[blindlaw] Prelaw Literature

Tue Apr 24 23:47:32 CDT 2007

    Sorry, I should have clarified that I grew to understand your point 
completely as a result of having taken those courses.  All three courses 
individually took up an enormous chunk of my time.  I found it frustrating 
that I could not use the Internet as I had grown accustomed to doing and 
that much of my time actually had to be spent in the library scanning items 
from digests, dictionaries  and case books.  My legal theories course 
especially made me curse the law, and I occasionally found myself asking my 
hardass professor if law school was really all that serious.  She laughed in 
my face and said it was worse and said I deserved what I was getting for 
taking the course as a means to prepare for law school and not as a means to 
appreciate the content.  The issue spotters were the authors of my worse 
headaches those two semesters, and so these days I just assume read general 
law school experiences from others and let law school teach law when the 
time arrives.  I've had my small taste of it, and I have no real desire to 
speed up the inevitable.  Thanks to current and former students for 
reminding me that even though the law is blind, it still manages to find a 
way to kick you in the rear.

          Joe Orozco

"Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells 
you to do, and what nerves let you do."--Bruce Crampton

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rod Alcidonis " <roddj12 at hotmail.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 12:00 AM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Prelaw Literature


> Joe, I felt just like you and Tie when I was starting. I wanted to read
> anything and everything about the law, however, within a few weeks I 
> quickly
> realized that it was somewhat an unnecessary venture on my part. As I said
> before, what will help you in Law School is to read anything that will set
> you apart from your peers, such as the ability to read lengthy passages in 
> a
> relatively short time, etc. I know you want to face the devil, but you 
> will
> never get to face the devil until you actually start your first class. The
> devil will be different depending on who your professor is, and which 
> school
> you are attending.
>
>     As another lister mentioned, first year courses do not really teach 
> you
> the substantive law you are thinking about. Rather, most of the law you 
> will
> learn will be from discussing unsettled case law to extract legal rules 
> and
> learn how to think like a lawyer the way your professor wants you to. And
> really, this means that by the time the year is over, the law might change 
> a
> number of times through judicial opinions. In short, any substantive law 
> you
> might try to learn now would be totally out of context because you will 
> not
> know what you should be looking for, legally speaking.
>
> I know it's frustrating hearing this, and I felt the same way when I was
> getting advice for law school. However, take my word for it, it is not
> necessary. For now, the types of reading you are doing are typical for
> pre-law students, and for the most part, they are very helpful. But, get 
> use
> to poor writing, friend, because numerous court opinions will trigger your
> frustration in a blank of the eye.
>
> Rod Alcidonis
> Juris Doctor Candidate, 2009.
> Roger Williams University School of Law
> 10 Metacom Ave., Box: 9003
> Bristol, RI 02809
> Home: (401) 824-8685
> Cell: (718) 704-4651
> E-mail: roddj12 at hotmail.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Joe Orozco
> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 7:54 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
> Subject: [blindlaw] Prelaw Literature
>
>    I read One L and The Paper Chase.  The Paper Chase was a waste of time,
> poor writing and no substantive advice, but One L was insightful.  I took
> two different constitutional law courses and a legal theories course in my
> undergrad, and while I found the courses intriguing, I now look back on it
> and wish I'd taken the international-based courses that would have piqued 
> my
>
> curiosity.  I figure law school will teach me law when I get there, but 
> like
>
> Tai, I like to familiarize myself with the devil I will be confronting. 
> Any
>
> other advice on prospective law students is always appreciated.
>
>          Joe Orozco
>
> "Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells
> you to do, and what nerves let you do."--Bruce Crampton
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Carrie Ann Lucas" <clucas at disabilitypride.com>
> To: "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 7:37 PM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] bulk scanners
>
>
>>I agree with Rob.  Substantive study is probably not that useful for law
>> school success, unless you are doing some sort of law school preparation
>> program that is teaching you how to study and read for law school.  Most
>> first year law school classes have very little to do with the practice of
>> law, and have more to do with teaching you to think and study the way 
>> your
>> school wants to do. My opinion I that the best thing you can do to 
>> prepare
>> you for lawyering (assuming you want to practice law after law school) is
>> to
>> get as much legal experience as possible.  Find somewhere to volunteer 
>> and
>> jump in, be it helping with intakes at a local women's shelter, or
>> answering
>> phones for a busy firm.  Whatever you can do to gain experience, network,
>> and learn more about how you will manage accommodations for yourself is
>> far
>> more valuable than any reading you do for core classes.
>>
>> Carrie Ann Lucas
>> Attorney/Equal Justice Works Fellow
>> Center for Rights of Parents with Disabilities Colorado Cross-Disability
>> Coalition
>> 655 Broadway, Suite 775
>> Denver, CO 80203
>> 303.839.1775 (voice
>> 303.839.0015 (TTY and CapTel)
>> 303.839.1782 (facsimile)
>> 800.817.1435 (voice)
>> 877.267.1621(TTY and CapTel)
>> www.ccdconline.org
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> Tie, I would respectfully disagree with Tim on this point. I do not
>> believe
>> that at this time you need to be worried about reading prep materials in
>> order to get ahead for when you actually start law school. Each 
>> professor,
>> each school has its own take on the substantive law, and they will teach
>> you
>> when you arrive at Law School. More importantly, the materials will not
>> make
>> much sense to you anyway in a legal sense because you won't know what to
>> look for when reading and how to put it all together. The best I can
>> advise
>> if you want to get ahead, however, would be to read about the U.S court
>> systems, the Supreme Court, government, philosophy texts, etc. Knowing
>> these
>> types of information will certainly place you a head of your peers, in my
>> opinion.
>>
>> I would definitely stay away from reading substantive Law, unless this is
>> what drives your interest for leisure readings. One thing I did that was
>> helpful before I started Law School was reading Latin legal 
>> terminologies,
>> and it saved me a lot of time from having to consult a legal dictionary
>> every time I encountered a term in a reading.
>>
>> Another thing you can do that will help you would be to start getting use
>> to
>> reading very dense, lengthy texts with attention to details because 
>> that's
>> exactly what you will be doing when you are actually in Law School.
>>
>> Take care.
>>
>> Rod Alcidonis
>> Juris Doctor Candidate, 2009.
>>
>>
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