January 2007 Archives

There's an interesting slow-boil discussion going on about lawyers' self-perception of their own writing skill.  It started here, and just got a little kick here.  It's an interesting topic, and I've had the opportunity to think about it in my own experience, so it's worth addressing.

Like many people, I entered law school with an idea that I was a good writer.  I'd gotten decent grades in undergrad, and I was almost always able to write A-papers with little or no revision.  After graduation, I was recognized as a good writer in my work.  Indeed, I published a poem and microfiction piece.  These experiences, from what I can tell, are similar to other law students—we all generally believe we're good writers going into the process.

But like other law students, I was quickly shown the error of my ways.  To my surprise, I had to work hard in my first semester legal writing class.  The standards were demanding and I was forced to leart to write better.  (For the curious, I think my biggest problems were wordiness and trying to sound too 'lawyerish.')  Since then, I've spent a lot of time refining what I've learned and trying to soak up as much as possible.  After all, school is the (often) harm-free place to practice these skills.

So where am I now?  Well, I haven't completely ditched the idea that I'm a good writer, but it comes with two hefty qualifiers.

First, I've refined my self-image a bit—I'm a fairly good writer for a law student.  Law school is really the place to begin learning about my trade, and I have so much more to learn that I can barely comprehend how much I don't know.  That's one of the reasons I found last summer's job so valuable, and why I'm looking forward to clerking when I'm done.  I'm really looking forward to refining my skill.  I'll be surrounded by judges and clerks who will all be more experienced, and I want the chance to soak up as much of their skill as possible.

Second, being a good writer—in any context—still means that I'll have more to learn.  I expect that I'll be perfecting this skill for the rest of my life.  I hope so, anyway.  I don't think I'll be able to learn at the pace I've enjoyed so far—being surrounded and learning from so many great writers is a rare opportunity—but it's something I plan to constantly keep an eye on.

Finally, there is one last fun note.  Not long ago I had the opportunity to just browse my blog archives.  It's amazing to me how much even my casual writing has improved in the last five semesters.  Many of my earlier posts were truly cringe-worthy, either written poorly or simply not well-thought-out.  I don't regret the posts at all—they are accurate snapshots of where I was at the time and how far I've come.  And they're a reminder that even if it's not obvious at the time, I'll always have further to go.

I've been following Wyoming Supreme Court opinions regularly for a while now, as seems natural.  I've seen quite a few disciplinary actions--alarmingly, many deal with substance abuse.  Still, this is the first discipline of a judge that I've seen.  It's an interesting lesson, and it makes one wonder if there are interesting details lurking in the background.

Ah, yes, it has indeed been a while.

I think I needed a bit of a break from posting, but I didn't really know that I needed it until I took it.  There I was, planning on doing a little annual summary, maybe a look forward, but I frankly just didn't have the energy.  My life has been pretty full the last month or so.  There have been a lot of personal things going on, some good and some bad.

Falling into the former category is my new relationship with someone--I met her about two months ago, and we've been enjoying each other's company ever since.  It's fun, exciting, with a pinch of scary--just as starting a new relationship should be.  I haven't decided what her blog name should be, but she reads it, so maybe she'll have a suggestion.

Classes seem to be going well.  My load is considerably lighter than last semester, which means I'm still insanely busy, just not quite as much as last semester.  I only have three classes, but my other activities (Clinic, Law Review, Teaching Assistant) will fill my hours nicely.  It's good to be in the last semester.  I'll miss seeing my friends as often, but we'll still keep in touch, and I'm ready to start the next phase of my career.

Enough navel gazing, on to pop culture.

I love movies.  I wouldn't say I'm a movie buff--that implies more expertise than I have--but I watch an awful lot of them.  Imagine, then, my cringe when I saw the list of this year's Oscar nominees and realized I'd only seen one nominated movie.  One.  How depressing.

For the record, it was The Illusionist, nominated for best cinematography.  I haven't seen the other films (obviously), but I will say that The Illusionist was a gorgeous movie and the nomination was well-deserved.

Here we are, with some pictures of cats that aren't mine.

At one point, I was in a small, non-insulated cabin with a bunch of cats who were pretty freaked out by my existence. All I saw of them was this (note the tails hanging from the rafters):

And here's the cat I constantly tried to allow me to pet. I had some success, and would have had more if there was more time.

I plan on telling more about my airline experience, but I don't feel up to writing it today. Maybe sometime this weekend or (more likely) next week. As for reading, I did finish the book I was reading and started a new one. Nice.

Have a great weekend!

What I'm Reading:

Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein