God be Praised!

So there’s this concept in Property law called the Rule Against Perpetuities. Basically it’s a giant conglomerate of complications that proves the bane of every property student. I was ferreting around online for help understanding it and found this passage in one of the articles attempting to explain the concept: “It is not surprising that in California, a court ruled that the failure of a lawyer who drafted a Will in violation of the Rule was not liable for negligence because his ignorance did not fall below the standard of the ordinary practitioner.” I find that highly ironic. They expect law students to comprehend this mess?

That said... the exam was a blessing. I really owe one to God. The first question featured four characters from Lost (that’s right, my tv show!) and described them crashing on the island, wandering around and finding things. Then we had to explain who had what rights to what item and why, and reference cases we’d read in class in support. Like, Kate found a wild boar standing outside of a broken fence, Locke found a compass in a recently-built hut, Jin found a raft buried in the sand, that sort of thing. I REALLY lucked out here because we discussed this stuff at the very beginning of the semester, when most people weren’t even outlining yet, and the prof didn’t return to review it at all throughout, so most people didn’t spend much time on it, but I had every single case memorized. I am so glad he concentrated here instead of on leaseholds, where most other people concentrated their studying efforts. But my instincts were right – this guy has a Monty Python sense of humor and idolizes John Cleese, so I had a feeling he would try to give us a red herring by reviewing leases later in the year and then blindsiding us on the exam with seemingly trivial stuff from the very beginning of the semester. But I thought it prudent to memorize all these because these were the cases from the 1700’s, which are still referenced in courts today and on the bar exam. Rah rah rah!!!

The second question was from my favorite book, The Great Gatsby. It followed five pieces of land being sold, inherited and willed over a period of seven decades, and we had to identify which conveyances were valid, which violated the aforementioned rule against perpetuities, who lost the rights to their land by violating a covenant in the lease, who was subject to an equitable servitude... blah blah blah. All stuff I had studied forward and backwards.

Then we had a policy question – we received a copy of an editorial written by a professor at the U of Chicago about the government’s practice of eminent domain in Hawaii, where the Supreme Court allowed the state to force landowners to sell their land to the current tenants to jump-start the economy. The editorial called this a blatant disregard of constitutional and court-ruling precedents, and we were instructed to comment on it. So I spewed a two-page single-spaced fire-breathing monologue referencing fifteen or so case names and raving about how government intervention undermines the entire theory of a free economy, encourages laziness, undermines productivity and generally tromps on the livelihood of humanity. Hopefully he agrees.

I guess while I’m here I’ll record, for posterity’s sake, the Torts exam questions. The first one was: a woman committed a drive-by gang shooting, accidentally shot an innocent bystander B, who was subsequently aided by passing-by doctor C. C applied a tourniquet to B’s arm which resulted in it being amputated at the hospital, (but, as I noted in my answer, he was following standard medical practice, so was exempt from liability when B subsequently asserted a claim of battery, which is nonconsentual harmful or offensive contact with the person of another, and I also argued implied consent, which applies when the victim is in dire need of medical intervention and not in a position to consent to treatment). We had to identify all the claims C could make or that could be made against C, and the affirmative defenses he could summon to sidestep liability.

The second one was a bus driver stopping at a bus stop and, in violation of a local ordinance, letting a kid get off the bus to go into a gas station to buy a soda. The kid negligently failed to check for cars when crossing the street, and a negligent driver hit an injured him. He went to the hospital and woke from surgery with a burn mark on his stomach unrelated to the car crash. We had to identify all the claims. The third portion was multiple choice.

I am so, so, so glad this thing is over! Just Contracts on Friday, and then I’m Homeward Bound! Rah rah rah! Everybody’s going out drinking tonight, but I’m going to go over to see Pride and Prejudice at the movie theater up the block as my present. Call me boring, but that sounds infinitely more appealing.

One Down, Three to Go

I would really like to go crawl under a rock somewhere and just sleep for about three weeks. Unfortunately, every time I try to sleep, I think about the possibility of bombing my exams and my heart rate speeds through the roof again. Yoga didn’t help, Melatonin doesn’t help.... so I’m caught in this vicious circle whereby I can’t wake up (meriting caffeine consumption) and then I can’t slow down at night. But I refuse to get back into espresso – it always made me feel like walking death, even when it provoked my pulse into an artificial sense of wakefulness. I tried to take a bath last night, recommencing my eternal argument with an overly-enthusiastic drain. Sayran wrap beneath a giant soda bottle, the top of a Tupperware container and an old mouse pad all failed to keep the water in... then I remembered I had yet to use my plunger. That did the trick. Sweet Pea from Bath & Body Works smells wonderful. Unfortunately, my hot water dies after the tub is half full, so my knees never receive adequate coverage, but I’m not going to quibble semantics.

I had a nice surprise this morning, driving to school with the radio on “scan” – ManCow! I found him! After all this time! I’m usually listening to Broadway Classics on Sirius, so I had no way to know of his local existence. Yay! Nothing like some good garbage in the morning to really get the system going.

It’s funny how my mind set has changed since coming to Law School. I used to care about so many trivial things, and now I just kind of streamline my worries on school, health and going home. For instance, when I read that Newsweek article about anorectics – even as recently as last year that would have thrown me into a week of strange eating habits and severely restricted intake, but reading it this year I just wanted to go home and have some tuna. Baby steps.

I had a mini-crisis this morning printing my notecards – the printer jammed. Talk about having a heart attack! I thought I wouldn’t be able to get my notecards out of there. And then I ran out of printer paper, and had to print the remainder on loosleaf. Tacky, but viable.

I can’t wait to come home this weekend, but I have to be cautious not to enjoy myself too much. I have Property on Tuesday (yikes!). I am, in a way, quite glad I partially moved away and had the opportunity to be homesick, because now I’ll appreciate my home life much more. I used to just want to hide away at Borders all day, and now I like being home (up to a point). And I can’t wait to see the puppy! To get mercilessly gnawed, and ceaselessly irritated! This drive home ought to be at least a little more enjoyable than normal due to the imminence of Christmas – perhaps the Rednecks have been inspired to replace their burned-out bulbs. But I guess it's a moot point because I have to FOCUS and keep my EYES ON THE ROAD AT ALL TIMES.

Criminal Law

I sat up in bed this morning as though responding to a gunshot. Unfortunately, this happened too late to go back to sleep but too early not to leave me sufficiently groggy and cotton-headed the rest of the day.

Heat in the school has improved slightly, but I was still glad I thought to tote a blanket to the exam room with me for Crim. Unfortunately, 2/3 of it comprised multiple choice. Here’s hoping that won’t happen again! Yuck!

"And down the stretch they come!"

I’m currently on lunch-break from my Pre-Criminal Law Exam crunch, so I thought I’d check in with the old log.

I study with the TV kind of humming in the background to provide the simulation of other people conversing, and last night I was incredibly bummed to have to change channels when “Behind the Scenes at Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary Bash” came on the Travel Channel. Ahh, such sacrifices we make in the pursuit of higher learning.

I'll be strapped to a tree in front of a target while arrows are shot at me mercilessly for the first time tomorrow morning at 8AM. I plan to arrive at 7 to get a prime spot – I’ve heard horror stories about being jostled, or stuck next to an idiot who coughs or whatnot. (I had actually planned on 6:30 just to be safe, but they won’t open the doors of the building until 7.) Plus, I’ll be able to lay out my coat and reserve a few spots on either side to spread out all my stuff. Criminal law is so complicated we’re allowed to use outlines of a certain length, so I printed mine and put it in a three-ring binder. You ought to see this thing. First, all the text is color-coded – black for the main, red for the subject headings, purple for important maxims, maroon for hypotheticals and examples, teal for page number cross-references, orange for Model Penal Code references and direct quotes, blue for textbook case briefs. Then, I made an index for easy referencing, and put little tabs on the side like a real binder has. I'm told time will be of the essence (even though it's a 3:45-hour exam), so I've tried to make referencing as quick and painless as possible. I have to say I’m impressed on my own behalf.

After talking to Dad last night about the Cats DVD, I’ve been singing “Shimbleshanks the Railway Cat” all day.

Now I’m reviewing the Commercial outline I bought and running through all the sample problems the publishers provided. Who knows if they’ll help, but the most useful thing I did to prepare for the LSAT was run through practice questions, and I’m a big fan of sticking to practices that have a successful track record.

UIUC is currently experiencing a campus-wide heat crisis, so we’re at about 55 in the law school. Unfortunately, heat is such a big issue in all the buildings, we’re not allowed to call maintenance until we fall beneath 50 – they’re that overbooked. I would argue that the undergrads should have to suffer until we graduate students receive proper accommodations, and cite Dad’s highly useful “undesirables flow downhill” theory as evidence, but somehow I suspect this would simply earn me an unceremonious hangup as opposed to the desired result. I found a vacant room in the building that isn’t too cold, but I still have to sit with my jacket, scarf and hat on. I would just leave and go to Borders but I completely filled my parking meter before coming in ($.75/hr). Plus, it may be cold, but it’s quiet here, and easy to focus.

That said, my allocated break time has petered out. This is your resident haggard IL, signing out.

The Friday Before

That ridiculous Nickelback song grates me like sandpaper every time I hear it. I loathe that guy’s voice (clear your THROAT, dude) and all the band’s songs sound the same, starting mid-phrase3 with no introductory chords to prepare us for the torture so the song just springs up on us. That Sheyrl Crow song blows, too. “Good is Good.” Well, what a monumental conclusion... thank you for enriching my knowledge and understanding of the universe. Does radio in general stink at the moment, or am I imagining that? I procured Johnny Cash’s 16 Greatest Hits from Borders before driving down this week and it’s quite good stuff... by comparison or in an of itself, who can say.

Can’t wait to come home tomorrow. Hope I’m not trapped here by a torrential snowstorm or something like that, because I’d drive myself absolutely batty over the weekend. Can’t wait to see the puppy and be surrounded by people not currently in possession of a one-track-mind oriented on our impending ritualistic torture exams. I’ll probably be home only at night, but it’s just the principal of the thing- being home always kind of wakes me up and clears my mind. Here’s hoping, though, that I don’t have any of the same experiences I had last week...

All right, maybe I’m not such an idiot after all. I went to Dean Hurd’s office hours today for a criminal law review, and someone asked a question... Dean Hurd answered it, but then said, “but I can’t think of a situation where you could know you’re going to be falsely imprisoning someone but not intend to do so...” There was a long silence and a lot of people shook their head. I piped in : “”If you’re employing the shopkeeper’s privilege, and you have to lock the door to keep the thief from leaving, and there happens to be another customer in the store.” Every one of the fifteen heads in this office swiveled to look at me, and Dran Hurd lifted her eyebrows and nodded twice, saying, “Exactly – that’s exactly right. That absolutely would work, good thinking.” I felt like hot stuff for a few seconds.... just a few. Don’t worry, it passed.