Tuesday, December 26, 2006

The final five

It's a good time of year to appraise the classes for the upcoming and - say it with me - final term of law school. I've got five classes and four written exams, which, after the relative breeze that two written finals was this last month - might come back to haunt me. (As the Bogeylawyer, maybe?)

Here's the list:

Real Estate Transactions: this is a course I wouldn't lose sleep over not taking, (there's plenty of sleep to lose in law school anyhow). But, I enjoyed Land Use Planning immensely, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy a lot of the byzantine mess that is Property Law. Also, I now live in Vancouver: I've come to learn that I will likely be engaged in no less than a dozen condo transactions and hoard apartment units as if they were rare Hot Chip b-sides. Knowing a bit of the fine print on all those lease agreements might not be a bad idea.

Civil Procedure: I've had mixed results with "Procedure" courses in the past. Advanced Criminal Procedure is, without a doubt, the easiest course you can take in law school, and yet it's probably going to go down as the worst exam I wrote in the three years. I even had a professor that faintly resembled - in looks only - Arrested Development's Barry Zuckerkorn, which makes my poor performance even that more annoying. Here's hoping Civil Procedure will be a bit more civil friendly.

Administrative Law: without a doubt, this class gets the worst buzz amongst students at law school. The reviews range from boring, demanding, difficult to study for and the best reason to become a doctor. However, most will admit that the course is sorta necessary. Court cases often begin in the less glitzy realm of tribunals, after all. I'm not holding my breath for any magic to happen, but since I'm intent on getting a comprehensive legal education, I'm willing to bite the bullet. And they say lawyers will weasel out of any unpleasant situation.

Entertainment Law: devotees of this site may recall that I possess various screenplays and teleplays in various stages of completion. I haven't written about them on this site for a long time, because a) it was probably foolish to expect I could accomplish so much writing when there is so much reading to be done in law school and b) I think any scripts about the "legal experience" might benefit from actual experience. (That's just a hunch). If nothing else, I look forward to this class for any help with how to land a script deal.

Trusts: I can stand being angered by Admin law, but this class runs a high risk of just plain boring me. When people ask what classes I'm taking this term, this is the class I can never remember. In fact, when I mention it, first they are appalled I'd take over four classes in the final term and second, it provokes zero response. As far as I know, trusts are responsible for creating trust-fund babies, a notoriously unpleasant strata of society. But, like any jury, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and pronounce it my Wild Card Class. I've been pleasantly surprised with courses like Secured Transactions in the past, so it's all I can hope for. Then again, it's the only class I have on a Friday morning - never a good sign for longevity.

3 comments:

Sansserif said...

Happy (belated?) birthday! My 25 is coming up soon too. I enjoy getting out of my 'early 20s' - remember, you're not getting older, you're getting wiser!

Lawyerlike said...

Thanks! The date is actually on January 4 - just far enough away from Christmas to dissuade joint presents.

Ellen said...

I remember finding Admin crushingly boring at the time, especially the reading, but am now very glad to have taken it -- it's very useful.