(this post was written over a
month or so.)
On the way home from running
another competition, on the 11:13pm train, the one where all the chefs go home
on Viva La Viva by Cold play came on and I got all nostalgic. I am in my 4th year of law school,
four years of my life has been devoted either to getting into or surviving this
ordeal.
When I first heard the song I had
moved back from a smallish country town with Mr Ovum, I had got my old job back
at the Cackle Berry and had started my Justice Degree. I used to be in some kind of awe of law
students and lawyers. This has undergone a drastic shift.
I still love my job, still wake
up eager to get there and sink my teeth into whatever problem or task I have
been given. I have grown my network of friends (funny what being on the LSS
will do) while keeping the best of the non-law folks.
Regarding the assessment from the
last post, I had to push through three levels of appeal to get my points
across. I passed the subject overall since the grade was changed, which is nice
since that would have been the one and only fail on my transcript. However it
was a long involved process and even though I eventually got what I needed some
issues are unresolved. I could push it on further but I don’t have the time or
inclination to do so. Also, I guess there is something to be said about being
happy with what you have got.
A week ago the Mooting
coordinator sent out an email calling for expressions of interest from the
‘senior and experienced mooters’ to moot in the Kirby Contracts moot, memorials
are due in 9 days and orals a month after. Because I love to punish myself I
opted in and was put on the team! At the very least it is some more experience
before the ICC moot at the end of this year (which is coming up much faster
than I anticipated – can’t believe it is week 7 of semester already, how did that
happen?). But mooting with such a full schedule is quite punishing, it means
more weeks of 5 hours sleep a night, not getting home until 1 or 2 in the
morning.
Mooting has to be one of the best
methods of legal education; my understanding of contracts (well certain areas
of contract law) far surpasses the superficial knowledge I had to cram into my
head in order to get a good grade. However it comes at a cost. Mooting is such
a roller coaster. One moment you crack a legal argument and then the next moment
you have wasted hour and hours on a research path that got you nowhere and
leaves you feeling frustrated and angry. Through the course of this moot I have
even put serious thought into whether I should be allowed to practice with so
many gaps in my legal understanding of contracts.
Also, I guess once you chose a
field or three you can get very, very familiar with that area of law. We spend
upwards of 4 years at law school learning the subject across a broad field law,
now these areas of law are all interrelated but how can a person be across all
these areas in a meaningful way (and yes I know they are out there)?
