Legally Speaking

overdue update

2006-10-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

It's been brought to my attention that I haven't written anything here this school year.

Well, I've been busy. School, work, moving (I live with my sister now, and so far we're proving that a doctor and an almost-lawyer can co-exist in peace), and watching my romantic life take a turn that is the sort of thing the Alliance Defense Fund uses to say that being queer isn't immutable and therefore doesn't deserve constitutional protection.

I'm also job hunting - three interviews so far. It's a mixed blessing knowing with so much certainty what I want to do with my J.D. In one sense it allows me to focus my job search, but it also makes things frustrating because it pretty much necessitates moving to pursue the type of work I want to do.

My classes - such as they are - are going well. Secured transactions is a challenge because it's taught with a very strong pro-creditor approach, and I defend borrowers. (And yes, Professor Korybut, "debtors" do show up to defend themselves in court. Before the semester kicked in and required my presence in St. Louis on Wednesday afternoons, I talked to borrowers every single week at the collections/FED docket.)

Feminist legal theory is phenomenal, as I suspected it would be. Directed research is great if for no other reason that it provides me a perfect reason to spend time talking with Professor Bloom.

And Trial Ad - I'm not sure what to say about that. Some weeks it completely kicks my ass, but I think it's going to be one of the most important experiences that law school provides me.

Other than that I continue to fight the good fight at the agency where I've worked since the beginning of the summer after first year. I'm there far more than at school, with my externship hours plus paid hours.

So there you have it - it may not be exciting, but it is an update.

Oh, and as always, GO CARDS!

plenty to write about, not enough time to do it

2006-07-12T05:32:00.000-07:00

I was out with some school friends the other night, and one of them brought to my attention the fact that I haven't posted anything here since May 20. So I thought I'd remedy that.

When I haven't been busy working, I've had plenty of other things to occupy my time and attention.

My sister has been in the process of moving back home and has become something of a local celebrity in the process. The practice she's joining has been running ads announcing her arrival in the area, and the local paper wrote a story about her. Given the fact that there's unlikely to be a full-time opening at my agency when I graduate, she's been suggesting that I let her look into getting me an interview at the firm that represents her doctors' group. That led to an interesting discussion. Upon starting law school I did assure her that I'd never sue doctors, but there's no way I want to spend my career defending them, either.

In light of this probable lack of openings at the agency where I work, a couple of friends of mine who are already licensed attorneys have suggested that we go into practice together at some point in the future. There's obviously a lot that goes into such a venture, so it remains to be seen whether it will materialize. But just in case, I decided to tweak my schedule a bit to take Trial Ad. My current fall classes have become:

-Secured Transactions (Korybut)
-Trial Ad I (Kessler) - thanks to a friend who decided to drop and met up with me so I could snag her spot as soon as she submitted her drop/add form on Banner
-Externship (agency where I currently work)
-Lawyering Practice (Gilchrist)
-Feminist Legal Theory (Porter)
-Directed Research (Bloom)

I've also been catching up on non-school reading. My current selection is autobiography of a blue-eyed devil: my life and times in a racist, imperialist society. I may write about it once I've finished, but for now I'll just say that Inga Muscio has cemented her place on my list of personal heroes.

Off to work with me. I'll try not to let another 6 weeks go by before my next post.

PSA for St. Louis area readers

2006-05-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

Tickets for home games in the new Busch Stadium sold out pretty quickly, but that doesn't mean you can't catch a game this summer.

The Cardinals have a program that allows a sort of lottery-style approach to last minute ticket sales.

At 9am the morning of any home game, one ticket window opens up at the stadium. 125 pairs of tickets are released. People who show up pay $11.00 ($5.50 per seat, in honor of the games now being carried on 550 KTRS) and get a number. Those with numbers come back to the will-call window (I think) at some designated pre-game time and receive 2 tickets. There's no telling what you might get. They are mainly tickets that have been released by the two teams which will be playing that day - so they could be really excellent seats. But even if they're in the nosebleed section you're coming out ahead, as you're getting the tickets cheaper than standing room.

This message brought to you courtesy of my season-ticket holding bleacher bum dad. He holds this occupation to be just as noble as the rest of his family - his wife the teacher, his older daughter the almost-lawyer, and his younger daughter the doctor.

Study breaks

2006-05-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

We all have them. Or at least I'm guessing we do. Those random little notes we write to ourselved in the midst of our class notes.

In studying for my first final of the semester, I came across an entire day's worth of notes that consisted only of the following:

"This class is the bad. Why do you sign up for classes which completely contradict your entire value system?"

A friend I was studying with this evening came across this gem:

"You can't have sex with your client unless you were already gettin' it on before the representation started."

So I invite you all to take a moment out of your studies and share your own funny little note tidbits.

Reasons I am not a doctor

2006-05-05T16:57:00.000-07:00

Y'know, besides the whole lesser ability in math and science thing.

The other night, there was a shoot out in Cincinnati that is reportedly related to a rap concert that took place there. A local rapper showed up and the performing rapper dissed him and his crew. So the theory is that the local rapper and his people hung around, waited for the performing rapper to leave, and followed him. Gun fire was exchanged on one of the area interstates.

It just so happens that my sister is in the final weeks of her residency at a hospital in Cincinnati. She was working when all this went down, and saw one of the victims in the emergency room. (Saw as in viewed, not treated. She's an ob-gyn.)

DON'T READ THIS NEXT SENTENCE IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH, JUST ATE, ETC.

She said he was shot in the head and injured so severely that his brain was coming out his nose. Given that statement, it's not particularly surprising that he didn't survive his injuries.

This reminded me of when she was in med school. Our family would meet for dinner (lunch) every Sunday, and she'd regale us with tales of the things she "got" to do that week. Had I been in her position, I would have been showing up at dinner saying "You won't believe what they made me do this week!" (They were always gross.)

So as much as I don't want to be studying for finals, at least I'm not gearing up for a career that bears much chance of coming into contact with sights like the one described above.

Schedule

2006-04-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

So now that I no longer have the position of student organization president occupying my mind, I shall turn my attention to future matters.

First, this summer. I will be continuing my work at the agency where I've been employed since last summer. (Note to self: must complete paper work for 711 certification.)

Second, I got almost the exact schedule I wanted for next semester. My classes will be as follows:

Externship Clinic
Lawyering Practice (Gilchrist)
Juvenile Law (McGraugh)
Secured Transactions (Korybut)
Urban Housing and Development (Salsich)
Directed Research (Bloom)

The only class I wanted but didn't get was Porter's Feminist Legal Theory seminar, because I've already taken two seminars and therefore was low on the priority list.

Passing the torch ...

2006-04-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

... or in this case, the paper plates and napkins.

It is my honor and pleasure to congratulate the newly elected officers of SLU Law's chapter of ACS.

President - Paul Woody
Vice President - Chris Durso
Secretary - Christie Kure
Treasurer - Rich Carey

I am very happy with the progress my fellow outgoing officers and I have made in getting a student group established that didn't exist when we started at SLU Law last year.

I am also happy to be handing the reins over to someone else, particularly since our chapter of ACS will be in such capable hands.

Texas Hold 'Em - one last time

2006-04-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to remind everyone that ACS is having our Texas Hold 'Em tournament this Thursday evening at Guido's on The Hill. It will start at 7pm and run until sometime between 9-10pm. It's a $10 buy in and the winner will receive a gift certificate to Guido's.

Chief Justice Wolff of the Supreme Court of Missouri is signed up to play.

Please note that this event is open to anyone who would like to attend, so long as you're over 21 and willing to pay $10 to ACS. There is still a small amount of seating available - to sign up please email acsslu@yahoo.com.

After our meeting tomorrow, I will no longer be the president of this group, so this is likely my last post in that capacity. Wow, how the time flies.

Texas Hold 'Em - taking it up a notch

2006-04-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

Last night was the second installment of what I hope becomes a tradition for SLU ACS. We had a social at Guido's on The Hill. Our guest of honor was Judge Teitelman of the Supreme Court of Missouri. Last semester our guest of honor was Chief Justice Wolff, and apparently he had such a good time that he asked to be invited again. The event was a rousing success.

We had a sign up sheet for our upcoming Texas Hold 'Em Tournament at the event, and Chief Justice Wolff signed up to play.

There are still seats available, so if you're interested in playing poker with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri, sign up by emailing acsslu@yahoo.com.

And to any SLU Law 1Ls who are reading this, good luck with those LRW briefs that are due on Monday!

Too cute to resist

2006-04-06T18:46:00.000-07:00

Civ Pro in action

2006-04-06T08:06:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest benefits of summer work - particularly summer work at a swamped, understaffed agency that won't lock you in a room with a Westlaw password and a computer - is that you get to see some of the stuff you learned in classes play out in actual cases.

This past summer, I got a crash course in what I termed the "dark side of Civ Pro."

We had a pretty routine family case, or at least it should have been fairly routine. But the respondent knew just enough civ pro to be dangerous. He had already been before every judge in his small county on some sort of criminal or civil matter, so one by one he filed petitions for substitution against every one of them. Some of them voluntarily recused themselves, others let fellow judges decide. By the time I came on the scene at work, he'd gone through every judge in his county so they were bringing in other judges to hear our motions.

The first hearing I attended, we were greeted with yet another petition for substitution alleging actual prejudice. Since every judge in that county had already been disqualified in one way or another, none of them could rule on the petition and neither could the judge against whom it was filed. So we had to continue the case yet again until someone else could be brought in from a neighboring county to hear the petition.

I'm pretty sure that case still isn't over.

Well, in Madison County we're getting another chance to view civil procedure in action.

A couple of months ago, following a judge's retirement, Lloyd Karmeier appointed former (Republican) prosecutor Don Weber to fill the vacancy until the next election.

In Illinois, a participant in a lawsuit is allowed one change of judge "by right." (meaning no reason has to be given) Since many of the trial lawyers over in our neck of the woods are big time donors to and/or active participants in the Democratic party, many of them believe they won't get a fair trial in front of Judge Weber. So they are asking for substitution anytime they draw him for their cases.

Edit: There are also reports of racist comments Weber made when a prosecutor. I didn't include that in my original post because I couldn't find a source for it, but I do know that there was a picket by the NAACP at his swearing-in ceremony.

Now, the name Don Weber might be familiar to those of you old enough to remember the Paula Sims case. (Sims was a woman who was convicted of killing her two infant daughters. She was from my area - my grandma taught her in high school and her defense attorney lived in my neighborhood during the time of the trial.) Don Weber was the prosecutor who tried her case. He wrote a book about the case, and on the cover was a picture of Sims and her family. The photographer who took the picture sued, saying permission had not been granted to use the picture. One of our big law firms represented the photographer, so they moved for a sort of "blanket" substitution. They lost, but they'll probably get their substitutions another way. (It just would have been less a hassle if they'd won their case, I guess.)

Anyway, the end result of all this is that we have a judge in Madison County who, from what I hear, kind of sits around doing not-that-much because everyone requests substitution when they draw him as their judge.

It will be interesting to see what happens after the election. While some political watch dogs say this will be a close race that's impossible to call at present, many around the court house believe it won't even be close and David Hylla will win in a walk. (Just check out some of my group memberships linked on the side of this page to guess how I hope that turns out.)

At the very least, Madison County is never a boring place to work!

ACS upcoming events

2006-03-29T17:02:00.000-08:00

We might have been off to a slow start this semester, but we're finishing strong.

First, our treasurer's fiance did a gorgeous painting of Lady Justice which we donated to the PILG auction. It brought in a cool two hundred bucks. Not too shabby.

We have four events coming up that are nothing to sneeze at, either.

April 4 - brown bag discussion with Professor Porter

April 7 - reception for ACS members and area progressive attorneys with Judge Teitelman of the Missouri Supreme Court. Chief Justice Wolff, also of the Missouri Supreme Court, asked to be invited again this semester so there's a good chance he'll be stopping by as well. Information on location coming ASAP.

update: The reception will be held at Guido's on The Hill, from 5-7pm. We have the private back room reserved. Appetizers on us.

April 12 - MO Attorney General Jay Nixon will be speaking at noon. Career Services is co-sponsoring and will be providing lunch. Currently scheduled for the courtroom but we're trying to get it moved to a bigger classroom both to accomodate more people and to facilitate eating.

April 20 - Texas Hold 'Em Tournament at Guido's on the Hill. From 7pm - 9 or 10pm. Limited availability of seating, $10 entry fee.

that about sums it up for me

2006-03-16T12:36:00.000-08:00

I think Professor Raskin and I are pretty well on the same wavelength:

(From an article in the Baltimore Sun)

On Wednesday, March 1, 2006, in Annapolis, Maryland at a hearing on the proposed (Maryland State) Constitutional Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie Raskin, professor of law at AU, was requested to testify.

At the end of his testimony, Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs said: "Mr. Raskin, my Bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say about that?"

Raskin replied: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

C'mon - it's ice cream!

2006-02-23T09:16:00.000-08:00

I am encouraging all SLU Law readers of this blog to show up tonight and support the Black Law Students Association at their fundraiser at Cold Stone Creamery. There should be a coupon in your school mailbox that you will need topresent when ordering your ice cream, and BLSA will receive a portion of the proceeds from your order. The event runs from 5:00 - 10:00. And don't let concern over calories keep you away - they have something called Sinless Sweet Cream that is low-calorie and fat free.

Bonus for ACS members: If you show up between 7:30 and 8:00, ACS will pop for your ice cream.

Idiots revisited

2006-02-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is the information regarding the upcoming ACS discussion of the living constitution.

What: ACS Brown Bag Discussion.
When: Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 21, 2006 at noon.
Where: Room 307
Who: Professor Bloom and anyone else who'd like to join us.
Why: To learn more about the idea of a living constitution.

Bring your lunch, we'll supply cookies.

Well, that's a shocker.

2006-02-16T07:37:00.000-08:00

This is my result in "the world's smallest political quiz."

I'd be interested to learn of the results of some of my readers, so if you're so inclined, take the quiz and post the results in the comments.

Idiots, indeed.

2006-02-15T07:18:00.000-08:00

Justice Scalia (and some of my classmates) may believe that those who espouse a living Constitution are "idiots." But I'm hard pressed to think of anyone who could accurately call Professor Bloom an idiot - so the timing is pretty impeccable that he'll be speaking to ACS in a brown-bag setting sometime soon on this very topic. Once the time and date are firmed up, details will be posted here.

Hometown(ish) representing

2006-02-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

One night last week, I actually managed to get home in time to catch The Daily Show, and one of the stories featured not only my home state but a town not too far from where I live. The subject was the growing controversy over pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control pills - most often emergency contraception. The pharmacist they were interviewing was Ron Stephens who also happens to be a state representative from nearby Bond County, Illinois.

Governor Rod Blagojevich - who has taken action to ensure that Illinois women have access to the medications their doctors prescribe them - was also on the show.

That's all I've got for now. I'm suffering from a pretty intense cold/flu/sinus sort of thing so I've been engaging in such luxuries as actually sleeping more than 5 hours a night. I'll be getting back to that right about now.

Super Bowl shenanigans

2006-02-05T20:51:00.000-08:00

Tonight I attended a Super Bowl party at a classmate's home. I'm not a fan of football, but I'm a fan of my friends and don't get to see them that often, so I went.

The hosting classmate has a roommate who's originally from India and used to live in San Francisco. He couldn't get over the "Jesus commercials" (as he put it) featuring Kurt Warner that kept playing. After perhaps the third showing, he said, "This must be a St. Louis phenomenon. No way is this playing all over the country."

So he got on the phone to some friends of his out in the city by the bay. The conversation went as follows.

Roommate: "Are you watching the game?"
SF Friend: "yes"
Roommate: "Did you just see the last commercial they played?"
SF Friend: "yes"
Roommate: "Was it Kurt Warner doing a spot for something called Athletes For Jesus dot org?"
SF Friend: "No, it was for Brokeback Mountain."

Good times.

If anyone has a defense for this, I'd love to hear it.

2006-02-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

The following is a letter written by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan regarding her experience at the State of the Union Address Tuesday night. Taken from Common Dreams.

Dear Friends,

As most of you have probably heard, I was arrested before the State of the Union Address tonight.

I am speechless with fury at what happened and with grief over what we have lost in our country.

There have been lies from the police and distortions by the press. (Shocker) So this is what really happened:

This afternoon at the People's State of the Union Address in DC where I was joined by Congresspersons Lynn Woolsey and John Conyers, Ann Wright, Malik Rahim and John Cavanagh, Lynn brought me a ticket to the State of the Union Address. At that time, I was wearing the shirt that said: 2245 Dead. How many more?

After the PSOTU press conference, I was having second thoughts about going to the SOTU at the Capitol. I didn't feel comfortable going. I knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me and I knew that I couldn't disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket and I didn't want to be disruptive out of respect for her. I, in fact, had given the ticket to John Bruhns who is in Iraq Veterans Against the War. However, Lynn's office had already called the media and everyone knew I was going to be there so I sucked it up and went.

I got the ticket back from John, and I met one of Congresswoman Barbara Lee's staffers in the Longworth Congressional Office building and we went to the Capitol via the undergroud tunnel. I went through security once, then had to use the rest room and went through security again.

My ticket was in the 5th gallery, front row, fourth seat in. The person who in a few minutes was to arrest me, helped me to my seat.

I had just sat down and I was warm from climbing 3 flights of stairs back up from the bathroom so I unzipped my jacket. I turned to the right to take my left arm out, when the same officer saw my shirt and yelled; "Protester." He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs. I said something like "I'm going, do you have to be so rough?" By the way, his name is Mike Weight.

The officer ran with me to the elevators yelling at everyone to move out of the way. When we got to the elevators, he cuffed me and took me outside to await a squad car. On the way out, someone behind me said, "That's Cindy Sheehan." At which point the officer who arrested me said: "Take these steps slowly." I said, "You didn't care about being careful when you were dragging me up the other steps." He said, "That's because you were protesting." Wow, I get hauled out of the People's House because I was, "Protesting."

I was never told that I couldn't wear that shirt into the Congress. I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things...I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later. I was immediately, and roughly (I have the bruises and muscle spasms to prove it) hauled off and arrested for "unlawful conduct."

After I had my personal items inventoried and my fingers printed, a nice Sgt. came in and looked at my shirt and said, "2245, huh? I just got back from there."

I told him that my son died there. That's when the enormity of my loss hit me. I have lost my son. I have lost my First Amendment rights. I have lost the country that I love. Where did America go? I started crying in pain.

What did Casey die for? What did the 2244 other brave young Americans die for? What are tens of thousands of them over there in harm's way for still? For this? I can't even wear a shrit that has the number of troops on it that George Bush and his arrogant and ignorant policies are responsible for killing.

I wore the shirt to make a statement. The press knew I was going to be there and I thought every once in awhile they would show me and I would have the shirt on. I did not wear it to be disruptive, or I would have unzipped my jacket during George's speech. If I had any idea what happens to people who wear shirts that make the neocons uncomfortable that I would be arrested...maybe I would have, but I didn't.

There have already been many wild stories out there.

I have some lawyers looking into filing a First Amendment lawsuit against the government for what happened tonight. I will file it. It is time to take our freedoms and our country back.

I don't want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ulitmate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government. That's why I am going to take my freedoms and liberties back. That's why I am not going to let Bushco take anything else away from me...or you.

I am so appreciative of the couple of hundred of protesters who came to the jail while I was locked up to show their support....we have so much potential for good...there is so much good in so many people.

Four hours and 2 jails after I was arrested, I was let out. Again, I am so upset and sore it is hard to think straight.

Keep up the struggle...I promise you I will too.

Love and peace soon,
Cindy

stupid bumper stickers

2006-01-31T14:04:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, I was sitting in traffic, and I saw what has to be the most asinine bumper sticker ever. It said, "If Mary had been pro-choice, there'd be no Christmas."

Where on earth do people get the ridiculous notion that being pro-choice means a woman would not choose to carry her pregnancy to term? My classmate Sarah Molina is unreservedly pro-choice - even has the "Keep Abortion Legal" bumper sticker on the back of her car - and has three children. When I asked her if I could use her name in this post, she said yes and added that I could include the fact that she "cried her eyes out" when she miscarried two wanted pregnancies.

I also had a miscarriage back when I was married. My husband and I had not been trying to have children at the time, but it wasn't something we opposed. It remains one of the most heartbreaking experiences of my life. I am also completely and utterly pro-choice.

People really need to get their facts straight sometimes.

Another topic Sarah and I often discuss is the message behind the bumper sticker that says "Smile, your Mom was pro-life!" Our birthdates are only about a week apart, late October and early November of 1973, meaning we were conceived right after Roe was decided. She refers to us as being among the first "choice babies," and we both find it comforting to know that our mothers chose to have us.

So if any of you reading this labor under the misconception that all pro-choice women would choose abortion should they become pregnant, think again. All it means is that the choice should be left up to the individual woman.

2006-01-26T08:18:00.000-08:00

I was having blogging troubles on Martin Luther King Day, so I didn't get to post this. But it's important enough to me to do so now.

Below is the text under Bush's picture and the words "IT STILL IS":

At the time Martin Luther King Jr. was championing the rights of all Americans, the government was violating his rights by secretly wiretapping him in the name of national security. The sorry history of the surveillance and wiretapping of dissenters - of those seen as "enemies" of the president - led to a law that specifically requires the president to seek court approval for wiretaps of Americans, even for national security investigations. George Bush believes that he is not bound by this law. An American can be under illegal surveillance by the Bush administration without any judicial check on that power. That's not the America in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream.

2006-01-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

I feel compelled to give a hat tip to the 1L who pulled off a 4.0 first semester.

And we thought the 2L class had some serious gunners!

2006-01-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

This doesn't appear to be made by the JibJab folks, but it's just as funny and clever (and, yes, over-the-top). Of course, they're preaching to the choir with me as I would sooner sign one of Bush's loyalty oaths than shop at Wal-Mart.

2006-01-19T11:25:00.000-08:00

The field to enter a title for my blog posts seems to have disappeared. That's somewhat bothersome. But that's not what I planned to write about.

As I know I've mentioned before, last semester I took a class which included an assignment to write my best estimation of Justice Breyer's opinion in Gonzales v. Oregon, a case challenging the validity of a directive issued by then-Attorney General John Aschroft stating that doctors who prescribed narcotics in accordance with Oregon's Death with Dignity Act would be in violation of the Federal Controlled Substances Act and risk losing their licenses to prescribe federally regulated pharmaceuticals as well as possibly face criminal prosecution.

While the numbers did not come down quite as I predicted, the decision did go the way I thought it would (and should).

As for the case I wrote my other paper about - Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights - my hopes are not high that it will come out the way I think it should. From my research, the Solomon Amendment is a clear violation of the unconstitutional conditions doctrine, but I highly doubt a majority of the Court will agree.

So far, I am excited about all my classes this semester. I have a good friend and coworker who advised me on my schedule in terms of classes I should take to prepare for the bar - he just passed over the summer(Legal Pro, which is of course required, but not Business Associations), to prepare for practice (Family Law and Trusts and Estates) and based on my interests and own personal educational fulfillment (Jurisprudence, Unions and their Members, and Topics in Civil Rights). So I'm sure that helped a lot in terms of not having any classes or professors I absolutely dread.

What I am not excited about is all the time I will be spending in my car. Two days a week I drive over here to attend classes in the morning, drive back home to work during the afternoon, drive back over here to attend classes at night, then drive back home to sleep. If I could afford to pay a decent wage, I'd hire someone to ride in the car with me and read aloud from my school books. Of course, if I had access to that kind of cash, I would be living closer to school and the whole thing would be moot.

Above all, though, I'm excited about my job. I'm still at the same agency and will continue drafting pleadings and judgments, but I'll be spending each Friday at the court house helping domestic violence victims with their requests for emergency orders of protection. Then this summer, when I'm able to obtain my "711" license (named for the Rule under which it's granted, even though we like to joke that it means it came free with a Big Gulp), I'll be trained and ready to actually represent clients who are seeking plenary orders of protection. It was in the meeting with my boss where this new assignment was given to me that the overwhelming responsibility of being a lawyer first became "real" to me. Previously it was much more theoretical and removed.

As this is a day I don't have to play blue state/red state/blue state/red state, I should probably be using my time to read rather than blather all over this webscreen. That is just what I shall do, too, as soon as I welcome a new(ish) fellow SLU Law blogger.

2006-01-17T12:27:00.000-08:00

This time, I deleted my blog. Some sort of "new semester, new start" kind of thing, I guess.

At any rate, I had intended to write something soon after deleting my old stuff, but blogger was acting a bit wonky.

Despite my enthusiasm for almost all my classes, this semester just may kill me. It's only the first day and already I'm exhausted. I can only thank my lucky stars that I'm not having the same "I'm not sure I want to be a lawyer anymore" angst that seems to have befallen many of my friends.

To that end, I will now return to getting some work done.