1/6 of the Way There

A list of some of the things I learned in my first semester of Law School…

1. Lawyers use the serial comma.  I have never liked serial commas – too inefficient.
2. Lawyers love Latin.
3. TX Lawyers fall into two groups: those that pronounce Latin correctly and those that pronounce their heritage.
4. The Law really is a beautiful thing.
5. There is a difference between ear plugs and ear coverings and, apparently, the difference is too advantageous.
6. When you have completed four 3 hour mostly analytical essay tests, it is difficult to study for a 70 question multiple guess final.
7. A good woman is worth her weight in design magazines, hobo wallets, date-nights, and diamonds.
8. One’s sanity in law school is proportionally based to the number of friends one has outside of law school… and talks with.
9. Per capita there are more “rolly” bags inside a Law School than an airport terminal.
10. My Starbucks alter-ego: Venti Bold.
11. My favorite LRW comment: “I felt like I was reading an action-thriller… but stay out of the present tense in your fact scenario.”
12. During finals my whole day would be thrown off if I did not get my study table – 4^th floor, Southeast Corner, Round table, and lots of windows.
13. Day of Final Routine – Wake up: 11am; Coffee/Cereal/Read (NOT Law)/Hydrate; Go for Run: 1pm; Shower; Big Lunch: 3pm; Watch Mindless Show – Top Gun/Survivor/Sons of Anarchy; Leave for Bus: 4:20pm; Arrive at School: 5pm; Stake out spot – 2^nd or 3^rd row and either center or center left; Set up Computer, Pens, and Pencils; Crake Corny jokes due to nerves; Eat a Sandwich: 5:30pm; Go Time: 6pm.
14. Paper Chase was fairly representative of my first semester, though I was not so hot on Contracts.
15. If in a Law School Library, don’t ask a 1L for help.  We do not know.
16. Depraved Heart Murder can easily be explained over a cocktail.
17. Don’t volunteer for nothing!
18. “Relax.  You’ll do fine” is a lie, but it’s the truth.
19. I still know next to nothing regarding Houston – the city I have now lived in for going on 6 months.
20. FRCP 32 allows for a Deposition to be used for anything, including a Battery.
21. Date nights backslid from dinner picnics at Discovery Green to leftovers in the car outside of the library.
22. Lexis Nexus and West Law are the insecure kids with a lot of money trying to buy friends.  It works.
23.  I gain weight during the semester and lose it during finals.
24. My wife is a lot better cook than she gives herself credit.
25. Law School is not about facts; it is about questions.
26. Humility is beautiful when natural; devastating when coerced.
27. Law School Students are noise sensitive creatures.
28. Grades are horribly hard to wait for; incredibly easy to under appreciate (when good) and impossible to forget (when bad).
29. I am one-sixth of the way to becoming a lawyer, counselor, and bs artist.