Wish me luck, people

Because I have to argue two motions in the next two days. One's tomorrow, and I got lucky enough to be assigned to argue the opposite side from what we were assigned to argue when we wrote the motion (because the other side was the argument our prof really wants us to be able to make, but if you're going to argue a motion, you really need to have both sides). It's probably just as well, though, because I wrote the motion in the aftermath of the Brief That Ate My Life (like, it was due the day after I filed the brief), so my motion is, quite literally, terrible. I spent about four hours throwing what words I could find onto the page, and turned it in without reading it over again. It is, honestly and seriously, crap. So, really, arguing against it is probably a good thing.

And then I have another motion to argue on Tuesday afternoon. That one requires examining witnesses. No idea yet what I'll ask them, really. 

The thing that's sad is that I'd really much rather work on (and argue) these motions than sit through the classes I have tomorrow. My clinic and practice class seem much more important, not to mention relevant, than the classes where I sit and listen to the professor talk to us. Don't get me wrong - I actually like my other classes, and reading, let alone sitting and listening, is so much EASIER than coming up with my own stuff. But when it's a choice between being prepared to maybe be called on (except probably not, because I only have one prof who cold calls this semester, and even he doesn't do it very often), and being prepared to get up and say something, getting up and saying something wins every time. (Kind of like the way teaching prep always trumped research prep, unless of course it was two days before a conference, when that kind of getting up and saying something usually trumped the teaching kind.)

I taught long enough that while I still had to prep, in most cases I really could waltz into the classroom and wing it if need be (the exception being if I was teaching something entirely new. Which didn't happen very much by the time I stopped teaching). Law school is reminding me of the joy of the steep learning curve, when you're doing everything for the first time. I'd forgotten, for instance, that at one point in my life I had no idea how long teaching a certain amount of material would take, because by the time I left academia, I had a sixth sense that allowed me never to run out of time, and never to run out of material. But a motion? I have NO idea how much material I need, or how long it's going to take me to argue it. (Sure, sure, it depends on what the judge asks - but teaching depended on what students said, too.) Putting students in small groups? At one point, I had no idea how to do that effectively, and watched helplessly as they talked about the previous night's football game. By the time I left, I had efficient use of small groups down. But direct examination? I'm still working on that one...

Comments

[Nicole]

Good luck!

[What Now?]

"the joy of the steep learning curve" -- what a great phrase and great attitude!

[New Kid on the Hallway]

WN, I'm not sure I wasn't being sarcastic in my joy... :-) but at least one reason to go to law school was to learn new things, so it is exciting to feel like that's actually happening. And the joy is in remembering that at one point, things I now take for granted that I can do, were just as difficult as everything I'm doing now. So one day, this will be second nature, too!

[Laura]

"Law school is reminding me of the joy of the steep learning curve, when you're doing everything for the first time."

I'm right there with you, and I keep reminding myself that when I started my previous job, there was a whole, whole lot I didn't know. By the time I left, as you say, I had a sixth sense about things. The work to get there will indeed pay off.

Good luck with everything. I'm sure you'll do great!

[helenesch]

Good luck! I'm sure this must get easier, with time. (I recall giving my first paper at an academic conference--I was so nervous beforehand that I almost thought that I'd have to consider just backing out and not doing it! Looking back, I can't remember what seemed so scary...)

[Belle]

Break a leg!