I've lost count. All I know is that July 4th is here much too quickly. That's bad. Not because I don't like the US or birthdays--I like both in fact, very very much--but rather because everyone who has taken the bar has said that July 4th is the Rubicon: there's no going back, and it's the point where the bar exam becomes real. You have no excuse but to put your nose to the grindstone-- you know, as I'm typing this phrase, it occurs to me that putting your nose to a grindstone would hurt. Seems apt I guess. (Although, on further research, you only put your nose near it. No pain. Phew!)
Today, as we're listening to day 2 of 3 of the Evidence lecture, I noticed a growing chorus of groans everytime a Massachusetts distinction, from myself included. See, the bar exam in most states (not all--hello California!) is 2 day affair: 1 day testing general "multi-state" law, which is either federal law or common law that a majority of states follow, and 1 day testing any and all law specific to the particular state. Bar/Bri teaches from the starting point of multi-state law, and then points out state distinctions along the way. It's usually pretty efficient since no one state really veers all that much from the majority.
At first, I'd well up with pride, Ramona Quimby-style, whenever we came across a Massachusetts distinction. "That's MY state!" I'd think to myself. Real life has offered many occasions on which to be proud of Massachusetts jurisprudence. While it overall tends to the paternalistic, it definitely has the average joe's best interests at heart. But now. Oy. Everytime I hear another Massachusetts distinction, I and everyone else in my class groans at the thought of having to learn one more blackletter rule of law... and we can't take it anymore.
No comments:
Post a Comment