wine-and-law

[wine-and-law]

thread of petitions to sign for the black lives that still have not gotten justice

Breonna Taylor: https://t.co/azwAXJUFFt?amp=1

David McAtee: https://t.co/xFUsLhsbgk?amp=1

Ahmaud Arbery: https://t.co/9U05X0DHs5?amp=1

Sandra Bland: https://t.co/S7onaqtcWr?amp=1

Willie Simmons: https://t.co/ShpIYiOJti?amp=1

Alejandro Martinez: https://t.co/yps9xEUXQh?amp=1

Tete Gulley: https://t.co/CtnO2jLCYF?amp=1

Marshae Jones: https://t.co/zPalKA7xvv?amp=1

Chrystul Kizer: https://t.co/9KyXeZm4NM?amp=1

Julius Jones: https://t.co/xChUK35swN?amp=1

Belly Mujinga: https://t.co/4ubBzOzEG7?amp=1

Young Uwa: https://t.co/zTuWpWdS0E?amp=1

Kendrick Johnson: https://t.co/4tf1B9cKb8?amp=1

Emerald Black: https://t.co/A5G6OFTUSv?amp=1

[wine-and-law]

Guess Who’s Back! (For REAL This Time)

So I deliberately went MIA for the past year because I wanted to make sure I was in a “safe space” academically before I broke down exactly what happened during my first attempt at law school, why it matters, and the aftermath of my 1L experience. 

Rest assured, I didn’t fall off of the face of the earth, and I will have a more consistent presence on this forum in the future. Although I wanted to create content for this blog during my 1L year so that I’m not too far removed from the experience as I write, doing so just wasn’t feasible. Don’t worry, though. I’ve endured the trauma of 1L twice, so I’m more than capable of providing an authentic outlook, even as I move on to my second and third years of law school. 

Stay tuned for an account of how race, disability, and legal education intersect in a later post. 

[wine-and-law]

“From the perspective of a person in the position of plaintiff herein, a very practical problem arises with respect to the discovery of a paranormal phenomenon: ‘Who you gonna’ call?’”

— Stambovsky v. Ackley, 169 A.D.2d 254 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

[wine-and-law]

“The parties are advised to chill.”

— Mattel v. MCA Records, 296 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2002)

[wine-and-law]

And Now We Wait...

In about three days I find out whether or not I failed out of law school, guys.

Can you tell that I’m struggling to stay positive about my grades? A massive cheating scandal was uncovered in the middle of finals, but only God knows if that’ll be enough to mitigate our crazy ass curve.

My spirituality hasn’t always been the strongest but for the past 5 days I’ve literally been praying a novena to St. Anthony because at this point I don’t know what else to do 🙃🙃🙃

In the meantime, enjoy this massive civ pro outline and accompanying rule index that I barely even looked at during my exam.

[wine-and-law]

It’s Officially Crunch Time

Which means this will be my life for the next couple of weeks:

Please excuse my temporary hiatus. 

[wine-and-law]

[wine-and-law]

When you get through oral arguments but you’re too tired to even smile properly.... 

[wine-and-law]

Introspection, Retrospection, and Just a Pinch of Spite

Approximately this time last year, a certain someone literally said to my face that she was surprised I was given admission to my law school. This was after months of dealing with her passive aggression and abuse of authority. To learn that she was relieved of her position a day after successfully completing my appellate oral argument is truly poetic justice. 

I moved to Florida toward the end of undergrad with no car, and no real connections in Florida; my gap year was for the express purpose of gaining knowledge about the legal field beyond my experience in consulting, and for expanding my network. This particular person knew that, and she actively took measures to prevent me from gaining any relevant knowledge. After months of confining me to literal grunt work, after demoting my supervisor for advocating on my behalf, after having to constantly respond to blatant disrespect with composure and dignity, I submitted my two weeks notice. In my resignation letter, I stated that I would be attending law school in the fall. In that moment, she had the audacity to question, to my face, how I was given admission to a law school with such a positive reputation.

After my property class today I got a text message from my former supervisor stating that this certain someone got fired. While I’m not one to relish in the misfortune of others, I can’t help but bask in the irony of it all. In spite of her endless attempts to degrade and embarrass, I continued to preform to the best of my ability, left the firm on good terms, began my legal education, and maintained my dignity. Within that same time frame, she lost her position as a managing attorney after continuously preforming at a mediocre level. In fact, after yesterday’s oral arguments, the judges stated that even though I had a “hot bench”, I was the most composed student they’d seen so far. The bulk of my feedback was positive, and one of the commentators went as far as to suggest that I try out for moot court. While the judges were impressed, much of my ability to maintain a certain demeanor during stressful situations was the result of having to maintain composure at the prior firm. So it truly amuses me that I became more resilient after putting up with such an awful attorney, while her bad attitude finally caught up with her.

My 1L year has been hellish, don’t get me wrong. Many times i questioned my place at this institution, and was overcome with imposter syndrome. But every now and then I remember where I was a year ago, the absolute bullshit I put up with, and the fact that there are people out there who genuinely did not want to see me succeed. And in those moments, I’m suddenly thankful to still have the opportunity to prove those people wrong. The point is, sometimes pettiness is a powerful motivator, and that’s okay. Harness it, kick ass, and bask in the added bonus of spiting whoever doubted you. 

[wine-and-law]

Sleepless Nights, 10,000 Words, and a Celebratory Bottle of Apothic Later...

This appellate brief was printed, bound, and submitted. 

And now for Oral arguments....

[wine-and-law]

No more letting bad days distract me from my goals.

Affirmation of the day. (via riffatmatinpoetry)

[wine-and-law]

Why do the guys I don’t want talk to me, but the guys I do want play hard to get??! Ugh @ my 1L cutie notice me already!!!

Such is life. Perhaps put yourself out there as opposed to waiting and hoping to get noticed? 

[wine-and-law]

All are born free; their liberty belongs to them, and no one but they has the right to dispose of it.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (via philosophybits)

[wine-and-law]

Hopefully these pictures from Barrister’s Ball will make up for my absence over the last two weeks.  

[wine-and-law]

It takes two to speak the truth — one to speak, and another to hear.

Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (via philosophybits)

[wine-and-law]

From Bad Bitch to Sad Bitch: When Law School Dims your Light

Lately my mood and energy levels have been extremely low. And I know it’s normal for our emotions to have ebbs and flows, but to some extent, I think my proclivity to be overwhelmed and unproductive are related to living in Florida. I move much slower than I used to. Doing any errand in Florida seems to take forever, which makes me feel less productive and more anxious by the end of the day. My coping mechanisms aren’t the same as when I lived in NY. I can’t even handle cooler temperatures in the way I used to. I often joke to my boyfriend that since moving to Florida, I’ve gone “soft”. I joke that the “old” me, the New York me, would be disappointed with how slow and dull I’ve become. 

I know, to some it sounds like New Yorkers have a sense of Stockholm syndrome. The city beats you up but your love for it grows stronger. You get weirdly defensive when anyone has the audacity to say something negative about your city, that deep down you know to be true. In spite of the cold, expense, and struggle of being a black woman and first generation American in an unforgiving city, I wouldn’t change my experience for the world. That city shaped my identity. The things I’ve seen prompted my desire to study law, to be an advocate for the least fortunate. New York made me street savvy, frugal, adaptable. It made me a bad bitch. I took pride in my ability to navigate stressful, fast paced environments. I relished knowing that I could be tough when necessary while ultimately choosing to be compassionate towards strangers, because by merit of being New Yorkers, a sense of camaraderie existed among us. I look back at the person I used to be when I lived in New York and I’m in awe at how much vigor I had. I imagine that if the person I was then could look at me now, she’d be disappointed. Sure, I’ve grown and developed in some ways, but ultimately, I feel as though I’ve regressed. New-York-Kristy would take a bad situation as a learning opportunity and roll with it, because New-York-Kristy didn’t have a choice. it was cold, and your only option (quite literally, to keep the chill from creeping into your bones,) was to keep moving. Florida Kristy is perpetually tired, and her joints creak when she moves because she has to drive everywhere as opposed to speed walking from one subway station to another. Florida Kristy mulls over a bad situation or a bad grade and seems to need validation more frequently. Florida Kristy lost a good chunk of her self esteem within a semester of being in law school. 

I frequently struggle with how to harness the energy and perseverance I had just a few years ago. I know I’m not quite old enough to be burnt out yet, but on a physical, emotional, and mental level, I operate like someone who is. The person I was just three or four years ago exists in my memory as someone completely independent from who I am now, and on days when I’m really struggling with my courses, I wonder if that’s necessarily a good thing. 

[wine-and-law]

“Men, be kind to your fellow-men; this is your first duty, kind to every age and station, kind to all that is not foreign to humanity. What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, or On Education