In law school, there are any number of extracurricular organizations that can boost your resume and lead to job offers. At Florida State Law, arguably the most important three are Law Review, the Moot Court Team, and the Mock Trial Team.
But a student can not simply sign up for one or all of these organizations. Law Review has a "write-on" competition where students submit briefs or memorandums and hope to be selected. A student may also submit a paper of quality to the Law Review. If the editorial staff decides to publish the paper, then that student is also extended an invitation to become a member. The Moot Court and Mock Trial Teams each have their own tryout process to choose new members as well.
The FSU Moot Court Team has enjoyed quite a bit of success in recent competitions, and now the FSU Mock Trial Team can add to the trophy case with them. Last weekend, Mock Trial Team members Thomas Philpot, Ryan Hoyle, Eliott Smith, and Matt Minnick won the Earle Zehmer Mock Trial Competition in Tampa. Their success comes on the heels of a finals appearance by another group of four from the Mock Trial Team at the American Bar Association Mock Trial Tournament in Miami. This semester, we also had teams reach the semifinals at the Lone Star Competition in San Antonio and the Buffalo-Niagara Competition in Buffalo, NY.
As for the Moot Court Team, on November 10th I was privileged to see a second Final Four Competition at the Florida Supreme Court. In this competition, the top four new members of the team go against each other in front of the Justices of the Florida Supreme Court.
I remember last year how nervous I felt walking into the chamber, and I was not even the one competing. All the people, the high ceiling, the plush carpet, and the oil canvass paintings lining the walls seemed pretty intimidating. I wrote an entry about that experience back on November 14 of last year. This time around, I was more accustomed to the room and the presence of the justices, but I still felt nervous for my friends who were competing.
They all did great. Tara Klimek, who won the best advocate award earlier this semester at the Wayne Hogan Mock Trial Intramural Competition, also took home the prize for the best advocate here. Tara is the only person during my three years at FSU Law to be selected for the Moot Court Team, the Mock Trial Team, and Law Review. She is a real all-star.
The competition was close. Alexandra Haddad, Jourdan Neal, and Molly Drake gave memorable arguments before the justices. I enjoyed listening to them. Two of my friends (and competitors from last year), Tiffany Roddenberry and Brian Bohm, served as the principal coaches. Tiffany and Brian did a great job of preparing the four students for the experience.
It's nice to be in a place where I am surrounded by so many bright, talented, and friendly people.
*As usual, if I have used your name in this entry and you don't want it returning a hit on the Internet, please let me know and I will remove it.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The Tallahassee Little Theater
Last night, I experienced another pleasant side of Tallahassee. As my friend and fellow mock trial team member, John, told me, many of us in law school have our outside interests to help keep a balance in law school. A significant number of students are marathon runners, for instance. I write a blog. John's hobby is acting, and for fun he participates in community theater.
John invited me to a production of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution at the Tallahassee Little Theater. I went to see the show last night, and I was very impressed.
The story takes place in London in 1953. Leonard Vole, a financially strapped young man, has been charged with the murder of a wealthy older lady who befriended him. All the evidence is stacked against Leonard, and the only person who can give any support at all to his version of what happened is his "adoring..?" wife, Romaine. So the story and creative plot twists begin.
My friend had a large part in the play, beginning in the second act. He played Mr. Myers, the prosecutor. John did a great job. I recognized some of his antics and mannerisms from mock trial practice or competitions, and on more than one occasion he caused both the audience and myself to burst out in laughter. I spoke with John afterwards to tell him that I liked the performance. As exams are coming up, he was in a hurry to get out of his wig and costume, return home and continue his course outlines.
The theater building itself is quite nice. I did not count how many audience members it will hold, but it is small. There is no "bad seat" in the house, and the ceiling is shaped so that sound carries marvelously. A person on the back row of the audience could hear an articulate whisper from the stage.
Last night was an enjoyable evening. If I stay in Tallahassee long enough, I will certainly visit the Tallahassee Little Theater again. I highly recommend it. Upcoming productions include The Foreigner and Cabaret.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
John invited me to a production of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution at the Tallahassee Little Theater. I went to see the show last night, and I was very impressed.
The story takes place in London in 1953. Leonard Vole, a financially strapped young man, has been charged with the murder of a wealthy older lady who befriended him. All the evidence is stacked against Leonard, and the only person who can give any support at all to his version of what happened is his "adoring..?" wife, Romaine. So the story and creative plot twists begin.
My friend had a large part in the play, beginning in the second act. He played Mr. Myers, the prosecutor. John did a great job. I recognized some of his antics and mannerisms from mock trial practice or competitions, and on more than one occasion he caused both the audience and myself to burst out in laughter. I spoke with John afterwards to tell him that I liked the performance. As exams are coming up, he was in a hurry to get out of his wig and costume, return home and continue his course outlines.
The theater building itself is quite nice. I did not count how many audience members it will hold, but it is small. There is no "bad seat" in the house, and the ceiling is shaped so that sound carries marvelously. A person on the back row of the audience could hear an articulate whisper from the stage.
Last night was an enjoyable evening. If I stay in Tallahassee long enough, I will certainly visit the Tallahassee Little Theater again. I highly recommend it. Upcoming productions include The Foreigner and Cabaret.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Friday, November 12, 2010
Having Fun
FSU Law has a great academic reputation, particularly in Florida and the southeastern United States. It is well deserved. As I have said in the past, some of the most intelligent people I have ever met in my life are on the faculty and within the student body here. The students are competitive and work very hard for their success.
I wonder, though, if other law schools also have as much fun as we do...
FSU's arch rival is the University of Florida Gators. There are actually more students here at the law school who earned their bachelors' degrees from UF than from any other school. As such, these student have formed their own organization, the LitiGATORS. In addition to their community service, the LitiGATORS have started the tradition of "Rivalry Week," which culminated yesterday with the second annual powder puff football game and the first annual Mr. FSU Law Pageant last night.
The President of the LitiGATORS, one of the prettiest and nicest girls you will ever meet, decorated the law school lobby last week. She recruited another beautiful and friendly female who graduated from Florida State to help her. Together, they did a wonderful job of transforming the lobby. The railings of two sets of stairs going up three flights were wrapped in the school colors- garnet and gold for FSU and blue and orange for UF. Creative and artful homemade signs displayed slogans and taunts throughout the lobby, and a fancy banner declaring "Rivalry Week" hung high in the air, suspended between the two stair cases. For each day leading up to the game, the girls wore cute little outfits with their school colors.
It really was a good time. At the powder puff football game on the law school green, a student dressed as Chief Osceola rode a white motor scooter that passed for his horse, "Renegade." He threw down a flaming toy spear to get the game started.
A couple of buff guys, one with his entire body painted gold, the other painted garnet, cheered on the teams.
The FSU Cowgirls, a beautiful fixture at real FSU football games, were there yesterday, too. Only these cowgirls were not nearly as pretty. They wore wigs, had considerably more hair on their legs, and also possessed strange shapes on their chests under their shirts.
Last year, the game itself was a blowout in favor of FSU. It was the same story this year, though UF's team had improved considerably. A friend of mine stood along the sidelines with me, cheering on FSU. He told me that he had a bet riding on the point margin by which FSU would win. The bet was a bag of Doritos.
"It's buffalo wing Doritos," he said. "Not the regular nachos. I'm a high roller."
The score eventually got out of hand and we stopped cheering so hard, so as not to rub it in. But to me, the most hilarious part of the game was my friend continuing to pull for the point spread. When FSU finally scored the needed touchdown, there he was, alone and clapping his hands over his head. His voice rang out over the field, "Yeaaaah! Cover that spread!"...
And then last night, we celebrated the Mr. FSU Law Pageant at Clyde and Costello's club in downtown Tallahassee. Six guys participated in the pageant. They were first introduced to the judges in professional attire. Next was a swimsuit competition, and finally a talent contest.
I won't describe everything that went on there, but it was quite a show.
This was the last major law school social before exams. In fact, not many first year law school students attended yesterday. While these 1Ls could probably use the study break, I understand how they must feel. I could not have relaxed enough to enjoy a flag football game or a pageant during my first semester, either. The voice in my head would be yelling at me, "You're risking flunking out of law school to watch a powder puff game and a man pageant?"
Still, it is nice to be at a great school where people also know how to enjoy themselves and have fun.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
I wonder, though, if other law schools also have as much fun as we do...
FSU's arch rival is the University of Florida Gators. There are actually more students here at the law school who earned their bachelors' degrees from UF than from any other school. As such, these student have formed their own organization, the LitiGATORS. In addition to their community service, the LitiGATORS have started the tradition of "Rivalry Week," which culminated yesterday with the second annual powder puff football game and the first annual Mr. FSU Law Pageant last night.
The President of the LitiGATORS, one of the prettiest and nicest girls you will ever meet, decorated the law school lobby last week. She recruited another beautiful and friendly female who graduated from Florida State to help her. Together, they did a wonderful job of transforming the lobby. The railings of two sets of stairs going up three flights were wrapped in the school colors- garnet and gold for FSU and blue and orange for UF. Creative and artful homemade signs displayed slogans and taunts throughout the lobby, and a fancy banner declaring "Rivalry Week" hung high in the air, suspended between the two stair cases. For each day leading up to the game, the girls wore cute little outfits with their school colors.
It really was a good time. At the powder puff football game on the law school green, a student dressed as Chief Osceola rode a white motor scooter that passed for his horse, "Renegade." He threw down a flaming toy spear to get the game started.
A couple of buff guys, one with his entire body painted gold, the other painted garnet, cheered on the teams.
The FSU Cowgirls, a beautiful fixture at real FSU football games, were there yesterday, too. Only these cowgirls were not nearly as pretty. They wore wigs, had considerably more hair on their legs, and also possessed strange shapes on their chests under their shirts.
Last year, the game itself was a blowout in favor of FSU. It was the same story this year, though UF's team had improved considerably. A friend of mine stood along the sidelines with me, cheering on FSU. He told me that he had a bet riding on the point margin by which FSU would win. The bet was a bag of Doritos.
"It's buffalo wing Doritos," he said. "Not the regular nachos. I'm a high roller."
The score eventually got out of hand and we stopped cheering so hard, so as not to rub it in. But to me, the most hilarious part of the game was my friend continuing to pull for the point spread. When FSU finally scored the needed touchdown, there he was, alone and clapping his hands over his head. His voice rang out over the field, "Yeaaaah! Cover that spread!"...
And then last night, we celebrated the Mr. FSU Law Pageant at Clyde and Costello's club in downtown Tallahassee. Six guys participated in the pageant. They were first introduced to the judges in professional attire. Next was a swimsuit competition, and finally a talent contest.
I won't describe everything that went on there, but it was quite a show.
This was the last major law school social before exams. In fact, not many first year law school students attended yesterday. While these 1Ls could probably use the study break, I understand how they must feel. I could not have relaxed enough to enjoy a flag football game or a pageant during my first semester, either. The voice in my head would be yelling at me, "You're risking flunking out of law school to watch a powder puff game and a man pageant?"
Still, it is nice to be at a great school where people also know how to enjoy themselves and have fun.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Gey 5K
One of the most beloved professors at Florida State College of Law, Steven Gey, had the misfortune of being diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, over three years ago. I have never had a chance to meet Professor Gey, though from what students and professors who know him have said, I understand that he is a renowned scholar on constitutional law and an outstanding teacher as well.
For the third year now since his diagnosis, friends of Professor Gey have organized a 5K run to encourage him and to raise money to find a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease.
When someone is diagnosed with ALS, doctors estimate that he or she has three years to live. Professor Gey, fighter that he is, has outlasted the predictions. Amazingly, he continues to write. As a professor told us today, he has a new computer that can sense the movements in his thigh muscles, enabling him to type.
This morning, I participated in my second Gey 5K run. It started at the FAMU/FSU Department of Engineering in Innovation Park and looped around the National Magnetic Laboratory.
The top runner finished in somewhere under 18 minutes. Overall, I was pleased with my results. My time was 23:20, about 20 seconds faster than my time last year at this same race. Part of my improvement may have been the course. Although I could not tell any difference in the difficulty, other runners said this course was easier. Last year, we started and ended at the law school (in a different part of Tallahassee from Innovation Park). The first half of that run was almost all downhill, while the last half was almost all uphill.
Perhaps the main reason I did a little better, though, is that this year a friend did the 5K with me. She runs marathons, and set a faster pace than I would have attempted if I had been on my own.
I debated whether or not I should try trash talking to her before the race began. Ultimately, I decided to keep my mouth shut-- which was a good thing.
For about three quarters of the race, I kept up with her. We came to a hill toward the end. I made it to the top with her. But then a little wave of nausea hit me. Then a little wave of dizziness hit me and the spring in my legs disappeared. So I hoarsely whispered good bye to her back, and she was gone. She finished the race second among the females and earned some prize money. Luckily, I recovered enough to only be passed by two people in the home stretch.
It was fun to match my stamina against my friend in a race that supports a great cause and a great person. I hope Professor Gey continues his courageous fight, so that perhaps next year I can compete again- either against my own time or against my friend.
For a more detailed blog of the event, see the below link:
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftroubleafoot.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fgey-2010.html&h=d7591
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
For the third year now since his diagnosis, friends of Professor Gey have organized a 5K run to encourage him and to raise money to find a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease.
When someone is diagnosed with ALS, doctors estimate that he or she has three years to live. Professor Gey, fighter that he is, has outlasted the predictions. Amazingly, he continues to write. As a professor told us today, he has a new computer that can sense the movements in his thigh muscles, enabling him to type.
This morning, I participated in my second Gey 5K run. It started at the FAMU/FSU Department of Engineering in Innovation Park and looped around the National Magnetic Laboratory.
The top runner finished in somewhere under 18 minutes. Overall, I was pleased with my results. My time was 23:20, about 20 seconds faster than my time last year at this same race. Part of my improvement may have been the course. Although I could not tell any difference in the difficulty, other runners said this course was easier. Last year, we started and ended at the law school (in a different part of Tallahassee from Innovation Park). The first half of that run was almost all downhill, while the last half was almost all uphill.
Perhaps the main reason I did a little better, though, is that this year a friend did the 5K with me. She runs marathons, and set a faster pace than I would have attempted if I had been on my own.
I debated whether or not I should try trash talking to her before the race began. Ultimately, I decided to keep my mouth shut-- which was a good thing.
For about three quarters of the race, I kept up with her. We came to a hill toward the end. I made it to the top with her. But then a little wave of nausea hit me. Then a little wave of dizziness hit me and the spring in my legs disappeared. So I hoarsely whispered good bye to her back, and she was gone. She finished the race second among the females and earned some prize money. Luckily, I recovered enough to only be passed by two people in the home stretch.
It was fun to match my stamina against my friend in a race that supports a great cause and a great person. I hope Professor Gey continues his courageous fight, so that perhaps next year I can compete again- either against my own time or against my friend.
For a more detailed blog of the event, see the below link:
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftroubleafoot.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fgey-2010.html&h=d7591
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
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