The Importance of Knowledge

Right now I'm in a suit, waiting to resume practicing for the final round of Mock Trial. 88 people initially signed up for the tryouts. They cut us down to 32 last night. I've made the last 32, but we have one more cut to go after tonight. They'll slice us in half again, and the remaining people will be the new Mock Trial class.

I got kicked out of the courtroom where I was practicing for a while so that they could set it up for the competition tonight. We'll see what happens.

As I become further immersed in law school, I'm beginning to understand my role as a lawyer a bit more.

We are facilitators, plain and simple. Life is hard and often messy. A good lawyer can help people out when things don't go the way they are supposed to. Lawyers learn the rules of government and the rules of how members of a civilized society should interact with each other. When a rough patch arises, a good lawyer can show you a few tricks to make things work out in your favor a little better. In our roles as facilitators, it is especially important for us to be civil and courteous our own selves. We will have to set the example and run the negotiation between two disagreeing parties.

The importance of this knowledge was brought home to me earlier this week. On Tuesday, I awoke to find that my apartment was beginning to flood. I quickly ascertained that the water heater had sprung a leak. I called maintenance, and they replaced the water heater that same day.

On Wednesday, however, the water heater stopped working.

I was forced to take a couple of cold showers before the maintenance office opened again. I was also obligated to apologize to my neighbor for the yelps, shouts and bad words that I let fly when I dived under the freezing needles of water on a cold Thursday morning.

She responded by saying, "Yeah, I was wondering what was going on with you."

When I called maintenance, they told me to just flip the circuit breaker off and on. I did this, and the problem was solved.

There are things that I am learning in law school that will solve problems for people just as easily as the hot water problem was solved for me.

I'm trying my best to pay attention in my classes and take it all in.

Until Next Time,

Nathan Marshburn