The First Month
Just as I suspected, the workload of the first month has been large. It has left little time for blogging, but I think I might be able to post a little more regularly now that I have found my footing. I’m about to run off to my Contracts class, but I am going to write more soon.
For now, I’ll just say that Law School is exactly what I expected it to be. I am enjoying myself very much.
Last Day of Work
I worked my last day today before school starts. It was one of the first signs that school is really going to happen. Another step towards making it real will be this weekend, when I meet a group of incoming students at a school sponsored get together. We’ve started to get to know each other by way of a group on Facebook and this will be the first time we gather in person as an incoming class.
While in town, my wife and I are having lunch with a 2nd year student and his wife. He volunteered to be a mentor, and was paired up with me. I look forward to getting some inside information about my first year. My wife is looking forward to getting some inside information about what it is like to live with someone who is in their first year of law school. It should be a productive meeting.
DePaul It Is
The results are in. The decision has been made. I am moving to Chicago in order to attend DePaul University College of Law. I will be participating in the excellent Intellectual Property and Technology Law program at DePaul and I am very, very excited to get started. This has been a long term goal for me. It is about to become reality. Orientation is August 20th.
I have no idea how often I will be able to update this blog, but I intend to use it as a journal of my law school experience. I think it will be valuable tool for gaining a stronger understanding of the flood of new ideas which I am about to experience. And maybe it will help someone else gain an insight into what it’s like to be a first year law student.
Things are about to get very interesting.
Pakistan and Youtube
In the most recent This Week in Law podcast, I heard one of the guests (Bret Fausett) mention Pakistan’s recent attempt to block YouTube. Somehow I managed to avoid hearing about this event. So I went to his page and found a link to a very detailed explanation of what happened. It’s a bit technical, but if you have any interest in the way the Internet works, or in how a country can really foul things up by trying to block a site, I highly recommend reading this page and watching this video:
There is also an interesting discussion of this event over at Slashdot.
Why
As a follow-up to that last post, I want to point out that it was this post specifically that inspired me to focus this blog on my experience with the law. When I try to wrap my head around a new concept, nothing makes it clearer for me than trying to explain it to someone else. So that is what I will try to do here. And until I get deep into the learning experience, I will spend my time talking about application process.
Speaking of that process, I have now taken the last step before making my decision. We completed our tax returns, so I was able to fill out the FAFSA. It’s nice to be able to do that online, because the process went quickly and smoothly. In fact, I had an email in my inbox the next day saying that the application had been processed. They sent the info on to the schools I am still considering, and hopefully I will have a full picture of my options soon. When I get responses from those schools, I will make my final choice.
LawReading
In an effort to get my brain in gear before school starts, I have been seeking out interesting web sites. Here are some that I’ve been enjoying so far:
http://thefairuseblog.typepad.com/ : A blog about Fair Use. One of the co-editors is a professor at DePaul.
http://www.lessig.org/blog/ : Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law Prof, Free Culture Advocate, all around genius.
http://www.frugallawstudent.com/ : Advice for law students on a budget, which is to say: all of them.
http://www.maclawstudents.com/blog/ : Macs in law school. Good info for me and my new MacBook.
That is the tip of the iceberg. I will post more as I am able to digest them.
Better Than Free
*** Now that I am using this site for blogging on law-related matters, I am moving some older posts from my Lost in Louisville blog over here. Enjoy! ***
Originally posted on 2008.02.06
This article provides a nice evaluation of where value will be created in an economy which finally accepts the reality of ubiquitous free copying. My interest in intellectual Property law has a lot to do with how our laws deal with this issue currently, and how we will deal with it in the future. (via GeekPress)
Chicago Bound?
*** Now that I am using this site for blogging on law-related matters, I am moving some older posts from my Lost in Louisville blog over here. Enjoy! ***
Originally posted on 2007.12.14
I went last weekend to visit the DePaul College of Law, and I was very impressed. I am interested in Intellectual Property, and Chicago is home to two of the best IP programs in the country. DePaul ranks 13th and the Chicago-Kent Law School ranks 9th. I haven’t visited Kent, but I suspect that I will like it as well. In addition to the prestigious programs, Chicago has the added benefit of being one of the largest legal markets in the country. There would be a significant advantage to attending a school in Chicago, especially when compared with Louisville and Lexington.
Moving to Chicago would be a big change for Medina and me. Neither of us have ever lived in a city that large. We talked about moving to there in the past, and we agreed then that it is somewhere we could see ourselves living happily. When I find out where I get in and what kind of scholarship money I might see, we will make the decision. And if things go that way, we could be looking to move as soon as the spring.
Here’s the view of the DePaul building at 25 Jackson Blvd. in Downtown Chicago:
And here’s the view outside of the Kent School
Law School Visit
*** Now that I am using this site for blogging on law-related matters, I am moving some older posts from my Lost in Louisville blog over here. Enjoy! ***
Originally posted on 2007.10.29
This morning was my first in-person visit to a law school. The University of Louisville’s Brandeis School hosted a preview event which included informational sessions, question and answer sessions with current students, and most exciting of all: the opportunity to sit in on a class.
Despite my enthusiasm for law school and confidence in my decision to attend, I had not attended a law school class. Not before today. My group sat in on a Criminal Procedure class taught by Professor Weaver. If I wasn’t completely sure that I wanted to go to law school before, I am sure now. It was exactly what I want law school to be, and I can hardly wait to get started.
OMGLSAT
*** Now that I am using this site for blogging on law-related matters, I am moving some older posts from my Lost in Louisville blog over here. Enjoy! ***
Originally posted on 2007.10.07
The LSAT went very well. I think. I’ll find out for sure in two weeks. I took the practice test the night before, and got a decent score. During the practice test I had trouble on a couple of the logic games, and ran out of time before I finished all of the questions in three of the four sections.
When I took the actual test, I finished 5 of the 6 sections before the time was up. I only had one question left when time ran out on the other. I feel really good about the test in general. I got through every logic game without getting stumped. That’s a lot more than I can say for the practice test, and for most of the sample questions I did while studying.
I will be surprised if I get anything lower than my score on the practice test. And that score was right at the median score of the 2007 freshman class at UofL. So I think my chances of getting in to UofL’s Brandeis Law School are good. I know it is competitive, but I feel good about my chances. I’ll feel much more confident if I hear, two weeks from now, that I aced the LSAT.
In other major life news, Medina and I are on a new weight loss program, and it is going very well. We are blogging the process over on our repurposed wedding blog.
