what it is to study law

To do the work is not to do the classes.  There is much more.  One must immerse oneself in the law-eat law, talk law (this becomes obnoxious to those not in law classes), spend all your time focusing on the law.  No time to pay bills, call friends and family, clean house, every day life.  I wish I could immerse myself in the law, but life intervenes.

rights

A duty is what I must do
A privilege is what I may do
A power is what I can do
A right is what some other person must do for me

Per Corbin as quoted in The Bramble Bush

Llewellyn says that there are (were) two camps on rights.  The idealists and the cynics, or realists.  The idealist sees rights as things.  Primary rights are something such as my right to have you perform on your contract with me.  They are not real in themselves, but are the substance of the law.  Enforceability of that right is another, separate thing, and is not the primary thing.  The right is, but the inability of the law to fully enforce it is not a problem.  Remedies inadequate-these are not a conflict, because you still have your rights.  The cynic, on the other hand, sees rights as that which is enforceable, for which there is real remedy.  If no remedy, no right.  As he puts it "defect of remedy is defect of right."  The law can really only be seen as it has effect, as it leaves its mark.

Patience and humility

Lessons to learn-patience and humility.  But if I haven't already learned them, not sure I can now.  

I guess one of the lessons I need to learn is patience, in addition to all the facts of the law and the art of law.  I know we have to go through the topics on the syllabus, but I want to get to the meat of it, to follow the rabbit trail, explore the philosophy of the law.  The professor will have none of that, though. I need to figure out how to relax and not be fully engaged, and yet, be engaged so as not to miss things I need to hear.

But what of the philosophy and arguments of the law?  The beautiful thing that I fell in love with.  Will this professor and others squash it like a bug?  How do I prevent that while staying engaged in class?

Or perhaps I do not need to stay engaged in class.  It is not a grade component, and the case studies are a small part of what I need to learn.  This year I need to learn the black letter law, and I need to practice issue spotting.  I need to learn CA law, Model Penal Code, Restatement of Contracts, Second, Second Restatement of Torts, and common law above all.  Class will help but I don’t need to talk in class.  Or so I am attempting to convince myself.

The Professor does a quick review of where we left off.  Then he gives us some rule of law and we go into a case.  The student called on must stand to brief the case.  At first this struck fear into each student’s heart and several got lost in their own notes due to the enhanced anxiety.  But now most seem to take it in stride.  Each professor has their own preference as to how to brief, and this one really wants to hear a very brief summary of the facts, and then the issue and rule.  No fluff, just concise.  He particularly likes it when you get it wrong-this is a much greater opportunity for a teaching point.   Only what happens when you don’t give him enough wrong answers?  Or are foolish enough to ask a question that isn’t on the list of topics for the day, or takes today’s topic to it’s next stop-but not on the agenda.  Boredom, frustration and resentment.  But all of those harm only me, and so I need to figure this out.

And that is where a little humility will aid me.  This is not all about me, even if my attending law school is all about me.  The class and the syllabus are not.  This is not learning by sitting at the knee of a great philosopher, it is pragmatic instruction by practicing attorneys.  And while I would love to get into the study of jurisprudence and the philosophy of law, I do not know enough yet, and I need to find willing other students to engage in this.  Classes are for briefing and syllabus following...

the maze

I feel like the mouse in a giant maze with stacks of cheese around every corner.  I stop and nibble but am distracted by the next pile, whose edges I can just see at the corner, and off I go.  So many things to learn, no way yet to categorize and organize them, and so many sources, many conflicting.

And then work, and the house, the garden, family, life.  I'm tired today, but never regretful.  This path I've chosen will take me to other more difficult choices to let go of some things, in order to succeed at this choice, I know.  But still at peace with my decision and excited about the law.

blinded already

09/21/10

If law makes blind, more law will make you see  Llewellyn

Similar to the process in military boot camp, the first year is reported to be about unlearning and being overwhelmed that what was true yesterday is not true today.  Learning the black letter law, while necessary, is only the skeleton of the body of law;  one must learn the living law in order to have the tendons and musculature to hold the body upright and to learn to walk.  I am not even crawling yet…

There is a lot of reading involved.  In addition, one is counseled to brief cases for class, and to make course outlines.  There is a whole industry of study aids sold to law students:  audio instruction, outlines, cheat sheets of key facts, practice MBE’s and essays, ancillary prep classes…if one is willing to make the investment to study law, they are often willing to plunk down some pretty serious money to raise their chances of success.  This is even more true when it comes to the Bar Exam-just look at the pass rate to know that there is no easy pass here.  But beyond all of this, there is another element of prep and study that appears to be helpful in learning the law, and critical to a real understanding.  Reading the assigned pages over and then again, reading ancillary texts and papers, discussion with other law students and when possible, professors.  Breathe, eat, think and sleep the law.  It becomes all consuming very quickly.

It is a mistake to see law as the usual source of ethics, it is usually the other way around.  Bramble Bush, pg XII.

study group

It appears that we have a study group put together.  I think an effective study group is highly beneficial in law school, based on what I’ve read and what I experienced in the introductory classes.  However, the wrong assemblage of persons for the group could have negative effect and so I am slightly apprehensive.  I have no reason to question the choices of people to join the group, I’m just being a bit of a worrier. 

We decided that the maximum number was 6.  Then later we heard that the ideal number is 3-4.

We are having our first meeting this Sunday, and it appears we are all excited.  After Tuesday’s class, as we were all heading to our cars, Abigail called me over to see what she has to work on for her internship position with Marin County.  We were standing there and Peter came by, then Andrew saw us and stopped his car to get out and join us. Makes me feel good about our group-all seem to be serious and committed, and have some level of ability to do the work.  Each of us seem to have a class/topic that causes us more trouble than others, and I think we’ll help each other’s level of understanding.  I also think the people in the group enjoy the law, which is an illness, I know, but I am infected and would like to surround myself with others who suffer from the same.

The class

We are 20, give or take a couple of people.  Compared to a typical law class, this is quite small.  However, I have to confess I look forward to the distillation down to the more serious students who will stay the course through the full 4 years.  That appears arrogant on the face of it, but what I mean is, statistically, I know some number of our 20 is bound to leave during or at the end of the first year.  I am completely engrossed in our subject matter and the law, and would like our class discussions to move more quickly than they sometimes do.  That being said, I also appreciate our professors’ patience and inclusiveness.  So there you have it.  A war between my better self and my impatience and selfishness.  Not the first or the last time that will happen.

Criminal law is taught by a prosecutor, who was recently elected DA.  She is very knowledgeable about her subject matter and pragmatic to the core, or so it seems in these early days.  She gives little hints of her opinions but clearly has learned to walk a path of objectivity.  She appears to be impatient but reining that in as she deals with the first weeks of first year law, with us bumbling and ignorant students as lumps of clay sitting in front of her.  She wants a clear recitation of the facts, including the procedural facts, and very clearly expects us to learn the black letter law as we go along.  She makes the introduction of concepts more of a priority than I expected, as the Socratic method would not seem to include that.  In my very uninformed opinion, she fluctuates between lecture and Socratic method.  Given our green state with regard to a knowledge base, that may be the best approach.

I am anxious to be done with homicide.  I’m even looking forward to assault and battery, as a better option than discussing cases where the story always ended badly.  In a homicide case, you can be certain that someone died, after all.  I am sure this is a fatal weakness were I planning to become a criminal law attorney, but I feel the pain underlying the facts too much, even that of the defendant sometimes.  And my strong aversion to the current state of the penal system further burdens my heart and conscience, as I read about people (real people) whose lives were basically over in an instant, sentenced to 15 or 20 years in prison for a mistake that many of us would also make in like circumstances.  I am not saying I want the guilty to go free.  I simply abhor the choices and the devastation on both sides of the case.  Still, I am enjoying learning the law and can set aside my soft side when needed to argue the points of law.  I so love the logic and reasoning aspect of law.  While it seems to drive Peter nuts, I even like the progression of the law, the evolution of thought that is evidenced in the cases we read, and the ambiguity and variance in the rulings give me comfort and hope for the future that I typically find challenging when I look at human history.  Bad law can be changed.  Hallelujah.

Contracts-ah, my secret love.  I find myself so jazzed up by the end of contracts class that I can’t sleep for a couple of hours.  My mind is buzzing and I want to follow the rabbit trails to see where they may lead.  The UCC and the Restatement of Contracts, Second are my new reading for pleasure.  I have discovered some writing by some great legal minds, such as Lon Fuller's The Reliance Interest in Contract Damages.  I am tired at night but want to read.  Such a dilemma.  

why?

Why study law at 50 years of age?  From a vantage point of 25, it would seem to be too late.  I don't think it's ever too late to thirst for knowledge and to follow the urge.  There may be very good economic or personal reasons not to make the choice I've made, but those are items to be placed in the scales and weighed against the way my blood runs hot and my mind wakes up when I begin to read or discuss the law.  In my case, 5 or even 10 years ago, the scales tipped against law school.  But today, they do not.  And so I have begun.

Earlier this spring I took the required introductory classes: Introduction to Jurisprudence and Introduction to Legal Research and Writing and am now engrossed in the early days of  the stage fondly called "first year".  The school I attend is a night school, and it takes 4 years to finish rather than 3.  That may make some disdainful, but before you sneer, know that this school performs well in terms of bar pass rates, moot court and other competitions and is accredited.  And it means I can go to school while working full time during the day.

The things I write here are just my opinions.  Any reference to other students or teachers is purely my observations, and may include some fiction.  I've become enamored with legal fictions and fully intend to use my own fictions here.  If you think you recognize someone, think twice, because names and descriptions will be intermixed to protect identities.

Here's to another new beginning!  Life is full of them, and each is a gift, a shiny new joy to be discovered and explored.