Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Clinics & Client Contact

One of my favorite things about law school so far has been getting involved in two student organizations that provide direct service to clients: the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) Project, and the Education Adequacy Project (EAP).

The TRO Project lets students - even in their first semester - assist victims of domestic violence in applying for civil restraining orders. After a few intensive training sessions, students staff an office right in the New Haven court house. About once a month, I spend a morning or an afternoon helping applicants fill out all of the (rather confusing!) forms and accompanying them to the clerk's office and then the judge as they await a decision on their application. While it was really scary the first few times - it's awfully hard to sit and listen to graphic stories of domestic abuse as women [generally, but sometimes men] are crying in front of you - it's also really gratifying to see that you can pretty easily help someone simply by walking them through a relatively routine process. Students can get credit for working six shifts a semester, or just volunteer for a few sessions.

This semester I've started working with the Education Adequacy Project, one of the clinical courses at the law school. To be honest, EAP was one of the big pulls for me to come to YLS, as I'm really interested in education policy issues. We serve as legal counsel for clients that are suing the State of Connecticut over the state's education funding formula, and we're currently awaiting a decision on a pre-trial motion before the CT Supreme Court. In the meantime, we've been busy preparing for trial: collecting evidence, interviewing possible witnesses, talking to experts, and building our trial strategy. Obviously, I can't go into much detail since it's all privileged attorney work...but it's awesome and amazing, and even though it's a lot of work, I'm SO glad that I got involved with the clinic.

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I am also SO glad to have had spring break! I'm really sad to be back from the Caribbean, but it's nice to have had a week to relax and forget about the details of my gCal. Now, it's back to work. And work. And work. But also some fun...law school prom is next weekend!

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Give Me A Break!

A spring break, I should say! (Sorry for the lame attempts at humor.) By noon tomorrow, I'm going to be on vacation, and I couldn't be more excited. In the past month I have accepted a summer internship after applying and being rejected from many many many places, completed 1/2 of my second semester of law school, recovered from a nasty battle with the flu and read about 459028746 pages of various law books. Obviously, I need a looonngg and very relaxing vacation. Unfortunately, I'm probably not going to get it. Instead, I'm embarking on a visit-the-frozen-north-while-everyone-more-sensible-goes-south kind of trip. Yes, while my brilliant classmates are heading off to Mexico and Florida, I'm going to Maine. Where the snow has not yet melted. SB, don't think I can't hear you laughing from your beach in the Bahamas right now. Still, I'm excited to spend some time with my feet propped up in front of the fireplace, do some yard work in repayment for a free place to stay, and most importantly, reconnect with my boyfriend. Poor guy - despite the fact that I live with him, we see each other...well, I'm embarassed to admit how infrequently.

And that brings me to part two of this post - how law school will destroy your romantic relationships if you're not careful. No, I'm not being hyperbolic. In law school, you're stressed, you're busy, your mind is filled with law, and everything else just falls by the wayside. If you're like me, most evenings your partner will come home to find you fallen asleep on the couch with your torts book as a pillow. You are barely able to carry on a conversation, let alone a conversation that doesn't involve the words "per se" or "indica" or "holding." My suggestions for making sure your significant other doesn't leave you by fall break of your 1L year? I have three...
1. Make time. I know, this one seems obvious, but it's super hard to have perspective in any given week. But, you'll be a much much happier person if you actually see the person you're dating once in while, so if you have to sacrifice the contracts reading, go ahead and do so. However, there is an exception to (1), which is....
2. Do not be in the same place over exam period. You will either use your SO as a distraction or drive them insane with your complaining. Probably both. Plus, this way (hopefully) you eliminate the problem over having someone annoyingly snoring in bed next to you the night before a huge exam.
3. Find a non-law school activity to do together. Plus some non-law school friends. This probably will not work if you are both law students, but if so....let's face it...you're both likely too busy to find someone else to date. We watch a lot of T.V., which is, granted, probably the worst of all options, but at least we spend some time in each others' company this way.

If you're on break yourself, happy vacation!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Comp-You-Serve?

Someone asked me this week whether lots of people use computers in class, and how that affects the class environment. A few observations:

* Yes, most people use computers to "take notes" during class. [Assuming, of course, that the professor allows computers...at least here, professors have the option to forbid use of computers in class. Most don't care.] I'd say maybe 90% of students use computers...maybe 95%? A few holdouts take notes in old-school notebooks. One aspiring academic writes with fountain pens in leather-bound journals, which is just adorable and very Yale.

* As you might expect, "taking notes" with a computer can mean a lot more than just writing down what's being said in class. The best multitaskers among us usually have their notes, a handful of internet tabs, and at least two or three gchat conversations going on at the same time. Sometimes I throw a spreadsheet or a reading for another class into the mix (in one class in particular each semester so far, distractions have been sorely needed).

Of course, it might be the case that people don't concentrate as much/tune out the conversation more often when they're focused on their screen rather than what's going on in class and sometimes that puts you at risk of an embarrassingly out-of-the-blue cold calling. Honestly, it's usually a risk I'm willing to face head-on. If I didn't do *something* else during class, I'd probably go insane, even in my most engaging courses that I love. Contracts last semester was WAY more fun when 50% of our class was simultaneously in a gchatroom, commenting on what was being said in class - very meta.

There are obviously trade-offs, and certainly some things can go wrong (as is always the case with technology). So, a few things to be mindful of - for some reason, they all have to do with gchat:

* It's generally not a good idea to video chat (even silently) w/ your significant other during class, especially if you're not sitting in the back row. Even if you're just taking/sending static pictures of yourselves with your build in iCam, it's a little (or a lot?) weird.

* Don't forget to turn off the sound for your IMs. You don't want to be the one to make it obvious to the professor that nobody's paying full attention.

* When the (online) conversation gets really good/funny, be mindful of the conversation that's going on in person...you don't want to crack a smile when the discussion has turned to abortion, rape, civil rights abuses, or dying horrible deaths.

* Be careful about leaving your gchat convos up on your screen during break, or when a particularly leery neighbor is perched nearby. I had a terribly awkward incident last week (the content of which I won't reveal here, because it's just so ridiculous) that really drove home this lesson. [In other words, do as I say, not as I do...]

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Saturday, March 7, 2009

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Law School

Well, a funny thing happened at the law school. Namely, I (and many many other people) went to go see the annual Parody Show run by the Harvard Law Drama Club this week. This year, it was entitled "The Hark Knight".* There was signing, dancing, a lot of jokes about Alan Dershowitz, and a prolonged musical goodbye to Dean Kagan called "Farewell My Dean" set to the tune of "Come On Ilene." The plot focused on our ex-dean as she schemed to place herself on the Supreme Court by kidnapping Justice Stevens. Tonight was the last show, so I'm not ruining the ending for anyone when I say that she renounced her evil plan at the last moment after a heart-warming letter writing campaign by the students coordinated by Bruce Arraign/Batman. The people in it from my section were incredibly talented, and everyone had a good time. It was really impressive to see HLS students act and joke their way through three hours of script.

SB, does YLS do a parody?




* Last year, it was "Harry Issue Spotter and the Goblet of Breyer."

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Germ Overload

Ugh. The past few days have been horrible. Somehow (I might blame a loooong night out on Saturday, but that might be just a tad unfair) I ended up really sick - I literally have about 5-15% of my voice at any given moment. I have a terrible cough. My throat hurts. My head hurts. I'm tired all the time.

Mom and grandma say: "Go to the doctor!"
I say: "I don't have TIME to go to the doctor!"

Like in college, of course it's okay to miss class every so often - I skipped class (and one in particular) a LOT in fall semester; now, though, since I have three uber-small (under 15 people) classes, I feel pretty bad about missing class - even for a totally legit reason. And, I already took a few days off for job interviews, etc. So I was hoping to get to the magicalness that is spring break without any more interruptions. Bah.

So, I've been dragging myself to class, meetings, and appointments the past couple days, despite being in an obvious state of malhealth. Part of the bad thing about being at a small school is that students have to (or get guilted to) take on responsibility in student groups really early: today I had a client meeting I couldn't reschedule for clinic (thank goodness my 3L partner could take the lead!), and I still had to tend to journal and extracurricular obligations. Not to mention my part-time job.

I had promised myself that I'd be careful & not get overcommitted like I did in undergrad, but it's just SO HARD to say no sometimes, especially to things that sound really fun! So this week, my non-class tasks got prioritized above reading for class (I figured if I have no voice, I can't really be asked to participate in discussion - right?!?). And I'm sleeping a lot. And hopefully I'll be fully recovered in time to enjoy my warm-weather getaway come next weekend.

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Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Winter Non-Wonderland

I have class very very very early in the mornings a couple days a week. Usually (for reasons too complicated to list here), this works out great. However, yesterday morning, there was a blizzard. Yet, bizarrely, yesterday morning, there was also school.

OK, I exaggerate somewhat on the blizzard part. What is true is that there was a lot of snow, nothing was plowed, it was extremely cold, it was snowing, and it was very windy. Most law students roll out of bed and walk underground (through this great tunnel system that we've got) about a half block to school. I live 40 minutes off campus, and my commute looks somewhat different. Obviously, I was in a bad mood as I wadded through snow drifts composing angry* letters to the Dean of Students. But, I did see some great things on my way to HLS, including:
  1. Several people riding bicycles through six inches of (unploughed) snow.
  2. A guy on cross-country skies. (I need to get me some of those, plus learn how to use them.)
  3. A homeless lady wearing - not carrying, wearing - an umbrella. It looked like she had stuck the handle down the back of her coat. It indicates something about law school when I say that this is the most brilliant idea that I've come into contact with for a while...but really, I wanted one too.
* And unsent, yet therapeutic.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Update: Summer Job Search - Mission Accomplished!

I've been sitting on this for over a week now, in part because I had to wrap up some interview processes, write a number of thank-you notes, and politely decline a number of other offers but...

...I've finally picked a summer job! After an earlier phone interview, I traveled to visit the office for an in-person final interview last week and really fell in love with the organization. I'm truly excited about the work that I'll get to do, and the team that I'm working with seems fantastic. Plus, they're generously paying me (so I don't have to rely on the also-generous SPIF funding from YLS) and offering a bunch of other perks - really unique for a non-profit.

The only down side: the organization is located in a non-DC/SF/NYC/Chicago/Boston urban area (of course, in all honesty, I haven't spent enough time there to be able to say that it's non-ideal for a 20-something yuppie like me). But it's only for a couple months. And it could turn out to be an awesome adventure! And, I'll have about a month of summer left over to do other stuff, too - maybe work on fulfilling one of our writing requirements, or travel, or just relax.

So now, it's onto the logistics - figuring out what to do with the extra month (I'm hoping to at least make a trip to visit some of my classmates working in London!), finding subletters for our apartment, and all that loveliness. I'm just glad to have pinned down my major summer commitment.

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