Stress Tests

Obama & Company rolled out their stress tests (Disptach, May 7) yesterday for the banking industry. Where do you fall in the stress test category?

Are you like citibank and BOA? Rather than taking the government's (err... public) money to bail yourself out, are you relying on your friends and their outlines for your exam preparation. Are you leaning on the back of your classmates to get through this marathon exam period?

Are you merely looking for some private investment (who isn't)?

Are supporting your friends like Huntington Bank here in Columbus (Dispatch, May 6)? Do you share what you can and strive for community partnership?

Or are finals / stress tests just a waste of resources? Isn't there a better way to evaluate our legal knowledge / evaluate the banks (NYT op-ed, May7)?

Don't stress out too much.

Lent

I was raised Catholic, but do not consider myself religious. My mom's family is particularly religious and I am overcome with guilt when we talk about church. When I was home for Easter I was prepared to share my Lenten sacrifice - blogging.

I last blogged on March 19, about two weeks after the beginning of the Lenten season. Some might say I really didn't sacrifice anything at all because I wasn't doing a good job on the blog int eh first place, and I did not make this sacrifice during the proper time period. Look people, I was following the spirit, not the letter of this Catholic tradition. In the same vein, I think my blogging vacation was a few days short of 40. I am ok with that.

A conversation about this blog might have provoked interesting conversation on a number of levels at Easter Brunch. The family elders, I'm sure, have never seen, or for that matter heard of blogging. The Nextel network commercial hits the nail on the head when they describe how many people are use Twitter on their network and then say something like 40 percent of you watching this commercial have never heard of Twitter. My brother would tell me that he presently manages 17 blogs: world of warcraft winners, snowboarding in northeast Ohio, dominating the wii fit, ect... In this hypothetical conversation I would later find out these are the blogs he looked at this morning - he doesn't actually manage any blogs. My mother and father would act interested and then tell me they will check the blog frequently. Mom would become the blog's biggest reader (not sure what she would be reading).

But none of this happened. No one asked what I gave up for lent.

Lent must have started all over again this weekend. But this time instead of giving up one part of our lives, Moritz expects us to give up everything for the next 16 days to prepare for finals. Really?!? 16 days!?! So here I am with many of my peers in our sweet library staring at the computer screen pretending to be productive. I should be outside enjoying the weather. But then I would feel guilty. My property outline is going nowhere, but I cannot bring myself to leave the library, so here I am blogging and watching the Cavs game on gamecast.

Lent take 2, I hate you.

Bring on the Kontracts

sometimes i wish we did not have wireless in the library. the NCAA tourney just started and i am tempted to check scores every three to five minutes.

just days ago i swore i was not going to fill out a bracket, but i found bracketology a much needed break from tomorrow's contracts exam. did anyone check out president obama's bracket? I am a little disappointed in our president's selections. all of the one, two and three seeds made it to the sweet sixteen along with 2 four and 2 five seeds. come on. pick some upsets. heck, i took cleveland state to the sweet sixteen and have Xavier over Pitt to get to the elite eight (these picks clearly reflect my Ohio bias. but sorry Akron, you didn't make the cut.).

given my post history (or lack thereof) it is abundantly clear that i welcome any distraction from studying contracts. this is not to say i am unprepared but i am done with consideration, cisg, and parol evidence. if you stumble across this blog before the K exam you are clearly unproductive. so go distract someone - i am sure they need it too.

have a great break

Props to PILF

props to the pilf people for pulling off a great event.

i have never been to a live auction but have seen a few on tv (entourage episode where turtle's cousin is able to convince turtle and drama to buy a koufax jersey because he thinks Sandy is going to die). while i was excited to go to the event i was afraid we would be subjected to a real auctioneer all night. listening to a tradational auctioneer on tv is terrible, perhaps even worse in person. thank god greenbaum, berman, merrit, and simmons preformed admirably.

i felt bad for the closer - greenbaum, solely because had to pitch in top of the ninth and the home team was up 10. Everyone leaves a blowout baseball game early. unfortunately greenbaum's audience was a bit thin. you could tell he put some time into his preparation - he had a silk intro for every item.

simmons sounded pretty good but i really wasn't paying attention.

merrit's son bid on a number of items she auctioned (there must be a better word for this). she pleaded with the audience to outbid her son.

was berman good? yes, no, maybe, what do you mean?!? I do know that his "crim law move night for 10" sold for 50 bucks while "hit berman in the face with a pie" went for 100 or more. If only berman got hit with a pie at the auction.

dear readers:

I am sorry I have not posted in a while, but I was busy getting ready for one of the biggest events of my life. Prom. I mean barristers' ball. i had to track down the perfect outfit, find a good date, look for some flowers, and buy my ticket. it was a busy week.

right.

let's take a trip back to high school prom. i did not drink in high school (honest) but i remember thinking prom night took forever. pick up the date, take the photos, show up at the event, mingle awkwardly, wait for dinner, dance awkwardly, go to after-prom, go to after-after-prom. all of that took about 7 hours, and for some reason i think i had fun.

on friday night i went to a pre-party at 6, got home after 2, and the night moved quickly. so i guess it was a good time.

i did run into a few problems:

1. i failed to realize our drink tickets did not cover every drink on the menu until after i bought a round of better than well-vodka martinis. i don't know why i thought the better liquor would be included, but i was hopeful.
2. thanks to SBA's pre-event email i was afraid i might get hit by an errant beer bottle falling from the balcony.

finally, thanks to the five of you who voted in the poll (question: going to the barristers' ball?). the poll is very hard to read, but i think it says two people (40%) voted for each of the following: No way; yes, but my significant other refuses to go because he / she is sick of hanging out with law students; I am taking multiple dates. perhaps most importantly, does anyone else think it is odd that there were 5 votes, 6 responses, and the percent adds up to 120, not 100?

feel free to post your barristers' ball / prom comments.

ps italics = sarcasm

reasonably foreseeable

a friend from another jurisdiction just sent me this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8ABhatAfsA

it is creative, but a bit on the depressing side. while i do not concur with all of the lyrics, i definitely agree with this one: "I bleed reasonableness and jurisdiction".

In fact, earlier this weekend I made a joke about something "reasonably foreseeable", but no one got it. Most likely because of at least one of the following: my jokes are usually only funny in my head; I was the only law school / lawyer type in the group. Woops. you know you have made a bad law school joke in the past week-and-a-half.

On the job... search

I hear a few of my fellow 1Ls have jobs already. Congratulations.

When we started the blog I put up a poll asking if 1Ls have jobs already. I definitely do not have a job, but I am sure I will find one before May. I am at least comforted to know that of the eight people who voted, seven selected "I should be looking for a job?!?"

Good luck on the search.

crim + legislation = registered sex offender

i was talking to a friend who works in the state legislature earlier this evening and he pointed me to this ironic story. i am often skeptical of so-called irony after Alanis Morissette's "isn't it ironic, don't you think?" but i believe this fits perfectly.

GONGWER (weird name) news service is apparently the news service of the Ohio Statehouse. This afternoon they issued the following story: "Ex-Lawyer Convicted in Statehouse Sting Joins Hundreds Challenging Sex Offender Classifications". The link will only work at Moritz, because this is a subscription news service. My source at the Statehouse told me a bit more about the juicy non-legal questions than the article has to offer. You can get the gist below.

Police caught this lawyer soliciting sex with an officer posed as a minor on a field trip about two years ago at the Ohio Statehouse (the lawyer found the officer posing as a minor online). Only a little weird, so far, but don't worry it gets better. They caught the lawyer during a Senate committee hearing on the sex offender law he seeks to challenge. My friend at the Statehouse tells me that the Senate Judiciary committee chair actually stopped the committee hearing so the officers could go through with the sting. props to the committee chair.

why would you do something patently illegal at the Statehouse?
isn't that where they make the laws?
this guy was a lawyer?
where did he go to school?
what in the world was he thinking?
apparently he has a problem - at least one

so a sex offender gets caught during a committee hearing on a bill he now seeks to challenge. that's ironic, right?

oh, and yes, i know it is a friday night.

finding grades

i am sure everyone had a great time looking at their first semester grades. last friday i could not find my grades. i thought for a few hours that i only received * in each of my classes. folks, that is not a metaphor; rather, i thought i got a * in each of my classes.

what a great way to start i thought on first blush. *s must be better than As. let's get serious folks, i did not get all-As. After thinking for more than 10 seconds i thought we must be back in grade school where some students get the good 'ol "I" for incomplete. while law school is socially the same from high school - except, of course, drinking is legal - i did not think i could get a * or an I for a grade.

Here was my problem: i looked at BuckeyeLink. later a friend told me to go to the registrar's website.

woops.

good way to start

wow, what a good way to start a blog. put up a few post and then take a 10-day-or-so break.

classic.

i frequently have a blog idea, but rarely post fearing that my posts will be poor. even if they are bad, who cares. this plays into my passive aggressive attitude. i am hopeful i will post more frequently in the short future.

legal research / writing surveys

I just clicked through the legal research and writing survey distributed to students from Moritz administration. The survey was thorough and as a result I found myself clicking "not applicable" to questions like: did legal ___ prepare you for journal, employment, ect.

I am slightly frustrated that I do not have a legal writing sample to share with potential employers, so I did suggest integrating some additional legal writing into the first semester where such writing is evaluated and returned prior to grade distribution. Of course, my unnecessary 1L stress probably drives this concern. I should just chill out.

This is what I want to know:

1. What, if anything, was missing from the survey?
2. Have noble 2Ls and 3Ls had the opportunity to take similar surveys in years past?
3. If everyone diligently filled out course evaluations, would the administration need to take this survey?

I hope everyone is able to make it to 12th and high safely tomorrow.

FW: a few rules

We are happy to have a few visitors at 12th and high. However, the very first comment (see the last post – first comment) was somewhat unexpected. While we are sorry the first commentator feels that way, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We find it necessary to suggest how this blog might work as we move forward.

We set out some simple rules: “be cordial, but honest, be real, and be original. Call us out if we fail to return the favor”.

Commentators should feel free to post negative comments, but should try to be constructive. Destructive, offensive comments will be removed.

Some, dare I say many, of us are not confident in everything we do and may enjoy a constructive open forum. Will this discussion tarnish the reputation of our law school? If so, we would love to know how and why constructive, honest discussions diminish educational value.

2L - you are probably right.

Pre-grade thoughts

I just sent out the following email to about 50 classmates. Feel free to leave a comment of your own:

"Today I am in this Zen world where I still hope I might get one or two good grades. That will all change on Friday.

"I want to loosely track how we change over the next few months as a result of our grades. This is by no means a scientific study, but it might be interesting as we consider our futures.

"If you would like to respond (preferably before Friday, January 30) reply to this email or post your thoughts anonymously at blogat12thandhigh.blogspot.com. I will post all responses I receive via email under an anonymous name shortly after we receive our grades.

"Three questions for you (my responses follow):

1. Who will you share your grades with: no one, everyone you can, a few close friends?
   
2. If you do not do as well as you think or hope you did, how might your outlook on law school change?
   
3. Do you find school competitive, and how might grades alter competition?

"I will tell my parents and a few close friends how poorly I did on my finals. I say I will not disclose my grades to my peers, but give me a few beers and I am sure I will tell anyone who asks. Further, I often wear my emotions on my sleeve; surely I will find a way to subconsciously reflect them.

"Today, I'm stuck in this Zen world where I think I will be able to cope with whatever grades I get, but just a few days from now I might be bitter. While I am happy with my law school decision I will surely re-evaluate a few of the non-legal opportunities I passed up to come to Moritz if I do not meet the modest standards I have set for myself. Hopefully I will not have regrets.

"I thought this environment would be more competitive. As soon as we get our grades, the competitive spirit will increase. Dan will want to know if he did better than Linda. Peter will wonder why and how Carol ruined the curve. Eventually / hopefully we will all realize that we will become good lawyers regardless of our grades (as administrators and profs have eulogized since orientation) and any heightened sense of competition will dissipate."

a few rules

We used to check sports and political websites when we grew tired of the Erie Doctrine. Then we went to BLT, SCOTUS, Sentencing Law & Policy, The Shark, Equal Vote, Free & Fair, and whatever else.

Some might say we are just sucking up to some of the OSU profs. There are a number of good policy reasons for doing just that, but if we wanted to brownnose we would go to office hours as often as possible.

We want to hear what people have to say about their moritz experience and legal education.

We will start with issues addressed to the moritz ’11 class. We will expand to posts aimed at all moritz students and whatever else we feel like talking about. Our ideas will be posted along with posts from guest bloggers: – classmates, recent grads, and non-legal-types.

If you want to post a guest topic or have any suggestions, shoot us an email 12thandhigh@gmail.com and we might throw it on the wall. If we do not post it, we promise to read the title of your email.

No names (unless you want to disclose), just raw, honest thoughts. We will attempt to remain anonymous as authors, but after a few beers at bar review you never know what will happen.

Just a few rules to start: be cordial, be honest, be real, and be original.

Call us out if we fail to return the favor.

See you at 12th and high.

Under Construction

just a test post
i don't even know what the font looks like

original

check back for more soon

first real post before Jan 30