Coalescence

Rules, defenses, doctrines, theories, causes of action, precedents, exceptions, exceptions to exceptions ... they are starting to coalesce into a chain of black-letter law that has new links added to it hour by hour. I don't know if it's that I'm finally starting to see the picture that the puzzle is supposed to make instead of the individual pieces or if it's just having it all hammered into me for going on 2 months. Whatever it is, I like it. With the understanding comes an amplification of the confidence I had going in. There are some damn bright kids in the St. Mary's School of Law Class of 2011, and I'm only really intimately familiar with those in my section. So I may not end up #1 in the class but I have faith in myself and my ability to do well.

I did get Socratizied in Torts not too long ago. It was bound to happen at some point and it wasn't that bad. Especially given that the professor who called on me is infamous for making students in his class cry (when he's in a good mood) or drop out of law school altogether (when he hasn't had his coffee). It was good to get it over with and be able to just shrug it off; there are going to be MANY more times throughout my law school career when I'm called on and don't have the perfect response to let fly from my lips.

Outlining is progressing well, though I'm slightly behind where I'd like to be at this point in the semester. I hope to change that this week and during Fall Break this weekend when I head back up to the house I spent the majority of my childhood in for what looks to be the last time. St. Mary's has a policy where all 1Ls get a midterm in every class and the professor decides whether or not to count it toward their grade. Luckily, none of mine will. I think I have a pretty good idea of what each professor wants, but we'll see. My Contracts midterm was decent. My Legal Research & Writing midterm was good. I turn in my Property midterm tomorrow morning. Haven't gotten Torts or Civil Procedure midterms yet. I say bring em on, though!

I forgot to mention it in my past entries, but about a month ago I attended the September Wills Clinic at the Center for Legal and Social Justice. One thing that St. Mary's offers is a certificate when you graduate with a certain number of Pro Bono hours logged during your legal education. I am going to pursue that achievement fervently. On top of getting some credit towards the certificate, it was overall a great experience. Basically, we just sat there as witnesses to low-income families who come in to have pre-drafted will templates filled out for them by generous attorneys who donate their time to do this. I got to be a witness for a very old, very frail Hispanic man and his three daughters who were there to get a will drafted for him. Not only was it interesting to see how it was done, but when it was all over the old man got up and wanted to shake my hand and thank me. It made me smile. I plan on going to the October Clinic as well on Wednesday. But right now I have to go to sleep. I still haven't been called on in Property and the list of people who have yet to be stood up is dwindling down down down, so I want to be on top of my game.

Before I go, one note: on the inside of all of my books I wrote my name, my phone number, and the message "Please be a good bailee and return if found."

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