On the side

Even though we decided on Iowa a little while ago, that didn't stop me from taking advantage of some cool opportunities at other law schools.

Before "The Decision," I was invited to a lunch with a few other people admitted to BYU Law School and Justice Thomas Lee from the Utah Supreme Court and his clerks and externs. Justice Lee is also an part-time professor at the law school. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting him, and his clerks. A clerkship is definitely something I want to do, maybe even after getting my J.D. In the case of Justice Lee, his externs get the first crack at writing opinions, then the clerks, then he works on them. So these twentysomethings get a lot of input in the judicial process. Maybe not every judge works that way, but I think I would still like being a clerk for just about anybody.

Plus, the Matheson Courthouse is beautiful. I could get used to working in a place like that.

http://www.sharpfotos.com/Portfolio/Salt-Lake-City/0909659798990205HDR2/644697977_wxS7q-L-7.jpg

There were a couple more local events, after my decision, that I was invited to: a dinner with Ohio State alumni at the Holland & Hart law firm office in downtown Salt Lake, and the Admitted Students Day at the University of Utah.

I went to both even though I already knew I wasn't going to those schools. Since it would be hard to go to events at North Carolina, Iowa, or other schools, I wanted to at least get to the more convenient ones. And, I learned from lunch with Justice Lee, that I just loved talking and learning about law school in general. I figured what I learned at these events could apply to the University of Iowa, and give me ideas for questions to ask when I do visit Iowa sometime in May.

But, at the same time, I wanted to be a sneaky. I didn't want these schools discovering that I already had my heart set on Iowa and had no intention of going to their school but coming for the free food anyway. Maybe they would have been fine with it, but I still didn't want to broadcast that I was going to Iowa.

The Ohio State dinner was really fun, because I got to bring Erin and make a date out of it. We got all dressed up for a night on the town and dropped off Allisyn with Erin's grandparents. It just so happened that the dinner was the same night as the grand opening of the City Creek Center, so we strolled through there too. And, I enjoyed learning more about law school, law as a career and Ohio State. Ohio State would have been a great option, but not getting a big scholarship there kept it from being a main contender. But of course, Erin and I put on the guise of still deciding between Iowa, North Carolina and Ohio State.

The open house at the University of Utah was especially fun, because my good friend Bert was there. I saw him at breakfast, and then ate lunch with him and he gave me a tour of the campus. And with him, I didn't have to pretend I was still deciding on a law school, haha. I was able to catch up with him, and learn a lot about law school in general. And I even played a couple games of ping pong with Bert and some of his classmates.

I also really enjoyed the professor panel, who talked about some of the work they are doing with students. One professor, Erika George, and a group of students had just finished writing a recommendation for a United Nations subcommittee's Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regards to Human Rights. I would have loved being involved with that.

There was also a mock civil procedures class, taught by Amy Wildermuth, that gave a little taste as to what first year classes might be like. Professor Wildermuth was a little silly, but entertaining. And the two cases we talked about were very interesting. Some of the discussion went over my head. But, of course, when I have only law school to focus on instead of two jobs, moving from Utah, graduation, etc., I'll be better able to handle it.

I'm really excited to go to law school.

The same day as the open house, I heard from two more law schools.

I got into Arizona State! I wasn't interested enough for it to make me waver in my decision to go to Iowa. But it's still a great school, and I'm sure I'd get over the dry heat before too long. It also jumped way up in the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings, from #40 to #26.

I did not, however, get into Stanford. I didn't really think I would, I just thought I'd try since it was free to apply. And if I did get in, I'd have bragging rights forever.

So, that's the update on law school. There won't be much else to say until my visit to Iowa sometime in May.