Friday, January 30, 2009

Technology Taketh Away

There are ninety-plus students in my class, so we meet in a very large classroom. There are microphones in the ceiling to pick up students' voices and project them to the other side of the classroom. That's great when there's a class discussion going. It's not so great in the dead of winter when everyone is coughing and wheezing.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Missing Class

It's just week three of the new semester, and I'm missing a day of classes due to illness. Luckily, the school videotapes every class. Not every professor makes the videos available online, but the professors I have on Thursdays do, so I shouldn't miss a thing. Technology is a life saver.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Civ Pro Fulfills Its Promise

In the fall, the Civil Procedure professor warned us that the class would be concerned mostly with esoteric technicalities, then we spent the whole semester on broad, almost philosophical topics like state sovereignty. In the spring we're finally getting down to brass tacks. Suppose, for example, you were served with process pursuant to rule 4(e), but you think the complaint falls short of the requirements set forth in rule 8(a). What to do? File a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, of course! I'm in Heaven.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Iced In

Classes were cancelled today due to inclement weather. This is terrible news because it adds up to three and a half hours of class time that will have to be made up some time later in the semester, probably when we're all a lot busier. It also means I have a few more days to forget all the stuff I read for today's classes.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Off the Hook

I'm under the impression that the Criminal Law professor checks students off her roster as she calls on them so as to call on each student once during the semester. If so, I scored a coup by being called on toward the end of class today. Ten minutes of light questioning about the eighth amendment, and I can relax for the rest of the semester.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Taking Notes

If you've ever wondered what exactly I do all day, here's a representative page from my Torts notebook. The black ink is notes I took while reading. The red ink was added in class. The letters down the left margin stand for "Facts", "Issue", "Rule", "Analysis" and "Conclusion". Those five parts of an opinion were drilled into us from day one of orientation. Pi and Delta, if it's not obvious, are "Plaintiff" and "Defendant". In the fall, I produced sixty or eighty pages like this in each of the four substantive law classes.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Seating Settled

I scored my Contracts seat (my most desirable seat, it being on the aisle) for Civil Procedure, so all's right with the world. I can tell already that my seat assignment in Criminal Law is going to be a pain. My neighbor spent all of today's class checking Facebook and shopping online. I was flabbergasted. Who can be bored by a discussion of murder and cannibalism? And why would that person go to law school?

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Back in the Groove

For the first time since the new semester started, I was happy to be at school today. In fact, classes were over at 2:00 PM and I was completely caught up on my reading, but I decided to hang around in the library and do some extra work just because I wasn't ready to leave. I fully expected to stay in a foul mood until fall grades were posted, but I can't help myself. School is fun.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Criminal Law Shows Promise

Torts was a fun class. I was sorry to see it go. Fortunately, Criminal Law looks like a worthy replacement. The professor seems easygoing despite her background as a military lawyer, and the material cannot but be interesting. The assigned reading for the second class includes a 19th century cannibalism case, for goodness sake.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Seating Chart Madness


I had hoped that everyone would stick to their old seats for the new semester, but no such luck. It's the August scramble all over again, and this time I've found myself in a different chair for every class. I need to draw myself a diagram before I forget them all. Civil Procedure meets for the first time tomorrow, so that will be a fourth chair to remember.

Friday, January 9, 2009

More Reading

The first day of class is Monday the 12th, and several professors have posted reading assignments online. You'd think that a three week break would leave me fresh and motivated, but I dread getting back on the treadmill. Starting the spring semester without having grades for the fall is a real morale killer. It's almost as if the administration wants the students to feel like all this work is a futile waste of energy.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Beginning Anew

I have my schedule for the spring, and the training wheels have come off. In the fall, all classes had sensible, easily memorized schedules. Property class was on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:10 to 3:40 PM. No problem. In the spring, Property will be in session on Tuesdays from 2:10 to 4:10 and on Thursdays from 1:05 to 2:00. Criminal Law meets on Tuesdays from 8:45 to 9:40 and on Fridays from 8:45 to 10:45. In the immortal words of Charlton Heston, "It's a madhouse! A maaadhouuuse!" The professors can't possibly enjoy teaching classes that meet for one hour one day and two hours the next. This schedule is heavy with the scent of some Excel junkie administrator's idea of efficiency.