I'm The Law Here. All The Law.

The Supreme Court's release of Heller has got to be the most exciting legal development I have observed. I had classmates who kept clicking the refresh button on their browser Thursday morning until the decision was available. Cheers went up in class when the decision came out. It derailed at least one class. Several people delved into the Court's analysis without being assigned to. It wasn't quite like anything else I've seen in law school. I was disappointed I had to miss the next session of constitutional law and didn't get to hear professor Guinn on the subject.

Instead, yesterday's adventure was to Houston for the Texas Bar Association's Law Student Division board meeting. It was a straightforward meeting. We elected our officers for the next year and reviewed our several responsibilities. I should have enough going on to keep me busy. Fortunately, I apparently enjoy operating on a slight but perpetual level of sleep deprivation.

I made sure to visit the contemporary arts museum while I was in town. I especially enjoyed the vivid, grotesque style of Barnaby Furnas and David Rathman's distillation of westerns (the links are only examples and weren't in the collections I saw, in case you were wondering). Given the intersection over the last couple of days of guns, law, and art, I thought I'd borrow the title of one of Rathman's pieces for this post.

More Guts; Less Blood

I wouldn't say that I'm afraid of needles so much as merely averse to them. But I overcame that aversion today and donated blood.

The line got backed up a bit. My appointment was at 3:30, and I showed up 5 minutes early. I was finished at 5:35. The actual time the needle was in my arm? 4 minutes. That was the fastest my technician said she had all day. It's not something you have conscious control over, but apparently I was in a hurry.

I'm not pointing out the times to complain, but rather to show how dedicated I am. Plus, I get to sport this sexy blue pressure bandage for up to another hour and a half.

I Am Invincible Lately

The gutter ball I threw still somehow managed to knock down the corner pin, which gave me a spare and carried me on to win the game.

Why I Would Make A Lousy Witch-Doctor

Earlier today, Judge Kelly told the bankruptcy class that there are two constants in the Baylor experience. When we get out into the world and run into other Baylor lawyers, we will quickly feel a bond because we all will have had

1. Practice Court, and
2. Professor Guinn

The anecdotal evidence I have heard thus far is bearing him out perfectly.

When I don't have back-to-back classes and the room my next class will be in is not free, I will usually take to sitting on a sofa in the hallway just outside the class. Constitutional law (conlaw) is the exception. Prior to class, Professor Guinn will pop out of the elevator and assign class reading from supplemental materials to the conlaw students who are waiting just outside the classroom. Often he's already highlighted the passages he wants you to read, so it's really not that big a deal. It is unpredictable, however. And as I like to pretend I'm in control, I've taken to hiding out on the sofa at the far end of the hall.

My spot happens to be outside of Professor Osler's class. The one time I didn't sit there, I ended up with an extra assignment for conlaw. As a result, I've become so entrenched in that spot that Professor Osler noticed that I am always there and asked me if I was hanging out to see what unpredictable stuff spills out of his class. The unpredictable stuff spilling out does make for a good, interesting spot, but it is only an incidental perk.

The next thing I'm going to have to do is be ready to sprint out the door when Professor Guinn lets us out. The other day after class I found myself, by default, the reluctant volunteer to look up what a constitutional fact was.

So I looked it up, and the next day in class I was ready with it when we were talking about the standard of review for questions of fact. Because nobody else was paying attention when I was assigned to look it up, some people were impressed I was so quick with the right answer. Of course, when their amazement came up in discussion later, I revealed my trick.

It's just like me doing the magic trick that came in my cereal box when I was five. I did the trick. My grandmother asked me how I did it. So I told her. Then I learned I was supposed to keep the method secret.

Client Counseling

Baylor has a large number of required classes. You take them when they come up in the cycle. You take them from whichever professor is teaching it then. And because there is no choice (other than to drop out) you just have to hope for the best and suffer through if you don't get your wish.

Client counseling was the first elective I've taken in law school. I recommend it without reservation to anyone more outgoing than me. If the prospect of role playing in front of the class intimidates you, then I only recommend the class if you're willing to be uncomfortable to improve at something you find intimidating and don't mind being at the low end of the class's high curve.

The early part of the course was primarily text and the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, and assignments to critique an interviewer and to generate some letters and a fee agreement for your firm. After a few weeks we began spending class time in small groups doing role playing. Throughout the course we did two written critiques of the attorneys in the in class exercises. The last part of the class was spent giving everyone an opportunity to role play in front of the class. The final was a taped interview done on one of the reading days.

While it isn't necessary to have any substantive knowledge in order to do well in the class, a lot of the fact patterns come from family law. I think I would have found it helpful to have taken family law before taking client counseling.

Adventures in Austin

Yesterday I traveled to Austin for Bethany's wedding. As we planned, I danced with Trisha. She seemed to keep interpreting my reluctance to dance as a reluctance to dance with her. The with her part was the best part. It's just that dancing evokes my longstanding and deeply ingrained fear of looking like a complete idiot.

But other than my dread of stepping on Trisha's toes, everyone enjoyed themselves. There are some new stories, but I'm not going to tell them. Or at least not in this forum.

The trip was also a convenient excuse to meet up with my friend Jason for lunch and hang out a bit before the wedding. When I'm playing Mario Kart against real people, a good finish for me is apparently anything other than dead last. I'm okay with that. We noticed a tendency for players with the neatest avatars to play relatively badly. You have to pick what you're going to put your time and effort in to. I know more contracts law than the first place finishers, as I kept reminding myself after every round.