whitefly.com

It’s here. Say a little prayer for me. See you all in about three days.

So, worked on torts today. I learned:

Malicious Prosecution

1. Instigation of Proceedings against Plaintiff
2. Conclusion of those Proceedings with a verdict for Plaintiff
3. Assertion of those claims for an “Improper Purpose”
4. No “Probable Cause” for the assertion of those claims
5. Damages (to Plaintiff)

and

Abuse of Process

1. Use of process for an ulterior purpose
2. Substantial act or threat of the use of process for that ulterior purpose

Those are some super-rarely-tested causes of action that I spent the afternoon working toward memorizing. I think I got them.

Next, I did three more essays (did three last night). I was pulling them from the February 2004 Bar Exam. So, questions 4-6. The first question was a tough one. It was a property/contracts question. I got everything but learned that a lease can create a convenant that “runs with the land.” The requirements for any covenant to run with the land are (WITHN):

1. Writing
2. Intent
3. Touch and Concern
4. Horizontal and Vertical Privity
5. Notice

Incidentally, an equitable servitude requires less (WINT):

1. Writing
2. Intent
3. Notice
4. Touch and Concern

So I missed that issue… unfortunately, but I had about 15 other things I thought of… aside from that.

The next two essays were Constitutional Law (Federalism and Standing) and Civil Procedure (Personal Jurisdiction, Subject Matter Jurisdiction and Supplimental Jurisdiction with some subheadings on Joinder and Counterclaims). I straight up ROCKED those questions. Awesome! I’m beginning to feel pretty good about this stuff.

If I can make it through this wrist pain… and type for 6 hours a day in a few weeks, I’ll survive this bar yet. So, here’s to hoping.

So, having done Torts and three extra essays for the day, I’m feeling pretty good. I might even take the night off and do something fun!

I’m back. It was a long week. Study, more study and a little bit of study. Then, I played some. I’ve been watching this series on the History Channel late at night on the American Revolution. Its been pretty fascinating. It sounds like George Washington was not doing so well before the winter at Valley Forge, PA. He’d lost the Capital of Philadelphia to Howe, while another guy up North had stopped and defeated a 4000 person army along the Hudson. Anyway, its been a nice distraction from the studying, while I’m ready to doze off to sleep.

I finally got to talk to mum and pop together yesterday. It’d been a while. Sounds like they are doing well, thankfully.

As for the studying, well, I’m tackling one subject at a time, now, until the bar is over. The Barbri classes have officially ended, I just have additional studying queued until the day of the bar. So, today’s topic is “Corporations.” I did some multistate questions this morning before lunch and now I’m reading through my Corporations outline before I attempt a few Corporations essays. Late this afternoon, I’ll probably tackle another whole bar, 6 essays, and then do something different. I might try and run tonight. I’ve felt rather under the weather the last few days and haven’t gotten to go on my usual runs. I’m feeling pretty well today, so I think its a go. We’ll see.

Today was church, then studying. Actually, it was studying, church, more studying, play a bit, talk to Heidi, more studying. Now, I’m obviously, writing and I will likely take a break to play a bit. So, it’s been a good day. Bright and early does it. I was up at 7:20 today, waitin around for Heidi to come and pick me up. I then studied for about an hour before iglesia, then studied for probably another four hours this afternoon. I like it. Long story short, I think I have Civil Procedure essays down. I missed one topic, forum non conveniens on the “turn in” essay.

Enough of that malarky. Lets talk about something else. Well, there isn’t anything else… I don’t think. Lets see… How about, this: Old, I know.

Well, I needed a break today. So, I fell asleep for about an hour in my room. Unfortunately, its about 80 degress in here or was, anyway. So, I woke up shortly from being hot. So, I set to work on Professional Responsibility again. We typically get two days per topic of out-of-class work. So, I read through Conviser’s again, reviewed the essays I did yesterday (trying to make sure I got those rules and the contexts they come up in) and then started in on the two for today. As it turns out, I do alright. These essays today were both harder than the one’s yesterday.

The first essay concerned, primarily receipt of a contingent fee in a divorce action. Duh, cruddy idea. Turns out in CA its ok, so long as it doesn’t “encourage” divorce. Whack, man, whack.

The second essay involved a bank officer divulging to you that his boss and he have been “cheating” on the books. Where do one’s loyalties lie when one has been representing the company, apparently for some time. Apparently one disclosure, in the mind of the base answer suggests that it immediately shifts to the officer alone. I’d argue it shifts to no one. They argue that you now have confidential (and prejudicial) information about this officer essentially stealing. Thats totally correct. However, this doesn’t make you immediately his lawyer. In fact, you also have, apparently, several years of confidential information about the company as its outside counsel. This is what is called a conflict. I’d say, instead, that you can represent neither party effectively. Instead, you are under and ongoing duty to “warn” the company’s board that there are issues, then likely withdraw (not clear in CA). Next, you should advise both parties of your need to withdraw, due to the conflict and withdraw. You must maintain the confidences of both “clients” even though the officer only divulged some things, one day to you. But, hey, thats just me. 😉 Hopefully I’m overly ethical.

In brighter news, thankfully, I get the rest of the weekend until Wednesday off. Thank Heaven. I’m really running low on steam. They said something about a “wall” this week in Barbri. They would be right.

So, I’m going to go see Superman with Heidi, probably, and then see some fireworks with her on Tuesday! Woo, I’m excited to play a bit. Just hope it doesn’t turn my brain to mush.

Today I began work (well really last night) on professional responsibility review for the California Bar Exam. For those who don’t know, I will be taking the bar on July 25-27th in Ontario. Oh, its great fun. Its, allegedly, one of the toughest two bars in the country, second (or first, depending on who you talk to) to New York’s Bar.

I’ve been working the last month, basically, on this whole studying thing. I’ve now completed a review of:

• Torts
• Constitutional Law
• Criminal Law/Criminal Procedure
• Remedies
• Evidence
• Real Property (that means land and land + houses, as opposed to personal property, like a car)
• Civil Procedure
• Contracts
• Corporations
• Profesional Responsibility

I will be going on to:

• Wills and Trusts
• Community Property

These two topics get two days of pounding on before I get back to work on some other topics. Heaven help me.

Back to Professional Responsibility… This class in law school basically consists of numerous warnings not to be a shady character. We get things like, “don’t force your client to sleep with you to pay for your services.” Does that really need a rule? I’m sorry to say it apparently does. I’m of the impression that “we all have our thing” to quote Jenna Elfman in Can’t Hardly Wait. People screw up, even lawyers who are trained to be precise and not screw up. As much as I like the “legal” way of dealing with these matters which are described in 31 long pages in the Conviser Mini Review, I wish our society were still such that we could deal with the problems of individuals through the model suggested in the Bible: to exhort one another and to reprove them with kindness and gentleness, bringing them back into the right path. That model does not pertain only to matters of faith, but to all types of living, I believe. When one does wrong, it is another’s obligation to point out that failure, but then to provide reason, means and opportunity to right that wrong. I hope that all would allow others this path and most of all, that I would be beneficial of forgiveness when I fall short as well.

Alright, thats enough random preaching at my non-existant readers. It is time to study more of the codification of goodness that I have to know to become a real lawyer someday.