Fake it 'til you make it!

My favourite line was recited in class today by the guest lecturer on criminal procedure:

Fake it, 'til you make it.

Boo ya! I live by this!  I haven't quite "made-it" in every circumstance, but am still alive and thriving so I haven't given up on my theory just yet.  I feel elated from having my own life's theme substantiated from an experienced and prominent Crown counsel in Vancouver.

Then he spoke about having success in the courtroom and said, "There is no magic."

WHAT!! There is no such thing as MAGIC!?!?

My dreams are crushed....

Yesterday, we had to record a direct examination in a criminal case.  My partner and I acted for defence counsel and had to examine the accused and his wife.  I am terrified of the courtroom! Even a two-person exercise, with no judge, and a video camera intimidates me.  But, something came over me yesterday... I got excited!

This excitement lead to me putting my trial book together last night for the mock civil trial and got me thinking about my role as defence counsel.

To keep you in the loop, here are the summarized facts of the case:

• The Plaintiff, Sam Messer, bought an outboard motor from Langley Outboard Motors Ltd.
• Langley normally conducts the pre-delivery inspection of the motor but Sam did not have time before leaving from Vancouver to Merritt so Langley suggested that a company in Merritt, Nicola Sporting Goods Ltd., inspect the motor.
• Sam brought the motor to Nicola Sporting Goods Ltd. and an employee, Bobby Turner, inspected the motor.  She told him that the inspection was clear.
• Sam then took the motor to Candle Lake and attached the motor and gas tank to this boat.
• He took the boat past a pier on the lake and started the motor.
• On the west side of the pier, it is calm waters running towards the pier and the east side is open and runs into Roaring Falls Creek with a strong current.
• The motor started right away but then died ten minutes later while he was situated in the middle of the lake.
• He waited ten minutes, changed the spark plug (without consulting the manual), and the motor started on the second pull.
• He went back and had lunch and a few beer and went back out on the lake without checking the motor again.
• The motor wouldn't start and he got pulled toward fast moving Roaring Falls Creek and the boat flipped and Sam had to swim to shore.
• The boat was salvaged a week later and Sam had the salvagers keep the boat in exchange for the cost of salvaging it, as it was allegedly only worth the parts.
• Sam is an experienced fisherman, having owned outboard motor boats for over 25 years.
• Sam knew that he was close to Roaring Falls Creek when he launched on the east side of the pier, instead of the calm west side.
• Sam did not testify to ventilating the gas tank prior to starting the motor.
• Bobby Turner states that not ventilating the motor may lead to its failure shortly after it starting.

My role is counsel acting for Nicola Sporting Goods Ltd.  Sam Messer is claiming negligence against my client.

Ha. Good luck Mr. Messer! He won't know what hit him!

I blame my new zest for litigation on spontaneously volunteering my recorded direct examination from yesterday to be watched by the whole class (and criticised by the guest lecturer). Eeek! Seriously regretting this decision now...

I'll keep ya posted on how red my face goes and how far I slink down into my seat.

Love: Miss-A

Manic (aka PANIC) Monday!

My booze-blues Sunday lead to an epiphany that I really need to smarten up, SLAP out of it (for any Cougar Town watchers), and start on a better, more positive path. That means having an end goal rather than floating around, spending money, and wasting time. :)

I started off this more positive path with a rainy morning run. I was still smiling when I got back which was a good sign...right?!? Feeling motivated!

Things still going great and a friend even offered to drive me to class! Wowza. Things are looking up!

Class started (with me being a tad bit late - but coffee in hand so worth it!); and its Criminal Procedure time.

Then the bomb hit.

We have left civil procedure and moved onto criminal procedure.  Unfortunately, the CIVIL mock trial is on Saturday and the time for preparation is slowly diminishing.  This week consists of: a direct examination exercise (recorded) tomorrow; lecture, cross-examination, guest lecturer, and video on Wednesday until 5pm; Thursday consists of a lecture and practice exercise on opening and closing statements; and finally we get a day to prepare for the civil trial on Friday.  All of that, on top of the 150 pages of readings and exam prep....

Pressure is on.

Before we all start panicking, its important to keep visualising the end goal: BECOME A LAWYER!  We can do it.

"Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride, ain't nothin' gonna slow me down. Oh no! We got to keep on movin'"

Its so easy to lose sight of everything we have all worked so hard to get to. PLTC isn't easy and its definitely a bit of a Sh*t Show, but the key is to keep positive.

Just Keep Runnin'!!!

Love, Miss-Ali.

Pornography

"Seeing a good chamber's application is like pornography.  You may not be able to describe it, but you'll know it when you see it." - PLTC Professor (identity protected)

Holy Sh*t! What an analogy. Welcome to PLTC kids!

Oh what was that? We have to conduct a chamber's application tomorrow in class? One night to prepare? Fantastic.

Well, I just had mine and am now naked, as I have been stripped of all of my pride and any and all faith I had about my ability to be a legal practitioner....

Would you like to hear the list?

1. Spoke too fast
2. Little eye-contact
3. Quoted Supreme Court Rule incorrectly (What. An. IDIOT!)
4. Giggled when questioned about the incorrectly stated Supreme Court Rule
5. Held onto my (beautiful maroon MJB Law pen) for dear life

And what did he say about opposing counsel?

"Hmm I didn't make any notes on your sheet, so, well, Good Job!"

At least I looked good...

Just a short little post today.  Unfortunately things are heating up and the civil trial is just over a week away... F.O.L (I don't want to be selfish so may include "Our" - all in this together right?).  I  have this feeling I should pay attention and stop "giggling" and "twirling my hair" and generally being so damn cute.

Love, Me.

Roxy Rolla!!

You know how I said I'd never go out before class again? This is the time when I think my Opa calling lawyers, "Liiiiars" is suitable because "Oops I did it again"!

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me...

My old friend Jack (Daniels) fooled me again! That little bugger.

I like to think I am getting much better at this though...

I made it to class this morning and was still able to enjoy the amazing Zac Brown concert AND hit up country night at the Roxy afterwards. #champion

Thank goodness I did attend class because its ALL civil procedure and this was not my best course in law school (no thanks to the liquid induced, life-hating, too-tight-skirt wearing professor who's answer to every question was "rephrase your question please" or "refer to your text").

The professor just surprised us with a "fun" advocacy exercise - a chambers application - due Wednesday. Grrreaaaat.  I can feel the butterflies multiplying in my stomach as he speaks about the application. The courtroom scares the bejeebers out of me. I have sang live in front of thousands of people and on television and acted in plays all my life, but for some reason the courtroom is on a whole different level!  It makes me want to crawl in a hole and die.  Needless to say, this should be super fun!

It is now 11:30am and I think that its time for this girl to go to bed. Still two more hours...

I am wishing myself luck and trying to pay attention.  The glaze is washing over everyone's eyes as he talks about civil procedure timelines and expectations.  Lord help us.

My mind is still going about this chambers application. I may need to brush up on my courtroom etiquette or this may be me:

I hope that my, normally hidden, "small-town-hick" doesn't come out in the courtroom.

'Til tomorrow.

Love: Me

Never too old for a tough lesson...

"MILK WAS A BAD CHOICE!!"

That was exactly how I felt this morning if you replace "milk" with "cider, vodka, shooters, and more vodka"...crickey!

Never will I EVER decide to drink the day before PLTC again. Period. For anyone who hasn't made this very poor choice yet. Don't.

I showed up late (typical) and we had a replacement lecturer because our teacher was sick (awesome).  She was fantastic which made me feel even worse for the state I dragged myself into the classroom, whereby I disrupted her lively, motivational, and enlightening speech.

I tried to concentrate on what was going on for about 7 minutes in which time I learned that she opened her own firm right after she was called and now has changed from being lawyer to a mediator - which she loves - and something I have a personal interest in myself.  I wished so badly that my head wasn't ready to explode and my stomach flipping something fierce.

I was forced to leave and pass-out in my car for about an hour.  My PLTC bestie and now saving grace, Sarah (yup, Southern Sarah), brought me my books and computer and I spent the rest of the day laying in bed feeling sorry for myself.

Needless to say, it wasn't my best day, and I hope that the rest of my time here will be much more productive...

(I won't go into how much FUN we had last night...but you can imagine it was a doozy!)

There are many exciting things going on next week, though, as we start preparing for the mock trial and have a social event on Friday with every class in PLTC.  That should be awesome (and no class on Saturday..fewf!).

Happy Friday Everyone!

Love, Me.

Waving the White Flag!

It happened. Insomnia hit. Hard!

I'm not talking - took me an hour to fall asleep type of insomnia - but its now 5:15 am and I am still wide awake (very apparently).

Unfortunately, this means that I will not be attending the extremely entertaining lecture on negotiation (although I did do the reading - obviously with all the spare time I had being AWAKE)!!

I will be getting class notes and, for anyone else who didn't attend, I can share these and maybe we can rent the negotiation video and watch it together....NAWT! I think notes will be sufficient as it is non-examinable. I repeat. It is NON-EXAMINABLE!

But, I have always been fascinated by mediation so maybe I will have to borrow that video after-all.  At Bond University, we did not have 100% exams, but rather our grade included a percentage based on practical assessments.  These included, but were not limited to, a two-party negotiation in our first semester and three-party negotiation on a residential property dispute in our third semester.

Along those lines, I thought this captured life of a mediator pretty well:

I think its an excellent replacement for the lecture right?!?

He. He. He.

I also have a very special treat for all of my followers! Dun. Dun. Duunnnnn... the highly anticipated and useful indexes!

I only thought it fair, considering we are all in this together (ie. no curve - yay!) AND I did promise to you that this blog would deliver absolutely hilarious, entertaining - but most importantly - useful information!

If you click on any of my blog post titles, it will take you to the dropbox full of goodies!

You can also find it here:

PLTC GOLDEN TICKET

Additionally, lecture slides from the afternoon guest speakers for both September 11th and 12th can be found on the Student Portal from the Law Society Lawyer Log-in Site.

Good thing its Thirsty Thursday or I am not sure I would make it.

Time to get some shut-eye. See you in the Arvo (Australian slang for "afternoon" - highly recommended that this phrase gets adopted by all).

Love: Miss Ali

"Only in the South..."

I think after our class discussion today (minus the professor), its fair to say that we should all move down to the South in 'Merrrica and be divorce lawyers. This seems like a very lucrative business!

Thanks to Sarah for being so open about her multiple marriages and the culture in the South whereby people get married no older than 21 and are remarried again by 25.  This sounds like a devastating scenario for a young couple, but our source indicates that this is just a normal process and my business mind looked at this fact as creating a booming opportunity! $$$

Not only did we discuss the marriage culture in the South, but decided that for anything we saw as unusual we would make reference stating, "Only in the South".  This is not a copyright so use at your pleasure. :)

Once the professor graced us with his presence by 10:15, we learned a crucial lesson:

"Court decisions are decided by the courts." (NO WAY!!)

I think that, with this information, we are all now qualified to practice law. Class Dismissed.

Okay okay, so on the same tangent of marriage - a little lawyer joke for you:


Q: What is a lawyer's best form of birth control?

A: Her personality.

(buddum chaaaaa!)

For realzzzz though, the information we did learn today was based on legal drafting.  It was useful for the upcoming assessment which is an opinion letter to a client.

1. Be precise.
2. Be objective.
3. Be concise.

.... Be Aggressive, Be-Be- Aggressive! (Props Celina xx)

4. Do not use slang.
5. Do not use passive voice; aka use the active voice.
6. Be clear on the options available.
7. Ensure that you emphasize that this is your persona legal opinion.
8. Never recommend breaking the law (or insinuate) which may require you to expressly state that you do NOT recommend breaking the law!

Now, for a free lunch and a lesson on lawyer's insurance...

Love, Me xx

Tuesday Snoozeday

Today in particular, PLTC should have stood for: Petty Little Tiresome Comments (by me included)

Now, I re-read last post and I do not want this blog to be a "bitch sesh" for PLTC because in all honesty it is wayyyyy more practical than Law School and the people in the course are fantastic.  That being said, I think I speak for everyone when I say, today was loonnnggggggg!! (even though we got out early...)

The course material is so vague and the review problems so specific that there are numerous - like a bizillion - questions that are left unanswered.  This leads to questions in class that are "petty" and "little" and "tiresome" - hence the new meaning for today.

If the course outlined what would be on the exam and the material and skills that we need to possess to get through it, that would be helpful! That way, we wouldn't have to come up with ANY and ALL hypothetical questions in order to understand every possible scenario that we may be confronted with. Bitch Sesh Over (thank you for still reading). :)

So, before I provide a little motivation - a quick summary:

We talked a lot about obligations (including fees) in the first week, especially with regards to retainer agreements and our duty to act in the best interests of our clients and to the best of our ability.  In the conveyancing section, the emphasis was on the lawyer's many duties to obtain all relevant information from the client on the transaction and their individual circumstance in order to ensure that the transaction is completed properly and diligently.  Open and continuous communication with the client must be maintained throughout the process to prevent any surprises from popping up after the contract is signed.

Seems like a lot of work! So that means we get paid lots right??

What our professor "slipped" into the discuss was the minimal fees lawyers receive for a conveyance....DAMNIT!

This was NOT motivating BUT this caption hopefully redeems our faith in the financial stability of the profession we have chosen to "undertake" (def: a binding and legal promise made from a lawyer to another party and if breached may result in, not only disciplinary action from the Law Society, but negligence suit from the benefitting party).

Keep on keepin' on crew.

Its Hump-Day tomorrow!!

Love: Me <3

Pure Survival

Well... we survived the first week (maybe having to rely on a few drinks over the weekend) and we're into week 2!!

Conveyancing wasn't exactly worth writing "home" about on Friday so a blog post would not have been the least bit entertaining - thus my decision to wait until today to play a little catch-up.

This goes for both my blog and my work - which most people in the course seem to feel is a vicious cycle... its like you're drowning and as soon as you get to the top, more water is dumped on us!

Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day to attend lectures and complete the hours and hours of reading required on a daily basis.  The amount of material is so condensed, it seems that we are only getting blanket concepts of each topic - which for most lawyers is frustrating because we are of the character that likes to know the inner workings and details of everything!

Its like a classroom full of elementary school students - Why? Why? Why?

But the only response we get is the typical "lawyer" answer - "It depends". Argggggghhh!!!!

If only my ADD wasn't in full-force preventing me from being able to sit down and power through these readings.  Now I know why they started us off with a guest lecturer from LAP! PLTC is the reason why this organization was created!

Or maybe the purpose of PLTC was to reduce the number of lawyers going into the profession. It is the collaborative scheme of the legal community and based on pure economics - less supply, more demand! Genius!

Well, we finished conveyancing today and moved onto a drafting assignment. I think this may warrant greater interest and a much better reason to write in this blog.

That, or I will turn the blog into a PLTC Gossip Column as suggested by one of my classmates and tell stories about the awesome, yet embarrassing, moments of people in PLTC...

Who's next!?

You'll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings...

Until then, Love, Me.

If it feels WRONG, it must be WRONG!

I have a good friend who loves to say, "if it feels right, it must be right"!  If you are ever in a social dilemma, this is actually an excellent phrase to consider...

Well, today in ethics class, I learned the opposite:

"If it feels wrong, it must be wrong" - Art Vertlieb, Q.C., President of the Law Society

Ethics is not black and white, per se.  Sometime things are defined in the B.C. Code that expressly state what a lawyer can and cannot do, but often the details of these issues result in very different view points from a variety of lawyers.

This being said, if it feels wrong in your 'gut' or if you have to ask the question of if there is a conflict of interest...well there is probably something wrong with the picture.  ABORT MISSION!!

Art also made a good point today: If are going to look like a "damn fool" making a stupid argument opposing an application by opposing counsel, DON'T harm your credibility or reputation with the judge and other counsel by prolonging the process to fight for the reason of fighting - be candid and ethical.

I think its important to remember that we are all officers of the court and have a duty to justice and responsibility to society, not just to look good in suits.  Obviously it helps, but the tailored suit may not exactly help us build relationships with the bar and the judiciary, which will inevitably help us down the road.

After having an in-depth discussion on a criminal case study, I think that maybe I may be a "lover of criminals"...

Obligations on the Crown to prove its case seem pretty burdensome and in return, this may make defense counsel's role a tid-bit easier...

One Key Element of a Competent Lawyer - HONESTY

In criminal law, being honest does not always mean that you have to tell the truth...hmmmm...

I took this lesson as being in line with the five D's of Dodgeball.

1. Dodge
2. Duck
3. Dip
4. Dive
4. Dodge

The duty to the client must be juggled with the duty to the court.  If the Judge asks you, "Does your client have a criminal record"?  The duty to the client in a sentencing hearing including confidentiality (that of a prior criminal record) must be upheld; therefore, the best answer to this question may be, "With all due respect, Your Lord, I cannot answer that question".

Dodged that one! Whewf!

That being said, respect and integrity within the legal community creates the foundation of the system.  This includes being a good adversary without compromising your ethics, morals, duties, and standards.

Closing remark from Art:

"A young lawyer asked an old lawyer what makes a good lawyer.  The old lawyer said, 'I think it is good judgment'.  The young lawyer said, 'Well, what makes good judgment'?  And the old lawyer said, 'hmmm well what makes good judgment is bad judgment'. (Insert laughter)

I feel like a better person from today's lecture. Now onto learning what makes good judgment...

5:00PM Cocktails in Yaletown on Friday!

NEVER. SHOW. WEAKNESS.

Second day and we are rollin'!

What I learned today: A lawyer who acts for himself, has a fool for a client

Besides all the legal ethics and professional responsibility information we learned in the morning session, I was enlightened by the guest speakers from both PCC and Lawyers Assistance Program (LAP) in the afternoon.

LAP, in particular, provides complimentary services to the legal profession that includes: counselling in the form of substance abuse, mental disorders, stress, anxiety, eating disorders, family issues, divorce issues, child-care and elder-care resources, and handles general confusion and dissatisfaction with a person's legal career choice.

The legal profession has the highest percentage of members suffering from depression and mental disorders.  Go figure!  This makes sense when addressing the characteristics that most of "us" have...

Type A
Driven
High - and unreasonable - Expectation
Perfectionism

This sets the stage for the need of confidential organizations such as LAP and the emphasis that lawyers, as soon as they feel out of control, should contact these experts and seek help.

REALITY

This is the last thing that lawyers do! Dare we show weakness?!?! NOW WAY!! Let me drown, but I will fight while I am drowning, believe you me!

This is why the guest lecturer was so adamant about using this free, confidential, and helpful service.  He is a practicing lawyer and went down his own path to self-destruction.  He used LAP and now has recovered enough to speak about it and now help others in the profession.

Lawyers are public servants and must be healthy - mentally, physically, and emotionally - in order to serve their community to the highest standard possible.  This is done better collectively, than alone - Don't be your own lawyer - if we remember to seek help, the future will remain as bright as all the faces I saw in class today!

Love: Yours Truly
Class Rep ;)

Note: I have notes from lectures 11.1 and 11.2 for anyone who missed class.  I can be contacted HERE if you want me to send them your way (or just want to hang-out...he he...jk?!).

WELCOME PLTCers!

First day of PLTC and it feels...well...like a first day.

You see the crowd of eager students filing into the Law Society building and up the stairs to registration - some dragging their feet and some wide-eyed and bushy tailed.  There are the "too-cool" students and the ones who just feel lost and nervous. Then you get the old friends reuniting and its easy to point out the colleagues from the big Vancouver firms, shaking hands, and talking about their summer articles.

Even as capable, intelligent, mature adults - we all feel like children.

Its quite the sight to see - all these wanna-be's starting one of the last requirements until becoming the big-shot lawyer and making their families proud. Excitement and fear fills the air

The morning session was pretty relaxed - introductions as per usualy whereby the teacher pronounces half the students' names wrong and the course expectations are outlined to instil a little scare into the students. Pretty standard stuff.

Lunch was the best part! A few of us went into Yaletown, had a beer, and chatted about what the next ten weeks would be like - already planning the weekend festivities, but nervous about the work-load and the dreaded exams.

The afternoon session consisted of a guest speaker named Meghan from the Courthouse Library.  She was full of ENERGY to say the least!!! Woooooo LEGAL RESEARCH ROCKS! (you can imagine what she was like).  It was totally helpful and gave all the students some tips on legal research and tonnes of resources to use throughout the course and afterwards in practice.

We picked up our box of books at the end which was a big "weight" on our shoulders for the first day - literally 15 lbs!!

I got a cute guy to carry them to my car and we launched onto the streets of Vancouver exploring the city and chatting about the future.

The readings were daunting and so, of course, I left them until 8pm... Bad Call!

Lesson learned for the rest of the course - maybe leave "exploring" until the weekend. :)