Posted by TDot on Jul 17, 2011 in
Fail Hey everybody! 
I hope all of you have had an amazing weekend! The crush of work I mentioned in my last entry is finally finished, so I’ve spent the past couple days reflecting on life, relaxing, and now working on a leadership development presentation for my undergraduate colleagues in the N.C. Central University Student Government.
And of course taking a break to throw one of these posts together 
It’s no secret that I’m generally not a fan of Contracts (see here and here and here if you don’t know why). The concepts aren’t exactly difficult, I’m just not aware of any field of law where people have gone to greater lengths to defile the meaning of perfectly functional English words.
Not even Capt. Picard approves of these Ks
Now most legal documents seem to have taken the old adage of “Don’t use a 10-cent word when a 5-cent word will do” and replaced it with “Don’t use a 10-cent word when an identical or substantially similar conveyance of meaning is articulable through the concurrent deployment of at least, but not limited to, a half-dozen or more $2 locutions.” 
So this entry is dedicated to those documents and to the lawyers billing by the word who wrote them.
I’ve picked a quartet of clauses from actual contracts that have crossed my desk over the past few months for your reading pleasure, and underlined the language that irks me…
Honorable Mention:
This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of [RandomState], without reference to its conflict of laws principles.
Now I realize that this underlined snippet is actually designed to serve a purpose. Those of you who paid attention in CivPro might recognize this entire clause as a “choice of law” provision, indicating which state’s laws the parties want to use in enforcing the contract. And some of those states have enacted statutes — their “conflict of laws principles” — that say if a cause of action arises in another state, that other state’s laws should govern the conflict.
So, hypothetically, if a contract between a buyer in North Carolina and a seller in Virginia is construed under North Carolina law, but something happens in Virginia such that the seller defaults and the buyer files suit, a judge interpreting the contract might say “Construing this contract under North Carolina law, since this default happened in Virginia and North Carolina’s conflict of laws provisions say a contract must be governed by the law of the state giving rise to the cause of action, the Virginia law applies to this suit.” The underlined text would, theoretically at least, prevent that from happening.
[Note that I don't actually know if what would actually happen in that particular hypothetical, I'm just trying to come up with a rational explanation for the underlined verbiage ]
Then why, assuming this language really does serve a purpose, did it get included in my list?
Because one of the cardinal principles of contract interpretation is construing the contract in a way that effects the intent of the parties. It’s evident from including a choice of law provision in the first place that the parties wanted it governed by the law of the chosen state. For either party to then use the chosen state’s conflict of laws principles to wedge their way under the aegis of a different state’s laws would seem (to my feeble mind at least) to frustrate the signatories’ intent.
***
Third Place:
Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, if any confidential information is required to be disclosed pursuant to an order of a governmental agency or by operation of law, the receiving party shall be permitted to disclose such confidential information in accordance with the order or law. Prior to the disclosure the receiving party shall, unless prohibited by law, give the disclosing party reasonable advance notice to contest the disclosure.
Is there any kind of notice “[p]rior to the disclosure” that would not be “advance notice”?
Is there any kind of “advance notice” to contest a disclosure that could happen after “[p]rior to the disclosure”?
Unless the meaning of those basic words has changed since I last took an English class, the answer to both questions is “no.” The redundancy is unnecessary surplusage.
***
Second Place:
In the event of a breach of this Agreement, [OurCo] may demand from [YourCo] the sum of One-Hundred Thousand U.S. Dollars ($100,000.00) as liquidated damages and as reimbursement for expenses incurred and estimated to be incurred by [OurCo], which [YourCo] agrees to pay to [OurCo] within five (5) business days of the demand by [OurCo].
This one evidently originated in the Legal Department of a company that really likes seeing its name in print 
This type of “break fee” provision is common in many contracts, designed to incentivize a party to avoid breaching the agreement. It’s obvious from the first sentence that the ability to demand payment in this clause belongs to OurCo, so the recitation of the rationale (“reimbursement for expenses…” blah blah blah) doesn’t need the “by OurCo” reference. Neither does the last line, since nothing in this clause gives YourCo the ability to make such a demand; we’re only talking about OurCo’s demand here.
And if OurCo is making the demand, why require in the contract that YourCo must “pay [it] to OurCo”? Maybe OurCo’s finance guys want YourCo to pay the money to some random charity so it’s not reflected as income on OurCo’s balance sheet.
Lots of redundancy all around… ::smh::
***
Before getting into our First Place winner, I have to confess up front that I bear some responsibility for any continued longevity this provision now has — I alphabetized the original and removed some of its duplicate listings.
First Place:
“Document” means a physical embodiment of information or ideas of any kind or nature, including items that are handwritten, printed, mimeographed, lithographed, duplicated, typed, or contained in a graphic, photographic, film, video, tape or other electronic recording. Examples of documents include, but are not limited to: accounts, affidavits, analyses, answers to questionnaires, appointment books, balance sheets, bills, blueprints, book entries, books, cables, calculations, catalogs, charts, checks, computer files, computer logs, computer printouts, computer programs, contracts, correspondence, data, deeds, deposit slips, desk calendars, diagrams, diaries, drafts, drawings, emails, evaluations, expense reports, films, forms, formulas, graphs, income and/or investment statements, indexes, instructions, invoices, journals, ledgers, letters, license agreements, lists, logs, magnetic tapes and cards, manuals, maps, memoranda, microfilms, minutes, money orders, newspaper articles or clippings, notations, notes, offers, opinions, pamphlets, papers, periodicals, photographs, plans, publications, punch cards, purchase orders, questionnaires, receipts, records, renderings, reports, schedules, sheets, specifications, statements, statistical records, studies, summaries, surveys, tabulations, tax returns, telegrams, telex messages, text messages of any kind (including AIM, ICQ, MMS and SMS), transcripts, vouchers, warranties, web pages, websites, work papers, and worksheets. Documents also include, but are not limited to, reports and recordings of (i) telephone or other conversations, (ii) interviews or personal conversations, (iii) conferences, or (iv) committee meetings or other meetings, in addition to all other records or information kept by electronic, photographic, mechanical or other means, and things similar to any of the foregoing, however denominated.
This one actually takes up an entire page once it’s put in 12pt Times New Roman and doubled-spaced 
For comparison, Black’s Law Dictionary defines a “document” as “Something tangible on which words, symbols, or marks are recorded.”
And Merriam-Webster’s goes with “a piece of written, printed, or electronic matter that provides information or evidence or that serves as an official record.”
Neither apparently feels it necessary to provide a page’s worth of examples.
—===—
Have a good night y’all! 
Tags: 3L, ::facepalm::, CivPro, 雅雅, Ks, SG, Son of TDot
Posted by TDot on Feb 14, 2011 in
NotFail Good evening y’all
As law:/dev/null exhibited the occasional sign of life over the past couple weeks, I had a trio of people ask me the same question: aside from my obvious elation at the ending GPA, how did my individual classes turn out during 2L Fall?
I’ve been meaning to post an entry explaining exactly that… but then realized I never gave y’all a final update on 1L Spring, or any update at all on 1L Summer
So to properly bolster my reputation of being totally open about my law school grades, I’ve copy/pasted my previous Spring grades entry and revised it with the exam info The textual updates are [bracketed], bolded, and preceded by “Update:” for readability.
I’ll post a separate entry on summer school grades some time this week, and then 2L Fall grades after that — I thought about rolling all that info into this one entry, but considering I haven’t managed to string 3 consecutive entries together for awhile now I wanted to make sure I’ve got easily-editable stuff in the queue
Without further ado…
********************
1L SPRING REVISITED
********************
[Everything below is a copy/paste from this entry except for the updates and the final exam grades. You've been forewarned, so any resulting confusion is your own fault! 
]
====================
CIVIL PROCEDURE II
====================
MDG switched things up from the usual final, giving us a set of multiples but then providing documents from a mock court case to review for the essay. Our objective was to review the documents and craft a letter to the client discussing the numerous FRCP-related concerns that existed.
It was during that portion of the exam that I stopped watching the clock and had time called before I got anywhere near finishing it
CivPro II Final Exam Grades
The multiples were a challenge, with MDG describing them as “nuanced” and mentioning that even a fellow CivPro instructor missed a couple. The highest correct was 15 out of 20 multiples (75%) with the class average at 12 (60%) — high enough to pass the Bar, which is definitely a good thing given the difficulty.
The chart to the right shows how the final exam grades broke down. There was a +19-point curve.
My final grade for the course turned out slightly higher than anticipated, so my guess is I did well on the multiples. But I’m kicking myself for choosing a UNC Board of Governors meeting over an extra credit assignment we were given shortly after midterms though — the extra 5 points would have bumped the final grade to a B, bumping my 1L GPA above a 2.7 (eligible for some NCCU Law merit scholarships).
Lesson learned :headdesk:
[Update: I found out from MDG that I tied for top score on the multiple choice, which let me know I completely bombed the essay -- so I didn't bother picking it up ]
Midterm exam grade: A-
Final exam grade: C
Expected final grade for class: C+
Actual final grade for class: B-
Synopsis: Worse performance than last semester, but given how gratuitously I choked on the essay I’m satisfied with how it turned out. And now I know to do all available extra credit in the future
====================
CONTRACTS II
====================
Not a whole lot to say here: Contracts clearly isn’t my thing.
The downside is that I now have to explain to future employers how I barely passed a core class two semesters in a row.
The upside? I never have to take Contracts again until the bar exam
[Update: This was the first (and thus far only) exam where I've underperformed on the multiples compared to the essay. According to Prof Ks, I got 33 of 50 possible essay points and was comfortably above the class median. But I somehow had the 3rd lowest score on the multiple choice Still glad the class is over...]
Midterm exam grade: C-
Final exam grade: C
Expected final grade for class: C-
Actual final grade for class: C
Synopsis: I passed 
====================
CRIMINAL LAW
====================
If my perpetual flailing in Ks killed any briefly-nurtured dreams I had of going the intellectual property route, CrimLaw coupled with 1L Trial Team have convinced me to follow my heart and go the criminal prosecution route professionally. It’s something I had wanted to do for years, but never seriously considered since public employees don’t make much salary-wise.
But based on my grades it seems like the only thing I’ll be qualified to do
The really crazy part? This was my best grade all year, and it was in the one class where I didn’t study for the final exam because I had a UNCASG meeting that weekend
Professor CrimLaw sent me an email making sure I knew that (i) I earned the grade I got but (ii) I shouldn’t make any professional decisions based on one course. He’s got a valid point but I don’t feel like I’m doing that here — I really, truly, and deeply hate Contracts too so technically it’s based on three courses 
[Update: I missed a trio of the multiple choice, and had a few points taken off on the essay. For an ever-so-brief period of time I thought about arguing with Prof CrimLaw over some of the missed points -- including a section where he wrote that I misread the fact pattern, even though myself and every other classmate I spoke to "misread" the same thing -- but I was sufficiently happy/stunned to have at least 1 A-range grade that I didn't bother contesting it.]
Midterm exam grade: A-
Final exam grade: A-
Expected final grade for class: A-
Actual final grade for class: A-
Synopsis: I’m 90% sure Professor CrimLaw isn’t a TDot fan, but I still enjoyed the course. And I’m glad I finally have something other than B’s and C’s populating my transcript
====================
LEGAL RESEARCH & PERSUASION
====================
Along with not watching the clock in the CivPro final, this was my other instance of taking a strong starting grade and pissing it away through truly stunning incompetence.
Note to the pre-Ls: read directions!
Then when you’re done: re-read directions!
Then after that: re-re-read directions!
Trust me
[Update: The professor said my final memo was excellent and would have earned me an A- had it not been days late. Le sigh. #kanyeshrug]
Cumulative grade after midterm: A-
Final memo grade: C-
Expected final grade for class: C
Actual final grade for class: C
Synopsis: It could have been worse I guess. At least the research skills we learned actually turned out to be useful. ::headdesk::
====================
PROPERTY II
====================
This was the only final exam where I didn’t have a gut feeling one way or the other on how it turned out. I’m not sure if it was from the stress of the looming Contracts final two days later or what.
My performance was worse than the midterm, but high enough that I ended up with the exact same grade I got in the Fall.
And I don’t remember any of it already
[Update: The final for Property II was "meh" all around. Lost a few points on the multiples. Lost a few points on the fill-in-the-blanks covering future interests. Lost a few points on the essay. If anyone has any particularly compelling insights to glean from that performance, let me know ]
Midterm exam grade: A- (and in Top 3)
Final exam grade: B
Expected final grade for class: B+
Actual final grade for class: B+
Synopsis: At least I’m consistent
====================
TORTS II
====================
Professor Torts is currently in Costa Rica with our Study Abroad folks, so I won’t know how the final exam turned out for a long while.
But I know enough to know I blew it 
Back on the midterms I ended up with the #1 score out of the class on the multiples-only exam, so to end up with a final grade below even last semester’s I must have quite thoroughly FUBAR’d the final. And I feel fairly certain I did well on the essay, meaning I can only assume I botched the multiples.
Meh. Was never a fan of this class either…
[Update: Didn't do as well on the essay as I thought, completing missing 1 of the issues and losing a point or two on a pair of others. Also didn't do as bad as I thought on the multiples... but someone nailed everything so there was no boost at all in the typical curving of grades ]
Midterm exam grade: A (and in Top 3)
Final exam grade: C+
Expected final grade for class: A-
Actual final grade for class: B-
Synopsis: This was the only bona fide disappointment for the semester, but at least it’s over. I will most definitely not be taking Advanced Torts
====================
FINAL SCORE: SPRING 2010 FINALS
====================
Expected End-of-Semester GPA: 2.756
Actual End-of-Semester GPA: 2.733
Actual End-of-1L GPA: 2.678 (Law school median: 2.000)
*****
So that’s the final word on 1L Spring. Info on 1L Summer coming soon (really! )
Have a great night!
—===—
From the grade-related archives:
Tags: 1L, CivPro, CrimLaw, Exams, Ks, Law Grades, LRP, MDG, NCCU Law, Prof CrimLaw, Prof Ks, Prof Torts, Property, Torts
Posted by TDot on May 12, 2010 in
The 2L Life It’s been a couple months since the last time I had any crazy law-related nightmares. Even though the first one seemed to be like a bad episode of Law & Order, the latter ended up being about exams… with a CivPro flavor.
That trend continued this morning
Despite going to bed around midnight, I randomly woke up at 3:10am. In my dreams I was in the NCCU Law building and had just picked up my CivPro final exam. After pulling the exam from the envelope, I notice the whole thing is a lot thicker than I remember when I turned it in. I flip past the multiples to the essay, where for some reason each individual paragraph ended up on a separate page… which I guess irritated MDG, because I lost a point per page from the excess white space 
There was also a disproportionate amount of red ink relative to the black text and white emptiness. After looking closer I notice my essay has a ton of spelling errors at -1 point apiece. It was really basic stuff too — one of the party names in the dream hypo was “Mr. Goodall” which I kept misspelling as two words “Good All”. Then I notice a bunch of basic possessive errors ([foo]s’ vs [foo]s’s) at -1 point each, and even a few homophone mixups (to vs two vs too and such) also at -1 point each.
And this is all on top of the fact that I never actually finished the essay
Right before I woke up, I flipped back to the front page and saw I got a D+ on the final, then calculated in my mind that I’d end up with a C for the final grade. So I don’t know if I can really consider it a nightmare since I passed the class. But I certainly wouldn’t describe it as an enjoyable experience.
And this law thing is something I want to do for a living? Someone pass the Ambien…
Tags: 1L, CivPro, Exams, Haunted by Law School, Law Grades, MDG, NCCU Law
Posted by TDot on Mar 4, 2010 in
The 1L Life Went to bed at ~11:30pm last night, fully expecting to get a solid 6 hours of sleep, wake up, eat breakfast, and have an otherwise relaxed morning en route to my 9am CivPro exam.
Instead I woke up at 2:25am from a nightmare about… midterms
I dreamed I had gotten my Property midterm back. Only 14 of 30 points on the multiples and 52 of 70 points on the essay, so a D.
As I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong, several classmates who wrote their essays start arguing about the results and want to file a lawsuit against the Professor for negligently giving the typing students 10 extra minutes to finish.
A few others complained that some of the multiples had typos. An argument ensued over whether they could do a Rule 18 joinder of claims.
Then one guy in the back started talking about interpleading everyone under Rule 22 because he got a 100 and didn’t want to face multiple liabilities if they prevailed.
Then the Professor came in and wanted to implead the proctor under Rule 14, as a student in another section materialized out of nowhere to insist the Code of Student Conduct gave them a Rule 24 right to intervene.
Somewhere around that point I woke up. w… t… f…
Tags: 1L, CivPro, Haunted by Law School, Property
Posted by TDot on Feb 21, 2010 in
The 1L Life To the current attorneys that happen to swing by law:/dev/null every now and again: how do they test the various Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on the bar exam? Do you get a cheat sheet or anything listing each rule? Are only a few of the main ones tested? Or do you have to remember the essence of every single one?
Trying to keep up with the new material in CivPro this semester is like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet and getting a horrible case of indigestion afterwards…
Tags: 1L, CivPro
Posted by TDot on Feb 15, 2010 in
The 1L Life Every now and then when I’m reading these casebooks, it really throws me for a loop to realize how incredibly old so many of our rules of law have gotten.
The obvious reference for a 1L is Property, where items like BlackAcre were first referenced nearly 4 centuries ago and most of the estate terminology was created around the same time.
But even in Civil Procedure many of the rules are orders of magnitude older than the current students of them. Consider, for example, that counterclaims were first codified in New York in 1852 (1.5 centuries ago). Or that the comparably “new” Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are closer to the 1-century mark than the 0-century one (created in 1938 / 0.7 centuries ago).
For all the talk of law evolving — which we know it undoubtedly has just looking at the opinions we study — it’s still interesting to see how many vestiges of it remain relatively untouched decade after decade after decade.
Just thought I’d share my bemusement Back to more CivPro before bed. Hope all of you are having a great start to the week!
Tags: 1L, CivPro, Property
Posted by TDot on Feb 4, 2010 in
The 1L Life My 2L and 3L friends are collectively rolling their eyes at the post title, but I promise it’s a serious (or at least seriously-intended) question 
Just how much of a lawyer is a law student after their 1st semester?
Some background behind the question is in order, so you don’t think I’m totally batshit crazy for even asking. Everyone talks about the big life adjustment that is law school — teaching you to “think like a lawyer” and all that jazz.
But my (admittedly unproven) hypothesis is that 90%+ of any such adjusting is going to take place in your first semester, since presumably if it hadn’t you would have already failed out of law school. Unless of course you go somewhere with a B+ median.
So assuming, arguendo, that my hypothesis is right, the next 2.5 years will be spent not on training you to be a lawyer so much as forcing you to have at least a passing knowledge of the current state of the law in various subject areas.
Not sure if that’s worded well enough to convey my point, so let me try a computer comparison: basically in the first semester you’re taught all the logical constructs of programming (conditionals / loops / etc) and then for the next 2.5 years you get taught logically-identical variants of programming languages (Java / C++ / etc).
Or maybe a movie comparison works? It’s like the first Matrix movie, where the first semester is for explaining wheretf you are and rebuilding your atrophied muscles from scratch, then the next 2.5 semesters get spent uploading various martial arts like kung-fu straight into your brain.
Hopefully at least one of those three made sense
So going back to the question, let’s say you finished all of your required credit hours in Contracts, Legal Research, and Civil Procedure. At this point would you be competent enough to litigate a Contracts dispute pro se? Or will some other course over the next 2.5 years add still more training that you’d need to be effective?
Not sure why that particular question crossed my mind tonight, but I figured I’d throw it out there if any of my 2L/3L/post-L readers have insights they wouldn’t mind sharing
Back to reading for Contracts, just in case I need to represent myself any time soon Have a great night everybody!!
Tags: 1L, CivPro, Damned Lies and Statistics, Ks, LRP
Posted by TDot on Jan 31, 2010 in
Randomness The drive home from the tre-fo was a little crazy, but I’m finally back in the Bull City
It was a little strange driving down the interstate unable to see lane lines or the curb or anything else but the solid snow+ice on the road around you. The interesting thing is how courteous and cooperative folks become when they’re in an equally precarious situation alongside you.
I’m wondering if there’s a comparison to be made there with law school…
Fortunately the DOT did a lot of road-clearing work on I-40 from Greensboro to Durham, so after escaping Forsyth County it was a relatively smooth ride. Now hoping MDG will cancel CivPro tomorrow
But reading anyway just in case. Have Why Do Fools Fall In Love playing in the background — I forgot how thoroughly ridiculous / amusing this movie is…
[Update @ 8:30pm -- All classes canceled until noon... meaning no class at all for me ]
Tags: 1L, CivPro, MDG, UNCASG
Posted by TDot on Jan 26, 2010 in
NotFail 
An anthropomorphic analysis of 1L Fall
::headdesk::
If I had to pick 1 word to describe my 1L Fall semester, that’d be the one
Even though NCCU Law takes pride in sticking with its strict-C curve, I figured things couldn’t get that bad. Between midterms going well and studying my socks off for finals, surely the 3.0 GPA I want wasn’t unrealistic, right?
::headdesk::
So with several of my law school colleagues last week posting their own tales of joy, not-quite-joy, and not-quite-anything-yet, here’s my own report card for the 1L fall semester.
====================
LEGAL REASONING & ANALYSIS
====================
My grades were erratic, my distaste emphatic, and my mood post-completion? Ecstatic.
The only positive thing I can say about this class is that it’s over.
Grade at midterm: C+
Expected grade pre-memo: C
Actual grade post-memo: C
Synopsis: No surprises here. I hated this class and thought the material we were taught was completely useless… a point publicly echoed by at least one of the other professors. Hopefully Legal Research & Persuasion will be better.
====================
CIVIL PROCEDURE I
====================
This was hands-down my best class of the semester, and the grade still hurt.
After thinking I nearly failed the final, the curve boosted my exam grade by 22 points. Combining that with the midterm grade I ended up with a B+ overall… an unfortunate (and painful) 0.5 points away from an A-
I jokingly emailed MDG asking if I could successfully argue for that half-point. His 2-word response: “LOL. no.”
Midterm exam: A
Final exam: B
Expected grade pre-final: A
Actual grade post-final: B+ (0.5 points away from an A- )
Synopsis: Still kicking myself a month later for being so close and blowing it. This is still my favorite class, and I’m determined to do better this semester.
====================
CONTRACTS I
====================
Ever heard the phrase “like an albatross around your neck”? Instead of thinking about the Mariner and an actual albatross, think more like my GPA and good ol’ Contracts
I got the grade for this class a few days before the final exams were returned, and even though I figured I got thoroughly mauled minutes after finishing… I didn’t think it would turn out as bad as it did. I went to talk with the Professor about the exam, and the conversation went something like this:
TDot: Professor Ks, I was wondering if I could talk with you about my exam.
Prof. Ks: Sure TDot. What’s your exam number?
TDot: [####]
Prof. Ks: ::flipping through Scantron report:: Hmmm. You did better than the class average on the multiples, so that must mean your essay…
TDot: (in unison) …must have been really bad…
Prof. Ks: (in unison) …must have been really bad.
At this point Prof. Ks starts flipping through a stack of essays.
He goes through the 70s… and keeps going.
Goes through 60s… and keeps going.
Goes through 50s… and keeps going.
Finally he pulls one from a stack of 40s, flips through it, pulls up his Excel gradesheet, and goes “Ohhhhh yeah I remember this one”… not a good sign
Prof. Ks: So this spreadsheet is my rubric where I break everything down, so we’re going to go through it section by section and hopefully you’ll see what you missed.
TDot: OK.
Prof. Ks: ::points at essay:: You mention here that you’re going to talk about promissory estoppel. Show me where you actually talked about promissory estoppel.
TDot: ::flips pages:: ::blank stare::
Prof. Ks: Exactly. OK so here ::points:: you mention that you’re going to talk about fraud in the inducement of the contract. Show me where you actually talked about fraud in the inducement.
TDot: ::flips pages:: ::blank stare::
Prof. Ks: Yep. And then ::points:: here you mention needing to analyze which meaning of [term in contract] should apply. Show me where…
TDot: [expletive]
The conversation shifted to ways I could improve this upcoming semester, but basically I totally FUBAR’d the essay by not re-reading my material closer before turning it in. Maybe it’s time I start overanalyzing after all…
Midterm exam: B
Final exam: D+
Expected grade pre-final: B
Actual grade post-final: C-
Synopsis: ::headdesk::
====================
TORTS I
====================
Nothing much to say here. I came in needing a strong final exam to counteract a disastrous midterm and I got it.
Torts Final Exam Scores
Just like the Contracts final though, there were some really obvious blunders that I should have noticed — for example, detailing the differences between the local, same-or-similar, and national standards of care without ever discussing which standard would apply in the jurisdiction contained in the hypo
But after coming off that C+ on the midterm, I’m more than happy with what I got.
On an unrelated note, one of the cool things about Professor Torts is that she provides statistics for her exam scores. Her essays are “auto-curved” (she picks the best one and grades all the others against that top essay) but the multiples are raw, so graphing the final scores you can tell by the trendline that folks really stepped up their studying between midterms and finals — compare the chart at the right to the graph from midterms.
Midterm exam: C+
Final exam: B+
Expected grade pre-final: B
Actual grade post-final: B
Synopsis: Recovered nicely from the midterm, now getting ready to (hopefully) breeze through Round 2.
====================
PROPERTY I
====================
Basically the same thing that happened with Civil Procedure happened with Property.
Same issues on the essay too, e.g. detailing the factors affecting a Statute of Limitations calculation without actually analyzing what the SOL would ultimately be for that particular segment of the hypo.
So after nailing the midterm, I ended up with a mid-range B on the final — and keeping the A’s out of reach as a final grade.
Midterm exam: A (and in Top 3)
Final exam: B
Expected grade pre-final: A-
Actual grade post-final: B+
Synopsis: This one hurt, though not as bad as CivPro. I’m already lost in Property II with all the concurrent estates discussion but hopefully I’ll be back on track by midterms.
====================
FINAL SCORE: FALL 2009
====================
Expected Fall GPA: 3.071
Actual Fall GPA: 2.619
T1-inflation-adjusted Fall GPA: 3.833
—===—
So that’s the rundown
I know it could be much worse and I’m not in a position to complain — after all, I already know at least 1 classmate who’s dropped out as a result of their midterm grades, and another 3 who are on their way out at the end of the year without a miraculous turnaround.
But even with my good fortune, it’s frustrating having to explain to Nan that even though my undergraduate and professional GPAs are only a few hundredths of a point apart, the former meant I was in the bottom third of my class while the latter means I’m safely in the top third.
And it’s almost equally difficult to accept that I can’t really freak out about my grades and overhaul my study habits, because I objectively learned+recalled the material. Yet at the same time I can’t not freak out about them, because had I done comparably sloppy work in actual practice I’d likely be facing a malpractice claim and a grievance filed with my former employer.
Sooooo… yeah.
::headdesk::
Here’s hoping 1L Spring brings some improvement… along with warmer weather
Off to bed so I can be up for Ks on time in the morning. Have a great night folks!
Tags: #fml, 1L, CivPro, Exams, Ks, Law Grades, LRA, MDG, NCCU Law, Prof Ks, Property, The Curve, Torts
Posted by TDot on Jan 21, 2010 in
Mail After Torts today I let myself get convinced by Rico to stick with my exercise routine for the New Year and go for a run outside… even though it’s only around 37ºF and raining. I couldn’t feel my fingers after the first mile They’re still defrosting, so I figure today’s as good a day as any to answer some mail since there’s plenty of point-click-copy-paste involved
And yes I know it’s literally been months since I answered reader mail here at law:/dev/null… but that’s mostly due to the fact it’s literally been months since I got any reader mail
A few of the recent entries must have triggered some latent inquisitiveness from a handful of folks though, because the inbox got e-bombed over the last week I figured I need to answer them before folks lose faith in my responsiveness
So here are your questions… well… answered
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Q: Liz asks in response to a post I linked off the Kilpatrick-Stockton update, where I mentioned disliking BigLaw:
What really made you dislike BigLaw? You seem to be a workaholic, so the workload argument seems like an excuse.
A: It’s no excuse, I promise you that Am I a workaholic? Maybe. But there’s 1 key difference between when I was a BigLaw paralegal and what I do now: I actually enjoy it
Law school has been an adventure and I’ve been privileged to meet some amazing people, and running UNCASG gives me an opportunity to improve the lives of 215K+ students here in North Carolina. Compare that to law firm life, which consisted mostly of attorneys giving me things a couple hours/days before deadline or the partner I worked for deciding he needed yet another weeklong vacation and wanted me chained to my desk in case anything happened in his absence.
With law school and ASG, working during a holiday is something I do by choice; with BigLaw, it was a mandated part of my job. I’ll take the former over the latter 7 days a week
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Q: Clarence wants insight into the Kilpatrick-Stockton post itself:
I thought it was interesting 2 of the top 4 K-S finalists were T4 schools. Any theories on that?
A: I’ve got plenty of theories, I just can’t guarantee any of them are valid
The first thing that comes to mind is the fact it’s a North Carolina-based competition, and a majority of the state’s law schools are in the lower ranks. In the latest edition of the US News rankings, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest are all now in Tier 1; Campbell and NCCU Law are both Tier 4; while Elon and Charlotte both only have provisional accreditation and can therefore functionally be treated as Tier 4. So even though the bulk of teams came from UNCCH and Duke, the natural odds of the 4 finalists including a pair of T4 schools are non-trivial.
There’s probably a cultural aspect to it as well. At least here in North Carolina, NCCU Law and Campbell Law both have well-earned reputations for producing high-quality trial attorneys and judges, and that legacy is worked into things like the aggressiveness of the Socratic method in 1L classes. The T1s by contrast have a reputation geared more toward BigLaw, international affairs, research and teaching; anecdotal evidence from friends at those neighboring schools is that classes are a challenge, but not intensely so.
Running with the cultural theme — and at the risk of getting shot by my T1 colleagues — I wouldn’t be surprised if the curve plays an impact too. Both Duke’s median and UNCCH’s median are set at 3.33 (B+), while Wake Forest sets theirs at 3.00 (B). The T4 schools set their medians far lower, with Campbell’s median around 75 (C+) on their numeric system, and NCCU Law standing by its strict-C curve at 2.00 (and capping a course grade at A versus A+ elsewhere).
Most employers know that curves are set all over the place at different schools, which is why class rank is so important to landing a job rather than GPA. But for the chronic overachievers who go to law school, there is a fundamental shock to the psyche when a “good” semester is full of B-’s or B’s compared to your fellow 1Ls at neighboring schools banking straight A’s.
Combine those latter two points — reputation and curves — and what you get are 1Ls who feel like underdogs compared to their peers, with a hunger to “show up and show out.” That’s basically what happened at the Kilpatrick-Stockton competition this year IMO (at least I know that’s what we did )
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Q: Courtney expresses faux concern over the lack of structure we’ve had here since 1L Fall came to an end:
What happened to Tweet-sized Tuesdays and the Friday Drive-by??
A: The lack of structure that comes with winter break
Not sure what the future of Tweet-sized Tuesdays will be. They were created last semester because the schedule for my section looked like a camel hump, with 5 classes on Wednesdays — that meant Tuesday nights spent studying instead of blogging. This semester has the pain spread throughout the week. I’ll have a better idea as we get closer to midterms if I need to curtail the time spent writing here and bring Tweet-sized Tuesdays back
As for the Friday Drive-by, that’ll be resuming at some point here in the next few weeks
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Q: Michelle wants the rest of this story:
How did that CivPro exam turn out?
A: There was a 22-point curve, so even though I almost failed I didn’t do too badly I’ll post a full rundown of my 1L Fall grades at some point over the next couple days.
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That’s it for this edition If you have a question you want me to answer, send an email to tdot [at] lawdevnull.com or hit me up on Facebook!
Have a great night everybody!
Tags: Campbell Law, Charlotte Law, CivPro, Duke Law, Elon Law, Fan Mail, K-S 1L Mock Trial Competition, NCCU Law, Rico, The Curve, Trial Team, UNCASG, UNCCH Law, WFU Law
y’all Tarheel ppl (you know who you are) and it won’t become a habit 
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