Today was my interview with the small firm. This is the first time that I have removed all references to my children from my resume (and conveniently deleted my college graduation date from my resume so as not to reveal my SAHM status). Things were going well, until they asked whey I live in [small suburban community]? My usual answers is because of the great schools. But of course, I couldn't say that because I'm trying to avoid the issue of my children. I think they could tell I was uncomfortable with the question--so of course they persisted. Was I married? Yes. Did I have children? Yes. How Many? I would prefer not to talk about my personal life.
Yes, that is the answer that I gave. I read in some career advice column that was the appropriate response to this line of questioning. Let me tell you now that it isn't. I could tell that my interviewers were completely taken aback by my response. Then they proceeded to tell me that having children was actually a benefit in family law, most of the (female) lawyers there had children, and that was not a concern. So then I had to backtrack and explain what an impediment my children have been in other interviews, and I revealed that I do indeed have three children.
I actual believe that they don't think my kids are a problem--but my trying to cover it up might be. The bigger problem is my internship with the DA's office and the child advocacy clinic placement that I have in the fall. They want someone who will continue through the next year. Something I would be willing to consider--especially if I thought there was the potential for long term employment, but not at the sacrifice of my other opportunities.
Then they asked when I could start. I told them as soon as finals were over, except that the following week I would have four days in which to complete a law review application and if possible I would like time to work on that. This apparently was my biggest mistake. They do not want someone on law review because it takes up too much time. Especially for someone who already has another internship, a clinic placement, and three kids. In fact they told me that the prospect of law review (which we don't even know if I'll make) is much more concerning to them than having kids. Arrrgghhhh! I just cannot make anyone happy--most firms want someone on law review.
Oh well. I guess we'll see what happens. The good news is that I really don't care if I get this job or not because I was looking forward to having three days a week off to hang out with my kiddos. But it seemed like a nice enough place if they do make an offer.
4/25/06
4/23/06
We lost our case
Our trial ad trial was Saturday and we lost to the Whiners. Sort of a hollow victory for them, though, since no one on the plaintiff's side has won this case yet. They didn't perform better than us, they just had the facts on their side.
We got critiqued by our jurors and two judges. Most of the comments were very helpful, but there was one young college student who must have been overcome by the power of criticizing a law student. She trashed all of us, but while she was doing it all of the other jurors were rolling their eyes and shaking their heads.
Mostly I'm just glad its over. Trial ad was a huge time suck and it was keeping me from paying enough attention to my other classes. Now I can settle in and start thinking seriously about finals.
In the meantime, I've also taken off from my externship until finals are over--so I probably won't have anything interesting to post in the next couple of weeks.
We got critiqued by our jurors and two judges. Most of the comments were very helpful, but there was one young college student who must have been overcome by the power of criticizing a law student. She trashed all of us, but while she was doing it all of the other jurors were rolling their eyes and shaking their heads.
Mostly I'm just glad its over. Trial ad was a huge time suck and it was keeping me from paying enough attention to my other classes. Now I can settle in and start thinking seriously about finals.
In the meantime, I've also taken off from my externship until finals are over--so I probably won't have anything interesting to post in the next couple of weeks.
4/21/06
I have an interview
I have not yet found summer employment. I haven't been too worried about this because I will be working for the D.A.'s office and getting school credit--still something that actually pays would be nice, and anything I can add to my resume is a good thing.
So yesterday, the Career Services sent out a job opportunity with a small firm that focuses on family law, but does a little bit of everything. I sent my application out last night, and they emailed me today to set up an interview. That's a good thing, right???
Only two problems. They didn't sound too excited when I told them that I would need to continue working at the D.A.'s office to meet my credit hour requirements. And it pays exactly what I pay my sitter. So I wouldn't actually make any money--but at least I would break even--as opposed losing money as I am working for the D.A.'s office.
Anyway, I guess I'll go to the interview and see what happens. In the meantime, I'm just happy someone finally found me worthy of an interview!
So yesterday, the Career Services sent out a job opportunity with a small firm that focuses on family law, but does a little bit of everything. I sent my application out last night, and they emailed me today to set up an interview. That's a good thing, right???
Only two problems. They didn't sound too excited when I told them that I would need to continue working at the D.A.'s office to meet my credit hour requirements. And it pays exactly what I pay my sitter. So I wouldn't actually make any money--but at least I would break even--as opposed losing money as I am working for the D.A.'s office.
Anyway, I guess I'll go to the interview and see what happens. In the meantime, I'm just happy someone finally found me worthy of an interview!
4/19/06
I think the Whiners earned us some brownie points
We had our pre-trial conference today. The judge was ready to hear our arguments for our motions in limine. Of course we had to tell him that we were precluded from arguing our motion because the Whiners went to the prof. The judge asked them if they were prepared to argue against it. Of course they weren't. He was disappointed, because he liked our "creative lawyering" and he seemed a little miffed that the other side went around him and directly to the prof. Yea for us. He also sided with us on all our other arguments--probably more out of fairness than anything. He admitted that this case was weighted toward the defense and that we were wise to try to fight in pre-trial.
We were also informed that the Prof will be sitting in on our trial. There are 16 trial going at the same time--so I don't know if all of this has anything to do with us being selected.
We were also informed that the Prof will be sitting in on our trial. There are 16 trial going at the same time--so I don't know if all of this has anything to do with us being selected.
4/18/06
Stupid Whiners
Our trial ad trial is this week, and our opponents went whining to the professor after they got our motions yesterday because they didn't like our strategy. Instead of fighting it in our pre-trial conference tomorrow with a judge, they went behind our backs and convinced the prof that what we were doing was unfair.
The case involves a kid getting hit by a car. It is very heavily weighted toward the defense, who is alleging that everybody else around was responsible instead of him. We wanted to limit his defense to fighting off his own negligence, so we brought motions in limine to prevent evidence of negligece of two other parties. The defense don't like it because the rules stipulate that we can't fight contributory negligence. The thing is, we aren't fighting contriutory negligence--we are simply stating that any negligence by a caregiver or parents is not imputable to the child to bar his recovery. They can still be contributorily negligent--it just doesn't matter. I even talked to the prof about this strategy before we went forward with it and he said it was ok, but he thought they would be able to fight it off. Apparently they don't want to fight, they just want to whine.
The case involves a kid getting hit by a car. It is very heavily weighted toward the defense, who is alleging that everybody else around was responsible instead of him. We wanted to limit his defense to fighting off his own negligence, so we brought motions in limine to prevent evidence of negligece of two other parties. The defense don't like it because the rules stipulate that we can't fight contributory negligence. The thing is, we aren't fighting contriutory negligence--we are simply stating that any negligence by a caregiver or parents is not imputable to the child to bar his recovery. They can still be contributorily negligent--it just doesn't matter. I even talked to the prof about this strategy before we went forward with it and he said it was ok, but he thought they would be able to fight it off. Apparently they don't want to fight, they just want to whine.
4/13/06
I'm still alive
As it turns out nobody was trying to poison me. She was actually more worried about the negative perception that I had of her. We had a nice lunch and talked about our kids and what we wanted to do after law school. Then, this afternoon, I talked to my professor. He just wanted to talk to me about the impact of the non-settlement on my grade, but wasn't at all worried about my in class comments. All that drama for nothing!
4/12/06
The Plot Thickens
I have been directed to contact my negotiations professor ASAP. I haven't been called in to explain myself since the 7th grade. Surely what I said in class wasn't that bad. The funny thing is that I never speak in class unless a direct question. It would be pretty darn ironic to be called out for the one time I actually did speak up.
On a happier note, I second chaired my first felony today. I did the prep work, but can't speak in court because I don't have my bar card yet. It was a bench trial, and there is a sticky legal issue, so the judge won't rule until Monday.
On a happier note, I second chaired my first felony today. I did the prep work, but can't speak in court because I don't have my bar card yet. It was a bench trial, and there is a sticky legal issue, so the judge won't rule until Monday.
4/11/06
Very interesting...
Today I received an email from my negotiations opponent (the one that came down to a coin toss .) I figured that she pretty much hated me for popping off in class about "taking her down with me" and saying that she was going to be tough because she didn't care what grade she got.
So I'm guessing that she is either meeting me to poison me in retribution, or because she was genuinely shocked that I felt that way and wants to know why. Probably the more logical option is that she wants to know why I popped off. And now I feel bad, because I really didn't need to be so blunt--or at least not in front of the whole class.
I was once told that someday my alligator mouth would get my canary body in trouble. As it turns out, that prognosticator was right more often than I would like to admit. I do have a tendency to say what I think, no holds barred. I also have a tendency to sometimes say these things at less than appropriate moments. This may have been one of those times.
Anyway, I agreed to meet her on Thursday, so if you never again hear from me after that, you know that it was indeed a retribution poisoning.
So I'm guessing that she is either meeting me to poison me in retribution, or because she was genuinely shocked that I felt that way and wants to know why. Probably the more logical option is that she wants to know why I popped off. And now I feel bad, because I really didn't need to be so blunt--or at least not in front of the whole class.
I was once told that someday my alligator mouth would get my canary body in trouble. As it turns out, that prognosticator was right more often than I would like to admit. I do have a tendency to say what I think, no holds barred. I also have a tendency to sometimes say these things at less than appropriate moments. This may have been one of those times.
Anyway, I agreed to meet her on Thursday, so if you never again hear from me after that, you know that it was indeed a retribution poisoning.
4/9/06
We got a new baby!
Her name is Katie. I have been telling DH for a while now that I miss having a dog, but I wasn't really planning to do anything about it at least until school was out. So when we went to buy fish food yesterday, we had no intention of bringing home a puppy, but she's just so darn cute, how could we not? 
She is a shelter dog that is a lab mix. We bought her a crate and she is doing really well with it. We're a bit concerned because she is sleeping a lot. I don't know if I have ever had a puppy this small before, so I don't if its normal or not, but we already have a vet appointment .
I think she likes the kids and treats them like her dog sisters. If they are on the floor, she just curls up next to them and goes to sleep. She finally went into her crate of her own accord. We are trying to teach her that the crate is her "safe place" where the kids can't mess with her.
I know its insane to take on a dog right before finals and my trial ad trial, but so far she's been little trouble. Also, getting the kids a pet makes me feel less guilty about ignoring so much them while my study schedule amps up.
She is a shelter dog that is a lab mix. We bought her a crate and she is doing really well with it. We're a bit concerned because she is sleeping a lot. I don't know if I have ever had a puppy this small before, so I don't if its normal or not, but we already have a vet appointment .I think she likes the kids and treats them like her dog sisters. If they are on the floor, she just curls up next to them and goes to sleep. She finally went into her crate of her own accord. We are trying to teach her that the crate is her "safe place" where the kids can't mess with her.
I know its insane to take on a dog right before finals and my trial ad trial, but so far she's been little trouble. Also, getting the kids a pet makes me feel less guilty about ignoring so much them while my study schedule amps up.
4/7/06
Ha! The coin toss worked out in my favor.
Today we had to report the results of our negotiations. Only my team and one other failed to settle. Our grades were based on the cumulative results of 6 coin tosses. For me, each head was worth a certain amount, and for my opponent each head cost her a certain amount. I got five out of six heads. I could have made a bit more if I had accepted her last settlement offer, but the coin toss really hurt her. The coin toss was done in front of the entire class, and they wanted to know why I hadn't settled. I told them that it was a matter of principle. I wasn't going to let her roll over me and "if I was going down I was taking her with me." Probably wasn't the most diplomatic thing I could have said, and I may have very well made my first law school enemy. I think half the class was rooting for me and the other half thought I was either crazy or just a bitch. The thing is, if she had tried at all we would have settled, she just refused to play the game. Oh well. We won't know where our coin toss put us in the rankings for two weeks. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.
4/4/06
My grade now depends on a coin toss
My negotiation today did not go well. As predicted, my opponent only wanted to play hard-ball and wasn't willing to budge. Then she told me that she doesn't really care about her grades, she doesn't feel like competing with much younger students, and this class is just a game for her. Must be nice to blow $100K in law school tuition just for kicks. My children and my husband are giving up a lot for me to go to law school. I'm not doing it just for fun, and it frustrates me that someone else's apathy has so much impact on my grade. (The grades in this class are based on your negotiated settlement as compared to everyone else's, and thus your opponent's ranking will be inversely proportional to yours.)
So, in this negotiation, her first offer was $1 mil, mine was $15mil. She said that was not doable and that we might as well give up right then and there--this is 30 seconds in!!! I called her bluff and told her that was fine with me. Then she said that she could go to $3 mil., but that was her limit. I went down to $7.5 mil. and would have come down more. But she just said that she wouldn't budge and if I couldn't take $3 mil then negotiations were over and we might as well quit wasting time. I said ok, and she filled out the form that said we reached no agreement. She asked if I had calculated what I would get if we didn't reach a settlement and it came down to a coin toss. I told her that I had and I knew my options, but that I didn't know what her's were--and they were very likely not the same. She seemed surprised by this--apparently she hadn't considered that non-settlement could have different effects on us.
So now, our grade is literally left to a coin toss which will decide who wins the "litigation" since the case did not settle. Honestly, it probably would have been wiser for me to take the $3 mil. But I was not about to let her steamroll me and win. If my ranking is going to sink to the bottom because she refuses to play fair, then I am taking her with me. I'm just so irritated because she did not even try to actually work out an agreement.
To cheer myself up I bought new shoes. I've been looking for tall, pointy black heels forever because my tall rounded black heels hurt my feet. I finally found exactly what I wanted-and they were on sale!!!! Nothing like a few shopping -induced endorphins to make a sucky day better.
So, in this negotiation, her first offer was $1 mil, mine was $15mil. She said that was not doable and that we might as well give up right then and there--this is 30 seconds in!!! I called her bluff and told her that was fine with me. Then she said that she could go to $3 mil., but that was her limit. I went down to $7.5 mil. and would have come down more. But she just said that she wouldn't budge and if I couldn't take $3 mil then negotiations were over and we might as well quit wasting time. I said ok, and she filled out the form that said we reached no agreement. She asked if I had calculated what I would get if we didn't reach a settlement and it came down to a coin toss. I told her that I had and I knew my options, but that I didn't know what her's were--and they were very likely not the same. She seemed surprised by this--apparently she hadn't considered that non-settlement could have different effects on us.
So now, our grade is literally left to a coin toss which will decide who wins the "litigation" since the case did not settle. Honestly, it probably would have been wiser for me to take the $3 mil. But I was not about to let her steamroll me and win. If my ranking is going to sink to the bottom because she refuses to play fair, then I am taking her with me. I'm just so irritated because she did not even try to actually work out an agreement.
To cheer myself up I bought new shoes. I've been looking for tall, pointy black heels forever because my tall rounded black heels hurt my feet. I finally found exactly what I wanted-and they were on sale!!!! Nothing like a few shopping -induced endorphins to make a sucky day better.
4/3/06
A little bit of everything
Thanks to an email from sitemeter, I noticed that my readership doubled this week (from 2 hits/day to 4, woo hoo!), which can only mean one thing-I've been linked by The Legal Underground. Now I feel guilty because I have been very lax about posting the past couple of weeks. And the link was to my big ol' whinefest.
If anybody cares, Ms. Whiner did not show up for scrapbook night, and I was not the only one who was glad about that. It turns out that she sort of invited herself. Then she called my friend W and asked if her 12 y.o. daughter could come. That was where W drew the line. As childish as scrapping is, it is adult time. We do it to get away from our kids and to have adult conversations which are often inappropriate for for a 12 y.o. So, our regular group got together, and we had a great time.
In other news, I haven't been posting lately because life has just been crazy. This was the first weekend in weeks that I have actually time to do some work around the house. Thankfully, my trial ad classes are done, but now I am prepping for the fake trial, and it is going to be a lot of work. I also have negotiations every week for my negotiations class, which is taking up a lot of time. When I registered, I was happy to have two performance-based classes that I would not have final exams in, but they are so time-intensive, I am beginning to reconsider that.
My negotiation last week went better than anticipated. My opponent did not try to play hard-ball as much as I thought he would, and everything went fairly smoothly. I think I did ok, and I imagine I will come out somewhere in the middle of the pack when we get our rankings on Friday. Meanwhile I have another negotiation on Tuesday. I am actually more afraid of this opponent than the last. She is older (maybe 60?), appears to be financially well-off, and I know that she refused to budge on her very first negotiation. I think she has little to lose and she will likely be tough.
If anybody cares, Ms. Whiner did not show up for scrapbook night, and I was not the only one who was glad about that. It turns out that she sort of invited herself. Then she called my friend W and asked if her 12 y.o. daughter could come. That was where W drew the line. As childish as scrapping is, it is adult time. We do it to get away from our kids and to have adult conversations which are often inappropriate for for a 12 y.o. So, our regular group got together, and we had a great time.
In other news, I haven't been posting lately because life has just been crazy. This was the first weekend in weeks that I have actually time to do some work around the house. Thankfully, my trial ad classes are done, but now I am prepping for the fake trial, and it is going to be a lot of work. I also have negotiations every week for my negotiations class, which is taking up a lot of time. When I registered, I was happy to have two performance-based classes that I would not have final exams in, but they are so time-intensive, I am beginning to reconsider that.
My negotiation last week went better than anticipated. My opponent did not try to play hard-ball as much as I thought he would, and everything went fairly smoothly. I think I did ok, and I imagine I will come out somewhere in the middle of the pack when we get our rankings on Friday. Meanwhile I have another negotiation on Tuesday. I am actually more afraid of this opponent than the last. She is older (maybe 60?), appears to be financially well-off, and I know that she refused to budge on her very first negotiation. I think she has little to lose and she will likely be tough.
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