eggshell-skull-rule

[eggshell-skull-rule]

Opportunity beckons.

I went into my law studies thinking I'd like to help tenants, but my pendulum has swung steadily towards employment law.

I found out that my new workplace has had a union wave because they used to be underpaying the workers. There's space for a union delegate which everyone seems too shy to take.

I would be very proud to be a union delegate (and make my Mama proud too), allegedly the training is paid, and it would be a very good thing on my legal resume....

[eggshell-skull-rule]

Presentation day, awake at 4am like "Is it time?!" Meeting with the group... last minute changes. God one of those girls is really mean. The other saccharine sweet, but at least she's tried to connect.

Went pretty well I think, either way it's done and that's the coursework complete. Just under a month until the exam, sweet sweet.

[eggshell-skull-rule]

[eggshell-skull-rule]

Small clams court. Sand dollar lawsuit. Who gives a fuck

[eggshell-skull-rule]

One and only group meeting we've had, a week before our final presentation. It's their project, I'm just tagging along. Haven't been able to so much as talk to them after class. They're talking to each other in the meeting, occassional flick of the eyes in my direction. One of their friends present for some reason, talking about her job applications. Have my parts set for me, apparently we're doing a skit which I don't want to do (and said so).

Patronising sweetness.

"Perception of bias" when I describe the typical vexatious litigants as a beligerant middle aged man (which is what the research says) because... our teacher is a middle aged man. A civil lawyer who will know this?

Just a big, big sigh.

[eggshell-skull-rule]

Almost ready to explode with my schedule and to- do list and the awful people I work with but there is a light at the end of the tunnel: classes end in two weeks. TWO WEEKS TWO WEEKS and I can have a day off in the week! Two weeks and I won't have to bus it to Tarndanya for a whooooole month! :D

[eggshell-skull-rule]

“Although he is vexatious in the human sense of the word, I am not sure he will meet the requisite legal threshold.” -Michael Douglas, senior law lecturer at the University of Western Australia on why we can't stop Clive Motherfucker Palmer from pursuing his litigation hobby.

A mining billionaire who lists litigation as a hobby is not a vexatious litigant because he occasionally wins. AND because it's spread all over the country and multiple jurisdictions would have to separately find him vexatious.

Fuck that guy and his fucking ads! Sending me text messages!

[eggshell-skull-rule]

citationless behavior

[eggshell-skull-rule]

Forgot to mention the group project received 88% (a High Distinction grade), and all set for a good presentation.

Provisional exam date set and for once in my life it's near the end of the exam period, rather than right in the beginning. So a good MONTH after the end of classes!

I will ace this topic, so help me God.

[eggshell-skull-rule]

[eggshell-skull-rule]

A few days out from the group project proposal's due date, everyone's added their part, final edits to get it into one voice. You know I think it's really good.

[eggshell-skull-rule]

ATTENTION ALL AUSTRALIANS (AND AMERICANS TO AN EXTENT)

https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN7163/

There is currently an Australian Parliament House bill to allow Gender and Sexual Minorities asylum in Australia. It's currently a petition.

Australians:

SIGN, SIGN, SIGN! The biggest thing you can do to help now is sign this petition to get it in front of parliament.

Vote Labor/Greens! A minority government with the Greens would allow bills like this (and probably this one!) to be negotiated and have a greater chance of being brought into power.

Non-Australians (Americans):

BE AWARE OF THIS WHEN PLANNING YOUR EXIT. Australia is a great place to live, and it's a shame that out immigration laws are so tough. We have federal allowance of gender affirming care, (for minors too! excluding Queensland, but adults are still allowed), have competent tools for changing sex markers and names, and we have criminalised conversion therapy. Gay marriage is legal (much to the dismay of some people lmao), but our cost of living and house prices are through the roof. However, we're expecting a market crash soon, so everything should be coming down.

Alright that's a lot of info, thanks for reading.

[eggshell-skull-rule]

"The vision

“Every lawyer has skills that can help the climate. We’ve just gotta make the connections.” — Environmental lawyer and advocate Matthew Karmel

The spotlight

“How many lawyers does it take to break a Guinness World Record?”

Matthew Karmel posed this question on LinkedIn in February, adding, “No, this isn’t a bad lawyer joke; it’s a reason for climate optimism.”

Karmel, a principal at the law firm Offit Kurman and the chair of its environmental and sustainability law practice group, is one of the organizers of the Climate Pro Bono Bootcamp, a two-day virtual conference dedicated to helping more lawyers and legal professionals figure out how to donate their time and skills to advance climate work.

When people — including lawyers themselves — think of the intersection between climate and law, their minds may go straight to high-profile climate lawsuits or other legal action aimed at holding big polluters and inactive governments accountable. But there are many other forms of legal support that climate causes might need, from simple contracts to forming a new business or nonprofit to legal defense. “There are so many attorneys working at large law firms, small law firms — attorneys everywhere who just don’t do litigation, but are still very passionate about climate change and want to apply their skills in that way,” said Stephanie Demetry, the executive director of Green Pro Bono, an organization that matches attorneys with companies, nonprofits, grassroots leaders, and others who need legal assistance to advance climate solutions.

Karmel had the idea for the conference in late 2023, after he had been working with Green Pro Bono for a few years. “I was sitting there thinking, Why isn’t everyone doing this?” he recalled. “The things I’m doing aren’t unique. It doesn’t require specialized legal skills. It requires passion, and the general legal knowledge that every lawyer has.” He approached Demetry with the idea of hosting a training to help demystify what climate-related pro bono work can entail and build up the network of attorneys interested in offering it.

They held the first bootcamp in January of 2024 and had around 700 attendees — far exceeding their expectations. After the event, Demetry said, Green Pro Bono more than doubled the number of attorneys in its network and also saw a 53 percent increase in the number of projects that got picked up.

But for this year’s bootcamp, planned for late April, they’re aiming to increase that attendance — and setting the ambitious goal of growing it a hundredfold. That’s the number that would break a Guinness World Record for the largest attendance at a virtual law conference in one week (yes, this entry truly does exist). It might be a longer-term goal, but it’s one they’re serious about. Breaking the record, Karmel said, would be a powerful way to demonstrate the growing interest in climate action among the legal community, and also an opportunity to reach thousands more attorneys, students, and others with the event’s key message: that you don’t have to choose between your day job and working for the causes you care about."

You can find out more about the climate pro bono bootcamp, which is FREE, right here. It's April 22 & 23, 2025 at 12:00pm – 5:00pm EDT

-via Grist, April 2, 2025

[eggshell-skull-rule]

My teacher looks like Hemlig +~15 years. Along with the band t- shirts and ponytail. A wild look at an alternate timeline: Hemlig Esquire, pro bono civil barrister.

[eggshell-skull-rule]

We all know the first draft of anything is shit, but then there's the shame of trying to have your contribution to the shared document coherent before anyone else sees it.

[eggshell-skull-rule]

Such a relief to be in a class of third and fourth years! If you're still here you're probably taking it seriously and actually want to learn something.

Pleased to note that all of my assigned group members contribute in class, ie come prepared. One of them works in a court, another already has a Nigerian legal qualification.

As long as there's equal contribution this should make for a great project.

[eggshell-skull-rule]

Hemlig's civil suit (which I may or may not have mentioned on Furmity: a mechanic who fucked up his car leading to further bills bills bills) has settled out of court. The guy's insurance company will pay it, exactly what was asked for and not a penny more. Cheers are ringing out!

Naturally this is at the beginning of my Civil Procedure topic.