Vox Lucens

We concluded our hard-core bar preparation studies yesterday. Most of us are still alive, which is a good thing! So today, in order to try to get a little relaxation in, we traveled to a nearby Redwood Grove and just wandered around enjoying the fresh air and lack of books.

Tomorrow I’m moving my stuff to downtown Oakland, and Tuesday the Bar starts. Perhaps I should call this the coniferous calm before the studious storm.

(Click for higher res versions.)

Just to prove that I was actually there…

Last time I posted I talked about your prayers…but tonight I am thinking about mine.

This has been a whirlwind week, with at least 13 hours of study each day, and sometimes much more. I’m in a strange place, working my butt off in pursuit of a goal that is very much not guaranteed. It is entirely possible that all this work could go for naught, and that really, really bugs me.

For a long time, I’ve had a very specific prayer when facing uncertainties like this, though. And as painful as it is to pray - because I really mean it - I find myself turning to it again this week. It’s a simple prayer, and it goes something like this: “Lord, if failing this test would bring You more glory, then let me fail. And if I pass, let that shed all the honor and glory on to You.”

There is a strange peace that comes with praying that painful prayer. Somehow, genuinely desiring God’s glory, and working hard for that purpose, is freeing. It helps that I truly believe that He can glorify Himself through my failure, should He so choose.

And while I hope more than I can say that His glory would be more served by my success, that is truly my prayer.

Not much time to post…15 hours of study yesterday, and we’re on track for that again today, but it has been very valuable. At any rate, here’s my current life in a picture.

I have reached that strange place in life where jumping on a plane and traveling from one side of the country to the other is just something that you do. I’m not sure whether that is good or bad, but regardless, I’m now ensconced in Oakland.

(Sidebar: It was outrageously fun to wear my Chargers cap on the flight from Denver to Oakland. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.)

But even when the idea of jumping from one coast to the other is not a big deal, I had a wonderful time in Virginia with both friends and family. Breaking up bar study with fellowship makes it much more pleasant.

This week’s plan is, from what I am told, is three simulated bar exams in six days. All fellowship will be with essays, MBEs, and performance tests. We’ll be busy.

And as always, your prayers are very much appreciated.

There comes a day in every man’s life when he looks back on the past and realizes its value on the present, when past traditions long abandoned are resurrected into glorious light only magnified by the passage of time. It is on such a day that our hero has now embarked, and as he assayed the traditional feast before him, he could not help but remember the wisdom that he had been taught: “And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your Taco Bell coffee, and to your coffee law books…”

–From A Pointless Oral History of One of Mankind’s Dimmest Luminaries

Back when I lived in Northern Virginia, one of my favorite food-related activities was to grab a trusted friend and head to Taco Bell for a two-man, Grande Meal eating show. (And yes, adding the Nachos BellGrande and the Mexican Pizza were musts.)

I will freely admit that it is a hard task to find a friend who is willing to trust you enough to subject his entire digestive system to the bombardment of such a feast, and it is for that reason that I have not attempted this glorious tradition since leaving Northern Virginian climes.

Today I was highly gratified to learn that I have not lost my touch. The Grande Meal still quakes before me…and quakes within me.

And as I add a big cup of coffee to the dozen pounds of I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-Beef running through my system, I am amazed at what bar study can do to a man.

It must be admitted–and I will do so freely–that the study of law for the purposes of passing the bar is a long, tedious, and rather inane process. There is not much that provides actual entertainment in the midst of the arcane rules and rote memorization.

I therefore take a break from my studies to point out a few of the more successful entertainment attempts emanating from law school and such.

Hearsay Exceptions via Lego

US v. Batson

Some farmers from Gaines had a plan.
It amounted to quite a big scam.
But the payments for cotton
began to smell rotten.
Twas a mugging of poor Uncle Sam.
The ASCS and its crew
uncovered this fraudulent stew.
After quite a few hearings,
the end is now nearing–
It awaits our judicial review.

Bradshaw v. Unity Marine

Before proceeding further, the Court notes that this case involves two extremely likable lawyers, who have together delivered some of the most amateurish pleadings ever to cross the hallowed causeway into Galveston, an effort which leads the Court to surmise but one plausible explanation. Both attorneys have obviously entered into a secret pact - complete with hats, handshakes and cryptic words - to draft their pleadings entirely in crayon on the back sides of gravy-stained paper place mats, in the hope that the Court would be so charmed by their child-like efforts that their utter dearth of legal authorities in their briefing would go unnoticed. Whatever actually occurred, the Court is now faced with the daunting task of deciphering their submissions.

The Gross Income Song

Buzzwords

Writing a legal essay successfully often requires remembering buzzwords. For that reason, I have been working to remember all those buzzwords in preparation for spitting them out on an exam. Here’s a starting list–more are welcome in comments!

“Common Nucleus of Operative Fact” (CivPro)

“Res Gestae” (CrimLaw)

“Reasonable and Articulable Suspicion” (CrimPro)

“Res Ipsa Loquitur” (Torts)

“Essential to Fulfill a Compelling Government Interest” (ConLaw)

“Foreseeable Zone of Danger” (Torts)

“Benefit of the Bargain” (Contracts)

“Capable of Repetition, Yet Evading Review” (ConLaw)

“Fruit of the Poisonous Tree” (CrimPro)

“Under Belief of Impending Death” (Evidence)

“Gravemen of the Injury” (Contracts)

“Pretermitted Heir” (Wills)