What I've Learned: Marina Sarmiento Feehan, JD

Yes, good grades are important but bad grades can be overcome. If for some reason, you don’t end up in the top of the class, accept the grades you have and move on. Don’t make excuses for them. Instead, balance your grades out with practical work experience, volunteer work, and journal/leadership positions. Don’t let your grades define you – become a well-rounded person.

The best thing I did in law school was take a legal position off-campus. I learned more during my one semester as a judicial extern for a federal district court judge than I did my entire three years at law school. Not only was it fun and challenging but I improved my writing and got to see live courtroom drama. By seeing the writing and motions of other attorneys, yours will improve. And finally, I understood why 1L’s have to sit through a very boring class regarding the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Those rules make the legal world go round.

Talk to as many lawyers as you can. The more you know about the actual practice of law and the different practice areas, the better you are during interviews and in career planning. Building relationships now with attorneys and fellow law students can only help you in the future.

It’s a small legal community with a long memory. Good manners, strong ethics and common sense go a long way. There are law firms who will not interview attorneys whom they once interviewed as a law student because that person never sent a thank you note or was rude to the recruiting coordinator.

Use the Office of Career Planning early and often. I wish I had. Students that do have better resumes, interviewing skills and job search techniques. Once you graduate, there is no “On-Campus Interview” season where employers come to you. You’ll have to do your own search and it is better you learn job search skills earlier rather than later.

Marina Sarmiento Feehan, JD, who practiced litigation and transactional IP law, is the Assistant Director of Employer Relations at the Office of Career Planning at USF Law. If you'd like more information on career planning, Ms. Feehan can be contacted at msfeehan@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-6757.

What I've Learned: Kristen

1. There are people who care about your success.

2. Law school is humbling.

3. It’s better to admit that you are confused than to pretend that you understand.

4. Don’t be afraid to speak your opinion. No matter what position you take, there will always be people who disagree.

5. What you get out of law school is what you put into it...get involved!

Kristen is a 2L. She loves her UCLA Bruins and, interestingly enough, makes tremendous chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

What I've Learned: Tom Moses

"Things I've Learned"
By Tom Moses
Adjunct Professor, USF
McGeorge School of Law, 1984

I have never really thought of myself as a "typical lawyer." Even in law school, I never really identified myself as "one of those guys." You know, with the grey flannel suits and the self-righteous attitude and the burning desire for a corner office (although, certainly, I wouldn't mind the latter). I guess I have always tried to keep both halves of my life apart. I call it "taking off my lawyer hat and putting on my real person hat." And, I think, that approach to life and law has kept me sane, sober (relatively at least), and still interested in the profession and the people in it for lo these many years.

What advice would I give to lawyers-to-be? (Besides, of course, the proverbial "Don't do it!") I think that it would boil down to this:

1. Study hard, but play harder. Law school can be, and usually is, very stressful. To succeed, you do have to do a lot of studying, and more studying, and outlining, and briefing, and writing. But, you also have to find the time to do something fun, and really do it! Whether it is running through the park, or biking along the bay, or even just working up to a new level on your favorite video game, it's important to try to maintain some connection with things you enjoy doing. It's all a matter of physical, mental and emotional balance.

2. Have a support group. One can't go through law school without the help of others. No person is an island. Whether for practical reasons (you need some help on a Con Law outline), or romantic (many of my law school friends got married right after they graduated), or emotional (it's always good to have someone to vent to), friends are a necessary part of your law school experience. You'll find that many of the friends you make now you will be the kind that will "stick with you." It's much like the survivors of war or a national disaster--shared pain brings you closer.

3. Make time for yourself. While friends and the social aspects of law school are great, there are times when you just have to be happy being alone. When I was studying for the bar, I made it a point to put down the books, fix a sandwich, and watch "I Love Lucy" and "Leave It To Beaver" reruns--just me and the TV. Or, and my friends thought I was really weird for doing so, I would take an hour off and read a book. (I read all the novels of Charles Dickens for relaxation during law school, along with some James Clavell and Mark Twain.) After a little "me-time," I went back at it refreshed. For what it's worth, I took the bar the year that they added the "performance" part of the test. While the bar pass rate was the lowest in history that year, and many of my friends who studied interminable hours at the law library failed, me and Lucy and Little Dorrit passed!

4. Be kind to teachers and staff. Not all teachers are Professor Kingsfield. Most if not all of them are there because they have a genuine interest in their subject matter and in their students. Take advantage of this and make a connection with a teacher. Having a mentor can be really helpful in your future career. Even perhaps more importantly, make friends with the law school staff, whether it be the registrar or the career placement director. They can help make your life easier at school, and perhaps guide you to a good job connection. Networking is everything!

5. Finally, remember why you're here. Everyone is in law school for some reason. Some are here because they want to "defend the defenseless." Others are here because they want entree into corporate America and the "lifestyles of the rich and famous." Still others might be here because they are intellectually curious or want to make this a better world. There will be times during your law school years when you ask yourself "why am I bothering?" That's when you have to remember to re-motivate yourself. Keep the goal in mind, and it'll help you get out of the depths on those black days.

I wish you all well as you continue on your path towards lawyerhood. I doff my "real person" hat to you!

Unofficial Bar Night

To all of Citizen Kendrick's loyal (or not so loyal) readers, make sure you kick off the new year in style--The American Constitution Society and The Morale Committee are hosting the first (unofficial) Bar Night! This Friday, August 22, we're going to be bar-hopping in the Haight--starting at 9:00 p.m. at Martin Mack's and moving to Hobson's Choice at 11:00 p.m. Be there, Be awesome!

And, for some extra fun, check out the fliers now posted around Kendrick featuring yours truly getting a little birthday cheek smooch, and Citizen Kendrick's favorite Jersey trash reppin' the West Coast, along with other glorious images.

The New 1Ls and Law School Musical

Today orientation started for the new 1Ls at our school. Oddly, I served as an orientation student leader. This means that I, and a partner, spent two hours of our day speaking to a small group of new minted 1Ls. (It's not clear whose brilliant idea it was to have me be the first impression of any new law students... but so be it. I got a free dinner and wine out of it.) In our presentation we talked to them about what it's like at USF, what to expect from law school, etc. We told them not to worry: academics come first, but it shouldn't sacrifice your sanity. I mean, we're not Hastings. We care about our people. I have no idea what they thought of my presentation. Hopefully I did more good than damage. We'll see.

The new 1L crop seemed really nice. They asked (for 1Ls) intelligent questions and seemed to be cautiously enthusiastic about law school. It's about where they should be. Somewhere between naive and afraid. I look forward to seeing them wander the halls in a week or so.

Anyhow, this got me thinking about my favorite law school video: law school musical!

Looking back at 1L year, this video is depressingly accurate. Which makes it that much more amazingly funny. It's also a great reminder that if we can't sit back and laugh at ourselves and the situation we put ourselves in here in law school, we'll never make it out alive. So, study hard, and be prepared to laugh at your own collateral estoppel and "hairy hand" jokes. You'll know you're truly in law school once you finally do. Nerd.

And, for the record, I did have a "broke ass Dell" my first year. And it finally broke over the summer. I now roll with a ThinkPad. So far, much better. Hopefully, it stays that way.

2 Men Shot to Death in Car Near USF Campus

Per the SF Chronicle:

Two men were found shot and killed early today inside a parked car bordering the University of San Francisco campus, police said.

The shooting was reported at 5:30 a.m. at 2245 Golden Gate Avenue, a police spokesman said.

Officers were summoned to the scene by a report that the men were sleeping inside the vehicle.

No arrests have been made. Homicide investigators are at the scene of the shooting.

University spokeswoman Anne-Marie Devine said the car was parked on a city street bordering campus and next to the Harney science building. Initial reports indicate that the two victims were not USF students or "anyone affiliated with the university," she said.

As much as homicides are a problem (and indeed, they are), the proximity of this one to USF doesn't actually bother me too much. The victims don't appear to be affiliated with USF, and for the most part, despite being bordered by some shady neighborhoods, USF, aside from general thefts, I believe is a fairly safe neighborhood. What I mean, is that I don't anticipate this being some sort of gruesome trend. Of course you still have to remain smart about things when you're out and about. But around USF, you may occasionally walk into trouble, I don't feel as if trouble will necessarily come looking for you. I believe it's an isolated incident and will (hopefully) remain as such. SF is pretty small. Sometimes the neighborhoods mix- inevitable in an urban environment like SF. But at least we're not near Hastings.

UPDATE: The two men in the car have been identified as Isiah Turner, 34, and Andre Helton, 18, both of San Francisco. They were parked in a rental car between Kitterage and Chabot. Among the many other instantaneous questions that arise, it's unclear from the information released by police if that's where they were killed or if the victims were killed in another location.

February Bar Results Out: Not Too Shabby USF

Thanks to our friends at Traditional Notions, it's come to our attention that the February CA Bar results came out and USF didn't do too shabby.

Here are the actual results for USF:

USF/ CA ABA Approved/ Overall
First Time
Took: 14/ 503/ 1499
Pass: 10/ 313/ 801
% pass: 71/ 62.2/53.4

Repeat
Took: 38/ 1328/ 3034
Pass: 19/ 577/ 996
% pass: 50/ 43.5/ 32.8

Total
Took: 52/ 1831/ 4533
Pass: 29 /890/ 1797
% pass: 56 / 48.6 / 39.6

As TN put it:

It was noted here last winter that USF beat Berkeley Law in first-time passage rate of the July 2007 California Bar Exam. The Bar is administered twice a year, and the February 2008 data are out. USF beat Boalt once again! And Hastings. And a bunch of others. As a matter of fact, we beat the rest of the ABA schools with the exception of Stanford, USC, Loyola and California Western.

Of course, a lot less people take the Bar for the first time in February, thus the numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.

What does this mean? As usual, not much. Berkeley will go on having excellent OCI prospects, taking open book exams and failing to disclose class ranks. We'll probably keep on falling in the rankings.

Indeed, these results should be taken with a grain of salt as there was a very small amount of takers, thus a very small sample pool. And statistics being what they are... just statistics. So, while I'm happy that USF did reasonably well on the February Bar exam...we're still crossing our fingers and hoping for the best for our friends who took the July exam. In all, great job to those February takers who passed! And good luck to all of those who took it in July!

California State Attorneys to Receive No Pay During State Budget Crisis?

If this LA Times article has it right, then California state attorneys (AG's office), doctors, and engineers will receive no pay during California's state fiscal crisis?

According to the LA Times:

A large share of the state workforce will be exempt from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order to pay government employees the federal minimum wage until a state budget is enacted, but others -- doctors, lawyers and engineers -- will get nothing, according to documents provided by the administration Tuesday.

The State Director of Personnel issued a statement, citing White v. Davis, which says that the Controller has no "legal authority to issue warrants against the State Treasury for employee salaries except as required by federal labor law." Since state doctors, lawyers, and engineers are not covered by federal labor law, the State is free to do what they'd like with their salaries.

I'll just be honest and say that I've been kinda busy with things at work to take a good look at the actual opinion, but someone who probably does know something about this opinion believes that the state Controller will continue to issue full pay checks. Gary M. Messing, who argued in the California Supreme Court in White, representing CCPOA, writes in this blog post at PacoVilla's Corrections:

The Controller says that he will continue to issue full paychecks to State employees despite the Governor’s pending Executive Order to the contrary. That is the wisest course. The Governor errs in relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in the White v. Davis case to support his proposed reduction of State employee paychecks to the federal minimum wage in the absence of a state budget. Here is why.

Five years ago in White v. Davis, the California Supreme Court addressed a similar situation. Several taxpayer groups sued to prevent State employees from being paid in the absence of a budget. The Court ruled that the federal Fair Labor Standard Act requires prompt issuance of paychecks, which are due on the normal payday.

The rest of his post fleshes out his argument and well worth reading.

Like I said, I haven't actually read the opinion, but I trust that Mr. Messing, a labor attorney, does have a pretty decent idea of what he's talking about. So, until I'm proven wrong, I'll have to take his work that the Controller will be able to continue issuing checks.

As a closing remark, folks always used to say that people flocked to government work for job stability. Especially for attorneys. But, honestly, I've heard that the smaller the governmental organization, the better it is.

As California always seems to be in some sort of fiscal crisis, I can't imagine this being very good for attorney retention and recruitment. I mean, I can't imagine a Big Law refugee or some other private side attorney hoping to switch to the public side might think it a good idea to switch to a job where they might, literally, not make any money. Most attorneys switch to government side because of flexibility in schedule and job security with a trade off of a lower salary. But the ability to make a briefing deadline and the ability to make a mortgage payment tend to both evoke high levels of stress. Given a choice, I think I'd rather worry about making a briefing deadline than lose my house because the state can't get its act together.

Of course there will always be some people applying to be a state AG. But will this sort of political turmoil diminish the quality of candidate who applies? For sure, someone like me, a law student, with no experience will apply for a job- because, well, I have no job as of yet. But will an experienced practitioner with a family take the risk of politics getting in the way of getting a pay check? Probably not.

Indeed, there are many more considerably important issues to consider in this fiscal crisis other than smarmy attorneys, doctors, and engineers getting their relatively cushy paychecks. But, it's certainly something to think about. I hope the Pols in Sacramento can quit foolin around and get something done.

Blogging as a way of increasing a law school's academic reputation?

I was reading Race to the Bottom (an excellent corporate law blog) and came across an interesting paper written by Prof. J. Robert Brown Jr., at U. of Denver Strum College of the Law. Entitled, Of Empires, Independents, and Captives: Law Blogging, Law Scholarship, and Law School Rankings, it's premise is that law schools can increase their academic reputation through serious academic blogging. Because of the decline in influence law journals command and the entrenched nature of the academic recognition process through such scholarship, and rise in the influence of blogs, Prof. Brown suggests that law blogs may be a cost-effective way for lower ranked schools to increase their academic presence.

Well, it's an interesting theory, but I'm not sure if I buy it...yet. First is the problem with getting noticed. Even if you put out a quality product, there's no guarantee someone's going to buy it. There are a ton of bloggers out there. I suppose this is where ingenuity in finding a niche would come into play. But I'm not sure how entrepreneurial law professors are.

Second, even though blogs have risen in influence with the general public, I'm not convinced they've risen in influence with academics, the actual folks who submit their opinions to the US News and World. While blogs may be interesting to read and may bring up interesting points of views, it's the law journal articles that generally fully flesh out ideas and complex legal issues that face modern legal scholarship. As a result, this will always play a dominant role. At best, blogs will play a minimal influence.

Third, as Prof. Brown points out, while blogging isn't anywhere near as time consuming as writing a journal article, blogging still does have a sizable opportunity cost. Anyone who blogs, or has written a post can attest to that. I'm not sure if professors are willing to take that cost.

I suppose though, I'm being a little short sighted. I mean, I am blogging about an academic article, thereby spreading the word of Prof. Brown. Maybe some time down the road, after this process repeats itself, it might influence his school's rankings. So maybe there is something to this blogging thing. Wonder if my school should do it.

Arthur Zief Passes Away

I thought I'd pass on the tragic news to any USF'ers that Arthur Zief, the name our library bears (well, his wife), passed away over the weekend. He was 89.

Here is a portion of the email sent to us by our school:
I wanted to share with you news that Dean Brand shared with faculty and
staff this past Saturday evening. We were incredibly saddened to learn
that Art Zief passed away this weekend.

Most of you are familiar with the incredible generosity of the Zief
family through not only the contributions to the university and law
school at-large, but in particular, through his contributions to the
Zief Law Library and his generous financial aid endowment which, through
the Zief Scholarship Program, currently supports 75 second and third
year students. For those of you who had the opportunity to personally
meet Mr. Zief, you will recall his incredible passion and vigor, despite
his nearly 90 years of age, for the law school, its mission and its
students.

And, of course, the law school was not his only passion or object of his
incredible philanthropy. Art and Dorraine Zief dedicated themselves to
giving voice as best as possible to the developmentally disabled,
building nine homes and contributing to organizations to promote their
well being. The Arthur Zief Jr. Foundation (named in honor of their
son) carries on this noble work.

I've only had one opportunity to meet Mr. Zief (and his wife) sometime last spring. The school arranged an opportunity for the Art Zief Scholarship recipients (yes, I was one of them) to meet Mr. Zief and his wife to thank him. So, 75 of us piled into Kendrick 100 and, one by one, we went down to thank him and his wife, shake their hands, and tell them a little bit about us and where we wanted to go in our careers. He appeared genuinely interested in listening to all of us and seemed fascinated by our future career plans. To be honest, Mr. Zief wasn't in the best of shape that day, but through all that, he still managed to come out and listen to a bunch of law students.

Indeed, he left a very positive impression with me, and I'm tremendously thankful I got the opportunity to meet him and his wife. They both were very down to earth people and gave selflessly to the community. You will be missed Mr. Zief.

News of the Day: John McCain Really Is A Robot

Boy, folks weren't kidding when they describe him as "rough around the edges." To be sure though, "the Robot" isn't to be confused with "the Machine." I mean, I'd hate to see McCain like this. Wonder how the Robot would do at Janet Reno's Dance Party?

Wal Mart to Customers: Keep Your Monkey Where It Belongs!

Well, I kept it tame, but feel free to insert your own monkey jokes where appropriate. This might be the lawsuit of the day: woman sues Wal Mart (and her local health agency and Cox Health Systems) for discriminating against her and her monkey, a 10 year old macaque, named Richard [insert additional joke]. According to the Kansas City Star:

Debby Rose of Springfield said in the lawsuit that the 10-year-old bonnet macaque helps curb a social anxiety disorder that can cause her to have panic attacks in public.

The suit contends the Springfield-Greene County Health Department lacked the authority to decide that Richard is not a service animal under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Health officials in 2006 sent letters to restaurants and grocery stores, advising them not to let Rose in with the monkey.

Rose also alleges she was denied access to Cox Health Systems facilities.

Hmm interesting. I'll be honest, I've never seen anyone walking around with an actual monkey. And in middle America, no less. But apparently Cox Health Systems and Wal Mart aren't her only detractors. Coincidentally today, I happened upon former US Senator George Allen and, being a prominent former politician, I asked his opinion. Defending the retail giant, Mr. Allen said "people who walk around with macaques aren't 'real' Americans." His tone seemed angry. Though I could see him being bitter towards macaques. Mr. Allen then asked if I'd like to "super size" my meal for only $0.49 more. I declined.

USF Law Prof. Richard Leo Knows Something About Police Interrogation

USF Law Professor Richard Leo was on Pasadena NPR affiliate, KPCC. A guest on the Pat Morrison show, Prof. Leo spoke on the topic of police lying to suspects during interrogations. It's a pretty interesting listen. For those who may have had Prof. Leo for Crim Law, he comes off much better talking about his field of expertise. I rather enjoyed it. Here is the link. Scroll down to Wednesday, July 2. The segment is entitled, "Police Interrogations: Is it okay to lie?"

Omar Khadr Interrogation Video Released

Well, for those who follow the Gitmo action, the interrogation video of Omar Khadr, the suspected terrorist picked up when he was 15 years old, was released by demand of the Canadian Supreme Court.

Here is a 10 minute clip. There's supposed to be 7 hours released at some point in time.

(a picture of Omar Khadr, then 15, before his capture)

From the New York Times: (and, more extensively, from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

Mr. Khadr, just 16 years old at the time of the taping, in February 2003, swung from calm and indifference to rage and grief during four days of interrogations in the recordings, which his Canadian lawyers released.

The recordings, turned over to the defense under a Canadian court order, provide the most extensive videotaped images from inside Guantánamo Bay yet seen. In them, Mr. Khadr, now the last Western citizen held there, is seen pleading with a Canadian intelligence agent for help. At one point, the recording shows him displaying chest and back wounds that had still not completely healed months after his capture in Afghanistan.

The seven hours of recordings were made by the United States military and given to Mr. Khadr’s Canadian lawyers by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service under the terms of an order by Canada’s Supreme Court.

They show Mr. Khadr, who is accused of killing a United States soldier in Afghanistan in battle in July 2002, being questioned by an unidentified member of the Canadian intelligence agency. A Canadian diplomat and a third person, apparently an American official, were also present.

For national security reasons, the audio was removed from several parts of the recordings, and the officials’ faces were electronically obscured by black blobs.

Mr. Khadr, a Canadian, maintains he was abused by American interrogators in Afghanistan and at Guantánamo Bay. It appears from the recordings, as well as from written documents of the interrogations that were released last week, that Mr. Khadr initially believed that the Canadian agent had come to help him. But he eventually seemed to realize that the agent was present only to extract information.

Man, to be 15 and captured by US armed forces. And then interrogated at age 16 at Gitmo. On the one hand, I feel pretty bad for him. I'm pretty sure I couldn't handle something like that when I was that young (or at my current age). On the other hand... he is a suspected terrorist. They come in all shapes and sizes. Interrogations are part of the process. Still though, it's no justification for torture (if the accusations are true). It'll be interesting to see where this goes and the public reaction that results.

GPA Rankings for USF Law, Spring 2008

In continuing the tradition of Greg at Otherwise Occupied, we are posting the USF Law GPA breakdown. As Greg is graduating and will no longer be posting GPA rankings, we'll be compiling the GPA stats and presenting them to the internet world. Congrats Greg, and good luck on the bar!

This table shows the breakdown of percentile ranks by GPA for the University of San Francisco School of Law as of the Spring 2008 semester, i.e., as of the end of the 2007-2008 school year.

	5%	10%	15%	20%	25%	33 1/3%	40%	50%	60%	80%
1FT & 1PT = 236	3.63 & above	3.46 - 3.62	3.38 - 3.45	3.31 - 3.37	3.20 - 3.30	3.09 - 3.19	3.02 - 3.08	2.87 - 3.01	2.71 - 2.86	2.38 - 2.70
2FT, 2PT & 3PT = 228	3.55 & above	3.42 - 3.54	3.33 - 3.41	3.21 - 3.32	3.16 - 3.20	3.06 - 3.15	2.99 - 3.05	2.84 - 2.98	2.75 - 2.83	2.55 - 2.74
3FT, 4FT & 4PT = 217	3.54 & above	3.43 - 3.53	3.38 - 3.42	3.29 - 3.37	3.23 - 3.28	3.15 - 3.22	3.07 - 3.14	3.01 - 3.06	2.93 - 3.00	2.72 - 2.92