First Day Done!

Well, I survived my first day, though my test score may not have survived it very well. For those of you who don't know, the first day of the Bar Exam is essay test day. We get 15 essay questions to be answered in 1 3-hour session and 1 2-hour session. These are scored on a scale of 1-10 and then later scaled using the standard deviation method to be a scaled score out of a possible 200 points. The essays can cover any topic in Michigan state substantive law, as well as the rules of evidence and procedure of both federal and state.

The first session I thought went kinda ok. There was only one question where I more or less stopped and said, "WTF?" (almost out loud). It was a worker's compensation question based almost purely on policy and guesswork. That one did not go so well at all. The contracts question on the first session was kinda iffy, but I've probably had worse answers. The rest of them I felt pretty comfortable with, although I feel a lot of other people got cheated because BarBri never went into corpus delicti, and one question was based purely on it. The only reason I knew about it is because I used to work for a county prosecutor's office.

The second session was a disaster. There were two questions where I had almost no clue what to write, a third which was iffy (I hope promissory estoppel was correct on that because if it isn't, I'm doomed). Some of the questions weren't that bad, and the last one I think I really hammered home, but those three that I don't know about really have me worried.

As to the test taking environment, it's not as cold as people said it would be. I wore my short sleeve shirt and jeans the whole time. I saw some people in shorts and they appeared comfortable. You get a fair amount of desk space to work at, but they are these long tables like you'd have at your church picnic or something, and you're seated with 2 other people at your table. There's a lot of nervous joking going on before the exam and afterwards, and just normal chatting. The proctors are NOT Nazis like I thought they would be. I thought they were going to be doing strip searches on us or something. Instead the only thing they did is checked our IDs and gave a cursory look at what was in our food storage bag where we had to put everything.

The whole thing was very informal and the atmosphere was more relaxed than I thought it would be. I think a lot of what's said about actually taking the exam itself is hyped. It's very stressful because of the actual exam itself, but the proctors and the Board really does everything they can to alleviate any extra stress caused by environmental issues. The led the people typing the essays away and they were never seen again. If I had known that electronic typewriters were allowed, I probably would have used one. I didn't realize they had outlets. For those of you unaware, Michigan is one of the few states that still requires its examinees to write the essays in bluebooks or type them on a typewriter. Computers are NOT permitted, much to my chagrin.

Anyway, I'm back at my hotel room relaxing for the next hour and then I'm going to do some evidence and contract problems, since those seem to be the ones eternally plaguing my existence. Now that I'm actually here and am through what I believe to be the worst part of it, I can safely say that I won't mind coming back here in February to retake this thing. Next time I'll be more prepared and will hopefully have better memorized some of the rules that I forgot this time around.

I have arrived!

Well, the time has come for my FIRST attempt at taking the Michigan State Bar Exam. This will be somewhat of a dry run for me since between wedding planning, working until the last month before the exam, and a host of other issues has caused me to be unable to study as much as I would have liked. I feel I will do just fine on the Multistate Bar Exam, but will probably fail the essay exam and will very likely be back here in February as a result. That being the case, I'll still try my hardest and do my best to pass this time around, because the thought of waiting 9 months to start my career as an attorney is a little off-putting.

In any case however, I have arrived at the Super 8 Motel on Grand River in East Lansing and am now about to go blitz though my Conviser Mini Review on some of the subjects for which I am completely hopeless (secured transactions, domestic relations, and professional responsibility (wait, wasn't that on the MPRE that I passed with a 131?) ). I will keep you updated both tomorrow after and Wednesday after each exam day and let you all know what kind of hell it truly is. For anyone else out there taking the exam with me that's reading this... GANBARIMASU! (Do your best!)

A Matter of Constituitonal Law...

Why the case of Savana Redding is even going to the Supreme Court has become a mystery to me. Those of you who don't know about this case, just do a Google news search on it and you'll know all you need to know. When did the United States become such a totalitarian police state that it actually has to be considered whether it's ok to strip search our children in school without probable cause or a warrant? In whose universe (besides Scalia's or Thomas') could such a thing EVER be considered reasonable? We're talking about subjecting our children to one of the most humiliating experiences possible and violating that student's right to control their own body. I realize that schools have to deal with drug problems, but the price of allowing such unfettered searches is way too high in my opinion.

I am on Savana's side on this, and I encourage my readers (if I have any left) to join her group "Friends of Savana Redding" on facebook and give her your support. I also propose that if the Supreme Court rules for the school in this case, that those of you who are Michigan residents start working on a referendum to amend the Constitution of the State of Michigan to make such searches illegal without probable cause and a warrant. As for me, when I have children, I will instruct them to fight any school official that attempts to violate them in such a manner as though their very life depended on it. I'll even home school them if it's necessary to protect them from such degrading and inhuman treatment.

Obama for President!

I originally thought I'd just keep my opinions off the blog for fear of starting a political flame war with someone. However, with the election less than one day away, I feel the need to say that I am voting for Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States. Barack has inspired me in a way that no other politician ever has. His words sound genuine and sincere. He has a fire in his eyes when he speaks and he conveys the message that things are going to change. He uses the word "change" as more than just a buzzword. He really means it, and I believe that he will do everything he can to make this country a better place. Barack is not corrupted by the so-called "experience" (read "entrenchment") which John McCain is. I love Barack's ideas for healthcare and his tax plan. While they need some work to make them more feasible, I think his ideas are the best for the largest portion of Americans, the middle class. I believe in Barack Obama, and I trust him with this country's future. I think that he represents what is best in men and in Americans in general. I believe that an idealist like Barack is what this country needs most right now. We certainly don't need another 4-8 years of Bush/McCain policies.

Time for a Rant...

I wanted to avoid getting involved with the Casey Anthony case, but I just have to say something. There is some major abuse of process going on here. Every time she gets out of jail the prosecutor finds some new charge to levy against her to put her back in jail. That is irresponsible and abusive imo. Second, its apparent that the prosecutors and police in that case have absolutely no concept or understanding of the rules of professional responsibility. It's like they're doing everything they can to make sure this woman does not get a fair trial. They're releasing evidence every other day to the press, some of which may not even be admissible at trial, and in doing so, I believe they have irreparably tainted the jury pool. There's no way she will get a fair trial on any of these charges. Every potential juror will want to convict her of anything they can get their hands on because they believe she's a murderer. Maybe she is, but damnit, that's not the way this country is supposed to work. People are supposed to get a fair trial by an impartial jury of their peers, but this case has already been tried completely in the press and has become a Roman holiday. There is absolutely no way jurors won't be biased against her going into the trial. The whole process is a sham, and the prosecutors and police are doing everything they can to turn what should have been a fair trial into a kangaroo court.

Got my MPRE Score...

I needed an 85 to pass the Michigan MPRE. I needed an 86 to pass the MPRE in every other state in the country. I got a 131! All that studying paid off I guess. Now I just have to finish law school and pass the bar. I know, it sounds so easy doesn't it? Something tells me I'll be ripping my hair out come July of 2009 though.

I am now engaged!

Sorry it's taken me so long to do updates. This has just been a hellacious semester for me between work and school and everything else. It's everything I can do to post this message at this point. The good news however is that my girlfriend and I got engaged this weekend. I took her to dinner at The Whitney, followed by a concert at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where we were able to meet German pianist Martin Stadtfeldt afterwards. He is extremely talented and played beautifully. After that I presented her with the ring and asked her to marry me. Finally, we wrapped it up by going back to my place for a bottle of Dom Perignon 1999. It was a night we'll both remember for the rest of our lives, and hopefully we'll have a long life together to remember it.