I wrote this a month ago after my last final, but forgot to post it until today... today being my first full day of being back to school, and thus I have just now run out of things to look at on the internet...
School is done for the semester!!! 5 semesters of law school down, 1 more to go. Molly always writes a summary of what she's learned in her classes, which I love because it's ridiculous to think of the amount of time and thousands of pages of material we've covered and we can sum up all we remember in a couple of words. So what I learned in Fall 2010:
Family Law - I blame Molly McCue Hartley 100% for making me suffer through a semester of this hell. Learning family law is like saying "teach yourself anatomy from a French anatomy book." You don't just have to learn anatomy, you have to learn the entire French language first. Likewise, family law is just figuring out how marriages/divorces/custody issues can interfere with and change when paired with all other aspects of the law - contracts, criminal law, torts, antitrust, business organizations, trusts and estates, banking law, etc.
Alternative Dispute Resolution - Trial may often be the wrong solution if you have a claim against someone. It may not meet your needs, and it'll suck up money like a black hole. Systems like mediation, arbitration and negotiation could actually address your specific interests and take up less of your time/money.
Amateur Sports Law - ummm.... awesome. Basically college sports and the NCAA and NAIA (hopefully - fingers crossed - my future employer) are so amazing and brilliant that they can handle their own biz-nass and the courts leave them alone... more or less.
Children in the Law - LOVED this class! Probably one of my most enjoyable and educational law school courses. Kids have very few rights, parents basically have the last word on how to raise and care for their children, and the state only steps in when it is necessary to protect the well-being of the child. A lot of kids in this country start out at a disadvantage from the beginning (poverty, class, race, residential location, etc.) and it can be a self-fulfilling cycle, but it's more than that. Education really does make all the difference in the world, and if there is only one thing you can control about your child, force them to go to school! With education they can change all the other factors in their lives, w/out it they're facing a much bigger hardship.
American Indian Law - the white man screwed over all the Indians. Under original colonial law, Indians weren't even considered "people" under the law, and thus couldn't own property outright. And we've acted like we've tried to make it all better, but really we've refused to do much of that, and only given back a very tiny percentage of land/animals/resources we stole from them. Also, Professor Ragsdale really, really, really wants to be a member of an Indian tribe.
National Security Law - some people really like guns. And nukes, and tanks, and all other big weapons. And don't like immigrants. And unfortunately, some of these people make it into the upper echelon of political and military leaders. Diplomacy is a good things, and all too rare.
I apologize if none of this made sense... I'm sitting in Starbucks, trying to decompress after my last final, and I literally feel like everything I've crammed into my head in the last two weeks has already fallen out.
