Flying Time

The time is flying by. Four weeks of the third and final year of the J.D. have concluded, and each has felt like a week of finals. Not that I had enough on my plate with Law Review, I decided to team up with my fellow Wisconsinite classmate Randall Petrouske to compete in the intra-school Moot Court trial competition (the Burke E. Smith Trial Competition for those keeping score). After the initial rounds we made it through the quarterfinals (judged by a past Chief Justice of the Moot Court Program) and the semi-finals (judged by a court of common pleas (circuit judge) from Allen County). Saturday 3 October is the Finals, where we will face off in front of the son of the competition's namesake. We are hopeful for our chances, but will diligently prepare for the trial (*sigh - another week . . .*).

The weekends have also not left much time for catch-up. Unfortunately, we had to travel to Wisconsin last weekend for Don Darnieder, the father of one of our friends, and my closest friend growing up. It was with profound sadness that we celebrated Don's life, and the world is less of a place without him in it.

On the lighter side, we had the pleasure of playing host to our friends Jeff and Mary this weekend in Ohio. Fortunately for us, the weekend was largely filled with relaxing by way of Wii bowling, board games, and a bit of outdoor activity.

Weekend next, after the trial competition, Janet and I will hit the road again, headed back to Wisconsin for a wedding celebration luncheon for one of the Anderson cousins (hooray). As always, our time in the Dairy State will be short lived, so please do not feel offended if we sneak in and out without announcing our presence. We'll be back in December.

Aside from the added activities for me (Moot Court and Law Review) the semester is moving by at a fast pace, and I try, as always, to keep up.

Life is well for Janet - for now at least. She had pledged to wear Cardinal and White at the WI-OSU football game in two weeks. We'll see if any of her OSU employers see us!

More updates soon.

news...

Brian passed his MPRE exam with flying colors! The MPRE is the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. There are 125 minutes to complete 60 multiple-choice questions, designed to measure the knowledge and understanding of established standards related to a lawyer's professional conduct. Most states require successful completion of the MPRE, but passing scores differ state to state, and there may be other rules such as when the MPRE is supposed to be taken and so on. If you're wondering, WI doesn't require the MPRE, but they do have a separate ethics portion on their bar exam.

On the job front, Brian is applying for a number of government positions and judicial clerkships. He's got an interview with the Attorney General's office tomorrow, and he's very interested in a separate fellowship with the AG's office doing appellate advocacy work. He "booked" his Advanced Legal Research and Appellate Advocacy classes, so here's for hoping!