Julie Culpepper, 2L

Hello, I'm Julie Culpepper. It's hard to believe that I'm starting my 3L year, but I'm very excited! I'm interested in family law, specifically international adoption and how it relates to human trafficking. I love coffee, traveling, and good conversations. If you see me around, say hello!

 

March 2012

Already the end of March?!?!  The past few weeks have absolutely flown by-wedding, honeymoon, catching up on school, and submitting my application to sit for the bar exam this summer.  March has been an exceptionally wonderful month!  =)

I won't bore you with details about the wedding other than to say it was perfect.  Also, I received a KitchenAid mixer from my grandma and was maybe more excited about that than I was about my husband (just kidding... kind of).  =)  Of course, my first KitchenAid project involved pumpkin-pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies/scones.  And they were BOMB, if I do say so myself!

In school related news, I'm about to buckle down on my final trial for trial advocacy.  If I haven't already advertised about the trial advocacy program (which I think I have...), here's the deal: it's awesome.  I can't recommend it enough, and I can't recommend my particular professors (Judges Nevin and Williams) enough.  It is the most practically useful course I've taken, and I feel so much more prepared to graduate and go out into the world as a real lawyer.  The final for this course is an actual half-day trial, with jurors and witnesses and everything.  My trial partner and I are nailing down our case theory, preparing our witnesses, and writing our motions and trial brief.  It's a TON of work.

I do have to admit that I am OH-SO-READY to graduate.  I feel like I've been in school forever, and I am ready to get out into the world, get a job, and get on with life.  The bar exam is a daunting hurdle looming over my summer, but I'm ready to put the hours in to pass that sucker and move on.  Now that wedding madness is over, I've started looking into jobs and preparing applications.  Hopefully my next post will include an interview or two!

February 2012

Where has February gone?  The days are ticking by-TWELVE days until the wedding, 82 until graduation...

This semester has turned out so differently than I expected, class-wise.  I am LOVING my family formation course, which was a last minute add-on to my schedule.  It has become one of my favorite classes in all of law school.  It's small-only 11 students-and taught in a very casual, discussion-based format by a professor who passionately cares about both the issues we're covering and his students.  He's even giving me an unsolicited extension on a paper because he knows my wedding is just around the corner.  Oh, and he brings snacks to class... Thanks Professor Harpalani!  The class material is fascinating... we're talking about the sociological, legal, historical, and psychological aspects of forming a family unit.  What is family?  Who gets to choose how "family" is defined?  Hot button topics like abortion, same-sex marriage, contraception, and interracial relationships are all on the table for debate.  And the class make-up is very diverse (well, mostly women, but otherwise a good smattering of ideology and opinion), which makes for lively discussion and usually not a whole lot of agreement.  It's easy to see why these issues are touchy and difficult to lock down in a legislative way.

On the other hand, my Middle Eastern Law class is... not what I expected.  It's shaping up to be a good survey class of Islamic jurisprudence, but it's lacking in the cultural/historical perspective I'm accustomed to as a history major.  I keep thinking of topics for my final research paper, but then have to throw them out because they have absolutely NOTHING to do with the law.  I keep forgetting this is LAW school!

Well folks, the next diary entry will be written by a married woman with a new last name-goodbye Culpepper, hello Barbello!  I'll miss the old moniker (and let's be honest, Culpepper is a pretty legit last name) but I'm excited to start a new life with my man.  =)

January 2012

Snow!  Anyone who is from Seattle or the surrounding area can testify as to how this city shuts down at the slightest hint of snow.  Well, last week we got a full-on snowstorm that sent classes to a screeching halt.  I love a good snow day, and I got three!!  The perfect way to start my last semester of law school (maybe not the administration's dream beginning, but certainly the students'!!).  As a side note, I baked about 1,000 pumpkin muffins to get me through the storm... not good with a wedding coming up!

So, realistically I've only had about a week and a half of school since the semester began, but I'm already thoroughly enjoying my classes.  I'm closing out law school with a decent mix of practical and for-fun courses: trial advocacy (definitely practical), family dissolution (also practical), family formation (not very practical but interesting), and comparative Middle Eastern law (absolutely for-fun).  So far, every class has been great.

I know I've said it before, but I cannot recommend the pretrial/trial advocacy classes highly enough.  More specifically, I cannot recommend my particular professors highly enough.  There are several different professors that offer the course; take Judges Nevin and Williams if at all possible.  Their class is more difficult (from what I've heard from those taking other professors' courses), requires more investment of time and energy, and is a bit more intense.  This class is NOT an easy A (as my grade from last semester proves).  BUT, it is by far the most worthwhile class I've taken.  Ever.  Not just law school, but also counting under grad.  Judges Williams and Nevin actually teach real techniques, pound them in by making you practice over and over, and hold you accountable for things a real lawyer would be held accountable for.  They bridge the gap between real lawyer land (where a mistake or oversight can ruin you and no one is there to hold your hand) and law school (where everything is planned out for you and professors walk you through every little thing).  And they really care.  They take the time to invest in every student, to prepare them for life in the real world as best they can.  DO IT.

Anyway, other than the excitement of Snowmageddon 2012 and a new crop of classes, I've been counting down the days until my wedding (39) and graduation (109).  So many exciting things around the corner!!!

November 2011

I can't believe how quickly the months are flying by!  It's already the beginning of November, which means the semester is nearly over and finals madness is about to begin.  One really excellent thing about my semester is that I only have ONE FINAL.  Yes, ONE!!  Okay, I also have a 10-15 page paper to write during finals, but seriously, this is the lightest end-of-semester load I've ever had.  I'm pretty excited about it.

When one semester winds down, it's time to get excited about choosing classes for the next semester... my last semester of school ever!  Because it's my last chance to take classes, I'm having an agonizing time trying to pick.  Do I go for fun, interesting classes that will likely be useless in a career?  (I.e. Comparative Law: the Middle East, which the history major inside me is dying to take, but will never ever be a practically useful course.)  Or do I spend those last credits on something that may help on the bar or look good on a resume?  (I.e. Business Entities, the foundational business law course that is bound to be more difficult and waaaaayyyyy less fun.)  Decisions, decisions.  Registration for spring is next week, so I'm running out of time.  And it's so hard to choose!!  Stay tuned for that decision...

If you've been following my diaries, you should know by now that Fall is my favorite season.  And October/November are the very best months.  Why?  PUMPKIN.  PUMPKIN IN EVERYTHING.  Pumpkin spice lattes (and those delightful red holiday cups that debuted earlier this week!), pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, carving pumpkins, pumpkin soup, pumpkin curry, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars, pumpkin cheesecake... so much good pumpkin!  I am planning to thoroughly enjoy this holiday season by eating double my weight in pumpkin products, after which I will spend a miserable January and February trying to squeeze into a wedding dress without looking like an over-stuffed sausage... should be fun.

September 2011

I can't believe how quickly this semester is going.  School and wedding planning are keeping me VERY busy, despite the fact that I'm only taking eleven credits this semester.  I thought that would make for a nice, easy work load, but not so much!  Though externships are a great way to get class credit and practical work experience at the same time, I feel like they're a lot more work than any class would be.  At least, that's how it is at MLPC.  A three credit class might require a couple hours a week for homework; a three credit externship is at least twelve hours.  It's certainly keeping me busy!

The good news is, I feel like I'm getting really great experience in a real-life law office.  A lot of my time is spent researching for client cases-real clients with real problems that don't fit into perfect little law school boxes.  Real cases are messy and complicated; even if on the surfaced they seem simple.   MLPC is truly a medical-legal partnership-doctors and hospital social workers refer cases to us that have some legal component.  Our cases can range from compelling a landlord to fix a mold problem that is causing a tenant's child to be ill, to appealing the termination or denial of Medicaid for a disabled child, to helping a parent challenge their school district over their child's special education IEP.  It's really interesting work with a huge human interest component, which I love.

I've done several client intake interviews, which are wonderful-definitely my favorite part of the job so far!  Most of the time these people are just so excited that someone is listening to them that they aren't really concerned about whether you can even help them or not.  They just want to know that someone cares enough to take the time to hear their story.  It feels really good to be that person, to listen and ask questions and know that just those small acts make a difference.  Of course, it feels even better when you have an answer to their problem!  I have a few face-to-face client/witness interviews set up for next week, and my supervisor has even assigned me to do an Administrative Hearing later on this semester-real life oral argument!  I'm kind of terrified and kind of excited...

In other news, I'd recommend to everyone to take Comprehensive Pretrial Advocacy at some point in law school.  No other class is as practical and hands-on.  It's definitely a lot of work, but I feel like it's useful work-work I can take with me into real life.

And some closing advice: DO NOT try to plan a wedding while in law school.  Looking at wedding blogs will always trump doing homework, and that is not a good thing!!

August 2011

Today is my last first day of class EVER.  (Or, as a most depressing classmate told me, yesterday was the last day of the last summer break we'd ever have.)  I'm very excited to kick of my 3L year... one step closer to being a real person with a real job!

My class schedule has been in flux the last two weeks or so because I just got an externship for the fall at Medical Legal Partnership for Children, a part of the Northwest Justice Project here in Seattle.  I had to drop another class to make room for MLPC, but I think it will be worth it... I'll report back how it goes!  I'm very excited!

Other than the externship, I'm taking some practical classes (aka maybe not so excited about them)-Trusts & Estates, Comprehensive Pretrial Advocacy, and a family law Drafting Lab.  I think all of them will be very helpful courses, even if not the most exciting.  Sometimes you have to buckle down!

The other big news in my life (and yes, this is a shameless announcement) is that I got engaged about two weeks ago while on my epic Montana/Canada road trip!  Woohoo!  The lucky man is a fellow law student who I met the very first day of 1L year-we were both in Section B and began carpooling to class together.  Funny how those things work out.  =)

July 2011

I'm almost six weeks into my externship at the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and I can't believe how quickly the summer is flying by!  Only two weeks of work to go.  I'm planning a big end-of-summer trip to Montana to visit Glacier National Park, followed by camping up in Canada at Banff/Lake Louise.  It's going to be epic!!

But back to the serious stuff: my externship.  It's been different than I expected, but still a great learning experience.  OCR (Office for Civil Rights) takes a very educational approach to externships, meaning they haven't piled on a bunch of work to take advantage of some free labor.  This is good and bad news, though-I've been given plenty of time to learn the ropes and do some easy projects, but I also get the feeling that anything I do is more for my educational benefit than to be useful.

That said, the work OCR does is incredibly interesting.  The Seattle office is one of eleven regional offices around the country.  Our jurisdiction includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, and all the Pacific trust islands (Guam, Northern Marianas, etc).  We investigate complaints against educational entities that receive federal funding-schools, universities, trade schools, libraries, vocational rehabilitation programs, etc-involving discrimination based on race, sex, disability, and age.  OCR actually has a pretty narrow mandate, to be honest.  We don't really have a lot of bite to back up our bark.  Our last resort is to take away federal funding from any recipient who doesn't comply with our anti-discrimination regs, but that's never actually happened (or maybe once or twice a long time ago).  We usually can work some resolution agreement out before it gets that far.

So far I've worked on a school pledge of loyalty that someone has interpreted as being racist, sexual orientation-based bullying in a middle school, and a failure to implement a disabled student's 504 plan for disciplinary accommodations.   I've also gotten to read a bunch of C-R-A-Z-Y people ranting about imaginary conspiracies to "keep them down."  Seriously, for every one legitimate complaint we get (i.e. alleging an actual instance of discrimination that is within OCR's jurisdiction) we get ten nut-jobs complaining about the most random things (i.e. the bank repossessed my car without any regard for the fact that I'm a veteran and I was serving this country in the trenches while the bank representative was still in diapers!).

So, while I haven't gotten the high-stress/high-workload law experience I was expecting, I have learned a ton about what it might be like to work for the government or in a civil rights related field.  And I feel like I've learned buckets about discrimination, something I've never personally faced and never really understood before now.  I've really appreciated the mentorship I've received at OCR as well-it's probably the best part about doing this externship.  They've really taken time to teach me and look out for me here.  That's what makes externships so great... I highly recommend doing at least one while in law school!

May 2011

Happy summer!  It's been a blissful two weeks of doing NOTHING except relax, play, sleep, and travel.  I've been to visit my family in Boise, took a little trip down to central Oregon, gone hiking and biking, watched lots of movies, and SLEPT.  It's so nice to have this little vacation before I start work.

Yes: work.  I landed an externship as the US Department of Education in the Office of Civil Rights.  Sounds impressive, right?  The office is right smack in the middle of downtown Seattle with a gorgeous view of the Sound.  As far as I know, I'll be working to investigate and report on complaints of discrimination in public education settings-libraries, museums, and all public schools in Washington.  Our jurisdiction includes any complaint of discrimination based on sex, race, age, or disability.  I'm pretty stoked!!  I don't start until next week, so I have no clue what it will actually be like... stay tuned!

Until then, I plan to soak up my time of leisure as much as I can!

April 2011

I can't believe this semester is nearly over.  Only FOUR days of class left, then finals begin.  This semester I only have two in-class finals, which is kind of great.  I also have one take-home exam, which is great in that I don't have to memorize anything but crappy in that I'll spend WAY more time on it than my in-class exams combined, probably.  Legal Writing II will be over next week after I do my final oral argument... I will be SO GLAD to get that finished!  I feel like I can see the finish line of the marathon that is LWII!

Still no news on the job front.  I've had a few interviews that have gone well, which is a great confidence booster, but nothing that has solidified into a job.  On the plus side, I'm now a pro at writing cover letters (well... maybe not a pro since it hasn't actually led to a job... but you know...).  On the negative side, I may be the new barista at your neighborhood Starbucks this summer.  With some sort of legal volunteership on the side, of course.  I'm signed up to take a really interesting class at SU over the summer on electronic legal research, which I'm excited about.  I never knew before starting law school how important legal writing and research were.  Anything I can do to sharpen those skills before I graduate is a bonus, especially because our school has such a great reputation for legal writing.  (Call me crazy, but I'm actually thinking about ADVANCED legal writing next semester!)

On a side note, spring has finally arrived in Seattle (I think).  I actually wore flip flops yesterday!  Spring means tasty fruit season is upon us, and tasty fruit season means FRUIT PIES!!  I love baking pie, it's probably my most favorite thing to bake.  I'm planning to hit up the local farmers market this weekend to get rhubarb.  If you haven't experienced strawberry-rhubarb pie, you haven't lived!!!

March 2011

I'm in the middle of a MUCH-NEEDED spring break, taking this time off to get my feet back under me.  It's been such a busy semester, and I feel like the work is never ending!  Legal Writing II will do that, I guess.  Literally the day after we turned in our motion briefs, our professor assigned us our next (and much more difficult) project: the appellate brief.  Wah wah.  That assignment has dominated most of my free time, although I've refused to let it ruin my spring break.  In fact, I haven't even touched it since this break started!
I went to the Oregon Coast for the first half of break, and it was glorious... monsoon rains, hurricane winds, and not one minute of schoolwork!  For me, it's really important to take a break when I need one, and I definitely needed one.  I feel like I can get back into school with renewed excitement about what I'm learning.  Perspective about why I'm putting myself through all this work is vital-I'm excited to be a lawyer!  This is all going to be worth it!

The summer job search continues.  I have a few applications out, and two interviews done.  Moment of honesty: I've never interviewed for a real job before.  Crazy, right?  My one long-term job was at a coffee shop... I rode by bike over from my house with a folded up copy of my resume, was interviewed by the owner, and offered the job on the spot, bike and all.  So I was reeeeeeaaaally nervous about these interviews.  But I felt so good about them!  I felt like I represented myself and who I am and what I want to do, to the point that if I don't get the job, I know it's because I wasn't right for it (and it wasn't right for me!).  And that's a really great feeling.

February 2011

I can't believe it's already mid-February.  Where has the time gone? 

Oh, that's right; it's gone into hours and hours of writing my motion brief rough draft for Legal Writing II.  They do not lie when they say that class is a HUGE time investment!  I do have to say, though, that the Legal Writing Program is top notch.  The professors make us work really hard... they nitpick at the smallest mistakes, they push us to be constantly researching and re-researching to understand our issues, and they make us write draft after draft after draft.  BUT, the end result is major confidence.  I feel like I'll be able to meet pretty much any standard when it comes to researching and writing for my future bosses.  I had no idea when I started law school how important legal writing is.  As a history major in undergrad, I wrote a lot of papers.  I could churn out a ten-pager in about three hours, no problem.  But legal writing is a different beast.  And our Legal Writing profs help us tame it... sometimes with gentle feedback ("Great general rules section, but watch those unnecessary words."), sometimes with a little more directness ("Citations-yes, you need them.  And don't give me that nonsense about being a history major.").  And yes, those are real critiques from one of my memos...

Anyway, since I'm finally done with the brief (for now), I have a little bit of time to work on job/externship applications.  I should have been doing all of this over Christmas, but I just couldn't bring myself to think about it when there were so many Jersey Shore marathons on TV.  Our Externship Director, Gillian Dutton, suggested that I take a look at some judicial externships available this summer.  Externing for a judge basically entails LOTS of research, writing, a little courtroom observation time, and more writing.  Not exactly what I'm most excited about, but it looks reeeeeeally good on a resume.  I'm also tossing around some opportunities at the AG's office and the King County Bar Association, as well as a paid (PAID!!!) clerking position at a family law firm downtown.  At this point, I'm not really being picky... legal experience is legal experience, and that's what I want!

January 2011

And so starts another semester.  I'm half a lawyer!  It feels so weird to be on the downward slope of law school.  I kept joking with my brother over the break that he better be nice to me, or else I'd be writing him out of our parents' will... he's got one and a half years to convince me otherwise!

Christmas break was the usual jumble of relaxing with family, playing with friends, and nervously awaiting grades (although much less stressful than that 1L wait!).  It's always such an uncomfortable mix-hoping that your hard work and dedication paid off, dreading that you totally bombed or anchored the curve.  And unfortunately, grades still haven't come out yet.  It was NOT COOL to start classes and have homework while still waiting for last semester's grades!  I guess the professors were also enjoying their Christmas breaks...  And so did I.  I spent time with family in Oregon and Idaho, and rang in the New Year in Breckinridge, Colorado.  It was NEGATIVE TEN DEGREES.  No thank you!  I did, however, get to see Snookie in the plastic hamster ball that dropped on the Jersey Shore.  You all know how I love that show.  Snookie totally lived up to the hype.

I am, however, very excited to be back.  My new batch of classes is (so far) really interesting and engaging.  I'm signed up for Legal Writing II, Law & Violence Against Women, Evidence, and Public Benefit Law.  Compared with last semester, I'm thinking this one will provide a slightly lighter work load.  (After nearly dying last semester under the crushing weight of Con Law, I'm ready for some breathing room!)  Public Benefit Law was kind of a late add-on because nothing else really sounded interesting, and now I'm thinking that it's going to be one of my favorite classes.  It's team-taught by two young attorneys who are actually practicing welfare law.  I always like taking classes from practicing attorneys; I think it gives such a different (maybe more practical) perspective than the one you get from professors who are more academically focused.  It's great to learn the theory and history and classic case law, but it's another thing altogether to hear from lawyers who are actually in the trenches, dealing with the law in their practices every day.  These two in particular are wading through the complicated and devastatingly under-funded realm of welfare assistance, with all the negative stereotypes that entails.  I don't know much about poverty law or what assistance is available, or what laws surround it to stamp out abuse of the system, so it will be very enlightening to learn it from people who live and breathe it every day.

January also brings with it the pressure to get my summer plans ironed out.  Of course, I did nothing over Christmas break.  So I'll be filling out applications and meeting with the Externship Director in the next few weeks, trying to figure out what I'll be doing this summer.  Stay tuned!

November 2010

It is official: my favorite time of year has arrived! I love love love love the fall season, especially in Seattle. Colorful leaves on the trees, days cool enough to wear scarves and boots but warm enough to sport dresses and cardigans without heavy coats, and all things PUMPKIN. Chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin beer (go to the Elysian and try some now!), pumpkin curry, pumpkin spice americanos, roasted pumpkin seeds... and let's not forget the crowning glory of fall, pumpkin pie!

November has always been one of my favorite months of the school year. Because my schedule this semester is arranged so that I only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays*, November is truly my jackpot month this time around-Veterans Day and Thanksgiving both fall on a Thursday (that's ten classes cancelled!!). Don't get me wrong, I love law school. But who doesn't like having class cancelled? Especially for Thanksgiving, when I am excused for eating ten times my own body weight worth of mashed potatoes, green beans, and pumpkin pie!

It will be an especially welcome break, as 2L is certainly living up to the "work you to death" tagline. The good news is that I'm in classes that I chose, which means two things: (1) I only have myself to blame for all this work, and (2) I find it all pretty interesting. My most interesting reading this week was on inter-country adoptions for Adoption Law. Though the US hasn't ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or the Hague Conventions, most private adoption agencies in the US still comply with those regulations. The US has such a different stance on family and family rights than the rest of the world, or maybe it just seems that way. Europe's highest courts recognize an individual right to have a private family, to marry, and to reproduce. We don't have anything like that in our Constitution, nor have we ratified any international treaty that does. It will be very interesting to see how these issues develop in the near future... I feel like change can't be too far away. A court in Florida just threw out a statute that prohibited practicing homosexuals from adopting, regardless of whether it would be in the best interest of the child to be adopted. Supreme Court here's hoping you do your part.

Finals are in one month. It's kind of sad how the countdown to December is more about two weeks of solid death (finals) than the glory of Christmas vacation. But oh, how lovely that vacation is when it comes!

*If you are interested in this schedule or think this sounds like a good idea, come find me and I will set you straight. It is a miserable schedule. I was so smug thinking that I'd only be on campus twice a week and would have so much free time because of my awesome scheduling skills... sigh, so mistaken...

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September 2010

Summer has resulted in a brain turned to molasses from frolicking in the Spanish sun and watching too much Jersey Shore. (Seriously, though, have you seen that show? Addictive doesn't even begin to explain the train wreck that is Jersey Shore. I love it.) I can't believe that it's already time for classes to begin again... didn't I just finish finals?! I spent my summer in Madrid on a study abroad program run through Saint Louis University, a wonderful break from "real" law courses and a fantastic way to explore a part of Europe I've always wanted to visit. The program also included a week in The Hague visiting the International Criminal Court and the tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. We got to sit in on the Charles Taylor blood diamond trial in the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone... what an incredible experience! Though I'm pretty sure I don't want to practice international criminal law, visiting these international courts was an amazing glimpse at how the nations of the world are trying to collectively fight injustice. Not a perfect system, but a system that is sloooooowly trying to put things right as much as it can.

My eight weeks in Europe came with the bonus of watching the World Cup with masses of passionate Spanish (and Dutch) supporters. The two countries I visited, Spain and the Netherlands, ended up in the final. Honestly, I think I may be a good luck charm... European countries should really consider flying me in to give their teams a boost. Maybe the Octopus and I can have a traveling show. I love soccer, and it was the experience of a lifetime to be in Madrid for the celebrations.

Now it's on to my 2L year. It is weird to think that I'm nearly halfway done with law school. I think the saying that 2L year will work you to death is true... the work isn't necessarily harder, there's just more of it. That said, I feel like I finally have school figured out. There's always more to learn, but my wide-eyed 1L days are behind me. (Hooray!) It's nice to feel like I know what to expect, and what is expected of me!

Things I know now that I didn't when I started my 1L year:

1. A tort is not a tasty dessert.
2. Finals are scary, but not as scary as my computer crashing weeks before I have to take them. Goodbye memo three draft...
3. Facebooking in class is not a good idea.
4. If I look hard enough, I will always be able to find free food somewhere in the building.
5. Having class on Monday is a good thing, because all the holidays are on Monday and I love having class cancelled for holidays.
6. I drink too much coffee.
7. I miss my section-mates. Who are all these new people?!
8. Constitutional Law is both fascinating and terrifying. Also, I hate Justice Scalia. Why does he feel the need to write a ten page long concurring (or, more likely, dissenting) opinion for every case?
9. Legal writing is somehow much harder than normal writing.
10. John Strait. He's my hero. If you haven't taken a class with him, do it now!!