Open Source Legal Information
I’ve started looking for Open Source law projects – where the content is open, as well as the coding, and I’ve found a couple of interesting sites so far. I haven’t checked them out too much for quality, but they’re intriguing:
Get RID of that Dell…
All law students must use Macs. Amazingly, some didn’t get the memo. Twice in one day, I was annoyed by someone behind me starting up a miniature airplane … only to turn around and see that it was their Dell laptop just doing its thing.
I love it, love it, love it! (The Office Memorandum)
This – yes, THIS – is what I’ve been waiting for. What I’ve suspected is out there. The Office Memorandum – what a beautiful concept! From my textbook:
Attorneys working together in the same office tend to communicate their legal analyses in one of three ways: they talk to each other, they e-mail, and they draft office memoranda. Our focus is on written analysis, and so this book examines how to present a legal analysis in an office memorandum or e-mail.
An understood method and mode of communication between attorneys. And taught in law school, no less. I mean, holy cow, the law profession has process. And they even teach it in school.
If only software engineering could make the claim – that it possesses a standard form of communication that’s so widespread, respected and understood.
This is a symbol for what I’ve been looking forward to in my new career in the law – difficult work because the problem itself is difficult, not the meta-problem.
Program Your Way to a J.D.
I read a somewhat negative take on part-time and evening programs, and I just had to write about the situation I’ve created for myself.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m at a school in the Northeast, and I love the area. The part I didn’t mention was my plan for paying for law school: I sized up my school in advance, and periodically checked their “employment” web page. I saw that this school is a great match for my legal goals, and its evening / part-time program is very well established and respected in the legal community.
Eventually, they had an opening, I applied for a programming job, and got it. After one year working, I’m now eligible for the college’s 50% tuition benefit. So I applied for the evening program at my school, was accepted, and now my 1L year has begun.
That’s a great story, but there are many benefits beyond the simple cost reduction:
* I’m already on the campus 9-5, and so it’s very easy for me to pop over to the law school for a meeting or event.
* I really feel how I’m a part of the institution – I’m able to positively affect it in so many ways – my experiences in both roles help inform what I do. (For example, part of my work involves supporting software systems that students use.)
* I can sometimes be a little shy and so it’s been great already having tons of contacts, knowing lots of the law faculty and staff before ever starting school.
* Working at a college is definitely less stressful than most industry jobs – a good thing when going to school.
* I get to park in staff parking spots. 
There may be some drawbacks, that any part-time law student will have – working at the day job instead of getting legal experience, and so I’m thinking about how I’ll handle that. But otherwise, I think this is going to be a great 3 – 4 years.
Reading habits of law students vs. computer programmers
Here’s an interesting article that briefly looks at the issue of reading and studying styles.
