This past weekend, I moved to Kissimmee, Florida. Later this month, I will begin my job as an Assistant Public Defender with the Ninth Judicial Circuit. It has yet to be determined if I will be assigned to Kissimmee (Osceola County) or Orlando (Orange County). Keeping my job is also contingent on passing the bar exam. Scores should be released on September 19th.
I am looking forward to this new chapter in my life. The people in the office seem very nice, and I should get a lot of trial experience in a short amount of time. I have not made up my mind if I am going to start another blog. If I do, it will have nothing to do with work. Most of the interesting stories from work, I will be unable to talk about. It is too risky to try and write about my experiences as a criminal trial lawyer while at the same time performing the appropriate edits to protect attorney-client privilege.
So here it is. My last entry for "The World of Law School."
Time flew by. The Florida State University College of Law has been good to me, and the school has given me a wonderful opportunity. The hard work does not stop, of course. There will always be hurdles to clear and obstacles to overcome for me to reach my goals. Law school has been a helpful rung on the ladder. I won't spend time trying to recount all the great memories I have. The high points are recorded in previous entries.
Going to school here reinforced my understanding that willpower is essential to success and a happy life. Florida State Law gave me the chance to study and compete with people possessing a great deal of willpower, intelligence and talent.
In the most recent edition of the magazine of my alma mater, Western Carolina University, I came across one of my favorite quotes of all time. Pat Kaemmerling, a 1971 graduate of WCU and vice chair of the WCU Foundation board of directors said, "See the world while you can. Do some fun, adventurous things before you have a mortgage, a spouse and children. When you have those, you can take two weeks and go to Europe, but you can't spend six months in Paris and get a job selling flowers on the corner."
To a certain degree, I have lived my life like that. I've been a mail carrier in Washington, DC, a car salesman in Las Vegas, and a National Park Service Ranger in Tennessee and Virginia, among other jobs. The single best year of my life (yet, I hope) was as a graduate student back at Western Carolina University. I got to relive my college days, 10 years later. I also spent three good years in law school in Tallahassee. Now, I wake up in the morning to the sound of planes flying into the Orlando airport and, after a few seconds to orient myself, I realize that I am a budding Florida criminal trial lawyer.
What stays with me the most about finishing the bar exam and moving from Tallahassee to the Orlando area is my parents.
Through it all, my parents have been there for me, helping me move back and forth and serving as a safety net while I made the transition from one thing to the next.
But I have gotten older in the three years of law school, and so have they. My mom had some health problems recently, and I could tell when my parents came to Tallahassee to help me move, they were operating at maximum stress capacity. So I see a shift happening between me and them.
My brain has not aged at all in law school. I've been frozen at 23 years old for a long time. In some ways, I could be just as happy working at the movie theater like I did when I was a teenager. But when I look at myself in the mirror, when I see myself in profile on those store security monitors- I know that I cannot pull that off anymore. I have aged physically in the past three years more than at any other time in my life. I see a body and face that I don't quite recognize. It does not match my mental self image. But there it is, reality.
Based on that reality, I know it is time for me to stop bouncing around. Easily fitting into new careers will get harder as I get older. More importantly, at this point in my parents' lives, to keep changing is... selfish.
Law school has given me a great opportunity to really be successful, and I need to take advantage of that. I need to make this work, if not for myself, then for my parents...
Law school ends quickly. A couple of my roommates who went straight into law school after college were a little sad as we packed up the house in Tallahassee. "College is over," one of them sighed.
"You could always be like me and go back to college in your early 30s," I said.
"That would be awesome," he replied.
"It was awesome," I said.
As a I get older, I realize that there is less, not more time to sit and reflect on my experiences. I must get on with trying to survive and thrive in a tough and competitive world.
This new chapter will be exciting, and I look forward to the challenges.
I say thank you to the Florida State University College of Law and to the people I met there. It has been a pleasure, and an experience I will treasure.
Best Wishes,
Nathan Marshburn
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
The Tampa Experience
The Hotel
The exam lasted two days- Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. The test itself was literally 12 hours long, though of course one had to deal with the logistics of getting to Tampa, checking in at the exam site, and getting set for the exam.
During the four and a half hour drive to Tampa, I saw three of my fellow classmates on the road with me. We waved and smiled at each other, and it was a good feeling to know that I was not in this totally alone.
Initially, I booked a room at a Ramada Inn about six miles from the test site, the Tampa Convention Center. As the dates for the exam drew nearer, though, peer pressure got to me.
A number of my friends raised their eyebrows when they heard where I was staying.
"I wouldn't want to take the risk that my car doesn't start in the morning," they said.
"What if you get into a fender bender on the way? Are you going to stay at the scene of the accident and deal with it? Or are you going to take the bar exam?"
"Dude, spend the money and get a closer hotel where you can just get up in the morning and walk to it. The repercussions of missing the exam are huge. Your job offer is contingent on passing this thing, isn't it?"
Even my parents, when I told them I was staying six miles out from the convention center, expressed concern that I would get caught in Tampa traffic and arrive late.
So I succumbed and booked a room at the Hyatt Regency, just a 10 minute walk to the convention center. Almost all of my friends reserved rooms at hotels this close. These hotels like the Hyatt, the Hilton, and the Sheraton were much more expensive, of course. The extra amenities included with the price amused me.
As I was waiting in line to check in, one of the bellhops directed my attention to a cooler filled with water, oranges, lemons and limes.
"Would you care for some infused water while you wait? It's quite delicious."
And when I reached the check-in desk, the clerk asked, "Would you like a complimentary bottle of champagne to celebrate your stay with us?"
"No thank you," I replied. "I'm here for the bar exam. I won't be doing any drinking."
"At least not until Wednesday night," the clerk said.
"Yes, you're probably right," I responded. Though at that point I did not want to think about Wednesday night.
According to the clerk, about 250 occupants at the hotel were there for the bar exam. I got about four hours of sleep on Monday night. The next morning, beginning at around 6am, about 2,500 of us began to make our way to the convention center...
The Tampa Convention Center
No book bags, eyeglass cases, backpacks, purses, wallets, notes, books, study materials, cellular telephones, beepers, watches, or clocks with audible alarms, calculators, or other electronic devices were allowed in the exam room. Neither were highlighter markers, pencils, pens, headphones, earplugs with wires, diskettes or CDs, hats or baseball caps, foods or liquids.
Security staff searched us with metal detectors. We were allowed to take in one key (either a car key or hotel room key) and some dollar bills for the lunch break.
The 2,500 or so of us filed through the metal detectors into a room the size of two football fields. The exam room was lined with scores of rows of tables. Each table sat two people. Once you came into the room, you could not leave. If you left the room, you would be denied re-entry. Fortunately, there were restrooms and water fountains inside the examination room itself.
Eventually, I found my assigned seat for the 12 hours of testing. A lady far, far away on a stage calmly gave us instructions using a microphone. The room really was an incredible sight. It was an expansive ocean of 2,500 people all quietly concentrating at tables of two each. As the exam began, dozens of proctors circulated throughout the room, carefully watching us.
One test taker a few tables away had the jimmy leg, which caused her shoe to squeak on the floor. Most distracting, however, was the very beautiful woman sitting at the table in front of me. When the test began, she leaned forward. Her shirt raised up from the small of her back. So now, just three or four feet from my face was the top of a turquoise thong with a detailed tattoo situated neatly above it.
But I was able to power through the distractions. I feel like I did the best I could.
Like I said earlier, the bar exam was the most challenging academic experience of my life, and it is taking some time to unwind from it. Since Monday, I have only been able to sleep for three or four hours at a stretch.
A new, exciting change looms this weekend. After three years in Tallahassee, I will move to the Orlando area to start a new job.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
The exam lasted two days- Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. The test itself was literally 12 hours long, though of course one had to deal with the logistics of getting to Tampa, checking in at the exam site, and getting set for the exam.
During the four and a half hour drive to Tampa, I saw three of my fellow classmates on the road with me. We waved and smiled at each other, and it was a good feeling to know that I was not in this totally alone.
Initially, I booked a room at a Ramada Inn about six miles from the test site, the Tampa Convention Center. As the dates for the exam drew nearer, though, peer pressure got to me.
A number of my friends raised their eyebrows when they heard where I was staying.
"I wouldn't want to take the risk that my car doesn't start in the morning," they said.
"What if you get into a fender bender on the way? Are you going to stay at the scene of the accident and deal with it? Or are you going to take the bar exam?"
"Dude, spend the money and get a closer hotel where you can just get up in the morning and walk to it. The repercussions of missing the exam are huge. Your job offer is contingent on passing this thing, isn't it?"
Even my parents, when I told them I was staying six miles out from the convention center, expressed concern that I would get caught in Tampa traffic and arrive late.
So I succumbed and booked a room at the Hyatt Regency, just a 10 minute walk to the convention center. Almost all of my friends reserved rooms at hotels this close. These hotels like the Hyatt, the Hilton, and the Sheraton were much more expensive, of course. The extra amenities included with the price amused me.
As I was waiting in line to check in, one of the bellhops directed my attention to a cooler filled with water, oranges, lemons and limes.
"Would you care for some infused water while you wait? It's quite delicious."
And when I reached the check-in desk, the clerk asked, "Would you like a complimentary bottle of champagne to celebrate your stay with us?"
"No thank you," I replied. "I'm here for the bar exam. I won't be doing any drinking."
"At least not until Wednesday night," the clerk said.
"Yes, you're probably right," I responded. Though at that point I did not want to think about Wednesday night.
According to the clerk, about 250 occupants at the hotel were there for the bar exam. I got about four hours of sleep on Monday night. The next morning, beginning at around 6am, about 2,500 of us began to make our way to the convention center...
The Tampa Convention Center
No book bags, eyeglass cases, backpacks, purses, wallets, notes, books, study materials, cellular telephones, beepers, watches, or clocks with audible alarms, calculators, or other electronic devices were allowed in the exam room. Neither were highlighter markers, pencils, pens, headphones, earplugs with wires, diskettes or CDs, hats or baseball caps, foods or liquids.
Security staff searched us with metal detectors. We were allowed to take in one key (either a car key or hotel room key) and some dollar bills for the lunch break.
The 2,500 or so of us filed through the metal detectors into a room the size of two football fields. The exam room was lined with scores of rows of tables. Each table sat two people. Once you came into the room, you could not leave. If you left the room, you would be denied re-entry. Fortunately, there were restrooms and water fountains inside the examination room itself.
Eventually, I found my assigned seat for the 12 hours of testing. A lady far, far away on a stage calmly gave us instructions using a microphone. The room really was an incredible sight. It was an expansive ocean of 2,500 people all quietly concentrating at tables of two each. As the exam began, dozens of proctors circulated throughout the room, carefully watching us.
One test taker a few tables away had the jimmy leg, which caused her shoe to squeak on the floor. Most distracting, however, was the very beautiful woman sitting at the table in front of me. When the test began, she leaned forward. Her shirt raised up from the small of her back. So now, just three or four feet from my face was the top of a turquoise thong with a detailed tattoo situated neatly above it.
But I was able to power through the distractions. I feel like I did the best I could.
Like I said earlier, the bar exam was the most challenging academic experience of my life, and it is taking some time to unwind from it. Since Monday, I have only been able to sleep for three or four hours at a stretch.
A new, exciting change looms this weekend. After three years in Tallahassee, I will move to the Orlando area to start a new job.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
The Bar Exam
When I returned to Tallahassee yesterday, just back from taking the Florida bar exam at the Tampa Convention Center, one of the staff at the law school asked me, "How did it go?"
I replied without hesitation, "I do not think that I could have worked harder or prepared more to take that exam. I did the best I could. But it was intense, and it was hard."
...Wow...I am slowly beginning to unwind from the experience. I can only speak for myself, but getting ready for the bar exam and then taking the test in Tampa was the most challenging academic experience of my life. Those who graduated at the very top of my class might say that the pressure of final exams and maintaining the top status at our school was more challenging. But when I graduated from law school back in May, I did not know that such a behemoth task was still in front of me. Sure, I knew it was going to be hard work and a little stressful. It surprised me, though, how stressful the whole experience was and how much hard work was required. Graduation and all the festivities seems somewhat like a different world now- like we had the victory celebration before we went into combat.
I suppose that I will wrap up "The World of Law School" blog in my next three or four entries. It has been over a month since I last posted anything, because I spent almost all of my waking hours studying. I was in my "finals" mode for over a month. It was enough to give a person an ulcer. One of my friends did in fact get a stomach ulcer preparing for this exam. Hopefully, she can relax a little now.
My next entry will describe in more detail the experience in Tampa.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
I replied without hesitation, "I do not think that I could have worked harder or prepared more to take that exam. I did the best I could. But it was intense, and it was hard."
...Wow...I am slowly beginning to unwind from the experience. I can only speak for myself, but getting ready for the bar exam and then taking the test in Tampa was the most challenging academic experience of my life. Those who graduated at the very top of my class might say that the pressure of final exams and maintaining the top status at our school was more challenging. But when I graduated from law school back in May, I did not know that such a behemoth task was still in front of me. Sure, I knew it was going to be hard work and a little stressful. It surprised me, though, how stressful the whole experience was and how much hard work was required. Graduation and all the festivities seems somewhat like a different world now- like we had the victory celebration before we went into combat.
I suppose that I will wrap up "The World of Law School" blog in my next three or four entries. It has been over a month since I last posted anything, because I spent almost all of my waking hours studying. I was in my "finals" mode for over a month. It was enough to give a person an ulcer. One of my friends did in fact get a stomach ulcer preparing for this exam. Hopefully, she can relax a little now.
My next entry will describe in more detail the experience in Tampa.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Sunday, June 26, 2011
"Your Juris Doctor Has Been Mailed"
Earlier this week, the law school sent out an email to the May graduates, congratulating us again on our accomplishment and informing us that our Juris Doctor diplomas had been mailed. The email included a link where we could view our diploma.
For me, seeing that email, viewing my diploma, was actually more gratifying than the graduation ceremony. At the ceremony back on May 7th, we had not received our exam grades. In fact, just the day before the ceremony, I took a final exam for the class of "Complex Civil Litigation." That last exam turned out to be perhaps the most difficult one of my entire law school experience. Afterwards, I joked to my friends that I ended my academic studies at FSU College of Law "not with a bang, but a whimper." So, there remained for me an uneasy feeling about the exams as I went through the graduation ceremony.
Now, though, I know my grades and my GPA. And while it will be September before final class rankings are issued (due to some students from my class finishing their graduation requirements in summer school), I know my degree is there, permanently.
A few days ago, the Admissions and Records Office printed my transcript, and it was nice to see "Juris Doctor Cum Laude" typed at the end...
There is really no time to enjoy it, though. One month from now is the Florida Bar Exam. For almost every job in the legal field, I need two things: My J.D. and admission to the bar.
I am halfway done with the Kaplan PMBR bar prep course. They are doing a great job teaching me what I need to know, but what I did not anticipate was the volume of information in the course and how fast we have to learn it. It really is very much like getting ready for law school final exams- just stretched out over a longer period. In an earlier blog entry, I said that I could not maintain that kind of intensity for such an extended time frame, but it looks like I am going to have to.
This past week, my class took a six hour practice MBE (which is 1/2 of the whole exam). I got 58% of the questions right.
58%.
While it is slightly comforting to know that we were only expected to get about half the questions right, and that the top people in my class were scoring at 65% or 70%, if I score 58% one month from now then I will fail the bar exam.
I have work to do, and new material from the bar prep course is being put to us every day.
So, this past week I saw my diploma and it felt good. But bar preparation, combined with the stress of the job search makes right now the most anxiety-filled time of the whole law school experience, at least for me.
I will keep moving ahead, though, treating this like an adventure and remembering, as my mom told me, "It is a privileged adventure." Not everyone gets to head down these paths. Really, I am lucky to be here.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
For me, seeing that email, viewing my diploma, was actually more gratifying than the graduation ceremony. At the ceremony back on May 7th, we had not received our exam grades. In fact, just the day before the ceremony, I took a final exam for the class of "Complex Civil Litigation." That last exam turned out to be perhaps the most difficult one of my entire law school experience. Afterwards, I joked to my friends that I ended my academic studies at FSU College of Law "not with a bang, but a whimper." So, there remained for me an uneasy feeling about the exams as I went through the graduation ceremony.
Now, though, I know my grades and my GPA. And while it will be September before final class rankings are issued (due to some students from my class finishing their graduation requirements in summer school), I know my degree is there, permanently.
A few days ago, the Admissions and Records Office printed my transcript, and it was nice to see "Juris Doctor Cum Laude" typed at the end...
There is really no time to enjoy it, though. One month from now is the Florida Bar Exam. For almost every job in the legal field, I need two things: My J.D. and admission to the bar.
I am halfway done with the Kaplan PMBR bar prep course. They are doing a great job teaching me what I need to know, but what I did not anticipate was the volume of information in the course and how fast we have to learn it. It really is very much like getting ready for law school final exams- just stretched out over a longer period. In an earlier blog entry, I said that I could not maintain that kind of intensity for such an extended time frame, but it looks like I am going to have to.
This past week, my class took a six hour practice MBE (which is 1/2 of the whole exam). I got 58% of the questions right.
58%.
While it is slightly comforting to know that we were only expected to get about half the questions right, and that the top people in my class were scoring at 65% or 70%, if I score 58% one month from now then I will fail the bar exam.
I have work to do, and new material from the bar prep course is being put to us every day.
So, this past week I saw my diploma and it felt good. But bar preparation, combined with the stress of the job search makes right now the most anxiety-filled time of the whole law school experience, at least for me.
I will keep moving ahead, though, treating this like an adventure and remembering, as my mom told me, "It is a privileged adventure." Not everyone gets to head down these paths. Really, I am lucky to be here.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The Day I Played Hooky from Bar Prep
I decided not to go to my bar prep class this past Thursday.
Instead, I set my alarm clock for 4:30am.
It woke me up at the correct time, and I finally managed to get myself out of bed about 20 minutes later.
I shaved, showered, and put on a suit and tie. Then I hopped in my car and drove to the Tallahassee airport, where I boarded a plane for a one hour flight to Charlotte, North Carolina.
After a brief stop in the Queen City, I got on another flight- this one bound for Denver, Colorado.
My seat was just one away from the emergency exit door. Before takeoff, the flight attendant quickly recited some instructions to my row on how to operate the door, which I did not comprehend at all. But when she asked us if we did understand, I nodded my head along with the frail old woman to my right.
Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, combined with the pressurized air popping in my ears, combined with the knowledge that I was moving at a rapid rate through two times zones, combined with my general fear of flying- but something was making my imagination fire on all cylinders.
When we had been in the air about an hour, the guy sitting to my left, immediately beside the emergency door, got up to use the lavatory. As he returned, he tripped over his carry on bag, and his hand
***
hit one of the levers on the door.
A quiet buzz sounded, and a yellow light on the door turned on. An instant later, the door blew open and the poor guy got sucked out with it. As he flew out, his other hand struck me across my face, breaking the bridge of my nose. I lost consciousness for a few seconds, but not before I began to feel the bolts give way at the base of my chair and hear people begin to scream.
When I came to, so much wind was hitting my face and body. Everything around me was hazy blue. A severe tickling sensation in my stomach got my attention, and I realized I was in free-fall.
Below I could see the large green or brown squares and circles of crop fields, though the wind was so intense it was hard for me to keep my eyes open.
I wanted to get out of the chair. I had to get out of it. So, I unhooked my seat belt, pushed the chair away, stretched out my arms and legs and tried to enjoy the rest of the descent...
Of course, nothing below the asterisks actually happened. The guy did slip, but his hand hit the wall beside the emergency door. My imagination took over after that.
Flying can be both exhilarating and terrifying. Dying in a plane crash is one of my more intense fears (especially a plane crash into the ocean at night). So I had a difficult time controlling some of my thoughts. Enough macabre scenes popped into my head on the plane to fill half a novel.
When we finally touched down in Denver, the day was 77 degrees and beautiful. The land around the city is completely flat- like Kansas or Nebraska and with no trees. In the distance one can see the snowy Rocky Mountains.
My arrival in Denver was not unexpected. A nice young woman, who could in fact be a gatekeeper to my future, picked me up from the airport to take me to lunch as part of a continuous job interview.
We went to "Ted's" restaurant, where I enjoyed a honey baked salmon. The interview was actually my fifth for the position, but the first in-person talk. I had hoped that this interview would only be a formality before they extended an offer to me.
My hopes were deflated, however, when the young woman told me, "Your flight landed a half hour late. We're going to have to make lunch quick, because there is another person to be interviewed coming in at 2:30."
I later learned that there are still several people in the game for this job.
After lunch, we went to a DoubleTree hotel where the young woman and her supervisor, one of the vice presidents of the company, asked me questions for about an hour. I liked both of them and I thought the interview went reasonably well.
Anyway, I did the best I could. I tried for the close and asked for the job that day, but they were noncommittal.
When we concluded, I climbed in a cab and went right back to the Denver airport.
During the cab ride, I received a phone call to set up a job interview with a completely different employer in Orlando. It looks like I'll have to play hooky again one day next week to make the drive down to that warm city...
On March 3rd of this year, I wrote a blog called "Three Directions." These experiences in Denver and then next week in Orlando are that blog entry at a crescendo...
The flights back to Charlotte and then Tallahassee were even more intense on my imagination than the flights going west. When we touched down in Charlotte, the pilot immediately hit the brakes harder than in any flight I've ever been on. I actually slid forward in my seat, with the belt keeping me from falling out. Instantly, I began to think something was in the runway. I will spare you the description of the other images that popped into my mind about what happened next...
It was well after nightfall when my plane took off from Charlotte to Tallahassee. The aircraft was smaller than the others I had flown in that day.
Immediately after takeoff, we rolled to one side and then pitched back to the other side. My stomach leaped violently, and I honestly thought for a few seconds that we were going down. I remembered the story from a few years ago of a small US Airways plane that crashed in Charlotte immediately after takeoff because they had not balanced the luggage correctly. The airline declined to release the cockpit voice recordings of the pilots' screams before they crashed. It was such a sad story, and the pilot was a beautiful young woman with her whole life ahead of her.
I was sitting in the very back of the plane. Only the flight attendant was behind me. When we straightened out, I looked back at her in time to see her tuck her head between her legs and knock on the wall beside her before she corrected her posture.
"Is that normal for us to roll like that right after take off?" I asked.
Of course she answered, "Yes."
But I wonder. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as we landed smoothly in Tallahassee, and she did not "knock on wood."
I am not sure that what they say about your life flashing in front of your eyes right before you die is correct. For two seconds on that takeoff, I really thought I was going to die. And all I felt was the severe jump in my stomach and a terrible, depressing and sinking sensation that existence was at an end. There were no flashes of memory...
But enough of this dark stuff. Can you tell that I am avoiding studying for the bar exam this morning?
My trip on Thursday was a great adventure, and I enjoyed seeing the Rockies and the rush that the flights gave me.
We'll see what happens. Now I have to get my mind ready for the job interview in Orlando. And for answering practice bar questions on Florida Evidence in the ever-present red, yellow, green game. The roller coaster ride continues...
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Instead, I set my alarm clock for 4:30am.
It woke me up at the correct time, and I finally managed to get myself out of bed about 20 minutes later.
I shaved, showered, and put on a suit and tie. Then I hopped in my car and drove to the Tallahassee airport, where I boarded a plane for a one hour flight to Charlotte, North Carolina.
After a brief stop in the Queen City, I got on another flight- this one bound for Denver, Colorado.
My seat was just one away from the emergency exit door. Before takeoff, the flight attendant quickly recited some instructions to my row on how to operate the door, which I did not comprehend at all. But when she asked us if we did understand, I nodded my head along with the frail old woman to my right.
Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, combined with the pressurized air popping in my ears, combined with the knowledge that I was moving at a rapid rate through two times zones, combined with my general fear of flying- but something was making my imagination fire on all cylinders.
When we had been in the air about an hour, the guy sitting to my left, immediately beside the emergency door, got up to use the lavatory. As he returned, he tripped over his carry on bag, and his hand
***
hit one of the levers on the door.
A quiet buzz sounded, and a yellow light on the door turned on. An instant later, the door blew open and the poor guy got sucked out with it. As he flew out, his other hand struck me across my face, breaking the bridge of my nose. I lost consciousness for a few seconds, but not before I began to feel the bolts give way at the base of my chair and hear people begin to scream.
When I came to, so much wind was hitting my face and body. Everything around me was hazy blue. A severe tickling sensation in my stomach got my attention, and I realized I was in free-fall.
Below I could see the large green or brown squares and circles of crop fields, though the wind was so intense it was hard for me to keep my eyes open.
I wanted to get out of the chair. I had to get out of it. So, I unhooked my seat belt, pushed the chair away, stretched out my arms and legs and tried to enjoy the rest of the descent...
Of course, nothing below the asterisks actually happened. The guy did slip, but his hand hit the wall beside the emergency door. My imagination took over after that.
Flying can be both exhilarating and terrifying. Dying in a plane crash is one of my more intense fears (especially a plane crash into the ocean at night). So I had a difficult time controlling some of my thoughts. Enough macabre scenes popped into my head on the plane to fill half a novel.
When we finally touched down in Denver, the day was 77 degrees and beautiful. The land around the city is completely flat- like Kansas or Nebraska and with no trees. In the distance one can see the snowy Rocky Mountains.
My arrival in Denver was not unexpected. A nice young woman, who could in fact be a gatekeeper to my future, picked me up from the airport to take me to lunch as part of a continuous job interview.
We went to "Ted's" restaurant, where I enjoyed a honey baked salmon. The interview was actually my fifth for the position, but the first in-person talk. I had hoped that this interview would only be a formality before they extended an offer to me.
My hopes were deflated, however, when the young woman told me, "Your flight landed a half hour late. We're going to have to make lunch quick, because there is another person to be interviewed coming in at 2:30."
I later learned that there are still several people in the game for this job.
After lunch, we went to a DoubleTree hotel where the young woman and her supervisor, one of the vice presidents of the company, asked me questions for about an hour. I liked both of them and I thought the interview went reasonably well.
Anyway, I did the best I could. I tried for the close and asked for the job that day, but they were noncommittal.
When we concluded, I climbed in a cab and went right back to the Denver airport.
During the cab ride, I received a phone call to set up a job interview with a completely different employer in Orlando. It looks like I'll have to play hooky again one day next week to make the drive down to that warm city...
On March 3rd of this year, I wrote a blog called "Three Directions." These experiences in Denver and then next week in Orlando are that blog entry at a crescendo...
The flights back to Charlotte and then Tallahassee were even more intense on my imagination than the flights going west. When we touched down in Charlotte, the pilot immediately hit the brakes harder than in any flight I've ever been on. I actually slid forward in my seat, with the belt keeping me from falling out. Instantly, I began to think something was in the runway. I will spare you the description of the other images that popped into my mind about what happened next...
It was well after nightfall when my plane took off from Charlotte to Tallahassee. The aircraft was smaller than the others I had flown in that day.
Immediately after takeoff, we rolled to one side and then pitched back to the other side. My stomach leaped violently, and I honestly thought for a few seconds that we were going down. I remembered the story from a few years ago of a small US Airways plane that crashed in Charlotte immediately after takeoff because they had not balanced the luggage correctly. The airline declined to release the cockpit voice recordings of the pilots' screams before they crashed. It was such a sad story, and the pilot was a beautiful young woman with her whole life ahead of her.
I was sitting in the very back of the plane. Only the flight attendant was behind me. When we straightened out, I looked back at her in time to see her tuck her head between her legs and knock on the wall beside her before she corrected her posture.
"Is that normal for us to roll like that right after take off?" I asked.
Of course she answered, "Yes."
But I wonder. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as we landed smoothly in Tallahassee, and she did not "knock on wood."
I am not sure that what they say about your life flashing in front of your eyes right before you die is correct. For two seconds on that takeoff, I really thought I was going to die. And all I felt was the severe jump in my stomach and a terrible, depressing and sinking sensation that existence was at an end. There were no flashes of memory...
But enough of this dark stuff. Can you tell that I am avoiding studying for the bar exam this morning?
My trip on Thursday was a great adventure, and I enjoyed seeing the Rockies and the rush that the flights gave me.
We'll see what happens. Now I have to get my mind ready for the job interview in Orlando. And for answering practice bar questions on Florida Evidence in the ever-present red, yellow, green game. The roller coaster ride continues...
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Time to Buckle Down
Even though I am keeping up with the Kaplan syllabus for bar review fairly well, the low percentage of answers that I am getting right makes me feel guilty today about how much fun I had this weekend.
Like I said in my blog post on May 28, my new residence can be quite the social scene. Yesterday, we organized a tailgate party for the NCAA baseball super regionals. Florida State is taking on Texas A & M in a best of three games series. The winner goes to the College World Series in Omaha. I spent hours out in the sun yesterday, enjoying grilled burgers and talking to friends before we went inside the stadium to watch our team.
It was after dark when we finally packed up the grill and headed back to the house. So, I was ready to call it a day. I needed to study. But peer pressure can be tough, sometimes. My friends convinced me to go out with them to a club downtown. I think I could have said no to my guy friends, but when there is a jaw-dropping gorgeous woman with big brown eyes sitting on your couch asking you to go out with them, too... Well, I'm just not that strong.
Long story short, I finally collapsed onto my bed around 4 am last night. I'm not sure that I was fun to hang out with at the club, as I mainly just stood against the wall and people watched. But I had a good time. My friends are awesome dancers.
Also this week, my friends convinced me to play a round of golf with them at the Jake Gaither public course in Tallahassee. It was the first time in my life that I have ever set foot on a golf course. The results were better than I hoped, probably due to the golf class I took as an undergraduate years ago. The lessons on how to grip the club and what to be thinking when you hit the ball all came back to me. I met my main goal of not swinging and missing. Even better, I was pretty good out of the sand traps. Becoming good enough to use golf as the background while business gets conducted is the goal of everyone who invited me to play. My friends are already at that level, I think. It was pleasing to see that I am not that far off, either, and I was grateful for their invitation.
However, earlier this week I took a checkpoint quiz for Constitutional Law, and I am only getting 50% of the questions right. After extensive review and watching tutorial videos, I am still only getting 55-60% right. The work keeps getting piled on, too. I only got 64% of the Criminal Law/Procedure questions correct on a quiz yesterday morning, and so I have to do review exercises for that as well.
But I am up and about. It is 9:30 on a Sunday morning. This blog entry only took 20 minutes to write. Now it is time to get started and show some more discipline when it comes to having too much fun.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Like I said in my blog post on May 28, my new residence can be quite the social scene. Yesterday, we organized a tailgate party for the NCAA baseball super regionals. Florida State is taking on Texas A & M in a best of three games series. The winner goes to the College World Series in Omaha. I spent hours out in the sun yesterday, enjoying grilled burgers and talking to friends before we went inside the stadium to watch our team.
It was after dark when we finally packed up the grill and headed back to the house. So, I was ready to call it a day. I needed to study. But peer pressure can be tough, sometimes. My friends convinced me to go out with them to a club downtown. I think I could have said no to my guy friends, but when there is a jaw-dropping gorgeous woman with big brown eyes sitting on your couch asking you to go out with them, too... Well, I'm just not that strong.
Long story short, I finally collapsed onto my bed around 4 am last night. I'm not sure that I was fun to hang out with at the club, as I mainly just stood against the wall and people watched. But I had a good time. My friends are awesome dancers.
Also this week, my friends convinced me to play a round of golf with them at the Jake Gaither public course in Tallahassee. It was the first time in my life that I have ever set foot on a golf course. The results were better than I hoped, probably due to the golf class I took as an undergraduate years ago. The lessons on how to grip the club and what to be thinking when you hit the ball all came back to me. I met my main goal of not swinging and missing. Even better, I was pretty good out of the sand traps. Becoming good enough to use golf as the background while business gets conducted is the goal of everyone who invited me to play. My friends are already at that level, I think. It was pleasing to see that I am not that far off, either, and I was grateful for their invitation.
However, earlier this week I took a checkpoint quiz for Constitutional Law, and I am only getting 50% of the questions right. After extensive review and watching tutorial videos, I am still only getting 55-60% right. The work keeps getting piled on, too. I only got 64% of the Criminal Law/Procedure questions correct on a quiz yesterday morning, and so I have to do review exercises for that as well.
But I am up and about. It is 9:30 on a Sunday morning. This blog entry only took 20 minutes to write. Now it is time to get started and show some more discipline when it comes to having too much fun.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Saturday, June 4, 2011
The Red, Yellow, Green Game
Right now is probably the most stressful time of my entire law school experience.
Really, I've got nothing to complain about. The weather is warm and beautiful, and my health is good. I go for nice jogs around the football stadium and up part of Saint Marks Trail. Tonight, I will probably watch Florida State take on Alabama in the NCAA baseball tournament. My new residence is close enough to walk to the baseball game, and my roommates are all great guys.
But weighing on my mind like a sack of stones is the job search.
Something good will come through eventually. I just graduated with honors from a quality law school. When I pass the bar exam, I will be even more employable.
Recently, I had a series of interviews for a job that I really wanted. The talks seemed to be going well, and things were moving along quickly and positively. But then... silence. And waiting. And more silence.
During the interview process, you get your hopes up and start thinking about what your life will be like if you land that job. As the days after the interviews wear on though, and you hear nothing, you are forced to re-start your thinking. You have to go back a few steps, to where you were weeks before, and begin looking at other options again.
But who knows? Maybe that job will come through. We will see... This is all a great exercise in maintaining a mental and emotional balance. It tests my ability to stay happy within myself, without depending on external factors that I can not control.
The whole thing is quite a roller coaster ride, though.
In an effort to distract my mind from the ups and downs of where life is going after July, I am trying to delve deeply into the bar preparation process. Though getting ready for the bar exam is also quite stressful, I like Kaplan PMBR's system. They use a combination of printed books and on-line resources to get me ready. I am more comfortable using their paper materials, but the on-line tools are neat in that it makes bar prep a sort of game.
At various intervals in the course, I take an on-line quiz to check my progress. The results break down my performance into statistics and colors.
We just finished a section on contracts. Overall for contracts, I am answering 67% of the questions correctly. This is coded yellow, which means moderate review is needed. Getting more specific, I am answering 90% of the questions on contracts consideration correctly. This puts me in the green for that subsection, and no review is needed. However, for contract conditions, I am only answering 40% of the questions correctly. This marks me in the red- extensive review needed. Thus, I have to watch a tutorial video, review the printed material again, and do more exercises exclusively on contract conditions. As we go along, Kaplan's on-line system is creating my own personalized pie chart and bar graph.
The goal is to get every section and subsection into the green. This is much easier said than done. Despite the hours that I am putting in, for the whole course I am answering questions correctly only 65-67% of the time.
So, after I finish this blog entry, I will watch a tutorial video on contract discharge and excuse- another subsection where I am in the red.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Really, I've got nothing to complain about. The weather is warm and beautiful, and my health is good. I go for nice jogs around the football stadium and up part of Saint Marks Trail. Tonight, I will probably watch Florida State take on Alabama in the NCAA baseball tournament. My new residence is close enough to walk to the baseball game, and my roommates are all great guys.
But weighing on my mind like a sack of stones is the job search.
Something good will come through eventually. I just graduated with honors from a quality law school. When I pass the bar exam, I will be even more employable.
Recently, I had a series of interviews for a job that I really wanted. The talks seemed to be going well, and things were moving along quickly and positively. But then... silence. And waiting. And more silence.
During the interview process, you get your hopes up and start thinking about what your life will be like if you land that job. As the days after the interviews wear on though, and you hear nothing, you are forced to re-start your thinking. You have to go back a few steps, to where you were weeks before, and begin looking at other options again.
But who knows? Maybe that job will come through. We will see... This is all a great exercise in maintaining a mental and emotional balance. It tests my ability to stay happy within myself, without depending on external factors that I can not control.
The whole thing is quite a roller coaster ride, though.
In an effort to distract my mind from the ups and downs of where life is going after July, I am trying to delve deeply into the bar preparation process. Though getting ready for the bar exam is also quite stressful, I like Kaplan PMBR's system. They use a combination of printed books and on-line resources to get me ready. I am more comfortable using their paper materials, but the on-line tools are neat in that it makes bar prep a sort of game.
At various intervals in the course, I take an on-line quiz to check my progress. The results break down my performance into statistics and colors.
We just finished a section on contracts. Overall for contracts, I am answering 67% of the questions correctly. This is coded yellow, which means moderate review is needed. Getting more specific, I am answering 90% of the questions on contracts consideration correctly. This puts me in the green for that subsection, and no review is needed. However, for contract conditions, I am only answering 40% of the questions correctly. This marks me in the red- extensive review needed. Thus, I have to watch a tutorial video, review the printed material again, and do more exercises exclusively on contract conditions. As we go along, Kaplan's on-line system is creating my own personalized pie chart and bar graph.
The goal is to get every section and subsection into the green. This is much easier said than done. Despite the hours that I am putting in, for the whole course I am answering questions correctly only 65-67% of the time.
So, after I finish this blog entry, I will watch a tutorial video on contract discharge and excuse- another subsection where I am in the red.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Saturday, May 28, 2011
An Upgrade
When I came to law school, I knew that I was not going to have any income to speak of for the extent of my enrollment. So, the past three years have been an exercise in how to save money. I lived simply and alone in a sparsely furnished apartment. In part to avoid distractions and in part to avoid the expense of cable, I did not bring a television with me to Florida.
This summer, however, the opportunity arose for me to sublease a nice townhouse with three guys who also just graduated. I moved in with them about a week ago.
I like the changes. There is a lot more living space. The ceiling in my bedroom is so high that I can not reach the control cords for the fan. Also, the house is close enough to the law school that I can walk to my Kaplan bar prep classes. In addition to having a dishwasher, a washer and dryer, and a large HD TV with huge speakers and about 500 channels, the townhouse also gets many more visitors than my apartment ever did.
There were a couple of parties that I attended here during law school. This house was one of the more popular places for law school students to gather for Florida State away games on TV.
I won't lie. It was rather nice to come downstairs from my bedroom to do laundry a few days ago and discover four beautiful women sitting on the living room couches, talking and laughing.
Though my new home is certainly more comfortable, it is also considerably more distracting. Making myself study the bar prep material is going to take effort.
I don't watch much television, but a TV with 500 channels can hit my Achilles heel- sports and good movies.
Right now, the ACC baseball tournament is happening. Florida State has made it to the championship game, and I can watch all of the games on the Florida Sports Network. Yesterday, I caught myself avoiding studying by watching Utah vs. New Mexico State in a Mountain West Conference baseball game airing on some obscure channel.
HBO is also a huge temptation. Last week, I was almost late to bar prep class because I became interested in Robert Downey's performance in Sherlock Holmes.
And then there are my friends. Living with outgoing fellow students suddenly means there is much more socializing to do- not that I'm complaining.
One of my roommates is from Miami. He is a huge Heat fan. When their basketball games come on, he cranks up the speakers on the TV and makes the walls shake. I enjoy watching the games with him because he is such a passionate fan. After every Heat victory, his tradition is to open our balcony doors and blast the Pitbull remix of Don Omar's "Danza Kuduro" into the streets.
After the Miami Heat clinched the Eastern Conference championship on Thursday around midnight, he shouted at me, "Nathan! Put on your shoes! We are going out!"
"C'mon, man," I replied. "We've got class at 9am tomorrow."
"This is not an option!" he yelled.
Yes, my living situation has changed substantially from a couple of weeks ago when I came home to a small, rather empty apartment in a very quiet neighborhood. Even now, as I type this blog entry in my bedroom, one of my roommates is booming dance music by some female artist unknown to me. I don't mind. It is a nice change, an upgrade to my quality of life. I think I can maintain enough discipline to get my bar studying done, and everything is fine.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
This summer, however, the opportunity arose for me to sublease a nice townhouse with three guys who also just graduated. I moved in with them about a week ago.
I like the changes. There is a lot more living space. The ceiling in my bedroom is so high that I can not reach the control cords for the fan. Also, the house is close enough to the law school that I can walk to my Kaplan bar prep classes. In addition to having a dishwasher, a washer and dryer, and a large HD TV with huge speakers and about 500 channels, the townhouse also gets many more visitors than my apartment ever did.
There were a couple of parties that I attended here during law school. This house was one of the more popular places for law school students to gather for Florida State away games on TV.
I won't lie. It was rather nice to come downstairs from my bedroom to do laundry a few days ago and discover four beautiful women sitting on the living room couches, talking and laughing.
Though my new home is certainly more comfortable, it is also considerably more distracting. Making myself study the bar prep material is going to take effort.
I don't watch much television, but a TV with 500 channels can hit my Achilles heel- sports and good movies.
Right now, the ACC baseball tournament is happening. Florida State has made it to the championship game, and I can watch all of the games on the Florida Sports Network. Yesterday, I caught myself avoiding studying by watching Utah vs. New Mexico State in a Mountain West Conference baseball game airing on some obscure channel.
HBO is also a huge temptation. Last week, I was almost late to bar prep class because I became interested in Robert Downey's performance in Sherlock Holmes.
And then there are my friends. Living with outgoing fellow students suddenly means there is much more socializing to do- not that I'm complaining.
One of my roommates is from Miami. He is a huge Heat fan. When their basketball games come on, he cranks up the speakers on the TV and makes the walls shake. I enjoy watching the games with him because he is such a passionate fan. After every Heat victory, his tradition is to open our balcony doors and blast the Pitbull remix of Don Omar's "Danza Kuduro" into the streets.
After the Miami Heat clinched the Eastern Conference championship on Thursday around midnight, he shouted at me, "Nathan! Put on your shoes! We are going out!"
"C'mon, man," I replied. "We've got class at 9am tomorrow."
"This is not an option!" he yelled.
Yes, my living situation has changed substantially from a couple of weeks ago when I came home to a small, rather empty apartment in a very quiet neighborhood. Even now, as I type this blog entry in my bedroom, one of my roommates is booming dance music by some female artist unknown to me. I don't mind. It is a nice change, an upgrade to my quality of life. I think I can maintain enough discipline to get my bar studying done, and everything is fine.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Week 1 Assessment
After the first week of bar preparation classes with Kaplan PMBR, I realize that my work is cut out for me.
This past Monday through Saturday, we had class from 9am to 3:30pm. Each day was a different subject: Torts, Criminal Law, Contracts, Property, Evidence, and Constitutional Law. The pattern for week 1 was to answer 50 multiple choice questions in the morning, questions that were supposed to be somewhat easier than what we will actually see on the exam. Then in the afternoon, a professor went over the answers using power point slides for almost every question.
Unfortunately, this first week taught me that I am not as ready for the bar exam as I had hoped. I am very glad to be doing this bar prep class. There would probably be no shot at passing that little quiz without it.
It was somewhat disheartening to see how many questions I am getting wrong. For example, in Evidence, a subject I consider to be perhaps my strongest, I missed 27 out of 50 questions. For other subjects such as Property, there were whole swaths of questions in areas that I never studied in law school, such as landlord-tenant agreements and mortgages.
The first week of bar prep also made me appreciative of the subjects I took in law school which are also tested on the bar exam. Because I had Evidence in law school, I do not have as far to go in order to start getting more questions right. For many of those questions that I missed in Evidence, I picked the second best answer. But I had no idea what to do in areas of landlord-tenant agreements and mortgages, because these are doctrines and concepts I am seeing for the very first time. Taking a class in Real Estate Finance would have helped with mortgages, but there are only so many electives in the three year program. I needed to take courses that would make me a better litigator as well, and Real Estate Finance was not on that list.
The encouragement comes when the instructors give us the slides explaining the correct answers. I can study these slides and fix many of my weak areas, though it is easier when the subject is already familiar to me.
To be completely honest, it also helps my morale to see many of my fellow students also struggling. I am not sure that anyone is lighting up every subject at this point.
The Florida Bar Exam is probably one of the three most difficult to pass in the whole country- right up there with California and New York.
Yes, this is going to be more intense than every day life in law school. There is enough work in these materials to make it as intense as studying for final exams, but then I would suffer a burn out after a couple or three weeks.
Bar prep is going to be a marathon: Steady discipline and determination to put in the hours without overdoing it in any particular stretch. The concepts will not be too terribly difficult to learn, I think. It is just that there are so many concepts and doctrines and rules to get into my head in the next two months.
Onward and upward. Tomorrow at 9am (actually today as it is now past midnight), is our first session on "Florida" law in Torts.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
This past Monday through Saturday, we had class from 9am to 3:30pm. Each day was a different subject: Torts, Criminal Law, Contracts, Property, Evidence, and Constitutional Law. The pattern for week 1 was to answer 50 multiple choice questions in the morning, questions that were supposed to be somewhat easier than what we will actually see on the exam. Then in the afternoon, a professor went over the answers using power point slides for almost every question.Unfortunately, this first week taught me that I am not as ready for the bar exam as I had hoped. I am very glad to be doing this bar prep class. There would probably be no shot at passing that little quiz without it.
It was somewhat disheartening to see how many questions I am getting wrong. For example, in Evidence, a subject I consider to be perhaps my strongest, I missed 27 out of 50 questions. For other subjects such as Property, there were whole swaths of questions in areas that I never studied in law school, such as landlord-tenant agreements and mortgages.
The first week of bar prep also made me appreciative of the subjects I took in law school which are also tested on the bar exam. Because I had Evidence in law school, I do not have as far to go in order to start getting more questions right. For many of those questions that I missed in Evidence, I picked the second best answer. But I had no idea what to do in areas of landlord-tenant agreements and mortgages, because these are doctrines and concepts I am seeing for the very first time. Taking a class in Real Estate Finance would have helped with mortgages, but there are only so many electives in the three year program. I needed to take courses that would make me a better litigator as well, and Real Estate Finance was not on that list.
The encouragement comes when the instructors give us the slides explaining the correct answers. I can study these slides and fix many of my weak areas, though it is easier when the subject is already familiar to me.
To be completely honest, it also helps my morale to see many of my fellow students also struggling. I am not sure that anyone is lighting up every subject at this point.
The Florida Bar Exam is probably one of the three most difficult to pass in the whole country- right up there with California and New York.
Yes, this is going to be more intense than every day life in law school. There is enough work in these materials to make it as intense as studying for final exams, but then I would suffer a burn out after a couple or three weeks.
Bar prep is going to be a marathon: Steady discipline and determination to put in the hours without overdoing it in any particular stretch. The concepts will not be too terribly difficult to learn, I think. It is just that there are so many concepts and doctrines and rules to get into my head in the next two months.
Onward and upward. Tomorrow at 9am (actually today as it is now past midnight), is our first session on "Florida" law in Torts.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Sunday, May 15, 2011
The Week in Between
Tomorrow, I start my two-month bar preparation classes with Kaplan PMBR. I suppose that I will keep writing entries here at least through taking the bar exam, as it is also a huge part of the law school experience.
The week in between graduation and the start of bar prep, I got a chance to relax a little before the intense study kicks up again. One of my friends stayed for a few days after watching me graduate. We had a nice visit, dined at some good restaurants, and went to Panama City Beach. It was my first trip to the shore since coming to law school. Specifically, we went to the beach at St. Andrews State Park. It was absolutely gorgeous. I’d seen white sand and turquoise blue water before (Bradenton, Florida in 1996), but the experience in Panama City Beach dazzled my friend. It was the most beautiful beach she had ever seen in her life. She called her mother in south Texas to say, “L’agua esta azul, azul, azul!”
During the trip, I decided that Bay County and Panama City would be a neat place to work. I will keep it in mind when sending my resume to trial attorneys…
But tomorrow, I will be in class from 9am to 3:30pm in Tallahassee. Then it is study, study, study tomorrow evening before rising early to be at class again at 9 am.
Students who have been through bar prep before warned me about the drudgery of what is ahead. We'll see. If bar prep is as intense as getting ready for final exams, then they are right. There is no way that I can sustain that kind of effort for two or three months straight. Exam season, at least for me, is like engaging the afterburners.
Not counting "exam season," however, law school on a daily basis was actually enjoyable. I imagine that the intensity of bar prep will fall somewhere in between the two poles of daily law school life and "exam season." Hopefully, by the end of the day tomorrow- or at least by the end of the week- I'll have a good read of what is required.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
The week in between graduation and the start of bar prep, I got a chance to relax a little before the intense study kicks up again. One of my friends stayed for a few days after watching me graduate. We had a nice visit, dined at some good restaurants, and went to Panama City Beach. It was my first trip to the shore since coming to law school. Specifically, we went to the beach at St. Andrews State Park. It was absolutely gorgeous. I’d seen white sand and turquoise blue water before (Bradenton, Florida in 1996), but the experience in Panama City Beach dazzled my friend. It was the most beautiful beach she had ever seen in her life. She called her mother in south Texas to say, “L’agua esta azul, azul, azul!”
During the trip, I decided that Bay County and Panama City would be a neat place to work. I will keep it in mind when sending my resume to trial attorneys…
But tomorrow, I will be in class from 9am to 3:30pm in Tallahassee. Then it is study, study, study tomorrow evening before rising early to be at class again at 9 am.
Students who have been through bar prep before warned me about the drudgery of what is ahead. We'll see. If bar prep is as intense as getting ready for final exams, then they are right. There is no way that I can sustain that kind of effort for two or three months straight. Exam season, at least for me, is like engaging the afterburners.
Not counting "exam season," however, law school on a daily basis was actually enjoyable. I imagine that the intensity of bar prep will fall somewhere in between the two poles of daily law school life and "exam season." Hopefully, by the end of the day tomorrow- or at least by the end of the week- I'll have a good read of what is required.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Partying with the All-Stars***
It is over, sort of.
Last Saturday, I dressed up in a fancy gown, hood, hat, and along with approximately 240 of my other classmates, walked across a stage at the Civic Center in the FSU College of Law graduation ceremony. It will still be a few weeks before final grades from this last semester are posted and our degrees are officially conferred. In the words of my mother, though, “It was a great day.” Some of my family and friends were there, and we celebrated afterwards by going out to eat and then to a FSU baseball game.
Of all that went on Saturday at the ceremony, the program bulletin was the most interesting thing to me. It listed all of the graduates, along with various accomplishments we achieved during our three years. The program also provided which students are going to graduate with honors, pending the outcome of this last semester. Those who are in a position to graduate cum laude had an asterisk by their name. Those set to graduate magna cum laude had two asterisks, and those who could finish summa cum laude had three asterisks next to their name.
Out of the entire graduating class, only four students had ***. I know each of the four fairly well. In fact, my last social outing as a law school student was in the company of two of them…
During this past “exam season,” I only took one evening off to have some fun. The occasion was a going away party for one of my friends. He is moving to Miami to take a job with a law firm, and he was also one of the four students with *** by his name in the graduation program.
The party was at his house, and it was one of the most enjoyable that I have experienced in law school. He and his wife own a couple of cats, and I always like it when there are animals around to keep me company. An additional *** student came by, along with a number of other all-star students whom I now know are set to graduate with honors or high honors.
The talent of these students has always amazed me. In addition to being the best scholars in our class, they are excellent gardeners, wood craftsmen, marathon runners, and musicians. They are just good at life, generally. Whereas for myself, I struggle at keeping a clean apartment.
One friend of mine was in fact a professional musician prior to coming to law school. At the party, he and our Miami-bound host entertained us by taking turns singing requests for pop songs from the 80s and 90s. With only one acoustic guitar, they kept us entertained for hours.
Their display of talent showed me another change in technology that was not around when I went to parties as an undergraduate. Using their hand held I-phone, Droid, Blackberry or whatever you call it, they were able to take a request, search for the chord pattern of the song on the Internet, and then play it while looking at the small screen on their device.
My favorite songs were those that the former pro knew by heart. With only the acoustical guitar, he performed amazing ballad-style covers of hits from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and SirMixaLot.
Not only were the songs very well done, the lyrics were shockingly hilarious.
The other ***student at the party enjoyed the music more than anyone. But at one point, she watched me as I listened and said, “This is going to be a blog entry.” Her comment surprised me, as I did not know that she read my blog.
As the hour became late, she also said what I was beginning to think for myself: “I really need to be studying right now.”
But that night, it was just too much fun. We both stayed much longer- until the two musicians’ voices became tired.
I do not think the indulgence hurt my exam performance, and I am glad I took the time to party with some *** and ** students. It was great to see their talents and personalities in a somewhat different light.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Last Saturday, I dressed up in a fancy gown, hood, hat, and along with approximately 240 of my other classmates, walked across a stage at the Civic Center in the FSU College of Law graduation ceremony. It will still be a few weeks before final grades from this last semester are posted and our degrees are officially conferred. In the words of my mother, though, “It was a great day.” Some of my family and friends were there, and we celebrated afterwards by going out to eat and then to a FSU baseball game.
Of all that went on Saturday at the ceremony, the program bulletin was the most interesting thing to me. It listed all of the graduates, along with various accomplishments we achieved during our three years. The program also provided which students are going to graduate with honors, pending the outcome of this last semester. Those who are in a position to graduate cum laude had an asterisk by their name. Those set to graduate magna cum laude had two asterisks, and those who could finish summa cum laude had three asterisks next to their name.
Out of the entire graduating class, only four students had ***. I know each of the four fairly well. In fact, my last social outing as a law school student was in the company of two of them…
During this past “exam season,” I only took one evening off to have some fun. The occasion was a going away party for one of my friends. He is moving to Miami to take a job with a law firm, and he was also one of the four students with *** by his name in the graduation program.
The party was at his house, and it was one of the most enjoyable that I have experienced in law school. He and his wife own a couple of cats, and I always like it when there are animals around to keep me company. An additional *** student came by, along with a number of other all-star students whom I now know are set to graduate with honors or high honors.
The talent of these students has always amazed me. In addition to being the best scholars in our class, they are excellent gardeners, wood craftsmen, marathon runners, and musicians. They are just good at life, generally. Whereas for myself, I struggle at keeping a clean apartment.
One friend of mine was in fact a professional musician prior to coming to law school. At the party, he and our Miami-bound host entertained us by taking turns singing requests for pop songs from the 80s and 90s. With only one acoustic guitar, they kept us entertained for hours.
Their display of talent showed me another change in technology that was not around when I went to parties as an undergraduate. Using their hand held I-phone, Droid, Blackberry or whatever you call it, they were able to take a request, search for the chord pattern of the song on the Internet, and then play it while looking at the small screen on their device.
My favorite songs were those that the former pro knew by heart. With only the acoustical guitar, he performed amazing ballad-style covers of hits from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and SirMixaLot.
Not only were the songs very well done, the lyrics were shockingly hilarious.
The other ***student at the party enjoyed the music more than anyone. But at one point, she watched me as I listened and said, “This is going to be a blog entry.” Her comment surprised me, as I did not know that she read my blog.
As the hour became late, she also said what I was beginning to think for myself: “I really need to be studying right now.”
But that night, it was just too much fun. We both stayed much longer- until the two musicians’ voices became tired.
I do not think the indulgence hurt my exam performance, and I am glad I took the time to party with some *** and ** students. It was great to see their talents and personalities in a somewhat different light.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Friday, April 15, 2011
The New Importance of Clothes
For me, the most disappointing thing about law school is how I'm physically aging. This is one area of life where I believe it is actually mentally healthier to stay in a state of denial, so I won't say much more about it. Still, as I get older I am beginning to see even more the importance of clothes in society.
Earlier this week, a friend who works in the state legislature invited me to lunch up at the Capitol. Real estate lobbyists hosted the meal, and it was open the public. I asked him if how I was dressed was okay- blue jeans and a polo shirt with my shirt tail out. He said it was fine. I took him up on the offer and walked five minutes east on Pensacola Street from the law school to the Capitol.
When I arrived, however, I realized that I would have been much more comfortable in a suit. Everyone else was in professional attire. While I tried to smile at them, they did not smile back at me the way they would have if I had been in a suit. I could almost read their minds: "He's not one of us. This is just some man off the street looking for a free lunch."
I don't hold it against my friend for inviting me at all. He's younger than I am. I now understand that when you're young and you dress down, people don't care as much. He could have pulled off jeans and a loose polo. But not me. Not anymore. This is a threshold I've crossed since coming to law school.
When I'm among people in professional attire, I now need to be in professional attire, too. I am a "man," now. No one calls me "kid" anymore, the way the salesmen out on the car lot in Las Vegas did when I worked with them five years ago. A "man" needs to already be successful and look like he's successful. A "kid" still has success waiting for him in the years ahead. I can't pull off the Gap or Old Navy look in a crowd of professionally dressed people anymore- if I ever could pull it off.
I've noticed this change from comments people have made to me this year, too. One day earlier this semester when I came to school in a suit, a law school administrator looked at me and said, "You don't look like a student. You look like you are already a lawyer, years beyond school."
"I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not," I replied.
This past week, one of the librarians stopped me and told me that she had decided I was a chameleon. "When you are in a suit," she said, "I think that a lawyer has just walked into the library. But today you are not in lawyer clothes. You are in jeans and you look like a different person."
Of course I would like to remain forever young, but this change I am going through has some benefits if I learn how to play it right- especially when I am wearing a suit...
It is officially exam season. I have to hit the books even harder. This will probably be my last entry until after graduation.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Earlier this week, a friend who works in the state legislature invited me to lunch up at the Capitol. Real estate lobbyists hosted the meal, and it was open the public. I asked him if how I was dressed was okay- blue jeans and a polo shirt with my shirt tail out. He said it was fine. I took him up on the offer and walked five minutes east on Pensacola Street from the law school to the Capitol.
When I arrived, however, I realized that I would have been much more comfortable in a suit. Everyone else was in professional attire. While I tried to smile at them, they did not smile back at me the way they would have if I had been in a suit. I could almost read their minds: "He's not one of us. This is just some man off the street looking for a free lunch."
I don't hold it against my friend for inviting me at all. He's younger than I am. I now understand that when you're young and you dress down, people don't care as much. He could have pulled off jeans and a loose polo. But not me. Not anymore. This is a threshold I've crossed since coming to law school.
When I'm among people in professional attire, I now need to be in professional attire, too. I am a "man," now. No one calls me "kid" anymore, the way the salesmen out on the car lot in Las Vegas did when I worked with them five years ago. A "man" needs to already be successful and look like he's successful. A "kid" still has success waiting for him in the years ahead. I can't pull off the Gap or Old Navy look in a crowd of professionally dressed people anymore- if I ever could pull it off.
I've noticed this change from comments people have made to me this year, too. One day earlier this semester when I came to school in a suit, a law school administrator looked at me and said, "You don't look like a student. You look like you are already a lawyer, years beyond school."
"I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not," I replied.
This past week, one of the librarians stopped me and told me that she had decided I was a chameleon. "When you are in a suit," she said, "I think that a lawyer has just walked into the library. But today you are not in lawyer clothes. You are in jeans and you look like a different person."
Of course I would like to remain forever young, but this change I am going through has some benefits if I learn how to play it right- especially when I am wearing a suit...
It is officially exam season. I have to hit the books even harder. This will probably be my last entry until after graduation.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Adjusting My Attitude
Almost every day now, someone asks me what it feels like to "almost be done" with law school.
From my sales experience, I know that I need to come up with a better answer than what I've been saying.
The smile on the face of the person asking me that question inevitably changes to a frown of confusion once I've given my long-winded answer.
My answer, more or less, goes like this:
"Really, it doesn't feel like I'm almost done. It just feels like one more hurdle that I have to clear in this whole process. I still have to take the final exams and pass the final exams. I'll go through the graduation ceremony not 100% sure that I've actually graduated. Then I have to spend about two and a half months getting ready for the bar exam while I wait for my degree to be officially conferred. At the end of July, I'll take the bar exam. Then I have to wait for results, which won't be released until mid or late September. Somewhere along the line, I've got to find a job. Assuming everything goes right in all this, I still won't become a lawyer for another six months from now- as one firm neatly pointed out to me in a recent job interview. So really, it does not feel like I'm almost done."
A poor first year student who innocently asked me the question and then listened to my rant, sheepishly responded, "Well...Good luck with that process," and hustled off.
While all of the above is true, I know my attitude is what counts. After that 1L student hurried away from me, an interview I'd seen with Joe Montana came to mind.
Joe Montana, a former NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, is the greatest quarterback whom I personally have ever seen play the game.
This interview that came to mind took place a few days before he was to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. A reporter asked him what it felt like.
I can't remember Montana's exact quote, but it was to the effect that being inducted into the Hall felt like "the end." It felt like the last event before they piled the dirt on his coffin.
The reporter gave him the same look that the 1L and the other students have given me after my response to their questions about what it feels like to almost be done with law school.
By the time of Montana's actual enshrinement speech, however, he had adjusted his attitude. Here is an excerpt of what he said, taken from http://www.profootballhof.com:
"The Hall of Fame is a tremendous, tremendous honor. I had a very difficult time with it in the beginning cause I don’t think I was looking at it in the proper perspective. I saw the Hall of Fame as an ending point. I mentioned to a couple people that in some ways I felt like, wow I'm only 44-years-old, I feel like I’m in my grave, in my coffin, alive, and they’re putting, throwing dirt on me, and I can feel it, and I’m trying to get out. And it wasn’t until this weekend, these past three days, these gentlemen behind me [his fellow inductees], spending the time with them, that I think I really got the true meaning of what this is all about...I‘ve now seen the light, that this is not an ending point, this is a beginning point. This is the beginning of the rest of my life, post-career, with a new team. And take a look at these guys, what a team it is."
While graduating from law school is of course not the same thing as being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, this upcoming graduation ceremony will be the most significant achievement in my own life, thus far.
Yesterday, I went to a house party with some of my fellow law school students. At one point, as we all sat around a TV watching the NCAA Final Four games, I looked at each student and thought about how lucky I am to be here. Four or five years ago, I would have been elated to know that such a scene was in my future. I am surrounded by very intelligent and talented people at FSU Law, people who will go far in society.
Being invited to study with such a group at such an institution, to graduate with them, means that I have an obligation to be positive. I have an obligation to bring hope to people who come into contact with me.
So, it feels nice to "almost be done." The graduation ceremony will be the culmination of a lot of hard work, and a gateway into what I hope will be a bright future. There will always be more hurdles to clear, but I am looking forward to the challenge and the rewards that come from clearing them.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
From my sales experience, I know that I need to come up with a better answer than what I've been saying.
The smile on the face of the person asking me that question inevitably changes to a frown of confusion once I've given my long-winded answer.
My answer, more or less, goes like this:
"Really, it doesn't feel like I'm almost done. It just feels like one more hurdle that I have to clear in this whole process. I still have to take the final exams and pass the final exams. I'll go through the graduation ceremony not 100% sure that I've actually graduated. Then I have to spend about two and a half months getting ready for the bar exam while I wait for my degree to be officially conferred. At the end of July, I'll take the bar exam. Then I have to wait for results, which won't be released until mid or late September. Somewhere along the line, I've got to find a job. Assuming everything goes right in all this, I still won't become a lawyer for another six months from now- as one firm neatly pointed out to me in a recent job interview. So really, it does not feel like I'm almost done."
A poor first year student who innocently asked me the question and then listened to my rant, sheepishly responded, "Well...Good luck with that process," and hustled off.
While all of the above is true, I know my attitude is what counts. After that 1L student hurried away from me, an interview I'd seen with Joe Montana came to mind.
Joe Montana, a former NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, is the greatest quarterback whom I personally have ever seen play the game.
This interview that came to mind took place a few days before he was to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. A reporter asked him what it felt like.
I can't remember Montana's exact quote, but it was to the effect that being inducted into the Hall felt like "the end." It felt like the last event before they piled the dirt on his coffin.
The reporter gave him the same look that the 1L and the other students have given me after my response to their questions about what it feels like to almost be done with law school.
By the time of Montana's actual enshrinement speech, however, he had adjusted his attitude. Here is an excerpt of what he said, taken from http://www.profootballhof.com:
"The Hall of Fame is a tremendous, tremendous honor. I had a very difficult time with it in the beginning cause I don’t think I was looking at it in the proper perspective. I saw the Hall of Fame as an ending point. I mentioned to a couple people that in some ways I felt like, wow I'm only 44-years-old, I feel like I’m in my grave, in my coffin, alive, and they’re putting, throwing dirt on me, and I can feel it, and I’m trying to get out. And it wasn’t until this weekend, these past three days, these gentlemen behind me [his fellow inductees], spending the time with them, that I think I really got the true meaning of what this is all about...I‘ve now seen the light, that this is not an ending point, this is a beginning point. This is the beginning of the rest of my life, post-career, with a new team. And take a look at these guys, what a team it is."
While graduating from law school is of course not the same thing as being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, this upcoming graduation ceremony will be the most significant achievement in my own life, thus far.
Yesterday, I went to a house party with some of my fellow law school students. At one point, as we all sat around a TV watching the NCAA Final Four games, I looked at each student and thought about how lucky I am to be here. Four or five years ago, I would have been elated to know that such a scene was in my future. I am surrounded by very intelligent and talented people at FSU Law, people who will go far in society.
Being invited to study with such a group at such an institution, to graduate with them, means that I have an obligation to be positive. I have an obligation to bring hope to people who come into contact with me.
So, it feels nice to "almost be done." The graduation ceremony will be the culmination of a lot of hard work, and a gateway into what I hope will be a bright future. There will always be more hurdles to clear, but I am looking forward to the challenge and the rewards that come from clearing them.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Sunday, March 27, 2011
A Squirrel's Escape, and the Best Ice Cream Ever
As I carried my laundry back from the washroom at my apartment complex on Friday morning, out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a grey blur darting past me through the grass.
I turned and saw that the blur was in fact a squirrel, running full speed toward a large pine tree.
What was amazing was how fast this creature was moving. I've seen squirrels scurry away from me when I approached them. I've seen them run and hop out of the way of cars on the road, and I've seen them run from each other in the trees.
But this squirrel was not moving like that. Its tail was stiff, and it did not hop at all as it sprinted. Every muscle in its body seemed to be focused on generating speed and in keeping a beeline for that pine tree. It shot through the grass like an efficient, low flying bullet.
I thought, I've never seen a squirrel move like that. I've never seen a squirrel move that fast in my life.
But a second later, I understood why it was moving with such concentrated urgency.
All of a sudden, a magnificent hawk descended from the sky, its wings spread wide and talons outstretched. It came in right behind the squirrel and flew within a couple of inches of the tail.
The squirrel proved to be fast enough, though. It made it to the base of the tree. The hawk had to land short to keep from hitting the tree, but the squirrel hit it going full speed and disappeared around the other side of the trunk.
The hawk stood on the ground for less than two seconds before it flew up to perch on a nearby clothes line pole. It looked around, and then studied me for a few seconds before flying off.
The hawk did not stay still long enough for me to get a good look at its features other than its white and brown underside. It was probably either a red shouldered hawk or a red tail hawk. The squirrel escaped, but I do not know if it later succumbed to a heart attack...
After finishing my laundry, I headed out to the law school for "Admitted Students' Day." Each spring, FSU Law hosts such a day to entice those high quality applicants who have been fortunate enough to gain acceptance as part of the incoming fall class. As a law school ambassador, it was my job to give a tour of the campus facilities and resources. I did my best to convince these prospects that if they are committed to going to law school, then enrolling at FSU would be a good choice.
After the tour ended, I took the students to the law school rotunda where they were serving "Marble Slab" ice cream. I had never tasted Marble Slab ice cream before, and I got in line behind dozens of others who were waiting to be served. I felt sorry for the worker doing all the dipping, but he must have had very strong wrists and hands.
When it was my turn, I ordered vanilla ice cream with a cookie dough topping. The server scooped what I thought was a rather small portion of vanilla, and then literally put it on a cold marble slab in front of him. With two spatula-type instruments, he kneaded the cookie dough into the ice cream.
As I watched him work, I noted that the ice cream itself had more the density of a paste or a dough than the cream I was used to. It did not break up as he worked with it. After a few moments, the server put the ice cream in a paper cup and gave it to me with a spoon.
When I tasted it, I decided immediately that this was the best ice cream I had ever had in my life. The thickness and richness also made the serving much larger than I thought. One cup filled me up. I did not go back for seconds, despite it being the most delicious ice cream I had ever tasted.
This Marble Slab ice cream beat a longstanding record. Previously, the best ice cream I had ever eaten was on a summer day in Wake Forest, North Carolina, when I was about five years old. I was living at my grandmother's house, and all my cousins from that side of the family were there, along with my parents and my brother. I played in the yard with my cousins while the adults all sat around and talked.
The adults also set about making homemade chocolate ice cream, which we were all eager to taste. I remember my dad turning the churn by hand for what seemed like forever.
When it was finally ready, I remember how delicious and cold it tasted. Like the Marble Slab, the texture of that chocolate ice cream was different from any other I've ever had, too.
In later years, we made homemade ice cream again at family gatherings, but it was with an electric churn that did not need to be turned by hand. It was also never quite as good as that first time in Wake Forest.
The Marble Slab ice cream that I had on Friday was better, though. Here is a link to their business:
http://www.marbleslab.com/
After I finished eating it in the law school rotunda, I went to watch Florida State's baseball team take on Wake Forest at Dick Howser stadium. Wake Forest University's campus used to be in that town of the same name where I once lived with my grandmother and ate homemade ice cream for the first time, but the university moved to Winston-Salem some years before I was born.
It was an enjoyable day.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Flub
Earlier this week, the professor in one of my classes created a neat game to help us understand the practical aspects of some of the broader ideas and themes of the course.
She passed out a sheet with the instructions and problems, and gave us a few minutes to think over our answers. Then she took out a football.
The professor randomly tossed it to one of the students in the class. After he caught it, she told him to answer the first problem on the instruction sheet. After he did so, she told him to throw the ball to another student.
As soon as that first student answered the problem, I knew I was in trouble.
I had completely misunderstood the directions, and my answers were way off from what the professor was looking for. No sooner did I realize this when the football was in the air again, heading right at me.
I didn’t catch it. I ducked out of the way and let the ball land with a hard “BAM!” on the table in front of me. It bounced to the floor.
Everyone in the class went silent and just stared at me. The ball rolled ever so slowly to the middle of the class.
I mumbled something about an incomplete pass or a fumble, but it got no laughs. The professor looked at me with a blank expression.
I stood up, walked to the center of the room, picked up the ball, and returned to my seat.
Everyone was waiting. I stared down at my paper for a moment. Eventually, I said that I had misunderstood the instructions, and read off my totally irrelevant answer.
Everyone was still waiting. But I had nothing, and there wasn’t enough time to think. For the first time in my law school career, I froze.
Crickets chirping.
Finally, the professor offered me the dreaded, “tail tucked between my legs” escape that I had heard offered to other students in other classes a few times before:
“Would you like the assistance of co-counsel?”
I quickly answered, “Yes.”
Law school goal #8: Go the entire three years without embarrassing myself when called on in class/ Always be prepared and never have to ask for “the assistance of co-counsel.”
Result of law school goal #8: Fail.
One of my friends sitting behind me offered to take a “lateral.”
I tossed the ball back to him, nearly knocking over his water bottle in the process.
The rest of the class went on with the game, tossing the ball back and forth and giving the correct answers. Apparently, I was the only one who had misunderstood the directions.
After class ended and I was walking out, the professor gave me a smile of what I took to be pity.
It was a nice start to the day.
Hopefully, I won't have a similar misunderstanding when the professor passes out the instructions on final exam day.
Beware the Ides of March,
Nathan Marshburn
She passed out a sheet with the instructions and problems, and gave us a few minutes to think over our answers. Then she took out a football.
The professor randomly tossed it to one of the students in the class. After he caught it, she told him to answer the first problem on the instruction sheet. After he did so, she told him to throw the ball to another student.
As soon as that first student answered the problem, I knew I was in trouble.
I had completely misunderstood the directions, and my answers were way off from what the professor was looking for. No sooner did I realize this when the football was in the air again, heading right at me.
I didn’t catch it. I ducked out of the way and let the ball land with a hard “BAM!” on the table in front of me. It bounced to the floor.
Everyone in the class went silent and just stared at me. The ball rolled ever so slowly to the middle of the class.
I mumbled something about an incomplete pass or a fumble, but it got no laughs. The professor looked at me with a blank expression.
I stood up, walked to the center of the room, picked up the ball, and returned to my seat.
Everyone was waiting. I stared down at my paper for a moment. Eventually, I said that I had misunderstood the instructions, and read off my totally irrelevant answer.
Everyone was still waiting. But I had nothing, and there wasn’t enough time to think. For the first time in my law school career, I froze.
Crickets chirping.
Finally, the professor offered me the dreaded, “tail tucked between my legs” escape that I had heard offered to other students in other classes a few times before:
“Would you like the assistance of co-counsel?”
I quickly answered, “Yes.”
Law school goal #8: Go the entire three years without embarrassing myself when called on in class/ Always be prepared and never have to ask for “the assistance of co-counsel.”
Result of law school goal #8: Fail.
One of my friends sitting behind me offered to take a “lateral.”
I tossed the ball back to him, nearly knocking over his water bottle in the process.
The rest of the class went on with the game, tossing the ball back and forth and giving the correct answers. Apparently, I was the only one who had misunderstood the directions.
After class ended and I was walking out, the professor gave me a smile of what I took to be pity.
It was a nice start to the day.
Hopefully, I won't have a similar misunderstanding when the professor passes out the instructions on final exam day.
Beware the Ides of March,
Nathan Marshburn
Friday, March 11, 2011
The Last Resume Goals
The last remaining goals for my law school resume are to make the Dean's List one more time and then, more importantly, graduate with honors. Right now, my GPA puts me in that position, but it is close and I am trying to hold it.
Because of the law school curve system, a grade in the 80s is actually not bad, compared to the rest of the student body. For example, only 3% of the students in a given class may receive a grade of 98 to 100. The professor does not have to give anyone such a grade if he or she so chooses. 5% to 15% of the class may receive a grade from 93 to98, 10% to 25% may receive grades from 86 to 92, and so forth.
Right now, my GPA is 85 point something. While this would have sounded horrible to me in high school or as an undergraduate in college, it actually places me inside the top 25% of my class in law school (There is also an "upper level" GPA that excludes first year courses, but I am not sure this figure is relevant for graduation honors).
An average of 86 or better during a given semester will earn you a spot on the Dean's List. If your overall GPA is higher than 84 when you finish law school, then you graduate Cum Laude.
Grades have been my primary focus during law school. I have not held a job during the school year so that I could spend more time on academics. The Mock Trial Team has been my second highest priority, but I have not done much above the minimum membership requirements for that organization, and I have only competed in the minimum number of required tournaments.
This is not the story for many of my colleagues. Some have families to support or otherwise need the money, and thus do not have the luxury of using only loans to get them through school.
Another group of students elect to work during the school year with the hope of making connections that will lead to a full time job. Landing a career job, after all, is the end game here. There are two basic ways to get a career job: 1) Through outstanding grades and extracurricular accomplishments, or 2) by making a connection with a person who can open a door. A few of my friends took jobs as part time clerks at law firms after becoming frustrated with their grades.
Given the amount of time that I have devoted to classes and studying, I would like my GPA to be higher than 85 point something. But there it is. We will see if it was worth not trying to make connections by working during the school year, or enhancing my resume by putting more effort into the Mock Trial Team.
If I held a job during the school year, my grades would take a big hit. If I had competed in more Mock Trial tournaments or held an office in the organization, my grades would take a hit.
Last year, I had a conversation with the newly elected president of one of the major law school organizations. She also worked as a clerk at a law firm, and had family issues that took up a lot of her time.
I asked her, "How are you going to do all that and still keep decent grades?"
She replied, "My game plan is to land a job before my grades crash."
But the real wonders are the students who have other major time commitments and still make the top grades in school. Some of my friends hold an office on the Law Review, the school's most prestigious student organization, in addition to having a part time job, in addition to being a member of other premier law school organizations. And yet they will graduate Magna Cum Laude or Summa Cum Laude.
What can I say? More power to them. I've done the best I could in law school. It is too expensive to come here and not try hard. If I had law school to do over, I really would not do much differently. At least that is my thinking right now. Perhaps I would make more of an effort to join the Law Review, though I know I would not have enjoyed the work that is required of its members. I also might make more of an effort to publish a paper, though again, this would not have been enjoyable.
In order to graduate from FSU Law, every student has to take a "paper class" and write a paper of publishable quality. The paper is your grade in lieu of a final exam. I worked very hard in my "paper class," and it turned out pretty well. That paper got me one of my highest grades in law school. It was the first law school class that I ever "booked." Writing that darn paper was also the most exhausting experience I've had in law school. It was the first time in my life that I ever wrote something substantial using only a computer. Normally, I hand write everything first and then type it up (a system that would be completely unacceptable in a law firm that utilizes the billable hour model). By the time I finished my final draft, I had stared at a computer screen for so long and hard, bounced back and forth so much between my paper and Westlaw or LexisNexis, that my eyes literally felt like two golf balls bouncing around inside my skull. The dizzying sensation stayed with me for about three days.
So, it was not a close decision about whether or not I would try to write a second paper in law school (as is required of Law Review members).
But some of the best students here actually enroll in all the paper classes they can. They prefer writing papers to taking final exams. Again, more power to them.
Three final exams remain for me. One exam is scheduled for the day before the graduation ceremony. The chances to distinguish myself and tag my resume with law school accolades have almost entirely come and gone, now. I've had successes and failures, but I've given my maximum effort short of making myself miserable.
I hope I can perform well enough on these last exams to hold the line and always be able to put "graduated with honors" out beside my degree.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Because of the law school curve system, a grade in the 80s is actually not bad, compared to the rest of the student body. For example, only 3% of the students in a given class may receive a grade of 98 to 100. The professor does not have to give anyone such a grade if he or she so chooses. 5% to 15% of the class may receive a grade from 93 to98, 10% to 25% may receive grades from 86 to 92, and so forth.
Right now, my GPA is 85 point something. While this would have sounded horrible to me in high school or as an undergraduate in college, it actually places me inside the top 25% of my class in law school (There is also an "upper level" GPA that excludes first year courses, but I am not sure this figure is relevant for graduation honors).
An average of 86 or better during a given semester will earn you a spot on the Dean's List. If your overall GPA is higher than 84 when you finish law school, then you graduate Cum Laude.
Grades have been my primary focus during law school. I have not held a job during the school year so that I could spend more time on academics. The Mock Trial Team has been my second highest priority, but I have not done much above the minimum membership requirements for that organization, and I have only competed in the minimum number of required tournaments.
This is not the story for many of my colleagues. Some have families to support or otherwise need the money, and thus do not have the luxury of using only loans to get them through school.
Another group of students elect to work during the school year with the hope of making connections that will lead to a full time job. Landing a career job, after all, is the end game here. There are two basic ways to get a career job: 1) Through outstanding grades and extracurricular accomplishments, or 2) by making a connection with a person who can open a door. A few of my friends took jobs as part time clerks at law firms after becoming frustrated with their grades.
Given the amount of time that I have devoted to classes and studying, I would like my GPA to be higher than 85 point something. But there it is. We will see if it was worth not trying to make connections by working during the school year, or enhancing my resume by putting more effort into the Mock Trial Team.
If I held a job during the school year, my grades would take a big hit. If I had competed in more Mock Trial tournaments or held an office in the organization, my grades would take a hit.
Last year, I had a conversation with the newly elected president of one of the major law school organizations. She also worked as a clerk at a law firm, and had family issues that took up a lot of her time.
I asked her, "How are you going to do all that and still keep decent grades?"
She replied, "My game plan is to land a job before my grades crash."
But the real wonders are the students who have other major time commitments and still make the top grades in school. Some of my friends hold an office on the Law Review, the school's most prestigious student organization, in addition to having a part time job, in addition to being a member of other premier law school organizations. And yet they will graduate Magna Cum Laude or Summa Cum Laude.
What can I say? More power to them. I've done the best I could in law school. It is too expensive to come here and not try hard. If I had law school to do over, I really would not do much differently. At least that is my thinking right now. Perhaps I would make more of an effort to join the Law Review, though I know I would not have enjoyed the work that is required of its members. I also might make more of an effort to publish a paper, though again, this would not have been enjoyable.
In order to graduate from FSU Law, every student has to take a "paper class" and write a paper of publishable quality. The paper is your grade in lieu of a final exam. I worked very hard in my "paper class," and it turned out pretty well. That paper got me one of my highest grades in law school. It was the first law school class that I ever "booked." Writing that darn paper was also the most exhausting experience I've had in law school. It was the first time in my life that I ever wrote something substantial using only a computer. Normally, I hand write everything first and then type it up (a system that would be completely unacceptable in a law firm that utilizes the billable hour model). By the time I finished my final draft, I had stared at a computer screen for so long and hard, bounced back and forth so much between my paper and Westlaw or LexisNexis, that my eyes literally felt like two golf balls bouncing around inside my skull. The dizzying sensation stayed with me for about three days.
So, it was not a close decision about whether or not I would try to write a second paper in law school (as is required of Law Review members).
But some of the best students here actually enroll in all the paper classes they can. They prefer writing papers to taking final exams. Again, more power to them.
Three final exams remain for me. One exam is scheduled for the day before the graduation ceremony. The chances to distinguish myself and tag my resume with law school accolades have almost entirely come and gone, now. I've had successes and failures, but I've given my maximum effort short of making myself miserable.
I hope I can perform well enough on these last exams to hold the line and always be able to put "graduated with honors" out beside my degree.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Three Directions
I was watching a game on TV one day when Lee Corso, an ESPN college football analyst who played for Florida State said, "Life is about change, and your ability to adapt to it."
In my first semester of law school, I readily made the change to this new environment and to living in my small apartment in Alumni Village. School has always been enjoyable and an easy adjustment for me. But an even bigger change is coming in just a few months- after I graduate and take the bar exam. I am trying to get ready for it. The difficulty is figuring out exactly how I need to change. It can be mentally exhausting. Job openings in this economy are scarce. Interviews are even scarcer. If I get an interview, I need to wow the employer. I need to hit a home run.
My experiences in law school have shown me a few things that I do not want to do. For example, working under the billable hour system is not for me. I will not bother going into details as to why I dislike that system, but unfortunately, this aversion wipes out many avenues of employment. Most law firms utilize the billable hour model.
I've managed to narrow my thinking about the future to three directions, each of which requires a very different mindset. In no particular order of preference, they are:
1) Plaintiff's Civil Litigation Attorney:
I would be good at this.
Much of my focus during law school has been in developing skills as a trial lawyer and a knowledge base in personal injury/wrongful death/workers’ compensation practice.
Personal injury, workers’ comp and wrongful death became primary choices for practice in large part due to my experience as a law clerk with Parks & Crump, LLC in Tallahassee. It is much more satisfying to see the face of the client I represent, to know them as a person, and to fight and win a personal victory for them. I would not be happy working for the other side, billing hours day after day to a faceless client, helping (in the words of Mr. Crump) Goliath defeat David.
In order to succeed in this field, though, I need to take on more "walking around stress" than I have as a student. To be a good advocate, I have to be willing to go into fights for my clients on a daily basis. My clients' cases will always be one of if not the single most important thing in their lives at that given time. My clients will put a lot of hope in me. The partners of the firm, my fellow attorneys, the paralegals, will all have expectations of me. Their livelihood will depend on how I perform. To take on this kind of responsibility and high stakes gamesmanship will require disciplined thinking on my part. I will have to become a somewhat different person than I am now.
To succeed in job interviews for a plaintiff's civil litigation attorney, I need to already be thinking like this. I need to get ready.
2) Criminal Defense Attorney/ Public Defender
I would be good at this.
Back on September 10, 2010, I wrote a blog entry about my pro bono work with the Leon County Public Defender. It was an enjoyable experience.
In order to be a successful criminal defense attorney in private practice, you almost have to put in your time with a Public Defender's Office or State Attorney's Office. Many people make careers there, particularly in the Public Defender's Office. The "walking around stress" would be cut down some, as the state will take care of my salary and the livelihoods of my support staff. Criminal law is more fun than the civil side, too. On the other hand, I would be in court a lot more. Parks & Crump typically goes to trial only about twice per year. As a public defender, though, I will have the daily stress of almost literally holding a person's life in my hands. The words I say to a jury, how I act in front of them and the judge, will decide if my client (guilty or innocent) goes free, goes to prison, or perhaps goes to the lethal injection table. To get ready for this job, I need more independent study of criminal law and procedure. Most of my electives in law school have been to help me prepare as a civil litigator. I never took Criminal Procedure-Adjudication ("From Bail to Jail"); I never took Dean Logan's legendary Criminal Procedure-Police class ("Cops and Robbers"). I also skipped the criminal pre-trial drafting courses that many students interested in this area of law took. Still, I have all the confidence I need to be successful here. More than any other area of law, I think I could quickly become competent here.
But to succeed in these job interviews, I need to already be thinking like a criminal defense attorney. I need to get ready.
3) Sales in the legal field.
I would be good at this.
There is a possible option to not practice law altogether and instead go into a sales career, either with the bar prep company which I now work for as a student, or with the publishing and internet research giants used by law schools and law firms- Wolters Kluwer, LexisNexis or Westlaw.
I already possess many of the fundamental skills necessary for success in sales, though it did not come naturally. By nature, I am an introvert, but my experience in auto sales before coming to law school opened up a new world and a new way of thinking to me. After a few months practice, I finally began to instinctively see a situation and think, "Now what would the good salesman do?"
The mindset needed to be successful in sales is what I already have to a large extent, but it is a 180 degree turn from what I need to be a successful trial lawyer. In sales, it is not good practice to dislike anyone. Anyone. But for a trial lawyer, there are different rules.
For example, earlier this semester, I had to prepare for a Mock Trial tournament. Our case was a criminal one, a murder trial. I was the prosecutor, and my chief assignments were to tear up the defendant (an accused throat slasher) on cross examination and then tear him up again in my closing argument before the jury.
In getting my mind ready, in drafting my cross examination questions and in practicing how I would say them, I was aware that it was affecting my job as a sales rep for my bar prep company. I was not as friendly to people. I did not bother studying them as much to pay attention to their likes and dislikes. I also was surprised when I began forgetting some students' names. In sales, I learned tricks to remember peoples' names. But in getting ready for this trial, the tricks faded in my mind, and so did the names. I was thinking instead about how to get the jury angry with the defendant, about how to make the jury feel moral revulsion over what he had done.
Now that the Mock Trial tournament is over, I am good to go for sales interviews again. But if I start to get ready for other types of interviews, criminal law or civil litigation, I will lose this edge...
All right, that's enough complaining. I am graduating from a top 50 law school in two months. I am in much better shape than most people.
It would just be less tiring to know exactly how I should be training my mind right now. As it is, I worry about being mediocre or indecisive in interviews. But we'll see where I land.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
In my first semester of law school, I readily made the change to this new environment and to living in my small apartment in Alumni Village. School has always been enjoyable and an easy adjustment for me. But an even bigger change is coming in just a few months- after I graduate and take the bar exam. I am trying to get ready for it. The difficulty is figuring out exactly how I need to change. It can be mentally exhausting. Job openings in this economy are scarce. Interviews are even scarcer. If I get an interview, I need to wow the employer. I need to hit a home run.
My experiences in law school have shown me a few things that I do not want to do. For example, working under the billable hour system is not for me. I will not bother going into details as to why I dislike that system, but unfortunately, this aversion wipes out many avenues of employment. Most law firms utilize the billable hour model.
I've managed to narrow my thinking about the future to three directions, each of which requires a very different mindset. In no particular order of preference, they are:
1) Plaintiff's Civil Litigation Attorney:
I would be good at this.
Much of my focus during law school has been in developing skills as a trial lawyer and a knowledge base in personal injury/wrongful death/workers’ compensation practice.
Personal injury, workers’ comp and wrongful death became primary choices for practice in large part due to my experience as a law clerk with Parks & Crump, LLC in Tallahassee. It is much more satisfying to see the face of the client I represent, to know them as a person, and to fight and win a personal victory for them. I would not be happy working for the other side, billing hours day after day to a faceless client, helping (in the words of Mr. Crump) Goliath defeat David.
In order to succeed in this field, though, I need to take on more "walking around stress" than I have as a student. To be a good advocate, I have to be willing to go into fights for my clients on a daily basis. My clients' cases will always be one of if not the single most important thing in their lives at that given time. My clients will put a lot of hope in me. The partners of the firm, my fellow attorneys, the paralegals, will all have expectations of me. Their livelihood will depend on how I perform. To take on this kind of responsibility and high stakes gamesmanship will require disciplined thinking on my part. I will have to become a somewhat different person than I am now.
To succeed in job interviews for a plaintiff's civil litigation attorney, I need to already be thinking like this. I need to get ready.
2) Criminal Defense Attorney/ Public Defender
I would be good at this.
Back on September 10, 2010, I wrote a blog entry about my pro bono work with the Leon County Public Defender. It was an enjoyable experience.
In order to be a successful criminal defense attorney in private practice, you almost have to put in your time with a Public Defender's Office or State Attorney's Office. Many people make careers there, particularly in the Public Defender's Office. The "walking around stress" would be cut down some, as the state will take care of my salary and the livelihoods of my support staff. Criminal law is more fun than the civil side, too. On the other hand, I would be in court a lot more. Parks & Crump typically goes to trial only about twice per year. As a public defender, though, I will have the daily stress of almost literally holding a person's life in my hands. The words I say to a jury, how I act in front of them and the judge, will decide if my client (guilty or innocent) goes free, goes to prison, or perhaps goes to the lethal injection table. To get ready for this job, I need more independent study of criminal law and procedure. Most of my electives in law school have been to help me prepare as a civil litigator. I never took Criminal Procedure-Adjudication ("From Bail to Jail"); I never took Dean Logan's legendary Criminal Procedure-Police class ("Cops and Robbers"). I also skipped the criminal pre-trial drafting courses that many students interested in this area of law took. Still, I have all the confidence I need to be successful here. More than any other area of law, I think I could quickly become competent here.
But to succeed in these job interviews, I need to already be thinking like a criminal defense attorney. I need to get ready.
3) Sales in the legal field.
I would be good at this.
There is a possible option to not practice law altogether and instead go into a sales career, either with the bar prep company which I now work for as a student, or with the publishing and internet research giants used by law schools and law firms- Wolters Kluwer, LexisNexis or Westlaw.
I already possess many of the fundamental skills necessary for success in sales, though it did not come naturally. By nature, I am an introvert, but my experience in auto sales before coming to law school opened up a new world and a new way of thinking to me. After a few months practice, I finally began to instinctively see a situation and think, "Now what would the good salesman do?"
The mindset needed to be successful in sales is what I already have to a large extent, but it is a 180 degree turn from what I need to be a successful trial lawyer. In sales, it is not good practice to dislike anyone. Anyone. But for a trial lawyer, there are different rules.
For example, earlier this semester, I had to prepare for a Mock Trial tournament. Our case was a criminal one, a murder trial. I was the prosecutor, and my chief assignments were to tear up the defendant (an accused throat slasher) on cross examination and then tear him up again in my closing argument before the jury.
In getting my mind ready, in drafting my cross examination questions and in practicing how I would say them, I was aware that it was affecting my job as a sales rep for my bar prep company. I was not as friendly to people. I did not bother studying them as much to pay attention to their likes and dislikes. I also was surprised when I began forgetting some students' names. In sales, I learned tricks to remember peoples' names. But in getting ready for this trial, the tricks faded in my mind, and so did the names. I was thinking instead about how to get the jury angry with the defendant, about how to make the jury feel moral revulsion over what he had done.
Now that the Mock Trial tournament is over, I am good to go for sales interviews again. But if I start to get ready for other types of interviews, criminal law or civil litigation, I will lose this edge...
All right, that's enough complaining. I am graduating from a top 50 law school in two months. I am in much better shape than most people.
It would just be less tiring to know exactly how I should be training my mind right now. As it is, I worry about being mediocre or indecisive in interviews. But we'll see where I land.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Friday, February 25, 2011
Birmingham and Mock Trial
Today in Tallahassee, I found pollen on my car for the first time this year. I also turned on the air conditioner in my car for the first time since September or October. During my drive to school, I saw a dogwood tree in full bloom. I am glad that the cold weather is fading away...
And last weekend, I had the privilege of competing in my final Mock Trial tournament. I was part of a team that Florida State Law sent to the Texas Young Lawyer's Association (TYLA) regional competition. This tournament is one of if not the most popular Mock Trial tournaments in the country. It is a national event, with many of the law schools in the country sending a team to their respective regional contest. Our region includes Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. The regional winners go on to Houston in April for the finals.
The Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham served as this year's regional host. The city has a beautiful courthouse where all the teams competed. My team did fairly well. We beat Barry University, the University of Miami, and lost a close contest to the University of Alabama. Our 2-1 record wasn't quite good enough to reach the semifinals, so we were done with the competition on Saturday night.
This gave us the opportunity to see a little of the city. During our trip, we stayed at the Sheraton in downtown Birmingham. On Saturday night, Kid Rock performed right across the street. To my surprise, he has quite a following. Kid Rock groupies filled up the rooms of the hotel, and well before the concert began my hall was littered with beer bottles and empty cigarette boxes. I enjoyed mingling with the fans before I hit the town Saturday night. I was used to their thick southern accents, but to hear guys speaking the southern working class dialect while wearing all black and eyeliner was a bit unique.
When we left the hotel, my teammates and I took a cab to a section of town called "The Five Points." This area had a good feel to it. We discovered a cool little place called The Blue Monkey Lounge tucked at the end of a cobblestone street. My teammates' company, the atmosphere, the music, the drinks, and the women there were fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and all of us, I think, appreciated blowing off some steam. If I am ever in Birmingham again, "The Five Points" is a place to which I would return. Here is a link to the Blue Monkey Lounge website: http://bluemonkeylounge.com/
As far as the competition itself, my only regret is that I did not get a chance to go in more trials. Each time I compete, I feel myself getting stronger, getting better. I was conscious of how good I felt once the trial got going. Sure, I was nervous before and during the competition. That will probably always be there, and sometimes the nerves show through a bit. But I was also aware of my confidence. It is not an overstatement to say that for certain flashes during the trial, I felt invincible.
That feeling, that rush, is the best thing the Mock Trial Team has given me. I have learned and continue to learn a lot about how trials work and what I need to do to win. And, foolishly or not, I now believe that I can beat anyone in a courtroom on a given day... Bring in the top trial lawyers in the country. I'll go head to head with them. Bring in anyone with style and presence: President Obama, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise from A Few Good Men, I'll take on whomever walks into the courtroom. This is silly boasting, I know, but it is really a great, rare feeling when this kind of rush hits me before or during a trial.
Anyway, my Mock Trial competition days are over, and I am a little sad about that. I think that if there was a 4L year in law school, I would stop focusing so much on my grades and instead compete in as many tournaments as I could. Once you really start learning what to do, Mock Trial can become addictive.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
And last weekend, I had the privilege of competing in my final Mock Trial tournament. I was part of a team that Florida State Law sent to the Texas Young Lawyer's Association (TYLA) regional competition. This tournament is one of if not the most popular Mock Trial tournaments in the country. It is a national event, with many of the law schools in the country sending a team to their respective regional contest. Our region includes Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. The regional winners go on to Houston in April for the finals.
The Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham served as this year's regional host. The city has a beautiful courthouse where all the teams competed. My team did fairly well. We beat Barry University, the University of Miami, and lost a close contest to the University of Alabama. Our 2-1 record wasn't quite good enough to reach the semifinals, so we were done with the competition on Saturday night.
This gave us the opportunity to see a little of the city. During our trip, we stayed at the Sheraton in downtown Birmingham. On Saturday night, Kid Rock performed right across the street. To my surprise, he has quite a following. Kid Rock groupies filled up the rooms of the hotel, and well before the concert began my hall was littered with beer bottles and empty cigarette boxes. I enjoyed mingling with the fans before I hit the town Saturday night. I was used to their thick southern accents, but to hear guys speaking the southern working class dialect while wearing all black and eyeliner was a bit unique.
When we left the hotel, my teammates and I took a cab to a section of town called "The Five Points." This area had a good feel to it. We discovered a cool little place called The Blue Monkey Lounge tucked at the end of a cobblestone street. My teammates' company, the atmosphere, the music, the drinks, and the women there were fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and all of us, I think, appreciated blowing off some steam. If I am ever in Birmingham again, "The Five Points" is a place to which I would return. Here is a link to the Blue Monkey Lounge website: http://bluemonkeylounge.com/
As far as the competition itself, my only regret is that I did not get a chance to go in more trials. Each time I compete, I feel myself getting stronger, getting better. I was conscious of how good I felt once the trial got going. Sure, I was nervous before and during the competition. That will probably always be there, and sometimes the nerves show through a bit. But I was also aware of my confidence. It is not an overstatement to say that for certain flashes during the trial, I felt invincible.
That feeling, that rush, is the best thing the Mock Trial Team has given me. I have learned and continue to learn a lot about how trials work and what I need to do to win. And, foolishly or not, I now believe that I can beat anyone in a courtroom on a given day... Bring in the top trial lawyers in the country. I'll go head to head with them. Bring in anyone with style and presence: President Obama, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise from A Few Good Men, I'll take on whomever walks into the courtroom. This is silly boasting, I know, but it is really a great, rare feeling when this kind of rush hits me before or during a trial.
Anyway, my Mock Trial competition days are over, and I am a little sad about that. I think that if there was a 4L year in law school, I would stop focusing so much on my grades and instead compete in as many tournaments as I could. Once you really start learning what to do, Mock Trial can become addictive.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Preparing for the Practice of Law
My decision to go to law school was a way to hit the reset button on my life. I was not happy with the direction I was going, and I wanted to learn skills that would make me more valuable in society- a trade that would make me more employable.
Prior to law school, the closest I had come to learning a trade was sales. I had also worked for the Post Office, but this simply involved brute manual labor. Working for the Post Office did nothing to prepare me for any sort of other job.
Sales was a fascinating experience, though. I took a job with a car dealership in Las Vegas. Management put me out on the lot, and the veteran salesmen were amused to watch me crash and burn with one customer after another. It was clear to everyone that I had no idea what I was doing. But I was paid totally on commission, so I was only really hurting my own wallet. Management watched me, though. If I got a qualified buyer in and seemed to be making progress, they would send over one of the three or four "closers" who worked there to make sure the deal got done. One closer, a sharp guy named Rod who was originally from Hawaii, would actually kick me under the table if I said something wrong to a customer.
Sales was a complete fog to me at first, but I eventually began to learn some things through failed experience, watching what the veterans did, and reading a very good book on selling.
I continued to work in auto sales after I made the decision to return to school. Ironically, in the five or six months in between my decision to go back to school and the start of classes, I became pretty good at my job. It was probably due in part to the fact that I was more relaxed. I had made my decision. There was no need to push too hard, as I knew I was leaving soon.
Anyway, management began letting me close my own deals. During one of our weekly sales meetings, a manager had me stand up. He told the group that my progress over the past few months had been tremendous, and he wanted me to share the secret of my success with them. I said that I simply found a part of the deal that I believed in. I got excited about it, and I tried to convey that excitement to the customer...
Now, less than three months from graduation from law school, I find myself trying to learn a new trade again. The practice of law will be far different from law school . Law school gives you some fundamental tools, but school is largely a world unto itself. There are also certain similarities between the practice of law and the art of selling, but there is no doubt that I have to get myself into a new mindset. Here are two of the most stark adjustments I am trying to make:
1) Changing the importance of being a nice guy.
In sales, "Make the customer like you" is a cardinal rule if not the most important rule of all. My sales performance improved once I began thinking of the business as "the science of being liked." You never argue with a customer in sales. You may win the argument, but you will lose the sale.
In law, I am not convinced that being a nice guy is important. Sure, you should always be courteous and polite. But your client is not hiring you to be a nice guy. Your client is hiring you to win their legal argument. Particularly in trial law, I think this holds true. Many of the trial lawyers I am meeting strike me as being confident to the point of arrogance. I do not hold this against them. You almost have to be arrogant and stubborn to be successful. Time and again in law school, I have heard that law is an adversarial system, and I've seen a little of how contentious it can get. If I am always being humble, trying to adhere to the science of being liked, then I am probably not serving my client very well.
In sales, ideally you want the whole process to be so smooth and pleasant for everyone involved that the same customer will come back to you again and again and also send you referrals.
But in trial law, you want to inspire fear- or at least hesitation- in the other side. There are some great lines from the movie, The Verdict, starring Paul Newman. Newman plays Frank Galvin, an attorney representing a woman in a coma due to the medical negligence of a Catholic hospital.
At one one point in the movie, another attorney, Mickey, asks him, "Do you know who the attorney for the Archdiocese is? Eddie Concannon."
Galvin replies, "He's a good man."
Mickey: "He's a good man?! He's the F***ing Prince of Darkness! He'll have people in there testifying that they saw this broad Tuesday on a surfboard in Hyannis!"
...Hopefully, in sales no one ever calls you the F***ing Prince of Darkness.
2) Eye wear.
Repetitive motion jobs take their toll on parts of the body. I observed this in the mail carriers I worked with and the health problems that they experienced.
If you're going to be a lawyer, you might as well resign yourself to the toll all the reading off computer screens is going to take on your eyes. Several people I know have had to get glasses or stronger prescriptions since coming to law school. My own vision has slightly worsened- though not to the point where I need glasses (my dominant performance at table tennis over the Christmas break convinced me that I don't need glasses, yet).
Losing my eyesight has always been a big fear. I always thought that people who wore glasses could not see anything beyond a certain range- that it all literally turned to black after 500 yards or so. As my own vision has suffered some wear, though, I am relieved to learn that vision loss does not quite work that way. I can still perceive color from far away.
One day, I was looking down Jefferson Street at a stoplight. It had to be over 500 yards distant. The light looked like a fuzzy prism and had no clear borders. I thought to myself, "Now, three years ago I would have been able to see the circle of that light clearly. It would not be fuzzy."
But I could still see the change from green to yellow to red.
That's good enough, I guess. As long as I can perceive color and light from as far away as I always have, and as long as I can clearly focus on things close to me, I'll take it.
In sales, this was obviously not a problem. I was outside on the car lot most of the time, and got to stretch my eyes, so to speak, by looking at the mountains on the horizon outside of Vegas. Or I could look up at the huge tower of the Stratosphere casino. Planes also came in for a landing right over our dealership. I could see strange white passenger airliners with no markings on them but a red stripe down each side. Rod, the closer from Hawaii, told me that those planes carried the employees of Area 51 back and forth. They landed at a location called JANET at the airport, which stood for "Just another non-existent terminal." Who knows if Rod was telling me the truth.
There are other changes to my mindset worth noting, but this entry has already taken too much time. I need to get back to studying Complex Civil Litigation.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Prior to law school, the closest I had come to learning a trade was sales. I had also worked for the Post Office, but this simply involved brute manual labor. Working for the Post Office did nothing to prepare me for any sort of other job.
Sales was a fascinating experience, though. I took a job with a car dealership in Las Vegas. Management put me out on the lot, and the veteran salesmen were amused to watch me crash and burn with one customer after another. It was clear to everyone that I had no idea what I was doing. But I was paid totally on commission, so I was only really hurting my own wallet. Management watched me, though. If I got a qualified buyer in and seemed to be making progress, they would send over one of the three or four "closers" who worked there to make sure the deal got done. One closer, a sharp guy named Rod who was originally from Hawaii, would actually kick me under the table if I said something wrong to a customer.
Sales was a complete fog to me at first, but I eventually began to learn some things through failed experience, watching what the veterans did, and reading a very good book on selling.
I continued to work in auto sales after I made the decision to return to school. Ironically, in the five or six months in between my decision to go back to school and the start of classes, I became pretty good at my job. It was probably due in part to the fact that I was more relaxed. I had made my decision. There was no need to push too hard, as I knew I was leaving soon.
Anyway, management began letting me close my own deals. During one of our weekly sales meetings, a manager had me stand up. He told the group that my progress over the past few months had been tremendous, and he wanted me to share the secret of my success with them. I said that I simply found a part of the deal that I believed in. I got excited about it, and I tried to convey that excitement to the customer...
Now, less than three months from graduation from law school, I find myself trying to learn a new trade again. The practice of law will be far different from law school . Law school gives you some fundamental tools, but school is largely a world unto itself. There are also certain similarities between the practice of law and the art of selling, but there is no doubt that I have to get myself into a new mindset. Here are two of the most stark adjustments I am trying to make:
1) Changing the importance of being a nice guy.
In sales, "Make the customer like you" is a cardinal rule if not the most important rule of all. My sales performance improved once I began thinking of the business as "the science of being liked." You never argue with a customer in sales. You may win the argument, but you will lose the sale.
In law, I am not convinced that being a nice guy is important. Sure, you should always be courteous and polite. But your client is not hiring you to be a nice guy. Your client is hiring you to win their legal argument. Particularly in trial law, I think this holds true. Many of the trial lawyers I am meeting strike me as being confident to the point of arrogance. I do not hold this against them. You almost have to be arrogant and stubborn to be successful. Time and again in law school, I have heard that law is an adversarial system, and I've seen a little of how contentious it can get. If I am always being humble, trying to adhere to the science of being liked, then I am probably not serving my client very well.
In sales, ideally you want the whole process to be so smooth and pleasant for everyone involved that the same customer will come back to you again and again and also send you referrals.
But in trial law, you want to inspire fear- or at least hesitation- in the other side. There are some great lines from the movie, The Verdict, starring Paul Newman. Newman plays Frank Galvin, an attorney representing a woman in a coma due to the medical negligence of a Catholic hospital.
At one one point in the movie, another attorney, Mickey, asks him, "Do you know who the attorney for the Archdiocese is? Eddie Concannon."
Galvin replies, "He's a good man."
Mickey: "He's a good man?! He's the F***ing Prince of Darkness! He'll have people in there testifying that they saw this broad Tuesday on a surfboard in Hyannis!"
...Hopefully, in sales no one ever calls you the F***ing Prince of Darkness.
2) Eye wear.
Repetitive motion jobs take their toll on parts of the body. I observed this in the mail carriers I worked with and the health problems that they experienced.
If you're going to be a lawyer, you might as well resign yourself to the toll all the reading off computer screens is going to take on your eyes. Several people I know have had to get glasses or stronger prescriptions since coming to law school. My own vision has slightly worsened- though not to the point where I need glasses (my dominant performance at table tennis over the Christmas break convinced me that I don't need glasses, yet).
Losing my eyesight has always been a big fear. I always thought that people who wore glasses could not see anything beyond a certain range- that it all literally turned to black after 500 yards or so. As my own vision has suffered some wear, though, I am relieved to learn that vision loss does not quite work that way. I can still perceive color from far away.
One day, I was looking down Jefferson Street at a stoplight. It had to be over 500 yards distant. The light looked like a fuzzy prism and had no clear borders. I thought to myself, "Now, three years ago I would have been able to see the circle of that light clearly. It would not be fuzzy."
But I could still see the change from green to yellow to red.
That's good enough, I guess. As long as I can perceive color and light from as far away as I always have, and as long as I can clearly focus on things close to me, I'll take it.
In sales, this was obviously not a problem. I was outside on the car lot most of the time, and got to stretch my eyes, so to speak, by looking at the mountains on the horizon outside of Vegas. Or I could look up at the huge tower of the Stratosphere casino. Planes also came in for a landing right over our dealership. I could see strange white passenger airliners with no markings on them but a red stripe down each side. Rod, the closer from Hawaii, told me that those planes carried the employees of Area 51 back and forth. They landed at a location called JANET at the airport, which stood for "Just another non-existent terminal." Who knows if Rod was telling me the truth.
There are other changes to my mindset worth noting, but this entry has already taken too much time. I need to get back to studying Complex Civil Litigation.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
3L Stress
Beginning last semester, and increasing this semester, I sense a new kind of stress among some of my fellow students graduating with me in May. The tension is completely related, I believe, to the pressure of finding a job.
Florida State Law has an outstanding career placement record- perhaps better than any of the other ten law schools in this state. We will all land jobs eventually. But the current condition of the economy has hit almost every occupational area hard. The legal field is no exception. Fewer of the big law firms are hiring. It is harder than in years past, I think.
I am feeling the stress a little myself- not so much because I'm worried about finding a job. There is always room for a good lawyer, and I have the tools to become a great trial lawyer. Even if it is September before I get a job, one is coming. The stress, for me, arises from not knowing exactly what the next chapter is, along with hoping I do not rush into a situation where I will be unhappy- while at the same time making sure that I do not pass up a golden opportunity. Also, there is the peer pressure. Many of my friends are in the top 10% of the class. Most of these students do in fact already have jobs lined up. When they ask me where I am going and what I have lined up, I have to say, "I do not know, yet."
Last semester, these same top students were probably feeling a stress similar to what I am feeling now. Last semester, they were applying for judicial clerkships. A judicial clerkship is a prestigious position in which a person works for a specific judge. The judicial clerk reviews pleadings and other documents submitted to the judge for the accuracy of the legal arguments. Clerks also help judges with research and in drafting opinions. In short, clerks work side by side with the judge and do much of the heavy lifting.
For federal judicial clerkships, the top students from the best law schools submit their application materials via OSCAR (The Online System for Clerkship Application and Review). The judges then cherry pick whom they want to interview and hire. One of the best things a new lawyer can have on his or her resume is a federal clerkship. The clerkships typically last one or two years. Large law firms will be more than happy to hire a student fresh out of law school, and then hold the job for that student while he or she works as a judicial clerk for a couple of years.
Last semester, when the window on the OSCAR system opened for applications, I remember a friend posting as her Facebook status, "Let the rejections begin!" Another student commented, "Let the anxiety begin!" Both of these students received well deserved clerkships and will be working for federal judges after graduation. The FSU students who were not selected still have a wealth of options available.
Even if I had the top grades to get a foot in the door with OSCAR, I am not sure that is a job I would enjoy or one in which I would excel. You have to be tremendous at research and legal writing (and legal writing is a completely different animal from writing a blog, believe me). You must have the ability to become competent in different areas of the law in a short amount of time. Much of what we learn in law school is so complicated and related to logical reasoning that I compare it to math proofs or algebraic equations. Working as a judicial clerk, for me, would be like having to sit in a room and quickly solve proofs and equations, one right after the other, all day, every day. Judicial clerks finish their tenure with a wealth of great legal experience, especially in dealing with the arguments on paper.
I would not want to have to go up against a former federal judicial clerk in an appellate brief writing contest.
But standing in front of a six or twelve person jury at a trial- that is a different story. I am more comfortable there, and I have a lot more confidence in my ability to win. Using the law and facts to persuade a jury is much more up my alley than analyzing all sides of the legal arguments for a judge.
Anyway, we will see what happens. I think the immediate future is largely unknown for most students in my class at FSU Law. It is not unnatural for us all to feel some anxiety about that.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Florida State Law has an outstanding career placement record- perhaps better than any of the other ten law schools in this state. We will all land jobs eventually. But the current condition of the economy has hit almost every occupational area hard. The legal field is no exception. Fewer of the big law firms are hiring. It is harder than in years past, I think.
I am feeling the stress a little myself- not so much because I'm worried about finding a job. There is always room for a good lawyer, and I have the tools to become a great trial lawyer. Even if it is September before I get a job, one is coming. The stress, for me, arises from not knowing exactly what the next chapter is, along with hoping I do not rush into a situation where I will be unhappy- while at the same time making sure that I do not pass up a golden opportunity. Also, there is the peer pressure. Many of my friends are in the top 10% of the class. Most of these students do in fact already have jobs lined up. When they ask me where I am going and what I have lined up, I have to say, "I do not know, yet."
Last semester, these same top students were probably feeling a stress similar to what I am feeling now. Last semester, they were applying for judicial clerkships. A judicial clerkship is a prestigious position in which a person works for a specific judge. The judicial clerk reviews pleadings and other documents submitted to the judge for the accuracy of the legal arguments. Clerks also help judges with research and in drafting opinions. In short, clerks work side by side with the judge and do much of the heavy lifting.
For federal judicial clerkships, the top students from the best law schools submit their application materials via OSCAR (The Online System for Clerkship Application and Review). The judges then cherry pick whom they want to interview and hire. One of the best things a new lawyer can have on his or her resume is a federal clerkship. The clerkships typically last one or two years. Large law firms will be more than happy to hire a student fresh out of law school, and then hold the job for that student while he or she works as a judicial clerk for a couple of years.
Last semester, when the window on the OSCAR system opened for applications, I remember a friend posting as her Facebook status, "Let the rejections begin!" Another student commented, "Let the anxiety begin!" Both of these students received well deserved clerkships and will be working for federal judges after graduation. The FSU students who were not selected still have a wealth of options available.
Even if I had the top grades to get a foot in the door with OSCAR, I am not sure that is a job I would enjoy or one in which I would excel. You have to be tremendous at research and legal writing (and legal writing is a completely different animal from writing a blog, believe me). You must have the ability to become competent in different areas of the law in a short amount of time. Much of what we learn in law school is so complicated and related to logical reasoning that I compare it to math proofs or algebraic equations. Working as a judicial clerk, for me, would be like having to sit in a room and quickly solve proofs and equations, one right after the other, all day, every day. Judicial clerks finish their tenure with a wealth of great legal experience, especially in dealing with the arguments on paper.
I would not want to have to go up against a former federal judicial clerk in an appellate brief writing contest.
But standing in front of a six or twelve person jury at a trial- that is a different story. I am more comfortable there, and I have a lot more confidence in my ability to win. Using the law and facts to persuade a jury is much more up my alley than analyzing all sides of the legal arguments for a judge.
Anyway, we will see what happens. I think the immediate future is largely unknown for most students in my class at FSU Law. It is not unnatural for us all to feel some anxiety about that.
Until Next Time,
Nathan Marshburn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)