Laurinda, 3L

So as all my dedicated readers know (it's okay if you aren't), APALSA sent two teams to the Thomas Tang Moot Court competition. One of the teams (including a fellow blogger) made it to Nationals.

This academic year was the first year that APALSA had two teams that wanted to participate. The school, however, can only provide funding for one. This issue was resolved with both teams splitting the school funding equally. This was not the best solution as the school ideally wants to fund just one team.

To solve this possible conundrum, we had to create a selection process policy. This can be very difficult as this involves details about the hows, whos, and whats. It actually wasn't that difficult of a process once everyone decided on an overarching goal.

Today we decided that although the school can fund only one team, APALSA will support everyone who wants to participate. Well, at least in terms of moral support since the APALSA budget isn't that large. The selection process is only to select the team that will receive school funding.

After making that decision, writing the Moot Court appendix to the APALSA constitution was much easier because encouraging people to participate is much easier than winnowing them out.

For people making decisions now, let it be known that APALSA will not limit the amount moot court teams. In addition, Thomas Tang is open to all students (i.e. not limited by ethnicity). But a warning, I think it's against academic policy to have 1Ls participate in competitions.

Happy start of the work week.

Posted by Laurinda at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In two words, "Background Investigation."

I preface all statements by saying that I am thrilled to be working for the SEC. I am super excited about being part of an administrative agency that is actively protecting the interests of investors. I am the one in the family who fills out all the stock litigation papers. You know, the ones that say, there is a class action, do you want a cut when they settle?

Still, the information that the federal government needs from you after you have been hired is extremely extensive. Remember when I told you about applying to the SEC and how long it took. Yep, the background check takes longer. If you are applying to the federal government and expect to be hired, here is what you should expect.

Round One: Fingerprints. Thankfully, I will be working for the SEC which has a relationship with a fingerprinting place down in Post Office Square. This means I don't have to pay the $40 that comes with needing to be fingerprinted.

Round Two: Forms Forms Forms. This covers that you are going to be working for the SEC, the direct deposit sheet, your tax forms, etc. Actually this is pretty quick, it can also be that the extensiveness of Round Three has erased this time period from my mind.

Round Three: Background Investigation. Be prepared to list every job you've had since you turned sixteen years old, have a verifier (my mom) for your time of unemployment, multiple references, and if your parents are citizens by naturalization (as mine are) their certificates of naturalization.

Round 4: More fingerprints.

Still if you think about it, that's actually the information you need for when you apply for the Bar. So having federal employment now is a VERY good thing because I certainly was having trouble remembering my old high school jobs, supervisors, and even summer classes I took during college. Especially the when. I can't even imagine how much more I would have forgotten in a year.

Otherwise, I've finally finished the background check and it's as good as I can remember. I'm only thankful now that my parents did not allow me to travel abroad because that would have certainly added another 3 hours to fill out the form.

On an off-topic note, I went to Ruth Chris Steakhouse (Boston) on Friday for lunch. I ordered the Louisiana gumbo, the 8 oz. Petit Filet, and the Chocolate Mousse cheesecake. The gumbo was fairly average, but the petit filet (w/ mashed potatoes) was SO good. I completely throw a plug out there for Ruth Chris even though they are so famous they really don't need one.

Posted by Laurinda at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Boston is one of the fortunate cities that has a Restaurant Week. [Twice a year! Once during the Winter (aka March) and once during the Summer (appropriately August).] This spring, I made reservations for Mooo (the basis of this entry) and Ruth Chris Steakhouse for this Friday's lunch.

Restaurant Week is an opportunity for those who love to indulge in good food, but can't really afford it aka the poor college/law student. Lunches are $20.08 and Dinners are $33.08. The restaurant patron can choose an appetizer, entree, and dessert from a prixe fixe menu.

I really liked Mooo. The atmosphere is extremely nice. The service was exceptional. At certain places, especially those restaurants where they typically charge an arm and a leg, servers tend to rush you out there. Not at Mooo. I was given all the time I wanted and needed to eat and talk and just enjoy being there. The decorations were also very appropriate. There were pictures of cows in black and white on the wall behind me.

I ordered the beef carpaccio, the NY sirloin, and the brownie mousse cake. The sirloin was done perfectly. I like my sirloins/steaks medium well. It was perfectly tender and moist. Often times when you order steak medium/medium rare, the meat is still oozing blood and ruins the sauce. Definitely not in this case. The sirloin was perfection. The carpaccio, however, was doused in maraschino cherry sauce and that was all you could taste. The dessert was unexceptional. I thought that it should be mousse or brownie, certainly not both. It wasn't a good choice to cap a meal with because it is too heavy. Otherwise ...

All in all, I highly recommend Mooo. I give it 4/5 stars (although readers may not rate my opinion as important as the Phantom Gourmet or Zagats). Let's hope Ruth Chris is just as tasty.

Posted by Laurinda at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This quarter I am taking classes that I am sure to enjoy. This quarter I only selected classes where I heard / knew the professor was amazing.

I am taking International Business Regulation with Prof. Danielsen (who will sadly be leaving NUSL for Brown at the end of the quarter), Professional Responsibility with Prof. Hall (who I had for Contracts), Admin Law with Prof. Adler (who ULs recommended), and Secured Transactions with Prof. Hillinger (who is just plain awesome).

I suppose the surprise course that I am really enjoying is Secured Transactions (in layman's terms - loans with some sort of collateral). I heard terrible things about the subject from my friends who took it / taking it in other law schools in the area. Even the name of the class is a bit daunting. But Prof. Hillinger is great. The class is, of course, difficult and intense. Prof. Hillinger, however, really makes it worth coming to class. She is amusing and goes a mile a minute. After class, I think I see my fingers smoking from typing so fast.

This quarter I am also going to try to fulfill my rigorous writing requirement for the school. If you didn't know this, (I think) all law schools have a writing requirement. This means that you need to have a paper (on law clearly) thats about ten - fifteen pages. The professor will then give you comments, etc. I've decided to write about the guest worker program of Germany (and maybe India if I can fit it) and see if there are any recommendations for the creation of one in the US. The RW req is necessary for graduation. My biggest fear is that I will be a 3L in my spring quarter without having fulfilled it. Although I am really enjoying my subjects right now, I don't think I want to stick around because I didn't write enough

Happy St. Patrick's Day !!

Posted by Laurinda at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi all,

Classes have started again! Yesterday I had my first class, International Business Regulation with Prof. Dan Danielsen. It seems like it will be a really interesting class and there is an option to write an extended paper on the subject which may count for the Rigorous Writing requirement that the school has. I was an economics major and International and Global Studies Minor at Brandeis so I think I may write the long paper. Although I still need to talk to the professor about it and 3Ls have preference.

The exciting thing about being a 3L is that some limited enrollment and writing classes give them a preference. Although I haven't had to suffer the woes of being on the waitlist (none of my classes are LE), several of my friends have been in a scheduling headache because of it. The problem is that some of the specialized upper level courses are LE and are often very popular. For example, last Fall quarter International Criminal Law was LE and this quarter estate planning, advanced legal writing and research, and other assorted courses are LE. Usually the class is limited to 15 to 20 students. My basic strategy is to wait until next year because as a 3L, I will be given a preference. Still a lot of other people probably have that strategy and I may lose.

Otherwise, March actually feels spring-like. How long this will last is anyone's guess, but I foresee more snow.

Have a great week!

Posted by Laurinda at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)