Confessions of a 3L, Installment Three: What do Brussel Sprouts and Moot Court Have in Common?

They both build character.

Now, can I think of other ways I would like to spend my Sunday than having three consecutive hour-long practices of my moot court argument?  Yes.  Yes, I can.

Can I think of anything that has been more valuable to my legal education besides moot court?  Barring internships and jobs where I have actually been working in the field (see Installment Two), no.  No, I can’t.

Last semester, I had the pleasure and privilege of serving as the ASP leader for the Appellate Writing and Advocacy classes, which serve as the prerequisite for Marquette’s growing Moot Court program.  As an icebreaker the first time I met the classes, I made reference to a presentation I am writing for 1L students who are interested in getting involved in Moot Court.  It was entitled “WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I WRITE A BRIEF IN MY SECOND YEAR OF LAW SCHOOL IF I DON’T HAVE TO?”  The hilarity I anticipated did not ensue.  I could see tiny thought bubbles popping up above the students’ heads.  They read: “Ah, yeah.  Wait.  Why am I doing this?” 

Continue ReadingConfessions of a 3L, Installment Three: What do Brussel Sprouts and Moot Court Have in Common?

Reflections of a 3L, Installment Two: Fieldwork and Clinics are Indisputably Indispensable

Casebook reading got you down?  Tired of briefing pretend issues for pretend clients?  Wish you’d never heard of Socrates or his dubious method?

Have I got news for you!  Now for the low, low (HA!) price of your already-paid tuition, you can learn about the law through real life experience.

I don’t mean to denigrate the value of our classroom legal education.  It is, of course, of vital importance to our growing legal knowledge and our ability to think about the law.  However, I am of the opinion that no legal education is complete without a foray into the wide world of the real-life practice of law.  For me, Marquette’s well-developed clinic and fieldwork selections were a large part of why I chose to come here.  I remember talking to Professor Hammer on the phone while making my where-to-go decision, just to check that all the clinic experiences listed on the website were real.  He assured me that, not only are they real, but that students who participate in them do real legal work for real clients.

In spite of my pre-law school enthusiasm about fieldwork, after my first two semesters, I became fearful if I left the confines of Sensenbrenner Hall, some sort of apocalypse would ensue.  At the end of my 1L year, I asked a 2L friend about the advisability of taking a clinic in my second year.  I was worried that taking on another responsibility would take away from my classroom performance and keep me from getting as much as I could from my classroom learning.  She told me that without her clinic experiences, her classroom experiences would have been less meaningful.  She couldn’t have been more right.

Continue ReadingReflections of a 3L, Installment Two: Fieldwork and Clinics are Indisputably Indispensable

Reflections of a 3L, Installment One: Put Down That Book and Go To the Gym; or, Yes, You Do Have Time.

As I’m very, very fond of telling people, I am now a 3L.  A 3L in my last semester, no less.  Actually, I will graduate exactly 100 days from today.  (Awesome.)  So I’ve been reflecting a bit lately on my law school career, and I’ve noticed that there are ways I could have managed parts of it better.  As many of you already likely know, I have a general propensity to dispense unasked-for advice.  Lucky for me, Professor O’Hear kindly offered me the opportunity to climb up on my e-soap box here. (Thanks so much for that!)  Thus I bring you…

Reflections of a 3L, Installment One: Put Down That Book and Go To the Gym; or, Yes, You Do Have Time.

The more you move your body, the more energy you have to move your body.  Exercise introduces endorphins into your system that make the daily grind seem smoother.  And my mother swears – though I’m pretty sure she’s making this up – that your body will grow new blood vessels to your brain if you exercise on a regular basis.  As my fellow 3L Staci Flinchbaugh put it, there is just no downside to exercising.  Not that I’ve been doing it much during law school.  Ok, at all.   I haven’t been exercising at all.  There was never a time when I decided, “Ok, absolutely no more physical activity for me aside from pack-muling these books to and from class.”  It just happened by increments.  Not today, I have that brief due.  Not today, I am super far behind in my reading.  Etc.  I even signed up for a Pilates class my first semester.  Alas, my attendance was short-lived.  And it likely resulted in a group of undergrads who still discuss the weird woman who came to Pilates and kept falling asleep on the mat.  

Continue ReadingReflections of a 3L, Installment One: Put Down That Book and Go To the Gym; or, Yes, You Do Have Time.