As a reflection of the profession we vied to enter, the New York bar exam was plagued with an elaborate set of rules that were at once both trivial and REQUIRED. Tickets must be printed in advance. IDs must be government-issued. Snacks and supplies must be contained in a transparent ziploc bag no larger than one gallon. Hats and hoods cannot be worn. Snacks must be quiet.
Like our futures, the location of the exam itself sat on a precipice. The convention center crouched at the edge of Manhattan, past an unlucky strip of warehouses, mail depots, and haphazard construction projects. The examiners must have intended to not only test us on every tort action, but to have us walk through them as well.
Continue Reading »
The world is my oyster library!
take breaks; never stop studying.
don’t forget to eat; don’t stress eat.
don’t forget to sleep; don’t forget to wake up.
make flash cards; make outlines.
study alone; study in groups.
All good. In fact, I took Mother Nature’s (questionable) advice today and studied in Washington Square Park. But perhaps the best arrived in a letter today from my 10 year old sister:
- Don’t sweat.
- Chillax.
- Bring a Number 2 pencil.
- Study with a teddy bear.
- Say a prayer.
Someone should really tell Bar/BRI; that’s best five-step strategy I’ve ever heard.
View more philfiles posts about the New York state bar examination.
view original post
back to homepage
Posted in bar exam | 4 Comments »
mock bar. real fear.
So far, this pregnancy has been painful. And unfortunately, they haven’t figured out a Caesarian-analog to attorney-birth, so I am burdened with the Herculean and unrelenting weight of the legal profession for the duration. Gummy bear cravings are common.
I have decided to gird myself for such a descent towards legalistic bliss(?) by converting my room into a flash card sweatshop. So far, productivity is anemic and labor unrest is common.
Here’s hoping I don’t get late-term aborted.
view original post
back to homepage
View more posts about the New York state bar examination.
Posted in bar exam | Leave a Comment »
With the sort of frenzied, desperate joviality that only bar examinees can muster, the BBQ atop our easement appurtenant on Dean street was a wild success.
Despite the fact that Henry Hudson reached beyond the grave to foil our whimsical fireworks display, guests sparkled in their best red, white, blue — and even green — based on their favorite revolutionary movements. It was the type of revelry that would astound even Ben Franklin, the Founding Father of attending parties when there’s legal work afoot.
My law school friends were nice enough to attend this final party before hiding in their undisclosed locations to whittle away at that hideous hydra of wills, property, trusts, con law, criminal law, criminal procedure, contracts, secured transactions, domestic relations, torts, evidence, new york practice, corporations, federal jurisdiction, agency, conflicts of laws, and professional responsibility. They even controlled their unruly friends who crashed the party: exhaustion, stress, and desperation.
Independence Day proved memorable, if misnomed. True independence will arrive 25 days later.
view original post
back to homepage
View more philfiles posts about the New York state bar examination.
Posted in bar exam, holiday | Leave a Comment »
Iran is an essentially conservative country. As a result, it should not be surprising that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be re-elected in a landslide victory. What is surprising — and utterly riveting — is widespread belief that he had to resort to fraud in order to win it.
We will never know whether the ostensible election this week represents the true desires of an Iranian public, but we do now that an accurate tally has not been taken. The results defy all logic, polls, and common sense…and my deepest hopes for a combustible region.
My heart is breaking over the election in Iran. Hope feels like it’s suffocating. But even in this dark hour (light in Tehran?), it is surviving. After all, the millions who voted still made a difference. Their actions — waiting in line for hours, demanding a voice — forced the issue. They forced Ahmadinejad to resort to cheating. If they had never voted, he would have “won” anyways. But now that they did, they know, for a fact, that he didn’t deserve it. Continue Reading »
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Look! Longtime philfiles reader Molly has become the POSTER GIRL of her all-girls alma mater! See, philfiles takes you places.
So spaketh our fan Molly, of Indianashires: “We [at Saint Mary's] have small classes and personal attention from professors, but we also have so many clubs…” and opportunities to read philfiles for hours on end. Congrats Molly!
view original post
back to homepage
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Also: is Twitter making philfiles obsolete?
Apologies for the neglect. In a flurry of packing tape and bubble wrap, my blogging muse was carelessly tossed in an unlabeled box; it sat squirming somewhere between my rosary and Catcher in the Rye. I blame the movers.
But excuses are boring. What’s not boring is my account of moving out. Under my couch I found varied and sundry items: jelly beans, a federal court brief, a beer bottle, and congealed salsa-like substances … which together seems like an excellent metaphor for my year in Chelsea.
After nearly five years (already?), my blogging muse is nothing if not resilient, resisting an avalanche of finals, graduation, a cross-borough ford to the scrappy shores of Brooklyn, NY. It has been surviving, defiantly, in 140 characters or less. Like salsa, you can’t get rid of it (apparently). It just takes different forms. Continue Reading »
Posted in apartment, law school, twitter | Leave a Comment »
When I slipped below West Fourth street, an offhand piano recital gave rise to the best possible symbol of my New York:
The piano — mysteriously rolled(?) into the underground urban network — heaved a whimsical rendition of Mozart that soared above the rails, dancing along the subway tracks. The piano keys popped like whack-a-mole, rattling with oncoming trains like chattering teeth.
Normally frenetic passengers stood motionless, frozen like statues by the absurdity of the scene. “Oh!” and old woman squealed, as she leaned on her cane and snapped pictures: “This will look perfect on my Facebook!” The musician stopped for the surprisingly hip grandma. He gave her a peace sign as the symbol of his internet celebrity. The serenade resumed. Continue Reading »
Posted in new york, subway | Leave a Comment »
I guess I’m doing something right.
Avid philfiles reader — and apologist! — Molly L., while PRODUCTIVELY educating young minds at Woodside Middle School, was blocked from accessing philfiles.net today! What makes this site such a pollutant for young minds? Was it the moderately irreligious spring break jokes? The expositions on the sexual proclivities of gnomes? Bob Costas jokes?
No one messes with Bob, I suppose. But either way, I am one step closer to becoming the Socrates/Holden Caulfield/Harry Potter of the Internet, and for that, I couldn’t be more proud/misunderstood/charmed.
view original post
back to homepage
Posted in censorship | Leave a Comment »
Of all the memorable moments on our trip west, the most striking came daily as our hybrid hurdled west, chasing the sun as it effortlessly dipped into the horizon. We were grateful to have sunsets as our guide, leading us to the edge of the world. Continue Reading »
Posted in Manifest Destiny!, acts of god, inspiration, iphotography, nature, sunset | Leave a Comment »
As Robert Frost and 2008 economists have long held, “nothing gold can stay,” so the traveling trio jettisoned our (grueling) resort lifestyle and escaped into the night. Somehow we left STILL tired from our vehicular exploits, and I considered a newfound appreciation for the NASCAR “sport” of racecar driving — but only considered.
The Manifest Destiny road trip was so spellbinding, so evocative, and so satisfying that we decided to do it again(!) — through the air. Our prop plane sputtered into the air and, like Icarus, flew too close to the sun. Flame-kissed and char-broiled, it fell and fell into the depths of LAX international airport “as planned,” but Jerome didn’t believe it.
Jerome, like all gnomes, is a conspiracy theorist. Continue Reading »
Posted in California, LAX, Manifest Destiny!, flight, secret passages | Leave a Comment »
Empowered by newfound legitimacy, I spelunked through the dark depths of the Wall Street Journal’s ECO:nomics resort, where various and sundry white CEOs swarmed in suits to congratulate each other for killing the Earth the least.
It all tugged at my Captain Planet weaned heart, even if the executives requested golf carts to travel from the conference room to their rooms — a hundred yards away. So while New York City stock tape tickers sputtered its swan’s song, the vanguard of our economy shut their eyes, clicked their heels, and clinked champagne on the dramatic bluffs of Santa Barbara. And paid thousands to hear Al Gore! Continue Reading »
Posted in Al Gore, California, T. Boone Pickens, credentials, economy, environment, greed, inspiration, legitimacy | Leave a Comment »
Philfiles just got credentials to the Wall Street Journal’s ECO:nomics forum, which may be little more than a sand castle building contest between Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens. EVERYONE is in trouble now.
view original post
back to homepage
Posted in Al Gore, California, credentials, legitimacy, notoriety | 1 Comment »
What? You don’t have much time, can’t look at all of these posts, and want to return to debilitating mental atrophy at the hands of gawker / facebook / perezhilton? FINE, here is my whole trip in two minutes. Cue up the popcorn and the nostalgia; this is your country!
view original post
back to homepage
View more philfiles posts about triumph, home videos and Manifest Destiny!
Posted in Manifest Destiny!, triumph, video | 1 Comment »
After nine days, fourteen states, 3,524 miles, and an undisclosed number of Taco Bell tacos, DESTINY manifested itself in the San Francisco bay as our trio triumphantly … got stuck in rush hour traffic. But Mother Nature was on hand to offer congratulations, and the Pacific radiated with Her abounding warmth and glory. glory that smelled like exhaust fumes, but an avatar of accomplishment nonetheless. Continue Reading »
Posted in California, Manifest Destiny!, inspiration, triumph | Leave a Comment »
We lived to tell the tale! At (what seemed like) the impassable pass, Jerome momentarily got some cannibal in his eyes and Andy almost mistook me as a vegetable, but we made it through unscathed. Cold, wet, smelly…but unscathed! See for yourself.
These were actual roads, people.
view original post
back to homepage
Posted in Manifest Destiny!, video | Leave a Comment »
We’re on I-80, where chains are required on a certain Donner Pass, named after the Donner family who, after getting stuck in a snowdrift, had to eat their children. Welcome to sunny California??
[US World & News Report] The Ghoulish Tale of the Donner Party
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
-
Recent Posts
-
Recent Comments
Frailty, thy name is… on iPhone is a gateway drug Melanie on Bar Exam Study Tips phil on Bar Exam Study Tips Jackie on Bar Exam Study Tips Kaela on Bar Exam Study Tips Archives
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
-
