Last Week of Law School
In case you weren’t sure if this was a happy vibe or sad vibe
We have ARRIVED at May 1, 2022 and I graduate in 26 days.
Holy.
cow.
By this Friday, I’ll be done with Law School Stuff forever (assuming I pass my classes - but at this point, I don’t think they want me sticking around much longer).
Here’s a quick look at how everything is wrapping up!
LAST CLASS
Was Friday, April 12 -
Military Law until 12:30. It was very odd to walk off campus and know I’ll never sit in another class or get another cold call.
Odd, but not bad. I took a selfie to capture the magic.
LAST FINAL
I submitted my last final last Thursday, an 8-hour monstrosity for Federal Courts. I truly meant to post a traditional “help me study for my exam via the blog” post last weekend but just ran out of time. Plus, fed courts is just…hard to make sound interesting.
But in a nutshell, these are the types of questions I’ve had rattling around my lil brain for the entire semester (and w/a general sense of panic on Thursday):
Does a federal court have jurisdiction over this case or should it be in state court?
If Congress took AWAY the federal court’s jurisdiction, was that proper? Or too much?
Does the person bringing the lawsuit have standing to do that? And, related…how the heck do you define standing???
What law governs here? State, federal, federal common law? A combo?
Can you sue the federal government? (no) What about federal employees? (sometimes)
Sovereign immunity? Total vs. qualified immunity?
What does the Constitution, Article III have to say about it (it being WHATEVER you’re looking at).
I don’t think my final was particularly dazzling, but I’m mostly relieved that it’s behind me.
LAST COURT APPEARANCE
My last court date was a week ago Monday and it went swimmingly! It was my biggest hearing yet, something called a motion to suppress; I argued that my client made statements in response to police interrogation that violated his constitutional rights and, as a result, those statements could not be used against him at trial.
Long story short, I won. I didn’t have a Chutney break through moment (although I’ll keep living for that, don’t worry) but I got some great nuggets from cross examination, my closing argument went well, and - most importantly - my client was PUMPED. It was a great way to wrap up a challenging and amazing experience.
LAST PAPER
You know alllllllllll about this one. And no, she’s still not done. See above 😬.
The paper is due Friday but I’ve been hunkered down all weekend to finish it before then. She’s taken even more turns since my last post, but I’m getting close to a finished product and answering some questions that (I hope) are worth the Judges’ time. It’s my last truly concentrated effort before school is done forever and that part just doesn’t seem real.
LAST LAW SCHOOL EVENT
Excluding the grad festivities, of course! In two weeks my class will do one final Boat Cruise - it’s quite symbolic, as we kicked off 1L with a similar event. And you know I’ll never turn down a formal event.
But impromptu house parties and marg sessions have started to spring up left and right, and I just have to say - I’m here for it.
Bar studying has to start eventually but you only get your JD once, right?!
