Laurinda, 3L

Sorry for being MIA for so long! However, now I am back and can catch you up with all the NUSL news and gossip.

Starting with...me.

After my co-op with State Street ended, I picked up a job with a solo practitioner in Medford. There I was able to work on writing motions and the discovery process. Soon after that, school started and I began only working part-time.

Now we are 3/4 of the way done with the fall quarter. It has gone by so quickly. I am definitely feeling the crunch now that it is nearing the end of October. There are only 3 weeks until Finals! I think my greatest adjustment coming back as a 2L was the quarter system. (Remember - NUSL 1Ls follow the traditional semester schedule.) Because the time is so truncated, it makes what you do with that time more precious.

I am taking Trusts & Estates, Corporations, Law of Financial Institutions, and Evidence this quarter. Three of them are in-class exams. Two of them are closed book. (Meaning no materials except the Rules book.) One of them (thankfully) is take home.

I don't think my co-op experience really affected the way I selected courses for this quarter. The only class that I did choose because of co-op was Law of Financial Institutions. I think for those who might have an interest in banking law, this is a good course because it is an introduction to what kind of practical knowledge will be needed. However, I think in the future, the way I select classes will be dependent on when they are scheduled (I have three classes on M and W, which I will never ever do again), what types of finals they will be (3 in-class is excessive), and of course what the class subjects will be.

However, enough about classes for today!

In successes for Asian-Americans in politics: Bobby Jindal is now Governor of Louisiana. (Click here for details.)

Although I am not familiar with his politics and NYT indicates that he is more on the conservative side, I still take this as a positive sign (along with Barack) that race is becoming less of an obstacle and that people will look more at the politician's platforms.

One of the things about Northeastern Law that is very different from other law schools is that Northeastern has the quarter system. This is also one of the selling points of Northeastern. Because of the quarter system, Northeastern has 4 co-op quarters and 4 academic quarters.

As a IL I never practically understood how short a quarter was. Now that its 1 1/2 weeks until finals, I definitely understand.

I think the academic quarter is especially short as a 2L because for many 2Ls the Fall quarter is the application season for Summer 2008. In September and October, there is OCI. (OCI is the online system that 2Ls and 3Ls use to apply for summer association positions and federal clerkships.) November is when some of the summer co-op employers and goverment programs are due.

So as you can see, the Fall academic quarter is a busy 11 weeks and now that it is 1 1/2 weeks until finals its even busier with creating outlines and taking practice exams!

So it may be understandable why this Halloween I plan on staying in and kicking back in front of the TV.

Hi everyone,

This is the last week of classes! Time has passed so quickly and next week will be exams.

As I mentioned before I have 3 in-class exams and one take home and 0 reading week. This means that I've been outlining for a month but I am still not done! There is still so much to be done and somehow I've become the organizer for all the study groups. Studying in law school is much different than in college because (at least for me) studying involves creating outlines, outlining the outline, and taking practice exams (the professor's previous exams).

Because of this mad dash life I will be signing off.

Wish me luck!

So I am in crazy study mode for my exams on Thurs and Fri. Talk to you when the storm passes.

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope everyone took a nice few days off. NUSL gives the ULs (upper levels) a week before sending us back into the fray.

Having a week's rest, I thought it would be nice to have a quick recap of my exams.

On Tuesday of exam week, I had Evidence. Evidence was a partially open book exam. This means that I got to bring my outline and the Federal Rules of Evidence supplement. I think I did well and at least I know I was well-prepared. My basic study method for this was outline, outline the outline, outline the FREs, tabbing, and taking practice exams. I tend to think I overprepped this one. Let's hope that is reflected in the evaluations.

My second exam was Thursday. This was Law of Financial Institutions which is basically a survey of banking law. The subject matter is interesting, complicated, and extremely difficult. The exam fact pattern reflected this. The exam was pretty brutal and speaking to my fellow classmates about it, that is pretty much the consensus. Especially since I know no one finished on time or actually had enough time. I only need another 4 hours or so. Sigh. This is the exam I am most worried about. Of course it doesn't help that I realized my adapter died on me during the exam. Thank goodness for a long battery life or this entry would never make it as having my laptop die would be possibly permanently traumatizing.

I solved this problem by borrowing an adapter for my next and FINAL exam of the fall quarter: Corporations. Corporations after the brutality of LFI actually wasn't so bad. This was a Rules book only exam. I actually feel like I knew the subject matter pretty well by the end, but well, we shall see!

Have a great week everyone!

Hi everyone,

Not much is happening in my life. I wait with bated breath for evaluations and preregistration for the spring quarter. I really need them to put up the class list so that I can buy my books beforehand. If I need to purchase at the bookstore, I probably will get sticker angry.

AND I only have two of my evaluations for four of my classes which is ridiculous since exams were BEFORE Thanksgiving (so many weeks ago).

If you aren't familiar with the evaluation system, the following paragraph should provide a quick recap.

So if you didn't know before, you'll certainly know now. Northeastern does not have grades. We have evaluations. Therefore, we aren't ranked. Evaluations are just that. A quick summation of how your exam went, if you were a prolific participator and the professor could comment on that, and if there were other assignments throughout the quarter, that is more on what the professor can say about you in an evaluation. To be clear, however, your evaluation is based on 99% the exam. Since you are given a number, the professors are evaluating you in a vacuum. The extras help to sway the eval maybe one direction or the other, but I tend to doubt that.

Evaluations, however, are practically and functionally the same as grades. Especially as there are certain "buzz words" that correlate with a certain grade. For example, "Outstanding" clearly is an A+/A. Then excellent, very good, and so on down the line.

My feeling is that if we have buzz words which are basically grades why not just give us grades. I understand that the lack of grades is to contribute to the cooperative feeling, but I think that is underestimating the Northeastern student. Most NUSL students come because of the cooperative atmosphere. I don't think that would change if we had grades. If you were an ultra-competitive, possibly treacherous person, I don't think that changes with having evaluations. Those competitive urges are simply directed elsewhere. For example, in co-op comparisons. Nor do I think that if you were a kind, mellow, uncompetitive person that would change with the arrival of grades or rank.

And on to other news!

Frigid Arctic Blast scheduled for this weekend.

If you are reading this in one of the 24 states that have their primaries -- Go Vote!

On Co-op news:

I certainly will vote as soon as work is over. Although I am worried that I am not correctly registered in my hometown. I am fairly sure I changed the address last year, but we shall see.

In other news, the trial ended today on directed verdict. This is especially rare because the Judge firmly believes in the jury system.

And after (currently) working for the Judge, I can see why. The jurors take time out of their normal day (although they don't have a choice if they are selected from the pool) and they take notes and definitely pay attention. They even ask questions during the process.

2 interesting quotes/phrases from the trial:

"The suspenders of policy on the pants of language"

and

"Hatching the dragon that I need to seek to slay later"

In Academic news:

Classes start the first week in March. I am registered for Professional Responsibility, Admin, Secured Transactions and am still between International Business and Modern Real Estate Development.

Otherwise, I have no other news to report so ending as I began -- Yay Voting

Good news! I am employed for the summer (hence the title). This summer I will be a "research analyst" for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Boston.

For those who want to apply next year, I warn you that the application process is extremely difficult. Everything is done online. I remember allotting an hour to do the application and it took me the afternoon.

Because Northeastern has a unique take on grading, I had to request my evaluations be translated into a single buzzword that explained the evaluation. Not very surprisingly, buzzwords went down the line very similarly to the ways A, B, C, etc. would. In addition, there was a specific paragraph that explained the use of buzzwords. This is a very important paragraph. I think I copied and pasted that paragraph at least 10 times on the transcript.

In addition, the online application included a page for honors such as moot court, mock trial, journals, and reviews. Because the year is broken into quarters, NUSL did not previously have journals or reviews. (Moot court is done within the clubs and only just has really taken off).

Thankfully, NUSL just started a new journal which I had earlier signed up for. Otherwise, that page tends to be very sparse.

Still in the end, it turned out well as I got a phone interview with DC and an interview with Boston.

And I've been wanting to work for SEC Boston since they came to speak at the first semester co-op panels.

Everyone have a great day now.

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!

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 !!

I've never studied abroad. I've always wanted to but during undergrad I didn't think it was worth giving up my part-time job at Smith Barney. An internship like that is extremely competitive and not something I would have wanted to let someone else get :-P Looking back, I still feel like that was the right decision because working part-time taught me how to manage my time and working at Smith Barney taught me how to work in an office environment and talk to people.

Why this reminisce about Brandeis, you may ask?

Well, in law school you may get a chance to study abroad as well!

Northeastern has a quarter system. This makes it difficult to actually study abroad. Every school is on the semester system and so its difficult to make 11 weeks work into an academic semester.

However, anyone can co-op abroad. The student who wants to co-op abroad has to take the initiative. There are a few co-op employers who are located in another country. But almost all the other co-ops have been created by former students. It's really difficult to set one up and the co-op office can't really help you, but it's been done before. You just really need to take point on it and prepare everything months in advance.

I've had one friend who co-oped in Dubai (she set it up through a network contact), one who co-oped in Geneva (set up through a posting on WeBoard and she speaks French), and one who co-oped in Hong Kong (set up through one of her mother's contacts and she is a native speaker). Clearly it can be done, but it's something that they did on their own.

One of the APALSA members emailed the list-serv about a study abroad opportunity at the Law School at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing. The program runs from Aug 2 to Dec 22 and classes are taught in English. I really want to go. However, because of the academic semester they have, it won't be timed right. If I start at the SEC in May, I can start on time in Aug. Still that doesn't really resolve the winter co-op. I'm not sure how employers may view a start date of Christmas week. Also there would only be 10 weeks for the winter co-op (if I find an employer) and the co-op program requires 11 weeks. I suppose worst comes to worse, I can skip the first week of classes?

If I do go, I will be in Beijing during the Olympics!!

One of the different things about this quarter is that 3 of 4 of my classes involve group projects. I don't mind group projects, but its a very difficult thing to do at this level. Unlike in college or high school where everyone is on the same schedule, law students may share just this one class where the group project is assigned. In addition, law students tend to be older and some have families (meaning that evenings / weekends are out so that they can see their family at some point).

In Admin, we had to write a regulation for a hypothetical boxing statute. Never having written a regulation before or taught how, a group was great to bounce ideas off and polish some of my own ideas. The only issue is that the only time we had available was from 5-8 on two weekdays. This group only had 4 people compared to my international business class where there is 8.

If 4 people was hard to co-ordinate, 8 was just impossible. We had to decide early that consensus was the only way to get things done and stringent use of email because no matter what time / day was chosen, one or two people could not meet.

However, as my admin professor tells us, in real life, lawyers work as a team.

In other news, Beijing is out as a study abroad option next fall. In my excitement, I had forgotten that I wanted to apply for clerkships for post-graduate employment. This means I need to be state-side in case I get interviews (which isn't a guarantee since clerkships are ultra competitive). I'm very disappointed and sad because the CUFE program looked so interesting and I had never studied or been abroad before.

Still I am planning a trip to Taiwan for after finals so I will still be visiting Asia, just for not as long as I had hoped.

Have a great week! It looks like Spring might finally be here!!

Was the title of the first, and hopefully annual, Northeastern University Law Journal symposium. It was last Friday from 10AM - 5PM. It went really well!

The keynote speaker was Tom Wilner, a managing partner at Sharman and Sterling. He spoke about how he got into representing Guantanamo detainees when the opportunity arose.

The first panel was "Representing at Your Own Risk - Challenges to Finding and Taking Guantanamo Clients." Professor Coyne of University of Oklahoma Law, Nicole Moen of Frederickson & Byron, and Stewart Eisenberg of Weinberg & Garber spoke of flying down and meeting with their clients, many of whom are in solitary. One of the most poignant things that the speakers said was that even though it seemed hopeless at times, the lawyers were providing an important service. Not the attempt to get a hearing on the detainees status (which is important) but just flying down and interacting with the detainee and assuring them that they too were human. I know that's corny. But it really struck me because you think the most important thing is that the detainees actually have lawyers who will fight their cause and it turns out that the most important service they provide to the detainee is a human connection.

The second panel was "No News is Bad News - Cutting Through the Secrecy of Evidence." Sabin Willet of Bingham McCutchem, David Remes of Covington and Burling, and Marcellene Hearn of Richards, Kibbe, & Orbe spoke of how the comuniques from their meetings with clients had to go through DC before they would get back to them. This, however, is only if they need to discuss to the public about the situation with the detainees. Otherwise, you are breaking the law.

The final panel was "What does Winning Mean? - Representation After a Favorable Judgment" hosted. Bernard Docket who flew from Germany!, Professor Baher Azmy of Seton Hall law, and Jason Pinney of Bingham McCutchen spoke on this topic. I wasn't present for this panel but I heard that it was also very good.

Overall, the turnout, speakers and panels were great! I really hope this continues. In addition, if you do come to NUSL, unlike other law schools you don't have to test / write into Journal. All 2Ls and 3Ls are welcome as long as you do your end of things.

Sorry for a short entry but this is the last week of classes and next week are finals.

I have 2 take homes: admin and int'l bus reg and 2 in class: Prof. Resp. and Secured Transactions

I am the most worried about secured transactions because Prof. Hillinger has made it clear that it is very very very hard. Very.

Thus, everything must be scheduled and completed so that I can devote max amount of time studying for the class.

That said, I am attempting to get the Admin done tonight, the first draft at least. Int'l Bus Reg on Sat, and Prof. Resp. on Sunday.

Wish me luck!

There is so much to do! On my to-do list, is setting up my materials to apply for judicial clerkships and job fairs and studying for the MPRE. I can't believe that the summer is half way done and that I am a 3L. Just this morning I registered for fall classes. I really want to get into one of the seminar classes, so my schedule will completely depend on whether I can get into one of the three limited enrollment classes I signed up for.

Those three are 1. Advanced legal writing 2. Constitutional litigation and 3. Balancing Security and Liberty. All my other classes will depend on which, or any, of the limited enrollment classes I will be able to get into because the seminars conflict with other classes I want to take. I definitely will be able to Animal Law because that class does not conflict with anything I want/need to take: Intellectual Property conflicts with ALW, Basic Income Tax conflicts with Constitutional litigation, and I don't even remember what First Amendment conflicts with.

Selecting a schedule is always difficult, but for some it can work out perfectly. I have a friend where none of her classes conflict!

Otherwise, I just read the unauthorized biography of Martha Stewart by Chris Bryan. I thought it was very well-written and an interesting view of how Martha created an multimedia empire based on the (allegedly) suppressed domestic impulses that working women have.

This weekend was filled with things to do! On Saturday, my friends and I caught a Dark Knight matinee at AMC Boston Common. Even though the movie has been out for a week, the theatre was packed. I hope everyone goes to see it because Heath Ledger was definitely the best Joker ever seen. As one of my friends best put it, "Ledger was a Clockwork Orange Joker." It's sad that Ledger died, but as a viewer it's tragic that we won't get to see his acting ability evolve because Joker was amazing.

After Dark Knight, I met with another friend to study for the MPRE. We went over one of the outline packets. It was hard to study in such a nice Saturday afternoon. Especially since it was so hot and she didn't have air conditioning.

She did, however, have Wii Fit. I really want a Wii now. We only took a short break in between studying, but in that time Wii was able to determine that my center of gravity is slightly to the left and that I am unbalanced.

After studying, we met up with my other friends to watch Shakespeare on the Common. If you aren't from Boston, one of the perks is free Shakespeare! This summer they are doing As You Like It. Orlando is played by Marshall (real name Frederick Weller) from the USA TV show In Plain Sight!!! It was an excellent show. I must admit: I've read As You Like It before for fun and didn't fully understand it. But seeing it acted out just made it click.

Today was a 4 hour MPRE class, but enough said on that.

Have a great week everyone!

I keep forgetting that I am a 3L. When people ask, I always respond Oh, I'm a 2L! But that's mostly habit, a lot like how people forget how old they are.

Classes started Tuesday. Now, I like skipping Mondays as much as the next person. However, when you are 3rd on the waitlist, trying like mad to get into a limited enrollment class that ONLY meets on Mondays, then you may see my problem.

If you don't, let me explain. Many of the rising 2Ls don't understand the limited enrollment process. You register for the limited enrollment class and it will show up on your online schedule, however, that does not mean you are in the class. It only means that your space is saved. About a month before classes start, the limited enrollment list will show up on the WeBoard.

For Advanced Legal Writing, there are only 16 spaces and these names are picked at random from the registered students. The rest on the waitlist . . . Where I am.

Because people are constantly adding and dropping, even if you are on the waitlist, one should still go to the first class because the professor will let you in if someone who got in did not show up. At times, a professor will expand the class if there are only a few people on the waitlist. Beware though! This is not guaranteed and should always be done through the administration first.

Back to my dilemma, because Advanced Legal Writing is on Monday and class started Tuesday and September 1 is Labor Day, I haven't had a chance to see who else has dropped and if I've moved up on the list. This is especially problematic because September 2 is the end of the add/drop period.

Cross your fingers and wish me luck!

This has been a very indecisive quarter for me, at least in terms of selecting a class schedule. A lot of that had to do with the uncertainty of my placement in limited enrollment class, but no more! I have a final schedule now.

I did make it to the very top of the waitlist for Advanced Legal Writing, but I ultimately decided that I would take Intellectual Property. I decided to take IP because it's a very interesting subject and I had Professor Dyal-Chand for Property as a 1L. Still, with such a short quarter it is easy to fall behind as I have already done since I only decided to take IP right before the class.

Still since it is so early in the quarter, it will also be very easy to catch up because I just need to devote a day and read what I missed and look over someone's notes for the classes I missed. That is one of the advantages of Northeastern. While law students are notoriously ultra-competitive, Northeastern students very willingly share notes and study aids.

Now that I know what my schedule will look like (Bankruptcy, Tax, IP, and Animal Law), I can start going to the gym. Another great thing about Northeastern is the gym. The Marino Center is gorgeous and free for student use. No need to get a gym membership!

Since that is where I am off to now, have a great weekend!

A quarter is a really short amount of time. This week our final exam schedule was posted. Although it's only the beginning of October, it is important to start thinking about final exams and outlining. That's why while it is a school holiday, I am already at school. Today I will force myself to learn everything about Bankruptcy that I haven't understood so far. I've already, sort of, done that for Tax because we had a "midterm" quiz on Tuesday that covered the first fifteen classes. I can't believe that we've already had 15 classes!

Although, I must admit studying is not the only reason that I am the only student in the building today. One of the things about co-op is that you are constantly applying. Usually with co-op mailing season, the first mailing is the big one. You get a list of over 200 employers and all 2Ls and 3Ls on summer/winter rotation choose ten. One may be surprised to learn that even with those numbers, often people apply to the same ten. When that happens, there are supplemental mailings. With these you can apply to as many places on that list.

But whether you do the big mailing or the supplemental, when a student gets an interview it would be best to prepare. That's the other reason why I am at school. I have an interview tomorrow that I need to prep for. This usually involves looking up the interviewers, the company, and just pondering what may happen.

Tomorrow is not only busy because of the interview (which will take more than 2 hours!) but I suddenly appear to have a social life. . . shocking, I know. I am going out with some college friends that I haven't seen in oh about 2 months, then right after there is an inter-APALSA mixer at Lucky Strike, and then right after that my law school friend is hosting a wine party. Does anyone know of any good under$15 Shirazes?

Hi all,

Last week, I was conned/begged/bribed to be a witness in a class called civil trial practice. I say that in all good fun because it seemed like it. And I joke about conned/bribed. Every quarter, there is a class called civil trial practice. Because Northeastern doesn't have mock trial, this class is its closest semblance.

I was the witness Mary Dixon who lost her husband to suicide/shooting accident. I was suing the big insurance company to try to get what I felt was owed. There were 4 witnesses/volunteer victims and we all had scripts that we had to learn when we were giving testimony. The students in the class were the attorneys and each "trial" had 4 attorneys (two for each side). It was really interesting to do and I got to exercise my intro to acting skills!

Still, its hard to finagle people to do so because well ... it's finals time.

Nowadays, most people take their exams on their laptops using a software called SecureExam which locks a user from accessing any of their PC's features. When I was a first year, it was also the first year that they were testing the software. It's never fun being the guinea pig year. I can remember when the software would crash a person's computer and the person would either have to retake the exam or if it crashed early enough, switch to handwritten bluebook.

So the reason that I am writing this now is that I am so glad that is no longer the case. And because last Monday while my class was taking the Intellectual Property final, the fire alarm goes off. Everyone jumped in their seats and looked around to see if we actually had to leave. I think some off us in the classroom would be willing to write the exam through the fire alarm only they made us leave.

Into the freezing cold.

Still, I was worried that if I closed the top of my laptop that SecureExam would freak out. I think someone should ask SecureExam what would happen.

Otherwise, the rest of my finals went without a hitch. I surprisingly think I did well on the bankruptcy and tax final although bankruptcy may be tricky since it was all multiple choice with the options being true, false or maybe and if you select the wrong one you get a point off.

I may have mentioned this before, but picking a class schedule is always a fun time for me. Before classes start and the grind of studying every day, picking classes is always full of hope and potential. That's why when you don't get into limited enrollment classes, that hope and potential is a bit dashed. This entry is going to be a bit of a gloat -- this is the first time that I've gotten into ALL my limited enrollment classes.

Of course, I can't go to all of them. The point of a lottery is to enter as many classes as you can to see what the luck of the draw will get you. Still the next problem was that I was spoiled for choice. Yup, which limited enrollment class would I pick. Before I knew which LE class I had gotten into, I had registered for more than 12 classes. I had back ups and various options which actually is a bit of fun, the only problem being that you can't order books ahead of time. Now that I know, I slowly pared down the classes to : Corporate Tax, Entertainment Law, Employment Law, and International Legal Research.

The new quarter starts soon, see you then!