A Quick Catch-Up

I recently realized that it has been a month since I last posted, and that makes me seem at the very least forgetful, and possibly even negligent in my duties as a blogger. However, I had to make it through a final LRW assignment, several difficult finals, a job search, planning next semester's courses, and a basic maintenance of sanity. In the end, blogging seemed like the least of my worries. I'll try to catch you all up to date with where I am with regard to these various tasks.

My final exams were certainly more difficult than those in the Fall, despite that I have done this process twice before. I think it was the subject matter rather than the procedure that made them more difficult. This semester I has coursework in Property and Constitutional Law rather than Torts and Ethics, in addition to substantially different material in LRW, Contracts, and Civil Procedure. I really enjoy the topics of Property and ConLaw, and I feel like I'm fairly knowledgeable in those arenas, but I tend to do what some consider foolish: I try to learn and understand the law rather than learn for the exam. This may harm my scores in the end, but at least I can feel like I know something, and can discuss it in ordinary conversation (when non-lawyers are willing to listen or make the mistake of asking me my opinion on something). In the end, I think the finals went well. Probably no A*s, but good nonetheless.

I did find and accept a job for this summer, though it is unpaying, which meant more loans. I will be working for a Circuit Court judge in southern Indiana. I think for the purposes of this blog my exact court and position will be confidential, but I expect to have interesting work to post about when I can find the time (the School requires these touchy-feely essays about what I'm doing, which will probably consume my spare time). The downside is that there is a considerable commute, and gas prices are hovering at $4. The upside is that I get to work inside one of the beautiful old courthouses of Indiana.

I have a full plate in the Fall. In addition to participating in Moot Court, I will be taking six courses for fifteen credit hours. Included in that reading-laden schedule are Federal Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure I, Constitutional Law II, Evidence, Secured Transactions, and Appellate Advocacy. I am used to taking exorbitant numbers of credit per semester, but not in law school. If I disappear completely in the Fall, you'll know why.

I spent this weekend in Louisville, Kentucky, for the 11th Annual National Firearms Law Seminar, hosted by the NRA Foundation. It was a worthwhile experience to learn about law from various professors and practitioners. Some of the topics included discussions about Heller, federal firearms laws, civil rights and guns, and an enjoyable keynote speech by Lt. Col. Oliver North about the Rules of Engagement. Afterwards, we spent some time at the Expo Center and I experienced my first NRA exhibition. We also drove over the Sherman Minton Bridge, mostly to get good luck in the Moot Court named after him at IU, as well as to celebrate the only Hoosier to ever sit on the Supreme Court.

This August I will be attending the ABA Annual Meeting in New York. Any of my readers that will also be in New York can feel free to drop me a line if they'd like to chat or go out. After this weekend, I think I can find interesting things to do just about anywhere.