Posted by TDot on Aug 15, 2011 in
TDot's Tips In addition to law school Orientation — if you’re a NCCU Law 1L, make sure to read yesterday’s Orientation entry — this is the time of year where the 2Ls and 3Ls start hitting up everyone they can to accumulate outlines for the upcoming year 
Starting last year I’ve tried to compile as many of those as I can and bundle them into a ZIP file hosted here on law:/dev/null. If you’re looking for outlines, follow these steps:
- In your browser’s address bar, type in the base URL for this blog; if you came to this specific entry’s page and don’t know the base URL, just click this link to go to the law:/dev/null main page
- After the “.com/”, if you’re a 1L you’re going to type in “docs/1LStuff.zip” (without the quotation marks), or “docs/2Land3LStuff.zip” (also without the quotes) if you’re a 2L or 3L.
If you have any trouble with that, send me an email (address at the bottom of our About page) or contact me on Twitter.
Now for some obligatory caveats and 1 contractual obligation on your part:
- On the contractual obligation side: in exchange for downloading this file, you’re agreeing to help spread the word to your colleagues at the law school about its existence; I want everyone to have access to the outlines, even if they don’t necessarily take advantage of the opportunity to download them.
- These files are large, and they come from a lot of different sources so there are some duplicates. If you’re on a Mac, the easiest way to find what you need is to use Spotlight; if you’re on a PC… well… I don’t know how to help you on that one
- Many of these outlines will need updating. The 1L classes introduce new cases, and many of the 2L and 3L classes have either new cases (CrimPro) or new statutes (ZombieLaw) or both.
- These outlines are for NCCU Law classes, so if you’re one of my non-Legal Eagle readers and download them you probably won’t get much utility from them.
- Most importantly: the benefit to briefs and outlines is in creating/editing them, not in getting them from someone else. You’ll still need to read for class, and you’ll still need to study. Don’t come back to me in December crying because you have all these outlines, did no work on your own, and then failed your classes.
Hope that helps! I’m heading to bed so I can go help with the first day of 1L Orientation for the Day Program in the morning. Have a great night y’all! 
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Past TDot’s Tips entries:
Tags: 3L, CrimPro, NCCU Law, Tips, ZombieLaw
Posted by TDot on Jun 24, 2011 in
The 3L Life …at least with respect to my learning style
Way back during 1L Orientation in August 2009, all of us were given a survey to help figure out how we best absorbed information — basically imagine a Myers-Briggs test for learning instead of personality. My results were heavily tilted toward “kinesthetic” learning at 67%, meaning essentially that I learn best by doing something first and then refining it as needed. My secondary learning style was visual at 25% (learning by seeing), then down at the bottom I had a smidgen of preference for aural learning at 8%.
Well earlier today was counselor training for NCCU Law‘s Legal Eagle Law Camp that we have each summer for 7th-11th graders, and we were given the exact same test from Orientation.
And I’m now even more out-of-sync with how law school teaches people 
My “learning by doing” preference has climbed to 83%, “learning by seeing” has dropped to 17%, and — you’ll notice those two numbers add up to 100% — my “learning by hearing” has dropped to 0%. So in a nutshell I get pretty much nothing at all out of attending the usual lecture-style classes and am better off teaching things to myself through some kind of interactive method.
I’m not sure if my law school experience has pushed me in this direction or if I was already headed that way and law school just accelerated the process, but it makes me that much more eager for the May 2012 end of my formal education to get here so I can knock out the bar exam and start really learning stuff…
That’s it from me tonight y’all, have to get up early tomorrow to start studying for this Intellectual Property exam — have a great night!
Tags: 3L, IP, Legal Eagle Law Camp, NCCU Law, Orientation, Trial Practice, Trial Team, ZombieLaw
Posted by TDot on Jan 5, 2011 in
NotFail …and let’s just say I totally kicked ZombieLaw‘s ass
I’ll have the usual full rundown when the rest of the grades come in, but the deadline isn’t officially until January 12th so it’s gonna be awhile
For now though I’m gonna enjoy in things turning out better than expected 
Tags: 2L, Competence FTW, Exams, Law Grades, ZombieLaw
Posted by TDot on Dec 12, 2010 in
The 2L Life Another month, another one of my sporadic weeklong disappearances
This has been a crazy week — spanning both final exams and a new job — but things are finally starting to get back into a rhythm so I can start focusing on the important things in life.
Including, but not limited to, the fact I’M NOW HALFWAY DONE WITH LAW SCHOOL!
::happy dance::
My last exam was in Evidence last Wednesday and with it my 2L Fall semester officially came to a close. Professors at NCCU Law have until January 12th to turn in grades so it’ll be awhile until I find out how I did, but here’s my expectations on how things will turn out:
- Constitutional Law I: Unlike the midterm that I knew I knocked out of the park, I thought the final was pretty @#$%ing difficult
30 multiple choice questions and then 3 essays spanning a whole range of issues. There were a few multiples I genuinely had no clue how to answer, and I was typing on the essays right down to the very last minute. After talking with classmates after the exam I’m fairly certain I missed a good chunk of stuff on the essays so at this point I’ll just be happy if my grade doesn’t have a negative impact on my GPA. Hoping for: B+.
- Domestic Violence: History, Law & Practice: I drew a bead on this class early, determined to deal with the difficult subject matter and ace the course. I tried to avoid skipping class (difficult for an 8:30am time slot), intentionally went overboard perfecting my motion in limine, thought I was fairly well-prepared for oral arguments, and just generally worked my @$$ off to excel at everything. This is the only class where I’ll be legitimately irked if I don’t get the grade I want Hoping for: A.
- Legal Letters: This was another paper-based course along with DVLaw, and I got near-perfect grades on all the assignments… except for the research memo I postponed in favor of studying for ConLaw. That dropped me to the bottom of the pile grade-wise, so the only hope I have for a decent grade is that (1) other classmates turned stuff in late too, and (2) my grades on the other assignments were marginally high enough compared to everyone else that I can edge past a few folks into the middle of the pack. Hoping for: C+ or better.
- Evidence: This one burns. 10 true/false question, 30 multiple choice, 1 essay. I know I completely and totally demolished the essay, in no small part due to knowledge I cemented in my brain doing research for DVLaw and from watching all 7 hours of BarBri’s online lectures (something I highly recommend for future exams). But the answer options on the multiple choice weren’t as precisely worded as I expected, and I often found myself feeling like I was playing a game of “pick the least wrong answer”… which means I probably didn’t know wtf I was doing
Fingers are crossed but this one falls into the ConLaw pile of “I’ll be glad as long as it doesn’t drop my GPA.” Hoping for: B+.
- ZombieLaw (Decedents Estates I): My feelings toward this one have changed a bit since the post I wrote just after the exam. Initially I likened it to Contracts and my 1L Spring final, where spending a ton of time on questions just to work my way to an “either of these could be right” coin flip meant I did pretty bad. But in this case, although it took me 2.5 hours to grind through the 30 multiple choice questions, I eventually found an answer for each one that made sense to me — there was no coin-flipping at all. So my hope of hopes is that it means I got all the multiple choice right ::fingers crossed:: Hoping for: A-.
- Expected 2L Fall GPA: 3.400 | Probability Factor: 18.2%
Why the added “Probability Factor” on this particular grade rundown? Well, if all these grades turn out like I hope, that means I’d make the Dean’s List… a feat I haven’t accomplished since Fall 2005, my first semester back at N.C. State
Back in undergrad I had an incentive to perform well, since I had a pre-existing agreement with the Dean’s office set up in 2000 where they’d retroactively wipe away my sophomore Spring semester once I finished a summer session with “satisfactory academic progress” to prove I wasn’t totally incompetent. Of course I dropped out that June because I couldn’t afford tuition, so that semester of solid grades never took place until I came back 5 years later.
But here in law school, the only incentive I’ve got to perform well in class is just the self-satisfaction of knowing I can do it… and truth be told that’s just not a terribly strong motivator to a guy who already has an outlandishly oversized ego So I figure the odds of me actually making Dean’s List this semester are about 2-in-11.
If any of you get the urge to cross your fingers, say a prayer, or bribe a professor on my behalf please feel free to do so. Until then, y’all have a great night — and best of luck to anyone still dealing with final exams!
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From the grade-related archives:
Tags: 2L, About TDot, ConLaw, DVLaw, Evidence, Exams, Law Grades, Legal Letters, NC State, NCCU Law, ZombieLaw
Posted by TDot on Dec 6, 2010 in
The 2L Life Ugh.
I’m usually pretty good about gauging how I perform on an exam after I leave the room. For example, I knew within minutes that I got thoroughly mauled on my Contracts II final. Conversely, I figured I knocked the ConLaw midterm out of the ballpark before I left the room.
My impressions of ZombieLaw fall more toward the KII side of the spectrum than the ConLaw side
The cover to my class binder. Clearly I wasn't ready...
I’ve spent most of the past 72 hours studying non-stop for this exam. For someone who can’t stand sitting still for any protracted length of time, and who (successfully) finds a million different reasons to avoid doing schoolwork, somehow managing to sit still in my living room with the North Carolina General Statutes and the Uniform Probate Code and class notes and outlines and etc etc etc all strewn around me while actually reading them was quite a big accomplishment. I thought I knew the material reasonably well.
And then I turned to the first page of the exam, and felt like I spent the ensuing 3 hours being repeatedly violated by a few sheets of paper
The exam was 3 hours long, comprised of 30 multiple choice questions worth 60% and a multi-faceted essay worth 40%. And just like in the KII final, it took me an exorbitant amount of time just to work my way through the multiple choice — 2.5 hours.
For those of you who are math whizzes, that translates to 83.3% of the exam time spent slogging through 60% of the points…
In the 30 minutes that were left I frantically typed as much as I could conceivably type on the essay topics. There were issues with failed devises from a will, figuring out where the residue goes under the fictional jurisdiction’s anti-lapse statute, testamentary libel, partial revocation by physical act, an attempted holographic codicil, dependent relative revocation, latent ambiguity with a devise, the list goes on and on.
I think I maybe got about two-thirds of those issues covered in some minimally-competent fashion, and there’s no telling how many other issues were there that I missed. It was a mess.
The only potential upside is that most of my colleagues had similar concerns, so either (1) we all did equally bad and I can eke out a passing grade, or (2) the extra time I invested on the multiples will put me in the top echelon of the class and I can ride the curve on the essay to a better-than-passing grade.
Or (3) I really didn’t know wtf I was doing and I end up with a C like I did in KII
We’ll see how it turns out 
Spending tonight and tomorrow studying for Evidence, my last exam of the 2L Fall semester Good luck to everyone who still has exams left!
Tags: #fml, 2L, Exams, The Curve, ZombieLaw
Posted by TDot on Dec 5, 2010 in
Technology Hey y’all! My general absence from blogging is going to continue for at least another 72 hours — gotta get through my ZombieLaw exam tomorrow at 9:00am, then Evidence on Wednesday at 2:00pm.
Then after that I will officially be done with my 2L Fall semester… and past the half-way point on my journey to a J.D.
Although I’m not blogging regularly during finals, I’m still taking an occasional break to tweak the server that hosts law:/dev/null. So I wanted to get some feedback from you: is this blog loading any faster than before when you pull up our site?
In addition to some minor code-trimming of the WordPress template we’re using, I also added Google’s mod_pagespeed Apache module. The only noticeable change that I see on my end is that a big chunk of file requests now show up in my logs as being made by my server itself — I can’t tell if anything is actually loading any faster
If you notice a perceptible change one way or the other, let me know I’ll be back here in a few days!
Tags: 2L, Blawg Love, Evidence, ZombieLaw
Posted by TDot on Nov 29, 2010 in
The 2L Life The Fall 2010 semester at NCCU Law is now officially over!
9 days and 3 final exams — in ConLaw, ZombieLaw, and Evidence — are all that stand between yours truly and a solid month of not having to read casebooks every day…
…at least until the Spring semester starts
On an unrelated side note, I also found out that I will officially be tutoring the §103 1Ls in CrimLaw next semester 
And on top of it should have a 2nd telephone interview with these folks on Wednesday.
If it goes well, I will firmly be in the “embarrassment of riches” category as far as jobs go — they won’t be paying much, but anything is greater than $0
End of the semester. One job in hand. Another (hopefully) en route. All in all not a bad day.
Off to go straighten up the living room in anticipation of studying for finals. *GOOD LUCK* to all of you with exams!
Tags: 2L, ConLaw, CrimLaw, Evidence, Exams, Money Money Money, ZombieLaw
Posted by TDot on Nov 16, 2010 in
The 2L Life …we now have “woodshedding” 
I’ve mentioned before that I’m not terribly impressed with some of the word choices attorneys use in various fields like ZombieLaw. But I didn’t expected that I’d have to consult Google reading through the rules of TYLA’s National Trial Competition that I’ll be competing in for NCCU Law next semester
Now I’m familiar with the noun form of a woodshed, a shed where (you guessed it!) folks store wood. I’m even familiar with the phrase of taking someone “to the woodshed” or “behind the woodshed” — in both cases, it’s generally used when you’re berating or criticizing someone discreetly outside public view (since woodsheds are typically far from houses in case of fires).
I didn’t realize that there was a verb form of woodshed… or that its verb form actually has nothing at all to do with its meaning in a trial practice context. Apparently the normal meaning of “to woodshed” is to practice a musical instrument.
So what do lawyers mean when they use “woodshed”? Are we talking about musical instruments? Yelling at witnesses in pre-trial meetings? Storing firewood in the corner conference room?
Of course not, that would be too simple 
Keith Lee of An Associate’s Mind offered me this definition via Twitter, which was basically a less-vulgar edition of the same thing a few other trial attorneys sent to me:
“woodshedding” = prepping witness to testify, with the intent to carefully skirt ethical issues of suggesting testimony, etc.
I don’t even want to know how some presumably-bright attorney decided one day that a completely new and totally unused definition for “woodshed” would be an appropriate colloquialism for witness preparation…
But I still love the law
Tags: 2L, NCCU Law, Trial Team, TYLA, ZombieLaw
Posted by TDot on Nov 7, 2010 in
The 2L Life Hey everybody
One of my friends at a law school on the other end of the country sent me a FB message pointing out I haven’t posted a mid-semester update for my 2L Fall semester at NCCU Law like I had done back in 1L.
The reason is that 2L year grade-wise is markedly different from 1L — where first year grades were 20% based on a midterm and 80% based on a final exam, only two 2L classes have midterms (ConLaw and Business Associations, which I’ll be taking in the Spring). The rest either make the final exam 100% of the grade or require various papers throughout the semester.
That lack of information makes grade entries like this one a lot less interesting
But given how totally riveting my recent commentary on daylight savings time and Verizon’s mobile phone selection has been, I’ll go ahead and bow to the peer pressure
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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I
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There’s not much for me to say on this one that I didn’t already say after the exam. Constitutional Law is my favorite course and one of my favorite topics in general — even outside of the law school context — and it showed on the midterm. I ended up getting 35 out of 40 questions correct on the midterm, tying for 2nd place in the class (high was 36 of 40).
Haven’t had a chance to meet with Prof ConLaw yet to figure out what I missed, but maxing out the total points I can get on the midterm puts me in a good position heading into the final.
Expected Midterm Grade: A
Actual Midterm Grade: B+ (raw) / A (curved)
Synopsis: Just need to keep studying and make sure I can knock out the essays on the (4-hour) final exam. Given my track record last year, I doubt I’ll pull an A in this class — but I’m still going for it
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: HISTORY, LAW & PRACTICE
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The subject matter in DV Law has been a challenge since the beginning, but as the semester has gone on it’s gotten slightly less agitating. There was even one class where we joined a section of Advanced Torts for a joint lecture on defamation vis-à-vis allegations of domestic violence, and I was comfortable enough to hold my own against the lecturing professor playing the other side.
On the grade front, this is one of those classes with numerous assignments for fractional parts of the final grade. The good news: I’ve gotten the max points so far for the community observation, class participation, and the annotated bibliography for my motion in limine. The bad news: the preliminary research memo for the motion was turned in late, so the A grade I had on that was dropped to a B+. And the “::shrug::” news: the remaining 75%ish of the course grade is still to come, based on the first draft of the motion last week, the oral argument on it next week, and the final motion due the week after that.
Expected Grades To-Date: A
Actual Grades To-Date: A-
Synopsis: Now that the preliminary draft of the motion in limine is done, the final should be easy to knock out. Not sure what’s going to happen with the oral arguments though. Hoping to finish strong.
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LEGAL LETTERS
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The grading for this class is unique. We have 4 papers due — a client letter, a research memo, an opinion letter, and a settlement proposal — with each one worth a total of 100 points. At the end of the semester, whoever has the most points gets the A and it scales down from there. So even though I got a 95/100 on my first letter, I have no clue how that breaks down compared to the rest of the class; I’ve seen both higher and lower in roughly equal proportions, and it makes me slightly nervous.
As for the memo and opinion letter that were both turned in awhile ago? No clue, because we haven’t gotten them back yet We also haven’t gotten the required background info (medical expenses and such) for the settlement proposal, so this class is basically on hold for now.
Expected Grades To-Date: A
Actual Grades To-Date: ????
Synopsis: I’ll be glad when this class is over. The professor is interesting and I enjoy talking to her (she’s an adjunct who works as a public defender full-time), but this is one of those classes no one likes and we’re all required to take just because the ABA says so.
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EVIDENCE
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I’m totally lost in this class. It’s straight lecture-style with no assignments, no Socratic method, no midterm, nothing — basically the exact opposite of my learning style. I’m terrified about the final, and more importantly I’m terrified about how I’m going to perform in Trial Practice next semester when I feel like I’ve got only a minimal grasp on the Federal Rules of Evidence.
If anyone has any suggestions on an effective way to learn this material on my own, I’d appreciate it!
Expected Grades To-Date: N/A
Actual Grades To-Date: N/A
Synopsis: I have three weeks to figure out wtf I’m doing. Prayers are welcomed.
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ZOMBIELAW (DECEDENTS ESTATES I)
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This class is just like Evidence, except in addition to being a lecture-style course with no assignments or any real class participation, it’s also BORING AS @#$%. Prof ZombieLaw is hilarious and tries to keep it as interesting as possible, but I seriously find nothing interesting about divvying up property after you’re dead. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a poor family that doesn’t have much to divvy, but it’s (1) boring, (2) tedious, and (3) depressing.
I’m basically doing the bare minimum to keep track of where we are in class, then will be using our pre-final review time to learn enough substantive material to eke out a C in the class. As long as I don’t have to take it again, I’ll be happy.
Expected Grades To-Date: N/A
Actual Grades To-Date: N/A
Synopsis: Caffeine can’t even keep me awake in here anymore. At least I know I won’t be a probate attorney after law school? 
***
That’s where things stand with me y’all. My first final exam is ConLaw on December 3rd, only three weeks and my second-favorite holiday away 
Hope all of you are having an excellent semester, and that you’re in better shape going into finals than I am!
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From the grade-related archives:
Tags: 2L, ConLaw, DVLaw, Evidence, Exams, Law Grades, Legal Letters, NCCU Law, The Curve, ZombieLaw
Posted by TDot on Sep 20, 2010 in
Randomness Every now and then you come across something in the legal news that makes you stop and go “wtf? Really??”
This is one of those (original story here at Yahoo! News):
Caffeine consumption an issue in Ky. murder trial
By BRETT BARROUQUERE, Associated Press Writer – Mon Sep 20, 7:23 pm ET
NEWPORT, Ky. – The lawyer for a Kentucky man accused of strangling his wife argued at trial Monday that excessive caffeine from sodas, energy drinks and diet pills left the defendant so sleep-deprived and mentally unstable that he falsely confessed to the killing.
Attorney Shannon Sexton said in opening statements at the murder trial of Woody Will Smith, 33, that he did not kill his 28-year-old wife, Amanda Hornsby-Smith, on May 4, 2009. The lawyer also told jurors that the man’s statements to police were made under high stress prompted by large amounts of caffeine and a lack of sleep.
“As a result of his altered state, Woody Smith provided a false confession,” Sexton said.
The argument was a twist on Sexton’s previously stated defense as outlined in earlier court documents — that a high intake of caffeine rendered Smith temporarily insane and unable to form the intent to kill his wife.
In arguments Monday, Sexton said DNA evidence taken from the victim’s fingernails points away from his client, whom she described as lethargic, “in a zone” and “not himself” when he spoke with police.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, portrayed Smith as an angry man who attacked his wife during a fight, then strangled her with an extension cord.
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Vanita Fleckinger told jurors that paramedics, hospital personnel and police officers saw Smith after the killing.
“Not one of them will tell you they saw any signs of insanity,” Fleckinger added.
If convicted of murder, Smith could be sentenced to life in prison.
A legal strategy invoking caffeine intoxication is unusual but has succeeded at least once before, in a case involving a man cleared in 2009 of charges of running down and injuring two people with a car in Washington state.
Dr. Roland Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins University has noted in an unrelated study that there is a diagnosis for “caffeine intoxication,” which includes nervousness, excitement, insomnia and possibly rambling speech.
Smith told Dr. Robert Noelker, a psychologist from Williamstown hired by the defendant, he remembers taking his children to school that morning. But Noelker reported that Smith remembers little else about the ensuing hours.
In the weeks preceding May 4, 2009, Woody Smith told Noelker, he hadn’t been sleeping, in part out of fear his wife would take their two children and leave him.
Fleckinger said Smith found out his wife was having an affair with a co-worker. Sexton said knowledge of the affair led Smith to rely on caffeine and not sleep out of fear his wife would take the children and leave.
“The next several hours of Mr. Smith’s life, were described to me as if he were in a daze,” Noelker wrote in his report.
After sleeping intermittently, Smith had nap with one child he picked up from school at midday at a school near their home in Dayton, Ky., across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. After picking up the second child later that day, Smith said he went to his mother and stepfather’s house.
He described feeling “out of control,” weeping to the point of being unable to communicate. Smith eventually confided in his stepfather, Noelker wrote, “I think my wife is dead.”
Reports and case records say at that time that he was drinking five or six soft drinks and energy drinks a day, along with taking diet pills; it all added up to more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — published by the American Psychiatric Association showing standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders — defines overdose as more than 300 milligrams. That’s about three cups of coffee.
Noelker said in his report that he determined Smith was open to “brief psychosis” brought on by sleep deprivation, which was caused by the heavy ingestion of diet pills and caffeine in the weeks before his wife’s death.
The defense strategy recalls the case of Daniel Noble. The 31-year-old budget analyst at the University of Idaho Foundation awoke Dec. 7, 2009, after a restless night and weeks of hard work on the foundation’s budget to head to a Starbucks shop, downing two large cups of coffee.
A judge concluded the caffeine-ingesting budget analyst was unable to form the mental intent to commit a crime, after authorities accused him of injuring two pedestrians with a car.
Now I’m all for creative defenses and making sure the government can meet its burden of proof, but based on the details provided in this story I down about as much caffeine as this guy on a daily basis just to stay awake through class
Last I checked I haven’t killed anyone. Maybe he can enroll in my ZombieLaw course if he needs a cure for his purported insomnia.
But I guess that’s just my prosecutorial instincts kicking in ::shrug::
If any of you have the urge to keep up with this trial, let me know how it goes. I hope he gets convicted, otherwise there’s no telling how many law school students might claim caffeine made them do something stupid if they get hauled into court…
Tags: "Real" world rants..., ZombieLaw
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