All posts filed under: Law School

For the Law Freshie || Looking for something? Researching for cases in the law library or online

Let me tell you a funny story. When I was a law freshman, I wasn’t so adept at looking for cases. I was lost, confused, and even more so if there’s only a date and those numbers after the date. Because the idea of hunting up for cases was so foreign to me back then. Thank heaven for kind upperclassmen! You might ask, don’t you have a subject called Legal Research? Well, yes we did, but it was all in theory. What did we know about shepardizing, and looking for the correct citation? Very little. How did we freshmen get around the library? Again, thank heaven for kind upperclassmen, and the harried librarians. These upperclassmen and librarians taught us lost freshers how to look for cases. And because I want to pay it forward, I want to share it with you guys, so you won’t be as lost as we were.

All the important reading materials you’ll need in law school.

I promise, my desk isn’t as messy as the one pictured above. Hehe. We aren’t here to talk about desk aesthetics though, we’re here to talk about the reading materials you’ll need in your law school journey. This is going to be a long and bumpy ride but hang in there.So, first things first. Let’s start with books. See that little Bible-like book on top of the stack? That’s the codal, aka every law student’s Bible (sorry, Lord, didn’t mean any disrespect). A senior friend recommended that the codal should be read first before the annotated textbook, as it is important to get a grasp of the law.

I’m saying goodbye to law school. And it’s okay.

Yes, it actually is, despite the fact that writing this is the one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. For years, I had my game plan–study law with enough passion to make a candle burn; take the Bar after graduation, and (God willing) pass the Bar, take the oath (at one point, I could recite it in my sleep), and sign in the Roll of Attorneys in front of the Bar Confidant. Sounds easy, right? No, not at all! I won’t lie, I failed subjects too, but not without learning the lesson behind it. There were times when I’ve wondered what was the point of the Negotiable Instruments Law, or the law on Partnership–or whether one is solidarily or jointly liable for some unfullfilled obligations. These thoughts, however, were formed during one of my weaker moments.