Lawyer in 2 States Now!

On Friday I received a letter informing me that I PASSED the Washington State Bar Exam! I am going to maintain my Texas license too which means more CLE (continuing legal education), but that isn't a bad thing in my opinion. Now I REALLY hope this is the last bar exam I ever have to take...

Seder 2009

Here's a very blurry picture taken with my camera phone from the seder we attended last night at a friend's house.



It was a lot of fun...mostly young people, some Jewish, some not, and a huge dog that tolerating wearing a kippa for some of the evening. This has inspired me to try to get a Shabbat dinner together sometime this month. Any excuse to make matzo ball soup is a good one.

To prep for the triathlon in May, I ran my first 5K today since my last triathlon in 2005 or 2006. It was the Mercer Island run so it was super hilly. I had to walk up one hill, but I felt great after the race. My time was 46 minutes, but time is not important to me. I just want to finish! My friend Amanda, on the other hand, did the 10K in 55 minutes!

I want to try to do one more race in April and then this triathlon in May. I might revise my end of the year goal to do a longer triathlon instead of a half marathon. I get a bit bored only running and my new bike is so sexy!!!

More bikes for Rachael and Charles

Something about living in the Netherlands must have ingrained Dutch bicycle culture in our minds because we felt the need to upgrade our from our Dutch bikes. My Dutch bike is in storage because it just doesn't cut it for the Seattle hills I would like to ride. It also has a basket. Charles has been riding his Dutch bike to work every now and then, but I fear for his ergonomic safety because that thing is not very sturdy. We did buy cheap Dutch bikes after all.

We attended a bike swap last week, but couldn't find anything with the right frame size. We also opted not to purchase anything from the Dutch Bicycle Company because it was just too authentically Dutch. They didn't even sell helmets! In the end, we got our bikes from Free Range Cycle in the Fremont neighborhood.

After lots of test rides, Charles for a Surly Long Haul Trucker in "truckacinno cream," They had a frame in his size in stock so they put it together that afternoon. I ended up getting a Surly Cross Check in black which they had to order. I also got a Brooks seat and Shimano dual function pedals. I also decided to sign up for a triathlon. in May because I have no excuse now that I have a good bike. Hopefully by next Saturday we'll both have our new bikes and will be ready to do a Seattle ride.

Washington February 2009 Bar Exam...All Agency All the Time

I am officially done with my second bar exam! I have come to the conclusion that studying for your second bar exam is more painful than your first, but actually taking it is much less stressful. I was super nervous for Texas during the actual exam, but during this test I just thought "hey at least I am already licensed SOMEWHERE."

The substantive portion of the test could not have covered better topics. However there was so much Agency...at least three questions. Usually they sprinkle Community Property throughout this exam, but this time they were all about Agency. I got so sick of writing about respondeat superior and actual/apparent authority. The three subjects not tested were my weakest: Commercial Paper, Trusts, and Indian Law.

For those who want to know, here's a list of the subjects I think were tested...

Day 1
1. Civil Procedure (with a tiny bit of evidence)
2. Torts (negligence, strict liability, and a sort of far fetched products liability)
3. Wills
4. Criminal Procedure
5. Family Law and Community Property (no children in this question so very strange)
6. Constitutional Law
7. Corporations (with quite a bit of agency)
8. Contracts
9. Weird question that freaked everyone out, but was mostly Agency with surface level Contract and Tort issues

Day 2
10. Criminal Law
11. Property
12. LLP, General Partnerships, and Agency
13. Criminal Procedure again (with a bit of evidence)
14. Civil Procedure again
15. Secured Transactions
16. Sales
17. Torts (intentional and privacy torts)
18. Evidence (my best subject so it felt like it ended on a good note!)

Now I just have to wait until May for the results...

One month and counting

The February Washington bar exam is one month away and I am starting to get that nervous I-can-never-be-prepared-enough feeling that everyone gets. This experience has been very different from studying for the Texas bar for a few reasons.

First, Washington is one of 2 states (the other is Louisiana) that does NOT use the MBE or Multi-State bar exam. Instead the Washington bar is a series of essays covering various topics. This is good for me because I hated studying for the MBE and tend to just get tricked by multiple choice.

My method of studying is also different. Because I am not taking a lot of time off work, I decided to take the BarBri iPod course this time around instead of the classroom course I took in Texas. So instead of piling into a room with 500+ people to listen to someone you can't see lecture, I hang out at home with an iPod full of lectures and try to stay disciplined about it.

I am also surprised about the differences between Texas and Washington law. I thought that because both states are community property states, family law would be easy...but no, there are lots of differences. Well, off to do some practice questions...

Berlin is helping me study

I am taking the Washington bar exam in February and Berlin is using his poodle lawyer skills to assist. He has found a perch on the corner of my desk...

It's still snowing and Seattle is in a panic

Seattle really doesn't know how to deal with snow. There's no real need because it doesn't snow here often. Every 10 years or so they get a bad storm and don't have the plows and other equipment to deal with it. All of the shovels at Target have been purchased and we can seem to find a decent tool to scrape the ice off the car.

I have worked from home for several days and Charles walked into downtown one day because the buses were coming on such an irregular schedule. He did bring his camera though...

Snow in Pioneer Square...


Looking out our window at home...
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Some extra photos (including a few of Charles' office) are in this set.

Snow in Seattle!

Yesterday we were promised a good snow storm and I was sorely disappointed. Today I woke up to a winter wonderland in West Seattle. I didn't make the 20 mile drive to work, but Charles did manage to catch a bus downtown. Here is a pic he took this morning that was posted on The West Seattle Blog...



More to come...

Some Late Halloween Pics

I know it's a bit late, but our Halloween pics are too cool not to post. Charles and I went as two video game characters, the Heavy and the Medic from Team Fortress 2. Here is the inspiration for our costumes...



And here we are...



We went with some friends to a party at the Showbox. Here is our clan...



For the whole set which is huge see here.