Marbury v. Madison

A Constitutional Law Landmark Case that helped establish Judicial Review and that Congress cannot tell the Supreme Court how to decide cases.  C-SPAN did a 90 minute show on Marbury v. Madison.

Seeing the original writing and watching the show really helps you understand this case, more so than just reading the case in a casebook.
PBS and The History Channel also have some good background and explanations on why this case is important.

Passing the Bar Exam

I have just gotten the letter that confirms that I have passed the bar exam.  I was asked by a friend who has yet to take it for some advice.
Here is what I immediately thought of:
1. Do at least 1 essay a day AND at least 10-20 multiple practice questions a day.
2. Read the answers to the multiples, both the right answer and why other choices were wrong.
3. Use a review program, and pay attention to their tips/tricks to memorize information and state specific rules.
4. As you get closer (like 3 weeks) do at least 2 essays a day AND 40 multiple choice questions a day. You are building stamina.
5. If you have the chance to do mock exams - do them and follow the time constraints your state will use.
6. It is true that you should do every essay and multiple you can get your hands on, it is practice and reading the answers will help you.
7. Pace yourself, it is a marathon not a sprint.  Figure out what you need to do and how much time you need to do it.  Then spread it out so you get everything in a week to two weeks before the exam and spend that extra time on what you feel weakest in.
8. The day before the exam only do multiple choice and no more than 50 practice questions.
9. DO your best on the exam, you learned it in law school or during the review, you just need to remember it.

Graduation

Graduation is finally here.
Four years ago I started this journey and it has been so time consuming, emotionally consuming, and physically exhausting.  However, I could not have been more thankful for what I went through, and that I have made it through this.  I don't know what my future hold, but I am thankful that I decided to make this change in my life and battled through this.  I am thankful for my friends and family that have stood by me, encouraged me, and been there even when I couldn't stand myself.

I am getting ready to graduate tomorrow, and I am starting to prepare for the bar examination.  This blog was meant to help me record my experiences, but I quickly realized that working full-time, and doing a joint degree meant the daily logs I hoped for would not happen.  I am hopeful that soon I will be able to turn this blog into a tips, hints, strategies, and advice page for those considering going to law school and those going through it.

I look forward to the new challenges that my life will hold, whatever they may be.

Some Interesting Cyberbullying Cases

Cyberbullying cases are going to be on the rise.  States are trying to figure out how to protect children and  victims of crimes/domestic abuse/stalking.  Several states have made attempts at putting statutes into effect on this matter.  Below are cases that address these statutes, if I find a statute that has been upheld or not challenged I will add it.
Please note this is a working document, and laws and cases change. These cases and statutes may be appealed or overturned, so you need to check before citing these cases or relying on them.

New York:
People v. Marquan, 24 N.Y. 3d 1 (2014)  - A high school student anonymously posted sexual information and photographs of fellow classmates.
Justia  NY Courts
Articles and reviews/summaries of the cases:
Reuters article  NYCLU article

Some interesting First amendment cases based on celebrities

The Case revolving George Carlin's "filthy words" routine from 1973.

FCC v. Pacifica Foundations, 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
Justia  Findlaw  CaseBriefs

The case about the "wardrobe malfunction" Janet Jackson had at her Super Bowl Halftime Performance
FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. (2012)


 Supreme Court 


The Case about Napster, the music sharing company, that the band Metallica was involved with.
Justia  CaseText

Best $200 to spend in law school

Law School is expensive, there is no way around it.

However, I would like to give this piece of advice to all incoming law school students:
Spend the $100 to lock in the Barbri price and the other $100 to lock in or get the Kaplan 1st year lectures and questions.  And do this in your first semester of law school
You should do this for a few reasons
1. you lock in prices (they only go up, so locking in the price your sooner is better).
2. you get access to lectures and questions to help you study for your 1L classes
3. after you get access to both for the 1L classes you can better figure out which lectures are better suited to your learning style and which question bank helps you more.
****side note you can get the Kaplan question bank for the bar exam for several hundred dollars if you go with Barbi, and the more practice questions the better you will be for the bar****
4. the outlines each company has helps you figure out how to do outlines for your first year courses
5. They offer free MPRE courses so it gives you more notice on which one would be better to help you study
6. you need to hear the information repeatedly and these lectures are on-demand.

My advice, spend the $200, and get access to both to lock in prices and help you figure out how you want to spend your bar prep class money.

Would I do it over again?

I try not to look back and regret things in my life or do the "would of" "could of" "should of" and "what if" analysis, but I recently had to.  A very good friend asked the question if I had to do it all over again would I go to law school full-time or part-time (and would I even go)?  Since she was asking for advice for a family member I had to really think about what advice I would give the me from 4 years ago.
I came the the conclusion that not only would I do it again, I would do it again with only changing a few things.  I would work full-time and go to law school part-time at night.  I know this means I have had almost a non-existent social life, I have had no serious relationships in the last four years, I have gained weight, lost weight, had anxiety attacks, and missed out on many family events.  Even knowing everything that I missed out on, and not knowing what my future hold, I would do it all over again.  The only thing I would change is knowing how to study for law school - I am better able to study for exams now than I was when I first started.  I know the difference now in a law school exam compared to a graduate level final, a law school paper compared to any other type of writing you may have done in your academic career.
I have really thought about this, and not only would I do it over the same way (just knowing how to study better) I would encourage other people to work full-time and go to law school in the evening.
Here are a few reasons why:

1. I am better at time management now than I was four years ago, and better than the majority of law school students who went full-time and did not work.  My classmates and I have had to juggle working full-time jobs and being almost full-time law school students.  Trust me we can prioritize and figure out time management better than most - it is how we have survived the last few years.
2. Prioritizing life has made me really see what is important.  When you have to prioritize you realize the "A" is not worth giving up family events.  I may not have been able to stay for the entire party, but I got there.  I may have been reading a casebook on the beach or in the stands of a NASCAR race, but I was able to spend time and make memories with family and friends.
3. Stress is now relative - the stress of getting everything done has become such a normal part of my day, that when I enter the practice of law full-time the panic attacks and feelings of being overwhelmed will not break me.  I made if four years with higher than average stress levels and managed somehow, I can find a way to make it work for me in the future.
4. The Type A personality has pushed me through, and while I may have been teased for it when I was younger, that personality has helped me stay in law school and not quit my job or law school.  However, I have also learned from my Type B personality friends that the balance we all need is especially important to help put things in perspective and prioritize.  Many of my classmates quit or stopped working so they could attend law school only.  The fact that I stayed with this for four years without breaking means nothing will ever deter me from achieving any goal I set for myself or anything I want to do in life.  If I ever think something is too hard, I just have to remember these last four years and I will see that nothing will stop me or get in my way.
5. I have grown and I have changed.  I may have been happy and content without ever having gone to law school, but the changes I have seen in me and in how I view the world I would not change.  I think, no I know, that the biggest change is how I view the world.  I was an optimistic person who would rather be in denial than face some of the world's cruelest parts of humanity.  Law school has helped me see the good and the bad and how it is in a constant state of flux and the people who step up are the ones who shift the tide.  I have had to come face to face with that reality and because of that I think about situations and analyze them differently now than I did four years ago.
6. I grew as a person, and made friends.  As odd as that is, it is not something that should be taken lightly.  

If you are thinking about going to law school, I highly recommend that you work full-time and go to law school part-time.  You will really see just how badly you want to be a lawyer, you will actually understand your clients better (because you have work experience out side of just being a lawyer), and you will realize that if you can do this you can do anything you set your mind to.