Yesenia got word yesterday that the Evil Sperm Donor that is Carissa�s father (�ESD� for short) is going to file for custody. As if any reasonable judge is going to give custody to an abusive, jobless, ill mannered cretin.
But in any event, Yesenia should have preempted such a move by filing for custody herself and arranging visitation and child support through the court system. So, at last, this move by the ESD has lit a fire under her ass and she�s asked me to help her prepare and file the requisite documents.
Of course I�ll help her. This just means I won�t be sleeping any time soon. After a 12 hour day pouring over briefs and wrangling with opposing legal arguments, I get to go home and commence a crash course in family law. Oh, the joys of being the only lawyer in the family!
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After much searching, I�ve finally found an organization that I�d like to volunteer with on a regular basis.
Since graduating law school, I�ve been searching for volunteer opportunities. I�m a firm believer in giving back to the community. This was very easy to do while in school where volunteer opportunities abound. But once out of school and in the daily grind of work, it�s more difficult to both find volunteer avenues and to commit to doing it regularly.
Since I�ve been very lucky to have wonderful mentors, both within and without the legal community, I really wanted to get involved with some type of student mentorship program. The program that I�ve decided to work with selects students who are both economically disadvantaged and who have demonstrated academic achievement by maintaining a 3.0 GPA. The students are paired with mentors from all sectors of the community. If the students continue with the program through to their senior year, and maintain at least a 3.0 GPA, they�re guaranteed a four year scholarship to a state university.
So, today I spent my lunch hour at a local elementary school, observing the program, meeting the kids, and discussing my involvement with the coordinator. I liked what I saw. And they were more than happy to have another volunteer. I�m really looking forward to working with these kids.
* * *
Well, now. Isn�t it good to know that Bush isn�t going to use September 11th for political reasons . I�d hate to see what his campaign ads would look like if he were going to exploit 9/11 that way.
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It looks as if England�s good cheeky fun puts prudish America to shame. I would just love to have an adult store in the mall. All of my shopping needs conveniently located under one roof. Not bloody likely in our days of religious fanaticism and puritanical sensibilities. Hell, if 2 � seconds of Janet�s tit sent the FCC into a tail spin, imagine what the Bush administration would do if sex shops starting popping up in our local malls?
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The Bush administration is giving the thumbs up to same-sex classes and schools in the public school system as long as �substantially equal� opportunities are given to the excluded sex.
Silly me. Here I thought that the Supreme Court had conclusively established nearly 50 years ago that separate was inherently unequal.
And, as recently as 1996, in the VMI case (U.S. v. Virgina), the Supreme Court put the kibosh on single-sex public institutions of higher learning unless the government can demonstrate an �exceedingly persuasive justification� for it�s gender based actions.
Apparently, the Bush administration isn�t deterred by little things like the law.
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For being some of the highest paid writers in the world, some lawyers have abominable writing skills. This lawyer paid for his poor writing. As someone who spends her days reading briefs and motions, I can understand both this judge�s amusement and frustration.
My favorite writing faux pax was made by a lawyer who was arguing that her client was unlawfully terminated because the employer�s proffered reason for the termination � that the job involved extensive writing and she was a poor writer � had to be a pretext for discrimination since her client had �excelent writting schools.�
I should write a list of simple rules for effective lawyering. Thus far, my top two rules would be:
1. Do not annoy the decision maker.
2. Spellcheck: use it.
I�ll have to add more as I think of them.
Listening To: Pink Floyd, "Money"
Reading: still reading cases on diversity jurisdiction
Feeling: accomplished