KinderMock, Law School Dinner, Justice Scalia

On Friday we had kindergarteners visit for "KinderMock." They came to school and sat in as the jury while law students put on a trial between the 3 little pigs and the big, bad wolf. It was a property dispute that 2 of the pigs brought against the wolf because he blew their houses down, and the 2 pigs wanted him to pay for the damage. The jury split 5 to 5 in who they voted for, so neither side really won. The students who played the pigs and wolf were actually dressed up in costume and testified. It was really cute.

Then Saturday night we had the annual Law School Dinner at the Beverly Hilton. Dean Starr spoke about the school in general. Pepperdine is the fastest "moving" law school in the country - that means it's rising in the rankings faster than any other law school right now. The Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, where I'm getting my Master's, has been the #1 program in the country for 4 years. Harvard is #2. And Pepperdine is ranked #1 for faculty accessibilty.
(The pictures are of Stephanie, my friend from Texas, and the 2 guys are my friends who live next door to me, John and Luke). Our keynote speaker for the night was John R. Bolton. He is the Former Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations. He was really interesting and talked about different legal systems, and basically explained why the U.S. has the best legal set up.

On Monday, Justice Antonin Scalia visited to speak to us. He was so funny. I mean he was really hilarious - and he's now rivaling my prior favorite justice, Justice Clarence Thomas. He's been friends with Dean Starr for a while because they served on the DC Circuit Court together before Justice Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court. It was a "conversation" with Scalia, so the audience was allowed to ask questions, after Dean Starr filtered them.
Someone mentioned that Rick Warren asked Obama during the campaign which justice he would like to replace on the Court, and Obama said Justice Scalia. He responded that that question might better be directed to his doctor :)

I got an autographed book, but we weren't able to actually stay after and take pictures with him because he was teaching the Appellate Advocacy class with Dean Starr right after the conversation.

We are having former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor visit at the end of this month also.

Today we got our appellate brief assignment. An appellate brief is a written argument to a court of appeals. It basically sets out the facts of the case, the law, and what happened at the lower (trial) court, AND asks the higher court to either overturn or uphold the trial court's decision, depending on which side you're on. Like with our final memo last semester, this is an assignment that we aren't allowed to talk to anyone about, except our partner. So, I can't really say much right now, except that my brief is being written to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and I am the appellee (which means I won in the trial court).

Next week is technically spring break, but for 1Ls they call it "appellate brief week." We don't have classes, but we're supposed to work on this brief all week. After we go back to school, we have to present these in oral arguments (like we were really before the 9th Circuit). Kyle will be visiting next week (he'll be here Saturday), and while I'm working he's going to be interviewing for jobs in the area. But he's never been to California, so I'm going to try to get as much work done as I can before he comes and while he's interviewing, and hopefully get to enjoy a little bit of my break and do some touristy things with him.

Also, if anyone's interested ... tomorrow on the Price is Right there is a group of Pepperdine Law students who went, and they'll be on tv. There is a girl named Brittany who actually got to go up on stage and play, and she's in my section. :)