The Life of Alien

so much of my Sunday

2011-11-27T18:26:00.001-08:00

Researching "Depositions in foreign countries" is what I am doing during this Sunday evening. Every weekend I try to work--research or writing--and rarely successful since by laziness overcomes me and I end up with a few hours of late evening work after many hours of procrastination in front of TV or just doing nothing. Crap.

Tax Resolution: taxpayer's right to representation

2011-11-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

4.11.55.2.1.2 (04-20-2010)
Request for Representation - Suspension of Interview

Taxpayers have the right to representation at any time during the examination process.
IRC 7521(b)(2) provides that if, during any interview, the taxpayer requests to consult with his/her representative (who is permitted to represent the taxpayer before the IRS), the examiner will immediately suspend the interview regardless of whether the taxpayer may have answered one or more questions.
Exception:
An interview will not be suspended if required by a court order or it was initiated via an administrative summons issued under subchapter A of Chapter 78.
Allow the taxpayer a minimum of 10 business days to secure representation before taking any follow-up action to schedule the appointment (extensions can be granted on a case-by-case basis).
Caution:
A taxpayer can file a civil suit against the IRS under IRC section 7433 if an IRS employee intentionally or recklessly disregards the provision of the tax code by denying the taxpayer the right to consult with representation or bypassing the representative without proper approval.

Internal Revenue Manual - 4.11.55 Power of Attorney Rights and Responsibilities (Cont. 1)

Update re: my life

2011-10-09T16:05:00.001-07:00

So apparently I did not provide an update of recent changes in my life. I found job... Now I work as a tax attorney in a small law firm. I love my work. Basically, I do the same stuff that I did at the clinic of my LLM program except that things we do at my work are little bit more complicated and clients pay us to do our work (which is, unfortunately, they usually do not do that on time). I think this is the biggest update in my life for the recent months. Telling the truth, I still cannot believe that my dreams came true. Thank you, God!

Working: thoughts of attorneys' value

2011-09-09T20:26:00.001-07:00

I think the value of the attorneys is in their creativity that can create something out of nothing, when people of other professions would possibly just give up.

A pro se plaintif responding to the motion

2011-07-14T11:30:00.001-07:00

The clerk advised a pro se defendant on possible consequences if he failed to adequately respond to motion for summary judgment. The defendant filed a "Petition for Abatement" in which he asserted that the complaint fails to name him as a party on the grounds that his name appears in all upper case letter.

The court's response: "This filing by defendant does not respond in any form to the arguments raised in the Government's motion for summary judgment, and the respondent has failed to otherwise respond to the motion."

United States v. Renfrow, 2009-2 USTC para. 50,580 (E.D.N.C. 2009).

Hey

2011-07-14T11:25:00.001-07:00

I have not been here for a while, right. Actually as always.

Update is such: three weeks of school left, got part-time job (legal research) but hope that I will be able to find something in tax controversy. Love tax, and this is the fact.

Summer is passing quickly and I do not feel it is the summer except for the weekends when I sweat at home (from both weather and intensity of studying).

I put sport kind of behind because of time and possibly laziness. Still do some runs for 30-35 minutes but regretfully no swimming.

That's it.

Saturday's run

2011-04-02T08:45:00.001-07:00

I had my morning run today. It was awesome: rising sun, morning light, empty streets and roads, and a disco music in my headphones.

I think I did not tell before that I used to run for about 8 years almost every morning until I got to a law school and started stressing out and complaining about lack of time. I quited running but then decided to return and at the first day of my "coming back" I injured my knee.

For more than a year, I envied every runner I saw on a trail or side of a road. I tried to get back a couple of times, but a sever pain in my knee was stronger than me. But then overcoming my fear of knee pain, I went to a physical therapist and with help of several exercises and hours of training I returned back to my 35-minutes runs. Unfortunately, one day I tried to run during strong winds and a knee pain returned bringing back my fear of pain and uncertainty that I can run again.

In last month I have realized that physical exercises mean a lot to me: they bring energy to my body and happiness to my life. So I have decided that I need get back to my running routine because I feel it is important to me to be able to do it without fear of failure.

Now I can run only 13 minutes on a trail and about 15 minutes on a tread mill in a gym. Luckily, I do not have a knee pain, yet <knock on wood>. But I hope to increase my time to at least 35 minutes. Who knows, maybe one day I will decide to run a marathon :-)))

Today is Friday

2011-04-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

A few minutes ago I hang out on FB. Looked at the list of people who is online and then asked myself: who are those people? Seriously, my biggest mistake I made while in a law school was a failure to get more contacts with my classmates. I know faces, but have hard time to place names to those faces. Yeah, I feel bad. Today I spent 6 hours working on my clinic work, even though I planned to spend only 2-3 hours. Sometimes clinic work sucks you into working mood. Finally, I did some cleaning and Santa Claus is gone to a shelf in my closet. I know, it is April, but honestly, I did not have time for a house cleaning.

The end of March

2011-03-31T21:20:00.001-07:00

So I have a beginning of a third quarter. The last quarter was stressful, especially exams. I still have nightmares about me failing. Those dreams are the worst crap I ever had seen in my dreams. Horrible. Surprisingly, I did well in one exam and did very-very well in another. When I checked the results for the first two exams, the grades for the third one were not posted. Today I have learned that they are up. But I am so scared to look at them. It is not that I am afraid to fail. Not at all. I think I did well enough not to get the grade lower than B. But I need A soooo much and I am stressing out about it. Even now, while writing this post I am thinking whether I should go and look. But then I am afraid that if I got B, I will not be able to sleep and my nightmares will be worth than I have now. Hell, no, I am going to wait till tomorrow. ... oh should I??? Imagine, I wrote a last sentence and went to check my grades. O, God, help me!!! ........... ok, checked. Got A but with a low points score. A little upset, since would like to have a better score, since I thought I knew a little bit more than it needed for a solid A, although (being honest) not enough for a high score. rrrrr.... I am going to sleep, hopefully with sweet dreams.

Exam

2011-03-08T09:27:00.001-08:00

The frustrating part of school is that you may go to the exam with a confidence that you know the most of the material, and that you will do very well. But then you are walking out of that exam with a feeling that much more studying could be done, and that "I know the material" was very deceitful feeling.

This is what I felt yesterday after a Corporate Tax exam. No, I am sure that I did not fail. But, damn, I could do better.

Stressful times

2011-02-18T10:04:00.001-08:00

Two days ago while sitting in a school's study room, which I had shared with other two students from my program, I heard their worries about approaching finals.

Being frank with you, till that day I was thinking of exams, but I was not freaking out. But a chain reaction from their talks passed to me quickly, despite my angry resistance.

I have less than two weeks before time when I have to pull out my outlines and spend 3.5 hours writing answers. My two outlines are half-done, one outline looks as a blank page. As always I had planned to catch up on a weekend, and as always I did not. I feel the energy is leaving my body and I have no time to replenish it.

Anyway, I guess my point is I begin worrying and I know it is no good.

Inspiration --> motivation --> I am here

2011-02-09T13:48:00.001-08:00

I have got an inspiration to start blogging again. Since my life is mostly spent with books and in communication with people who do not care much about events in my life, I have decided to annoy my blog abandoned for so long time with my silly thoughts.

Since a school is a center of my life, I will begin with it. Last quarter ended with good grades (my points received were not excellent, but high enough to get As). This quarter I am taking Estate and Gift tax, International Taxation and Corporate Tax I. International Taxation is most complicated and boring (BTW, this is what I am avoiding to do at this moment but creating this blog entry). I also continue working in a clinic, a time-consuming but interesting stuff.

Beyond-the-school life is boring - TV, shopping, cooking and rare meetings with friends (and by "rare" I mean I did not see them for more than a month). Physical exercises are on my to-do-list but by the end of the day they end up on my things-not-done list. This continues from the beginning of the quarter. It is a pity, because my body looks terrible - fat and ... no, I am not going to talk about gross things.

Now, update is done and I have no excuses for not studying.

By the way, the reason I decided to write is that a February bar exam is approaching, and I see many people with BarBri books in the library and in the school's halls. So what I wanted to say is that I am SO HAPPY that I have passed the bar exam and I am SO GLAD, that rather than studying Con Law or Criminal law or whatever, I need to do my homework for International Taxation. Thank you, God!!!

Outlines online .... and I can use it!

2010-11-24T22:06:00.001-08:00

Finally I am studying a class (classes) for which I can fearlessly use Internet sources. You know what class it is? Individual Tax. Web site www.irs.gov provides information in most readable and understandable manner. :-)

As a continuation of my previous post

2010-11-24T15:19:00.001-08:00

So I was talking about relation between grades in a law school and a future career. A couple of days after my post, where I talked about a lesser impact of the law school grades after five years into the legal career, I received another monthly issue of job postings from my law school. Skimming over postings I noticed one from a large law firm--Holland & Hart. They were seeking a corporate attorney with a legal experience of not less than 8 years... [now, bitting of drums, most interesting part] ... and among required documents for an applicant to submit was an unofficial transcript from a law school.

So, yes, I must say, if you want to be in a large law firm, get good grades.

Do bad grades impact your success on the bar exam?

2010-11-08T21:27:00.001-08:00

While I was waiting in a law school’s cafe for my lunch to warm up in a microwave, an article in magazine drew my attention. As it appeared later, a magazine is one of those cute magazines for law students that try to give so-called “smart” advices (unfortunately, very often too stale and useless) to law students, trying to convert them into “real” professionals.

An aforementioned article talked about grades in a law school. The article’s point was that grades will follow you during all your life. Some law school professors concluded that law school grades have both short-term and a long-term impact on student’s life. Put it differently (as I understood that article), if you are a C student, you are going to be a loser for all your professional life. [Indeed, I may have biased view on such issues, since I am one of the “not-in-the-top-50%-of-the-class” students.]

I believe there is some truth to such statement, as I was convinced by my own experience of rejections for job interviews (I am not even talking about getting an interview) and since I am more than sure that rejections occurred because of my crappy grades.

From my communication with practicing attorneys, I learnt that the grades definitely have a short-term impact: as a job applicant and a young attorney you do not have an experience and your grades are what a potential employer will look at with hopes to find out about your diligence in work and learning. However, after getting some experience, it is your professional skills that is important for an employer but not your grades you have received five years ago.

But who knows, maybe I do not know much about current legal job market and I am wrong about long-term impact. I will let my future to prove the accuracy of article’s conclusions.

What made me upset, mad and irritated is this article’s statement: grades impact student’s success on the bar exam. According to the author, grades constitute 70% of student’s chances to pass a bar exam. What? What bullshit? [Pardon my French]. Here I am, a no-so-good student with crappy grades who passed the bar exam from the first time, and there are students, who had much better grades than I do and they DID NOT pass. How will the author [or whoever made that conclusion] explain my situation?

Why am I saying all this? I think I understand good motivations of the author for writing that article—he/she wanted to develop in 1Ls that desire to get “good grades” that by all means will assist a future young attorney to find a decent job that will help to pay student loans. This is a good intention, no doubt. But what the author did not take into account, is that there are B- and C students who need different motivation and may read that unsupported crap and believe in failure on the bar exam and, later, in profession.

In other words, think positive, law students whatever grades you have. There are thousands of examples, that show different reality. Professor, on the other hand, should stick to their Socratic Method.

International Tax Blog: International Financial Scams - Overseas Investments, Lotteries, Inheritances, Gifts, etc.

2010-11-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that there are people who continue to believe in those scams! So much is written, so much is talked about...

International Tax Blog: International Financial Scams - Overseas Investments, Lotteries, Inheritances, Gifts, etc.

Supreme Court Seating Game - The Washington Post

2010-11-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

Supreme Court Seating Game - The Washington Post

Brief Update: the life is going on

2010-10-31T12:15:00.001-07:00

So among several goals I have recently created for myself, I have included "writing posts to Blogger more often." Since there were periods when I wished to post about current events and some thoughts but at the same time I felt it is not appropriate to do that without at least some mentioning what is going on in my life, I posted nothing. In fact, I was waiting for the time and day when I briefly describe at what stage of my life I am now but, unfortunately, I have been postponing that day finding an excuse in "my busy life," which is, actually, was not that busy, to spare a couple of minutes to write what I am writing now.

Taking my story back to summer of 2010, I will repeat that June and July were HELL because of preparation for the Bar Exam and the exam itself. August, however, was more relaxing. Unfortunately, we did not travel as much as we did last year. But Utah's national park and local lake were great. The weekdays I spent cleaning a house and watching TV. Unfortunately, I did not do much of reading, which I had planned to do after the bar exam. I explain this fact by a want to recover from a disastrous "brain damage" bar preparation caused to my delicate mind.

Starting from September I am a full-time student pursuing an LLM in Taxation degree. I am enjoying studying tax. It does not seem boring to me at all, as might seem to many other people. It is not so easy either. But most important I love it. The program is intense and that makes it not much different from a law school program. As a result I am often tired by the end of the week. But successful passing the bar exam and following swearing-in ceremony are the best motivation for me and my efforts in being successful. It was very hard to believe that I made it so far. But I did and hopefully will keep the same pace.

7 Ways to Smash Procrastination | Lateral Action

2010-10-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

7 Ways to Smash Procrastination Lateral Action

I passed the Bar Exam!!!

2010-10-09T14:38:00.001-07:00

I passed!!! I did it!!! I cannot believe it!!! I do not know what to say except maybe that I never ever should lose a confidence in my abilities. The fact that I PASSED shows that studying hard will be paid off sooner or later [better sooner, of course]!

Article Florida Law - Writing Letters

2010-09-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

An excellent article on the subject of writing letters by attorneys to non-lawyers.

Article Florida Law - HOW TO WRITE LETTERS NONLAWYERS WILL READ

Bar Advisor

2010-07-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

I was in the midst of my deliberation whether I should post about my feelings as to the bar exam I have taken three days ago. After reading an article (see below) I have decided to follow the advice of the author and limit my story to the following: "this was hell!" Anyway, the life is going on and you will see later how it goes for me . :-)))

Bar Advisor: "do not blog (publicly) about the bar exam until AFTER you have passed it.

Why do I say this? To begin with, a blog requires lots of psychic energy to maintain. When you draft a post, you want it to be interesting,
well-written, and timely. You worry about it before you send it off into the blogosphere where anyone can read it. When you are studying for the bar
examination, you do not have time for such a distraction and drain of mental resources.

Next, constant and public worry about failing the bar exam (which is what the majority of these bar-exam blog posts contain) will begin to infiltrate your mind and create an expectation of failure. You may not believe it, but it is true. And, guess what, if you fail, you'll be able to continue blogging about how much you hate the bar exam and your loyal readers will keep reading your posts. This is a sick form of codependency."

Court strikes down FCC indecency policy | Reuters

2010-07-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Court strikes down FCC indecency policy Reuters: "The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's indecency policy is unconstitutionally vague and could create a chilling effect beyond 'fleeting expletives' heard on broadcasts, an appeals court ruled on Tuesday in a major win for broadcasting companies."

Anxiety…start

2010-07-13T03:51:00.001-07:00

It is 5 am in the morning. I am sitting on my porch in darkness with my laptop (thank you a person who created Wi-Fi). From today it is exactly 2 weeks before an exam and I am SCARED! Took a test yesterday and got frustrated – missed plenty of the points (EASY point) and forgot the simplest rules, made wrong assumptions and conclusions (EASY ones). Will I be able in two weeks to get to the point when I can say I know at least 50% of the material and PLUS I can recognize the issues? I do not know and frankly afraid of thinking of.

This is no good!

Yesterday all night I was dreaming about MPT test – what I did wrong and why, and how I should have done. MPT is the hardest part of the test for me. It is very upsetting to read how people do not even practice MPT (I do not know, however, whether they do well). They say they are doing well. I do not miss issues, but I am a very slow writer, and, frankly, I am not a good writer. As a result of lack of confidence and slowness I cannot finish even a half of the writing.

Practice, practice, practice. I am saying this to myself. Bar/Bri says. Websites say. I will try and I will see what happen; though, I am prepared for the worst.

Tough times: this summer does not exist for me, unfortunately

2010-07-11T12:20:00.001-07:00

I was keeping myself from blogging, because I wanted to post some kind of introduction after a long absence. You see, a law school is behind now (and no regret about it). I thought maybe some thoughts related to the past three years would be a good way to open a new page of my life. But, frankly, I do not know what to write. Three years passed quickly and with many difficulties, grey thoughts and doubts. I do not think I want to look back and show my regrets or misery, if there were such (or maybe I just do not want to confess. I cannot say I had a fun time in a law school. Pressure of good grades, strong and continuous competition had been sucking out all my energy and desire to be happy and just enjoy life. Definitely I did not choose a right course of life: I did not do what I like to do (read fiction, travel, communicate with people), but selected sitting with textbooks or just doing nothing while weeping about my unhappy days in a law school. By no means have these sentences had a purpose to discourage new law school applicants from going to school (though you would better think before you make such decision). It is just a warning that before you want to bind your life with a law school, you should prepare yourself for hard work and stressful life.

Overall, it would be a lie if I say I have not enjoyed my L years in full. I loved clinic, I loved practicing law (although it was only as a student-attorney), I loved learning tricks and dark corners of tax and business law. But I hated law school exams, outlines and useless theory which is useless in the preparation for the bar exam.

Anyway, since a bar preparation is in its high peak and taking all my thoughts and dreams, I often wish to scribble something here for my own memory and perhaps even for some occasional reader of this blog as a note how it is done, how it should not be done, how it could be done and some other mixed thoughts. Since my communication is incredibly limited during those days—husband and computer—I have a need in some relief, although I'll speak to nobody.

Happy Easter!!!

2010-04-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

Today the lent is over! I can eat meat, fish, milk, eggs, cheeses (I missed those). But being honest, I do not feel much of joy. An ideal Easter for me is to get together with my relatives and/or friends, drink a glass of good wine, eat incredibly delicious food cooked by my mom, sit and chat.

This morning started for me in blue: no time to cook except boiled eggs (since I have spent 5 hours of TV watching yesterday), bad news from home (my mom does not feel well), no time for fun (the amount of work to be done before Monday is enormous).

Yeap, this is how it goes.

I will be short

2010-03-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

I had this urge to write at least something. I think the reason of this feeling is nothing else but a delight in avoiding by all means a school work during my spring break.

So how things were going in my life?

I had a huge load of work (and I am still having it) for my clinic. I have completed my first 35-page LLC operating agreement and now waiting for a feedback from supervising attorneys. The end of the semester is approaching rapidly but I did not do my outlining and I hate even to think about it. I work a little on networking and so far it goes well.

I betrayed my blogs by setting up Twitter account. I will be honest, I do not enjoy Twitter, since I appear to be unskillful 140-symbols typist -- I always want to write more (hey, you will never tell by my dedication to blogging, right?). However, a Twitter is a great tool to follow news. So I subscribed to WSJ legal news feed, a bunch of blogs of entrepreneurial and business lawyers and Twitter subscriptions are still open to expansion.

I have got a couple of thoughts to write about but there is no promise I'll do that.

Now back to work which I did not begin doing yet.

Cheers!

Who else can understand this if not a law student?

2010-03-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

"It is not politically correct" (c) but I laughed out loud :-))

Energy can be a key

2010-01-28T09:00:00.001-08:00

I have come back from the meeting with a law school's head hunter. Fascinating woman with a lot (and I mean it "A LOT") of energy. From her attitude I began believing that even with my grades I will get a good job, or at least some job.

Now I have a homework to do: come up with a list of attorneys whom I might approach, sign up for a bunch of social networks etc. We'll see how it goes.

Procrastination is possibly as old as prostitution

2010-01-27T09:58:00.000-08:00

So let's see what I have been doing to procrastinate this morning since the end of my early morning class?:
- read email
- read LiveJournal
- looked at some pictures (bless God no comments leaving)
- read my Google Reader
- glanced at Reuters news
- glanced at my clock and decided that I have another 3 minutes to write a blog post.
here I am! Writing!

My time for procrastination is over, I have 2 hours to read those loooong 15 pages for M&A

My Advanced Contracts partner showed up. I made him waiting yesterday. Well he should have read my email. Now I need to pick the subject for our contract draft. I have no idea what I would like to choose. Talked to librarian who gave a valuable advice -- go and read contract forms, in other words, use what was already done.

OA or AI?

2010-01-26T14:45:00.000-08:00

Isn't it time to come back? For how long I was not here? Three months? Well, isn't it the standard period of absence on my blog? I think so.

I was reading for my Biz planning class, and realized that I have asked yesterday a very stupid question during a clinic session. One of the students told that they are working on operating agreement and I have asked what type of entity is their client: "LLC or corporation?" Hellooooo, corporations have articles of incorporations. Only LLCs and partnerships may have operating agreement. Again, I disgraced myself!

Noisy people

2009-10-15T11:20:00.001-07:00

Why are Law Review people soooo loud? It is impossible to be in the room at the end of hall without hearing their screams. Helloooo..... people work here!

THE BAD day

2009-10-12T11:51:00.001-07:00

You know sometimes we have those bad days, when you want just to cry or to ask everything and everybody go to hell? Yeah, this is my day today. Whether it is because of the winter time approaching, or I feel like absolutely unsatisfied with what I do, or maybe it is those articles about bad economy and about lay-offs of the lawyers, or maybe my conversation with a friend about hardships to find a job in this place (or maybe in all US). For the past two weeks I have been thinking that I made a bad choice going to a law school. Isn't it strange? I was always thinking that this is what I wanted to do, and now those thoughts? Just uncertainty in the future calls for the pessimistic thoughts that killing all my enjoyment of life (if I ever had such!!!???). Some people avoid there frustration by plunging into work. This is what I should do, I think, instead of pouring sheet on these pages.

Hectic Thursday

2009-10-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

"Only 4 hours of sleep. You are crazy!"*

That was the beginning of my day on the first of October. This is what my husband told me when I got up at 6 am and rushed to bathroom to get ready. I wanted to bit traffic, which I didn't do anyway. I longed to be in the library as early as I could to finish up my reading assignment that I didn't finish last night, even though I have stayed till 1:30 am.

I stuck in the traffic, came to the library, started my laptop, and what a surprise -- the class for which I tried to prepare was cancelled. Well, at least I had time to finish preparing an agenda for Friday's meeting with a client. Then reading for the class, during which I didn't understand a single thing. After that I had a meeting with Professor that had a 30-minutes break because he had to take a call. A 30-minutes lunch. Then I had checked email and seen a draft of memo that I had to edit immediately to send it to a client and advisor. Editing happened in a crowded cafeteria where other students warmed up by a few glasses of beer were loudly chatting about something. What the heck was happening, I had no idea, though I didn't care about much, because I called my hubby and after I had finished work, we went to Italian restaurant and had tasty pasta (surprisingly, I ate pasta, although I don't like it that much). After that we came home, and I fell down asleep.

What a day.

Legal Writing blog

2009-09-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

Through my Google Reader I have found a very interesting blog authored by Wayne Schiess

LegalWriting.net

Am I grounded???!!!

2009-09-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

So, what comes to my mind now are words of one of attorneys or maybe publicists (I don't remember): "Write your posts carefully, because sooner or later your classmate, boss, etc will read your blog."

It was a good advice and I took it, though with a thought "How would they find me?!" Silly fool!!! I have just realized that I have connected to my school's blog without erasing this blog from my profile. From learning a sitemeter's analysis I understood that I was not the only one who entered this site from my school's web host ..... ooopss! Is it too late to disclaim all responsibility, liability and ther -ibilities??!!

Yes, I am not a saint, and, please, don't pay much attention to my English, it always was imperfect, although I skillfully hide it in my memos.

Tuesday morning with a cup of coffee

2009-09-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

What can be nicer than a cup of coffee after tax class.

Saturday... sunny Saturday...

2009-09-26T15:46:00.001-07:00

... and no, I am not outside walking winding trails or taking pictures of yellowish trees. I am working on my memos. For those two years of law school survival I never gave a thought to the fact, that as a law student you don't have weekends. Last year I met this girl who is from the same country I am. We had a dinner together with her hubby, we went for a hike this summer and frequently chat on the phone. Now she keeps asking me every week "When will we get together? when will we go for a hike?" My usual answer is, " Please, wait till Friday and I will let you know what is going on with my schedule?" But you know what? I never call back or if I do my answer is "Sorry, I have a work to do." Work by its meaning is not only school work, but also cleaning a house, cooking for the week, or just relaxing with longing for no movement - sleeping or stupidly staring at TV.

Too late I have realized how much time I have been spending on studying instead of simply enjoying my life by doing what I want -- something active and creative -- but not what school wants -- some boring, multi-paged reading or memo writing. Blah... take it a law student.

Meantime, my memo for clinic hasn't received success with my partner. She sent me her revisions that looked like a bloody field of red change tracks. Thanks a lot, - I would say half with appreciation and half with an irony. It is great she pointed at my mistakes, but it made me feel a sheety writer. F... with that. I keep writing.

My health rockets downhill with a speed of light. Doctors' appointments take an enormous amount of time leaving me with unfinished assignments and tearful mood, because I am behind and I don't know when I will get back on track.

The bottom line: currently my life sucks despite an awesome warm sunny beautiful weather.

P.S. it is my first experience sending a post via email. I'll see what happens.

quick update

2009-09-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

So be quick (because I have a memo to write) I'll tell that summer was fabulous. I went to so many places that I wanted to come to, that I even cannot believe it is possible to do in one summer. Except travelling I was on two interships. Nothing special but I think I have learnt some stuff.

Despite great summer and good relaxation for two and a half months I started school not in the best mood. I have some health issues and visits to doctors take a lot of my time. As a result I am behind with my reading. Additionally, I have this memo to write and, yes, I am difficult on writing.

Today I have planned to get up earlier and do my reading for morning class. But then I couldn't fall asleep, so I took a sleeping pill. As a result I woke up too late and was almost late for my class. Luckily, I have read just right amount of pages. I am really suprised b/c generally I am not so often granted with luck.

Elbert Hubbard, A message to Garcia

2009-09-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

A fascinating story I have been assigned for the clinic. This is what sometimes I am afraid to feel about myself

. . . this incapacity for independent action, this moral stupidity,
this infirmity of the will, this unwillingness to cheerfully catch hold and
lift, are the things that put pure socialism so far into the future. If men
will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their
effort is for all? . . .

. . . The employer is constantly sending away “help” that have shown their
incapacity to further the interests of the business, and others are being
taken on. No matter how good times are, this sorting continues, only if
times are hard and work is scarce, this sorting is done finer - but out
and forever out, the incompetent and unworthy go. It is the survival of the
fittest. . . .

. . . My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the “boss” is away, as
well as when he is home. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia,
quietly takes the missive, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no
lurking intention of chucking it into the nearest sewer, or of doing aught
else but deliver it, never gets “laid off,” nor has to go on strike for
higher wages. Civilization is one long anxious search for just such
individuals. Anything such a man asks will be granted; his kind is so rare
that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town,
and village - in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such; he is needed, and needed badly—the man who can Carry a message to Garcia.

Great things to think of in those hard times of high level of unemployment, isn't it?

P.S. I am working on my first this school year post, but still didn't come with apologies of my long-term absence from those pages. But stay tuned. Sooner or later I come back.

Second exam at the end of 2L year ...

2009-04-28T17:06:00.001-07:00

... I want to be happy sooo much! :-(

P.S. I had motivation till the moment when I had realized that I don't know how to take exams ... and this sucks!

Interesting reading

2009-04-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Success in Law School - A Unique Perspective

Cases in cartoons

2009-04-24T13:24:00.001-07:00

A few times I have googled cases I am not clear about and stumble upon cartoons. here is one for Perlman v. Feldmann (from Corporations) -- see it at Sut's Views

I hate this word "outlining"

2009-04-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

Today one of the students said that his outline is on 150 pages and he wants to bring it to a final. I thought my outlines are long, but what then to think of this one?

Ok, yes, I laugh from this...

2009-04-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

Boring readings of complicated cases can be sometimes diluted with judge's humor. Apparently, from my postings on other web sites, lay people don't find that humor fun. Maybe that is why lawyers have own jokes that seem to others not at all amusing. My humor might happen to degrade to the level when I laugh at judge's opinions, but, oh well, I am a future lawyer, aren't I?

Here is an excerpt from one of the cases -- Penthouse Intern., Ltd. v. Dominion Federal Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 855 F.2d 963, 973 (2d Cir. 1988):

Also important to Dominion's case was the testimony of Melrod partner, Philip Gorelick. Because of his extensive involvement in the transaction, he was in the
best position to present Dominion's perspective concerning the deal. The district court was not, however, receptive to Gorelick's testimony. After Gorelick had concluded his testimony on direct examination and began responding to questions on cross-examination, Judge Duffy called a morning recess. As the Judge was leaving the courtroom, he requested that the Melrod firm's attorney, Robert L. Tofel, join him in the robing room. When Tofel met Judge Duffy in the robing room, the judge handed him a copy of Volume 377 of the Federal Supplement and requested that Tofel read the first line in U.S. v. Tramunti, 377 F.Supp. 1 (S.D.N.Y.1974) (Duffy, J.). That line reads: “John Spurdis is a liar.” After reading the sentence to himself, Tofel looked at the judge. Saying nothing, Judge Duffy simply shrugged expressively. Tofel then said in essence that Judge Duffy had misread Gorelick. Tofel explained that Gorelick may have been obnoxious or aggressive but that he was not a liar. Again, Judge Duffy did not respond and simply shrugged.
(. . .)
[t]he decision as to the credibility of witnesses is properly left to the trial judge or to the jury because as finders of fact they are in a position to view the demeanor of the witnesses.
Gorelick took the stand and attempted brazenly to lie to the court. During cross-examination, the crucible of truth, Gorelick continuously shifted uneasily in the chair, sweated like a trapped liar, and the glaze that came over his shifty eyes gave proof to his continuing perjury. His total lack of veracity was shown not only by his demeanor but by the shady practices he seemingly reveled in.

2009-04-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago here I was writing about my doubts what clinic I want to participate in. Well, I have received an offer to join the Entrepreunirial Clinic. I have decided to follow my fortune and accepted. Now I think I didn't make a mistake. Moreover, I keep registering for business classes for the next semester.

Writing emails and writing on English

2009-04-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

I have just finished writing an email to one of faculty members. I swear, I checked email over and over and continued find mistakes, very silly once. I have noticed that when I am writing I translate from my native language forgetting that English has different structure. How long am I in the States? More than 5 years? It is quite a bit, but I still feel that my language is so much imperfect. How to learn it? How other immigrants do? Is it my age or stupidity from birth? I am very frustrated.

In addition to this, my relationships with husband are kind of tense. Recently he is constantly grumpy and doesn't talk. That makes me upset, because I am a people person. If I don't speak to others, I become depressed. If I am depressed, I cannot do anything. Last two days, instead of studying for exams, I have been surfing Internet and watching TV. It is no good. Moreover, if I am behind on reading, I suffer an insomnia. Dreadful thing, I must confess. If I don't sleep well, I don't feel well next day. If I don't feel well, I don't think well. If I don't think well, I don't study well. What a chain of causation! I'd better get some tea with hopes that caffeine will help me.

Tough choice to make

2009-04-06T13:56:00.001-07:00

A few minutes ago I have submitted my letter of intent to be enrolled in the Entrepreneurial Clinic. I am little worried because I always thought that I want to be a business attorney, but sometimes I have feelings that I will get bored with that type of work. I was thinking of litigation, but then I am not sure either. Therefore, I have decided to apply to the Entrepreneurial clinic first, instead of criminal law clinic and see whether I am accepted. If yes, I am in. Tough!

April?? Already??!!

2009-04-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, again, I have disappeared from these pages, even though I keep saying that I have to write more for my own sake.

What happened with me for this time? Practically nothing.

Busy with studying.

I was really late with my note that was due before a spring break and as always I had to finish it up right before a due 5pm o'clock. But I made it.

I have realized that I should listen to my inner voice when it says to drop a class because a professor sucks. Bad, I didn't do listen to it at the beginning of this semester. From first class I knew that I don't like her. Now I hate this class because she says one thing, does another, makes me change my correct understanding of the material to the wrong one then, obviously, I make mistake and she lowers my grade. Honestly, I hate her class not because of the subject, but because of her methods of teaching, or, I would say, because of the absence of such methods.

I finally saw a wonderful state of California. For several years that I spent in the United States I have been hearing a lot about it. Actually views were totally opposite: crowded-state-with-high-real-estate-prices v. beautiful-weather-and-closeness-of the-ocean. Unfortunately, our trip was not successful as we could expect: I had to finish up my homework, the weather was cold and rainy, the ocean was like ice. I have enjoyed the trip but definitely it could be much better.

I also wanted proudly to say that last week as a President of a student organization I have organized an event (a panel discussion) with four attorneys. It took me an enormous amount of time: writing emails, setting up the date, classroom, parking. But it was rewarding. We had a great attendance, and I found speakers very interesting. Now I am considering whether I should run for the next year. I kind of liked it.

White ... Black... White... Black

2009-02-18T17:23:00.000-08:00

Days in a law school are so different. Just yesterday I was in dispair and thought that I do not understand anything in the material, in what I read. Today I not only well understood reading, but also came up with some good ideas. I wish I had more days like today.

Monday

2009-02-16T17:13:00.000-08:00

Today, waking up with that heavy feeling of Monday, I sat to my laptop and tried to write an email to members of my association. I did not mention before but I was elected a President of our school's association. An election was really small, so I would not call my election a big winning. But tell you the truth I enjoy to think about organization of events and simply about what a great position I am taking :-)

So I spent an hour for a couple of senteces, because I wanted to sound interesting and intelligent. As a result, after I had read my creation to my husband to check spelling and tone of the email, he said it suck. Thank you, dear, what a frustration.

The day passed with no interest -- two classes and driving home. I also tried to jog, but my injured knee said "forget it!", I cried a little, because I hate to be disabled. For a runner of almost 10 years it is like the end of my young life. Then I researched Google, and all articles say "just relax, idiot, and wait when it gets better." This is the point, because I hate to wait.

promisses

2009-02-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

As every other semester, I begin the first week with promise to myself study hard, especially on weekends and then along the semester I do not follow my promise. Same happens to me now. This weekend I did not attend the meeting I planed for a couple of weeks, because I had decided I need to study. As a result I had been cooking for a couple of hours, then working out in gym, and then I was just lazy to do much.

Such a life.

2009-02-04T17:07:00.000-08:00

During another minute of my procrastination I have found an interesting web site with some good advices

Law Student Division
Adviser
Time is of the essence for smart studiers
by Amy L. Jarmon
Originally published in: Student Lawyer, September 2007, Vol. 36, No. 1, All rights reserved
Time is often a law student’s enemy. We have all heard the stories. Law students lament that they sleep only five hours a night because they are constantly reading for class. They complain about frantically finishing writing assignments hours before the deadline. They consider it impossible to find time to outline, do practice questions, or review for exams.
Charles Buxton once said, “You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” This adage is certainly true for law students who wish to succeed rather than merely survive. Proven strategies exist that make time for effective studying and still leave time for life.
How does one make time? Here are some techniques that can help you:
Realize that prior study techniques may not match the reality of successful studying for law school. Law school reading is more “dense” because it includes cases, which have a specialized language. Casebooks rarely have introductions, headings, graphics, or summaries. The volume of material covered is daunting. Many law professors guide students rather than tell them exactly what they need to know. Few law students made course outlines in college. Law school final exams focus on the application of material rather than the cases read.
Because of these differences, new strategies and regular review of material are essential. Many law students relate that they earned As in college while studying less than 15 hours per week and cramming for exams. Even those with graduate degrees remark on adjustments to law school studying. Older law students often relate that they have forgotten how to study.
Stop making “ad hoc” study decisions. Many law students decide day by day, or even hour by hour, what they will do. These law students are finding time for tasks instead of making time. They stay very busy, but most of them do not study efficiently or effectively.
Law students who are ad-hoc time managers often expand tasks into the time available (taking four hours to read what could have been read in three and a half hours). They procrastinate because they “have all day” to complete several tasks. They waste time getting ready to study. Consequently, they become focused only on reading for class. Other assignments and tasks are completed haphazardly. They grasp at shortcuts rather than more efficient and effective ways to study.
Make a weekly schedule that includes all of the study tasks for success. By having a regular routine that is modified but not reinvented, you take control of your study tasks. A full-time student will study 55–60 hours per week to complete all study tasks and prepare for exams during the entire semester. A part-time student will study 35–45 hours per week. The rewards are lower stress and guilt-free relaxation.
Critical study tasks to include are reading for class, briefing for class, reviewing before class, reviewing class notes after class, outlining, reviewing outlines, and doing practice questions. Other tasks may vary and include weekly tutoring, study groups, and extracurricular obligations. Following are the steps for making your base study schedule:
1. Make a template table for Monday through Friday with days as column headings and one-hour slots as row headings. Half-hour slots can be designated with a line dividing a slot into two parts.
2. Label time blocks specifically with the tasks. Examples: “read Income Tax,” “outline Evidence,” “review Torts notes.”
3. Include four to eight hours weekly for each project or paper course even if these tasks will start several weeks later. Any unused time initially can be allotted to other tasks or relaxation.
4. Fill in regular commitments first. These commitments may vary depending on your lifestyle. Examples: classes, tutoring sessions, morning prep time, commuting time, bedtime story for your child, church service.
5. Fill in seven to eight hours of sleep at the same time for Sunday through Thursday nights. Vary the weekend sleep cycle by two hours at the most. With more sleep, you will be more productive and retain more information.
6. Fill in a half hour per class to review your readings, briefs, and prior class notes before going to class. You will follow class discussion better, take better notes, and feel more confident.
7. Consider reading your class assignment two days beforehand. On Saturday, you read for Monday’s classes. On Sunday, you read for Tuesday’s classes. On Monday, you read for Wednesday’s classes, and so forth. Advantages of this system: you are less hurried and can learn the material rather than highlighting for later learning, you have more time to brief cases, you will be finished with the week’s reading on Wednesday, you have made time on Thursday and Friday for tasks such as outlining, reviewing, completing practice questions, and writing papers.
8. Write down an estimate for your reading/briefing time for each course for one day’s assignment. Estimate the longest time needed if your daily assignments vary in length. If your estimate is a range such as three to three and a half hours, choose the higher number.
9. Write down an estimate for your outlining time for each course for one week’s material. Estimate the longest time and take the higher number if you estimate a range. If you have no idea, include two hours per week. If you need to catch up, estimate the total time needed. Use that figure initially, and go to the lower weekly figure once you are current.
10. Fill in your reading time for each class. Choose times when you will be most alert. Consider reading for your most difficult course first so that it will not hang over you all day.
11. Fill in time for the remaining tasks: outlining, reviewing course material, working practice questions.
12. Fill in a half hour per class to review your class notes within 24 hours after class. In this time, fill in missing information and organize your notes.
13. Schedule your free time. Most law students schedule free time on Friday and Saturday nights. Choose realistic times to get up and begin studying on the weekend.
14. Add some flex hours that will not be used for studying unless you need them. Psychologically, it is easier to give up this time for study if you have already made that commitment. These flex hours allow you to reconfigure your schedule for unexpected assignments, illness, or other reasons.
Use a monthly calendar to indicate deadline dates. Set an artificial deadline two days earlier than the real deadline. An artificial deadline gives you flexibility if problems arise. Make a list of all of the small tasks to meet a deadline. For each task, estimate how long it will take you. Then, enter on the calendar the specific tasks to be accomplished each day to stay on track.
Use a prioritized daily to-do list for the specific tasks that will be completed in the time blocks designated on your weekly schedule. “Read Torts” is not specific enough. “Read Torts pages 120–148” is better. However, if you need a feeling of accomplishment, break down the assignment by cases or page numbers. Prioritize all tasks with designations that make sense to you.You will need several weeks to monitor and finalize the weekly schedule. Do not give up if things sometimes go awry.
The two-day method is easiest to start or restart on Saturday. Your law school experience will be more successful when you make time rather than find time.
Amy L. Jarmon is assistant dean for academic success programs at Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock.

The source is Academic Success

The last post, from Dec 16 '08, continued...

2009-01-19T20:12:00.000-08:00

Yeah, after I have received my grades for the finals I officially pronounce -- "I was screwed!!!" Those are even worse than what I had last semester. And NO... I am not going to whine and cry (I am already over with it for the last 3 days). I am just going to say that I am a LAZY ASS!!!

Exams almost over

2008-12-16T06:40:00.000-08:00

Well, what can I say?! I am screwed!!!

I feel like a shit

2008-12-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry for using such words, but I feel like a shit. In a week exams will begin but I feel I know nothing. And I am the one who told that plan to get at least 2 As this semester. I hardly believe I can do it. I really really freak out. I feel like school made me even more stupid than I was.

Maybe I need to find some links on how-not-to-feel-stupid???!! :-))

Death in Wal-Mart

2008-12-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

I didn't expect to get this

Family of man trampled to death sues Wal-Mart

so fast, but I was waiting for it. I wonder, how is it so that a family of a 34-years old employee could afford a family attorney? :) or it would be more politically correct to call him "recently acquired family attorney"?

So what do they claim? The wrongful death

The lawsuit alleges that Damour's death was caused by the "wanton disregard for
public safety and gross negligence of the defendants."
. . . Hecht [attorney] also filed a notice of claim against Nassau County to preserve the family's right to file a lawsuit against its police department.
. . . On Tuesday, lawyers said two Nassau County men who claim they were injured at the store also are suing Wal-Mart. Their lawyers also filed a notice of a $2 million claim against the Nassau County Police Department.

I think before Christmas we will see articles "Family of man trampled to death in a Wal-Mart sale settled for undisclosed amount."

Acid attacks

2008-12-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

Westerners associate terrorism in Pakistan with suicide bombers, but the real emerging terrorist threat for Pakistani women is being disfigured by acid attacks, often by their own husbands, Nicholas D.

Watch video (the video contains graphic images).

Procrastination

2008-11-27T15:39:00.000-08:00

While procrastinating I have found this article:

PROCRASTINATING AGAIN? HOW TO KICK THE HABIT.
ALTHOUGH BIOLOGY IS PARTLY TO BLAME FOR FOOT-DRAGGING, ANYONE CAN LEARN TO QUIT.

Raymond, a high-powered attorney, habitually put off returning important business calls and penning legal briefs, behaviors that seriously threatened his career. Raymond (not his real name) sought help from clinical psychologist William Knaus, who practices in Longmeadow, Mass. As a first step, Knaus gave Raymond a two-page synopsis of procrastination and asked him to read it “and see if the description applied.” Raymond agreed to do so on a flight to Europe. Instead he watched a movie. He next vowed to read it the first night at his hotel, but he fell asleep early. After that, each day brought something more compelling to do. In the end, Knaus calculated that the lawyer had spent 40 hours delaying a task that would have taken about two minutes to complete.

The article is really long but the end I found most useful:

In Raymond’s case, getting to the task was, indeed, the hard part. Knaus helped him to do that by first determining the reason for his instinct to delay: Raymond feared being tested on the synopsis and looking foolish. So Knaus asked him to pick the lesser of two evils, doing his work—and risking imperfection—or avoiding difficult tasks and losing his job. When Knaus put it that way, the lawyer was able to “just grind it out.” Instead of being fired, Raymond became a “superstar” at his firm.

In other words, when I have that great desire to procrastinate a little, what I need is to think about my finals and that if I do not study, I will fail.

It WORKS now!!! I go to study!

Timing is everything

2008-11-25T13:59:00.000-08:00

I knew I will get that call from AG's office when I have already committed for summer. Yes, imagine, my summer is booked with internships in two places. All of them for free. I doubt somebody will agree to endure my silly head for more than a month and for pay.

Baking with Splenda: A Healthy ... - Google Book Search

2008-11-24T08:40:00.000-08:00

Baking with Splenda: A Healthy ... - Google Book Search

P.S. I did not know I can do this on Wista - just click "post to your blog" and here it is... this is awesome!!!

The end of November

2008-11-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

Today I have missed two classes. They were first missed classes for a whole semester. I am awfully ashamed. The reason is not excusable - I have to finish my note of 25 pages before this Friday 5 p.m. What did I do during a semester I do not know. I seemed to me I was a very busy student. But despite this I am behind in this damn note and some reading. Bless God I have a week of the rest or will it be a rest? If I call outlining, studying and reading missed assignment a rest, then, sure, I will have a rest :-))

Flow

2008-11-05T16:01:00.000-08:00

Today I have got some good feedback, but for some reason it does not make me feel right. Why? I do not know. perhaps, because now I have raise a bar of expectation too high and I am afraid I will not be able to jump over it again :-( God help me and give more confidence.

Yesterday I was called on in Agency class. I did answer but not the questions given. I do not feel bad, but I wish I could have done better.

Bottom line - I feel weird, like something is going to happen and I will not like it. Maybe it is election thing? Who knows?

Back to the same theme

2008-10-27T19:22:00.001-07:00

Just in my last post I have talked about immigration law issues. Then I have checked discussion board for my class and found this link to the New York Time's pictures Friendships at the border. I was "touched" by this

. . . a Democrat who represents the area, has urged the Department of Homeland Sceurity not to build in the park. "It's harmful to the kind of family culture we have at the border," he said. "It is one place, certainly, in San Diego, where we talk about friendship at the border."

"[H]armful to the kind of family culture"?? but what culture? Apparently he meant the culture of the country-neighbor, Mexico. I understand that the US at this time has more Mexican aliens than of any other national origins. But, why for this reason, we should be more pitiful to them than to other aliens. Why do not Americans worry as much about those who came, for example, from Europe? They also have families, some of them also cry when they leave their relatives. I do not like this "discrimination." If you want to take care of aliens from neighboring countries, then do not make others "equal but separate." If Democrat representative worries about "harmful" fenses between families, then he should pay for big cruise ships and allow other aliens at least once a year see their relatives like those on the pictures do through the fense.

P.S. yes, I am too harsh today, but those pictures of crying aliens near fence annoy me.

Immigration law

2008-10-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

it is another class I am taking - Immigration law. I think students in that class hate me :-( and I feel uncomfortable about it. You know why they hate me? We talked about rights of aliens in this country, in the US. Everybody said that rules of immigration law are harsh (we were discussing deportation rules). Judges in assignment cases and students in class say that long term living in the US creates strong ties between an immigrant and this country, and, therefore, Congress should not deport without Due Process, without strong grounds and etc.

I said (what a joke, because I am an immigrant), that if a person has an opportunity to get a citizenship then he/she should get a citizenship showing by this the devotion that a person has to the country and the appreciation to this country for what it gives a person: a right to live, to prosper. If you decided to be a legal permanent resident for years and years and you do not want to strip yourself of rights and obligations you have before another country, then it is your problem that you committed a crime and now the government wants to deport you to the place where you, in fact, belong. Yes, I think this way. If you live here, then do not mess around between two countries, decide and live or leave.

Contra arguments were
1) many aliens cannot get a citizenship because they do not have money and time to learn English. - I do not accept this one. It is silly. If you want to speak English you will learn, you will find job with English speaking personal, you will learn it by sitting in toilet during your breaks with flashcards of words. Just try to have a wish. Money? Of course, you will not have money if you do not speak English, then you are on low-paid jobs. Moreover, you may save if you really want it.

2) another contra argument was that the US is the country that accepts even those ho do not want to follow the US Constitution, it is the country where a person can live in a shack and burn an American flag every day.
I find here some point, I admit it. So glorious freedom that Americans like to be proud of. But what came first into my mind were Americans who live in this country, enjoy protection and benefits and say that they hate the US. I do not want this country to be such a rotten place. and I do not think it is right (or I might say correct, obviously not politically correct) to further such behaviour of our citizens, and of course we should not allow aliens to do that. Why? Because a country survives due to loyalty to the country. Look at Ukraine and Russia. There is no loyalty left, everybody pulls benefit for himself without thinking about others. Those countries are almost destroyed. BTW, this freedom is so symbolic. In general, the US is really policing country, not so many things are allowed here. Of course, you may live in shack, do nothing, ask for money, and get free food stamps. I do not think Americans must be proud of this example.

Perhaps, I was brought up in conditions where people were proud of their country and believed they do best for it. Therefore, I want the US, it is my country now, had citizens who like it, who respects it, but not who wants to destroy, to break.

This is my word and I am not stepping back. I might stop talking in class, because I feel I ask for hateredd form others. I do not want to have this image. I am not bad. Really!

Life is full of .... [fill a blank]

2008-10-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

So what did I do today? I had a midterm on Income Tax class... yeahhh ... I was behind in studying and therefore I was nervous like never booooo... I did not sleep. Actually, I slept 3-4 hours at night... I studied and after I could not fall asleep. What a life! Consequently today I was exhausted and tired. Exam was easy. The problem is that I have realized that after I wrote an exam and left a classroom. What do I think of the exam? I failed ... [cursing]. I forgot to answer third question - yes forgot, even though I might have known the answer, and I messed up parties (as always) of the transactions (no suprise for me). as a result I applied wrong rules. I am miserable now and I want to cry but I do not have tears. The point of this giberish is not complaining (enough of it I had on these pages), but to discuss the fact of life - I study for exam and do not sleep at night, because I want to have a good result, and then I come to exam and almost fall asleep there, at least my mind did this. As a result I will have result not better than if I slept at night instead of snoozing above a textbook. Conclusion? study smart! do this step by step. I avoided that and here is the result :-(((

My pain

2008-10-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

I am working on my memo for judge now. What a pain. Imagine, what a horor to know that you are really bad writer, and then, after you wrote some shit, that lacks grammar and sense will be read by a person who was for a decade on the bench. I freak out. In addition my unskillful writing, I am behind my due date and this freaks me out even more.

An interesting fact is that I've done my research, I know what I want to say, but when I try to put this on paper, nonsense comes out or just non-writing mood. I guess I do not have to tell you much if you have read my blog (or at least a couple of posts).

How is my law school life? Every day I tell myself - "My life SUCKS" and there are no other thoughts excepts during nights when I am troubled by lack of sleep. Indeed, you should believe a person who says 2L is easier. It is, just because you know what you are doing. You understand that you have no idea what Justice wanted to say in a case, not because you are stupid, but because the writer of an opinion was (or is) stupid and vague and ambiguous. It might appear to you that he wrote his opinion in one night being drunk after dozens of glasses of whisky. BUT... 2L is much busier and this sucks. I have 4 classes, I have a journal, a judicial internship. All this is hanging above my head and I see it as nothing more but an old stinky rope rubbed with even stinkier soap. You know what I want to do? Hang myself. Then I forgot about my misery of 2L life and misery of fear finals.
rrrrr....

Now I know why I like Dobermans so much...

2008-10-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

... I like taxes and doberman is the IRS dog :-)))

The IRS Dog: Doberman Pinscher
Fun tax fact of the day: The first Doberman Pinscher was bred in 1890 by Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann -- "a tax collector who frequently traveled through many bandit-infested areas, and needed a protection dog to guard him in any situation that might arise. He set out to breed a new type of dog that, in his opinion, would be the perfect combination of strength, loyalty, intelligence, and ferocity." Ben Cunningham.

Source: TaxProf Blog
More about Doberman Pinschers here

Don't you love it???

2008-10-01T19:45:00.000-07:00

"A test that everyone passes is not a test at all."
Commissioner v. Groetzinger, 480 U.S. 23 (1987)(Justice Blackman)

I also would add that it should be easy to understand and of course feasible to apply. How often do you see those???

6 weeks behind

2008-09-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I enjoy 2L much more than I enjoyed 1L. I have classes I want and I like. I chose good professors. But reading is much higher in volume. Now I looked into my immigration law and see that I have to read 30 pages. What a bummer! I was going to write my memo for my externship.

Last week and this week I am really stressed out because till this time I was on time in everything, I was fine with my reading, a little bit behind with outlining. But now this is a crisis. I did not do anything for my note for a journal. Today I did not read for my Income tax. I still work on that memo. I am frustraited that my efficiency is so low. I am really frustraited. For the worst part this frustration takes away my sleep, and, consequently, I am sleepy all day; I am a dangerous driver, because I move from one side of the line to another, and I am just mad at every person around me.

After two weeks of the third semester

2008-09-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

This semester plunged into my life quite rapidly. I have found a judicial externship. I was happy than ever till last Friday, during which I had a Journal meeting and heard about all horrors of how much work I will have to do for the journal. I am scared and worried that I will not make it: 4 classes (some of them with tough professors), externship (2 days a week) and 25 minimum pages for the journal. If I knew that there is so much work for the journal, I might have not looked for the externship. Well, I began all this and there is no way back - what a pity.

I am back

2008-08-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I have disappeared from this blog for the whole summer. wow... that was a long time. The thing is that it was not laziness or just a bad memory, because I kept writing another blog I have but which is not dedicated to the law school as much as this one. But I sensed that this phenomena was not nothing more than a longing to forget a law school for whole summer. When I opened this blog, my purpose was to reflect my life as an immigrant but not as a law student. After I began my 1L it turned out to be stories about my studying and not much else. May I say that I disgraced my blog by diverging from its original purpose? Partialll yes. But I will not continue on this theme, as I am back, and I have a feeling that this blog will continue to be the blog of a law student - 2L at this point.

About my summer. It was SUPER great!!! I visited my parents for a month, met my friends, relatives. I went to Mediterranean for 10 days. Then I spent a couple of days on Hawaii (I love you Hawaii, it is the paradise), and just recently I came back from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Actually I took one summer class - Evidence. It was not so bad. Professor was very funny, and it gave some color to a boredom of the class.

I must confess my GPA got worse than it was after 1st semester. I do not cry, I am tough now to the bad grades. But I want (dream, plan, long to) get better. For some reason 1L passed by like a horrible dream with my laziness and denial to do a homework. I noticed same thing in my previous studyings, but this year was the absolute pick. What was wrong? Do not ask me. I can only guess, and one of my guesses is that I just got scared of being a loser, I got scared of horror stories about 1L and its competitiveness. I was an IDIOT to follow all that crap. I had just study and think about my knowledge and nothing more else, and to kill all the doubts in my own capabilities. Anyway, I do not want to write more about my damn bad experiences in 1L, at least in this post. I would better get clip and paste some advice about how to succeed in law school which I, unfortunately, did not follow at all, and I think that was another reason why I did not succeed - I did nothing during my weekends but watching stupid TV shows and surfing Web. If you are 1L - read and do not do what I did.

One of my favorite clients from this year who is packing up to attend George Mason School of Law sent me this e-mail yesterday:
"about what kind of time commitment *is* law school, in practice, to succeed (by my definition, "succeed" meaning be in the top 15 or 10% of the class)?"

My answer was: Take off Friday afternoons and evenings to see a movie and relax. At all other times when not in class, eating, or sleeping, then study. I also gave him the secret to my own success in law school (top 8% of my class, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, blah, blah, blah) - spend every weekend reviewing and outlining your class notes from the week before. That way, your outlines are done and you can just study them while everyone else is scrambling to outline tons of material. This means, of course, keeping up with your class reading during the week.And it does get easier as a 2L and 3L - the work is harder but you know what you're doing by then and get a system down.

Taken from How to Succeed in Law School

Holiday break

2008-05-15T16:14:00.001-07:00

For a week I do not do anything. Suprisingly I have just got my grade for ConLaw. Ummm... I thought I will get a better one at least by 3 points. Well, I did get one. It is good I feel much easier about bad grades than I have felt a semester ago. A semester ago I was crying, I was in hysterics. Today I do not care. I am not going to kill myself because of grades. Maybe I will think differently when I am looking for job, as all employers want good grades. Whatever. So if you read this blog, and you are a student with bad grades, and you think you will not be able to get over your grades and worry all your life about it, talk to me. I will tell you how to get used to BAD grades. :-)))

Taking exams in a law school.

2008-05-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Another good article for exam taking in a law school.

Copied from this page

The Seven C’s of Exam Success
Are you finding yourself confused about the professor’s expectations regarding exams? Tired of IRAC, or IREAC, or CREAC – or any other set of similar type
initials? Perhaps the seven C’s can give you a better sense of how you should
approach exams.

1. Call of the question. The call is really two things – knowing who you are supposed to represent (Court? Lawyer? Policymaker?); and having a sense of what the professor wants (A ruling? A remedy? An argument?) Knowing these points really helps you.

2. Cast of characters.is more than simply dividing up your issues. You also need to think about the purpose of their presence. So you need a plan of action as to how to view your people in the exam question. Ask yourself:

Are they players?
Are they background (in the sense that their presence is in support of someone else)?
Are there a number of pairs arguing against each other?
Knowing the answers to these questions can help you group the issues better and see where the professor finds issues. In a complex, multi-issue problem with a large cast of characters, it is important to know each player’s function – and how they line up against each other.

3. Context. Here is the stuff everyone forgets. Before you get to the specifics, it’s a good idea to give the reader a sense of where you are going. So, if talking about applying an exception – tell the reader the general rule of law. If applying a rule, explain it so that the reader knows the “rules of the game.” Moreover, you ultimately need to get started and giving context to your answer helps organize your answer. Remember, the professor is not going to assume you understand the purpose of summary judgment or the definition of murder in the first degree unless you tell her. If the type of contract it is will color what you do – explain that it is/is not covered by the UCC. If you are deciding to take away the rights of the jury by a directed verdict – or move one case to another place because of a change of venue – give the rationale of what each is supposed to accomplish. The bottom line is that you should not assume anything with respect to what the reader (aka the professor) knows – you must be specific and tell him or her.

4. Conflict. Once you give the context information that you need, you will then need to focus on what the specific problem is. Now your goal is to examine and explain the sides of the conflict. In doing so, it is important to always keep in mind what the diverging parties would argue, even if the call of the question will result in a court decision. Unless you know what each side wants or could want, how can you figure out which position is better? “Bottom line” analysis is not sufficient! Remember the professor is going to grade the process, so show the problems, the conflicts and the maybes! Generally, these conflicts involve four general types of problems:

The pick one (or more) from a series of similar type rules (Could the defendant be charged with murder one? Two? Manslaughter? All? Some?)
Decide whether rule applies (Can the court use parole evidence in this contract situation?)
Assess if what was done was right with respect to the rule, or, the converse of the above. (Was summary judgment properly granted?)
Argue your best position (If you are the defendant’s attorney, how can you get in parole evidence?)
But, no matter what type of question, you will always need to know how to present a thorough discussion of the conflicts that are involved in the question. One way of checking yourself is to use phrases such as:

So, this is the first possible rule because…
It is important to consider this rule because…
It is important to remember that this rule is different from this (other) rule because…
5. Consequences.So if you have applied this rule - so what? What do we get for our troubles? Need to explain the effect of applying the selected rule under these examination facts. So beyond just telling the professor the rules and what they mean, you also need to tell her what happens because of the set of facts in the specific problem. The goal in good exam writing is not to make the professor guess what would happen in the facts that she crafted. So use phrases like, “Here, under these facts of …, the court would determine that this rule would apply because…” to get you started in applying rules to facts (and yes, this is the A in IREAC!)

6. Charms of the professors.Professors are not cookie cutters, which is why study aids are not perfect. So, if available, you should always look at past exams of that professor. And that’s why you need to spend time actually practicing those problems or hypotheticals. You want to do this because you want to be very familiar with anticipating what a professor wants in his answer. So, if they like references to cases, do it. If they like references to the Restatement or the UCC or other code, give it to them. If they like policy, theories, philosophy, alternative dispute resolutions, why not give them what they want? To quote Nike – just do it!

7. Conclusions.Finally, as with all things, you must come to the end of the answer. So, tell the professor your version of “happily ever after,” even if the result is not actually happy. So, what will happen? Who should win? What were the concerns that you took care of? By actually reviewing the question asked, you can guarantee that you gave that professor her answer. So don’t assume the professor can figure out what will happen because of your analysis – tell him!

Plans for my second year

2008-05-06T09:18:00.001-07:00

I hope I will read a coupld of times this article
HOW TO CHANGE SECOND SEMESTER: REVIEWING EXAMS AND OTHER HINTS FOR SUCCESS It is late for my second semester as it's almost gone, but I hope I will utilize those advices my third semester.

Soon it will be over

2008-05-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Three days to go, two for preparation and another for exam and then I have my break for two month till summer school. yeyeyeyey

Two done, two to go

2008-05-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

I freak out... I am stressed and ready to loose my consciousness. I have submitted paper today for another exam and I think that paper is the worst paper I even had written in my life. I tried to sound funny but at the end it came up really serious. briefly, it was a parody on the paper. Now I have to study for the next final, and I forgot my textbooks in the locker. Did I leave my brain in a locker too??? Anyway, I will be realllyyy happy when I finish this damn fist year!!!

First final??? Gone

2008-04-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

I kicked away my first final. Yesterday I have felt good but not today. I feel I could do better and the feeling is not very encouraging for the next exams, therefore, I will keep my mouth shut. BTW, I think I have to take some typing lessons, because on one of the questions I did not have enough time to type everything I wanted. What a pity!

How to be a better learner?

2008-04-23T11:49:00.001-07:00

If you strugle with your studying and have no confidence in your learning abilities, read those tips, maybe they will give you some assistance.

How to Become Smarter

Frankly, I did not read, but maybe with time I will look at it. Hopefully.

Top web site about motivation but it does not guarantee that I have it

2008-04-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

So my blog continues to hit the ranks on the google search on "how to find motivation." Believe me or not, but a long absence of the posts on this site may tell my reader a lot about my motivation not only to write, but also to study. I quitted writing here, because I was tired of thinking every day about a school - nights and days, the same thoughts. Moreover, I did not (and do not) want to disappointed new arrivals into the law field who got there admission letters and now excited to begin to crack their way through the stone of legal knowledge. At this point I have no idea to where this path leads me. I am afraid my teech got a lot of damage and the school does not seem to me so exciting as it was before I have begun it. Now if you are a prospective 1L student, do not read further because I am going to entrust my view on the school. I hate it! I love law, I love it, but I do not like the way how I am taught and the way how I have to learn. I saw other ways to teach, and I think the ones now just do not work for me. Maybe it is just me, an old grumpy woman who got used to different things, and who does not want to work hard to reach something more than she has. Again, this is my personal view and I hope it caused only by exhaustion from studying. I will not be suprised if in a week after finals, I will sing another song.

I am on the spring break and I do not care about anything

2008-03-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

I have finished my appealate brief. Three nights without sleep (well at least 3-5 hours and for me it is not enough). The last night before a due date we spent about 10 hours proof reading, editing, formating. Finally my partner and I with tired voice said, "that's it. DONE!" and with happiness hit Print button. Yes, it was done, but not exactly. Because we finished at 11 pm, all Kinkos around were closed. Actually one was opened, but I did not know about it. So next morning I was running out the house in rush, because I woke up too late and I had an hour to get to Kinko, wait them printing and binding, then drive to the school. Bless God I made it. That Friday, I came home and went to sleep for four hours. Then we went to a bar, and then I had a sleep for another 10 hours. Yes... and now I have a spring break.

Honestly, I do nothing. I am on Internet, I am reading blogs, I am writing blogs (not here), I watch TV. I have some excuse, today I have finished online quizes to pass Lexis certification. At least I am over with this. Now I have to work on cover letter for internship and I have no wish. Maybe I should relax this summer? Take a summer class and go see my parents? I consider this plan. Forget about stress of a law school and go to relax and spend fun time with my friends. I wish I could do this right now :-)))

Guess what I am doing this Monday evening?

2008-03-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

I am writing appealate brief yeyeyeyeyey... My trial brief did not go so bad, at least professor said I have a good research and I need to paraphrase a lot of stuff. This is funny how I missed a lot of things and arguments. Interestingly, I had touched on them in trial brief, but worded as I was defendant (but actually I am plaintiff). I had a lot citation problems. I hope I will resolve this in appealate brief.

Ok, I am off to go.

I always told that people are ugly creatures - see the article

2008-03-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

I am outraged. Yes, I am a dog lover and I hate this freak who did this:

A Costa Rican artist found himself in hot water with the animal protection people in his home country after using a starving, sick street dog as part of an exposition in Managua, Nicaragua, in August. Guillermo “Habacuc” Vargas allegedly found the dog tied up on a street corner in a poor Nicaragua barrio and brought it to the showing.

He tied the dog, according to furious animal lovers, in a corner of the salon where it died after a day. Habacuc’s exhibition included a legend spelled out in dog food reading “You are what you read,” photos and an incense burner that burned an ounce of marijauna and 175 “rock’ of crack cocaine. In the background, according to reports, the Sandista national anthem played backwards.

According to the artist, his “art” was a tribute to Natividad Canda, a Nicaraguan burglar killed in Costa Rica by two rottweilers guarding property he had entered at night. The incident caused friction between the two countries. Habacuc told the daily La Nacion, “I won’t say the dog died. The importance to me is the hypocracy of the people where an animal is the focus of attention where people come to see art but not when it’s in the street starving to death.”

“The same thing happened with poor Natividad Canda. The people sympathized with him only after he was dead,” the artist added.

The artist apparently is unaware that at least three large, active organizations are dedicated in Costa Rica to the protection of animals and that several persons have been prosecuted for cruelty to animals. They are hampered in their efforts by the old Hispanic customs of disregard for animal welfare and by a lack of funding.

Text found on Costa Rica blogs

And he did this because some idiot, actually even worse because he was a burglar, got illegally at night to somebody's property!!!??? "the hypocracy of the people where an animal is the focus of attention" ????? People are cause of many evils that happen to them! I have not pite to criminals who are punished for their bad deeds. But what this little dog did to you, freak?

But even worse, people watched this and did nothing?

Another thought for today

2008-03-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

Actually, I should not be so mad, because just this morning I was thinking that I am not qualified for the job with a large firm. I was not sure whether I will feel ok if I have a big money from them and do a lot of things badly. Whatever! On one of my profiles I said that everything what happens with me is for the best. Just yesterday I talked with one guy online (Yahoo messenger) about this phrase, and funny thing I tired to persuade him that this statement reflects the reality. Now, by writing previous post I rejected my idea (almost rejected). So now I have to think positively and think about benefits I will get from not having an internship.

1. I can take classes and it will be easier then during the year.

2. I can visit my parents, and go to Turkey

3. Perhaps I will find internship with judge or another firm, and even though I will not get as much money, but I will get a good experience.

4. I just will have fun time.

Damn it, I cannot believe that I have found so many good reasons not to be upset.

:-))))

Bad news I have got and now upset

2008-03-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

So those f***** interviews did not work out for me. They just did not like me. I am upset, and maybe mostly not because they did not chose me, but because I have spent tremendous amount of time with a huge hopes I will get it. As a result I did not. Now I have to begin my process again and look for something different. I want to apply for judicial internship. I think I am interested in them more. Moreover, it is for free, and I hope judges will like it more.

I am sorry for bad words BUT I am f***** mad.

Referals

2008-03-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, my blog continues to be among the first in the ranking of motivation for a law school and exams, hatred and tiredness to law school and studying too. LOL

An interview with a law student

2008-03-12T13:45:00.001-07:00

I liked it.

Politics

2008-03-12T12:58:00.001-07:00

I am not much into politics, but those recent events are just hillarious. Governor and prostitutes! Isn't it sweet? Just today I have watched NBC... by the way shame on them to bring those girls (prostitutes or, as they call themselves, escort) for the interview. What was the point of that? To show that empty minded women who hardly can do some logic in their phrases but who earn more than any other intelligent woman? I am not saying that all prostitutes are empty minded. I am not biased about it. Maybe a little. When I began watching that episode I really expected some intelligent women. I thought that if they are paid so much money, they might be more sofisticated than those on the streets. As a result, I was disappointed. Although one of them, the one from Montreal, Canada, pointed out that she is writing a book (yeahh...she meant Kamasutra?), on the question what she think if the NY governor should resign, she answered that of course, "what an example he shows kinds?" I laughed so hard. Girly, and what example you show? Sleeping with hundrends of men for money. Come on! "I feel much better if my client is single." Yeah, right, but you still sleep with him for money. My point is not to scorn profession of the prostitute. No. I am ok with what they do, as long as they use condoms, do not spread STDs and have enjoyment from this. But how can she judge a person while having so low moral standards by herself?

Now Spitzer's wife. I have listen this afternoon a good idea about her. If she insists her husband not to resign, then she probably knew about his adventers. I will not be suprised if she knew. However, what else she has to say in such situtation as her husband's? Moreover, everybody is talking about braveness of those wives, who come to support their husbands in such "difficult" times. Come on, they do not have another choice. They has been living with those horny bastards for many years, having financial support from them and status. If they divorce them at one, it will be worse for them, just because other wives in such situtations did not do that and, then, people will tell that a wife is bad, because she did not support her husband. I guess it is much better for wives to stay with their husbands, at least for a while, because they will look much better if they do. People will tell that they are so goood and sooo generous to support their men, and by staying with them, instead of divorcing, they make men bad but not themselves. My point is that those women are not brave, they are just smart not to jump into hot water, but, instead, just blow on it. By the way, his wife looks really hot!

Another political issue I have a view on is the comment of one of campaign team (or what is the technical name?) of Hillary. I tried to find the name of the person I am talking, but did not find. I am talking about the one who said that Obama has some support in people votes because he is Adrican American. I am not a racist, but I agree with her conclusion. I think his race means as much as Mrs. Clinton's gender. I understand that people want to see in the candidate just a person, a leader. But it will never happen, just because we are a people and look at others through our own glass of opinions and views. I do not want to expand more on this subject, because I have to do my homework, which I am avoding already for more than hour and a half.

I am lazy, although I cannot afford to be

2008-03-07T10:21:00.001-08:00

It is Friday morning. I have planned to do some homework, but I cannot do anything because I am sick, and because I just do not want to do anything :-) I have an interview in 3 hours, so I have read about my interviewers and about firm. Wish me luck.

A little about recent events and other things

2008-03-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

First of all, I will exclaim, "Wow!!!" I did not know that my blog's link is on somebody's else blog. Thank you, David! Here is the link to David's blog, a person who was so kind to have some interest in my grammatically incorrect and spiritually barren blog. I also happily will post a link to David's blog in my list. BTW, David wrote Life of Alien. For a couple of weeks I am thinking whether I put correctly article "the" in front of "life." Anybody will help ESL student with articles? I do not want to seem unintelligent.

Although I have planned to describe my recent days in more details, I do not feel like to do that, so I will post them in brief order (not chronological) and go to treat myself with hot steam and hot tea, because I am sick. I hate to be sick.

My events:

More then a week ago I finally finished my trial brief. It was painful and went not very well. I worked on it Friday's evening, all Saturday and all Sunday, and yes, I was one of those students who did not sleep the night before Monday. Amazing, I was late with my papers in my life, but not as late as it was with this trial brief. I got up from the desk at 6.30 am on Monday and still did not do good job on checking my citations and grammar mistakes. But yes, I have finished it. Today I talked to my legal writing Prof. and she said I have a real problem with my grammar. I decided not to do a drama from this, because then I will not be able to start my appelate brief, which will cause worse problem. Moreover, she did not know that I have finished a half of the brief at night, so even writing on native language would not help me. I hope I will not get C. I will be happy even with B. It is only 30% of the grade, additionally, I do not deserve more.
Last week I had 2 interviews with law firms for my summer clerkship. One went quite tough - I saw 7 people and talked without stop. Another one was easier - no questions to me, all questions were from me, and we chatted for an hour. Before I began writing this post I had finished preparation for my tomorrow's interview with the third firm. I have used flash cards to make notes about firm, about the areas of the practice, and my questions. It is amazing how much time I can spend on interview preparation. I will have the result about each interview next week. I keep my fingers crossed, because I want this internship.
I got sick. I sneez and my throat is in pain. I think a law school killed all my immune system, because I do not remember days when I got sick so often.
People keep hitting my website by searching key words as "tired of law school (studying)" and "find motivation to study." Dear visitors, I am afraid you find yourself in disapointment after reading my stuff here that does not give any encoragment for better studying but only crying about the difficulties of the law school and studying. However, it is not my fault that Google likes my blog for those subjects. I also assume I have to right something marrier. However, I can assure my reader, that you will hardly find my blog by searching something like "happiness in a law school." well, there is a possibility that after two years Google will find my blog from the search of "happiness," but it will be in paralel with a word "graduation" not word "study."

Just some refreshment to my posts

2008-02-22T19:34:00.001-08:00

A girl from my class gave me the link to her blog. She said she rights a diary since she was 7 or 10 and it helped her writing skills. Now I am sorry I did not do that. So now I decided I need to correct my situation and renew my writing to my diary or blog. Maybe it will help my poor writing skills? I hope my future employer will not read this post and this statement, or I will never have job with him/her.

I thought about writing short today, because it is almost 9 pm and I am sleepy and tired and empty headed (or heavy headed?). So today I have received that annoying letter from some lady/man from Africa who wants to transfer funds and needs my bank account. I have received many of those recently, so I wonder where the hell those people found my email address. My next question is whether they still find idiots who sends them their information. I think yes, there are still some, otherwise, those spammers would change theme. Actually, they do change it. Anyway, I replied to one of those emails, saying "back off, bustards!!!" I do not think it will stop them, but I had to get rid of my steam.

It is interesting to observe myself, though. When I am not satisfied with myself, when I am behind with my homework, or not successful with job etc, I try to prove myself in other places. For example, I am really misearable recently and I decided that if I cannot be ahead at school, I will try to be on the road. I must say it is very dangerous! You may assume, don't you? So on my way to school, this guy in red Jeep sat behind me so close that I wanted hit him with my pointy shoe in his rear. Then after his maneauvre to pass me, I accelerated to prevent him to get in front of me. I almost did it, but then I relaxed and this bustard cut me off and got in front of me. To my outrage he showed me f***. This made me violant, outrageous and other conditions describing a blond without mind. I hit the pedal and sat on the rear of that red Jeep till the guy turned to the ramp, which happened a couple miles after our burning conflict. What was interesting to observe, that I was not tense. As a rule when I do such bad things I am tense and always think if I should do this. But today, I honestly enjoyed it. Does it mean that lack of sleep and unsuccess in life makes me risky? This is not a good thing.

By the way, I always try to write something smart and intelligent. For example, talking about laws and my opinions. But I cannot come up with a subject. I even begin thinking maybe I really am not interested in the law, if I do not reflect any emotions? Tough question, isn't it? I also hope I am mistaken, because I enjoy law. lol

Shooting in the school again!!

2008-02-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

What is going on with those people???!!! Shooting again, this time in Ill. Now I begin thinking how safe it is in my school?

Monday can be hard, but nice too

2008-02-11T16:51:00.000-08:00

Finally!... I have brought my hand up and answered on CrimLaw. Even twice. Our professor encourages reponses by adding point to my total on exam. So I am glad I have begun. Now I just need keep moving.

How to find motivation for studying

2008-02-09T15:51:00.000-08:00

It is Saturday. It is almost 5 pm. And I did not begin to do my homework. So I have googled "how to find motivation to do homework." I have found nice result here. I did not find many of advices for me, therefore, I took some of them and now I post here.

Think of the consequences. What will happen if you don't do your homework? You'll get a bad grade? Your teacher will be disappointed in you? If none of these things seem to apply to you, remember that homework is to help you learn, which everyone ultimately wants. In the real world, knowledge helps you master the rules of the game...and if you don't know the rules, how are you going to win? If Knowledge is Power...Ignorance is minimum wage.
If you really don't want to do your homework, then just get everything ready to do your homework: paper, pencil, textbook, and cup of tea. Then sit down and open the book to the page you need to read. Then read the first paragraph. Usually by then you will feel that you can write the first sentence. Break it down into little bites.
Do the hardest work first. This means the more you do it, the easier it gets.
It's easier to recall something if you remembered it under a similar environment (known as state-dependent learning). That's why it is important to study at a table and with proper lighting instead of reading on your bed, for example. (I do like to study in bed, but I noticed I do not remember much from it).
Also, think about the better grades you might get if you do your homework consistently. (EXACTLY!!!!)

I have looked into another link How-to-Be-A-Student. Yeah, general conclusion from it - study and study.

I think I am motivated now! Better I will begin read ConLaw. I am behind like 20 pages and then he gave us to read another 30. Total 50 pages to go for the next 3-4 hours.

Friday, the day of small relax- and a little about my new policy

2008-02-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

I have not been writing for a while and I can explain it with me being busy with studying and moot court. Yes, I finally have experienced moot court competition. My other reason of some fear to spit my thoughts and feelings I have had recently about law school in general and my success. Past week was a torture for me, because each morning I got up with a thought of hatred for law school and the whole system. I hated it because I had hard time to figure out many things and because I did not have enough of sleep, I felt that I am behind of everybody, and it made me even worse. I went to read some blogs and with some disgust read how people enjoy a law school. Finally, I have overcome those feeling. I think I just needed a good sleep, and I had it. Now I am motivated and even happy. Honestly, not very much happy, because I am still behind with my Legal Writing research. But it is ok, I will begin it as soon as I finish this post.

Now about a moot court. Many people say that they had an enjoyment from it. I did, but I guess not fully, because at the end of the day I felt exhausted and on the edge of a break down. It was competition between teams of my school and another school of our state. Another school prepares for those competitions seriously, unlike my school. That is why each year law students of my school are very motivated to participate in that competition, but, unfortunately, still everybody not as good prepared as students from another school. To my shame, I must confess that I was one of those students. Actually, I tried hard, but I did not manage my time correctly, and as a result, I prepared my opening statement right before rounds. Of course, I received less points for almost reading from my notes. However, both judges (we had two rounds) admitted that my voice is persuasive, and the text of opening statement was great (wow... what a surprise, I guess I am not so bad in writing). BUT... as judges pointed out, I need to have more confidence. oh, well, what confidence may I have not having text and worrying that I might mixed up the grammar. Luckily, I had a very good partner, so he scored for us more points than we expected. Though, I did well on one of cross-examinations.

We did not get into semifinal, but we won one round out of 2, which is encouraging. If I have another opportunity to participate in a moot court, I will try to do that, although I have decided that litigation is not for me - too much of writing, research and very stressful. Now my reader, possibly thinks, that then I should not be a lawyer at all. Yes, it would be a good point. But I think, I have such a view about litigation, because I continuously try to overcome my fear of using another language from my native. Litigation requires those skills, that I did not develop well, at least at this point. Although I liked to be in front of the judge and roar at another counsel.

What will I do differently next time in preparation to moot court:

prepare opening (closing) statement beforehand, memorize it, and repeat it a couple of time with (or without) audience.
think in more detail about the picture of my client and what I want to prove (I really missed this point).
read more the Evidence rules. I lacked of it on my objections
work with witnesses and train them how to respond and how to be difficult witness
read more about difficult witnesses and how to handle them
feel more confident and try not to be led in all questions by my partner.

Although competitions are fun, I am now behind in my reading, and this weekend will be spent in reading cases and legal research.

By the way, I spend some time on the web site of former classmates. I was suprised how interesting the lives of people came up. For example, I had that classmate who studied in a school on Cs and weak Bs. Now he is the manager of one of the departments in court. What do I lead to? Even bad students can get job, so should I worry about my grades as much?

Just short note, I have no strength to write more

2008-01-29T20:15:00.000-08:00

I am very busy those days with preparations to a moot court I will have this Saturday. I was so frustraited with myself that I did not sleep all night and as a result I am sleepy now and do not want to do anything else, but lie my head on the pillow and fall into DEEP sleep.

Here is new site I just find Shark. It is dedicated to law school. oh.. soon I will be sick just from a word "law school," but no explanation to this comment will be given now. Later on. Cheers.

Dear attorneys, did you forget your times of job searching?

2008-01-25T20:49:00.000-08:00

Note I wrote next day:
I was tired and made, sleepy and upset, therefore this post has many mistakes. however, I am not going to edit them. What for? Why not to see my insanity? :-)
-------------------------------------

So I just have come back from Skills Program meeting in one of the law firms in the city. I like such type of meetings. This one was particularly directed on diverse participants. I like such events but sometimes they bring me upset thoughts. Today it was that case when I left the office being frustraited. I will not mention the point that I came to go through a mock job interview and hoped it will prepare me for interviews I will hopefully have for my clerkship program. However, they gave me the guy who worked in the company for a week and who by himself just recent graduate. Then there was a board of practicing attorneys who talked about the career and how great legal career is. First, I am kind of tired of those long-minutes speeches about how-we-became-great-lawyers. Surely all lawyers like to talk about themselves, and it was interesting for me to know how they got their success. Though I do not long speeches, and today some of them were long. Then there was a question to them about the grades, something like, "obviously 90% of the class are not at the top of the class, so how to find a job for those not 10%." At this point I have heard a lot of fairy tales. One of female attorneys told that she participated in hiring and stressed out that she rarely looked into the grades. What??? I asked myself and virtually her. Then tell me why do I saw that upset face of my career adviser after I told him my GPA? Something like "well, girl, and you want to find some job? go better and study!" Or those articles telling about hard time to find job with low GPA and how picky those large law firms about hiring. Just yesterday on career web site I saw the ad of Excel Energy who were looking for intern from 10% top class.

Another guy from the board talked about the importance of reputation but not a career.

Now it is time for my speech. Dear, attorneys, did you forget the times when you were looking for jobs and you were asked for your GPA? The lady from the board while talking about her grraduation and looking for job proudly announced that she was not in the top of the class but very close. So if the grades are not so important, why do you mention them so proudly? Why do you ask me to send you a transcript together with my resume?

I do not want to seem paranoid, but I do not like to be misled! But this is what happened to me at that meeting. I agree, the grades will not matter in the court room or five years past gradution, but the question is how to get into the law firm after graduation. Despite the clear question from somebody's email and expectations of participants to hear the reality, we did not receive the right, real answer. I am disappointed.

Second week of second semester

2008-01-23T20:32:00.000-08:00

So this is Wednesday, second week of my new semester. From anger and frustration after I saw my grades, I switched to the position of self-denial and criticism. I know that there is nobody to blame for my falling down but myself, because I did not put enough effort into studying. I have noticed that last weekend. I had three days off and I did almost nothing for school. BTW, those days were possibly the best days of the year. I relaxed, I did not have bad thoughts about the grades, I knew what I have and that I could not change them. I cooked, walked, went to gym. Finally I have sent my paperwork for citizenship. Hopefully, in a year I will carry that blue passport with eagle on it. :-) And no need for visas anymore. What a dream.

School goes ok. But I do not want to write much about it, because it is almost 10 and I want to sleep. I have another two days to survive and tomorrow I have a bunch of appointments.

I feel sorry I write only about law school. I think I need to mix in somethings. But what ? :)

My disapointments, I am afraid not last ones

2008-01-17T20:12:00.000-08:00

If a law school makes somebody think "like a lawyer," it is not my case. The law school makes me think "like a loser." I guess the reader guessed that I have recieved my first semester grades, and, yes, they suck. My feelings went through gradual development:

1. suprise and astoonishment when I have received my first grade on Contracts, and even more suprise and astonishment after I have received my Property and Civ Pro.

2. next I was crying. I am a woman and I am emotional person, how else will I get rid of my emotions. I cried like a crazy, but good for not so long.

3. Next round was continued with the feeling of stupidity, "What!? I am so bad? I cannot believe I am so stupid!!!"

4. The next round was worse - from love to hateress (love was at the beginning of the semester). I hated a law school, myself and professors. I had to go to buy the books for the next semester and could not even sit in the car thinking how disgusted I am even to see the school.

5. The fifth round was mixed with fourth. The rage was added. I was soooo mad I did badly on the exams. I was sooo mad my professors gave me the questions I did not know how to answer. I was ashamed of my rage and nothing I could do.

Finally, the round of bad grades was over after I have got assurance from professors and a register that I am not on probation.

The hatrad to the law school and professors almost has gone. The professors are innocent, aren't they? I looked into the exams and I was 100% at fault to miss that painful issue of Post Consideration. I mean I did well at multiple, but I failed on essay. I cannot believe I missed that easy points!!! But all this behind. Though, I left with a bad GPA of 2.6. What a disaster.

Watching students receiving their grades were miserable view - anger, happiness, smiles and disapointments. "I was ready to kill that girl who complained she did not get A, but A-." Those phrases I heard a couple of times. Honestly, I was thinking that way too, just I did not uttered it.

One of the disappointments for me was Property. My professor told me I have analytical skills but I do not know how to put that on paper. What a bummer! He said,"the lawyer has to know how to write." Yeah, I know, I tell this myself everyday while thinking on whether I has to use article "a" or "the." I guess I am not as smart to know how to write as a lawyer! F*** This is what I was afraid of. Damn it, I will not quite anyway, although ConLaw and Criminal Law seemed to be even worse from what I had last semester. Now I will have to afraid of probation for sure.

Briefly about my plans for the next couple months:
1) I work on internships. Although my grades are really bad, I hope to get something
2) I will participate in a moot court competition. I am realy excited about it
3) I will work on changing studying schedule. i was lazy last semester and my grades perfectly reflected this. Therefore, let's go into the heart of the battle - the living in the law school.

Also, I miss my parents, I want to go home at least for a month. I always feel that way when I have a hard time in my life.

My site meter

2008-01-12T08:22:00.000-08:00

I thought nobody ever looked at my web site before, but what a surprise was to see that some google links brought viewers to my blog :-) However, a sad news is the inquiries that brought them to me:

"students uncondidence for asking"
"tired of (from) studying"
"I cannot believe I did this to myself"

I do not know if I should laugh or cry, but those inquiries seem to my depressing. well, at list "the law student and Valentine's day" brings some cheerfulness into the life of my blog :-)

The Life of Alien

so much of my Sunday

Tax Resolution: taxpayer's right to representation

4.11.55.2.1.2 (04-20-2010)Request for Representation - Suspension of Interview

Exception:

Caution:

Update re: my life

Working: thoughts of attorneys' value

A pro se plaintif responding to the motion

Hey

Saturday's run

Today is Friday

The end of March

Exam

Stressful times

Inspiration --> motivation --> I am here

Outlines online .... and I can use it!

As a continuation of my previous post

Do bad grades impact your success on the bar exam?

International Tax Blog: International Financial Scams - Overseas Investments, Lotteries, Inheritances, Gifts, etc.

Supreme Court Seating Game - The Washington Post

Brief Update: the life is going on

7 Ways to Smash Procrastination | Lateral Action

I passed the Bar Exam!!!

Article Florida Law - Writing Letters

Bar Advisor

Court strikes down FCC indecency policy | Reuters

Anxiety…start

Tough times: this summer does not exist for me, unfortunately

Happy Easter!!!

I will be short

Who else can understand this if not a law student?

Energy can be a key

Procrastination is possibly as old as prostitution

OA or AI?

Noisy people

THE BAD day

Hectic Thursday

Legal Writing blog

Am I grounded???!!!

Tuesday morning with a cup of coffee

Saturday... sunny Saturday...

quick update

Elbert Hubbard, A message to Garcia

Second exam at the end of 2L year ...

Interesting reading

Cases in cartoons

I hate this word "outlining"

Ok, yes, I laugh from this...

Writing emails and writing on English

Tough choice to make

April?? Already??!!

White ... Black... White... Black

Monday

promisses

The last post, from Dec 16 '08, continued...

Exams almost over

I feel like a shit

Death in Wal-Mart

Acid attacks

Procrastination

Timing is everything

Baking with Splenda: A Healthy ... - Google Book Search

The end of November

Flow

Back to the same theme

Immigration law

Life is full of .... [fill a blank]

My pain

Now I know why I like Dobermans so much...

Don't you love it???

6 weeks behind

After two weeks of the third semester

I am back

Holiday break

Taking exams in a law school.

Plans for my second year

Soon it will be over

Two done, two to go

First final??? Gone

4.11.55.2.1.2 (04-20-2010)
Request for Representation - Suspension of Interview