We are officially underway with Operation Legal.

I’ll start off by saying I’ve got electives until Fall semester and they are Intro to Law, Personal Property, and Legal Skills. Last night was the kick off for me and we hit so many areas and I tweeted while we had class so many peeps got a front row seat to my first day of Law School. Law will be a great ride, interesting and frustrating experience, and something that is fascinating to me. I do not believe I will ever lose that love due to the challenges it has and will present me.

Prof. Grippi spoke about briefing, outlining, THINKING not memorizing, and digging into the law. He’s an Assistant Chief DA for Sac County and I truly enjoy hearing his practice and experiences and how law is applied to each situation. This is something I looked for when deciding on schools, the actual practice of law. I did not want an ivory tower experience like I had at Pacific. Oh sure, I had brilliant professors and a brilliant educational experience and yet none of my professors had outside on-the-job-in-the-trenches experience. My professors at Lincoln have that experience.

Knowing how to apply a Murder v Manslaughter charge and it sticking to the charged party is helpful. The rule of law is necessary but show me and tell me how YOU made it work in an actual case YOU tried. I got that last night. I also got to hear a DA tell me the respect he has for criminal defense attorneys and how working side by side with them is an absolute thrill.

I like this law thing. Critically thinking (on steroids, of course) and really digging into the facts and rules lights a fire that has long been neglected in me. I won’t pull a Gunner in class but I will ask questions and be willing to get shot down, interrogated, and pushed to my limits. What I put into LS is what I will pull out of LS. Hell, I’m paying for this ride and damn it, I’m getting my money’s worth for it.

Fellow coll…umm, too early to spell big words…peeps (better word at this hour) are around my age. No one is under roughly 28 and all of us work full-time. It’ll be a good group of us and we number 37. What will be interesting is to see how many of us finish off the semester. The wisest ones brought laptops and found out the Wi-Fi access code ASAP, some took written notes, and some listened. Hey, Grippi does PowerPoint and I’ll be damned if I’m not taking copious notes from him. Also, made sure to note hints and recommendations such as “look for adverbs and adjectives in a case. It will tell you the important stuff!”

Did I over prepare for this? Absolutely not. Thrilled that I read up, studied, and geared my brain since last March for this experience and its paying off in spades, hearts, diamonds, and clover thingies. Am I tired as hell this morning…oh yeah…the walking dead on this end. Tons of reading ahead and I’m okay with that. The actual work doesn’t scare me…its the volume with which I’m concerned. hahaha.

Thanks for being along for the ride. Each of you lift my spirits, give cause for determination, and bring me much joy for being on the other side of this blog. Hang on, this will be a wild ride and something I’m more that happy for which to have you sitting alongside me.

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