Getting back into a routine.

Hello All-

With my Ricardo back in RI, I find myself having to face the facts and start an actual routine with the amount of school work I have.  My class schedule is not as nicely designed for working at school and I have added a 5th class to my schedule.

This would not be too much an obstacle, except I am unable to study after dinner time.  My brain likes to shut off an I am pretty much useless.  

I do my best job with my home work and am best to participate in class when I read all my assignments twice.  The first time around I try to get the general gist of what is going on, and the second time I highlight relevant/interesting things that will be brought up in class.  The last week or so I have been only reading once, and I can tell by my class time that continuing the 1 time method will cause me to fall behind.  So I sat down today after class and made a schedule.

Hopefully I will be able to follow it! 

A little bit about what wonders of scholarly knowledge I am up to this semester.  That way when I complain in future posts, you will have an idea of what I am saying.  I am taking five classes this semester: Property, Criminal Procedure, Constitutional Law, Legal Writing 2, and Contracts.

Property aka "Huh" Class- This is the class that I have no clue what the general picture is.... courts can't seem to discuss property law in a simple way.  I saw my professor in the hallway and asked him about what was going on. He told me don't worry- it is too early to have a clue.  Some what comforting

Criminal Procedure aka "Argument" Class- This is the class that the professor said we could learn the substantive law by buying a sparksnote sheet, so instead we were going to focus on how to form arguments by looking at the issues by how the court writes about them.  Logic has lots of fun in Law School, so I thank Bob Blackburn for his wisdom while in this class.  Also, we use fancy technology to discuss issues- for example, being filmed as a class without any knowledge of such taping, and then having our professor show it to us and ask what arguments could we make about the right to privacy. 

Constitutional Law aka "My Professor is really really into this"- This class we spend our time talking about our founding document, the Constitution, and learn the structure for our government.  My professor is in love with this topic, and brings lots of outside scholarly research to our class period.  I enjoy his passion for his work and get caught up in his rapid fire approach. I just have to keep on biting my lip and not talk about Rome and the Republic.  

Legal Writing 2 aka "The class everyone dislikes- except me"- This class is a sore subject to law students.  Most of the time, I can hear people talking about how pointless writing is and how we aren't learning anything.  I enjoy writing so I can't complain- especially since writing is an essential part of a lawyer's career.  Oh well- can't please everyone.

Contracts aka "I never want to go into business"- This is the class that is the opposite of property- there are lots of rules to outline and everything fits together. My professor makes jokes to keep the material, well, less boring, but I can't help and wish that I never find myself involved in this kind of work everyday.

That is the run down of what is going on here.  

Stay tuned for more good times from a law student!

Fun Legal Fact: The "hanging chad" decision which stopped the Florida recount in 2000 in Bush v. Gore might not have had the proper standing (ability to be heard) to be held by the Supreme Court.