Halloween in Law School redux

Okay so I think I spoke too soon about people not being in costume. Apparently, I only needed to wait until the afternoon for all the wackos creatively dressed people to come out. I was also apparently looking at the wrong class. While most of the 1L's declined to dress up, a significant number of 2L's and 3L's were a little more brave.

Around 3pm, the Boalt Women's Association and BTLJ had a joint Halloween kegger. That's right- free beer and candy just before CivPro.















This is Bryant and Bora. Bryant is the co-chair of APALSA, and today, he dressed up as a box of tissues. Bora, along with 3 other girls, came dressed as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.















The library staff decorated the Pole Forest for Halloween. I guess you could call it the "Haunted Pole Forest."















I also saw various witches wandering about the school, and one lady wore a full Southern Colonial-style dress, which was awesome. Maybe next year, I'll scrounge up a white sheet, cut holes in it... and go as a cut-up bedsheet.

Halloween in Law School...

...is exactly the same as regular law school.

I think that there are going to be all kinds of Halloween social events held by student groups throughout the day (especially during lunch hour), but as far as I can see, nobody in class today is wearing a costume. It's kinda disappointing, though at the same time I'm glad I didn't wear a costume to class...

I think there are also some Halloween parties going on tonight in various places, but it's a Monday night-- a law school Monday night--, and so I don't think there's going to be any excitment happening tonight for anyone older than 22. There are some party-types here in law school, so I wouldn't be surprised if a few of my classmates came a little late to class tomorow.

For Halloween, I was thinking about going as a "sane" person, but then I realized that most people would see right though my disguise. Either that, or "emo", but then I realized that since I would just look like 60% of asian Weezer-wannabes, most people wouldn't even realize I was wearing a costume.

Note to Self

Things to do this weekend:

[x] Print & read cases for LRW Memo 3 Outline (~15 cases)
[ ] Write Memo 3 Outline (due Monday)
[ ] Complete LRW Bluebook citation exercises (due Sunday)
[ ] Read CivPro textbook pg. 1015-1032 for Monday
[ ] Read packet on rape for Crim lecture Monday (~60 pgs.)
[ ] Find and read article for Crim group presentation (~? pgs.)
[ ] Read packet for Contracts lecture Monday (~77 pgs)
[ ] Cite-checking party for BTLJ (Sunday 10am-2pm)
[ ] Complete indexing packet for BTLJ (~2 hours, due 11/4)
[ ] Maintain sanity

Boalt = Crusty Old High School, Part 2

Yup, we have a locker room. Except I remember that in high school, there was enough space between the lockers that I didn't get my ass felt up 5,000 times by people passing through while I tried to grab my books.

*shakes fist at Earth's axial tilt*

What the poop? It's only 6:45 and it's already dark outside!

When I'm studying in the library after class, I use the daylight outside to gauge how long I've been persuing nerdly activites been there. I look out the window and if it's dark, it means that I've been there for a while and hopefully been productive. Now that the days are getting shorter and night is falling faster, my whole system is falling apart. Nowadays, when I get out of class and look outside and see that it's dark, it signifies nothing more than the fact that I've been in class all freeking day.

Backy from Breaky! ...Sucky.

Crim class at 9am. The first class after fall break. It’s really overcast and pretty gloomy outside.

You can see the gloominess mirrored in the faces of my classmates. Everyone, even the normally talkative people on the other side of the room, are pretty subdued. Haha I seriously doubt that the last thing anyone wants to talk about after more than a week of vacation is the definition of "reasonableness" and the difference between negligent and reckless homicide.

Break... Hammer Time!

Yay! I'm going home for fall break!

Fall break, you say? What the hell is that?

Haha that's exactly what I said when I looked at the school calendar and found out that we have a week off from school in the middle of our semester. I guess it's kinda like spring break or something. I can't blame it on the semester system though, since it appears that the undergrads don't have a similar gap in their calendar. Maybe the law school decided to recognize our stress and take pity on us? From what I hear, things will quickly speed up (people start reviewing, outlining, and preparing for finals) after we get back, so maybe that's what it is. *shrug*

Anyways, it'll be nice to go home, see the parents, eat something other than chicken and broccoli, and see friends. Who knows? Maybe I'll do some studying too.

Mod 5 <3's Vetter

So in case you haven't figured out from my past posts, my mod pretty much loves Prof. Vetter. At Boalt, each mod has a discussion section alone with a professor. In our first meeting with him, we were pretty turned off by his unexciting demeanor and his tendency to mumble and slur his words.

It wasn't until we learned to look for the deadpan humor in his comments that we realized that he was actually one of the funniest professors at Boalt. When we found out that Mod 6 was contemplating making mod t-shirts, we decided to preempt them (our mod hates Mod 6... I'm not sure why) with shirts of our own. And who better to feature on it than funnyman Prof. Vetter?

We were able to whip up a shirt design within a day, featuring a Warhol-esque collage of Vetter's face and our Mod 5 slogan, "Vetter Does It Better":

Prof. Vetter loved the design too. We showed the design to him before getting them printed, and at first he threatened to give F's to anyone he saw wearing the shirt. We called his bluff (it's all anonymous grading), and he gave his OK.

We got the shirts printed through Cafe Press, and after a few weeks of coordination and planning, almost everybody had their shirts. We decided to wear our shirts together on the same day so that we could "shock and awe" Mod 6.

Today, we unveiled our shirts before the Boalt law community. It was pretty awesome. In addition to buying our own shirts, we all chipped in and bought Vetter a polo shirt and a mug with the Warhol design. We gave them to him today at the end CivPro. I also asked if he would take a picture with us...

Me: Professor, in honor of our awesome t-shirts, would you mind taking a picture with us?

Vetter: Well normally, taking pictures steals a part of my soul... but I’ll do it just for you.

Hooray! We definitely made a fashion statement today. We're also fairly certain that all the other mods were incredibly jealous. Haha it's amazing how much mod unity can result simply from a common desire to spite Mod 6.

Punk'd in CivPro

Oy... I got cold-called today in CivPro, and my performance was something less than, how you say? Competent.

Today we were talking about Rule 14 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides for impleader. At the beginning of class, Prof. Vetter threw a hypo at me which involved an issue of whether a defendant being sued by a person injured by a stray shotgun blast could claim, under Rule 14(a), that his damages were indemnified (not to be confused with contributorily liable) by a third party, owing to the fact that there was another hunter in the area. It's not as easy as it sounds. *sarcasm*

Anyways, despite having read the case the night before, I muddled my way through the facts of the hypo, since I didn't really have any idea of what I was doing. I gave a long, meandering, nonsensical B.S. answer, at which point Prof. Vetter stopped me and said: "So... in other words, you don't know." Then he turned to someone else. Haha ouch. Minus 12 hit points from Chris' ego.

I got a better idea of the concepts behind impleader as the class progressed, and I stayed after class for about 20 minutes with Prof. Vetter to make sure I understood them. As we walked to the door, I had this exchange with him:

Me: Thanks Professor... you know, I did read the case.

Vetter: Oh I'm sure you did. The hypo was pretty difficult. I adapted it from an actual case that involved tort liability, and I probably didn't phrase it very clearly...

*pauses to think*

...you know, actually I think it was fine.

Me: *awkwardly* Oh. Haha.

I would have to say Vetter is the best teacher of all the professors I'm taking this semester. In terms of his ability to patiently ensure that we learn the material, he's tops. He's a tall fellow, probably about 6'3", but when people ask him questions, he always stays seated and never tries to pack up his books or show any other signs of eagerness to leave. Sometimes, it's the little things like these that matter. He's a great guy, but I definitely wouldn't say that he's any less tough. :-P

[---]

On a side note, I bought Spicy Thai Kettle Chips from Cafe Zeb today as part of my lunch. Very tasty. They have got to be the most unique chip flavor I've ever had.

[---]

Seeing the forest for the... poles?

If there was one euphemism I would use to describe the general layout/floorplan of Boalt Hall, it would have to be "idiosyncratic."

And by "idiosyncratic", I mean "ghetto."

For starters, whoever designed the floorplan for this place obviously had little more a straightedge and some sort of sadistic streak because there are waaay too many 90 degree blind corners in this place for it to have been accidental. As a result, there are concave "don't even think about shoplifting because I can see you" mirrors everywhere:



















Second, funny things happen when lack of foresight runs head-on into budget constraints. Case in point: the Pole Forest.

This is the beloved pole forest:



















Apparently the story behind this oddity is that back before the North Addition was added (you can see the entrance to it on the other side), these poles used to be part of the stacks, with shelves mounted between them. When it came time to create a passageway between the old library and the new addition, they found that the poles were actually integrated into the superstructure, and that it would be exorbitantly expensive to remove them (i.e. they had better things to spend the money on).

The result? One must take a surreal "Alice in Wonderland-esque" trip through the magical pole forest in order to get to the other side. The little patio lights strung along the top only add to the general atmosphere of weirdness.

To be fair, once you do get to the other side, you find that the was trip well worth it. The North Addition (being new and modern) is gorgeous, and good thing too, since I spend most of my time there.



















Nevertheless, I can't help but wonder sometimes what this law school could have looked like had the architect not been curvilinearly-challenged.

Law School: Behind The Scenes, Part 4

Grades

It's a pretty well-established fact that law schools grade students on a curve. What this means is that you are technically competing against other students. Coming into law school, I'd heard plenty of horror stories about how savage law students could be in the pursuit of grades (tearing out pages from books so other students wouldn't get to them; refusing to share notes; pushing fellow students in the path of oncoming traffic, etc). Movies like Legally Blonde and The Paper Chase also help to reinforce these notions of cutthroat competition.

I think that there is truth to some extent in these stories. Law students are, by nature, a self-selecting bunch. In other words, the only type of people who would want to go to a top-tier law school are (for the most part) very intelligent, highly motivated, and pretty darn intense. People like this tend to be competitive as well. Since these are the only type of people that apply, these are the ones that ultimately get accepted into law school.

Recently, many schools have been taking steps to discourage competitiveness. I think it's an acknowledgement on their part that they are training people who will eventually have to work together. One of the best ways to hinder, or at least obscure the competitiveness inherent in all law students is to do away with the all-consuming pursuit of grades.

Here at Boalt, they've replaced letter grades with a modified "Pass/No Pass" system. Instead of A's, B's and C's, we get Pass, Honors, and High Honors (P, H, HH) on our transcripts. There's still a curve (10% HH, 30% H, 60% P), but all else equal, P's look better on the transcript (and are easier on the ego) than a C.

There's also something called a "Sub-pass". I haven't fully figured it out, but my understanding is that it's something akin to "grade purgatory": it's not a pass, but not a fail either. From what I've heard, it's extremely difficult to get an F in a class. You're pretty much guaranteed a "pass" if you do all the assignments, turn them in on time, and take the final. It seems that one would actually have to go out of their way to get an F. As a result, the saying around here is "P = J.D."

As if this grading system weren't laid-back enough, I just learned on Friday during the Third Day of Orientation that for the first semester of our 1L year only, the registrar would be converting all "sub-passes" into "passes". In other words, it's impossible for me to get anything less than straight passes in all my classes this semester. What a freaking awesome school.

Of course while this all looks good on paper, it still doesn't obviate the fact that the self-selected law student is inherently intense. So despite the comparatively laid-back grading system, I still haven't met anyone who is willing to settle for straight P's. In fact, more than a few people I've talked to have expressed an intent to attain "straight HH's". I personally find these people to be somewhat insane, given that in my small mod section, only 3 people will be getting that coveted grade. We have a name for these kind of people: "red-hots."

Nonetheless, I think everyone here appreciates the lower levels of stress. There isn't a constant atmosphere of tension in the air (though I hear that changes come finals time). I also get the sense that students are more laid-back here. I haven't come across any books with pages torn out yet, though I still wonder sometimes if I should be walking so close to the curb...

[---]

Next time: So is there life outside of law school? Do they have extracurricular activites? What about clubs and student government? Why the hell aren't you on AIM anymore?

[---]

Just when you thought it was over...

Today I went to Boalt's "Third Day of Orientation."

It was a continuation of the two days of orientation we had back in August, and all 1L's were required to attend. When I first heard that we had to come to school on a Friday (I usually get Fridays off), I was not a happy camper.

The topics included instructions on how to enroll for Spring semester classes, a reminder about the school's honor code, and distribution of our preliminary Spring schedules (I found out that my days will be starting at 8:45 AM... whoop-dee-freeking-doo) .

A significant portion of the day was also devoted to discussions about legal professionalism and ethics. We listened to a professor talk about how to be more profesional and ethical lawyers, and then we broke into little discussion sessions where we talked about hypothetical moral dilemmas.

The talk made me really think about the practice of law as an institution. The Legal Profession is more than a job; it's something bigger. When we become lawyers, our behavior doesn't just reflect on our own character, but on the character of every other lawyer in the profession as well. It's sort of like a big exclusive club that you can only become a member of after 2 life-destroying exams (LSAT & Bar) and 3 years of school. Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of all that when you're just a lowly, struggling 1L...

So anyways, the idea is that we should be more mindful of our behavior and how it is perceived by others (namely, our clients). It's kinda sobering, but I guess it's important to think about the next time I consider shredding a document to avoid discovery.

So yeah... despite all the initial grumbling, I guess that today wasn't a complete waste. Nevertheless, as awesome as my mind-blowing lawyer-ephiphany was, it was still only second to the tasty free lunch. :-)

Mac & Cheese & IP Litigation

Today during the lunch hour I went to an awesome talk (and more free lunch) held by an IP litigation attorney from the San Francisco office of Kirkland & Ellis.

Unlike past talks where the lawyers give a lecture on pending cases and other interesting legal issues in the world of intellectual property, the guy today gave a sort of strategic talk about how to cross-examine expert witnesses. Since a lot of IP litigation involves experts, it's important to figure out ways to defeat the ones put forth by the other side.

Anyways, he proceeded to tell us about a multimillion-dollar case (called the "O.J. Simpson of patent trials") he worked on in which he defended some companies against a claim of patent infringement. A key part of the opposing party's case relied on testimony from a star expert witness. He successfully applied his techniques for effective cross examination, discredited the witness, and ultimately won the case.

Listening to him talk about this trial took me back to my days as a high school debater. The rivalry! The intellectual battle of wits! The sweet taste of crushing and completely and utterly embarrasssing the other team! Right now, IP litigation sounds like a lot of fun.

The attorney from Kirkland was also pretty funny. Best part of the story:

"So after completely discrediting their expert witness, I decided to call it a day and head back to California early. I was in the airport when I saw one of the lawyers from opposing counsel. He was reading a book, and so I went over and said hello (though we were on opposite sides of the case, we all try to get along because we're professionals). He said to me, 'Wow... you're heading back early today!' And I thought to myself 'Yeah, because I totally demolished your star witness. Just read your little book.'

[laughter]

Yeah... sometimes I get a little chippy."

Hahaha what a great guy... he said "chippy"...

!!!

Ohcrap... Prof. Westen is calling on people in my row... I better stop writing and start paying attention...

Crim shouldn't be in the morning

Today we're finally getting to the topic of homicide in Crim Law (I mean, isn't that what most people think about when they think about criminal law?). All this craziness about first and second degree murder and manslaughter and negligent homicide and malice and whatnot is interesting and all, but I think there is a more significant issue:

Have you ever broken down the word "manslaughter" into its component parts? Have you noticed that it breaks down into the words "mans" and "laughter"? As in "man's laughter"? Isn't that weird? I think it's weird.

Boalt = Crusty Old High School

Remember the dark, dank, gloomy, nasty bathrooms in your high school gym? To paraphrase from recent Staples ads: "Yeah, we got that."

Semester Seshmester

I was thinking to myself today about well... what day it was, when I realized that UCLA undergrads are just starting their Fall quarter this week (last week was Zero Week, yes?).

Lemme tell you, it's very odd adjusting to the semester system.

For starters, I only got an abbreviated summer vacation. Since the quarter system ends later than the semester system and the semester system starts earlier than the quarter system, I got the shaft and enjoyed a grand total of two (2) months of summer vacation between graduating from UCLA and starting law school. It's always funny when classmates with Ph.Ds and years of work experience ask me what I did between undergrad and law school. I usually respond with a blank stare.

Law school for me started on August 18 with orientation, which means that I've been at Boalt for almost 8 weeks already. And we're only halfway through the material in most of my classes. If I were still at UCLA, around this time I'd have already finished midterms and would be gearing up for finals. Yikes.

Haha I guess all this opining is just a result of my newbie-ness to the mystical semester schedule. This 15-week thing is new to me. I've never had a "fall break" before (I'll be home the week of Oct. 17, btw). I don't know how to deal with a "finals week" that spans two weeks. And I'm still not sure how to deal with the school year ending on my birthday.

On the upside though, the semester system has its perks. Besides giving us fall break (freeking awesome, if not a little weird), my time here feels less compacted, so that I don't feel that I'm always constantly studying for a test. As a result, I have more time to kick-back, relax, and uh... read for class.

Walking through the halls...

Between the students pulling their rolly-backpacks/briefcases and the [seemingly] hundreds of people filling the narrow halls during passing periods, I realized today that law school looks (and feels) a lot like an airport terminal.

Law School: Behind The Scenes, Part 3

Reading

The reading that they assign in law school really isn't that bad. Every night I get anywhere from 3 to 20 pages of reading per class, though it's rare for me to have more than 40 total pages of reading on any given night. For those of you who are familiar with social science classes (and their thick-ass readers), I would even go so far as to argue that I have less reading in law school than I did as an undergrad.

So what's the big deal about the reading? Well, unlike classes in undergrad, there is a much higher expectation (and thus a lot more pressure) to actually do all the reading. At UCLA, I could get away with only doing half the reading (or sometimes none of it at all). As long as I went to lectures and the review sessions before tests, I was fine. Here in law school, the professors assume that you've done the reading in preparation for that day's class. They jump straight into the material without any sort of summary of the reading or whatnot. As a result, it's actually in your own best interests to get the reading done so that you actually know what the hell they're talking about.

I have 2 "heavy" textbooks (1 each for Crim and CivPro), and a little reader thingie for Contracts. I usually do the readings out of at least one of the heavy textbooks at school that way I don't have to lug both textbooks home. Thus, most afternoons after class, I stay in the library to do it.

Coming into Boalt, I thought I was going to be something of a pitiful law student, since I read kind of slow. For me at least, I read slow because I have to read the same page at least twice in order to understand what's going on. To my relief, I found out that most of the people here are just like me - they're all equally freaked out about their slow reading ability too.

In order to get the readings done, I block off at least 3-4 hours per night so that I have enough time to get it all done. It seems like a lot of time at first, until you realize that, living alone in an apartment with no TV far from downtown Berkeley means I really don't have anything better to do. I'd hate to imagine how the parents and the married people in law school handle the reading...

[---]

Next time: Grades Grades Grades... the fire beneath law students' feet. If they're so freaking important, why Boalt doesn't have them?

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