Legally Brunette

I think the stress of the past year is finally starting to catch up with me. I was doing my LSAT prep last night, working through a particularly difficult problem, and rubbing the small of my back. It felt… bumpy.

My entire torso is dotted with some sort of hives. I haven’t switched to a new laundry detergent, soap, or moisturizer… so the only thing I can figure it is, is some sort of stress-related reaction.

So last night was declared clean sheet night (just in case that was the trigger) and I lay in my clean bed, feeling like I had a million tiny bugs crawling all over me. Fun, huh?  Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well last night.  I bought benadryl and oatmeal bath on the way home tonight - the benadryl has been taken, and the bath shall be taken after dinner.

In good news, I did get an A in my accounting class. So I’ve kept up my 4.0! Granted, it’s a 4.0 at a really crappy community college, but still…

In other news, I am a copy machine and mail merge goddess. As stated earlier, OddFellow took on a bunch of collections accounts about a month ago, and we’re finally getting our processes in place to get them started. I’ve learned more about the individual county property tax websites than I ever thought I’d need to know. Last Wednesday I wrote the complaint, merged in all the data, and prepped the packets. Today I was a copying fool - three copies to send out to the clerk of court, one for our files, and one for the collection agent so they feel like they earned something for the filing fees they advanced us. Although theoretically it should have been easy to copy everything, most of the state forms are double sided… and our copy machine dosen’t do double sides automatically. But it DOES collate, so the complaints and affadavits could all be run through all at once.

Packets are all put in their envelopes with SASE’s. All OddFellow has to do is sign the cover letters tomorrow, write the checks for the filing fees, sign the letters and bring them all to the post office. If they aren’t in the mail when I get there on Wednesday, I shall cheerfully throttle him. I think I would be justified since I stayed there until 7:15pm to get it all done.

Home is good. Now I need to try to tackle more LSAT prep, and try not to scratch my skin raw.

It’s official - I take the LSAT on 9/30/06. That stupid test costs $120. To add insult to injury, I had to spend an additional $100 on the LSDAS, which is the offical collection house for all your test scores/transcripts/letters of reccomendation. When you apply to a law school, they send out a handy little packet to the school with all your information in it. I guess it’s kinda handy, but, dude… I really didn’t need to be spending $220 right now.

But, that said, it’s all taken care of. Now I just need to get this LSAT taken care of. I hate standardized tests.

I also got the majority of my registration taken care of, as well. Unfortunately, the online version of Wills/Estates is completely full, but the department head is going to call me if a space opens up. In the meantime I’m registered for the online Real Property and Criminal Law/Procedure, and the T/TH evening session of Wills/Estates. Added happy bonus - Real Prop and Criminal Law are both 2nd mini-mester classes, so they don’t start until mid-October. So between now (classes are pretty much over) and then, I only have one class and can focus all my school energy on the LSAT and applications.

Exciting, eh?

I am still 100% raving pissed that my online Wills/Estates got mucked up. Grrr.

You suck.

No, seriously, you totally suck ass.

I emailed my advisor *two weeks* ago, requesting my PIN number so I could register for my classes. No response, so I emailed him again a week ago. No response.

Well, yeah, one of the classes I wanted to take is now full - at least the online session. The in-class sessions are still open, but the online sessions are full. If he had sent me my freaking PIN when I requested it, this would not be an issue. As it stands, it IS an issue.

Yes, I should have followed up and just gone directly to my department head. Yes, I should have been more proactive. But DUDE, you need to learn to answer your freaking email - especially since you tell us that it is the best way to get in touch with you.

As a side note, he STILL hasn’t sent me the information that I need for the online session of Criminal Procedure. Bastard.

I’ll be calling the program head tomorrow to see if I can be put on a waiting list for the online session. I’m on very good terms with her, so hopefully we’ll be able to work something out. If not, I’ll be calling into TechLine at 9am when open registration opens to see if there is a spot.

In the meantime, I’ll be registering for the other two online classes, and will just have to register for the in-class session for Wills/Estates/Trusts. I guess the one good thing that may come from this - the local SCA folk might actually see me once in a while, since the in-class session is Tu/Th from 5:15p-6:55p, and school is only a few exits down from our local SCA meetings, which means I could be there by 7:30.

I’m still TOTALLY freaking pissed that this happened, though. If it had been criminal procedure, I probally wouldn’t even worry about it - but wills/trusts/estates is something that I am actually working on with OddFellow, and learning more about it is going to help me out there. It’s actually going to be *useful*.

*grrrr*

Since I’ve started taking steps to becoming a lawyer, so many people have attempted to talk me out of actually doing it.

I sent an email to one of the instructors in my paralegal program about registering for next semester, and mentioned that I was doing LSAT prep and hinted that I might be hitting him up for a letter of reccomendation. He replies:

And I’d be delighted to recommend you for law school but you should really get the most impressive people you know to write your recommendations; an instructor at a community college is small potatoes for the guys at law school and could be actually detrimental (”She’s just a paralegal who wants to be a lawyer.”). Keep me posted, and take care. (Can I talk you out of law school–seriously?)

*snort* He sorely overestimates the type of people I run into in the my current career path. I seriously don’t know anyone that a law school would deem ‘impressive’. Most of my friends and colleages are artists, actors and fire jugglers, with the occasional oddball musician thrown in for good measure. I’ve been self-employed for 5 years, so the only professional reccomendation I’m going to get is from OddFellow, who is interning me.

But the way I see it, it’s all about how you spin it. It’s not that I’m just a paralegal who wants to be a lawyer - I’m a successful small businesswoman who is broadening her horizions by implementing a positive career change. My classes at the local Smallville Tech have been research to ensure that I will both enjoy and thrive in my new chosen career path.

You see, since I was a little girl I wanted to be an archaeologist. My bachelor’s degree is actually in anthropology with a focus in physical anthropology and archaeology. When I was working on that degree, I was so excited to be there - to be learning the theory and the history, and to be stretching my mind and beginning to apply the groundwork that I had learned. After I graduated, I made some stupid mistakes and choices, and now anthopology is pretty much a closed book for me - I’d have to refocus my life and priorites, and I’m not willing to do that now.

I get the same rush, though, working in the law office. I love the research, I love finding the cases that will support our client, I love the artistry of writing a beautifully simple, logical complaint or brief. I love that it’s this weird combination of solid, codified laws and a stunning intricate system of caselaw underneath it. I love that it’s an opportunity to truly help people. Added bonus - you’re not working out in the hot sun all day long and the only blisters I get are when I wear unsensible shoes.

So, no, you can’t talk me out of law school. But any support, guidance, and wisdom would be most appreciated.

But it’s nice to know that I’m famous, at least in the women’s health world.

Women’s Health News  quoted me in their post about the Victoria’s Secret breastfeeding protest, saying:

Legally Brunette says, “I hate that *these* women claim the label of feminist - it makes the rest of us look whiney,” and thinks women who want to breastfeed in public are acting out of a sense of entitlement, being a “pain in the ass,” and that women should only be able to breastfeed in public in other places where eating occurs. Ouch. Commenters are trying to set her straight.

Wow.  Nice to take my post totally out of context.  Welcome to the wild and wacky world of blogging, Legally Brunette.

Nothing really new to report.  We headed out of town over the 4th of July holiday for a family wedding in the Deep South, which was hot, humid, but overall rather lovely.  Cute touch - instead of throwing rice or blowing bubbles as the couple headed out, we all had sparklers.

In *really great* news. the three courses I’m taking for fall semester are all offered as online courses.  When I started my paralegal’s program just over a year ago, I chose this particular school because they stated that we could take the majority of our courses online.  Between work, keeping up with the house, and trying (in vain) to have a social life,  I figured this was a good option.  Soon after, though, the school cut back on it’s online courses, and I have been forced to make the 45 minute drive there and back twice a week for the past two semesters.  This did NOT make me a happy
Brunette.

So, next semester: Real Property, Wills & Estates, and Criminal Law/Procedure.  I’m especially looking forward to Wills/Estates, since that’s an area of law that I can actually see myself getting into in the future.

A few folks have asked me why I’m continuing with the paralegal program now that I’m planning on going to law school.  Well, from talking with some new attorneys, I’ve come to the rapid conclusion that, at least in our area, the law schools do a wonderful job at teaching theory, logic, and reason.  These attorneys are wonderfully adept at reasoning out the finer points of the law.

Doing a title search at the courthouse using the mid-80’s in-house computer terminals we have access to?  Not so much.

Paralegal school, for me, has become both a way to prep for law school and a way to get some good, basic skills that they don’t seem to teach you there.  Title searches, forms to use, etc.  That, and it keeps me on my toes and is giving my brain a much-needed workout.  I finished college in 1998, and my brain has turned to mush since then.

Ah well - time for breakfast, coffee, and brain-mush-inducing work.

Later.

My accounting teacher is a man who does not waste words.

He emailed us our take-home exam grades tonight. (I got 100 - yay!) Since he has 30 of us, he told us that he'd just be sending us our name and our grade.

Being the polite monkey I am, I sent him a very concise "Thank you!". Really, that was it. It didn't require a reply. But I got one:

"Yup."

 For some reason, this amuses me.  Maybe I'm a little punchy… it's been a long, long week. 

Damnit.

I left my power cord at home.  Which means my battery is going to run out in about 40 mintues, which means that I'm actually going to have to pay attention in Accounting.

*sigh*

The paralegal program that I am attending offers many of it's classes online - which is the primary reason why I went with this particular program. Both schools offering paralegal courses are a fair drive from my house, so any sort of gas-and-time-saving measure is, as Martha says, a Good Thing.

For those who have never taken an online class, they are truly an exercise in patience. I find that the best way to tackle online classes is at 2am, with your choice of stiff drink at the ready. Honestly, that really is the only way I've kept my sanity throughout this process.

Yes, there are some wonderfully articulate, intelligent folks in these classes. Unfortunately, these people are in the definite minority. The rest of the class tends to be composed of people who either A) don't know how to use spellcheck, or B) don't know how to think in an even semi-logical manner. In many shining-example cases, these two traits mingle together to create posts that are truly mindblowing.

One of my fellow students seems to be under the very misguded impression that "ambulance chasers" are really just good business people.

Really.

And, I quote:

Its just like passing out business cards just alittle more agressive and if you want the business bad enough you have to do all you can to get it and being the first on the seen is how you do it. Sitting back in an office somewere wait for your money to come strolling threw the door dont work all the time. Plus just think if you were in the ambulance and you see there s a lawyer chasing you down sure for all the wronge reasons but atleast hes showing you ( HEY I WANT YOUR BUSSINES AND ILL DO ALL I CAN FOR YOU STARTING RIGHT NOW ).
Welcome to my world.

Yeah. Ambulance chasing is JUST LIKE passing out a business card. Um hum. Sure. Yeah. Whatever.

Me, personally - I hate to be harassed. If I have a major decision to make (like suing someone!), I like to do research first to make sure that I'm making the most educated decision possible.

I would *not* work with an "ambulance chaser", simply because they're putting me in an uncomfortable situation during a HIGHLY stressful event. They would LOSE my business using those tactics.

I'm a small business owner, and I am a firm believer in offering quality products at a fair price. If you deliver quality goods, at a good price, and stand behind your product (whatever that may be - legal services are a product!), word of mouth will take you a LONG way. I am able to feed my family, pay my mortgage, and indulge in various little luxuries - mostly though word of mouth advertising.

"Ambulance chasers" are the real-world equivalent of spam-emailers. They use crude and unnecessary tactics to attempt to take advantage of a stressful situation, knowing that the potential client is not operating at their fullest. It's worse than poor business practice - it's downright predatory.

Yay! The semester is over, and I've been able to keep my 4.0 GPA, which makes me a happy camper. I'm taking the summer session very light - Intro to Computers (read: cakewalk, but a required class) and Accounting 101. The accounting class should be useful - no matter where you go or what you do, knowing basic accounting principles is a Good Thing.

I'm scheduling to take the LSAT in late September, and will be applying to law schools in late fall/early winter. I'm still continuing with the Paralegal program - there are a lot of good skills there that they don't seem to teach in law school (like, how to research titles - I'm taking Real Property in the fall), and it's a good base to work from. The biggest problem now is choosing where to go - we have 4 options in our area.

And as sad as it sounds - but it looks like it's OddFellow's alma mata is actually the best match for me. I'll apply to Granola U, Ivy League, and Downtown - but Granola U and Ivy League's GPA/LSAT stats for the past few years are a bit high for me. I don't do well on standardized tests. My bachelor's degree GPA is 3.5, which is lower than Granola U's median (3.7) and Ivy League's (also 3.7). I'm not sure if my Paralegal School's GPA is going to count for anything, especially since it dosen't look like I'm going to finish the program. Yuppie U's is 3.27, while Downtown's is 3.19. Just based on grades, I'm almost positive I could get into Downtown - and I've heard their night program is really good, although that would put me at four years of school instead of three.

Yuppie U is *very* well respected amongst legal professionals in this state - it also would help me tap into the 'good ole' boy' network that seems to be prevelant downtown. Downtown definitely dosen't have as much prestige, but since it's a state school it's much cheaper ($5K as opposed to $23K at Yuppie U). Downtown's and Yuppie U's bar passage rate are about the same. Although Downtown is a historically African American college, the law school is pretty well mixed - the ABA states that's it's about 50/50. (In other words, I wouldn't be totally out of place!). Downtown also is closer, which is nice.

All that said, Yuppie U definitely has more "pull" in the local community.

Ah well - I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. First off - start studying for the LSAT.

This semester I only had to purchase one book - for my Corporate Law class. (All my other classes are part 2 of a 2-semester run - so I already had the books) Brilliant! I thought I'd be getting off easy.

Oh no! The bookstore didn't have any used copies - so I had to buy a new one for $155. Ouch. But, not totally uncommon, so I coughed up the $155 and bought the book.

When I got home, I decided to see if I could find it cheaper online - and there were a bunch on Half.com for around $80-$90. One was actually shipping from my state, so even sent Media Mail it should be here pretty quickly. I figured I could order that and then return the new one to the bookstore. I'd get a full refund as long as it was returned before 1/20/06.

I just checked the front door - and the book got here on Saturday. It's exactly what I needed, and in almost perfect condition. I left feedback for the seller, and just out of curiosity I went back to the inventory page for that book.

There must have been a rush on these books - because now the lowest price for it is around $100.

Three cheers for a GREAT deal on a book that I'll be using for *3* classes - Corporate Law, and Commerical Law I and II.