probably in the bottom 10% of work time put in.
SerArthurDayne
Member
My man! I'm kind of in a zone where I could put in a lot more work than I do, but I would still fall short of what a lot of people do and likely see minimal if any improvement on my grades. Diminishing returns, yo!
Still, that seems crazy late to take finals, but they are obviously a school of good repute, so I assume they know what they are doing. Congrats on the school, good luck on the grades and getting everything in order for your future.
You went to Miami (or are a Miami fan, at least right?). That is forgiven, but it seems like running so late would mess with holiday plans.
That's a tough gig to get. Are you looking in Texas or elsewhere? Have you done internships in a DA's office? Are you bilingual?
The pressure in law school would be lowered by about 342% if your grade wasn't hinging on the outcome of one damn test for each class. Law professors are total dicks like that. :lol
SerArthurDayne
Member
I'm a go anywhere kind of guy. Not bilingual. I actually turned down a DA internship in Harris County (Houston) because they haven't been hiring anybody for the last four years or so.
That may have been a mistake, but I hadn't firmly decided what I wanted to do yet, and it gave me some time to do some civil practice work over the summer.
I have mock trial, an advocacy course, criminal clinic experience, and work with a juvenile public defender's office. So lots of criminal and trial related stuff, but mostly from the wrong side. Oh, and a mediocre GPA in a crater of a job market!
That may have been a mistake, but I hadn't firmly decided what I wanted to do yet, and it gave me some time to do some civil practice work over the summer.
I have mock trial, an advocacy course, criminal clinic experience, and work with a juvenile public defender's office. So lots of criminal and trial related stuff, but mostly from the wrong side. Oh, and a mediocre GPA in a crater of a job market!
elrechazado
Banned
You ought to have taken it :/ I got my first prosecutor job that way. It's often really the only way.
I actually went to Duke, but I'm a huge canes fan since I grew up there and grew up watching and going to canes games.
edit: you'll be fine with jobs (this is coming from my wealth of knowledge as a 1l haha) but you go to a good school and you seem like you have decent experience/extarcurriculars
SerArthurDayne
Member
It was a summer internship, and they are most definitely not hiring, so it would only have gotten me a job if somebody liked seeing it on my resume.
I might also have a shot at a job with the place I ended up working, so we'll see.
elrechazado
Banned
Best of luck. Don't envy people in school right now.
God bless your optimism.
I figured you're still wide open now with where you want to end up, but in, oh, 1 month when you have to register for the bar your search will be a bit more focused. In hindsight it probably was a mistake to turn down that position in Houston, but we've all been there before, especially when you didn't even know what you wanted to do for your career. I do think it would help you to get a job in a DA's office in Texas if you were bilingual, but that's from my limited experience of seeing such jobs posted over the past two years.
SerArthurDayne
Member
Yeah, I have seen a few where the ideal candidate speaks Spanish. I have enough of a background in Spanish that I actually scripted some basics and could make a phone call for one of my summer jobs, and could probably pick it up if I dedicated a few months. But it is even harder as a non-native because of the legal terms.
Yeah, I'm concerned about where to register for the bar, will probably stick with Texas if I don't have any offers simply because my school has the biggest reputation in this area.
At least you're in a state with a large population. There were weeks when all of the updates to Symplicity were for job postings in Texas. Of course you've got more attorneys and law students there as well, but I digress.
Shit, you'd think as a prosecutor in Texas all you'd really need to know in Spanish are: (1) "Citizen?" and (2) "You're fucked." I think that would cover your bases pretty nicely.
Pollux
Member
You're not alone. Don't worry about it. Despite the lack of time I put in, I think I did pretty good, when talking to people about the law I seemed to understand it better than they did after their extra hours of studying, and they missed a number of issues on the exam.
Just do your thing and you'll be fine.
Dude the 22 isn't that bad, my last final is Crim and it's on the 21.
Got any advice on symplicity? Do I just send in the resume and cover letter (if that's what they want) to whoever I'm interested in?
SerArthurDayne
Member
Texas is a very favorable to the prosecution state. But it also sucks that some places are run in ways that are pretty despicable. I don't want any part of that, especially since I would consider switching sides down the road after I've built up some experience.
I assume you passed the bar in Alabama since you said you are moving back there?
Just seems late, especially from my context where Finals started on the 5 and I believe the absolute last is tomorrow.
Texas has shitty scheduling though, almost no study period, and then they give you 5 weeks for a winter break. How about a 4 week winter break and a 1 week study period.
I had an exam for Secured Credit two days after my last class. That shit is fucked up.
Indeed. I finally landed a firm job. I interviewed this summer, but the bastards didn't make an offer until calling me up out of the blue last week. I've been doing contract work here in NC. Very happy not to be taking the NC bar next july.
SerArthurDayne
Member
Pollux
Member
Congrats man!
Me too, landed some kind of quasi-interview with a senior partner at a large firm for after xmas. hopefully it goes well. I doubt anything would come of it since I'm a 1L but it never hurts to start making contacts.
I need to start looking for internships. I feel like I'm way behind everyone else in my class on those.
SerArthurDayne
Member
Dude, you just started being able to do that right? So what, two weeks behind?
Still, my advice is to act early.
I know exactly what you're talking about. I did the Capital Defense Clinic when I was at Alabama, and one of my clients was charged with the murder of the woman who was the mother of his two children. He said he didn't do it (long story, but he admitted to killing her, but claimed it was SD not murder, you know how it goes). Anyway, what aggravator did the prosecutor use to bump it up from LWOP to CAP? He had a pending misdemeanor charge hanging over him because his girlfriend, who had custody of his kids, called the cops when he was trying to see the children and he refused to leave when the officers told him to walk away. Anyway, the prosecutor decided to bump it from LWOP to CAP because he was charged with killing his this woman who also happened to be the witness to his misdemeanor charge. Yep, this guy with no violent arrests in his past decided to off the mother of his kids because of a potential misdemeanor charge. :|
Dirty pool.
Edit: Thanks, all!
@peterb0y:I've been doing litigation support for a company here in Raleigh while taking on legal research gigs on the side. The legal research gigs paid way, way better but were harder to come by.
SerArthurDayne
Member
That is a dirty, but extremely crafty move.
The particular incident of the moment is a prosecutor in Williamson County sat on pretty blatant exculpatory evidence. 25 years in jail for killing his wife, didn't do it. That prosecutor is now a judge, the current prosecutor almost certainly knew he was innocent, but still did his best to cover it up for several years.
Still, it finally came out. Guy is out of jail, Judge might be in the shit, state pays for it all and can't afford to hire me anymore.
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