My Life in Words

Thoughts on Life

micahcbrooks — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:06:28 +0000

The fragility of life is something that is often taken for granted. I’m not going to spit out some cliche about how life is short, because in all honesty I don’t believe life is short. What I do believe, however, is that you never know how long or “short” your life will be.

Too often I spend my time assuming that tomorrow will be there for me, but I’m constantly being reminded how much that isn’t the case. All I want to say is love your family–especially your parents, love your friends, and most importantly (for me at least) love God.

Have fun. Live life.

Reason #1 Why I Hate Law School

micahcbrooks — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:36:55 +0000

Welcome to a recurring series of random one-offs about why I hate law school. The number I assign to each reason does not correspond to the level of hatred said reason causes for law school. Rather, I’ll just post these as they come to mind. If I’m feeling not-bitter enough, I start a “Why I Love Law School” series.

Reason #1 Why I Hate Law School: We debate why not being able to tell other people your address may or may not be a restriction on use of property and convince ourselves that this is strong, analytical, legal thinking when really it’s just a bunch of intellectual –redacted– to convince ourselves we’re smart lawyers.

Have fun. Live life.

What a Hot Summer Looks Like

micahcbrooks — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:08:13 +0000

I present to you a series of photos depicting my summer.

I had an office

Yes.

Your 2011 NBA World Champions

Dallas at Night

Sunset on a man-made pond

I Just Don’t . . .

micahcbrooks — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:26:00 +0000

. . . care about Property. I especially don’t care about the history of the American Legal Tradition, and I definitely don’t care about fancy latin terms ~~lawyers~~ judges use to convince themselves, and others, they are more knowledgeable than the general public (they very well may be, but it’s not because they use latin terms which I’m sure less than 50% of them can actually pronounce).

They say that during 1L law school scares you to death, during 2L law school works you to death, and during 3L law school bores you to death. “Now concerning” the first year: mere exaggerations on the part of others. It was stressful, and difficult at times, but fear is for the weak (especially fear of an educational institution). This year…I’m already bored to death. Well, let me clarify. I ~~decided~~ made the mistake of taking Corporations during my 1L Spring semester, opting to take Property (a typical first year course) during my second year. It’s understandable why courses like Civil Procedure, Torts, Property, The Administrative State, Contracts, and Crim are required first year courses. Sure, they’re the “foundations of our American Legal System,” but they also are insanely boring and the only people who would actually pay attention are those few academic types who are genuinely interested in the nuances contained within these subject areas (umm…not me), and overly-stressed 1Ls who are lead to believe they should listen to, and copy down, every word the omniscient professor says during a two-hour class period.

I'm not this bored...

I’ll focus on the classes I like: Securities Regulations, Income Tax (lolwut) and my Corporate Law Theory Seminar. Much more relevant and practical (except for the seminar), and they tend to leave all that academic blah blah outside (again, except for the seminar).

Brittany, this is the closest I could come to saying that I hate law school.

Have Fun. Live Life.

40 Days of Triple-Digit Weather, and Other Stuff…

micahcbrooks — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:09:42 +0000

I write this with an understanding of the nature of the information contained in this post. I understand that many of my classmates are currently going through the stressful process of OCI and that thousands of other law students around the country are doing the same. With that said, please understand that I am in no way trying to gloat about what is happening in my life right now, I just want to share with non-LS friends what is happening with me, as numerous people have commented on the cessation of my blogging.

Hokay, here we go. My summer has been, in one word, amazing. The firm I worked with this summer is top-notch from the people who work there to the work we do. I made a lot of new friends and enjoyed the company of my co-workers a lot more than I ever thought I would. God has done some amazing things in my life and I’m completely grateful for everything. Best news, I just accepted my offer to return to work with this firm for the Summer of 2012. Looks like this is where I’ll be spending my ~~40 hour~~ (let’s be real) 65+ hour work weeks over the upcoming years. On a slightly related (but not really) note, it’s always funny when people ask me what type of legal work I want to do, mainly because it’s never as exciting as they expect it to be.

Surprisingly, I can’t wait to get back to New York so I can do some more exploring and actually enjoy the city this year. I have no Monday classes in either the fall or the spring (#biwinning), and I’ll hopefully have the resources to do more things around the city. I also miss my rooftop terrace at the apartment….

Cool View, eh?

I’m hoping my second year of law school will be much more enjoyable than the first. I’ll be taking classes I actually want to take (except for Federal Courts…what was I thinking?) Two weeks until I leave the great State of Texas for the not-as-great State of New York. Catch me while you can.

Have fun. Live life.

Secretaries Save Lives

micahcbrooks — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 04:43:49 +0000

I don’t really have much to say despite the fact that I’ve been working at an amazing firm for three weeks. Once again affirming that I made the right choice. Also, LET’S GO MAVS!

I think the term “secretary” doesn’t do the position justice. Neither does “administrative assistant.” No, I think these fine people should be called “life savers.” How they are able to keep everything so organized, know your daily schedule better than you do, navigate the inner-workings of the office with ease is far beyond me. My life saver is to me what Dirk is to the Mavs. I can only imagine how much more helpful she would be if I were a junior associate…Props to them. Mad props.

I love my life, I love my job ~~and I hate law school.~~

Have fun. Live life.

Musings From a SA Who Thinks He Knows All

micahcbrooks — Tue, 31 May 2011 03:58:19 +0000

My first week of work was amazing. That’s all I need to say about that, for fear of breaching my confidentiality agreement.

If anything, my summer position has made me loathe law school even more. I scoff (even more than I originally did) at the idea that law school actually teaches you the law. I don’t even know if law school teaches you how to think like a lawyer. Law school certainly doesn’t teach you how to write (effectively). Take a look at a brief written by your run-of-the-mill lawyer (or my blog, for that matter), and you’ll likely end up fighting the urge to vomit.

I’m not looking forward to going back to law school in August. Not because I hate it so much that I’ll be a depressed wreck for 8 months, but only because the entire time – as I go through EIW, as I (hopefully) edit articles for one of NYU’s many journals, as I attend weekly bar reviews, as I cram for finals at the end of the semester – I’ll only be thinking about one thing: all the experience and knowledge I gained (will gain) in just 10 weeks of summer employment with a firm I can see myself working with long term. Unfortunately, law school is one of the many things I’ll need to check off before I can jump into my career.

Who knows, maybe 2L will be more relevant, as I’ll have the opportunity to actually choose what classes I take. Maybe I’ll find a professor who ends up being an amazing mentor who provides me with invaluable academic and career advice. I’m not holding my breath, though.

Yeah, I know this post is very…negative. I’ll contrast it all by saying that I love where I am in life right now. God has been amazing and I’m very much happy to be back in Texas (the greatest state in the union).

Also, if you haven’t heard of BoyceAvenue, you’re doing it wrong.

Have fun. Live life.

Tomorrow is the First Day of the Rest of my…Career?

micahcbrooks — Mon, 23 May 2011 02:20:09 +0000

Tomorrow I’ll be starting my first day with the firm I’ll be working with this summer (and the second half of next summer). Excited? You bet. Nervous? Yup. Ready to “do work?” Definitely. With God as my guide, and through the use of my undeniable charm, I’ll make sure to turn heads. Check back for updates about my ~~failures~~ successes on the job!

Have Fun. Live life.

The End of 1L Year – New York and I Make Amends

micahcbrooks — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:59:37 +0000

First off, let us all take time out of this day and celebrate (thank goodness)! Yesterday evening, after 3 and one-half hours of frantic typing – attempting to fit and analyze as many issues as possible in my final exam – marked the end of my first year of law school. If I weren’t so lazy and queasy right now (I ate a random assortment of food last night, none of which was good for me) I’d read back to my first post about law school and evaluate my changed feelings. I’m sure I’ll do that at some point over the summer, after our writing competition (YAY!). It really is crazy to think that 8-and-some-odd months have gone by. Time is beginning to fly so fast, before I know it I’ll be 35 with kids…

Well, now that I have finished my first year of law school (and am packing in preparation for my departure to Dallas) I figured I should probably make amends with the City of New York. You see, New York and I have had a rough relationship full of ups and downs. What with its congested streets, polluted air, trash-filled walkways, slush-filled sidewalks and extended winters, New York was *this* close to making me lose my mind. All that being said, it’s a great city and I’m glad I decided to go to NYU. Now, I would never live here, considering the NYC COL and the fact that Texas essentially pays the same (bonuses not included), but I’m not too proud to admit that New York is an amazing city that has so much to offer, and I look forward to the next two years of my life.

Well, I need to go mourn the fact that I woke up an hour earlier than I was supposed to for my flight.

Have fun. Live life.

Four Stages of Understanding

micahcbrooks — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:47:38 +0000

I have a “super professor” who presents complicated theories and ideas as if they are readily understandable and simply a matter of common sense . I’ve noticed that I’ve gone through a few stages of coping with the matter, who knows where it will end.

First Stage: Laughing It Off and/or Joking About It

In this stage I just laugh about the issue and convince myself that it is simply a matter of adjusting to the professor’s teaching style. I remind myself of my intelligence (even though there is doubt in the back of my mind), and assure myself that in a few days I’ll fully grasp what the professor is saying.

Second Stage: Laughing It Off and/or Joking About It?

This stage is almost like stage one, except the self-doubt pervades even more. I’m laughing and joking about it but laughing and joking are really just may ways of hiding the underlying fear and anger about the issue. Things can only get worse from here . . .

Third Stage: Anger (My current stage as of 2/7/2011)

“WTF is this professor talking about? How can he say this is “easily understandable?” Does he not realize he has been studying this issue for decades and this is our first time looking at these competing theories? How dare he expect us to understand this issue, it’s not even important. Why would I ever need to understand this? I’m not ever going to practice in this field.”

These are things I ask/tell myself whenever I encounter this subject. It’s my way of justifying my apathy towards the issue – I’m not going to bust my butt for this because it’s not worth it. This is probably the most dangerous stage of coping with the issue because it can result in an increase in apathy and laziness. Luckily, at some point, a grow up and realize I need to stop being a baby.

Fourth and Final Stage: War

Here is where I dig myself out of the hole I have dug for myself in the previous stage. I berate myself for becoming apathetic and lazy, and I remind myself about how this benefits my future (even if I’ll never research a case in this field during my career). I’m hoping I reach this stage soon. Maybe buying some supplements will help me transition more quickly.

Have fun. Live life.