First week wrap up

59 days until the bar exam!  I survived the first week of bar prep, and am hoping that next week I'll be a little more used to the schedule and less tired.  

We got out of class early tonight (8:45!), and I'm going to go play Wii tennis with Joe in a minute, but here are a few of my thoughts at the end of week one:

1. Even when I'm taking a study break, I'm still thinking about what I just studied.  When I drive home from class, I see potential torts all over the place, and it's making me completely paranoid.  

2. I tell Joe all about the potential torts I see, and various things that I studied or learned that day.  Next we'll be discussing the Uniform Commercial Code and contracts and sales.

3. I'm guessing it's about two more weeks before this drives Joe completely insane.

4. Joe will probably be able to pass the bar exam at the end of July with me.

5. A lot of times, one of the potential multiple choice answers is a Latin term that has nothing to do with the subject of the question.  This is called the Latin distractor.

6. I have no idea why, but every time I hear the term "Latin distractor" I get a mental image of Enrique Iglesias dancing around in my head.  Yeah.

7. Torts frequently covers whether or not someone had a duty.  Studying and sitting in class all day makes me laugh at things I normally would not find that funny.

Enjoy your weekend!

I like my bar prep class so far, aside from it taking place from 6 until 9:30 or 10 each night.  Tonight class goes until 10, which means that I'll have to watch the Lost season finale over the weekend.  I did manage to watch Top Chef last night though, and I can't believe Lisa is still there.

I'm still not stressed out about the bar, which might be because I'm mostly studying torts this week.  It's a more interesting subject area, partly because of all of the crazy hypotheticals.  If the bar exam was 100% torts questions, I could pass it today.  After sitting through a lecture about torts though, it's amazing to me how little substantive law you can get away with knowing for the bar.  

Random Maryland tort fact of the day:  In Maryland, be careful about impugning a woman's chastity, because it's defamation per se (which seems easier to prove than regular old defamation, because you don't need proof of economic damages, just proof that the statement was defamatory on its face).  But you can impugn a man's chastity all you want.  Although, this in no way constitutes legal advice, since I'm not a lawyer.

What I did today

I've been reading and reviewing torts (which are actually civil wrongs, not cakes, and include assault, battery, false imprisonment, negligence, products liability, etc.) today, and making lots of flash cards.  Torts is one of the six subjects tested on the MBE (multiple choice) day of the bar, and I actually remember most of it from the first year of law school.  It's also tested on the Maryland essay exam as well.  

I've already used lots of index cards, and am nowhere near finished, and this is just one of about 11 subjects that I'm going to be studying over the next two months.  I also imagine that I'll go through lots of paper taking practice exams and notes over the course of the summer. Environmental law is not one of the subjects tested on the Maryland bar exam.  In addition to all that potential wasted paper, I also have nine volumes of photocopied outlines and study aids from my bar prep class.  I'm not planning on getting rid of anything until I find out my results in early November, but if I pass the exam, does anyone have any interesting recycling suggestions besides just dumping it in the recycling bin (or, more likely, selling it to a future Maryland bar taker)?  

Not much to update on because my bar prep class doesn't start until Tuesday night.  I figured by this point, I'd start to get stressed out about the bar, and that would motivate me to study.  Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case, and despite being sick for about a week, I've immensely enjoyed not studying and not having classes.  The most exciting part about getting ready for the bar so far has been buying school supplies to make studying for the bar easier.  These are a few of my favorites that I've accumulated so far:

Supposedly, I will be making a lot of flash cards over the course of the summer.  As far as flash cards go, I really like the green ones on the upper left, because they're on a key ring, which makes them extremely portable.  I used these a lot in the last year or two of law school, except that I found making the flash cards to be much more useful to my learning than actually carrying around and reviewing them.  The greenish notebook thing on the left is my three-ring binder, which I bought right before finals this semester.  I convinced myself that I needed it because I had four exams in four days, and that this would give me an organized way to carry around my notes.  It worked pretty well, so I'm going to use it again for the bar.  The shiny pink butterfly notebook was specifically for the bar.  I need a notebook to bring to class, and I wasn't about to spend $5.99 on one of those Five Star deals, so instead, I spent $1.99 for pink and shiny butterflies.  

And no, I will not be headed back to fifth grade in the fall, despite what my taste in notebooks might indicate.

So there are all of my bar prep books, and for reference, I put the D.C. yellow pages next to them. Now that I think about it though, that reference probably only worked for me, and maybe Joe, since I don't really know if anyone else reading this has the D.C. yellow pages. Either way, it's a lot of books to read and questions to answer in 2.5 months. And yes, watching episodes of Law & Order might be helpful in studying for the bar exam, but since the show is set in NY, and I'm taking the Maryland bar, it's probably not as relevant. Maybe I'll start getting into The Wire instead to brush up on my Maryland criminal law.

And finally, the news you've been waiting for: Next year we're moving to New York. I guess Joe can still change his mind (Joe-you better not change your mind!), but I already sent e-mails to Georgetown and NYU, so it's official for me.

So it begins

I picked up my bar prep books yesterday, and started reading through the assignment that I'm supposed to complete before the first day of class.  The assignment will take about three to four full days to complete.  I was a little concerned that picking up a 25 lb. box of books would do nothing but frighten me into a studying frenzy, but actually, it's made me feel better.  Sure, it's a slightly intimidating pile of nine books, and it may not be possible to completely read and absorb everything in them in the next two and a half months, but hopefully I've retained at least a little bit after three years of law school.  Also, I know a few clowns who managed to pass the test, and know that if they can do it, I can too.  

So far, I haven't procrastinated with getting started like I worried I would.  However, as soon as I picked up the book again today, I felt a sudden urge to go rearrange my room and finish cleaning it after the mess of finals and graduation so that it's more conducive to studying at my desk.  I also have to put the kitchen table back in the kitchen, since I again dragged it into the living room by the window to finish my bar application.  Tomorrow I'm off to New York for a scoping trip.  I'll let you know on Monday what I decide.

I mailed out my bar application this afternoon, and it should arrive to the bar examiners tomorrow by noon, which is five entire days before the deadline.  I'm just hoping that there aren't any huge mistakes, and that they accept it.  Tomorrow I have to go pick up the books for my bar prep class, which begins the day after Memorial Day.  I'm sure after I pick them up, I will have more bar exam news to share with you.  

Anyway, I thought you (by you, I mean you, Mom and Dad) would be happy to know that my application is in the mail, and out of my hands.  I'm going to go watch a movie now, and relax while I still can.  

Bar application FINALLY finished!

And once I mail it tomorrow by overnight mail, it should even get to the bar examiners with a couple of days to spare.  I've been working on this beast all day, and it really wasn't as terrible as I had made it in my mind.  After sitting for about 7 hours, gathering papers, locating addresses and calling creditors, it's finally done.  I think that someone could make a killing by starting a company to fill out bar applications for applicants.  Anyone out there is welcome to steal my business idea, because we all know that based on my procrastination of filling out the form, that wouldn't be an ideal career choice for me.  Of course, there's also the issue that you have to certify that you filled it out, write a little essay about a professional responsibility rule, and certify the information is correct, and blah blah blah.  But maybe Maryland could take a hint from the IRS, and just put a signature line for the application preparer, create a duty for the applicant to review the application and ensure it's correct, and then make the applicant liable for any mistakes on the form.  

Anyway, it's done.  I'd celebrate with a beer, but I managed to get kind of sick all of a sudden (perhaps from standing in the rain for a couple hours at a concert?), so I think I'll celebrate with some ice cream instead.  I'll be moving on to thank you notes for the rest of the evening, so I can send those out tomorrow too.  I'm not sure if people were sending me graduation gifts, or retainers.  

What has two thumbs and a J.D.?

This girl!  Finals are over, and I've graduated (twice!) from law school.  The weekend went by quickly, and it still hasn't really sunk in yet.  I have a little time off before my bar prep class begins, but I do have some studying I'm supposed to be doing, as well as some odds and ends to take care of.  Right now, I'm focusing on finishing the bar application (yes, I have procrastinated until the very last week on this one), and making a big decision of whether I'll be living in D.C. or New York City after the bar exam.  I have until May 19 to make the city choice, and until May 20 to get my bar application to the bar examiners.  There may be a quick trip to NY this Friday to check things out, and see if it's a good fit.  I never really pictured myself there, but after almost five years in D.C., I'm ready for a change, and the wheels seem to be turning so that NY is really more of an option than I thought it would be.  I will be sure to inform you of my decision, and let you know that I managed to complete my bar application.