Happy Halloween!

I’m at home, working on my journal note, when everyone I know is out club hopping.  Blah…

But Happy Halloween everyone!

For those of you interested I was weired out by these vintage Halloween photos over at BuzzFeed.  Weird…

Rudeness

Please, allow me to rant.

Dear 1ls,

You do not have the right to be rude to other students you may not know.  When someone asks an open question and you choose to respond with an incomplete answer–DO NOT COME BACK AND TELL ME THAT I WAS THE RUDE ONE.  You should have known that your answer was incomplete in the first place and thus should have expected that I may point that out to you in response.

Further, you got into law school–big freaking deal.  Now you have to start acting professional which includes DEALING WITH CONFLICT.  FOR THE LOVE OF BABY JESUS! YOU ARE ENTERING A FIELD WHERE YOU DEAL WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S CONFLICT.  And dealing with conflict does not mean just passing off someone’s comments as being rude.

Also, you should be aware that people have different types of communication styles–so don’t take it so personally.

Thanks

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Women in Law Wednesday

• Female Partners are not Making it rain: According to a recent survey by the National Association of Women Lawyers 46% of big firms have no women at all among their top 10 rainmakers.  (FYI-A rainmaker is someone able to attract clients and profits.) Unfortunate indeed!
• Polygamy and the Law: A trial I wish I had the time to follow as it fascinates me.  And yes, I watch Big Love and no, I am not Mormon.
• Court finds e-mails admissible in a sexual harassment suit despite Rape Shield Rule:  A review of a recent Pennsylvania case where e-mails are admitted to show the sexual harassment victim also engaged in sexual innuendos.  The author of the post makes a great argument, which I agree with, on why the e-mails shouldn’t have been admitted.
• Halloween Costume comes back to haunt a woman in a sexual harrassment suit:  Yes, take note ladies!   We all know that Halloween brings out the risque dressing in us–apparently.

Wow, two sexual harrassment suits cited for a Wednesday!

How much do law students really study?

TaxProf Blog has a post up on the number of hours law students study at various law schools. As both a skeptic and one trained in statistics I wouldn’t rely on the data, but it is interesting none the less.

I think I study about four hours a day and write about two-three hours a day.  You?

Women in Law Wednesday

• Telling Stories Out of Court ed. by Ruth O’Brien: explores women and workplace discrimination and sounds worth the read.  I somewhat fear the day I’ll be a full-time employee again due to subtle sexual harrassment and discrimination.  I also have an appreciation for drawing up women’s experiences outside the court to reflect what may not make it INTO or TO court.
• Miss California’s Breast Offered Into Evidence:  Seriously?  While her breasts cannot be literally admitted into evidence it does present an interesting thought as her breasts are up for scrutiny.  I’m not necessarily surprised as women have been treated as commodities longer than I have been alive.
• An IRAC for Sex?:  Again, not surprising however it seems the attention this craigslist ad has been receiving is mainly because it was written by a woman and reminds me of conversations I’ve had regarding the notion that women go to law school because they failed to obtain their “Mrs.” degree as an undergraduate.
• Gender, Pregnancy, Prison: Is this an example of gender discrimination? This fascinated me and I wish I had time to read the ACLU’s amicus brief.  Thoughts?

Thoughts on any of these?

Reality Bites

I would say that my law school has several social events every week and weekend, which is great.  I never have to make plans because plans are always made for me if I want it that way.  Lately, it seems like there is too much going on and by too much I mean that I never get to go because my plate is already overflowing.

So, over the weekend a friend asked me if I was going to Friday night’s event.  I said no because I had a paper due that day and mock trial practice the next day.  Sounds fair.  I’m trying to keep my ducks in a row and on top of many projects.  The next day this same friend asked if I was going to another event to which I again said no because I needed to write a rough draft of a direct examination that was due Monday.  She asked what a direct examination was so I explained, and then tried to tell her that writing questions isn’t the easiest thing to do.  She just looked at me like I was strange and almost as if she didn’t buy that a direct examination would take me that long.  I couldn’t help but feel she was judging me for not going out and partying it up. I just wanted to point out that some people have more work to do than others which means weekends become pockets of productivity.

While I understand that some people develop more of a social life in law school than they did as undergraduates I’d just like to remind those same people every now and then that others have work to do–so don’t take it personally and don’t label me anti-social.   Trust me, if I didn’t have a brief, a methods paper, a note outline, class reading, and mock trial practice I’m pretty sure I be out too.

Know what I’m saying?

The Scare

My Halloween fright came early this year.  At first I thought I wouldn’t mention it but after hearing how another blogger’s father had a heart attack I thought I should.

My roommate had a heart attack last week.

He, like many others, didn’t think he was having a heart attack but wanted to tell us that he wasn’t feeling well.  I’m so glad that he did because all the symptoms one supposedly has while experiencing a heart attack were there.  Because I knew that we didn’t have any aspirin in the house I quickly had J run to the store to get some while I watched the roomie.  Roomie was worried because as a student without health insurance he didn’t know what he should do.  Would it pass?  Was it essential to run to the ER?  How much would this cost?  I decided to call 911 because I was scared, didn’t know what I should do, and felt that the roomie was being stubborn in ways.  The operator had me give him an aspirin and have him chew it.  The medics arrived and he seemed to be better after the aspirin so he turned down the offer to go to the hospital.

I’m glad everything went smoothly and that he was feeling better, but I’m nervous that it could happen again.  I thought having depression my first year of law school was bad, but I suppose surviving a heart attack takes the cake.

Now I carry aspirin with me.  And I know to have someone chew it.

Yes, law school is tough.

Friday Flit: This Haunts for You

Every just want to re-post someone else’s post?  That is what I want to do today.

My friend Roz loves, loves, LOVES Halloween.  And because I stay far away from creepy crawling messes* I decided to steal her post on suggestions to watch to warm up for Halloween.

So This Haunts for You!

* My only exception is Shaun of the Dead and now Zombieland.  Humor takes precedent over fear.

In which I laugh at myself

The other day I googled “I hate law school” and noticed that one of my blog posts came up as a result.

I just laughed.

However, as much as I dislike it for the moment there are bright spots throughout the days.

Women in Law Wednesday

Happy Hump Day! Welcome to Women in law Wednesday.  A post dedicated to news, cases, potential suits, and studies involving women and law.  Have suggestions ?  Please comment!

• Shackling Pregnant Prisoners in Labor Found to be Cruel: Seems like common sense to me, however the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Cir. recently held in Nelson v. Norris that forcing a woman to endue labor with her legs shackled to the hospital bed constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.  In some ways this case is historic however as Rachel points out, “five of the eleven circuit court judges dissented, mak[ing] clear both how far we have come and how far we still have to go to ensure the civil and human rights of all pregnant women (the dissent in Friday’s opinion saw no “clearly established” constitutional violations in shackling Ms. Nelson during labor.)”  Want more?  Want YouTube more?
• Haddad v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.:  Should punitive damages be allowed in gender discrimination suits? The answer is now yes, but as usual, it depends.
• Is Gender Fatigue Keeping You from Discussing Discrimination at Work?:  Interesting article that discusses how we address gender discrimination at work when people are so sick of talking about feminism.
• The Constitution and Sexuality:  For all those out there who believe that we have come so far as a society I urge you to reconsider.  Unfortunate.
• An interesting child custody case:  Update on a woman who lost custody of her son after her judge saw photos of her participating in a SubGenius holiday.  SubGenius is an adult-rated parody of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.  Interesting…
• Judging Women: An interesting study comparing male and female judges using empirical and anecdotal methods.
• No More Rape By Contract!:   The Franken amendment withholds contracts from defense contractors “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.”  Good work Franken!
• New Oklahoma Abortion Law Requires Online Disclosure:  Excuse me?  Seriously?  What the hell!