Law School Tip #5

Learn how semi-colons work. 

Law School Tip #4

How to choose a law school:

Go visit the school with a horrific hangover.  If you still like the school even though you feel like death walking, then you know right where you belong.

Sing Hallelujah Amen!

I know.  I promised I would stop skipping days on this blog.  I made a November resolution to be more organized.  (Of course, I make that resolution every month.)  But I swear I had a good reason, guys!  My final writing assignment for the semester was due on Thursday, and it was a 30 page appellate brief.

So that's it.  I took my last LARC (that's legal writing, or lawyering for the rest of you folks) class this week.  So I thought it might be a good idea to discuss how different people deal with the after-effects of stress.

Some people sleep for hours on end.  Their system just crashes and they just head to their beds and the sweet embrace of dreamland.  Others drink.  Copiously.  The parties that happen after major stress-related events in law school would make our parents gasp.  And then probably sit us on the couch and warn of us of the perils of alcoholism.  I do neither of those things.

I become Suzy Homemaker.

I know I've talked before about how in high stress situations, like final exams, the adrenaline makes my brain clear and I zip through the exam without any nerves at all.  After the exam, however, is another story.  I begin shaking and my stomach feels sick and I want to either pass out or cry.  (I don't mind, of course.  For clarity of mind during exams, it's a VERY small price to pay.)

But like Newton says, a body in motion stays in motion, and after go, go, going, I can't stop.  I can't force myself to relax.  I need to be doing something.  So after my appellate brief was turned in, I started cleaning.  I Lysol-ed my bathroom to death, including the grout, I dusted the baseboards, I windex-ed the mirrors, I scrubbed the toilet, I attacked the bathtub, and I rearranged the cabinets.  Then I moved on to my bedroom, where I threw out all the things I didn't need anymore, rearranged my desk, dusted all of the wooden surfaces, actually made my bed for the first time in a week, and vacuumed.

Guys, by the time I was done, I had to leave my apartment before I passed out from the smell.

Today I went to tutoring, where we got to go to gym with the kids and pretty much played volleyball and basketball against our mentees.  Then when I got home, rather than chilling, or at least sitting still to do my reading, I went to the grocery store.  Where I bought ingredients for things I won't even have time to make.

And when I realized that, I thought, "This might be a good time to start using up what's in my fridge!"  Interestingly, I possessed a whole pineapple.  So I used half of that to make bread.  And then, because I already had the food processor out, proceeded to make mango, strawberry, and pineapple smoothies.  (Because I also had frozen mango and strawberries in the freezer, as well as having bought a giant container of plain yogurt from the grocery store today.  Again for no reason.)  So, you see, when under the ravages of stress, I tend to make sure everyone in my life has warm bread to come home to.

The whole point of this is, of course, I now have an entire loaf of french bread for no reason.

I guess The Boy will be eating french toast with a sweetened yogurt topping at some point this weekend.

Law School Tip #3

Adopt an older student.  They'll tell you all sorts of neat things:  What classes to take, which professors they like best, and which Kinko's is the most efficient for binding your appellate brief for legal writing class.

Affirmation

Sometimes getting through the day here in law school is harder than you might think.  It can be no end of exhausting.  I've had major writing assignments due every single week lately, which is pretty tiring, though the last one is due this Thursday.  So at this point, my goal is just to get through until Friday.  And then its studying for finals right up until the end.  Here are the things I tell myself to make it all better.

I believe in getting up early and going for a nice, hard cardio workout or sleeping in early.  There is no in-between.

I believe in being able to take a joke.  If you can’t take it, you’re not really allowed to dish it out.  And dishing it out is the best part.

I believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day. 

I believe in telling the truth.  Lying is a waste of everybody’s time, not to mention and insult to their intelligence.

I believe in lying.  Telling the truth is a pain in the ass sometimes.

I believe there are no such things as challenges.  As soon as you decide something is hard, it gets harder.  It’s like when you’re running uphill:  if you imagine the road is flat, it’s not as difficult.

I believe that everything happens for a purpose.  And that purpose is to learn from it.  Even in your best moments, you can practice humility, and in your worst moments, you can practice bravery.

I believe in being thankful for my whole life, for every minute of it, and for everything that comes my way.

Basically I just want to be this kid:

What about you?  Is there anything you believe in?

Law School Tip #2

In the choice between celebrating LARC almost being over and crying because you haven't started studying for finals, I recommend procrastination on all counts.

Fashion Forward Fridays: Sharp Dressed Man Edition

“I love ties.” ~ Baby B

Mmmmm….men’s fashion.  While not as obviously complicated as women’s fashion (pantyhose? Pants? Skirt?  500 pairs of shoes??), it still has its little ins and outs that every guy should know about when attempting to dress himself.  And my favorite part of any guy’s outfit?  (Get your mind out of the gutter!)  A good tie.  Here's some tips for buying your perfect tie.

1.  Consider the Color:  Buy your tie when you buy your shirt.  That way you have at least ONE matching tie.  And it needs to match EXACTLY.  No slightly off colors, or everyone will notice.  

2.  Ponder the Pattern:  Striped shirt, solid tie/solid shirt, striped tie.  Just do it and don’t get excited.  (However, I once saw a sharply dressed guy with khakis a striped shirt of yellow and blue and brown shoes.  And a paisley tie.  It was super awesome, but this level is FOR EXPERTS ONLY.)

3.     Mull over the Measure:  Your tie should at least reach your pants.  Seriously, guys.  Buy the right tie length.  Especially if you have a little bit of belly going (I don’t judge.  My pants refused to button the other day), that tie will cut you at the WORST place.

4.     Weight the Width:  Skinny ties are a no.  Unless you’re a hipster.  But we here at RWF make fun of hipsters and Baby B wants to sterilize them so that they can’t reproduce.  So just no skinny ties in general.

5.     Think Gallant, Not Gaudy.  Remember that paisley tie I mentioned earlier?  Patterns are awesome.  Ties with Santa Clauses running the length of them are not.  Especially if you are under the age of 35.  You are only obligated to wear something like that if it was given to you by your clueless children.  And even then, you don’t have to wear it to school/work/etc.  (Well, you might have to.  Children seem to think I’m evil, so I could definitely be wrong on that front.)

Also, thanks to Baby B and Mikey for their invaluable information on men’s fashion!

And to celebrate your newfound knowledge:  Here’s some ZZ Top.  Because God knows, this girl is crazy about a sharp-dressed man.

Any other advice about how to buy/find a great tie?  Ladies and Dudes both welcome to chime in below in the comments!

Law School Tip #1:

You know how they say a picture is worth 1,000 words?  A fully stocked medicine cabinet is so much better than that.

Hitting the Books

It's the end of the semester!  Time to start really hitting the books.  Here are my top 7 BEST study tips.  I'm sharing only because I like you.  (Yes, just you.  There.  Reading this.)

  5.   Location, Location, Location:  Think about where you want to study.  By the time finals came around, I was sick of the library.  So then I had to think about where else I could study.  I wanted people around, but I wanted to be able to plug my computer in so that I could listen to music without draining my battery.  My favorites?  Panera and Einstein’s Bagels.  Free coffee refills, bagels, soup, and they won’t kick you out.  I also studied in other parts of school (that nice little alcove on the second floor or the big heavy wooden tables of the seventh floor), and in my own room.*  By the time the end of the semester came around, I avoided the library like the plague.


4.  Use other people’s outlines:  Many have come before you, many will come after you.  Use other people’s outlines to explain what you didn’t understand, or show you a point of law you’ve missed entirely.
  

     3.  Make your own outlines!  (Or heavily edit someone else’s):  You don’t understand anyone’s language quite like your own, and the whole point of the outline is to put the law in your own words.  But don’t ask me HOW to make an outline.  I did it differently than everybody else.  Which is to say, wrong.**
    

           2.  Study in Frequent Short Bursts:  You can’t study non-stop, you’ll go crazy.  Study often, but not for very long.  Revise and memorize that outline for 45 minutes, take a ten minute break.  Every 3 cycles make a half hour phone call, go get food, watch TV.  Something to take you away from the work.  Don’t take too long to relax, though, or you’ll find it really hard to get back to work.
    

           1.  Don’t go overboard.  Figure out the major themes, and what cases define those major themes.  You studied the cases you studied FOR A REASON.  And that reason was to illustrate an important rule in the law, NOT to know an obscure fact or detail.

What are your well-guarded study secrets that you’re willing to share for the good of all?  Help a friend in the comments!

______________________________

*Not very often though.  Studying in my room is far too distracting.

**Not that doing it wrong didn’t work out.

It's Time to Stop the Lies

I can't go on like this.  The lies must end.  It's time we tell the 1Ls the truth, guys.  Let's just end the feeling of sickening dread and turn it into panic.

Dear 1Ls:

You know how we keep telling you it gets better?  Well, from this moment onward, it gets worse.  There are 40 days left in the semester, and you had best be gearing up for finals.  Got your outlines done yet?  Have you STARTED your outlines yet?  Because you're going to need those.  Soon.

All that studying you've done all semester, the faithful note-taking, the perfect class attendance?  Hopefully it pays off, because you're about to spend ten hours a day by yourself reviewing for three final exams.  And I know your final LARC assignment is due in two weeks.  So good luck finishing that on top of finishing all of your outlining and note-taking.  (Pro Tip:  Get an external hard drive.  You wouldn't be the first person to lose all of your outlines and papers because of an unexpected hard drive crash.  Back up every two days.  At least.)

Do you know what your personal stress symptoms are?  You're about to.  Stress for me manifests as tightness in my jaw and spreads up the side of my face until I have constant migraines.  I know people who throw up from stress.  So, you know, good luck with that.

And after finals, sure you'll feel "good," but you're going to be so stressed out that even when you start NEXT semester you'll be trying too hard.  And then when you realize how you're going overkill, it'll be too late to slow down and relax a little.

AND THEN if you do well, you'll be on lots of committees and journals, stealing any time that you might have had.  (They don't say 2L: They Work You To Death for nothing.)  And you'll still be stressed because you're under the gun.

So yeah, it gets worse.  Good luck with that.

Love,
Me

P.S.  It's almost over.  You'll survive this, trust me.  Everyone before you has, and many after you will.  It's hard as hell, but you'll be fine if you just stay cool.  I promise.

Lawsuits, Lawsuits Everywhere (And No One Willing to Be the Plaintiff)

One of the major problems with law school is seeing lawsuits EVERYWHERE.  Everywhere you turn is another tort, and not of the delicious variety.  Watching people text and cross major intersections is cringe-inducing.  (Contributory/Comparative Negligence!)  Puddles on the floors of restaurants make me downright ill.  (It's a slip and fall waiting to happen!)  Day-to-day life is fraught with future legal responsibilities, which is why it's important to be careful and take care of your fellow man.  Because if you don't your fellow man could sue.

And in many cases, that fellow man does sue.  But how many times do people try to turn frivolity into a lawsuit?  Something tells me its more often than not, though I don't really have statisitics.  On the other hand, how many times do we, as outsiders, perceive something as frivolous litigation, when in reality it's truly important.  For instance, in the McDonald's coffee case, which most people have laughed at a time or two, the plaintiff was an 80 year old woman who had severe third-degree burns in her pelvic region because she was unable to remove her pants in seven seconds or less.  No cup of coffee should do that to a person so fast.  She was rightly awarded a half million dollars.

And if there are so many frivolous cases perceived as important and vice versa, how many cases never materialize at all because the prospective plaintiff does not want to go through the hassle of litigation or sees the case as frivolous herself?  Especially in situations of medical malpractice or insurance litigation, a plaintiff may see herself as too small to fight the red-tape system, or that "it wasn't so bad, after all."  But people, hospitals, corporations, and insurance companies owe their neighbors, clients, and patients a duty of care.  By not confronting the other side, prospective plaintiffs are allowing prospective defendants to set a lower bar when it comes to their duty of care.  A hospital that does not get confronted about its bad behavior when it comes to delineating post-op care is not going to provide good post-op care to the next patient either.

Am I saying that we should all be suing each other non-stop in order to make the world a better place?  No.  Of course not.  But I am saying that if you have a problem, you have the duty to at least stand up and say "enough."  Even if you aren't willing to be a plaintiff.