We have no time to stall or protocol to hem us in

The people sitting behind me at my coffee shop are attempting to pick a ring tone for their phone. Which means, of course, that they feel the need to go through all of the pre-programed ringtones, then go on the internet and pull up some more. If Minnesota can pass a statewide smoking ban, you'd think they'd also be able to pass a statewide ban on going through ringtones in public. I'm assuming that me hurling a large blunt object at their faces poses a much worse risk to their health than secondhand smoke.

After your leaving, your leaving me alone

Two weeks from today I graduate, and three weeks from today I'll be unpacking boxes in my pimp new apartment. Scary.

Today I received an e-mail from the graduation committee with the graduation party info... it turns out that there will be a cash bar and an appetizer buffet. A cash bar? After 3 years, they seriously can't have an open bar for us? At least we get "happy hour prices" - but still. Not even free champagne? Argh. I'm now questioning if I should really go to the party, or should buy a cheap bottle of cab and sit at home watching episodes of Dawson's Creek on DVD.

Tonight is another graduation party of sorts with some non-law school friends in town. It's quite possibly the last time I'll see most of them for quite awhile. Thankfully, the alcohol will be free and I'll be able to get rid of half-full bottles of vodka that have been sitting in my freezer for months. One less thing to pack!

When I think about you I [kill] myself

I just checked my stats to see how people were finding my blog. Turns out that the following search strings in google lead here:

"fail bar exam kill myself"

"does anyone pass california bar exam"


AWESOME.

You're working hard on a life of your own

Yesterday was my last day of classes... and proved to be very anti-climatic. Perhaps that's because I'm only used to having classes two days a week. Now I actually have to worry about studying for finals. With my seminar paper out of the way, I only have three actual finals, which start a week from today. I started outlining my BA Corps class yesterday, which will end up being the easiest to study for as I've actually done all the reading. FDA and Sports Law will be more problematic - neither class had a book, so I didn't always prepare for class by pulling the cases off of Westlaw. And as a 3L, I didn't always make it to class (though my track record was much better in those classes than it was in BA Corps). Anyways, all bar prep will stop until I'm done with finals.

In other news... Last week I received and read Proceed With Caution: A Diary of the First Year At One Of America's Largest, Most Prestigious Law Firms. It turned out to be a waste of Westlaw points. Perhaps it would be an ok read for someone considering going to law school, but only if that person understands that Keates whines like a 4 year old. His basic point is that firms suck in students with fancy summer programs and big salaries, then work them to death, and partners/other associates can be assholes. I'm not sure why he expected anything else. I just don't think it's realistic to get hired right out of law school at a large firm, get paid 145k/year, and expect to work 9-5 five days a week. You give up a lot for that salary, and understanding that before you sign up is a good idea. And although I didn't have any terrible partner experiences during my 2L summer, I'm well aware that I won't be BFF with all of my co-workers. That's life. Thankfully I don't think that I'll have to worry about it much in my practice group, as I worked with them a lot and heard nothing but good things about the group. We'll see I guess.

I need a new drug

First - the countdown... Less than 3 weeks until graduation, less than one month until BarBri, a little over 3 months until I fail the bar, less than 7 months until I'm notified that I failed the bar.

Anyways...

I drink an insane amount of Diet Coke, approximately 2.5 tons of the stuff each day. Normally I go for Diet Coke with Lime, though lately my coffee shop has been running out on a regular basis. Today, however, my coffee shop had in stock Diet Coke Plus. The can looks like it's straight out of the early 90s, or is a new GLTB-friendly caffeinated beverage variety. This soda not only comes with the caffeine my brain needs to survive finals and the bar exam (as well as the next 40 years of firm life), but also vitamins and minerals. It actually tastes pretty close to regular diet coke. I feel so healthy, especially considering how many caffeinated donuts I've been consuming.

If only Marlboro Reds would come out with a calcium-infused cigarette... then I'd really be set.

Our time is running out

As My Bar Tab pointed out a few days ago at the end of one of her posts, I too need to write my friends and family a "Leave me the fuck alone until July 27th" note, or at least convey the general sentiment. It sounds relatively easy in theory, but hasn't worked out so well in practice. While I was drinking with my parents back in Wisconsin last weekend, I told them not to tell me if anyone (aside from an immediate family member) died during the month of July. I was serious, but my mother didn't believe me. She's having a ton of trouble grasping the concept that her uber-smart daughter, who never really studied in her life, would be SO engrossed in one test as to not come back home if someone died. I think my father understood though... or that could have been the PBR talking. As for my former co-workers, a few of which want to come visit me, I basically told them it wouldn't be workable until after the new year. By the time I get finished with the bar, take my bar trip, and get a few months in at work, I'm not going to be settled in enough to have visitors.

Lately I've been working on doing absolutely nothing. I barely have the motivation to wake up in the morning, let alone study for the bar (which I've officially decided to forget about until BarBri, aside from listening to the PMBR CDs in my car). I should be working on a take home final for one of my classes right now, but instead I'm posting in the blog. I haven't outlined for any of my other classes yet, and finals for those start in a week and a half. What's really surprising is that I was a closet gunner all through law school - pretty quiet in class, but worked my ass off when finals hit. I still care about my grades, but not enough to do anything about it thus far.

Instead of studying, I've been taking my bar stipend and going on a mini-spending spree. After buying a replacement computer for the one with the broken screen (which I'm still using, as I'm too lazy to transfer my files to my new computer, which is still in the box), I spent a good week researching flat screen TVs. Two nights ago I finally purchased a Samsung 40" LCD HDTV. No good reason for this really - it's not like I'll have a lot of free time to watch all the stuff I'm planning on TIVO-ing over the summer, I just WANTED it. And this desire was so intense that I knew I wasn't going to be able to study until I bought it.

So I bought it online, and went to go pick it up to get myself that instant gratification I'd been so hoping for. The nice young guy that wheeled it out to my car, when seeing the size of my 99 Saturn, remarked: "Are you a genie?" Apparently I'm not, because despite my fingers being crossed the TV didn't fit in my backseat. I was intent on getting this thing home at this point, so I had him take it out of the box shove it in my backseat. (Good call, placing a $1600 TV unprotected in my car, clearly.) I got it home, only to realize that I was going to have some issues getting it up to my apartment. (Those things weigh a ton.) A managed to get it done unaided, after about an hour baby steps through my building. I hooked up up, and am very pleased with the purchase.

The problem though - 2 days later, my back hurts so much it's hard to bend over, and I still can't study to save my life. Maybe I should buy a new car. Yeah, that'll get me motivated.

The devil's in the details

Ah, the irony. My Structured Finance prof. made a side comment during class today regarding extended warranties along the lines of "I mean, really, how many of you have had to replace your laptop screen?" No one raised their hand (although the POS comps they give us our first year have given pretty much everyone problems). After class, I headed over to my coffee shop, opened my other laptop, and discovered that the right 1/3 of the screen was completely cracked. I purchased this computer about 2 months ago from Circuit City, with the intention of using it for the bar exam. Initially I was pissed, then decided to run over to the store to see about having the screen replaced (knowing that it was covered by the 1 year warranty). Low and behold, everything but the screen is covered, and the cross-eyed sales associate informed me that a new screen would run about the same price as a new laptop. (I bought mine for around $900). So I'm pretty much fucked as of now. I was told not to just buy a cheap, possibly refurbished, model from eBay, but should look there for a screen. Nothing was to be found after some extensive searching there. It looks like I probably will just buy a new comp, and get the extended warranty from the store that covers the screen. And also make sure I don't throw it around like a baseball like I have been. So much for me using my graduation money for my bar trip.

Speaking of laptops, does anyone know if they have electrical outlets for those taking the bar with their laptops? My battery life is ok, but it won't make it through a full day.

Less than one month until I graduate. Yikes!

All your friends and sedatives mean well but make it worse, every reassurance just magnifies the doubt, better find yourself a place to level out

I've returned from my mini vacation to Wisconsin. My pre-graduation graduation party was in most respects a success, thanks to my family consuming vast quantities of alcohol. I also had time to visit with one of my good friends who is a 2L at UW Madison, bond with my grandmother, introduce a few co-workers to the joys of cruising on the Ave, and eat what will probably be my last home cooked meal until after the bar exam is over with. I was also supposed to get one of my graduation gifts - an Elliott Smith framed CD. They sent me Bob Seger's Greatest Hits instead. Cruel. Anyways...

Given the emphasis on family activities this past weekend, I fell behind on my bar prep. I did, however, manage to get started on the Contracts PMBR CDs. They're pretty entertaining, considering the subject matter. Props to Daniel Fessler for cracking a few jokes, but not going overboard.

The good news is that the CDs thus far have covered topics that I'm familiar with, and seem to be doing an excellent job of jogging my memory on such evil topics as the statute of frauds, the parol evidence rule, and section 2-207 of the UCC. The bad news is that there is a fuck-ton of information I'm going to have to retain. I have yet to take a law school exam that is completely closed book or closed note... in Contracts we got a 2 page cheat sheet where I could jot down anything I felt I was going to forget (and I got to write really small). I've rarely needed most of the the items I've brought in to an exam, but simply having them there made a huge difference mentally. Now I'll be walking into the exam with nothing but what has been ingrained in my brain - which scares me to death.

Also scary... a Justice Kennedy bobblehead that is up for bid as part of the Class of 2007 graduation auction. Which reminds me of my favorite Guy Charles quote: The eight scariest words in the English language are: "Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the court." Hmmm... I think I'm going to bid.

Coast To Coast

So much California specific law, so little time. I just reviewed the "Scope of the California Bar Examination" to remind myself that I'll need to be familiar with California specific rules in Evidence and Civil Procedure (as well as the federal rules). It looks like I'll also need to be familiar with sections of the California Probate Code, and the California Business and Professionals Code. Ah, and then there's California Community Property.

At least for Community Property I got a state specific E&E book. I'm now wondering if I should get more state specific materials for the other subjects, like my own copy of the California Rules of Evidence or Civ Pro. Or just cross my fingers that BarBri will have what I need for these. Preferably with a chart that explains the differences between Cali law and the federal/common law rules... I love me some charts.

I read through the introductory materials in "Scoring High on Bar Exam Essays" - relatively basic information that could be summarized "write logically/write well." I'm hoping that the $50+ I paid for the book will sting a little less when I start using it to write essays, which I won't start until after I begin BarBri. Also - the book hasn't been revamped since the late 1980s (the reason for the big note on the cover that reads "Classic Text." The author did add a 2006 appendix on how to do legal analysis, but all of the sample questions and notes about grading are from the 80's, so I don't know if they are entirely accurate anymore. If you are going to buy the book, you might as well get one of the older additions if it'll save you any $.

I'm in Wisconsin visiting family through this weekend, and it's snowing. According to WeatherBug - "Light snow will become moderate to heavy at times in the Shawano... Appleton...Seymour...Green Bay and Kewaunee areas during the mid afternoon hours. Snowfall rates up to an inch an hour are possible between 2 PM and 5 PM. Northeast winds will gust to 35 to 40 mph in the northern Fox valley and along the Lakeshore." Total accumulations of 4 inches expected. Great. Currently in Los Angeles - 67 degrees and sunny.

The point - although I could have gotten out of taking the bar exam entirely by going to law school and practicing in Wisconsin, there are perks to getting a job in California (aside from the huge salary differential.)

It's like a fatal disease

And now I have something else to worry about besides passing the bar: The possibilty that my firm will close prior to my start date.

Good thing I didn't accept a job at Rider Bennett. They are closing their doors effective May 31st. Apparently there was at least one 3L at my school that was going to be joining the firm after taking the Minnesota bar. Poor kid.

It's over now the test, and you should sleep well

Just got my MPRE score report back... 112 scaled score. Which means I won't have to retake the exam as I had planned. My friends had a goal of getting the lowest possible passing score, and right now i'm winning.

The minimum score in Cali is 79... which will jump to 86 next January.

I'd go out and celebrate tonight, but I'll be sitting though another Structured Finance class and watching the Twins destroy the Yankees on gamechannel. Happy.

I don't need to walk around in circles

Yesterday my firm sent me an e-mail regarding some first year associates views on PMBR in an attempt to help us decide if we should take it or not. Of course, there was no clear cut up or down vote - comments ranged from "a complete waste of a weekend" to "definitely take it." The firm covers BarBri but not PMBR, so despite my intense desire to sign up for everything bar exam related, I'm going to wait until I see how I do with the multiple choice section in BarBri before signing up. I've already purchased all of the PMBR CDs (and am only a third of the way through ripping them on to my computer), so I'm hoping if I just get one PMBR books and use that on my own I'll get everything I need to without having to attend the class.

What struck me more about the e-mail was the fact that at least some of the people had taken the bar more than once. I've started wondering more and more lately about what happens to those who don't make the cut the first time around. There was no discussion of this over the course of my 2L summer at the firm, and nothing in the materials the firm has sent out thus far. I'm scheduled to start work in early September, before the bar results are released. So if my worst fears are realized and I don't manage to pass, do I just continue working as a clerk? Is my salary cut? Do I get asked to leave until I pass? Perhaps it's better if I don't know what happens - and let the fear of the unknown act as additional pressure to study my ass off and "make it work."

I also asked the Prof. I'm an RA for what he suggested in terms of bar prep, as he somewhat recently took the Cali bar exam. His response: "Go to the lectures. Focus on the Convisor Mini-review outline thing (or whatever that's called). Put together your own shorter outline (like 5-10 pages per MBE subject). that'll be enough." Then again, he graduated from one of the best 2 law schools in the nation and is insanely intelligent. But it's a start.

Looking for answers, committing murders along the way

My BarBri schedule came via e-mail today... you can find a copy of it here. I'm glad that my location has nothing scheduled over the weekends - not that I'm planning on having any sort of social life on weekends, but at least I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive to class on a Saturday morning. I expected the class to run a little bit longer than it does - maybe right up until exam time. Apparently I'll be given a study schedule for the post-class, pre-exam period from BarBri, so ideally I'll be able to stick to that and not procrastinate when I'm done with the class.

Also included in the e-mail was a note about picking up the books. They don't have a pickup location in Minnesota, so I have two options - 1) Wait until the first day of class to get my books (which I can do as they are available in the LA BarBri office), or 2) Have the books sent to me via FedEx for $35. Although I'm dying to get my hands on the materials, I think I'm just going to wait until I get out to California to get them. I don't want to shell out the extra money to have them shipped, and I don't want to have to give up the space in my Saturn to bring them out to California myself when I drive out there.

Speaking of moving - it's miserable. Not only do I have years of crap in my apartment that I need to throw away, I have to figure out how to schedule the move and get all the packing done with my insanely tight schedule. Finals are the first two weeks of May, and I graduate on the 12th. My lease in Cali begins on May 15th, and BarBri starts in LA on the 21st. The moving company gave me a 5 to 12 day window between the time they pick up my stuff to the time they deliver it, and storage is insanely expensive (and most likely over the firms $4,000 cap on moving expenses). The best option would probably be to wait until the 14th of May to have the pickup, but this means that I will need to take at least one day off from BarBri when the moving company delivers my stuff. It also means that I'll be dealing with unpacking on top of studying for the bar, and could potentially spend over a week on an air mattress in my new place.

I can also have my items picked up before or during exams, but then may have to deal with the extra storage costs, which I may have to pay out of pocket as the firm will not cover anything over their cap. Besides that, I go slightly insane during finals, and don't really want to waste a full day watching the movers pack up my apartment when I should be studying. At this point, I wish the firm would just give me the $4,000, and I'd replace everything I had in my place when I got into town. As that's not going to happen, I'm just going to end up picking a date and crossing my fingers. Happy.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

My PMBR CDs arrived today, and I'm still feeling like a kid at Christmas. Tomorrow I'll attempt to rip them all onto my computer so I don't scratch them all to hell and thus miss out on any part of contracts review.

I also spent some time today bonding with my California Community Property E&E... The sick thing is that I actually enjoyed it. I'm sure that feeling will fade away fast.

The Prof. that I am an RA for just assigned me some work on FRE 609... I'm glad I'm getting paid to do things that will help in a small way for my bar prep - I'm just hoping that California has the same (or similar) rule... speaking of this, does anyone know if Bar Bri provides us with a copy of the California Rules of Evidence? I'm pretty sure that starting this year we are tested on those on the bar, as opposed to the federal rules. And in the event that it's NOT in the Bar Bri materials, anyone have an old copy of their rulebook they want to donate to a good cause?

The moving company that the firm uses is coming out tomorrow to go through my place to see how much crap they'll be hauling out to Cali at the end of the month. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the cost of bringing it out there and storing it for two weeks will be under the firm's cap on moving expenses.

On a non bar-review note - I got the 3rd season of Entourage today. I'll probably watch the rest of it tomorrow (got through the first 4 episodes tonight), so it won't further distract me from studying. I may have to swear off of TV show DVDs until August - they're more addictive than crack.

I want to hurt (her), I want to give (her) pain, I'm a roman candle, my head is full of flames

To the girl in my Structured Finance course who feels the insatiable desire to mutter "Mmm-hmm" every time the professor pauses mid-sentence, please stop. The entire class knows that you comprehend and/or agree with each sentence fragment spoken pertaining to taxation of fixed investment trusts. Good for you. You get your choice of a gold star or a cookie. This offer is contingent, however, on your ability to shut the fuck up for the remaining two classes, as some of the members of the class are distracted by your constant interjections. Not to mention the fact that it throws us off from watching the Twins home opener on Game Channel.

If you are unaware of your habit of making audible noises continuously through the lecture, rest assured that next class period I will be throwing my half full bottle of diet coke at your head. I'm a good shot.

And if, by some bizarre twist of fate, you are enrolled in my BarBri course in LA, I'l be filling my diet coke bottle with sand before it I throw it at you. Just a heads up, so to speak.

Once beaming with confidence, now brooding with doubt

Things haven't exactly gone as planned this weekend, as my best friend from school was admitted to the hospital on Friday and I spent most of Friday and Saturday with her. Thankfully she's doing much better now, and the practice questions can wait for a few days (or a few months). But the event got me thinking about what happens if during the middle of bar prep someone I know is seriously injured or dies. This is a definite possibility, given the sheer number of relatives I have (my father had 12 brothers and sisters, most of whom are married with children). In the California Bar Exam Primer, Rule 6 for Passing the Bar Exam states: Get things done before bar prep starts. Prepay bills, get the oil changed, clean the house, take a leave of absence from work. No weddings, births, divorces, home sales, moves, or new pets during bar prep. Although this is targeted at the person taking the bar, I'm guessing the same logic can be applied to dealing with friends' weddings, births, divorces, etc. I'm already skipping my cousin's wedding and a family reunion as they fall in late June and July. I can't exactly skip a funeral, but I wish there was a way I could completely isolate myself during May, June, and July from anything that could possibly impact my studying.

Related to this is the problem of conveying to my non-law school friends and relatives that I'm going to be MIA for those three months. I don't think my parents ever really understood how much I studied during law school, especially around finals. I got good grades, but they still questioned why I got an A- in any given course instead of a solid A. They're not harsh or demanding, but I've always done well in school without putting much effort in, so they expect good grades. When I explained to them last week that I was getting nervous about the bar, they just said that I was overreacting and they were sure I'd pass. No additional pressure there, clearly. The only other lawyer in my extended family never took the bar exam (he went to law school in Wisconsin and practices in Wisconsin, and therefore was not required to sit for the bar), so there is no one to tell my parents how hard it is. Ah well.

So the revised plan for the remaining hours of the weekend is just to get my BA Corps reading finished and review some materials for my Sports Law class. If the spirit moves me later on today I may try a few contracts MBE questions,,. Or review the California Community Property E&E book that arrived yesterday. I think we spent a day on this in Property, but Minnesota isn't a community property state so I need to focus on this area more than some of the others.