*Warning* Serious Geek Alert

A classmate and fellow Ringer gave this to me as a study aid for my Property exam. Best Exam Question EVER.


Frodo BAGGINS v. SMEAGOL a.k.a. Gollum, DENETHOR ex. rel. Estate of Isilduir, & SAURON

Sauron, the ruler of the land of Mordor forged a ring at Mount Doom in Mordor. During a war by the nations of Gondor and Arnor against Mordor, Isilduir, the leader of the nation of Arnor, took the ring from Sauron (knocking him into a coma in the process) and immediately headed northwest to return home. Unfortunately, while he was traveling through Gladden Fields (several hundred miles away from Mordor), he was ambushed and killed, and the ring fell into the River Anduin.

Many years later, a local named Deagol found the ring while fishing with his friend, Smeagol. Because it was Smeagol’s birthday, Deagol gave him the ring as a birthday present. Five years later, Smeagol moved several hundred miles north to a cave outside Goblintown where he assumed the name of “Gollum.” During this time, Smeagol kept the ring in his pocket or on his finger, but no one was ever able to see it.

After Smeagol had lived like this for several decades, a burglar named Bilbo Baggins trespassed in Smeagol’s home, found the ring partially imbedded in the mud, and took it home to Hobbiton, several hundred miles to the west. Bilbo kept it for several decades in a stand on his mantle, though he sometimes took it out and wore it. He often told his nephew and heir, Frodo Baggins, about how he got the ring from Gollum, but insisted that his actions were rightful and legitimate.

During this time, Sauron had recovered from his coma, and immediately recruited nine collection agents, known as the Nazgul, to get it back, using force if necessary. Also, immediately after Bilbo took the ring from Smeagol, Smeagol began a relentless personal search for the ring, broken up only by a couple of bouts of prison time (including one lasting a decade).

In the meantime, Frodo inherited the ring from Bilbo. Immediately upon receiving his inheritance, Frodo’s friend Gandalf warned him that Sauron had sent the Nazgul to seek the ring and advised him to “keep it safe and secret.” Frodo did so for seventeen years (keeping it hidden in a box in his house and referring to it, when he referred to it at all, as “Sauron’s ring”), after which Gandalf advised him to take the ring to Mordor to destroy it.

Along the way, the prior possessors began to catch up with Frodo. First, the Nazgul cornered Frodo and demanded the ring, but he managed to evade them. Later, Boromir, the son of Denethor, the executor of Isilduir’s estate informed Frodo that the ring was part of Isilduir’s estate and must be returned to Denethor for distribution. Still later, Smeagol found Frodo and tried to seize the ring, crying “It’s ours! They stole it! Give it to us!” This was the final straw for Frodo; he sued them all to quiet title.

Discuss all issues that will arise in this suit between Frodo, Smeagol, Isilduir’s estate, and Sauron. The statute of limitations on replevin in Middle Earth (where all these events took place) is seven years. Also, assume that Isilduir’s taking of the ring from Sauron falls under Chief Justice Marshall’s opinion regarding acquisition by conquest.

Address change

I no longer have a house. I now live at the Law Library. I am going to have my mail forwarded...

Two finals down, four to go.

Finals

I am in full time study mode. I have never read so much in my life! I enjoy it though so I can't really complain.

I Voted!

It's definitely one of the more interesting ballots i.e. eliminating the right for same-sex couples to marry, waiting period and parental notification before termination of Minor's pregnancy, and the standards for confining farm animals to name a few.

Here is prop 2:
"STANDARDS FOR CONFINING FARM ANIMALS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Requires that certain farm animals be allowed, for the majority of every day, to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand up and turn around. Limited exceptions apply."
Kind of puts things into perspective right? So sad.

You Had Me At Hero...

I attended the McCain/Palin rally today. Here is a video from youtube where you can hear someone say "Obama Bin Lyin." People were also chanting NObama NObama!



I was proud to see so many supporters my age. I am generally frustrated at my generation's apathy to politics or "group think" mentality towards liberalism, so seeing so many of my peers at the rally was encouraging. My euphoria was short lived though. On my way home I was listening to the radio when some D list celebrity called the station to plug their movie. She preceded to turn her plug into a "vote for Obama" speech. She talked about the poles (Gore was ahead in the poles too, and we know how that ended) made a half hearted attempt to sound intelligent, and finished with this infuriating comment: "If you don't know who to vote for or think your vote will not count-you might as well vote for Obama. I am. It can't hurt." Really? Are we that apathetic and lazy? This is why the rest of the world is laughing at us. We should be telling people to research candidates not vote blindly.



Great Sarah moment...

Sad but true

Headline: "[Battery] Charges dropped against man accused of passing gas"

I survived!

Contracts.

The class was still settling down when my professor started class by saying "Mrs D, can you please tell me the facts about Patterson v. Pattberg? I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. I stood up, grabbed my brief and nervously started going over the case. He stopped me mid sentence. "Let's come back to the case, why don't we do a few hypotheticals?" Great. It is way easier to regurgitate facts than to apply the rules of the case (which you have to infer, they are not given to you)to different situations. Needless to say, I did fairly well. My professor let me off the hook half way through the case saying that I did a good job and he wouldn't want to rob someone else of the opportunity. Some of my classmates even congratulated me after class, but I don't want to get cocky, we try to congratulate everyone after class that does reasonable well. Overall a very positive experience with my first real shot at the Socratic method.

House Arrest?

In orientation a few weeks back we were told that we needed to devote 60 hours a week to studying law. Being the good student that I am (just kidding they told us we had to) I decided to make a schedule. Can you believe this? I couldn't even fit in the 60. I think I am in the high forties.

Oh and by the way, the part you are not supposed to believe is the studying- not the fact that I factored in gym and church time. Cut me some slack I couldn't turn in a schedule that said " The Hills and Gossip Girl Monday nights"




I think this will expand if you click on it.

I'm learning

As much as I tried to prepare myself mentally (anxiety and time restraints etc) and physically (financial aid,supplies etc) there were a few things that have taken me by surprise.

1. People wear suits to class. A lot of people. Initially I saw law school as my opportunity to ditch the pantyhose and throw on some sneakers. I have found that although that would be technically permissible, I would feel severely out of place. My compromise is business casual.

2. There is no such thing as yes, no, always and never. They are all "it depends".

3. My teachers are actually funny. They might even be human.

Why you should NEVER talk to the police

This is a very interesting video from my civil procedure professor James Duane about why pleading the 5th is a MUST in every situation whether you are innocent or not. What you say can and will be used against you...

Orientation

That seems like a fitting topic to my new and improved (yet slightly less exciting?) blog. This week I am going through orientation. It is basically class, except at the end of the week we will take a practice exam that will not be factored into our grade. The main goal of orientation is to get everyone used to the Socratic method and "get you thinking like a lawyer." To illustrate this new thought process we would be adapting, our professor took out an apple. He asked us "what is this?" An apple. "How do you know?" We came up with three rules. All apples are 1) red 2) round 3) have stems. Then the professor pulled out a tomato. "Is this an apple?" We decided that it was. Correct!

I have found Law school is extremely different than undergrad. Your success in college is determined by how well you can regurgitate and memorize facts. Law School is not interested in your memorization skills, they care about concepts and how you can apply different concepts to various situations. Thus, an answer with all of the correct "facts" could get a significantly lower score than an answer that has few facts but great analysis and application. Oh yeah and we only get one shot to do this. One exam for each class. This is like the guy at the Lakers half time show that will win $100,000 if he makes a half court shot. One chance- don't miss- no do overs- good luck!

During class we are subjected to the dreaded Socratic Method. You could be called on anytime during the class without warning. This is supposed to simulate the court room environment and teach you to think on your feet. I have to admit my motivation for being prepared in class has more to do with not wanting to look like an idiot in front of my fellow classmates. The pressure to look intelligent is heavy, and people are already trying to distinguish themselves as analytical powerhouses. There are a few people (you know the type) that use big words and monopolize the professors time by asking irrelevant hypotheticals. Not only do I think these people are overcompensating for their lack of intelligence, they are being disrespectful to the class by making the professor go off on tangents. Are you with me? Let me hear an Amen!

It all boils down to this. As much as you may hear me complain over the next three years about the long hours, having Blacks law dictionary permanently attached to my hand (because I don't speak Latin- or proper English for that matter), missing meals, missing sleep, missing events, arguing with classmates over cases, study groups, and all the other junk I am sure is going to happen- the truth is... I am secretly loving it. In the words of another fellow Cheerleader, Bring it on!

New Format

Welcome to the first post of my new and improved blog. I have retired "Adventures in Los Angeles" and moved on to my newest adventure yet- Law School. I plan on writing the good, bad, ugly but mostly funny. Enjoy.