The orientation to get ready for the actual orientation

I just got back from the "New Students Reception/Panel" or as Assistant Dean Alicia Cramer puts it "the orientation to get ready for the actual orientation" on the following day. There were four people on the panel: a part-timer, a 1L/2L (don't ask), another 2L, and a recent law graduate. They gave these standard advices about law school/life/career:

1. Study early and often . Do not join any student organization during the 1st semester.
2. Start outlining early (usually by the end of the 1st month).
3. There is no substitute for reading and briefing the cases. Use commercial outlines, and briefs as supplement to your own reading/work, and not to replace them.
4. But if you have to go commercial, use High Court Summary for the well-prepared briefs
5. Do well in legal writing as it will open (internship) doors.
6. Read Getting to Maybe to do well on exams.
7. Get top 10% grades to be on Law Review to get good job and good life and so on...

Paper Chase DVD

I highly recommend The Paper Chase movie, which I saw on DVD the other night. This dramedy is entertaining and touching; especially when a married 1L with a pregnant wife isn't cut out for Harvard Law and complemplates suicide. You will get a decent introduction for the Socratic method.

What is surprising for me is that Timothy Bottoms who plays the lead character Mr. Hart in the movie is now doing a killer Bush impression on Comedy Central's That's My Bush.

Haiku #1

My quick short haiku #1:

o ri en ta tion
south tex as col lege of law
be gin ning of hell

0-L reading and anxiety

Law school doesn't start until August 14, 2006, but I have been reading so much to prepare for law school that it feels like school has started already. So much for having fun and enjoying the summer before law school.

Currently, I am reading and/or browsing through a few law school prep books, online discussion forums and blawyers.

Even though, it was written back in the 1990's, I found Charles Glasser's The Incoming One-L FAQ's to be somewhat helpful. 20 Tips to Avoid Being A Douchebag in Law School is hillarious.

I'm just so glad that I didn't throw away $1000 for the Law Preview prep-course; I almost took the bite since they guarantee top 10% grades and Law Review. What a sickening industry!

Hello and welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog on my Tier 4 legal education at South Texas College of Law in Houston, TX.

Since I have not been in school for several years now, I will mainly use this blog (blawg) to practice and polish my writing skills. I might throw in a few observations about the law school experience every now and then.