Everyone Has (Study) Aids

I need help! I am absolutely confused when it comes to Corporations, and will probably be in desperate need of a good study aid.¹ A friend has agreed to let me have her old Emanuel's Outline,² but I'm wondering if anyone else out there has a recommendation for a particularly helpful Corporations study aid? Is the E&E for Corps. any good? Is Gilbert's better? Please let me know. I beg you!

While you're at it... what about for Administrative Law. Anybody have any good suggestions? So far, Admin. Law hasn't been nearly as confusing as BA Corps, but that could change. Oh hell, let's through in Trademarks too. Whadya got? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

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¹Other than the outline I got off the Law Review school drive... especially since the Law Review outline is for another professor.
²M&M Mini, consider this a request for you to bring said outline to school as soon as possible.

These Casebooks Are Making Me Thirsty

I've finished my first full week of this semester (last week was only a partial week because we didn't have class on MLK Jr. Day), and here are my observations of this semester so far:
- My Tuesdays suck! - I have four classes essentially back to back to back to back¹, three of the classes being an hour and a half long instead of just an hour.
- I'm in this year's T.O.R.T. musical (see my short recap of last year's musical to get an idea of what this entails), but I'm starting to regret it. Not because it won't be fun (because it will), but because it will take up one-and-half assloads of time from my already loaded schedule. We have three hours of rehearsal a week (6 if you are a "lead," which I am not) for now, and then for the two weeks before the show I think we have 354 hours of rehearsal. Oh well, the show is funny, but will it still be funny after I've seen it roughly 45 times.
- Business Associations/Corporations is (and I don't want to overstate) the MOST BORING CLASS ever! It makes Civ. Pro. look like a Torts class where the professor hires The Second City to perform the actual Torts. Corporate governance, rivoting.
- Admin. law isn't much better. So far I've already ready most of the cases we have discussed, back in Con Law when we talked about the nondelegation "doctrine." Worst of all, this is my latest class of the day (my fourth class on Tuesday, my third on Wednesday), and by the end, I really couldn't give a good god damn about whether Congress has properly delegated authority to on of the kagillion alphabet soup agencies in the Federal government.
- "Advanced Patents" is not advanced. It is merely more of the same from "Patents" last semester. Call it "Patents II" and be happy with that.
- Trademarks is pretty cool. I have it with Professor Contracts, and despite the fact that she still can't tell people to stop asking ridiculous questions. But, at least I like the subject in Trademarks. And, as far as I know, there is no "Mail Box Rule" or "Battle of the Forms" in Trademarks.
- So far, Statistics for Lawyers is really just Statistics. I'm hoping that at some point we are going to actually apply these statistical methods to some kind of lawyerly-like situation, because I could have just looked back at my Stats notes from College if I wanted to remember how to calculate the standard deviation of a data set.

I'm also behind on my reading in two of my classes, so Friday night will be spent catching up and editing my law review note for the final submission. On the plus side, in just 3 1/2 months, I will be a Law School Senior and will be working for an obscene amount of money this summer. Let's hope I make it.

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¹I have one 30 minute "break," but after almost 4 straight hours of class

You Think That We Connect, That The Chemistry's Correct*1

In Honor of President Bush stating that he has "NO DOUBT" that the wiretapping program is legal, I offer you an applicable song lyric²:

This shit is bananas
B A N A N A S!
Yeah, this shit is bananas
B A N A N A S!

Now, I don't know enough about the wiretapping facts to decide whether Bush's wiretapping is legal or illegal (by which I mean constitutional or impermissible under the Constitution), but I find it hard to swallow that President Bush, eminent legal scholar that he is, can have "no doubt," when some brilliant legal minds "haven't the foggiest whether its legal" (as another blogger reported his Stanford Law Prof. to have uttered).

If there has one thing I've learned during my fledgling legal education, it's that there is almost nothing in which you can have "no doubt," especially when it comes to the Constitution.³ I also don't know too much about politics, but it seems to me that if he was so doubt free, he wouldn't keep sending out Attorney General Gonzales and Karl Rove to keep arguing that its legal.... Hmmm.

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* Or, "Sorry I'm Not Home Right Now, I'm Walking In The Spiderwebs"
¹Or, "It's All His Fault, He Screens Our Phone Calls"
²I know this is from a Gwen Stefani song, and not from No Doubt... but honestly, Gwen IS "No Doubt"
³ Except for how old you have to be to be President, a Senator, or a Representative, and what is the meaning of "twenty dollars" in the Seventh Amendment, although my Con Law professor even liked to argue about these. He was weird.

Nice Guys Finish as EIC

I found out this weekend that my Note for Law Review was not selected for publication in Issue 5 of this year's Minn. L. Rev. That's cool, I didn't expect it to be published, since they were only going to publish nine Notes out of a group of 38 staff members.

Anyway, yesterday I was in the Law Review office finishing up some details of our most recent cite checking assingment when a classmate asked me about the BlackBerry case. While I was talking about it, the Law Review Editor-in-Chief was using the microwave to prepare his lunch and heard me talking about the case and told me that it sounded interesting and, jokingly, that "You should write a note about that."

I responded, also jokingly "Yeah, it would have been better than the Note I did write." Referring to my recent rejection. He chuckled the way people do when you both know you are making a joke that isn't funny, but still feel the need to be polite, and then walked back to his office.

Then, after about a minute, he came back out and said to me "You know, I actually thought your Note was really good, and that it was really close to being published. I wanted to really encourage you to 'fix it up' and resubmit it for publication in Issue 6."

I just thought this was a really nice thing to do. Yes, I didn't expect to be published. Yes, he was probably just blowing smoke. But the thing is, he went out of his way and came back to blow the smoke.

It was a nice little pick-me-up before I had to get back to my already building mountain of reading backlogged.

You Aren't Cool Unless Your Patent Shuts Down BlackBerry

Wow, at least for today, patent law is cool. As you may have heard, the Supreme Court has declined to review the Federal Circuit's decision in Research-In-Motion v. NTP (aka the BlackBerry case) which held that Research-In-Motion, maker of the wildly constricting popular leash device known as the BlackBerry infringed NTP's patents. Now the business world is in an uproar because this little company can literally shut down BlackBerry if a district court grants its injunction motion. It's also leading to at least one business "journalist" journalist to spout off like he knows everything about patent policy, when he clearly couldn't find the IP Clause of the Constitution with a map and a flashlight.¹

I will continue to bask in the glory of the fees the attorneys are collecting high water mark of patent attorney-dom. Damn, it feels good to be a gansta.

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I'll help him out, in full BlueBook format. U.S. CONST. art. I, § 8, cl. 8 (granting Congress the power to "promote the Progress of Science and the useful Arts . . . by securing for limited Times to . . . Inventors the exclusive Right to their . . . Discoveries").

Fiscal Responsibility

I received an e-mail today letting me know that my financial aid for this semester will be deposited into my bank account within the next few days. Now, the question is, do I buy a new iPod now, or wait until the funds have been distributed?

Let's see... later = No iPod :(

Now =

Hmmm.

Brokeback Boredom

I saw Brokeback Mountain last night. I don't really understand why this is considered a favorite to win the Oscar.

To me, it was just long and boring. I guess the acting was good... in that they come across as very boring, which is very realistic, as most of us come across as very boring as well.

The story dragged like your dog's ass across the carpet. As Nate pointed out, we never really learn why these cowboys fell in love (if they were in love, instead of just lust). Other than the fact that they were alone on a mountain together, I can't figure that out.¹

One of the reasons I didn't like it is because the movie had an opportunity to try and show us how difficult it would have been for two homosexuals to deal with what the rest of the community would violently shun. But, instead it was just a story about two gay cowboys for whom it was hard to feel any sympathy.

But, the biggest reason I didn't like the movie is that I really think the only reason this movie was made was because it was about gay cowboys. The plot² didn't do anything... there was no story. If the two main characters had been a man and a woman who were cheating on their spouses with each other, this movie would have never been made. And, if it had, it would deserve the 2,347 thumbs down that it would have received. Oh well.

Maybe the short story this is based from is good. But, the movie was overrated. It reminded me of The English Patient, another boring movie that received way too much hype.

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¹Plus, if it was just lust... this is a totally unrealistic portrayal of cowboy love. There were thousands of sheep on that mountain, and these guys choose to bang each other? Come on.
²Ha! What plot?

The Saga Continues

My "Official"/Unofficial Year-End Review for work¹ was today.² Once again, my boss is completely confusing me about my upcoming job at The Firm this summer. You will recall that last time she talked to me, I was chastised about next summer's gig... but the time before that, she was really nice. Well, she was really nice again this time. She kept talking about how she thought I was doing good work, and how it was a good idea for me to be trying out a firm for the summer, and that if I wanted to consider coming back to Big Corporation after next summer then I should let her know. Really weird.

Our company recently won a fairly big litigation against a competitor so we are still giddy about the victory, so they had a little celebration lunch to talk about the highlights of the case. We had a really good lunch (roast turkey and roast beef with yummy potatos, plus a delicious cheesecake for dessert) and a PowerPoint presentation. The coolest part (for me) was the corporate attorney's talking about how great their trial counsel was, because the trial counsel was from The Firm. It's nice to know I'm going to work with good lawyers.

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¹"Official" because I had to fill out the Official Evaluation Form and have a review meeting with my supervisor, but Unofficial because it doesn't actually get entered into the system and I don't get "graded" on my performance since I am just a part-time clerk.
²You haven't lived until you've had a Work Evaluation on Friday the 13th. Just to put us in the mood, I decided to wear an old-fashioned hockey mask to my review meeting and I made my boss call me Mr. Vorhees.

I Will Be Resolute

I have no idea what my New Year's Resolutions were last year, so I have no idea how I did in following them. To avoid this problem next year, I am going to blog about this year's resolutions. Plus, y'all can laugh at how generic they are.

1. Get In Shape (The Ol' Standby) - I actually started law school by losing weight over the first few months... but since then, I have grown (literally) more and more overweight. Thankfully, I'm still not morbidly obese or anything, but at one point I was at least 40 pounds over my ideal weight. The final straw was when I went to my cousin's wedding this summer, and the first words out of my grandpa's mouth were "You're getting heavy!" Now, I want to lose 30 pounds by March 1, and another 10 by the end of school in May.

2. Continue to Get Good Grades - I am very happy with my grades for this last semester (at least with the 2 that I have received so far), and I want to keep up the momentum. I hope to acheive this by being more organized with how I do my schoolwork, outlining earlier, and being more efficient while I'm at school (where I do most of my studying).

3. Don't Stress About School - Even though I want to get better grades, I want to be sure that I avoid stressing about school too much. I think that I was much better about my school stress last semester, and I want to keep that up.

4. Have A Good School-Work-Life Balance - School isn't everything. I know that now (during break). I want to remember it in the middle of the semester.

That's about it. 2005 was a pretty damn good year for me. I'm hoping 2006 can exceed the hype.

Well Look At That... Grades

It turns out my rant of a few weeks ago was unwarrented. Shortly after said rant, I received one of my grades, and I got the another about a week later. I am very happy with both grades.

I only have one grade that is outstanding, and since the professor for that class literally left the country beforen we even took the final, I didn't expect that final any time soon.¹ Plus, I think I did well on that final as well, so my GPA should be getting a little boost this semester.

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¹What with the law school having to ship our exams to her in South Africa before she can even start to grade them. Of course, that still doesn't stop me from checking my grades online several times a day.

Vacay. Check. Tan. Semi-Check

We're back from our vacation to The Bahamas. Four days of relaxation in 70-plus degree, sunny weather. It was nice. Now I'm back at work for the remainder of this week. School starts back up next Tuesday. *Suck!*

Oh yeah, and I finished and submitted my Law Review Note for publication in Issue 5. It will get rejected, and then I have to decide if I want to try and fix it and resubmit for Issue 6.

I still don't know when I'm going to get my books. Maybe Tuesday.

First Year Flashback

I must have the law school form of PTSD,¹ because my Fact or Fiction from Lexis started out thusly:

In Palsgraf v Long Island Railroad Company, 248 NY 339...

But, I didn't get any farther before I had a vivid waking dream of a man running with fireworks to catch a train, the fireworks falling under the train, and a lady being crushed by a falling scale, all while Prof. Feld stood on the train platform lexuring us on Proximate Causation

Prof. Feld (Dreamlike): Of course the railroad could not have foreseen that someone would be carrying fireworks onto its train and then would drop them under the train. Which is... to say [complete with his little snake-head hand motion] the railroad's negligence did not proximately cause the lady's injuries.
Unreasonable Man (at work): *shudder* [U.M. curls up under his desk and begins to suck his thumb... hoping the flahsback will all be over soon]
U.M.'s Coworker: Dude,² what're you doin'?

I guess no matter how hard you try to forget, the past can be so horrofic when you're out in The Shit, that you just can't get rid of it.

*SHIVER*

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¹Post Torts Stress Disorder
² Because all in-house corporate lawyers call each other Dude. That, or his (or her) dudeness, or duder, or el duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

Semi-Live Blogging: USC vs. Texas

Halftime: I am pleased with Texas's play (although they could hold on to the damn ball a little better). But one thing that I am astounded at is how bad the officiating is. Hey-sus Christo these suck. Let's recap.

Bad Calls (or No Calls) That Hurt Texas
- The First interception at the goal line (thankfully, the replay rule fixed this one)
- The second interception on USC's last drive (WTF!? Where the hell is the officiating crew sticking its head... and what the fuck is taking the replay booth so long to see that they clearly need to review a play)
- I've seen at least two ball spots where the official took away at least one yard on thee end of a Texas play, and on both occasions it would have been a first down
- I've seen at least two ball spots where the official gave USC as much as a yard on the end of the play... at least one which gave USC a first down... ON A THIRD DOWN PLAY!

Bad Calls (Or No Calls) That Hurt U.S.C.
- Vince Young's knee was so down on the 'Horns first TD (slow replay booth again)
- And that's IT! (that I saw)

Stupid Jackhole refs! What do these guys think they're doing, refereeing the Alamo Bowl? Gotta shower before the 2nd Half starts.

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3rd Quarter, 11:09 USC is knocking on the door after a short Texas series. Have you noticed how much Keith Jackson and Dan Fouts love USC. When Texas has a short series its because "USC did a great job on defense." When USC has a short series, its because "USC just had a bad series."

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3rd Quarter, 10:36 Damn, White scored. *Sigh*

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3rd Quarter, 8:46 The announcers are finally starting to realize Texas is a good team... duh! Wait! 8:34 TOUCHDOWN VINCE YOUNG! Alright, the right team is back on top. Don't know why they didn't go for two. Let's go Horns D!

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3rd Quarter, 4:55 Another missed call... a block in the back that resulted in a big USC gain. I wonder how much ther refs' bribes were for? Why look at that, it eventually led to a USC TD, at 4:07

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End of 3rd Quarter Texas is about to kick a FG to reclaim the lead. I wonder how long it will take Keith Jackson to say that it won't be enough to beat USC.

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4th Quarter, 14:55 Damn, Pino missed it. Still 24-23.

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4th Quarter, 11:10 Called a Texas Incompletion, if they overturn this, I will know that the refs are calling it for USC. There is no way there is indisputable evidence to overturn the call (especially after they didn't even *review* Texas's clear interception earlier)

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4th Quarter, 8:46 OK, Texas FG to bring them within 5. It's about time for the Texas defense to finally string together three good defensive plays in a row. They've been close all half, but USC has so many weapons... its a little tough.

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6:42 left USC TD to go ahead by 12 (after the extra point). That may do it for Texas unless the defense can stop USC like they did in the first half. Looks like we'll still be hearing the BS about USC being "The best team of all time." Shit.

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4:03 Maybe not so fast, my friend. Vince runs for his second TD... one score game. Vince has something like 6000 total yards in this game, and Bush is under 100 (I think). Heisman trophy winner, my ass.

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2:22 3rd and 7, USC, this may be the game.

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2:13 Stopped them a yard short! But what will USC do? I would go for it.

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2:09 They stopped them! Now its up to Vince!!!!

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0:26 4th and 5 at the 7. This is the game.

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0:19 Vince SCRAMBLING FOR THE TOUCHDOWN!!! WHAT A GAME! Going for 2 to make it a FG lead. AWESOME!!!!
Two-point conversion GOOD. But, if any team could do it, it is USC.

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0:00 IT's OVER! TEXAS WINS! THE LONGHORNS WIN!

An absolutely incredible game. The best National Championship I can remember (except for maybe the 2003 Fiesta Bowl between Ohio State and Miami... maybe).

Time for bed.

Championship Prediction

I haven't had much I felt like commenting on recently,¹ and I doubt I will for the rest of the week. I'm at work until Thursday, than the Wife and I are going to the Bahamas.²

But, I do want to publicly post my pick for tonight's College Football National Championship, so I can show that I was right all along or so you all can say "You idiot" tomorrow. Anyway, I think the winner will be:

TEXAS!

I just hope its a good game.

Update:After reading some of the analysis of the game on ESPN.com (Wojo thinks USC will win... what a surprise, the ESPN guy loves the Trojans). Anyway, one of the stories is talking about the Quarterback matchup of Vince Young vs. Matt Leinhart, and has the following quote:

Neither quarterback will shrink from the task before him. Leinart and Young haven't cowered, going all the way back to their childhoods.

Young survived the allure of Houston gangs. Leinart survived the allure of Oreos. Young overcame a brief flirtation with the street life. Leinart overcame being the overweight, cross-eyed kid. These experiences endowed the quarterbacks with tough hides, an integral part of their leadership.

I can't figure out if this guy is serious. Is he actually comparing living around gangs in Houston with almost being a fat kid in some cushy California suburb? WTF? Is this guy a retard?

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¹ Not even the trapped miners, the battle over renewal of the PATRIOT Act, the Abramoff mess (I knew DeLay was in Abramoff's hip pocket, but I didn't know that the President also took money from this sleaze), the fact that, once again, Fox has said it will cancel Arrested Development and seem to mean it this time (by the way, RENT or BUY the first season of Arrested Development and I defy you to not laugh, and then sign the Arrested Development Petition), etc.
²I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Either work for an airline, or marry someone who does. The perks are awesome!