December 7, 2011

Watching lawyer movies and shows is just the same as studying, right?  in line with my usual finals strategy, I studied until about mid-afternoon today, then took the rest of the day to get caught up on the rest of my life:  groceries, laundry, cleaning, and the like.  To cap off the evening, we watched The Lincoln Lawyer, starring Texas' own Matthew McConaughey.  Besides spending the movie convincing myself McConaughey could walk into any court in Texas and win himself a verdict, just based on his charm and lawyer experience in acting, I also tried to convince myself the time was well spent in light of my impending conflict of laws exam.  I think it may have been a better attempt had the impending exam been one in evidence (An acquittal based on hearsay? Really?).  Regardless, not a bad way to relax the evening before a four-hour, early morning exam on one of the most confusing topics in law.  Thank you Mr. McConaughey; it is much appreciated.

December 6, 2011

Conflict of laws was the hardest course of the semester.  It's intricate, intimidating, and we were held to a high standard by our professor.  Believing my professor would likely best know how to prepare for his own exam, I took his advice and studied by working through his past exams, most recent first.  So, today I made my way through a handful of conflict of law exams, grappling with interest analysis, territorial jurisdiction, the effect of the Defense of Marriage Act on the states' Full Faith and Credit obligation, among other topics.  One day into going through these exams, I can see why the advice would be well taken:  if you do each exam, it is incredibly easy to predict the exact questions that will be asked on the final exam.  As prepared as I might be for the exam, though, I am pretty burnt out on conflict of laws already.  One more day until the exam, one more day of studying.  Onward . . . 

December 5, 2011

Every single year, when it comes time to order the next year's planner, I get caught up in the new editions, new planner styles, and all of the color and size options.  Perhaps it is the excitement of ordering a new planner (Dorkville, Population: me), but I can never content myself with deciding on the tried-and-true black, large, hardback, horizontal weekly planner.  After about half an hour or so of perusing, however, I did decide on my go-to and ordered it just in time for the new year.  As 2012 will be an interesting and busy year, my planner can't get here soon enough; I already have plenty of dates to note:  graduation, the bar exam, my bar trip (fingers crossed, of course), the start of work, bar results, and, pending those bar results, the swearing in ceremony, among plenty of other celebrations, birthdays, and family gatherings unmarred by the stress of final exams.  2012, I welcome you with open arms!