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.

Hi everyone,

This winter I am working with Judge Young and his clerks at the Moakley Courthouse in Boston. I've already been put on a legal research project and told that I will be writing bench memoranda at least once every two weeks. In addition, I will get to sit in on trials, motions, etc. However, some of my friends on the other rotation warned me that the excitement of sitting through a trial wears away fairly quickly. Note: Pinching oneself does not work and leaves bruises.

Still I am taking this experience as a chance to see litigation in process. I'm fairly sure I want to do transactional work in the future, but I think a lot of that is that I haven't seen what litigation has to offer. I've never done debate and NUSL does not have Moot Court or Mock trial except for those competitions offered by the affinity groups and different organizations (APALSA made it to the Vegas Nationals).

I do think that the opportunity to do a judicial internship is one of NUSL's advantages. Of course, students from other schools do judicial internships, but the other schools don't have a long list of judges as co-op employers.

Misc. note about my alma mater - Heroic Computer Dies to Save World from Master's Thesis

The article is hysterical.

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.

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.

I've just returned from a 9 day trip to Taiwan!

Top Five things to know about before visiting Taiwan
1. It is more expensive than you think. Even through 30TWD=1USD, the prices are all fairly equivalent to American prices for goods like clothing and shoes. The exception being food. Also if you plan on visiting, bring the latest US currency to exchange (meaning the numbers on the bills should start with F) because otherwise there is a 30TWD surcharge each for old bills. Although if you exchange all that you have at the airport (and you should do it there because it's cheaper), there is a flat fee of 30TWD.

2. There are crazy scooter drivers who use the traffic laws as a reference. Even the dogs here know to look both ways before they cross the street.

3. The heat is already unbearable in May. Especially if you are from MA where it is only really hot in July and August. The heat is humid and I felt sticky and dirty all day.

4. If you visit the national parks, wear sneakers, bring long sleeves and pants, and lots of bug spray. LOTS of bug spray. The bugs are huge and venomous. For example, my sister and I visited Taroko National Park where a giant bee the size of a dime hovered. The guide said "don’t make sudden movements or that huge bear bee will bite you and you will die because its bite is venomous." My initial reaction was to freeze, my sister's was to jump behind me.

5. The sun is very strong. Our suntan lotion had been confiscated in customs (it was larger than 3.5 oz) and we didn't buy suntan lotion (which is expensive) until much too late. I went straight to burn so if you go to Taiwan, buy lots of 3.5 oz bottles, and go Asian and buy a parasol/wear a hat everywhere.

Five places I visited that I recommend
1. National Parks( I cheated a bit here) Taroko National Park, Kenting National Park and Yeliou National Park (It is right by the water and is famous for its odd stone formations. Also they don't yell at you if you cross the red line warning not to cross. Of course, none of the tour groups followed that mandate because the prettier picture was across the red line.)

2. Chiang Kai Shek Memorial - Great for pictures and inside remember to go downstairs where there are galleries.

3. National Palace Museum - Although I didn't get a chance, I've heard the gardens are absolutely splendid and admission for students (even foreign ones) are half! So remember your student IDs!l

4. Suao - which is famous for its cold (as opposed to hot) springs. The water has healing properties! Also there is only one other cold spring which is in Venice, Italy.

5. 101 Taipei which is the tallest building and in one of the informational panels it lists the Boston Big Dig as one of the top 5 construction wonders (bwhahahah)

Top Five Things about Taiwan that makes it an amazing place to visit

1. The transportation system – Completely electronic, much better than New York or Boston in terms of efficiency, cleaniliness, and so easy to understand. Everyone there actually queues!

2. The people - they are so friendly, helpful, and polite. Such a contrast to New York and Boston. When you enter a store, they instantly welcome you. Although I think Americans may find it a bit intrusive when they ask you if you need anything every few minutes you are there.

3. The natural beauty - Taiwan is the land that natural beauty blessed. The mountains, sky, coastline, and water are just so wonderful. I wished I was a better photographer because everything I saw just couldn't be captured on film.

4. The food - No one here has to cook because there are food stalls everywhere and the food here is good, filling, and cheap!

5. The fruit - There are so many varieties - I had guava, sweet melon, dragonfruit, cranberries, pineapple, these pink fruits that are shaped like pears, papaya and everything is fresh off a branch!

I'm so tired though! It took me a total of about 26 hours to travel (including layovers). I had actually brought a book with me but I never even opened it because I discovered that I have the amazing ability to sleep for 16 hours straight, only awaking for the food breaks.

I hope to recover from my jet lag soon because I start work tomorrow!

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?

As you know, I've been working at Raytheon. I really like my job. I know most don't find tax the most interesting thing ever, but there are a lot of different things involved in corporate tax and working at the tax department gives me a survey of all the different credits and deductions that a corporation is involved in.

Still a work week is long and I always look forward to the weekend! My favorite part of the weekend is breakfast. I have to wake up before 7AM to get work and that usually means a cold and lonely breakfast of cereal. But on the weekend I splurge with sleeping in and hot breakfast.

Still I am not a wonder with a spatula and pan and I stick to the basics. I'm going through a sunny side up phase. It was a fried egg (cooked all way through) a few months ago, omelets before that, and inevitably when my omelet making skills failed - scrambled eggs.

Otherwise, it is Chinese New Year's on Monday!

This means that this weekend is especially important because the house needs to be made ready ... meaning lots and lots of cleaning.

A lot of cleaning. Sigh.

PS Here was a very funny article on NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/world/europe/23crapstone.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

January 1 is the date that the world celebrates the New Year. Asian countries can be seen counting down. I was watching the Taiwan news and watched the spectacular fireworks sparking from 101 Taipei. Still, many Asians also celebrate the Lunar New Year. (Twice the fun! This year it was on Monday.

In China, the Lunar New Year is an almost three week celebration of food, festivities, and family. However, in America, most Asians who celebrate it, just have that one day. If it is a work or school day, most who celebrate still go in.

I did although it wasn't too much of a hardship since Raytheon Tax Department threw a mini Lunar New Year lunch party. Good food, good people, and riddles!

I like to say that I am making my New Year resolutions in accordance with the Lunar New Year, but really it's because I didn't actually start keeping them until this week.

Still! My New Year Resolutions are
1. Exercise more (I am joining the millions who also claim this)
2. Be more persistent in the job search (more on this later)
3. Do not get distracted (This will be nigh impossible with facebook . . . just kidding I just needed a third resolution to make this look neat and calm my need for numerical symmetry)