Jumping Jessup

Jessup owns me

If I am not in the library working on the migraine that is Jessup I am at home thinking about how I should be at uni working on Jessup. Even my dreams have been pervaded with dreams of pleading tables, international law and how grossly under prepared we are.

Uni Results were released, I passed… just, actually 2/3rds of the year failed trusts but then they bell curved it and I only passed by 1%. That freaked me out quite a bit, usually I get great marks but this was a terrible experience I never want to repeat.

I know where I went wrong, I assisted in court for a few weeks full time in the pointy end of semester and worked extra days through SWOTVAC (because I was asked to). However I don’t think I would change it, the actual hands on experience was worth it.

My pitiful marks:

Trusts: Pass

Property B: Pass

Policing diversity: Pass

Crime Prevention: Credit

WTF! A credit for crime prevention? Two assessments where all I did was 2 days before it was due was look at the power points briefly, check the criteria sheet and then start bullshitting… what a joke.

Christmas was good, until I went to Mr. Ovums house and was introduced as the ‘house mate’, four years and they still don’t know, they should but they honestly don’t. Mr. Ovum plans to tell them in the next few days that should be interesting to say the least…

I have been voted onto the Law Student Society as a competitions director for 2012, if nothing else it should be lots of fun. Out of 40 something votes I got 30 something. All the people vying for the position got up and spoke for 2 minutes on why they should be elected. I had nothing prepared (why so surprised?) spoke about how much I enjoy mooting and how this excitement would come through in how I went about by position. It worked.

I find all the good things that have been happening to me a touch funny, you see these things were never supposed to happen, not to me. I am not a stellar student, I procrastinate and never sew myself being ‘one of those students’ but here I am. Trying to keep it together and not have it all blow up in my face in a spectacular manner.

Back to the mind rape that is Jessup – Obiter

More than I can handle

The job generally is really, really good. The team I am with is both supportive and fun, could not ask for a better position. However I was given the option of being sent to a different town for a month and being ‘instructing clerk’ for a large trial. How could I say no! Even though it is the pointy end of semester and I have more that I can poke two sticks at anyway. But I like to cause myself as much stress as possible so the obvious answer was HELL YES!

I regret that. Now I have the ICC moot, Jessup, trying to write weekly for Survivelaw.com, Exam notes and preparation on top of being in a different city 4 nights a week. If work was only 7-5 or court hours it would be fine, but as I am living with the barristers I am their bitch 24 hours a day. I loathe it. There are two barristers a Senior who has been practicing for 20 years and a Junior who has been doing it for a whopping six months. The Junior is making my life a living hell it goes beyond the arrogance of the barrister and solicitor crap to a personal level where he treats me like scum. I have worked with horrible people but this douche takes the cake.

I am so eager to make both of them happy tho, I do not have any carriage of the case so in court the best I can do is hand them pens or a folder if I can find it first. Because of my almost total uselessness I am going over and above in every respect and the Junior is abusing it and me. The result is I am very, very highly strung and it is taking its toll. I have managed to leave the Senior barristers luggage somewhere that was not the unit, so he had no clothes in the morning…oh yeah I fucked up.

Then the week was peppered with other minor mistakes the Junior has blown out of proportion in a bid to get me the sack (this guy is apparently a homophobe). But the best one is where I crashed the work car into the car front of me on the way to court, to be fair it was only a bump and there was no major damage caused. However the Jnr is crying whiplash, he even had me book a doctor’s appointment for him... what a cock. The thing that really gets me is that I was sure my foot was on the break! Stupid European car, my car may be a bomb but it least I know how firm the peddle is when you break to a stop.

I hate this so much. I have had a really good run of things the past few months but everything is now taking a turn for a not-so-good. I am sure I will bounce back, I always do but I am just not feeling it right now.

There has been so much good stuff I wanted to blog about but I have not time 
I have too much to do to be writing a blog – Obiter Ovum

Mooting and 'Brain Gold'

Today was the semi-finals of the Jr Moot, we lost. To get to the semi-finals we beat 16 other teams. I feel O.K about this. Still a bit pissy I did not make it to the finals but at least we made it past the first round unlike last year.

Both in the first round and in the semi-final I got the same feedback - SLOW DOWN. I am quite sure until the day I die I will be told to 'slow down', I keep trying it's just my slow is most peoples fast. Again I was told I have great 'presence in the court room' whatever that means (probably because I am tall and broad), in both rounds I was told I was the best 'mooter' in the room... so why am I not at the finals...? On the bright side this time I did not forget co-councils name only worked off bullet points and knew the law/facts pretty bloody well.

I may say never again, a bit like when you go on a bender and wake up feeling like rat shit but just like drinking when the opportunity presents again I will grab it with both hands. The past 8 days have been a freaking nightmare I lived and breathed the cases, all the chefs at work knew hoe sections 7 and 8 of the Criminal Code worked by the end of last week just from listening to me talk to myself. My house is falling apart because I did not care about the stack of dishes a mile high (to be fair I gave up on house work in about week 5 - we are in week 11), there are dust bunnies the size of your fist rolling around the place as I type.

Mr Ovum and I are in the middle of a fight. I never ever let him proof anything I write. Ever. As part of the exchange process I have to write a one page essay, this is the first essay he has had any say in, in over two years. It does not end well as he is 100% confident anything that comes from his brain in gold, I have coined it as 'Brain Gold'. When I mention 'Brain Gold' it just gets worse. But to hell with it, I am a reasonably successful third year law student, when I put my mind to it my view is just as valid as his... and this is where the fight starts. To be fair I have had months to do this and I am doing it the night before it is due, this just stresses the poor man out.

Time to do some word smithing - Obiter Ovum

Running up hill

It’s week three and things look OK. This is a mirage, I know it, but I am still drinking that sand.

Lucifers Corner Office.

On my way out yesterday I was informed that currently there is not space in the office (two new solicitors starting) and I am not needed…until my uni holidays. That’s great news! I was freaking out about how I was going to maintain the insanity of working 45 hours a week on top of all my study. Now I don’t have to worry about it and I have a summer (winter really) clerkship lined up. On top of all that, the solicitor who has come from the Glass Tower was really sad to see me go, said all these really great things about my work and that is was a shame I am leaving for a while.
I have had such an interesting 4 months there. Learning so much, and actually doing legal work. I am already excited about going back!!


Subjects

Property Law A

I freaking love this class! Maybe it is because I used to be real estate agent (I was 18…why did people allow me to sell their homes!?) and a Mortgage Broker (21…I was good with people…not so much with the whole number thing) but am enjoying it all the same.

Equity

Also really lapping it up. I think I am getting more from my law subjects then I did last year for a few reasons. Firstly, the learning curve is not 90 degrees, I know how to find/read/note a case. Secondly, I have soo much more time with only 2 law subjects. So much more time.

Policing in context

My old man is a cop, I find this subject interesting if nothing else. I have no real interest in a career in the service but a policing major is a much better choice than a criminology major (for me anyway, I hated the psychology subjects).

Introduction into criminal research

I can see the utility of this subject. In fact it might be a great subject however the text book is a nightmare. I usually would not slam any book or text in this blog but this book makes me physically sick when I think about having to read it (for goodness sake, I read a contracts text book – cover to cover last year) “Research Methods for Criminal justice and Criminology” so poorly written. There is some really great content and examples however it is too hard to read, it is as if the author got all excited with all this stuff and just crammed it into a book without thinking about how to structure it. This one subject is going to ensure a very, very long semester (the unit co-ordinator and lecturers are fine, it’s just that freaking text).

No more 6am starts for this egg, I can drink on weekdays again!! Yay! – Obiter