Sunday, January 28, 2007

A mommy law student time out

I took my daughter on a mommy/daughter date yesterday afternoon. Over all, disaster. No, really. Just so bad. The only kid appropriate movie showing in our neck of the woods is Charlotte's Web (because the whole flushed away thing is just too far over the line that I refuse to cross). And it was playing either 1) through lunch or 2) through dinner. Movie theater scheduling morons. In any case, I brought snacks galore and planned to do lunch afterward.

Sigh. Did you know that a G-rated kids movie is almost 3 flipping hours long? Blergh! They could have made it a good 5-10 minutes shorter by getting rid of the whole unbelievable 10 year olds in love story line that kept popping back up. I could have done entirely without Dakota Fanning. But the animals were great. So dauhter is bored and I almost leave with her when there is about a half an hour left, and I totally should have. The end was fabulous, so fabulous, so well-done that my poor sweet-hearted daughter bawled her little eyes out for about 10 minutes after Charlotte dies. Sigh. I totally forgot that she dies. I haven't read the book since I was about10. In any case, I got to spend the next half hour or so telling her why Charlotte died and why it's ok, and how it's not real. "But mommy, do real spiders die when they have babies?" Can I just say that deep discussions about the cycle of life was not on my agenda for our date yesterday.

SO now she is an emotional disaster in addition to being starved and tired at the Chinese Restaurant. I ended up taking all of our food home in containers and cutting our lunch super short. The best part of our date, I think in both of our opinions, was taking a nap together in my bed.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

An embarrassed investor

Seriously. Every day I go to BusAss, I learn stuff that I think I ought to have known before I became an investor. Like cumulative voting... mind you I don't have enough shares in a company small enough to make that kind of thing work, but still. It's good to know.

I do have a lot of shiny shares from my old Big Corporate Monolith. I'm making it a goal to go to an annual shareholder's meeting sometime in the next 2-3 years. I just think it would be educational (and possibly tasty).

When I really sit back and reflect, it's great that I've been a regular investor since my early twenties. Up until law school, I've always invested the full amount possible in a 401K and I still contribute to an IRA. I didn't sell all my stock after I got it from BCM. I'm actually in a good place. But what doesn't work for me is that I have really no idea what my mutual funds represent or how i would go about selling my BCM stock if I wanted to. Or how about how to sell off my investment in a crappy mutual fund in my rollover IRA and re-invest in something that is better. I am placing an inordinate amount of trust in people that I don't know. To an unacceptable degree.

Any suggestions on how to better educate myself in investing and investment management.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

whistle-blowing, general partnerships, dissolution & professional conduct

So far most of the puzzlers that I am getting out of my BusAss (yes, I am immature enough to giggle at that every time) are legal ethics questions. We read a case (977 SW 2d 543) for last week where a partner warns senior partners that the billing looks really screwy for a client. There's a whole lot of smelly subterfuge and then she gets fired for crappy work. Crappy work that the firm had never told her was crappy before. The court held that partnerships are based on trust and you don't have to keep someone on that you don't trust anymore. The dissent was much more in line with the "whoa nelly, aren't we a self-policed group of idiots? and therefore shouldn't we protect her job." But no.

The next case that leaves me confused is Haymond v. Lundy (2002 WL 1972101) where the partners have dissolve the partnership and there is an outstanding referral fee owed to another firm that is in dispute. The long and the short of it is that one of the 3 partners agreed to pay a referral fee (150K) to this other firm upon successful completion of the case. The other partners said that per their p-ship agreement, they had to consent to something like that and they didn't. Fine, all well and good. And the judge said "yup" it's all on the idiot who made the agreement. But the lasting question is: Aren't straight up referral fees a professional no-no? I thought that you couldn't do that kind of thing unless you were compensating the prior firm/atty for their actual work on the case. Maybe my state is different.

Self-policing. Hmmmm.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

A thought on grades and a glimpse at my deranged day dreams

I actually saw my Bankruptcy prof last night and was able to smile politely and make the required small talk for the event we were at. As he walked away though, I couldn't help but wish that I had something to throw at his head. Sigh. This is the first semester that I have had more than one grade that requires curves to make the letter. I like letters without curves. They are pretty those As and A-s. Damn.

And then I sit back and think, wow I am super greedy because one curvy grade (fine it was a B+) was in a class where the whole test was multiple choice, and honestly I don't ever expect to do better than that. And then my bankruptcy class, where there were only about 22-ish kids and of those only 2 or 3 were NOT in the top say 15% of their respective classes. So getting a B+ in there, really, truly, after the horrible experience that was that test . . . it was actually pretty damn lucky.

Sigh. I'll keep my on track status for coif, if just barely. And I will kick it in high gear and find some way to break through the B+ ceiling on my exam that will be once again, all multiple choice. I hate MC tests. Really, truly, what does that indicate about my future abilities as an atty. Is the nice judge going to stop the opposing atty in the middle of the trial and say

"counselor yaya, there is a possible objection to raise here: do you think it is a) irrelevant because we have other photos that provide the same evidence in a less gruesome manner, b) relevant but not probative because this the third similar testimony offered to the court and is a waste of time, c) an objection becaues that information was obtained through statements your client made in negotiation or d) there is no objection because you weren't listening carefully and have no idea to what this witness just testified?"

Counselor yaya: "well Judge, you should know that I've always sucked at multiple choice, so I'm going to have to call in co-counsel to answer this one, in the best interests of my client."

yeah, I might be a little bitter. And I am so not going to be a litigator.

Friday, January 19, 2007

slow and steady wins the race

Well, week 2 of this semester is now past, and I really really think it's going to be great. I'm still interested in all of my classes and my first TA session went reasonably well (btw--if anyone has any suggestions of where I can get multiple choice property questions, please do tell). My evidence class is taught by stories. It's awesome. I am so muhc more likely to remember what a rule is when I have some crazy story to go with it. And I was so proud of myself for shouting "Rule 410" at my TV last night while watching Shark. Hooray.

My note is back in. I'm 98% certain that I will not be published again and that I will have to redo my note again in March. Sigh. So it is.

One of our 1L class assholes wants to work at my firm. Um, no. But now I don't have to worry about anyone at the firm asking me about him because he froze on exams. Actually, I don't think he froze, I think he really thought SO much of himself that he just didn't study. I don't understand people like that. I mean one would think that by the time you get to law school at least a handful of people have to have let you know in some persuasive way that you are in fact NOT the most brilliant person on the planet.

I have all but one grade back, and it was the one that I have absolutely no clue what the prof wanted. So who knows how the semester ultimately shook out. So far I'm giving it a "not quite as bad as I thought, but woah nelly, still not so good"

Which is why, I'm back to reading bus assocations.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

I hate my note

Blerg. Blech. Blah. Yuck. Yick. Ugh. Phooey.

that about sums up my feelings of redoing my note for law review. Our board has the 2Ls keep re-writing the same note all year until either it is selected for publishing or the year ends. The next drop is in the next few weeks, and I so don't want to work on it. I told myself that I would do it over break and never found the motivation to do it. I've got to get most of it redone today. Boo.

And to add insult to injury, not only is it colder than ass outside, but my fingernails are actually purple because of how bloody cold it is inside the damn library. Sigh. Not my day.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

And another 2L semester begins

I am back and mostly refreshed. When asked if I had a good break my standard reply is yes... because I slept and did almost nothing productive. Lots of sleeping, reading trashy novels, watching girly movies, and playing with my daughter. I knew I accomplished my goal to get lots of sleep when my daughter asked me why I was awake so early on Monday. :)

I've been through all of my classes now, and I think I am in love. Seriously, this could be the best semester ever. I've got an advanced drafting class with an adjunct who is all about practicality. If it's not real world-related, then let's not bother doing it. :) :) I'm in Business Associations and the prof is really great at explaining things and drawings and all of the other types of teaching techniques that my brain typically responds well to. And then I'm in an Evidence class that is pretty entertaining. And let's face it: I need to be entertained. Last and for whatever reason most frightening: I'm a TA for a 1L property section. I've got mixed feelings on it. I love property--lots. But I admit that I am totally intimidated by the responsibilty of teaching it. But then, I know it's not really teaching it--just filling in holes etc. But for whatever reason, I am little nervous about my first group session next week.

What else? Law review elections are coming up next month, and I've decided to be a glutton for punishment and run for editor-in-chief. Who knows if it will happen, but here's to trying.