Ira, 3L

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I did--definitely--but, like most 1Ls, I spent a lot of time studying and outlining for finals.

Also like most 1Ls, most of that outlining was focused on Civil Procedure. I've heard from many that Civ Pro is considered, by far, the hardest class during the first semester--maybe even the first year--of law school. I haven't taken my second semester classes yet (I'm calling it the "Spring of the Three C's"--Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, and Contracts), so I'll have to get back to you on a comparison. But Civ Pro is a lot of information. A LOT. All in all, though, it's really about how the judicial branch of our government (really, the Supreme Court) has decided to run and organize the federal court system so as to keep it "efficient" and "fair."

As this blog is titled, though, the most exciting goings on for 1Ls deal with internships. For those who are going on internship (note--we call it "co-op") next Summer, we're already receiving interviews and offers from the places where we applied. Several classmates and friends had their first interviews today. I and two other students got an offer straight-out from the Arizona Supreme Court.

I am excited about getting an offer so soon and from such a prestigious place. Also, I thought it would be a great example to blog about how choosing an internship at Northeastern works.

So, I applied--as I wrote in an earlier blog--to eleven "co-op employers." Several of them are with judges or judges' offices. In the way the internship system is constructed at Northeastern, if you get an offer from a judge for an internship for which you applied--and you have yet to accept another offer--you HAVE to take it. Even if you receive an offer at some place you really, really want to work for three months.

Knowing this at the get-go, and knowing that I really want to do my FIRST internship with a judge (such co-ops supposedly provide great legal research and writing experience, among other things), I did not apply anywhere I would be unhappy turning down.

So, on Monday I received acceptance of two interviews and an offer from three different co-op employers. Since the offer was from the Arizona Supreme Court (obviously a judge's office), I had to turn down the interviews with the other agencies. Yet, I don't have to immediately accept the offer in Arizona.

How can that be, right? Didn't I just write above that I HAVE to accept it? No matter what?

Well, as in the law and in life, few things are "no matter what." Since I applied early, I have ten days to respond to the offer. Since it's a judge's office that issued the offer, I can only turn it down if I get another offer from a judge's office within those ten days.

I would really, really like to go to Arizona for the summer and work with the top court in that state. It helps that I have family that live in Phoenix, so I'd have a free place to stay.

But, I want to keep my options open. I applied to other judges with whom I also really, really want to work, and I have ten days. Well, as of today, I have eight.

Wish me luck.

P.S. We 1Ls have a week and half of classes left; then a reading week to study, stress-out, crack, recover, and study more; then exams. I'll keep blogging if you keep reading.

So, I'm going to Phoenix for my first co-op. And, it appears, I'm going to make a road-trip out of getting there.

My last real road-trip was after graduating high school: a three-week trek from North Carolina to Toronto and Montreal in a 1978 VW Bus with two of my best friends. It was good times, but now I'll be driving a PT Cruiser. And this time, unlike the last, I hope I can make it to my destination and back without having to manually switch out the entire engine.

Irregardless--after not hearing from the other judicial employer for whom I also desired to work, I called the Staff Attorney's Office at the Arizona Supreme Court and accepted their offer. My duties this summer will include researching cases and providing information to help the Supreme Court decide which cases to hear, attending all oral arguments in front of the Supreme Court, participating in state committee meetings that discuss the future of Arizona's judicial and legal system, and, possibly, working on projects assigned by the Chief Justice and the associate justices of the Court. I'm also assured that, as there is somewhat of a lighter caseload in the summer, I may have the opportunity to do self-directed projects of my own interest.

I'm stoked.

I enjoyed meeting several of you at the Winter Open House last Wednesday. In response to several questions which repeated throughout the night, I thought I'd address them here.

How long is the typical day as a 1L? That is, how long should one expect to be working everyday?

To a great degree the core of this question seems to reflect fears about balancing Law School and personal life. As a short answer, expect to be working all the time. Every day. Expect your personal life to get pushed aside and shunted for much of your first year of law school.

This isn't always the way things play out, but if you expect to block out near all of your time, you'll be on the safe side. Several first-year students that I know actually go to class and read and do their work during the day, and are home by six or seven p.m. They refuse to take their books home and they commit to doing it all during daylight.

Other students spread their work throughout the day, getting it done in pockets. Some work until 2 a.m.

These variances point to one definite thing: you need to figure out what works for you. If you're the type of person who works well at 11.30 at night as opposed to 2.00 in the afternoon, then arrange your schedule accordingly. The focus should not solely be how many hours you spend, but should overwhelmingly be whether or not you get your work done and you understand the material. Regardless of the reasons you came (or are coming to law school), you got to do whatever it takes. I mean, after all, you gotta do what you gotta do.

What classes do you get to pick your first year?

Umm...none. In your first year you get told where to be, what classes you'll be taking when you're there, and who will be teaching the material. I'm pretty certain this is consistent across law schools in America. Think of it as law school boot-camp.

How hard is it to find a co-op?

On the front end it's actually pretty easy to secure an internship. The Co-Op Office is extremely helpful and will work with you every step along the way. Every step. But you still have to prepare the application packets, get an interview, wow the interviewers and be offered a position. A lot of work goes into the whole process, but it's a lot easier than getting into law school. In fact, it's a lot easier than studying for exams. Trust me. In the end, everyone gets an internship somewhere.

Do you recommend taking time off between undergrad and law school?

This is a tough one. I recommend you do what feels right, make a decision and then take the plunge either way. I took time off, but not with the intention of eventually going to law school. I graduated in 2003, then worked and eventually found my calling. However, all that time off and those experiences have given me great perspective. You know, the "real world." But several of my friends and fellow 1Ls came straight from undergrad programs and they're surviving and also carry great experiences and insightful perspectives.

Essentially, in the end it's up to you.

This will likely be my last blog to you amidst the classes of my first-year of law school.

Although some of you readers out there may have not read that sentence with the gravity it actually carries, I'm going to give a few moments of literary silence to let that sentence sink in...in the honor of my fellow 1Ls and all those 1Ls who have come and gone.

...end of first-year of law school....

Granted, the end of classes is merely the beginning of exams. But, law school exams are a whole different beast that must be overcome quite separately from the bridge we students had to cross to get here. The important point, I think, is that once we're preparing for and taking exams...we are in fact on the other side of the bridge. Whether or not they let us through the gate, well...that's the beast of it.

Several fellow classmates have mentioned the sheer difficulty in studying in the weather with which Boston has been blessed in the past week. Who wants to be inside and studious when Sunshine beckons us towards adventures and livelihoods that have little to do with the Uniform Commercial Code or issues of federalism and state sovereignty? Studying for exams was certainly much easier during the winter when the weather outside was much less inviting.

Well, notwithstanding Boston's current sunshine (and the Sunshine come and gone), I'm glad I didn't go to law school closer to the Equator. And, considering the lovely weather without these walls, I imagine this is why the powers that be construct law school buildings without big, expansive windows.

Contrary to those feeling torn between the weather and their studies, though, I actually find the majesty of Spring invigorating and helpful towards studying. Perhaps it's the general nature of the season to re-energize and I'm just finding it easier to channel it towards studying. Perhaps it's because baseball season is the best season (and Smoltz is now a member of the 3,000 club).

Anyway, exams will soon be over and I'll be headed to Phoenix to work for the Supreme Court there. I look forward to the chance to do appellate work and to hike some of the beautiful canyons in Arizona.

Tonight, I'm attending a meeting on "Justice for Northeastern University Janitors." (Note: if you go to that link, I wouldn't sign the petition UNLESS you're a member of the NU community AND have already not signed it.) I've been trying to go to these weekly meetings since about February, and now have finally made the time. No excuses, I just didn't have going to the meeting high on my list amidst all other law school goings-on. That doesn't mean I don't support the cause. In fact, I hope to attend the rally and march on the university president's house this Saturday.

More to come. Until next week...

One down and two to go. It will all be over Friday at 1.30pm, after a four-and-a-half hour Contracts exam.

I'd ask for a collective expression of dissatisfaction, but in the many moments between studying where I am so susceptible to distraction I can appreciate how lucky I am to have only law school exams to be plaguing my life right now.

I mean, don't get me wrong, they are a plague. A necessary blight inflicted either as a reminder of how far we've come, a sadistic method of testing our capacity for knowledge in a short period of time, preparation for our true "final" law school exam (i.e., the bar exam), or as a right of passage towards our degree. Probably all of the above.

What's next? A short and blissful vacation with those dearest in my life, and then to my internship in Phoenix with the Arizona Supreme Court. I start right after Memorial Day, where the temperature is expected to hover around 95º for a couple weeks before it reaches above 100º for the remainder of the season.

Fear not loyal readers, I will be blogging through the Summer about all the goings on in Phoenix and beyond (and, hopefully, about something much more interesting than exams).

The title to this blog really paints the portrait, but the picture is admittedly incomplete for you non-law school readers who haven't been on this two week journey. So, let me take you there.

Last I wrote, I had two exams left: Criminal Law and Contracts. They both went, and I hope they went well. Crim was a bit of a frustration, because the professor determined that we did not need the full four hours typically allotted for law school exams at NUSL. Instead, s/he made the decision that we would do fine with two-and-a-half. There are pros and cons to this, of course. Presumably, if the time is cut almost in half the tested subject matter would also be cut in half. Presumably. The morning of the exam, moments before starting, we were informed that the Professor made a last minute decision (i.e., right before we arrived) that we may in fact need a full three hours for the exams.

After completing the exam, rich in byzantine hypotheticals where the characters arguably commit over ten crimes on one another and we're asked to explain how they should be charged, I am unsure if anything about the exam was truly changed to reflect the shortened timespan. Perhaps the professor's mind just changed.

Contracts, in all honestly, is kind of a blur. It was half multiple choice and half essay and, as I mentioned in my last blog, spanned four-and-a-half hours. I certainly practiced doing multiple choice questions for Contracts, and it seemed very foreign. As an English major in undergrad., who also studied History, Anthropology and foreign languages, I had not taken a multiple choice exam in a long time. Well, other than the LSAT. And my memory on that too was kind of a blur.

Since exams I've had a wonderful Summer break, now soon coming to a close. I spent part of it in D.C.--where I had a wonderful and relaxing time--and in North Carolina--where I visited family. Friday, very early in the a.m., I drive southwest towards Phoenix. Next Tuesday I start my internship at the Supreme Court, and I am really excited. The drive will be one long haul without any time to stop and smell the scenic roses. There will be plenty of that once I get to my post in Arizona.

The relaxing time in between exams and my internship in the offing hasn't totally been law-free. Firstly, I'm not sure if anything is really law free. Except maybe anarchy. Maybe. Secondly, the US Supreme Court has come down with some really exciting decisions in the past week and a half, not least to mention the (hopefully) monumental decision out of California on same-sex marriage.

More to come next week after my first day at the AZ Supreme Court. I hope all the best for everyone's summers too--wherever you are.

Starting my second day of work today, and all goes well as the temperature rises. Literally, not figuratively. I was assigned my first project yesterday, and so far it's pretty interesting. The case comes to the Supreme Court as an appeal from a competency hearing where, at trial, a judge decides that a defendant is or is not competent to face his/her criminal charges. For those unfamiliar, in most jurisdictions if a court finds a criminal defendant incompetent to stand trial, it can do any number of things that do not involve going to trial. They could dismiss the case altogether, put the person into rehabilitation and bring the charges back against them when s/he is sane or competent, or even have that person committed. But not proceed with trial. Why? Because courts have long held that those who are not fully aware of what they are doing or what is going on are not going to benefit from being punished. One point of punishment is to deter the person from doing it again, and if you are incompetent then you don't have the facility to understand why you're being punished. If you even understand that.

Interesting stuff, and I had a lot to learn about the Arizona appellate system in one day. Due to ethics concerns and matters of judicial and simple fairness, I cannot say much more than that about the case I'm working on.

Otherwise, the trip out to Arizona was nice. And quick. I made it here from central North Carolina in just over forty-two hours--including sleeping. I didn't speed (much); just drove at a steady pace and kept my eyes on the horizon. Despite making good time as I traveled through North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and into Arizona, I saw some amazing sights and landscapes along the way. Somewhere outside of Amarillo, for example, an artist had constructed an exhibit of five or six cars buried nose first in the flat, dusty ground. The cars were equidistant and all leaning at the exact same angle, like trees after a hurricane. It was a sight to see, especially seemingly so far out of town.

My time here in Arizona will be well spent, I think. I've yet to make it deep downtown, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunity for that. Our supervisors have given us no rigid work schedule, leaving us quite autonomous as to the time we keep. To comply with Northeastern's co-op requirements, I must work at least thirty-five hours a week. The powers that be at the Arizona Supreme Court say that as long as I'm getting my work done and am generally in the office and accessible for those thirty-five hours, they don't care when I do them. The traditional summer court intern thing to do seems to be to work them Monday through Thursday and take Friday off.

That'll do just nicely.

More to come...

First, I must note the divine irony of the current situtation. When I chose to come to Phoenix for my summer internship, many wished me the best and lamented that I was heading to the wrong locale for summer time. After all, in the Winter one wants to be warm. In the Summer, cool. Right? And there I was, gleefully choosing to head to the desert where 110+ degree weather is not uncommon at the apex of the season.

And here I am now in just such a climate. Where are those who regretted my choice? Most of them are on the East Coast, undergoing record-breaking heat indices and soaring temperatures. In short, living through a heat wave. With humidity in the upper 80-90%. Humidity in Phoenix hovers around 10%.

Not that I'm gloating. :) We're all subject to global warming, after all. As a brief digression, my flitting talk of weather here overlooks the serious crises going on due to weather around the world. In our own country, for example, California recently declared a statewide period of drought. They haven't done that since 1991. And, those in the upper Midwest and West are experiencing frightening tornadoes, thunderstorms, and floods that just keep on rising.

Regarding the particular situation here, however, I do have some advantages to bearing all this heat. And no, it's not purely the air conditioning piped in at the Supreme Court. I actually try to go outside during the day and experience the weather--assuming the smog blowing in from California makes the air breathable. No, my relative advantage was growing up in the South. If you can deal with Southern and coastal humidity in August, so far it seems you can deal with temperature extremes.

Well, we'll see. I'll keep you apprised if my mind changes any when the thermometer busts above 120. So far, I really enjoy the heat. And do my best to stay hydrated.

In other not-quite-exciting news, the work at the Arizona Supreme Court continues. I must admit that at times I am a little bored sitting behind a desk researching cases and writing memoranda all day long. I'm used to being in the field and being in the courtroom--or, at the least, being on my feet. That being said, I am enjoying the change and attempting to appreciate it for all it's worth. I am certainly learning a lot and meeting great people. Oral Arguments at the Court are scheduled in a couple of weeks and on the docket are three death penalty cases (which, in Arizona, get appealed directly from the trial court to the Supreme Court) that will likely bring up issues pursuant to the US Supreme Court's decision in Baze v. Rees. Also, we'll get to hear a child custody dispute involving an American Indian child. The case raises serious questions over the conflict between state and federal child welfare laws.

On a final note: What, you may be asking, have I seen of the wonderous Phoenix? Where are your pictures of my time out west?

I've seen the freeway, readers. And my camera is broken.

More to come...

...and I'm only twenty-seven years old.

And, oh, to look back on the days in reverence when we all grudgingly paid $2.50 at the pump! And you could shred up dollar bills and boil them down to gold. Alas days of yore.

Now on an unpaid co-op, I commute to and from work everyday. Over thirty miles each way. I make no bones about being on an unpaid internship, I chose this path for myself. As such, I also recently chose to kick driving to and from work everyday and hop on the bus. Before moving out here I was told from one or two Phoenixians that they don't have a particularly grand public transportation system. Perhaps they didn't, but a municipality gets pretty inventive when gas prices rocket past the cost to buy a gallon of milk (in most areas) and its residents stop driving and show up in droves at bus stops. Like yours truly.

The buses here seem to be all run on natural gas, I hear tell they are planning to commission more buses for many routes, and the powers that be are testing out a light rail system that could be operational in 2009.

It feels good to ride the bus: the trip takes just as long, I am saving hugely on my energy costs, reducing my carbon footprint, and I get to people watch and read.

Yesterday I was finishing the paper, The Arizona Republic, on the ride home. As per usual, many of the stories were about what sore shape this country is in. Gas prices, unemployment, airlines, Iraq, Iran, flooding, food prices, etc, etc. The sensationalism of TV news does indeed carry over somewhat into the more tangible and scripted, printed paper. Or perhaps it's vice-versa; I am no journalistic historian, but printed news doesn't get to use live footage, audio and a ten minute loop in its presentation.

Anyway, as I reflected on all this heralding of doom and gloom, I thought about the persistent questions that were not asked in some of these stories. For example, a recent article about tax incentives highlighted a current bill in Arizona's state House of Representatives that would give tax breaks of varying sort to companies that would bring jobs to different parts of the state. The lawmakers in support of the bill highlighted how Arizona, like many states, has had crippling budget deficits in past years, and are looking towards a record deficit this year. Thus, they argue, the state needs this tax incentive package so companies will come here, set up shop, and put money into the economy. They note that the first jobs will sprout up in construction, a good start to providing good jobs to the hardworking.

These tax incentives are common throughout the country. In fact, Northeastern's own Professor Enrich has been working on his own, and with Ralph Nader and his people, for a few years in contesting the constitutionality of states to do this. He has already taken the matter to the US Supreme Court once, which got shot down on other legal grounds.

As I read the article, I wondered where were the questions the reporter didn't ask (or perhaps, simply, didn't publish the answers). How exactly are these tax incentives going to boost the state economy? Is there some data or economic models they can show us behind that claim? Won't the state budget take a hit from the taxes it is not taking in from the deals? Are they relying too heavily on the taxes they'll take out of workers' paychecks, and a hope that employed workers who may have to commute to work every day and pay astronomical healthcare costs will have enough money left over to recycle it back into the state economy?

Articles like that, of vital and necessary questions unanswered or unreported, joined in my mind with others that seem to profess how the entire country is going to hell in a handbasket and the end is nigh. They made me think of conversations I've had with some who hear the same news and take on self-defeatist attitudes. They made me think about how there is a lot of work to be done in this country, while questioning whether that work could ever be done. Go back and read the paper from any decade past and see how they seem to be struggling with the same questions on similar (or the same issues). They made me think about how we could lower the unemployment rate in this country down to marginal rates, increase voter participation to over 75% of the electorate, and cure cancer--and something else would come up.

These thoughts are not self-defeatist on my part, they're energizing. Because, after all--if there is work to do, then there is work to do. And it made me glad that I chose a profession that gives one unique abilities (and, occasionally, access) to be an instrument of social change.

I spent much of the past week in ill health, so have very little to report. However, yesterday, my second day back at work, marked a jump-start to what had been a relatively uneventful (and seriously un-fun) week.

Yesterday, I attended a very full docket of oral arguments in front of the Arizona Supreme Court. It was very interesting to witness. The Court heard three death penalty cases and one case regarding Arizona child custody laws that may conflict with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act. For those unfamiliar, as I certainly was until I started in this field, an appellate court--like the Supreme Court or Courts of Appeals--does not usually re-hear a case and re-weigh all the evidence already heard and weighed by a judge or a jury. No, they are generally limited to hear particular legal issues that one party or another thinks a lower court decided wrongly.

So, at oral arguments, the parties present their view about why some judge decided the law wrongly or rightly. And the judges hearing the oral arguments--in this case, the five justices of the Supreme Court--frequently interrupt the attorneys to ask clarifying questions. But, what the judges are doing is more than that. They're not just trying to understand the case...presumably they and their clerks have already gone over the case and its issues. They're trying to understand what the parties are really asking for and how they--with their potential final say--should decide the matter. And they don't wear soft gloves, either.

Yesterday I watched one attorney have a really bad go of his oral argument, and he unwittingly allowed the justices to ask him very pointed questions that led him to essentially contradict himself and start making his opponent's argument.

The rest of my day was exciting, too. I was assigned an election case--special cases that are appealed straight from trial to the Supreme Court due to the importance of elections and time concerns over making sure that everybody suppose to be on ballots are on ballots when they go to print. Interesting issue...appeals over election decisions before elections have happened. Political? Personal? Just business? Certainly matters I did not foresee when I thought about my time at the Supreme Court. In fact, I just got back from sitting in on a conference call with a justice, a supervising attorney and the parties' lawyers, where we discussed the timetable and preliminary issues of the case.

And, to finish the day, we NUSL students got our evaluations. That is, we got our grades from finals. In short, I am pretty pleased with them (although one professor wrote a very cryptic evaluation that leaves me unsure whether I did well or not-that-well) and look forward to next semester.

What a day.

We finished the election case and the justices issued a preliminary ruling on the matter. I'm not positive if they've sent copies of the order to the parties, so I'll keep all details under wrap for the time being. While my supervisor and I worked quickly on an election case with a three day timetable, three more cases were appealed up from the Superior Court. Unluckily for my colleague interns who were assigned the cases, they had a two day timetable. Three of the election cases, including mine, were all heard and decided on at the same time. Quick and hotly contested business, these judicial decisions in election matters.

Otherwise, I've been working on a death penalty case which has come to the Court seeking post-conviction relief. There are very strict rules about when and how a criminal defendant can appeal his conviction for post-conviction relief--which is something different than just outright appealing the conviction after the judge or jury has ruled you are guilty. For the ease of explanation, most defendants appeal for post-conviction relief when new information comes to light that raises questions of their guilt and responsibility--information that was unavailable or was hidden during trial. Or, say, new information comes to light about the constitutionality of the trial proceedings--as in, the prosecutor or defense counsel had DNA evidence that would prove the defendant was not the true culprit--but they suppresed the evidence and told no one. None of the above are reasons that my case is now on appeal, and of course I cannot go into detail.

Confidentiality can be a real downer for my blogging.

I am also working on a case, with another intern, that deals with the constitutionality (under both the Arizona constitution and the sacred of sacreds) of school voucher programs. As I also cannot describe the particulars of this case, and any description of school vouchers may be impermissibly touching on issues I am currently researching, a New York Times article from 1999 describes a proposed school voucher program in New York City and gives a good and short treatise on the relevant issues. And how seriously controversial these issues can be.

In other happenings, and for a slight light moment, I was reading some online blogs about this year's presidential campaign. It's tough not to be a bit of a political junkie in such an election year, but I tend to be a bit of a political junkie no matter the year or election. Nonetheless, I came across a story that made me nearly spit up my dinner. No lie. Actor Stephen Baldwin, in a quasi-interview (he did the talking) on Fox News (of the "We Report Very Little of Worth, You Decidedly Listen" reputation), told the world that if Barack Obama is elected president in November, he is going to leave the country.

1.) I am not taking a stance or endorsing any candidate for president on this school-sponsored blog. This is about Stevie Baldwin.
2.) Who, I was unaware, was still in this country.

Now, to be fair, Stephen Baldwin had stellar roles in "The Usual Suspects," "Bio-Dome," and...well...little else of cinematic value, and as a recent born-again Christian he has started a community outreach program for kids. I read that the program is targeted towards urban youth--mostly skaters--and, although his program is a little heavy on the proselytizing, it's doing good work by keeping some kids away from drugs and out of jail. Way to go Stephen.

However, forgive me if I take no moment of remorseful reflection on the sad state of affairs if Stephen Baldwin leaves the country. I don't think the order of things and the universe as we know it will topple over if and when he goes ex-patriot.

Though, and perhaps this gets to the sheer selfish audacity of his comment, I bet those kids in his community outreach program will surely suffer.

Once, I too said the same words about Bush when he ran for reelection in 2004. Allthough, I told only my friend next to me and not the Fox News watching audience.

My point is this, and it's larger than me or Stephen Baldwin: Just because you don't like the way things are looking or the way things may turn out--these are not reasons to throw in the towel. We, luckily, still live in a society where we don't have to be afraid to speak up about our discontent or disagreement with the powers that be. We can still make efforts for a better tomorrow, even if we're displeased with the today. Things are not so bad that we necessarily need to be concerned about living our lives "underground," or move to a culture where our views are more readily accepted. Today, you can be a card-carrying communist with a Joey Stalin mustache and sit on the bus next to a capitalistic businesswoman and have no fear that she's going to turn you in.

Stephen, do what I had to do: get over yourself, stay home and work for a better today and tomorrow. The kids will appreciate it.

Happy Belated Independence Day to everyone. I spent my long weekend in DC, and had a great time. I saw fireworks at the Capitol, visited the relocated and newly redesigned Newseum (which has an impressive exhibit on the First Amendment), had some delicious Ethiopian food, and more.

Now back in Phoenix, it's back to business as usual. I have thirty days left in Arizona and plan on making the best of it. In a couple weeks I head to Las Vegas for a friend's wedding, and will attempt to lose very, very little money at the casino. I'm not much of a gambler, but I do dig Kenny Rogers and friendly-poker games with friends. I also have some family staying in Vegas, so I am quite lucky to get the chance to see them.

Work progresses. I just finished writing a memo on a first-degree murder appeal, where the defendant is asking the court for a new trial, and am diving headlong into the school voucher case on which I am working with another intern. The school voucher case raises several constitutional issues, both for the U.S. Constitution and the Arizona Constitution. It's a very interesting case, with both parties unhappy about the Court of Appeals opinion on the matter.

Thinking about my internship ending inevitably hones my focus on classes resuming in late August. We start registering for classes next Monday, and the final information we students need to properly register was just posted this afternoon. Above all, I would really like to take Evidence, First Amendment Law, and the Seminar on Balancing Liberty and Security in the Post-9/11 America. The many other classes available that I need to take to stay within the number of credit hours necessary to graduate are up for grabs. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Otherwise, I am spending my days catching up on my reading and exercise and conditioning. I usually make some regular time to scan The New York Times and Washington Post, occasionally flit through the Arizona Republic and BBC.co.uk. Regularly, though, I'm reading Gideon's Trumpet by Anthony Lewis, The Chomsky-Foucault Debate, and trying to catch up on my Leaves of Grass.

Oh! And I was recently quite lucky and honored to be chosen as a Student Editor for the upcoming school year for the Quarterly, the International Law Students Association periodical. Currently, I'm researching and writing the increased role victims of mass atrocities and war crimes have under the international criminal justice system--specifically in proceedings at the International Criminal Court. It may sound a little esoteric, but it's interesting stuff.

More to come...

There are less than three weeks left in my internship and already other interns in our office are beginning to leave. The school voucher case on which I am working with another intern will be turned over to me solely on Friday, and it is possible that I'll be spending a great portion of my remaining weeks focusing on its legal issues.

Truth be told, the other intern is doing the bulk of the writing on this particular project. While we've both kept up to speed and hold daily meetings about the ongoing research and our informal analysis of the case, we decided she'd write first and I would edit for clarity and polish the memo. My chief concern in the confluence between these job tasks and her departure is getting the memo only partially written. While I have no qualms writing memos or taking over the case, if I have to draft portions of our analysis from scratch, I may have to rewrite the entire memo so the whole thing doesn't look stilted and have two different voices. She and I have very different writing styles and, unless it's blended well during editing, it will show.

A casualty of working on hugely important cases like this one is the general inability to use them as a writing sample. The other intern could readily use this as a writing sample over me, given her effort in drafting the memo from scratch, if not for very specific rules and ethical guidelines over when one can use such a memo as a writing sample and when one cannot. Primarily, this case is unlikely to be resolved until well into next year. And, it's such an important case--dealing with important constitutional issues--that using the document as a writing sample would prematurely publicize the Court's thoughts on the case.

So, I feel bad for my fellow intern. She has worked most of her time here on this one memo and won't be able to use it as a writing sample until well in the future (if at all).

With some guidance from my supervisor, and approval by the Supreme Court, I chose to edit and polish my memo on a first-degree murder case as a writing sample. That case contained a lot of analysis and shows that I had to do independent research to complete that analysis.

These writing samples are so important, and so important right now, because employers want them. They want recent examples of your research and writing skills. I had to submit a writing sample to get this job. More specifically, these samples are so important now because many of us Northeastern Law students are already gearing up to apply to our next internships. Our Winter co-op generally runs from late-November to mid-February, and the deadline for applications is around September 15th. So, we're preparing for that.

Also, many of us are preparing our resumes and writing samples (and more) to participate in "Fall Recruitment," the period during which 2Ls and 3Ls apply for highly competitive summer internships that could lead to offers of employment after graduation. Employers participating in Fall Recruitment do not hire people for the Summer that they're not seriously considering hiring permanently. The first deadline is August 8th.

So, let's review our tally: At the tail end of our current internships, I am applying for my Winter co-op and preparing applications to apply for Summer 2009 co-op (with eyes towards permanent employment), and still awaiting a final word on class registration.

Also, did I mention I have jury duty in Boston a week before classes start?

If I kept a planner...it would soon be bogged down with the weight of ink on my ever-expanding to-do list.

More to come...

I intended to write much of this blog about applying for jobs next summer, during Fall Recruitment (aka OCI), but Leon seems to have beaten me to the punch. And a fine job Leon did.

I've spent much of the past several days working on cover letters for my applications. Thankfully, I put together all the necessary paperwork and applied to two jobs. I'll let you know how everything progresses. I should not start hearing anything back about preliminary interviews until September or October.

If anyone is keeping track, and I certainly am, here is a list of newsworthy events about which I've promised to let you know once I hear anything: 1.) my Fall classes, and how many of the forty-three credit hours for which I am now registered I'll actually be starting in less than a month; 2.) my Winter internships, for which I and few other people have started applying; 3.) Summer 2009 "summer associate" internships (aka internships that could lead to jobs after graduation); and 4.) whether the second-year of law school is any more manageable than the first. I am sure there are other things I've chained myself to keep track and report--so I'll do so if they come to me.

Today, I am attending to a luncheon hosted by the Arizona Women Lawyers' Association. Besides free lunch and a chance to meet new people, the keynote speaker will discuss "excessive force" by law enforcement and how much force is too much force? I think it'll be an interesting discussion, and, if nothing else, it certainly gets me out of the office for a while.

So far, I've made it safely through three-fourths of my journey back to Boston. Currently visiting my family in North Carolina, I arrived after a four day trip from Phoenix across the country. Before I left I went to a Diamondback/Braves baseball game. The Braves routed the D-backs 11-5. It was glorious. The Braves are extremely unlikely to make it to the playoffs this year, while the D-backs are almost a shoe-in, but that's a beauty of baseball. No matter the standings, every game is new. And for that game, the Braves played, for a short time, like a championship team.

Along the way I stopped and saw the Grand Canyon for the third time in my life (first as an adult), saw my sister in Oklahoma, had some fantastic Jamaican food and corn bread at a market in Nashville, and saw the tip of the Smoky Mountains and buzzed Mount Le Conte from a helicopter.

Soon, I'll be back in Boston and preparing for school, which starts a week and a half from now. Our class lists were finally posted, and the book lists are slowly coming to light. If professors have chosen to publish their book lists outside their offices, as opposed to making them available to the Office of Academic and Student Affairs, I, like many students returning from co-op, won't know anything until we get back to town. When I discovered the classes I will (most likely) take, I immediately ordered books. Despite my advice to you in a previous blog to always buy used, so far most of my books have been new editions. Unfortunate for the pocketbook. What was used was still pricey, especially as many cheaper copies were already bought by other law students who knew their schedules and required books earlier, and I paid more in shipping in hopes that the books will get to me before classes start.

Also, since my last blog, I applied for an internship for next Summer. Again, this competitive internship, if obtained, could lead to a job after graduation. If I get an interview (cross your fingers, folks), the organization's reps will be here on campus the first few weeks of classes. I am, admittedly, somewhat anxious.

Additionally, I had that interview for an internship this Winter. It was somewhat ironic to have the internship interview while still at my Summer co-op, in the middle of the work day. But, such seems to be the life of a NUSL student. No rest for the weary. The interview seemed to go really well, and yesterday, I received an offer. Again, I cannot divulge anything specific yet, but all will surface soon. Currently, I am waiting on word from other potential employers before I accept or reject.

For now, I am enjoying my last few days of vacation and, like much of the rest of the world, keeping one eye on the Olympics.

I made it back to Boston safely and soundly (well...mostly sound), and am gearing up for the start of classes.

Next Monday the new class of 1Ls begin their orientation and I'll be there bright and early to welcome, provide directions, and help myself to the breakfast the university is providing. Sounds like a pretty sweet gig. Even though I have to be there around 7.30am.

I mean...I'm usually awake at that time, but that doesn't translate to actually wanting to be somewhere other than puttering around with a cup of coffee.

I accepted an offer for the upcoming Winter internship with the Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division/Special Litigation Section. The Special Litigation Section investigates patterned violations of institutionalized persons' federal civil rights--whether those people are prisoners, elderly, juveniles, or mentally ill--and brings a federal suit against the state or local agency running the show if they don't clean up their act to federal standards. The stark bonuses to having an internship so early is getting a jump in my search for housing, being able to focus on classes and Fall Recruitment (interviews and such) without looking for a co-op added on top, and being in DC during the transition from the Bush Administration to whoever we next collectively elect to be president.

If any of you reading will be starting at NUSL next Monday, I look forward to seeing you there!

It's back to classes here at NUSL. Even the new 1Ls had their first classes today. So far, I've had Balancing Liberty and Security in post 9/11 America, Criminal Trial Practice, and First Amendment Law. Later, I have Evidence and Appellate Advocacy. It's great to be back at school and starting classes, if even I wasn't completely ready to give up my summer.

All of my classes are in a newly renovated building, Dockser, directly behind the law school proper. Though, like many of the buildings at Northeastern, the two are all connected on the ground floor. You could, if one was so inclined, spend all day inside the law school complex without ever going outside. As it was much more likely for that to happen during first year, I'm going to make a point of my second year to see the sun and feel the wind.

New extracurricular things are starting up, too, but slowly. We had the Student Activities Fair last night, where student organizations recruited first years (mostly) to be a part of their groups. As half of the upper-level students are always gone, first years at Northeastern are really the life blood of student organizations. For the moment, I'm heading up two student groups, the International Law Society and recently created Criminal Law Society, but am excited for 1Ls to come in and take leadership positions. It will free up my schedule and, I hope, take both groups in great directions as we explore those areas of the law and student interests.

For now, I'm going to return to filling out my security clearance forms for the Dep't of Justice co-op I've taken for the Winter. As extensive and intrusive as the questions are, it is somewhat fun to try to recall exactly where I've lived and what I've done for the past decade.

Oh, Johnny Cochran, Esq. How your clever wordplay is sorely missed in the trial courts of California.

For me, the second week of law school has been very much about litigation. About trying and winning cases in front of a jury. In Criminal Trial Practice we gave opening arguments on Tuesday. It was a great experience, both in the preparation of the opening and the actual delivery. My classmates gave great feedback, and I look forward to our other exercises to come. In Evidence, everything we discuss is related to what one could bring in to a case to persuade a jury (or judge) to decide in your favor.

It all reminds me of how much I am interested in working in litigation after I graduate (specifically criminal defense), and glad that I have three co-op opportunities left in which I could work towards this goal. Perhaps, as a 3L, I will be lucky enough to work for a public defender or specialized litigation firm, or another agency and get an actual caseload through which I will gain even more experience. My friends who are more interested in the prosecutorial side of criminal law and the plaintiff side of civil litigation share similar thoughts with me. I know some who are eager to work in a busy district attorney's office and learn the tools of the trade there.

As a divergent side note, I'm also witness to all the changes that typically accompany the traditional start of a school year. Meeting new students, electing new student leaders and officers in groups, and, as relevant here, taking on new bloggers. Yesterday I met those who will be blogging this year, and the 1Ls seemed especially eager to describe their experiences in law school during the first two weeks for those out there thinking of applying or applying now. The powers that be tell me they'll be online and setup in a couple weeks-ish, and by that time they'll have great stories to tell about how their first month as first year law students.

Until then, I know Leon and Laurinda and I will be here doing our best to relate the upper level experience.

Classes are going well and extracurricular student activities are increasingly becoming more...well, active. As I go about my days at the law school, to and from class, to and from meetings, to and from the gym, I am starting to get back in the swing of being in law school.

Now, I realize that I am now entering my third week of resuming classes, but it is all still a twilight zone feeling like I don't belong. Or maybe I'm going to wake up one morning and it will all have been some anxious dream and I will still be on co-op. None of this is to say that I don't want to be in class or would rather be on co-op. Far from it. I enjoy classes and being uber-busy with student activities, interviewing for summer-time employment that could lead to post-grad jobs. As a classmate and dear friend said, I'm "just sick in the head that way."

Simply, I think I am adjusting to what upper level NUSL students (perhaps all law students everywhere) experience: a sort of Resumption Vertigo. We bounce around for three years between full-time classes and full-time work, with a week or two of vacation in between if we're lucky. So, when we're on co-op we're getting over the exhaustion and marathon that was exams. When we're back in classes we're getting over the feeling of being out of (and done with) school. It's all a little surreal.

I wonder if it gets easier, if you get used to the bounding back and forth, later. Do my 3L friends suffer the pain of Resumption Vertigo less? For that matter, this condition--if real--is multiplied for people at Northeastern. Unlike most law schools we don't just get the opportunity to work during two summers. No, we shift back and forth twice more. And, like many of my friends NOW on co-op, they stayed in class after Spring exams--going to school for almost twelve months straight before leaving to work. I can only imagine the disbelief they're feeling, now that exams are over and they were finally let loose.

Perhaps it's all part of the regimen in the end. Perhaps NUSL has patterned it this way so we're always kept on our toes, always thinking on our feet, as a lawyer standing in court and immediately handed a file on a client about which she knows nothing about. Or a junior associate at a firm handed a case and told to churn out a memo by the end of the day. Or, ultimately, just a better worker and a better person in a world where so much is unpredictable and shifting.

Or maybe I'm just sick in the head.

More to come...

Last Friday I went through a mock-interview with a Public Defender. That is, a fake interview where a Public Defender interviewed me as if I was really applying for a job with her agency.

It went well. The main difference I noticed was the number and weight of ethical questions asked, as opposed to questions I was asked during the mock-interview with a firm. The Public Defender asked questions like, "how do you feel about representing someone who is accused of sexually assaulting another person?" Or, "could you cross-examine a victim of domestic violence on the stand, who has visible bruises on his/her face, when your client is the one charged with brutally beating him/her?"

Good questions, which I think are crucial to ask someone applying to be or professing their desire to be a criminal defense advocate--especially a Public Defender. When I worked for a Public Defender's Office in North Carolina, I definitely worked with a lot of great attorneys who confronted these sort of questions every day.

In this same vein, it turns out all the practice interviewing will be helpful. I have an interview in the next couple weeks. Wish me luck!

More to come...

And the world is watching. While Bush will be President until late January, we all know that America (heck, Earth as we know it in a geopolitical sense) will be a very different place on Wednesday, November 5th.

Regardless of who is elected. Seriously. What a powerful feeling, the sense that we stand on a precipice of tomorrow.

It's been a week of powerful legal headlines, as well. Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens was convicted in Federal Court. Just today, Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson was arrested for allegedly accepting $23,500 in bribes from undercover FBI agents and others. The Boston Globe has published photos that do actually seem to show her accepting wads of money. Those who follow Mass politics will remember that she is on the ballot next week, as a write-in candidate (having been beaten in the Democratic Primary Election Cycle by Sonia Chang-Diaz). This may be hefty on the tongue-in-cheek side of things, but this does not look good for her re-election.

Also, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that the state sex offender law, namely its requirements of an address for registry purposes, is unconstitutional as applied to Georgia's homeless population.

In news more particular to this (occasionally) hard-working 2L, I accepted an offer to work for the Public Defenders Service's Trial Division in DC next Summer. Check out their website and all they do here. I am very excited at this prime opportunity and honor to work for such a renowned office, although it puts me away from Boston for yet another co-op. As of this moment, I just finalized my plans for my third co-op before I have even started my second.

As Ferris Bueller famously said, "[law school] goes by fast. If you don't stop and take a look around every once a while, you might miss it."

What a busy, momentous week it has been.

This past Saturday I phonebanked for the Obama/Biden Campaign, calling Democratic and undecided voters in New Hampshire. My main goals, of course, were to get out the vote and arrange rides to the polls. Classmates of mine spent four days in New Hampshire, which has same-day registration, and helped register 1400 new voters.

I'm told Obama won that particular district in New Hampshire by 1500 votes.

So, if there was ever any doubt (and there has been plenty), EVERY vote counts.

Regarding President-elect Obama, I will be in DC during the inauguration. I have yet to line up housing. This process, as a law student living on loans (with a giant dog -- a 4 year old great dane) who is so far going on an internship away from Boston every three months, has been frustrating. It hasn't gotten any less worrisome as my mind is slowly turning towards other things--like exams.

I fear not, however. I'll find housing in DC. And, while I can be assured that it will not in any way be affordable, I am sure I will ultimately bring my dog, work for the Justice Department, and live in DC during the transition to the Obama presidency.

Despite the upcoming exams, I will be blogging next week. Forgive me if I am late by a day or two, loyal readers, as I have a mock trial and a mock oral argument in front of three actual Massachusetts Appeals Court judges in the middle of the week next week.

After that, only three more exams to go.

More to come...

I lied. But not intentionally. Despite my best efforts, I didn't blog last week and am a little late in the current one. I wish I could blame it all on exams, as an all-consuming time-paradox of a juggernaut--mowing over everything in its path--but, in all truth, I could have taken time aside and written a short blog. I've certainly done it in the past. However, I made choices and re-prioritized, and decided I could write a mea culpa blog today.

Here's how the exams went: classes ended last Friday, November 14th. On Wednesday the 12th, I had a mock trial in my Criminal Trial Practice class. It was a two hour, mostly full trial with opening arguments, direct examinations of witnesses, redirects after cross examinations, putting on other evidence, cross examinations after the other side's directs, and then closing arguments. I was part of a two-man prosecution team, representing the Commonwealth in a mock first-degree murder case. The two defendants were charged with shooting a police officer in the head, and the prosecution's star witness was a "career criminal" and co-conspirator. Tough case, especially given the time constraints. My counterparts, the defense, did a fantastic job. In the end, though, we had a hung jury.

On Thursday the 13th, I had to give an oral argument for Appellate Advocacy. We had to turn our appellate briefs in on Tuesday by 5pm, and then give an eight minute oral argument to a panel of three actual Massachusetts Appeals Court justices. I represented the appellee (that is, the side who wants things to stay the way they are) on a First Amendment free speech Constitutional issue. I thought it went fairly well, and the judges gave great feedback on my oral argument.

Those were both my finals for those classes. Then this past Monday, I had a three hour in-class exam for First Amendment, followed by a three and a half hour in-class exam in Evidence on Tuesday, and then an eight hour take home exam for National Security Law.

I am done, and a little exhausted. And, since I hand-wrote my two in-class exams (speedily writing like a fiend), my hand feels arthritic.

But I'm done! And the exams seemed to go well. I hope my grade reflects that feeling.

For now I'm going to get my life back together after having shut it out for a couple weeks, actually read through my mail, clean my apartment, spend time with my loved one, and then head home to North Carolina for Thanksgiving.

And then, on to Co-op at the Justice Department in DC!

More to come...

First year seems like a lightyear away, sometimes. Last year, during Thanksgiving break, I was studying for my upcoming exams and attempting to slave over my outlines.

So much has happened since then.

Now, having just finished exams, I am attempting to enjoy my Thanksgiving break before I start my co-op at the Justice Department. I left Boston on Monday night, drove 12 hours down the East Coast to North Carolina, picked up my little sister from college, and then another 3 hours to my parents' places. I love driving, but, after doing that trip and being awake for 37 hours, I am happy to not be driving anymore.

The quick approaching start to my second co-op is exciting, and I look forward to it. I hope to do some great work and learn a good deal. Plus, I'll be in DC (which is a great city), and I'll be there during the inauguration and the transition. However, while many ring the bells of joy at being out of Boston for the winter, I'm going to miss it. A lot. For a lot of reasons.

One in particular.

Yet, I'll also miss Boston for a lot of the reasons that people are glad to leave. I like snow. I like winter weather. On the one hand, it's a fantastic reminder of why summer is so great. On the other, what greater impetus does one need to wrap up before a fireplace or in the warmth of your apartment with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

In other news, since I will now be on co-op and won't be reading for classes all the time, I brought a suitcase full of books. A reading list to catch up on. "Look Homeward Angel," "The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and the "Chomsky-Foucault Debate" start off the adventure.

However, I will still be doing law school stuff. I am participating in moot court with a 3L, and we have to write our appellate brief by January 16th. This year, the American Constitution Society's moot court questions revolve around the First Amendment AND issues of national security law. Both are classes I just finished taking, and two subjects near and dear to my heart.

Otherwise, I'll make sure to keep you filled in on the goings on at the DOJ and in living and playing in DC. I'm not sure how much playing I'll be doing, but adventures and side-quests always seem to make themselves known at the most opportune times.

Welcome back from Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone took full advantage of the one day a year where it's at least a little more permissible to glutton one's self a panoply of sleep-inducing food. Personally, I'm a big fan of stuffing and gravy.

I just completed my second day of my second co-op, in a small windowless office of a Department of Justice building in downtown DC. The attorneys, investigators and other support staff here at the Civil Rights Division are extraordinarily nice, helpful, and brilliant. While I spent my first day going over and over very byzantine paperwork that asked the same questions repeatedly in different places (even on the same form), and wrapping my mind around the sometimes seemingly needless labyrinth structure of the federal government, I am now settling down into two projects. The projects are great, involve mostly questions of constitutional and statutory interpretation--very cutting edge work. And, even though I cannot discuss any details of my work whatsoever due to its sensitive and privileged nature, you can find a great overview and description of what the Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation Section does here.

Otherwise, I am getting to know the DC public transportation system--i.e., the Metro, and, as I live in Alexandria for the next ten and a half weeks, the DASH bus system. Here's a little lesson I learned last night: if you decide to go out drinking with co-workers until 7.30pm, perhaps you should check and see if the local bus system runs on a shorter schedule and route and will not pick you up at the Pentagon Metro station (thereby causing you to not get home until 9.40pm). Lesson learned.

Best of luck to all 1Ls as they ramp into exams, all other law students who will be doing the same, all potential applicants who may be diligently and frustrating working on their applications, and to everyone else as the winter fast approaches.

For me--I cannot wait until December 18th. I'm looking forward to it and that weekend like no other time before. Stay tuned...

I am told by the attorneys with whom I work that the Bush Administration is unlike any administration before it.

No kidding.

Of course, they're speaking specifically from an employer-employee point of view. Apparently, while previous administrations have sauntered about and lazed through the final, post-election months of their tenure, Bush & Co. are attempting to completely clear their desks of everything. This has its pros and cons. A pro is that it creates a lot of work for an intern--tangible, interesting work. A particular con is that the attorneys are running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to complete all this work now on their desks. It gums up the works a bit, like a movie theatre crowd trying to exit out of one solitary door.

From the intern perspective, though, I'm getting a lot of great work. Most of it is statutory and constitutional interpretation, or very vague questions about what problems we, as the Dep't of Justice, would run into if we investigated a state agency for violating an institutionalized person's civil rights and asked for medical information. If the state agency refused to disclose on privacy grounds, and says we can't obtain a consent waiver from the person for one reason or another, can we still obtain medical records if we felt there was relevant information to civil rights violations going on? Or would we be violating the law?

I got a project similar to this recently. There is no specific case or client, just an academic question. So, unlike much of the rest of my work here in Washington, I can actually discuss it with some freedom. Some.

Another project that fills my hours is one that puts me in contact with actual people. This may sound odd, but a lot of intern work is spent researching a case or answering a legal question, without actually meeting the people. That is one reason why legal services, district attorney and public defender internships are coveted for those who actually like human-to-human contact. The particular project is a preliminary inquiry into allegations of police misconduct in a facility, that may potentially be a pattern or practice of violating the statutory and constitutional civil rights of those housed in that facility. Say, for example, the right to not have your liberty restrained via a needless and excessive use of force.

I can't really provide much more information, or really speak of anything too specific on the matter. I can say this, though, the location of the facility and the people to whom I'm talking was originally part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

In other co-op news, I took a tour of where I'll be doing my summer internship. I'm all set to work for the Public Defender Service of DC in their Trial Division, and, it turns out, their office is literally around the corner from where I'm working now. So, on Tuesday, I went over on my lunch break and they gave me a tour of their buildings and departments. Here's an interesting fact I learned, which will be particularly pertinent to my work next summer: DC has no rule on reciprocity for defense counsel discovery. That means, while the prosecutors in the District have to by law turn over copies of all the evidence and information they have which they plan to use at trial, the defense attorneys do not. Such a strategic element of surprise this creates.

More to come...

Yesterday I went on a run through downtown DC during lunch. Have to get it in somewhere. Despite the blistery cold and the sprinkling rain, it was a good run. DC is full of great landmarks and my route circuited some.

For example, not far from where I work is Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was assassinated. And then, right across the street was the house where he died. Both, I believe, are now part of the National Park Service--they are both definitely national historic sites--and keep at least a quarter of that block on 10th Street NW in nineteenth century garb. Eventually I made my way back to Pennsylvania Avenue, where I ran by the White House. Nearly every one of us has seen the casa blanca, whether in person or in picture. And, aside from housing and serving as the office for one of the most powerful positions in the world, it does look very much like a giant white mansion. I've always thought so, anyway. In the past few years, all my trips to DC that took me by the White House got me no closer than across or down the street from the fence. The police usually had road blocks up on the far side of the street and would not let pedestrians go any closer. Yesterday, however, I ran right up to the fence and watched the construction of stands--The Inaugural Stands. The construction company had even hung up a sign stating so.

It made me wonder what Bush must think as he looks out his office or bedroom window and sees them building a miniature, wooden stadium to the incoming president-elect.

Seeing these sites, and others, brought up memories of traveling and a desire to do some more. One thing I love to do, whether I'm visiting a place for the first time or just walking my dog through familiar streets, is to get a sense of the history of the place. To think about the people that walked, lived, loved, argued, procrastinated, and even died on the spots in and in the places where I'm visiting. While Boston has a sheer panoply of historical sites (both officially recognized and informally known), and I think it will take me years to become familiar with them all, I suppose a beautiful aspect of the co-op system is getting to travel and take these historical walkabouts. Or, perhaps, as Toni Morrison might say, "rememories."

A friend of mine is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia right now, and another is in Nigeria. I can only imagine what fantastic runs they have on their lunch breaks.

Holden Caulfield.

Holden, the narrator and anti-hero of J.D. Salinger's seminal novel The Catcher in the Rye was the first topic on my meeting's agenda yesterday. An attorney and I met to discuss a facility in Mississippi we are going to visit at the end of this month. I was just assigned to the case and asked to tour the facility as part of its inspection for compliance with a long-standing court order, and very much needed to be brought up to speed. The supervising attorney and I started off, naturally, with small talk about one another's holiday breaks. She read The Catcher in the Rye over her break and, according to her own words, was now in a general malaise having quite the existential experience.

I could empathize: I am reading Look Homeward, Angel which is filled with its own existential questions as it charts the protagonist's life from his birth at the turn of the 20th Century. We talked briefly about how both books actually portray America's own existential crises in the time period during which both books are set, and then that sent off my thoughts in three different directions.

First, as ever-changing and growing humans and animals experimenting and defining our own consciousness, aren't we always have a bit of an existential experience?

Two, our talk of knowing one's self (or one's ability to actually do so) at the same time one is trying to figure out a direction as time evermore passes is incredibly poignant as we near Inauguration Day and America will swear in a new Administration--one very much promising change.

Three, Here, at the Dep't of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation Section, aren't we in the business of forcing identity crises and systemic meta-analyses of a state agency's purpose when we investigate their practice and policy of treating institutionalized persons? By threatening federal lawsuits, injunctive relief on high from the Civil Rights Division of the United States government's legal arm, are we not forcing these institutions, facilities, agencies, and States to look at themselves and ask, "what are we doing? Is this how we want to treat these individuals?"

Fyodor Dostoyevsky reportedly said, "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons."

Similarly, Winston Churchill is quoted as claiming that "you measure the degree of civilisation of a society by how it treats its weakest members."

I'm not positive that the answer to my above question (my third direction of thought from the Holden Caulfield conversation, if you're keeping track), is yes. But it does spur food-for-thought. A buffet for thinking. As the DOJ we are forcing States and their agencies to look at how they're operating with regards to standards and constitutional liberties recognized and set down either by the Framers, the US Supreme Court, Congress, or, in some views, the Almighty deity. Food-for definite-thought.

I just realized that it is January. Let me back up.

I'm quite well aware what month it is: I have to enter the date on forms almost every day. But January is the month that early decision applicants hear back from Northeastern. I still remember the day I heard, January 19th. A day that is inextricably linked to now. It is very much because of that acceptance letter (and my subsequent acceptance of said acceptance letter's offer -- oh contracts) that I sit here now at the US Department of Justice, doing a full-time internship in DC, and will be present for Obama's inauguration. If I had gone to another law school, one of my other top choices, I would have not moved to Boston and would be on the traditional law school track where I only get internships in the summer.

But I accepted and I did move to Boston! And while the road has not always been flat and smooth (first year, for example, has hills that roll like white caps through your life), it has been wonderful. School, work, the nearing and looming potential and threat of finding post-graduate employment, and, overwhelmingly, life--all have been great. Basically, it is a lot like hugging a porcupine.

The DOJ is sending me to Mississippi in a couple weeks to tour a facility there and help investigate its compliance (or non-compliance) with a court-order and federal law. Not too many interns get sent on assignment by their co-op employers, and even less get sent there for a week and put up in a decent hotel with (almost) all expenses paid. Thankfully, the Special Litigation Section at the Civil Rights Division is different.

Outside of work I am hurriedly completing an article for "The ILSA Quarterly," a publication of the International Law Students Association. I am a student editor for the "Quarterly" and am putting together two Q & As with attorneys working in international law. I spent about an hour and a half on the phone on Tuesday night with a judge on the US Court of International Trade. Last week I interviewed an attorney with the United Nation's Office of Legal Affairs.

Great, great stuff.

Related to school (which doesn't seem that far off, really. I head back to Boston and am done with my internship in a little over a month or so and start classes on March 2nd), we will soon register for classes. I hope to take Federal Courts (a class, basically, about the reach of the long arm of the federal judiciary and their purview -- real or imagined -- to hear cases and tell the states what to do), the Criminal Advocacy Clinic (where we're given intense training and assigned actual cases), and Advanced Criminal Procedure: Investigation (which, it seems, examines the law and constitutionality behind investigations into crimes and how that affects a case).

Also, we got our evaluations for last quarter's classes yesterday. Overall I was extremely pleased with my evaluations. I really tried hard and dove into the finals this past quarter--admittedly, a lot more than I did my first year--and it shows. One evaluation, however, while not bad, is so convoluted I am not entirely sure how I did on the final exam. This is one stark drawback of the evaluation system, especially an evolving evaluation system: some Professors choose not to respect the standard evaluative format (or aren't being informed by the administration) and wax on for a page or so about the law (i.e., nothing that comes close to evaluating your actual performance). Thus, at the end of it all, you have an evaluation that no employer is realistically going to read. Even if it does state some positive and affirming things, those words are still hidden in a labyrinth of words.

Hope all are well. Stay warm.

More to come...

Back at work this morning, after a blissful four-day weekend. Naturally, as a federal employee, I had Monday, Rev. King's observed birthday off. The government was also kind enough to give us Tuesday, the inaugural day. I am convinced that giving us off Tuesday was more a strategic, security concern than anything else (to keep us out of our office buildings and away from the windows, which are near or on Pennsylvania Avenue--the parade route). Nonetheless, I enjoyed the day off.

Especially as I was able to sit in my pajamas, stay in out of the blistery cold, drink coffee, and talk on the phone to loved ones for hours. Being away from home, on co-op, and with the holidays and travel, I had not heard a lovely voice in a while.

The Inauguration on Tuesday was fantastic. Bitterly cold and packed with millions of people, but overall fantastic. The air was electrified with hope and happiness, and was overwhelmingly inspiring. I am proud to say that I was there, for myself and for my family and friends who could not make it to DC, on the National Mall, a witness to many, many firsts and to history.

Now, I return to the Department of Justice, trying to zip through work piled on my desk before I leave at week's end for Mississippi to help inspect a facility. I'll be gone on-site all next week, but should still be in a fine area of urban wireless to send updates. We shall see.

Stay warm everyone, and if you love the snow (as I do) and are in snowy areas...please enjoy. Make snow angels and snow demons. If you're a fan of Calvin & Hobbes, make snow goons.

I'm wrapping up my final two weeks at the Justice Department. I spent the week prior in Mississippi at a juvenile training facility (aka a juvenile "jail"). As I wrote in an earlier blog, the Justice Department sent me to help inspect the facility and determine its compliance or noncompliance with a federal court order and federal law. It was a great experience, and, at times, exhausting. I spent nearly two full days interviewing children in the facility, and much of the rest of the time going through documentation and following around the court-appointed experts who evaluated how far the state has come in improving certain areas (e.g., suicide prevention, mental health, protection from harm).

While I got wickedly sick on the tail end of this trip (and am still under the weather), one of the benefits was getting out of the office and at the same time still seeing what it is the Special Litigation Section attorneys really do. As I did much of the same work as the attorneys, I got real legal experience. More than that, really, I got good investigative experience as well. For example, my supervising attorney and the facility's lawyer (one of Mississippi's Assistant Attorney Generals) was at a meeting between the therapeutic counselors and the court-appointed mental health expert. The meeting's agenda was a discussion of what progress the facility had made in providing therapy, and what the counselors felt still needed to be done. Early on in the meeting one counselor leaned over and whispered to my supervising attorney, asking whether the attorneys needed to be present for the meeting. It was apparent that the counselor felt total honesty could not be had with the Assistant Attorney General, who represents the interests of the facility, present. So, in a tactical move, knowing she would also not be privy to what is said, my supervising attorney agreed to exit the meeting so the Asst. AG had no formal reason to be in the meeting when asked to leave.

A smart tactical move on my attorney's part. It was in the Justice Department's interest, so she believed, that the mental health expert have unfettered access to the counselors' opinions.

Quite apart from my trip to Ole Miss, I will soon be back in Boston. I made a brief hop and a skip there for four days prior to heading to the deep South, having convinced the U.S. government to fly me out of Boston instead of DC. It was a blissful four days, however short-lived. Thankfully, I'll return in a little less than two weeks. I cannot wait.

Second to last day of co-op. Excitement abounds.

I leave for Boston tomorrow after work, and all that fills my brain are the machismo images of Burt Reynolds speeding across the country in search of the American Dream. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Of course, in Cannonball Run I think he was headed West. And in Smokey and the Bandit (I & II) he was headed "eastbound and down." No matter. Traveling to meet your future and your dreams is traveling. And since I haven't yet figured out how to travel to meet my past, I suppose then that, somewhat syllogistically, all traveling within the confines of America is traveling in search of the American Dream.

It's probably best if you don't question the logic of what I just wrote and just go with it.

So, tomorrow I will be a speed demon driving north back home. To Boston. To my fiancee. To a two week break before classes restart. Me, plenty of music, Red Bull, bottled water, the occasional coffee, tortilla chips, and my 140 pound Great Dane--we'll be invoking the Bandit as we have a long way to go and little time to get there.

Traveling back from co-op can be so much fun.

I'd wear my cowboy hat if I hadn't left it in Boston with a friend.

Thus far this week has been fairly full and busy. Ripe with things to do and little down time.

Not totally devoid of down time, though: Last night my fiancee and I finally hooked up the Wii and played a bit of Soul Caliber II--a Mortal Kombat-like fighting game. She beat me down royally.

Besides all the ever mounting reading and assignments for classes, I finalized that I will not be doing a dual degree Masters program in Sustainable International Development at Brandeis (a dual degree program Northeastern just started offering this year). There are two chief reasons why I will not be doing the program, which means I will not be earning a Master's along with my law degree, and I will not be adding a year onto my graduation, but I will write more about it in a later blog.

I also may have expanded my role at my upcoming Summer co-op with the DC Public Defender Service. While I am assigned to the expansive Trial Division and two attorneys, DC PDS recently offered an intern or select interns a chance to split their work 50/50 between one Trial Division attorney and one Appellate Division attorney. I immediately jumped at the chance. I am very interested in appellate litigation, second to trial, but fundamentally believe that appellate experience makes for a better trial attorney (and vice-versa). As of yet I await word whether I win and get to be that intern or not.

Today, as a requirement of the Criminal Advocacy Clinic, I sat in on arraignments at a state district court in Boston. I ran into a NUSL student on co-op currently working for the Public Defender's Office, and watched several individuals be read their charges, waive their rights to a jury trial, plead guilty, not-guilty. All I witnessed this morning I'd definitely seen several times before when I worked in the court system in North Carolina, but I went to experience them in Boston. Rarely the assumer, I wanted to see the arraignment procedure of Boston (and Massachusetts generally) firsthand, see some of the players in the courthouse, and generally get a sense of the flow. How is court held? Do attorneys talk over one another? Ignore their clients or witnesses? How do particular judges run their courtrooms?

Soon, in the Clinic, we'll be assigned our cases. And, I imagine, we'll back in that district court experiencing matters from the other side of the bar.

Finished exams yesterday afternoon. What a great feeling every single quarter. My last exam was Federal Courts. Whew. Done. Great class, great professor, LOADS of information. Even a four hour exam wasn't enough to write everything I learned in ten weeks.

Now, before I prepare to yet again leave Boston for DC on co-op, I have a few non-exam things to finish. I need to finish building my section of the course materials for the upcoming national security law course, which I took last quarter but is being taught again this summer. Also, I need to pack up everything I own and put it in storage. My lease runs up at the end of May and, as my fiancee and I are moving into a different place when I get back in August, I need somewhere to store my material possessions and furniture while I galavant at the DC Public Defender's Office for three months.

Today, however, is dedicated to trial preparation. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the case and defendant to which I was assigned as part of Criminal Advocacy Clinic is scheduled for trial tomorrow. If all goes according to plan, we'll be done tomorrow or possible Friday. If all goes well, we'll be done with a not-guilty verdict from the jury.

Good luck to all my compatriots in the remainder of their exams, and best to all those who have their last summer of relative freedom before starting law school.

Hope everyone is having a great start to their summer. Or at least a pleasantly mediocre and uneventful one, if that's what you were looking for.

I just finished my third day at the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia. The first week is all training--really intense training. Everyone at PDS I've met is brilliant (quite intimidatingly so), and extremely approachable and helpful. While most interns are working for one or two attorneys in one division (e.g., Trial Division, Community Defender Division, Parole Division), I am actually one of two interns working for both the Trial Division and the Appeals Division. Today, us interns working in the Appeals Division skipped out on one training session (with approval, don't worry) to attend oral arguments in the DC Court of Appeals.

Monday we officially start working and I expect it to be immensely intense, and am really looking forward to it. As they should, PDS seems to approach work and work product as "how dare you bring me anything less than your very best + 10." I appreciate that spartan regimen, especially as our day in and day out work is a matter of someone's liberty.

Otherwise, I had a nice vacation with my fiancee. We celebrated her birthday, visited my family in North Carolina (via roadtrip), then settled into my place in Virginia. Visiting my family was great. Plus, it was a nice break from law school before I dove straight into my internship. Outside of working I'm spending time researching and preparing to apply for clerkships, reading books I've been trying to finish around law studies, having intriguing philosophical and political conversations with my five roommates, exercising (yay for law school not getting in the way), and longingly missing my loved one and friends.

More to come...

So, it's my second week of internship, but my first full week of actual, hands-on work. The last week of training, as I described in the prior blog, was fairly intense. This week has been a little calmer thus far, but only a little. So far I've gotten three assignments, all great, none of which I can discuss. Not at all whatsoever.

I can say this, though: working for PDS and in the criminal law field reaffirms my love for it that was but a seed planted before I came to law school. Law school has opened up my eyes and introduced me to many other areas of the law that are fascinating and interesting, and, as always, I have a lot left to learn, but criminal law and civil rights drive me. And public interest drives me.

To add shape and description to the co-op and how it ratchets things up a bit more than I've previously experienced with internships, however: in addition to our actual work on cases, all eighty-five or so interns are split up into trial practice groups (TPGs). These TPGs meet several times over the course of the internship and will seemingly function very much like the Criminal Trial Practice classes I've taken. I welcome this practice, the chance to continue learning trial advocacy skills, and learning from other points of view. My TPG meets tomorrow evening, and today around 6pm we were sent our hypothetical for tomorrow.

Outside of work itself, I am beginning the long and (hopefully) quite thorough process of applying for clerkships. Putting in for both federal and state level clerkships, I am lining up those who'll write my letters of recommendation, researching the judges to whom I may be interested in applying and (if successful) working under. As applications for clerkships starting August 2010 are due this fall, I am actually glad to currently be on internship. If I spent all day in class and then much of my evenings reading, I would likely be overwhelmed and exhausted with the sheer administrative effort required by applying for clerkships. Thankfully, I went to a great and informative workshop put on by NUSL's Career Services Office.

Also, I am reading a ton. Gladly and beautifully. I missed novels and poetry. Having just finished Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe, I am now reading the entire Harry Potter series. I'd never read them before and, having become hooked recently on the movies, am determined to read through the sixth book before the latest movie comes out next month. Moreover, I have a stack of books I'm looking forward to reading after Potter (in no particular order): a mystery novel I found in the bargain bin, Slipping into Darkness by Peter Blauner; The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera; The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner; The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria; and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Hope everyone else is having a great summer as well!

As they often do, things go on with relative repetition. Here and there. For the most part.

Co-op at the Public Defender Service is keeping me fairly, and happily, busy. With some common regularity, as I also work in the Trial Division, there is an emergency or a rush to get matters ready for trial. Yesterday, for example, I spent quickly fleeting hours trying to transcribe a video interview for a trial starting that day. Normally, one would not leave such potentially helpful information un-transcribed until the last minute. However, just as normal, the US Attorney's Office did not give us the potentially exculpatory (or at least quite helpful) video until the evening (and I mean evening) before the trial.

In my work for the Appellate Division, I was recently assigned to write an appellate brief. This is a great opportunity, portends to be great experience, and has me excited. I have written a couple briefs before and welcome the additional experience.

The rest of my time is spent finding a break in the rain to go for a run, reading and reading and reading Harry Potter (mid-way through the fourth book), and watching baseball--specifically, the Atlanta Braves. Thankfully, the Braves are doing a little better than a month ago. Let's hope it holds out. I tried watching a Nationals' game the other day when the Braves was a rain-out, but they were just awful. I speak as a fan knowing I still could not do half of what those players do every day, but, still, they were awful.

Oh, yeah. And like everyone else, I am eagerly awaiting exam results.

I wish I had more to report other than all the work I have been doing on co-op, but I've been attempting to live a fairly monastic lifestyle to save money. Such is the life of a graduate student.

The work I have been doing at PDS, however, has been great and educational. Since my last post, I worked on a case scheduled for trial, two appellate briefs, and a Community Conference. The case for trial, which I cannot discuss specifically, asked me to research issues over aiding and abetting law and other doctrines of liability in DC. My research was over a potentially narrow part of the case, but I was helping formulate different defense theories or arguments to use if the prosecutor approached the case in a certain way.

One appellate brief involved--like many of our cases at PDS--stops and frisks. I aided an attorney in researching the law over Terry stops and how we could make a viable argument for overturning the trial court's denial of the motion to suppress. The other appellate brief is all mine. Knowing that we interns want experience writing briefs and want writing samples, the powers that be at PDS assigned me to write a brief. I'm stoked and have started going through the record and meeting with attorneys about the case.

Lastly, I worked yesterday for PDS at their annual Community Reentry and Expungement Summit. I may have also mentioned in an earlier post that I spent a bit of time out in the community publicizing this event and trying to get people to come. The Summit itself is primarily about educating people with DC criminal records on the process of getting their records sealed. Despite this primary goal, the laws of DC (like the laws of most jurisdictions) do not permit a majority of the people with records to have them sealed. So, the Summit also brings in a host of others and makes them available to people who are having a hard time reentering or sustaining themselves in the community due to their records. Namely, PDS arranged for job counselors, civil attorneys to give free consultations, housing services counselors, social services, etc. There were also speaking events held and, from what I was told, workshops on applying for jobs, etc. I heard from a few people in attendance and they thought it was a great event and very helpful. I worked helping people figure out whether or not they were eligible to have their records sealed. Unfortunately, most were not.

Otherwise, not a lot is going on. I am still working on (and almost done with) the Harry Potter series. I'll be back in Boston next week for the case I was assigned in the Criminal Advocacy Clinic, which is yet again scheduled for trial. Hopefully, hopefully, for the sake of all included the trial goes forward and has a favorable disposition.

Quick blog this week, folks. Between co-op, the clinic case that I am still working on in Boston, applying for clerkships, and trying to have some semblance of a life outside of the halls of justice (e.g., occasionally going for a run or watching a baseball game on TV), I have very little time and words to spare.

My fiancée came to DC this past weekend and we had a blissful time. While an obvious statement to many, it deserves proclamation: the separation of long-distance is not fun on a relationship, if even only for three months, and if even with the luxury of modern technology. I'm really glad she got to come to stay and we got to do fun things around Northern Virginia and DC. I'm buying a ticket soon to see her once more before the internship is over.

Despite my interests in international law, especially international criminal law, and my desire to go abroad, I am positive I am going to do my next and final co-op in Boston. I would like to be in Boston, and be with her, for longer than three months at a jaunt. Perhaps I will take an international-law or global human rights-focused internship in the winter. Regardless, as a Senior Lawyer at the UN once told me, if you want to be a lawyer in the international sphere, be a lawyer. Any experience helps as long as you don't lose sight of your goals.

As I sat down to type out this blog, thinking over the past week and a half (apologies for the late entry--I was in Boston, see below), I realized that soon I will have been typing a blog for all three years of law school.

That means I've been in law school for almost three years. And I have only two academic quarters and one co-op left. Wow.

I'm sure a great number of people--if not nearly all--have had the "wow" moment I just had, but the ordinariness of its feeling does not lessen it in the slightest. I was in a much different place a year ago, not to speak of just before starting law school. Back when I had no solid idea of what LSSC means or where I would end up doing my co-ops.

Looking backwards always makes me turn around and look forward. All that empty, excited, hopeful feeling of what lay ahead. A feeling of pioneering into the unknown that is your future. I have that feeling a lot these days as I apply for post-grad jobs and for clerkships. I know I've mentioned much of this before--more or less--in previous blogs, but it cannot be overstated that this is much of what I've done and continue to do this summer. Apply, apply, apply. Focus on where I will be come August of next year. All eyes forward, all hands on deck.

That being said, I did travel to Boston this past weekend and spent the majority of my time focusing on the here and now. Thursday I did meet with a professor or two in my efforts towards gaining a clerkship, and, quite separately, did do some work for the Admissions Office which doubled as advertising myself to potential employers with an internet signal, and did write a cover letter here and there, but the rest of my time (and there was a lot) was spent with my fiancee. We just got a new apartment, with a great balcony overlooking the forest, and we just relaxed our time away. It was wonderful; this morning, before catching a plane back to DC, we had breakfast on the balcony and saw two deer at a far off watering hole.

I have eighteen days left in DC. In that time I have two projects that must be completed asap, clerkship applications to ready for submission, and a couple of job applications to see through. For example, on July 27 I began my interviews (1st of 3) with the Public Defender Service in DC. Conveniently, that's the same day I register for classes. I'll let you know how they go.

More to come...

I recently finished the first draft of a memo that examined the propriety of defense attorneys and prosecutors talking with dismissed jurors, after the verdict has been entered, about the case they just judged. Good times.

Many states, Massachusetts included, severely limits any contact between trial attorneys and jurors, in regards to the case they just tried. DC, as in so many other ways, is different.

Now, I'm attempting to work like mad (attempting being the important qualifier) on an appellate brief. I put down the draft brief for a week or so while I did some trial-related work, but want to turn it out by early next week so I can get some feedback and possibly make a revision or two before the co-op ends.

This weekend I will probably be working on the brief, but have two other important tasks: prepare for a mock opening and cross-examination I'll deliver in my Trial Practice Group (mandatory for interns at PDS, see my earlier blog), and for my first round hiring interview. Public Defender hiring interviews are notoriously intense (even combative), and PDS's hiring process includes three interviews. Luckily, the first round is more of a general "tell us about yourself" interview. Nonetheless, I need to go over my application, my materials--in short, rehearse--because PDS's interviews start Monday.

Wish me the best.

It seems that every blog I write lately begins with "this is going to be a short one." Or, something along the lines of "uh...crazy busy. No time to describe why." Or that's what hits the tin brain pan whenever I put my fingers to the keys.

I am still banging out this appellate brief, and hope to have it done by the end of today. Nearly one full week left of co-op, then I head--blissfully--back to Boston.

Here is a sampling of what's been in the news and on my mind lately:

Terror suspects indicted in North Carolina, my home state

Obama's continuation of Bush's policy of indefinitely detaining but not trying terror suspects at Gitmo

Palin's emotional, but nonsensical exit speech...and Shatner performing it as poetry

Endorsing Judge Sotomayor

Meanwhile, clerkship applications are ongoing as are concurrent searches for post-grad work. Two days ago, I had a particularly horrific interview experience with my current co-op employer, the Public Defender Service in DC. I think I held my own, but we'll see if I make it to the next round. More on that later...

Screeching tires indeed. In a little less than five hours I will be Boston-bound. In an interesting repeat of my last DC co-op and trip home, I will very much be attemping to recreate scenes from "Smokey and the Bandit." Hopefully, though, there will be very little Smokey in pursuit.

Yesterday, I gave an oral argument of my brief in front of a panel of Appellate Division attorneys. The argument was...okay...but the experience was great. My brief and its own arguments are still very much in flux, so my oral argument got penned down with legal theories and questions that will probably have but an ancillary place in my final draft. Again, it was great experience. The more the better. The attorneys were fairly unrelentless in asking me questions, as if I was arguing in front of a Court of Appeals, and truly held my feet over the fire.

Aside from co-op, the Editorial Boards of the Journal recently had a switching of the reigns meeting (a necessary process as one rotation is leaving and one coming in), and my days since have been peppered with administrative work for the Journal. As Managing Editor, my chief function is supervision and management of the staff. So, I have been planning recruitment, retention of last year's staff, etc. If I wasn't sure before that it's going to be a busy quarter, I am now.

Now if only I had any clue as to what classes I will be taking, so I could plan meetings around that schedule, plan office hours, buy books BEFORE classes begin...etc.

Hope all are having a great wind-down to their summers. Incoming 1Ls: you especially need to have a great one. Memories and time with friends and family are important now, as you will be relatively unreachable for about eight months.

I made it safely back to Boston and have been here a full week. I am heading to Maine tomorrow for a little R&R. Yet, as with almost all R&Rs in this culture, I am bringing work with me. I am still working on my appellate brief (see earlier blogs), and finalizing my federal clerkship applications.

On Wednesday we finally had some disposition to my clinic case that has been ongoing since March. As mentioned in previous blogs, I was part of a three-person team representing a client in Boston Municipal Court (Roxbury). Since April we have been continuing the start date of our trial for a variety of reasons (e.g., witnesses were no-shows). Wednesday was the big day. We were planning on going forward with trial come hell or high water. Then, right after calendar call, the Asst. District Attorney agreed to dismiss the case. Case closed and our client served. We got the disposition he wanted. A fantastic feeling: My first win.

In other news, I still have very little idea what I am taking for classes in the Fall. Today was the close of "Pre-registration," and now all wait for the publishing of lottery lists for limited enrollment classes. It seems like more and more classes are limited enrollment every year. The lists are expected to come out approximately 11 days before classes start, and, as per the usual at NUSL, not being on a lottery list (and thus not secured a spot in the class) means you need to show up and see if you can get in the class. Which means I have to come by the books to read for the first day, without actually buying them. Frustrating.

I can say this, though, it looks very much like I will be taking Professional Responsibility, Disability Law, and Trusts and Estates. I hope very much to take International Criminal Law AND Section 1983 Litigation (suing the cops and the Government for doing bad things "in the name of the law"), but I think I will only be able to take one. After all, adding both would make five classes on top of being a TA for the first-years' writing class and the Managing Editor of the Journal. We'll see. If I get lucky maybe I'll give it a go and see if I can handle it. If so, then I'd only have to take two classes my final quarter. And that, ladies and gents, would be golden.

This is an all-business blog today; classes, the Journal, TA'ing, and life goes on unabated. Unrelenting.

C'est la vie.

Yesterday we upper-level students submitted our applications for Winter co-ops. I applied to a good number, and hopefully will start hearing about interviews next week. This co-op, whatever it ends up being, will be my last co-op and I hope to make it an educational and memorable experience.

I am also going through clerkship interviews right now. Very exciting, a little nerve-wracking (especially with the turnaround time), and, honestly, fun. I'll let you know how things went, once all is said and done.

Other than above, helping manage and edit the Journal, and assisting 1Ls with their legal research and writing, I attend class. And class, ironically, is starting to seem more and more like what I do in between everything else. One of my classes, Trusts & Estates, is very interesting. Beyond reminding me that I once took property law, T&E covers the laws governing what happens to a person's property and assets after they die. The subject matter and facts of the cases we read are both morbid, fascinating, and occasionally sad. All and all, I'm glad I took it: Beyond preparing me for the bar, it's nice to study law outside my general interests of criminal justice and civil rights.

More to come...

I am still working on finding a post-graduation job, but I've finally lined up my Winter co-op. I interviewed at several places, and, ultimately, it was a tough decision, but I chose to go with the Roxbury Defenders. The Roxbury Defenders are a divisional office of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (i.e., Massachusetts' public defender system), representing indigent criminal defendants for crimes allegedly committed in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. I will get to work on cases in both Roxbury District Court and Suffolk Superior Court (both trial level courts), help attorneys with their own cases and trials, and even argue some bail hearings when the Commonwealth (aka District Attorney) are asking the judge to set a bail/bond that will keep the client in jail until his/her next court date.

As stated above, the job search goes on. A rejection has rolled in here and there, but such is the nature of the beast (and the economy). This year's graduates are competing with a larger pool of last year's graduates (and I'm talking about the national job market!), as well as a smaller pool of the year prior. I still have applications out in the ether, and will likely have some interviews before Halloween. I feel that my prospects are good, and I'll continue to put myself out there and apply for jobs. Having a paycheck (especially working in an area of law that intrigues me) would be clutch. Thankfully, NUSL's Office of Career Development is hugely helpful in reaching out to employers and contacting students about career opportunities.

The school's Law Journal is currently working towards its second publication, which will have articles about the subprime mortgage crisis and related litigation, and planning for its third Symposium and publication. The latter issue will be about the regulation of firearms, both by the federal government and state government, and will touch some of the many, many subtopics that fall under discussion of gun regulation. We are currently contacting potential speakers for the Symposium and authors for the publication (those two groups not being mutually exclusive), and laying down some of the logistical groundwork for holding a Symposium at the law school (e.g., reserving the budget, rooms, caterers).

More to come...

I realized not too long ago that I am now entering my fifth set of law school exams. If you tack on the LSAT, MPRE, and that practice exam we took during 1L, I'm well past half a dozen.

And, even though I have the pattern and general tempo of law school exams down (i.e., vigorous studying, outlining, practice questions/essays, caffeine, and foods rich in carbohydrates, sugar, and peanut butter), I am, in a word, exhausted. Call it 3L-itis. Call it ready to be done. Perhaps those two things equal one another. Regardless, with this set of exams, one more in the Spring, and then at least one bar ahead of me, I am still in the tunnel.

I recently completed my take-home exam for International Criminal Justice. Great class; I recommend it for everyone regardless of your interests. You will learn more than just the role and existence of tribunals and the International Criminal Court, but, overwhelmingly, about the rule of law and how one goes about creating it and willing it to continue and live.

Left is an in-class exam tomorrow in Professional Responsibility and another take-home for Trusts & Estates. I'll talk more about the exams in a couple weeks after all extensions will likely have passed.

In more uplifting news, I received some news from the co-op office that I am eligible to receive work-study while I am on co-op this Winter. Receiving a steady paycheck where one was not expected, which also doubles at replacing some of my loans I would ultimately have to pay back, is a cherry on top of the awesome co-op I will likely have.

Lastly, what I look forward to most right now, is the gym. I have already arranged for sparring matches over the Winter, and I have literally been having daydreams about running through the trails near my house or having Rocky montages (replete with jump roping). It. Will. Be. Glorious.