Day Before Classes

I am finished with almost all my reading.  I just have a few pages to read for Civ Pro.  E-mailed the prof for clarification on some pages he wanted us to read. 

So far, most of the reading that's been assigned has been in page numbers.  In all the other cases, and most of the Civ Pro cases, it's obvious what the prof wants you to read.  A clearly discernable section or topic begins on the first page and ends on the last.

Except in this assignment, the first page is basically not the start of anything and the last page isn't the end of anything.  I e-mailed the prof for clarification last night, but haven't heard back, yet. 

This prof also wants us to use an outdated textbook.  My guess is so he won't have to go back and change the page-numbers for the reading assignments. 

Civ Pro is, I think, the hardest of our 1L subjects.  I fear based on this initial introduction that the class may be harder than it needs to be.

Still, I'm pretty much ready for my first days of class.  I was tempted to read ahead a little bit, but I won't.  I'll treat this as a marathon, not a sprint.

I'm already eager to get going on my Summary Outlines.  I'm a little worried that they aren't finished, yet.  Hahaha!  All in good time. 

Today, I realized that the reason being in school is making me so much better at everything else is that it essentially eliminated my margin for error on everything.

When you don't have a lot to do, who cares if you mow the lawn today or 3 days from now?  Who cares if you update your books at work today or next month? 

When time gets tight, though, there's a time for everything and everything needs to be done when the opportunity presents itself.

My strategy for doing this is mostly to incorporate what was previously just wasted time in my life.  The hours I spent blogging or surfing facebook, or just all-around screwing off. 

I really do think I can finish law school using not much more than what had previously been nonproductive time.  Of course, my grades will tell if I'm right or wrong.

I am thinking more and more about what I will do with a law degree.  It's a little odd that I haven't spent that much time thinking about it. 

This is just something on the bucket list.  Even if it never led to a job, I'd be okay with that.

At orientation, at lunch, one of the profs was describing a guy who just graduated.  He got an internship at the athletics department while in law school.  He was solely focused on NCAA regulatory compliance. 

His first job upon graduation?  Doing NCAA compliance for Ohio State. 

Just goes to show that if you really have a dream and you focus on it, you might have a shot.

Now, saying what I would like to do in the law, before attending my first class, reminds me a bit of picking a job in the Army, before I'd ever served in the Army.  I knew more about what I wanted to do in the Army after 2 weeks of boot camp than I had guessed about in the 17 years prior to enlistment.

Same here.  I'm ready to be surprised by what opportunities are available to me, and which ones aren't.

First, I think my dream job would be something with a government financial regulator like the FDIC, CFTC or SEC.  I am not sure if I'm even a potential candidate for that sort of thing.  Seems to me that top students from east coast schools are probably clamoring for those jobs.  Still, if my grades are good and I rattle the right cages, who knows.

The most obvious one is one I struck off my list.  However, now, I think it warrants further inquiry.  That's intellectual property.  With my Information Technology background, it would seem that I'd be a good fit for that sort of work, either in-house or with an IP firm.  The only reason I'm not that sanguine about it is that my degree(s) don't qualify me to sit for the patent bar.  My faculty advisor is an IP guy, though.  I'll ask for a meeting and ask for his ideas on how realistic it would be for me to work in IP.

Other than that, honestly, I'm still inclined to hang a shingle and work personal injury.  If I could work for a PI firm for a couple of years to learn the ropes, great.  If not, I'll learn them, myself.

Then, the list is rounded out with family law.  As long as you have marriages, some percentage of them will not work out.  Folks will need a divorce attorney.  I could specialize in small business divorces and military divorces. 

Anyway, so far, so good.  I'm keeping up with the reading, but at this point, my main concern is having a good summary outline for my exams.  So far, I do have one mid-term worth 30%.  That'll be nice since it'll let me know how good my exam strategy is before we get to the finals.

Also, not sure if this is true in every law school, but the Toledo Bar Association was very involved in our orientation.  What a nice bunch of people.  Every student was given a nice leather folio from a member of the TBA. 

Apparently, the climate in the TBA is very collegial among the attorneys.  Cleveland?  Has a reputation for being very adversarial.  Based on the attorneys I met, I find it easy to believe that this is a great bunch. 

Also, Toledo Law doesn't quite have the same dog-eat-dog reputation that some law schools do.  So far, the other 1Ls are awesome.  I can tell I'm going to make a lot of friends through this process.