Student Diary: Steven Spitze, 3L
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Student Diary: Steven Spitze, 3L |
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Well Christmas break is over, and the Spring Semester is off and running. I had a great break. I spent a lot of great time with my wife and family, traveled a little, and went skiing in California, Utah, and Nevada. I had a little over three weeks off, and every day I kept telling myself that this was my last true break.
Christmas break of the third year is the last true break for law students, because once you graduate you must begin studying for the bar. Thus, although graduating law school is a great accomplishment, it will not be much of a break because the stress of the bar exam will be very weighty – but that is a topic I would prefer not to think about at this point.
So far this semester is shaping up nicely. I am taking Corporate Governance, Trusts and Estates, Professional Responsibility, Trial Advocacy, and Advanced Legal Writing for a total of 15 credits. I will have two final exams (Trusts and Estates and Professional Responsibility), two final papers in Corporate Governance and Writing, and a “trial” for Trial Advocacy. I am really looking forward to the trial we will complete in Trial Advocacy; we will do a complete trial in front a judge and jury. Preparing for this trial will be a huge amount of work, but it will be a great experience, and a great opportunity to bring many of law school’s classes together (procedure, evidence, torts, contracts, etc…) for the final event, what a great way to finish law school.
I really can’t believe how quickly my law school experience has gone by. Three years is a long time, but in retrospect, I cannot believe how quickly it is coming to an end. This has been a very enjoyable experience. Law school is challenging. But, if you work hard you will do just fine. More importantly, you learn a great deal not only about the law, but about life.
The skills you develop in law school are very valuable. This value is not only articulated in job opportunities, of which there are many. But, you truly look at the world differently. I recall my wife telling me, prior to beginning law school, that law school changes the way you think. I asked her to explain, but she couldn’t; she simply said, you begin to think like a lawyer. I can remember after each semester, and each year of law school, thinking about the ways in which my own thinking had changed. Of course, my thinking had changed in terms of specific topics. For example, after taking torts, I saw the world through a paradigm which allowed me to spot all of the potential torts in the world, and all of the ways that people were acting negligently. However, as I continued through law school I noticed that my thinking changed in more subtle ways. At this point, I notice that I am able to think about things in a much broader, analytical sense…I recognize specific legal issues, but I am also able to apply a much more logical, legal analysis; it is hard to explain, so now I understand why my wife did not provide a more detailed answer to my question three years ago.
“Apply for graduation.”
OK, now I can begin to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. The registrar recently sent an email to 3Ls, requesting each of us to complete an application for graduation. Although law school has been a great ride, I have to admit I was excited to fill in the personal information I wanted printed on my diploma. Graduation will be a great day, but, I’m not there yet…
This semester has proven to be one of the most challenging since my 1L year. As I’ve said before, the difficulty of your 2L and 3L years of law school depends, largely, on the classes you choose, and the activities in which you participate. Although by your 3L year you become much more efficient at studying, the complexity of new material continues to be challenging. Moreover, most substantive classes involve a large volume of work. Therefore, the 3L year is no easy task, especially if you take a number of substantive classes. However, in light of the upcoming bar, I find I am even more motivated to buckle down and study.
One of the interesting things that happens during your 3L year is seeing the bar results posted in October. Many of the friends you make as a 2L, who graduated the previous May, take the bar exam during the Summer. The list of those who passed the bar exam is posted in October. And, unfortunately, some of those friends’ names will not appear on the list (meaning they did not pass the bar). This is, of course, very sad for those who did not pass, but most will retake the bar, and pass next time. However, for 3Ls it is a reminder not only of how challenging the bar exam is, and the fact that it is coming up quickly – this summer, but it is also a reminder that although you are completing law school, many challenges lie ahead; such is life. For the time being, I will enjoy being a 3L…
Until next time.
Wow! I can’t believe school is starting again. Although this summer was one week longer (because school started a week later), it really seemed to fly by; as they say, all good things must come to an end. This was a great summer. In addition to working, my wife and I made two trips to Mexico, spending a total of three weeks traveling along the Pacific Coast of that beautiful country.
At any rate, I am beginning my third, and final, year of law school. Although law school is very demanding, it is also very rewarding, and fun. Therefore, I am in no hurry for it to end. Nonetheless, despite the old saying (“the first year they scare you to death, the second year they work you to death, and the third year they bore you to death”), I will not be bored this year.
I will not be bored because I chose some rather challenging classes this semester, including Uniform Commercial Code and Bankruptcy. I chose these courses largely because of my experiences working for a law firm this past summer.
This summer I worked as a summer associate at a law firm, in Bellevue, named, Inslee, Best, Doezie and Ryder. I had a great time working for Inslee Best, and I had the great fortune of working primarily on business and corporate matters (municipal corporations and for-profit entities). I felt fortunate to work for these practice groups because I am interested in business and corporate law, and having the opportunity to work in these areas confirmed my interest.
Moreover, my experiences at Inslee Best illustrated the importance of taking business-related law classes in law school – if one is planning on working in that field. In a nutshell, it is important to take these classes in law school because if you don’t learn it in law school you will have to teach yourself about the topic when faced with it in practice. Therefore, although one cannot take classes on every area of the law in law school, if one knows what area they are interested in, while in law school, it is smart to choose classes accordingly.
For example, last semester I took Federal Income Tax and Business Entities. These classes, especially Business Entities, prepared me to tackle many of the business issues I worked on this summer (thanks Professor Powell). I can honestly say that I would not have been prepared to tackle the business projects I dealt with this summer if I would not have taken Business Entities. So, my advice to future and current law students (at least those students who plan on practicing law after graduation) is to take classes that are going to prepare you to practice law, not just classes that sound fun or easy.
As a final comment about my work experience this summer, I was amazed at how much I had actually learned in law school. What I mean by that comment is I did not really appreciate the collective learning experience I had gained in two years of law school until I was faced with many, many complex issues this summer. Law school, especially Seattle University, teaches you to think like a lawyer, to be a practitioner, to analyze complex, multi-faceted, legal issues and develop sound legal solutions, or in the alternative, know what questions to ask the experienced senior partner, so he or she can help you…
Ok, enough for now. I need to hit the books. More to follow…