It’s starting…

I just completed my first week of law school…phew!  And already it’s happening: I’m starting to laugh at legal jokes.

Before I came to school, I watched The Paper Chase, considered how stressed out everyone in the movie seemed to be and wondered why in the world I had decided to leave a 9-5 for this apparent nightmare.  There was nothing funny about it.  Today, after we discussed Hawkins v. McGee in Contracts, we watched the opening scene in which Professor Kingsfield grills Hart about the same case.  I, along with every other student, was laughing as if it was the funniest scene I had ever seen.  (Okay a bit of an exaggeration, but just want to make sure we’re clear it wasn’t a light chuckle).

Would anyone else think it was funny when Hart was attempting to clarify the difference between the promised hand and the post-surgery hand?  Would anyone else laugh when Professor Kingsfield chastises Hart for not knowing there was a reading?  Maybe, but I don’t think it would ever be with the same understanding of a law student.

It feels like I’m finally a member of the club.

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First day, next chapter

Tomorrow’s the big day!  (Well, at this time of night, it’s now today.)  Orientation and all of its awkward friend-making is over, the first 200 pages of reading are complete, pencils are sharpened and backpacks are packed.  The excitement of the last few days has been building to this moment.  The first official day of Law School.

I’m so excited.  After reading so many blogs of students that have gone before me, watching all the “essential” law school movies, and reading all the “essential” novels, I can’t wait to see what it’s actually like.  I’m sure it will be everything I expected and nothing like what I expected, all at the same time.

One thing I have noticed as I prepared for tomorrow:  it was difficult getting back into the correct mindset as I did my readings.  After not having to study or critically think about…well, really anything over the past year while I was working, I started to question whether I was reading the cases properly or whether I was even understanding the essential points.  I don’t have a doubt that I do understand and can think critically about the readings, but the pre-school jitters were definitely getting to me.

Aside from that, I’m ready to go!  I’ll see you on the other side!

Can I tweet that?

Okay, so my first post isn’t actually going to be about law school, but I stumbled on this article about BigLaw’s use of social media by Nicole Black on the blog Sui Generis and wanted to share. Since many of us in the law student blawgosphere are constantly weighing the possible career ramifications – wow, that sounds a little more serious than it actually is, but anyway – of posting certain things online, we can, in a way, relate to BigLaw’s struggle with the same issues.  (Well, sorta – I can’t say my blog posts will cause the downfall of any major corporations…but who knows).

Social media really began as a way to keep in touch with and grow your network.  (Remember when Facebook was only for college students – and how appalled we were when it was opened to everyone and our parents friended us?)  Now social media has become another advertising and public relations avenue for corporations and other public-facing entities and persons.  I’m not complaining about it – at the organization where I worked we were all about Facebook posts and tweets as a means of spreading our message because it is effective.  So it makes complete sense that law firms should jump onboard the bandwagon too and Black provides some ideas on how they should do it.

It says a lot about the central role social media has taken in corporate culture when the legal profession, which at times seems overly formal and staid, is turning to sites like Twitter and Facebook to bolster its public reputation and build its client list.

However, I just have to chuckle at the image of some young associate explaining to a (probably much older) senior associate or partner that tweeting is no longer just for the birds.  (And if you want a good example of tweeting-gone-wrong, Sen. Chuck Grassley always provides some interesting lessons.)

Hello There!

Hi everyone!  I’ve decided to start a blog about my life in law school.  I’m a little late to the game, as I will be starting orientation this coming Friday, but I figure some of the most harrowing experiences are ahead of me instead of behind.  I will try to update the blog a couple of times per week.  To learn a little more about me just click “about” in the menu above.

I look forward to using this blog to share interesting/funny/scary stories from law school and job hunting, reflect on some of the cases or topics covered in class and discuss practices in legal education.  Since I come from working in politics, I’m sure I will have to devote a few posts to the political happenings of the day too.

Hope you enjoy!