Even steven

Restitution.  That which makes up for the wrong done.  But not really.  Legally speaking, it just means that any benefit the wrongdoer has gained must be disgorged.  Unjust enrichment would be...unjust.

It's like the big brother tricking little brother into handing over his allowance-big brother must give it back, even in the face of an agreement between the brothers.  Why?  Because it would be unfair to do otherwise.

Sometimes the court is a lot like a parent.

Five good persons or persons of interest?

The California Bar requires that an applicant for a license to practice law must be of good moral character. All those lawyer jokes aside, they really do put aspiring attorneys through the paces.

Having read of countless attorneys who were disbarred after later having been found to have lied on their application, I am wary of providing incorrect information.  The typical bar applicant is about 24 years old, and listing all their jobs since they were 18 isn't all that much of a mental exercise.  But I've lived in 3 states, and held various jobs in the last 35 years.  Who really knows (or cares) if I left that job in Ohio in June of 1996 or August of 1997?  Who will come visit me in jail, I wonder.

In addition to my employment, I have to provide five personal references, none of which can be relatives or current employers, at least one of whom must be in the legal field, and only one of whom can be one of our law professors.  Not A nor B, but no more than one of C.  After a review of the address book on my phone, I believe I have come up with five names.  You should hope you are not on it.

Merry Christmas

This Christmas Eve I find myself sad and uncertain.  The absurdity of this is not lost on me.

It would be perhaps justified if I were the street person with no warm bed, or food this Christmas night; the child for whom the wonder of Christmas is subsumed by the struggle to survive; the old one forgotten and invisible, who has not felt a kind human touch for years.

I want too much.  Much too much, it seems.

I wonder what the ants see

I rode the bus to work today, something I swear I'm going to do more often every time I do it.  But my car is warm and easy, and a place to retreat at lunch, so I rarely take the bus if I have an option.

Walking to the transit mall, I took note of the neighborhood coming to life, the restaurant open early with a sole patron at the counter, I was tempted to veer off course and sit with a cup of warm coffee and ponder life for a while.  The sidewalk, the darkened windows, the cars and people all seemed to stand out in contrast to the dark, early morning.

Each thing observed with so much more detail than when I drive past it, even slowly.  I'm not sure if it was the reduced speed at which I traveled, or the unburdened mind I carried, but there was more to see today than most days.

Blood types

I have come to the conclusion that there are 3 types of law school professors, and it's likely that these 'types' are strong indicators of other things about these people.

Type 1:  they like to fuck with you.  It is not so much about finding out what you know as showing you how much they know how to mess with you.  This is generally due to either a) they had it done to them in law school so they think it is appropriate for you too, or b) they have an outsized ego and this is a way to get their jollies.

Type 2:  they don't want to fail anyone, and as a result their grades have no meaning. You learn not to ask for their opinion because what you get back is less to be trusted than Type #1's feedback.

Type 3:  reasonable, intelligent folks who a) want to prepare you for the Bar exam and b) have no hidden sadistic intent.

Want to guess which one our professor for tonight's exam falls in?  And yes, I know I'm tired.  I'm not sure I've ever been more prepared for an exam, and I'm not sure it made much difference.  That just feels messed up.

Alas, the semester is over, for better or worse.  Which shall not be determined for about 6 weeks, so let the Christmas season begin.

It's the 16th and I have no shopping done, my house is a mess, I haven't been to the post office for a month, and my car is dangerously in need of an oil change.  And I still have to go to work.  But it's Christmas and all is well anyway.

the mud is deep and the going is slow

Let me start by acknowledging that I'm whining, and that's just silly.  I want to go to a movie, read a book for fun, make plans with friends, do almost anything but be leashed to these books.  I know I chose this, but today I'm just so tired of it.

The Dean talked to the class this week about graduation-the end of school is just a little more than 4 months away.  The imminent midterms, the thought of finals in April and then the Bar prep class, culminating in the Bar exam itself-all just seems like a little much from where I stand.  I know my perspective will change in about a week and a half.  Much of this is the usual exam fatigue.

Midterms will soon be done, Christmas will be imminent, my youngest son will be home, and I'll have a rosier view of things.  Right now I'm hard pressed to slog on, through the business judgment rule, agency principles, expectancy damages and structured injunctions.  I need new boots.

one step forward

Sunday morning, sitting in a corner of the coffee shop with a hot coffee and a cinnamon roll, my Remedies outline and the beginnings of an idea of how to attack an exam question.  There is a lot of grinding between here and finishing the midterm exams, and I worry about lack of discipline.  Nothing like fear of failure to motivate though.  Here we go...