My Progress Report

A lot of people have asked me what law school is like and what my favorite classes are. Well I have just finished week three of law school and I feel that enough time has elapsed to make a pretty fair assessment of my time here. The one big lesson that was reinforced in my mind was something that we learned a long time ago: never judge a book from its cover. If you asked me to predict what my classes and the people would be like 3 weeks ago, this would have been very different. But here's my report card thus far, proving that not all law schools are Hell on earth (my friend still at UCLA asked me if it was like that).

Civil Procedure: A
I originally thought that my professor was a little intimidating and really dry but it's been quite the opposite. He's actually has that subtle/fatherly cute humor, only made better by the fact that he matches his ties to the cases we discuss (for example, he wore a tie with little helicopters when we were discussing a wrongful death helicopter accident). I've learned that I really gravitate towards classes with structure and that's what I get in civil procedure, in terms of the content of the class and how my professor teaches it. Finally, we do a lot of hypotheticals and even had a moot court to help us apply and understand the material.

Torts: A-
We're going slow now, which admittedly makes me nervous because I heard that means we go at hyperspeed at the end to catch up. And sometimes it's frustrating because there are a lot of tangents because since in the class has to throw out their own hypothetical, but overall the class is fun. I like the fact that we discuss current events at the beginning of class so we can see how the law is present all around us. Torts is also considered the "sexy" subject in law school, if you could ever believe there is such thing as a sexy subject. The reading is actually fun because the cases are all like mini stories, and you learn what outrageous things people try to get away with and/or sue for. Think McDonalds coffee cup.

Contracts: C
I thought this class was going to be fun because the professor seemed fun and interesting but I cannot for the life of me focus in that class. It's already bad enough that this is the second out of my back to back in the same room. It's already bad enough that it's from 3-5pm, when I completely lose focus. But my professor cannot convey a linear thought and it makes it worse. I may have given this a lower grade, but I know she's trying to help us understand with lots of review and I think I'm somewhat getting it. In the end though, I find contracts very boring subject.

Legal Writing & Rhetoric: B+
It's interesting that a class that spoondfeeds us information like high schoolers expects us to produce perfect, professional work. While the grammar lessons give me bad flashbacks of 9th grade English, teaching us practical skills like how to write a memo seems very practical for our careers. Like Civil Procedure, I like the fact that we get to do simulations in class to help us learn important skills. Right now we have to write a memo for our mock client, a divorcee trying to get out of child support to go to the Peace Corps. It's also nice that our class only has 20 people, so I've gotten to know people in my section a lot better.

Extracurriculars: n/a
As hard as it is for me to walk past the Law School Dems, I've resisted the temptation to join any groups for at least my first semester. It's wonderful how much time it clears up in my schedule! I'll reassess next semester and most likely join a few things for the social/networking/career developement purposes. But for now, I'll be one of those non-active people who I didn't "get" in undergrad.

The People: A
Again with that prejudging thing: the guy I thought was Republican posterchild (not that there's anything wrong with that) turns out to be an environmentalist. The girl I thought was ditzy turns out to be really smart. The guy I thought was obnoixious did though, turn out to be obnoixious. Whether my predictions about people were wrong or right, I am overall pleased with my company here. On the whole, my peers aren't the snooty future lawyers that are portrayed in Legally Blonde. I've met a lot of very nice, very smart people. And they like Law & Order too!