As such, after my first year, here are the areas of law that I’m planning on studying.  I assume my first year will be dedicated to the predetermined collection of classes like Torts and Contracts.  And I’m also open to the idea that a professor will inspire me to care about an aspect of law that I’m currently not even aware of.  However, here are the four areas of interest that I’ll be trying to focus on when I get to law school.

• Family Law: Right now, I think I’d like to be an adoption lawyer helping gay couples and single men navigate the agencies.  As such, I figure I should take classes like Family Law, Children and the Law, Divorce Law, the Law and Woman’s Studies, and the Law and Sexual Orientation.
• Health Care Law: Health care is one of those industries that will be very difficult to outsource oversees.  (I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it’ll be hard.)  I have a few years of work experience in the medical field, so I think this could be fun.  Someone’s always going to want to sue a doctor, and hospitals are always going to want to not get sued.  Classes I’d be interested in taking include Health Care Law, Disability Law, Elder Law, Employment Discrimination Law, Insurance Law, Labor Law (yay Nurses’ Unions!), Medical Law, Malpractice, and Law, Society and Psychiatry.
• Fun and Funky: Not every class needs to be for a reason.  Maybe it just sounds like it would be fun and interesting to think about.  Classes like Admiralty, Computer Law, Intellectual Property, Entertainment Law, Islamic Law, Jurisprudence, and Mass Media Law.
• Get a Job: The opposite of Fun and Funky.  Sometimes, you have to get a job.  As such, there are classes I’m planning on taking so I can hang a shingle or pay some bills.  These classes include Administrative Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Bankruptcy, Business Planning, Construction Law, Contract Drafting, Corporations, Estate Planning, Intellectual Property, Interviewing and Counseling, Law Office Management, Negotiation, and Wills and Trusts.

I’ve left out all the seminars that sound interesting, because I know those change from year to year, and I’ve also left out a few classes that would be somewhat indicative of what school I’m referring to when I say “The University of Flawging.”  Hopefully, I can balance these four areas, though I’m sure there’ll be other factors.  Amazing professors, interesting clinics, and scheduling conflicts, along with a plethora of factors I can’t even conceive of.

Take the Canadian case over common law “divorce.”  How is the law supposed to govern the “contract” of marriage when there’s no longer any stigma against not entering into that contract.  I think Mindelle Jacobs makes a good point when she says “One of these years, there may be no difference, legally, between couples who marry and those who simply shack up.”  I think she’s right.  But I think the fun part is going to be the road between then, where there’s no difference, and now, when there’s a huge difference.

Take, for instance, alimony.  As I understand it, if Spouse A divorces Spouse B, and is required to pay Spouse B alimony, Spouse A does so until Spouse B remarries (or for a set amount of time).  BUT.  Those alimony laws were written during a period where it was socially unacceptable for Spouse B to move in with Paramour C.  If Spouse B fell in love with Paramour C, then Spouse B would remarry, losing the alimony.  But in today’s libertine legal world, Spouse B can move in with Paramour C, without marrying, and without losing the benefits of Spouse A’s alimony, while retaining all the benefits of cohabitation with Paramour C.  Not, I would imagine, what the drafters of the laws intended.

These quirky intersections between law and society are one of the major reasons I’m looking forward to taking lots of classes on Family Law.

Post Punk, Ergo Propter Punk

Well, I was accepted to the East Coast Mid-Range Private University.  That’s kinda a big deal.  At least, big enough to merit a post on my pre-blawg.

I wasn’t that surprised (numerous emails with the Office o’ Admissions had confirmed that this was a nearly done result).  But it’s nice to have a packet.

I also got the financial budget.  The Office o’ Financial Aid is planning on it costing 48K and change a year to go.  Sweet baby Jeebus.

For the record, the East Coast Mid-Range Private University (herein referred as University of Flawging) is currently where I’m planning on going.  It’s kinda where I’ve been planning on going to law school since I was planning on going to law school.  It’s not a top-tier institution, but that’s not what I wanted.  I couldn’t break Top 14, but I could break Top 40 if I tried.  I don’t want to try.

I went to a premier institution for undergraduate.  About as respectable as one could ask for.  And I drank and partied and took my FIFA team to the World Cup.  I didn’t study, and I graduated with a mediocre GPA.  All I’ve got going for me is one stellar LSAT.  No relationships with professors, no organizations, nothing.  So, I decided I’d rather go to a school where I can make a name for myself.  (No doubt about it – University of Flawging is a reputable institution with a great employment track record.)  I’m taking this seriously – I’m planning on kicking ass, and taking names (but not gunning).  I’ve decided I’d rather be Law Review Editor at a middle tier than a 50th percentile nothing in the top tier.  Every mentor I have has told me this is a wise choice.

Now, time to enjoy my last months as a 0L.  I’ll save you, Romin! I promise!

I’m not even in law school yet, and bullcrap like this really pisses me off.  Do we really live in a country where this happens and nobody bats an eye?

My favorite quotation is from Mayor James Valley, who says:

The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution.

How does a reporter not follow up on that statement?  I mean, you don’t have to have a J.D. to understand that infringing on constitutional rights is ipso facto a violation of the Constitution.

I’m sure this is only going to get worse the more I learn about the law.  I’m going to have to start drinking again.*

I’d like to remind everybody: They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin

(* I never stopped.)

It is not, not yet. See, I’ve been accepted for the Fall of ’09, so I’ve got a bit of time. More time than inspiration, actually. I’ll post here, to fill up with some backlog (backlawg?) of stuff, so that come ’09, when I start spreading the word of my appearance on the internet, I’ll have some stuff for visitors to read. Past experience has taught me that no matter how good your quality, people want at least a little quantity when they show up to your site.

So, Flawged. It’s a blawg. Obviously. And it’s about my upcoming attempt to tackle law school. When something gets blogged, and the blogger is a lawyer, it’s been blawged. And when a student gets flogged, and the flogger is a law prof, well… you get the idea.

I like to think of my journey through law school as an example of the Irresistible force paradox – law school is known for turning aspiring students into miserable humps of slag. And I’m pretty unflappable. I’m a happy guy. I’m sure that, objectively, it makes sense for me to say that law school is going to destroy me. But we’ll see. I think I can take it. I don’t get bummed. I went to one of the most rigorous undergraduate institutions in the country. And I’m not bragging, it’s just a fact. And I’m not going to law school fresh out – I’ve got a wee bit of perspective. I took a few years off to travel and work in the real world and try some other aspirations, to make sure that being a lawyer is what I really want to do. And you know what? It is. I’m so pumped, I can’t stand it. I’m not scared (though I should be), I’m not worried about the job market (though I should be), and I’m not frustrated I’m not going to one of the Top 14* (though I should be). I’m just really, really optimistic.

Which is why I’m doomed to get flawged.

(* What kind of arbitrary number is 14?)