palsblog

Welcome Finnegan ("Finn") Dee Pigott

2009-11-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

William (3L) and Kamile Pigott announce the birth of their fourth son, Finnegan ("Finn") Dee Pigott, on Wednesday November 4, at 8:20 a.m.

Family Fun 10/23!

2009-10-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

Let's meet up with our kids next Friday night (Oct 23) at Family Fun Night at the HUB! The HUB has pretty cheap bowling with super-light balls so even the tiniest of tikes can enjoy it (my 2 y.o. thought it was pretty neat my 1Lyear...). Plus, free popcorn! Bowling is from 5:30-7:30.

Here's more info:http://depts.washington.edu/sauf/hub/games/bowling.php

If you think you'll go, please respond and give a shout-out on the listserv so we have an idea who's planning to come!

Fall Meeting October 22

2009-09-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

Parents Attending Law School (PALS) will be having its first meeting of the year at 12:30 on Oct. 22 in room 212/213. We will be electing/volunteeri ng/drafting our 1L exec board rep(s), discussing exams, jobs and Fall Festival, telling silly kids stories and anything else that comes to mind. Please RSVP to mccraek@uw.spam.edu (first scrape off the spam) so we know how much food to get.

Picnic

2009-09-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

Alright, everyone, let's meet for our annual before-school picnic on Saturday, September 19 from 11-2pm at Cowen park. Please bring a side dish to pass; hope to see you and your families there!

http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=483

Congrats grads

2009-07-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that a lot of parents walked with their kids at graduation this year. This link shows a lot of the happy doctors of laws and their children:
http://www.stormsphoto.com/gallery/8561115_xSo4t#574170371_NGmx2

Great photos, happy day. Congrats all!

First Birthday Party Pics

2009-06-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Emily Kelly sent us some pictures of Addison and Avery's first birthday party. Addison is on the left, and Avery is on the right. The top picture is of their dog, Ziva, who partied with the twins on their special day.

Congratulations Amanda!

2009-06-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Amanda Carmany-Rampey's adorable new baby, Elliot David, was born on the morning of June 8. Congratulations to Amanda, her husband Brent, and big brother Nathan!

Children at Graduation?

2009-05-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

Who is planning to walk across the stage with kids at graduation? I can't decide. Any advice from parents who did it last year?
*********

From lawnews:

Children may join their parents for the walk across the stage at the law school graduation ceremony. If you would like your child/children to join you, they need to be brought up to the stage from the audience just at the point where you are going to start the walk. They then need to be picked up from the opposite side of the stage.

(There is not enough room to seat the children onstage with the graduates
throughout the ceremony. Also, please note that there is a deep orchestra pit
at the edge of the stage, so small children should be kept firmly in hand.)

Children that join their parents on stage will be handed a "honorary" diploma, so please email Francis Timlin (ft@u.wash) if you would like your child/children to participate so that they know how many children to expect. Children will need a ticket if they will occupy a seat.

UW Childcare Assistance - deadline approaching!

2009-05-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

Below is a modified (shorter) version of a post in today's Crier:

If you have one or more children (0-12) and will be paying a DEL-licensed daycare provider to care for your children while you're in school, you might be able to get funding from the UW Childcare Assistance Program. The website is at http://www.washington.edu/students/osfa/currentug/child.care.html

The application deadline for the 2009-2010 school year is listed as MAY 29, 2009. That is only 2 weeks from today! If you have questions you can go to the Student Parent Resource Center in room 172 of Schmitz Hall or email stuparrc@u.washington.edu.

Maybe gender isn't so important, but taking time off is?

2009-05-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

I thought that I'd post a link to this short article on the effect of having kids on career advancement:

http://www.abajournal.com/news/many_women_lawyers_with_kids_do_as_well_as_the_men_researcher_says/

It's the first study that I've seen comparing the career trajectories of parents who take time off with parents that continue working. Taking time off for children may negatively affect career advancement, but women who took time off are reported be more satisfied in their personal and professional lives. I'm interested in reading the full report once it is published.

-Amanda

Childhaven Drive

2009-05-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

PALS is holding the annual Childhaven drive next week Monday-Thursday during lunch (May 4-7). Please consider donating to the drive. PALS will have tables set up during lunch to collect donations. You could bring:

New or gently used baby or kid clothes (infant - 5 years)
New or gently used toys or books
Unopened packages of diapers
Nonperishable food items for adults and/or kids
Baby food
Maternity clothes

If you want to help out by collecting donations during lunch next week or by driving items downtown to Childhaven, please contact Tami Becker Gomez, one of the newly elected PALS Co-Presidents.

Most recent baby pictures

2009-04-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

Introducing Thomas Elias Lewis Gust!

Born 4/14/2009 at 10:21am

PALS General Membership Meeting Thurs April 16

2009-04-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that we are having a quarterly meeting today (Thursday, 4/16) at 12:30 in Room 212/213. Amanda is bringing food! We're going to talk about course selection for next year, officer elections, the childhaven drive, and the work-life balance panel -- and there are probably items on the agenda that I'm forgetting. I hope you can all make it -- especially all 1L members.

More baby pictures!

2009-04-15T13:55:00.001-07:00

Here is a recent picture of Yin's beautiful son Ethan, who is now 8 months old. (Wow!) Yin is on leave this year, but is planning to come back to the law school next year.

If you have any recent pictures of your kids for the blog, please send them!

New Baby Picture!

2009-04-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Kevin on the birth of his adorable daughter, Kady, who is now about 6 weeks old. Here is a picture of Kevin's son, Keyan, holding Kady.

2009-10 PALS board

2009-04-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the new 2009-10 PALS board!

Co-Presidents: Tami Becker Gomez, Kevin McCrae, and Theresa DeMonte
Vice President: Catherine Sellers
Treasurer: William Pigott
Secretary: Charles Gust
Board members at large: Vanessa Hernandez
Board members emeritus: Lisa Kremer, Lisa Goldoftas, Laura Arras, Peter Moreno, Pat Schaff, Ray Liaw, Louis Butler, Christine Porter, Amanda Carmany-Rampey, Michael Sterner, Pete Santos, Melissa Harwood

Maybe Baby (cont.)

2009-03-04T19:33:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who came and participated in the Maybe Baby panel and made it such a success. A PALS alumna, Laura Arras, was able to poke her head in for a few minutes, but due to time constraints, we weren't able to hear from her. Laura has a very valuable perspective on the Maybe Baby issue and she very kindly gave me permission to post a portion of an email explaining her choices here:
(From Laura)
If I were paneling, I would say this [if there is a gap to fill, feel free to read it]:

Everyone's circumstances are different, obviously. The only judges of your "work-life balance" are yourself and the ones with whom you share the "life" part.

I had a baby at the end of my 1L, and juggled her through classes for my
2L year.

I wanted to work after school/ the Bar, but I don't want my daughter in day-care more than five-or-six hours a day until she starts kindergarten. That means I can work for 25 hours a week, unless I work in the evenings from home or for a few hours on the weekends-- which I frequently do. Call it 30 hours a week. This is not partner-track, obviously. But I drop her off at 8:50 and pick her up at 2:20, right after her nap. I have time to get some good work done in the meantime.

I am fortunate in being able to afford to work part-time and I am insured through my spouse. Again, everyone's situation is different. Money is not a driving factor for me. After I pay for daycare & my student loans, I probably make minimum wage. But I have been contracting for a little firm for the last six months, logging real-world professional experience as a litigator.

When my daughter starts school, I'll have experience and references that will help me land a full-time position. Alternatively, I can hang up a shingle without the stigma of being an inexperienced new grad.

I also work part-time for the Rigos Bar Prep company-- it isn't glamorous; it isn't a "law" job. But I'm using my school/bar experience to help people, and I'm helping to expand the program & materials to the rest of the US. Most days I work in my jammies—always a plus. I may start sitting at the table once in awhile-- maybe I'll bring Allegra for old time's sake.

Best wishes,
Laura

Maybe Baby Panel

2009-03-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

PALS presents: The Maybe Baby Panel.
Wednesday, March 4th 12:30 in Room 117

Thinking about having a baby in law school or beyond? Please come to the Maybe Baby Panel and hear from people who have had a baby at different points in their legal careers. Panelists include law students, a professor, and partners in a mid-sized law firm. Pizza will be provided!
Questions? Contact Amanda acarmany@u.washington.edu or Christine porterc@u.washington.edu.

Does anyone have good questions for the panelists? If so, please leave them in the comments.

Bar Prep Courses

2009-02-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

In her post about the February 2009 bar exam questions, Lisa mentioned her post from last summer about bar review courses, in which she compared her Barbri experience to what she'd heard about the Rigos experience. I found that post (and the comments) to be very helpful -- before reading it, I was set on taking Barbri, but now I'm not so sure. I need to decide soon. Does anyone have advice for me about bar prep courses, or for other 3Ls (and even 2Ls)? Any Barbri defenders out there?

Winter bar exam

2009-02-20T15:23:00.000-08:00

Hi folks, just talked to a friend of mine who took the winter bar this week and he had some news that might be of interest to 3Ls taking the Washington bar this summer. Primarily, there was no Indian law question on the Winter bar. That means there will surely be one this summer. They only added Indian law a couple of years ago, and since then, there was a question on the 2007 summer bar, none on the 2008 winter bar, a question on the 08 summer bar, and none on the 09 winter bar. Notice a pattern? :-) As you'll find out in bar prep, Indian law usually is half a question, combined with Civ Pro.

My friend said there was no commercial paper question, but there were Sales and Secured Transactions. Last summer we had sec trans and comm paper, but no sales. Draw your own conclusions about that.

He said there were a lot of crim pro questions. I had heard this wasn't a heavily tested subject in the past, but last summer we had three (3!) crim pro questions. I would also note that crim pro with Hardisty was one of the more helpful classes I've taken in terms of bar prep.

He said there weren't that many property questions, a lot of torts and contracts, and a straightforward will question. Evidence was half a question. There was an odd question that was a combination of contracts and agency. The con law/admin law question sounds like it was confusing.

This may be more detail than you care about, but bookmark this for later, you'll want to know this summer! Good luck, cheers...
Lisa

p.s. you can click the little label "bar exam" under this post to see everything we've posted about the bar exam in the past. There a long post with a lot of comments about Barbri v. Rigos. It's the only place I've ever seen anyone make the comparison, which would have been nice to know when picking a bar prep program!

Donate a book for PILA

2009-02-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

This year PALS will be donating a collection of children's books as our contribution to the PILA Auction. Please bring in a copy of your favorite children's book geared for ages 1-5. Vanessa Hernandez will be collecting the books in the remote learning room. A huge thank you to Vanessa for the fabulous idea and volunteering to organize the donations!

PALS General Membership Meeting Wed Feb 11

2009-02-05T19:15:00.000-08:00

PALS will be having its general membership meeting Wednesday, February 11th at 12:30 in room 117. Lunch will be provided. Please contact Amanda Carmany-Rampey (acarmany@u.wash) or Christine Porter (porterc@u.wash) with questions.

Disco Baby

2009-01-05T23:08:00.000-08:00

The quarter has barely started and I'm already looking for a good study break. That means it is time to disco, Baby Loves Disco that is. Baby Loves Disco is a monthly dance party for the diaper and juice box set. Check out the website at:
http://www.babylovesdisco.com/locations/seattle/
Nate and I went last year and had a blast. We'd have even more fun if we could make it a law school parent outing. The next disco date is February 21rst, their valentines party. Tickets are $12 (for each walking human) if you buy in advance and $15 at the door. If you would like to go, I'd suggest buying tickets soon, since they tend to sell out. Baby Loves Disco is held at club Heaven downtown, a real dance club, just like the kind you used to go to before kids. Aside from the disco floor, there is a "quiet" room with a nice assortment of toys for the kids to play with and comfy chairs and benches for the parents. There were also several vendors there handing out freebies, I remember that some sort of baby leg warmers seemed to be a huge hit.
Anyway, let me know if you are thinking of going. Nate and I would love to see you there.
Best,
Amanda

PALS Meeting Today -- Exam Preparation

2008-11-24T10:17:00.001-08:00

PALS is having a brown-bag lunch meeting today, Nov. 24, at 12:30 in Room 212-213. We are hoping that 2L and 3L members will come to share their study strategies with the 1Ls, who are busy preparing for their first exams. How were you able to prepare for exams and still have time to spend with your family? How much time did you spend outlining? Is it worth taking the time to do practice exams? Which commerical aids (if any) did you find helpful? Please leave some advice for 1Ls in the comments.

Parental Prejudice?

2008-11-18T12:34:00.000-08:00

Check out: The Wall Street Journal law blog article: Women in BigLaw Pounding Against the Glass Ceiling? http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/11/17/women-in-biglaw-pounding-against-the-glass-ceiling/
Although I'm disturbed by the statistics (provided by the National Association of Women Lawyers surveying large corporate defense firms a.k.a "BigLaw") that "48% of first and second-year associates are women" but only "27% of non-equity partners and less than 16% of equity partners are women." And worse still: "There is also a considerable pay gap. At 99% of the firms, the top-paid partner is a man; on average, male equity partners earn more than $87,000 annually than female equity partners." I am more disturbed by the comments following the article justifying the gaps in pay and promotion by pointing to flex-time and pro-family policies. Bottom line being that some people think that parents can't cut it in "BigLaw" and that it is perceived to be acceptable to withhold promotions and pay from lawyers who take time for family.

More Onesie Designs

2008-11-17T14:51:00.001-08:00

Rike got requests for a less serious, more kid-friendly
design.  So here are three more options. The t-romper in
purple "won" the onesie contest, and Rike will
also order some toddler tees! Yeah Rike!
Please let Rike know (by post or email, rike@)
whether you like the more serious options posted
earlier, or any of these three.

Thanks!

UWeek article on the Remote Learning Room

2008-11-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

Photo by Kathy Sauber, University Week

The campus e-magazine UWeek has a nice article on the Remote Learning Room. Check it out here:
http://uwnews.org/uweek/article.aspx?visitsource=uwkmail&id=45183
The main page of the e-magazine is here:
http://uwnews.org/uweek/index.aspx

Very cute picture of the Harwoods! What do y'all think of the article?

(Also, as long as you're here, please leave a comment on the onesie post below...)

New Onesies, Let your voice be heard!

2008-11-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

Hi, SBA will be ordering new onesies and Rike has asked for our input! Please take the time to look at the options and post your comments.

1) What kind of onesie-type clothing should we order?


http://www.latsportswear.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=149

http://www.latsportswear.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=116

http://www.latsportswear.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=65 (Lilac is
closest to purple for this one)

2) What color?

3) Which of the attached designs to you like, if any?  What other kind of
design might you like?

Get Ready for Fall Festival!

2008-10-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Fall Festival is right around the corner, October 30th 4:30-6:30! There will be food, games, and the ever-popular bounce house! This is the one big family-friendly event that SBA puts on every year (with a lot of help from PALS) and we'd like a big turnout! It is great fun for the kids and a great opportunity to show off your family to the law school community. I hope to see you there!
Costumes encouraged.

Congratulations PALS alumni!

2008-10-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all the former UW PALS who passed the Summer 2008 bar exam. I looked through the pass list and saw Lisa Kremer, Stasiu Nowak, Lisa Goldoftas, Laura Arras, Ray Liaw, Karen Horowitz, and Daniel Heu-Weller. Please let me know if I'm leaving anyone out! We're so happy for all of you.

Costumes, Costumes...

2008-10-04T06:58:00.000-07:00

"A person should always choose a costume which is in direct contrast to her own personality.'' (It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown)

Every year since Nate was born I have had grand plans of sewing him a fabulous homemade Halloween costume. Lets just say that has never happened. This year I'm hoping that his over-priced store-bought spider costume (that I bought to compensate for my lack of crafting skills) will still fit him, especially since he wore it for 1 hour last year after a 30 minute struggle to get him into it. He completely refused the cute little hat part. If I can get up the energy, I plan to dress-up as his web. All I need is a white table cloth, a black marker and 30 minutes of undisturbed time. I think that the time will be the hardest to come by. I had the same costume plans last year, but never got it together.

What are you guys doing for Halloween? Any good costume ideas in case Nate is too big to wear last year's costume. It says 2/3T, but I haven't tried it on him to see if it fits. After last year's debacle I'm a little scared.

Also, any ideas about what to do with all the candy that he's probably going to come home with? Last year Brent and I ate it figuring that he wouldn't notice, but since then he has figured out what candy is. I just don't want him getting sick or getting chocolate on the couch, carpet, dog, etc.

Pictures from the PALS picnic in September

2008-10-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

Here are a few long overdue pictures from our picnic last month. I took these with my phone's camera, so they're not the best pictures. If anyone else has better pictures, please let me know!

PALS General Membership Meeting

2008-09-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 2 at 12:30, Room 212/213

Join PALS for our first general membership meeting of the year. Network with other parents (or parents-to-be) who are balancing family life and law school. We will be discussing our upcoming PALS events and swapping stories about our kids. Lunch will be provided. We hope to see everyone there!

PALS Picnic on Sunday

2008-09-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

We're having our annual picnic to welcome the new 1L parents this Sunday, September 7, from 12:30-2:30 p.m. We'll be at Cowen Park -- you can see it from the corner of NE Ravenna Blvd. and Brooklyn Ave. It has picnic tables and a nice play area.

Bring your kids, partners, and anyone else on your support team. It would be great if you could also bring a snack for sharing. We hope to see everyone at the picnic!

Please RSVP to Christine: porterc@u.washington.edu

Summer babies

2008-08-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all who had babies this summer!
Yin Cheung's son was born two months early, on Aug. 12, but is doing well in the NICU. Here is little Ethan:

2L Tanja Douay became a mother on July 6. She says Yana Milena is an "absolute angel":

Congratulations also to Prof. Kaltsounis, who had a baby earlier this summer. Any other baby news? Email me (Lisa dot kremer at comcast dot net) or friend me on facebook. (Yes, I'll stop posting on the blog soon, I've graduated, I'm supposed to have moved on... but I haven't started work yet, so, whatever.)

Post bar life

2008-07-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

A few photos from the last week:

Because I live in Tacoma and the bar is in Bellevue, I got a hotel room for the bar and Ray shared it with me. The week before, consumed by stress, we both decided to go a day early so we could try to have a couple of uninterrupted nights' sleep before the exam (something about 3-year-olds and sleep doesn't mix, apparently). Here's how we spent the day before the bar:

Here's a photo from Megan's facebook page -- I certainly didn't have the presence of mind to take a picture, but yes, this is the room where 800 people sweated out the bar for three days:

Afterward we had friends over to our hotel room for champagne. Ray's husband came with her daughters, wearing T-shirts her law firm had made for them:

Friday, I took the kids out for ice cream IN THE MIDDLE OF A WEEKDAY -- scandalous! -- and took this picture, which I emailed to my husband at work to make him jealous. It worked.

Ahh, post-bar life. Nothing to do but clean the house to unearth three years worth of crap, punctuated by trips to the local frozen custard stand. And beer! How I've missed you, beer. Life is good.

Barbri/Rigos/Tesdahl

2008-07-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

How to choose a bar prep course? Here are a few thoughts on what I observed the last few weeks of Barbri v. Rigos. I hope others will add their comments and corrections, too. (I think Tesdahl is great too, by the way -- I have a neighbor who did it a few years ago -- but I don't know anyone who used it recently.)

Overall, my conclusion was that I wished I'd done Rigos. I think you can pass with either course. But the Rigos method seemed less stress inducing. I heard from both Barbri and Rigos studets who noticed the difference. Plus, Rigos sent encouraging, pump-em-up type messages in the day before the bar and held a party afterward. Not that you should base your decision on the availability of alcohol afterward, but it seems emblematic of the attitude.

Both courses consist generally of listening to lectures, outlining and taking practice exams.
Lectures are by SU or UW professors, by local specialists or (for Barbri) a couple of people who go around the country giving specialized lectures. Hard to guess which course had better lecturers -- they both seemed to have some great ones (Rigos has Donaldson, Barbri has Calandrillo) and some not-so-great ones.
Rigos focuses a lot on outlining. Students are recommended to spend about five hours a day outlining, and three hours taking practice exams.
Rigos is heavy on mnemonic devices. Barbri has few mnemonics other than the ones you've heard already (OCEAN, etc).
Barbri focuses more on taking practice exams. Barbri recommends two hours a day outlining, and then practice exams until you collapse from exhaustion. (It's only been a few days since the bar and I've already forgotten the daily study schedule, how awesome is that?)
Rigos had 26 graded essays, Barbri had 21. Barbri's feedback was handwritten, Rigos came through email. Lots of good feedback either way.
Both programs have practice questions that are actual bar questions released by the bar association in past years, and include a sample passing answer, also released by the bar. Barbri also includes a "model answer" for the first 4-6 essay questions of each type. Rigos does not. The model answers are a mixed blessing. They include almost every point you could think of to address in the question. This is good if you want to learn to be thorough, and we all want to pass, so we all want to be thorough, right? However, it also can be discouraging if you didn't get all the points, or drive you absolutely nuts if you're trying to drive yourself to learn everything. As an example, I took a practice question on a subject I'd studied pretty thoroughly, and compared my answer to the model answer, and felt like a complete failure because I'd missed half the points. Then I compared my answer to the sample passing answer and felt like a law savant.
Both curricula have you turn in sample essays periodically to be graded. The schedules are different, but I couldn't say which is better.
With either program, the real key is figuring out how you memorize the best. (Not learn. Memorize.) That might be flashcards, speaking aloud, repeated test-taking, rote repetition... you pretty much have to figure that out on your own.

What else, y'all?

Graduation photos

2008-07-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hey PALS, graduation photos, finally! I don't have many pix from graduation but the few I have are posted below. If anyone has more please feel free to add them or email them to me and I'll post them.

Ray thought to bring her camera on stage, clever woman, and snapped these of her, me, Louis and Laura just as we were about to cross the stage:

Karen and Nathan after the ceremony: (I stole this off Facebook)

Laura and Allegra:

These are the professional photographer's pix of me with my daughters getting their pretend diplomas, and Louis posing on stage with his son:

The ceremony itself was great (for me, anyway -- my 3-year-old was trying my husband's patience, but I knew nothing of that, blissfully partying on stage with my buddies). At times the speeches seemed to run a tad long, but actually the ceremony ended right on time. Dean Hicks was a great emcee, I really liked him and thought, dang, I should've taken a class from that guy.

Tips for next year's 3Ls: Dress as light as you can because those robes get HOT under the lights. Carry a little passport wallet with your camera (and a snack! I would've passed out if not for Ray's Luna bar). If you're going to have your kids walk with you, when you are lining up back stage, finagle your way to the front so you can walk across early, so your kids don't have to wait around until the end of the ceremony. Mine walked the stage with me, then my husband took them straight out to the lobby to play until the ceremony was over.

And, by the way, note of appreciation for our administration -- I have a friend at Gonzaga, and there, kids aren't ALLOWED on stage at graduation. Man!

Congratulations New PALS Alumni!

2008-06-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all of our recent graduates! Making it through law school is an impressive feat and doing it with children in tow deserves an extra round of applause! If you have pictures of you and your family at graduation, please post them. We would love share in this happy moment with you. We will miss you all next year. I hope that you keep checking the blog periodically to see what PALS is up to.
Best Wishes,
Amanda

Study break: Baby pix!

2008-06-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

Take a deep breath, lower your shoulders, exhale... Now further de-stress by checking out some of PALS' adorable kids.

Alex, Melissa and Eric's little slugger:

Vanessa Hernandez' little guy eats a monkey and shows off his abs:

Amanda Carmany-Rampey's son goes for a swim:

Charles Gust's son chills out and shows off his Popeye muscles:

Emma Kagel Berry's son Eli:

Peter Moreno's girls:

Lisa Goldoftas' sweeties:

Laura Arras' cuties:

Lisa Kremer's girls:

MAMAs meeting and a courthouse tour

2008-06-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

A couple of items of interest from the KC - WWL newsletter:

Join MAMAS members for their monthly brown bag meeting on Wednesday, June 18th from 12-1:00 p.m. at K&L Gates (925 4th Avenue, Suite 2900). This month’s meeting features a panel discussion: Life AS Corporate Counsel. Panel members will address the ins and outs of working as in-house counsel, and the meeting will be an excellent opportunity to meet fellow MAMAS members. RSVP through BigTent if you are a MAMAS member, or by email Jami Grounds at jgrounds@susmangodfrey.com.

King County Superior Court invites clerks and young lawyers to observe the operations of the downtown Seattle King County Courthouse and the Regional Justice Center in Kent on Wednesday, June 25th from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For further information on this great opportunity, please call Bailiff Lee Walters (downtown) at 206.296.9096 or Sandy Ogilvie (Kent) at 206.205.2588.

3L class gift: We rock

2008-05-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

Randomly and oddly, my 1L small group, Group 6, has eight student-parents in it. Plus, we've had more students drop out or transfer than anyone else (though none of those were student-parents). We're down to 23 members -- and yes, more than a third of them are parents. There are, of course, parents in other sections, but ours seems to be particularly weighted.

Want to know how having a lot of family types in your group affects things? I don't know if there's a straight-line correlation, of course, but check out the placard in the hallway showing how groups have contributed to the 3L graduation gift to the LRAP. Or follow this link: http://www.law.washington.edu/Students/3LGift/ Yeah, that's right. We're the big dog.

If there are any 3Ls reading this, here are some things you should know:
* You only have to give $1 to increase the percentage of students giving, which is helpful for the school's rank.
* Pledges count toward the total raised by your group.
* The state will match any gifts received by the end of June. Double your dollars for the LRAP.
* PILA will match both gifts and pledges up to $10,000. Double your dollars again.

You can contribute by credit card by following the link above, or take cash to Yoshiko on the third floor. Pledge forms are available at the link above, plus there are some in the mail room.

Kids at commencement

2008-05-26T22:56:00.000-07:00

By my count there could be as many as 25 -- or more! -- children of students at commencement this year. Dean Madrid's office is planning to have certificates for each child. They are non-personalized, so don't worry about getting the Dean your children's names.

In case you haven't gotten the word, the instructions are thus:
If you plan to have your child/children walk the stage with you when you receive your diploma, make a plan with a responsible adult (RA). The child/ren should sit in the audience until the speeches are through and the degrees are about to be handed out. Then RA brings the child/ren to the front and hand them, carefully, to the student on the stage.
*This is very important: student on stage keeps a firm grip on child/ren during the walk across the stage. The orchestra pit is open and unfenced. And verrry deep.
RA needs to walk across to the other side of the stage and take child/ren back after the walk.

By the way check out the new banner across the top of this blog: http://lagliv.blogspot.com/ Warning: it'll probably make you queasy. Sorry about that.

At right: Karen Alexander Horowitz's son finds out what's going to be eating mommy alive the next couple of months.

Law layoff controversy

2008-05-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

A San Francisco attorney at the firm Paul Hastings recently made waves when she publicized that she was laid off from her firm less than a week after a procedure following a miscarriage. It's an ugly dustup. The attorney declined the firm's offer of three month's salary in return for a non-disclosure agreement. Instead her open letter to the firm has been widely circulated, and now her glowing past performance evaluations are out on the net as well.

Read about it in The Juggle, the Wall Street Journal's excellent blog about work-life balance issues:
http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/page/3/
(more lighthearted topics on The Juggle range from high heels to work-provided backup childcare (oo!) to whether it's worth it to go to a school event if you can only be there for 20 minutes.

PALS group photo

2008-05-20T12:14:00.001-07:00

Last week Shari Ireton took a group photo of PALS to commemorate our being student organization of the year. Not everyone could make it, but we got a pretty good turnout. We took one picture of the group holding photos of our children, and one just standard photo. You can tell which one I like best because I'm posting it first:

Charles and Kevin are cracking me up. And check out Tami -- so adorable.

Our kids can beat up your kids. rrgh!

What do you think? Also, let me know if you want a copy -- I have both high- and low-res versions.

Email love

2008-05-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

Hey PALS members! Keep posted on current events by joining our yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/uwpals/
We use the email to announce things going on at the law school that day, such as the PALS group photo today (Tuesday, 12:30, lobby) and the work-life balance session on Wednesday (see announcement below). Members can also use it to pose questions to other members. We try to keep the quantity of messages down to a reasonable level.

Work/Life Balance Panel May 14

2008-05-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel that school work is taking over your personal life and things have gotten out of balance? You are not alone and this issue does not disappear after graduation. PALS and the Law Women's Caucus are here to help. We are co-hosting a Work-Life Balance Panel on Wednesday, May 14 at 12:30 in room 127. Several attorneys will speak and answer questions about how they manage to balance successful legal careers with other commitments, including family life. The panelists either work or have worked in large law firms, mid-sized firms, government and as in-house counsel, so there will be a good mix of experiences.
Lunch will be provided.
This will be a moderated discussion, so please suggest topics/questions that you would like to be addressed.

PALS meeting today

2008-04-29T00:12:00.000-07:00

Don't forget: PALS general membership meeting Tuesday April 29th at 12:30 in room 118. Food will be provided. Come find out the super-secret scoop on what classes to take next year. Should be helpful for both 1Ls and 2Ls. (3Ls, at least show up for the food, c'mon! and spill the beans on your most parent-friendly courses, of course.)

MAMAS family event Saturday

2008-04-29T00:05:00.000-07:00

MAMAS is Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association of Seattle, a great group of lawyers trying to share ideas and network with an emphasis on work-life balance issues. The group has brown bag sessions and that sort of thing, but also gathers monthly with the kids to play and network. (Unfortunately, yes, it's for moms, not dads. Apparently. I could be wrong.) The next one is this coming Saturday:

MAMAS Moms and Kids Networking Event
When: Sat, May 3, 9am – 12pm
Where: The Children's Center at Burke Gilman Gardens, 5251 Sand Point Way NE, Building 5, Seattle, WA
Description: We invite you to attend MAMAS' next monthly mother attorney networking event. Mothers, children, and partners/helpers welcome. Admission is free, and food and beverages will be provided, thanks to our sponsor Williams Kastner.

Go play! If anyone decides to go, let me know how it went.

PALS Meeting April 29th

2008-04-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hi, we've scheduled a PALS general membership meeting Tuesday April 29th at 12:30 in room 118. Food will be provided. We plan to talk briefly about our upcoming events, including the Work/Life balance panel that we are hosting in combination with Law Women's Caucus on May 14th. Once we get the business out of the way (as quickly as possible), we will be turning the discussion to course selection. 2Ls and 3Ls please come and share your experiences. This will be a good opportunity to get information about which professors pod cast, understand childcare emergencies, or otherwise have child-friendly policies. We hope to see everyone there.
Best Wishes,
Amanda and Christine
(Please note that we will provide more notice and try to avoid Social Justice Tuesdays when scheduling future meetings. Unfortunately, we were bumped from the one other free day that we could find in the next couple of weeks when Academic services decided to reschedule one of their endless (oops, I mean highly useful) academic advising sessions.)

Sack lunch tyranny

2008-04-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

Every morning I pack four lunches. Yes I do. I tell you, it's a glamorous life I lead. But here's the thing. After making approximately 1,000 lunches in the last year and a half (yes really), surprisingly enough, it's getting a little old. And not just for me. At first the kids liked PB&Js, and they liked chicken nuggets, and really, they'd eat pretty much anything. I'd slip little notes in there, draw pictures on their lunch bags, yada yada. But now they're surly, jaded 5- and 3-year-olds and they won't eat just any (well-rounded, nutritionally complete, homemade daily) meal. Nuggets, formerly the haute of cuisine, now are gross. Yogurt gives the little one a rash. Perfectly good fruit comes home uneaten.

Here's what I made the last two days, just to make PB&J more attractive:

Yes, these are numerous teeny tiny heart-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. All part of the scheme to convince my 5-year-old to eat her lunch.

The scheme worked. But here's perhaps a more accurate picture:

Heart-shaped PB&J project aided by Fat Tire; note messy kitchen in background. Not pictured: Unread Torts 2 casebook.

In short, I need ideas. Anybody have sack lunch suggestions? What do you pack in your kids' lunches? Even if you don't pack lunches, got any ideas?

Summer job prep

2008-04-23T21:08:00.000-07:00

The law librarians are hosting a program called "Bridging the Legal Research Gap." It's a four-hour program intended to help law students succeed at their summer jobs. I attended after 1L year and found it helpful. Some things I knew, but some I didn't, and there were some practical ideas I found really useful. There are sessions at SU and UW. They are free, though you need to register. If it's after your job starts, some employers will happily give you the afternoon off so you can attend.
The UW session is:
Tuesday, June 24, 200812:45 - 5pm,University of Washington School of Law
For more info and to register:
http://lib.law.washington.edu/btg/2008/register.htm
Oh, um, snacks are provided. Not that that should influence you.

Blog-o-rama, or, we all need distractions

2008-04-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bloggers is on a road trip around the country, visiting her readers and fellow bloggers, so I stopped by to have coffee with her on Tuesday when she was in Seattle. It was fun to meet her and a couple of other bloggers in person.

I tend to read parenting blogs (sometimes called "mommy blogs") because reading other parents' stories about dealing with kid and family problems sometimes helps me with my own, or at least puts a little perspective on mine. Then there are the humor blogs, the catty fashion blogs, the (gasp) legal blogs... Do you read any blogs, and if so, which ones?

Here are a few that I visit occasionally:

Humor/parenting blogs
dooce
thepioneerwoman
whoopee
iambossy
the bloggess
othejoys

finslippy

alladither

snarky blogs
mamapop -- pop culture from a mom's perspective!
gofugyourself
I used to read more of these -- what's good?

law blogs
trialadnotes -- holla, mary!
Decision of the day

What else? What great blogs did I leave out?

Lisa and Bossy of iambossy

I like this better than my pix from prom this weekend, sigh

PALS is student org of the year!

2008-04-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

At the law school gala on Saturday night, Megan Vogel of the SBA announced that we won student organization of the year! Megan cited our leadership on Fall Festival, our support of the Athay scholarship, and... well it was hard to hear, but it was a very nice speech, thanks Megan! I'd be happy to provide a copy of our nomination letter to anyone who wants it. It's a little long to post here. We also talked about the blog, the Childhaven drive, and our efforts to raise awareness of work/life balance issues.

Congrats everyone!

Legislative update

2008-04-03T22:41:00.000-07:00

Well, Gov. Gregoire cut the increased funding for student-parents that we were so excited about. Thanks again to Dave, Laura and Michael who worked so hard on it. 2Ls and 1Ls, think about testifying in Olympia next year and the year after in support of increased funding for children of students!

Bar exam info

2008-04-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder for 3Ls: Bar exam applications must be postmarked by April 23. The application and other info are here: http://www.wsba.org/lawyers/licensing/bar_exam_app_info.htm

Hello prospective students

2008-04-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

Hey prospective students!
We get a lot of the same type of questions from students who are considering going to law school, whether they’ve already been admitted or are thinking of applying. I’ve written up the same kind of note several times so I thought I’d just post it here for folks who come wandering by.

The questions:

- How many hours a week can I expect class and homework to fill?
- Is it possible to take summer classes to lighten the load from the school year?
- Should my husband and I try to have our second child before fall 2009? Or wait til during law school? Am I crazy to even be contemplating this?

The answers: And remember, this is only my perspective on these things, but formed on the basis of talking to lots of people over the nearly 3 years I’ve been here.

hours per week:
The Bar and professors expect that your study time should be about two hours for every hour you’re in class. You’ll average 15 hours of class time per quarter, so another 30 hours of study time per week. I have found that unlike undergrad, this is real study time. Just to keep up. Your young, beer-drinking, childless classmates (I love them!) have vast expanses of time in which to study, and they will. It’s ALWAYS possible to study more, and the people who do are the ones with the great grades. However, 30 is enough. Unfortunately, 30 is a lot. It’s hard to find study time during the school day – if you have an hour between classes, it’s nice to study, but often you just want to zone out for a minute. Then there’s commuting, life, etc. My 1L year I did the bulk of my studying on weekends: eight hours on Saturdays and 4-8 on Sundays. (This is largely because I commute 3-4 hours a day, which hopefully most people don't.). Some weeks were lighter. If a paper was due, it was worse, but that only happens a couple times in the first year.

The second year seems a lot easier, though the work load isn’t lighter. There’s more of a variety of things you get into, and you can choose what you get into, so it seems more fun (or less painful), but there’s still a lot of work. People often try to time having their babies between first year and second year, or after second year. It’s still hard, but you have more choices about what to do, and you know better what level of work you want to put into it. First year really is boot camp, and you need all the focus you can get (within reason).

summer classes:
You can take summer classes. There is a full slate offered. There are two aspects of your question. One is, yes, you can take summer classes and lighten the load. An alternative would be to do an externship for credit (you can, for example, earn 15 credits – a full quarter’s worth – over the summer by working for a judge, and it looks awesome on your resume too). The downside of both the classes and the externship is that you have to pay full tuition for the summer. If you use your credits to lighten the load, you’ll have to still pay full tuition for the rest of school as well, because there’s no discount until you get to a really low credit load. So you’d be out another $5K and whatever else. That’s not actually a huge amount in the perspective of law school debts, but something to keep in mind.

The other aspect is that summer is such a great time to go out and exercise your legal skills. Pretty much everyone finishes their first year and thinks, great, I feel like I’ve learned a lot but what use is it? Your summer job or externship is incredibly helpful in making you realize you do have marketable skills, are good at this, and there is a point to going to law school. It’s really good for staving off a, for lack of a better term, crisis of faith. If you start wondering why the heck you’re doing this.

In addition, and this is where the law school voodoo kicks in, the first summer job is a great thing to have on your resume to land your second-summer job. The second-summer job is crucial because for a lot of people, at the end of their second-summer job, they get a job offer for after graduation. Not everyone. But a lot of people. That’s the, hmmm, track. The road that people try to get onto. So, the first summer, you want to have something on your resume that makes it look like you did something somewhat ambitious. A paying legal job would be great, but exceedingly rare. An externship is fantastic. A non-paying legal job is good. Somewhere after those is taking classes – it’s good, it’s legal, but it’s less of an effort to apply your skills and see how you do.

If you were to have a baby, most employers understand about that – they have babies too. So, say you had a baby your 1L summer, you could pretty much take the summer off and get a job as a research assistant for a professor, and find a professor that’s understanding about your schedule. Something where you could do a pretty minimal amount of work, but you still kept your toe in the pool. That would look great on an application for a 2L summer job. One of my friends did exactly that and got her first-choice 2L summer job.

(Just to finish off the train of thought, the only thing you don’t want to do your 1L summer is 1. nothing at all (although even that is ok if there’s a baby involved) or 2. go back to your old job because it looks like you’re not really interested in the law.)

timing of second child:
I started with a 9-month-old (and a 3-year-old) and that was doable. There are a couple of 1Ls this year who started with even younger babies. I wouldn’t recommend that though. I think you want your child to be old enough that you’re comfortable with having them in day care, and you’re familiar with the day care routine. A friend started at the same time as me with 8-month-old twins and that was fine – she had been accepted the year before, but deferred a year when she found out she was pregnant.

Older would be ok too, but I have found that this year, my 5-year-old is more interfering with my studies than in past years. I’m glad I didn’t wait until she was much older than 3 when I started.

One caveat. First year is tough, stressful, sometimes emotional. Having a baby your 1L summer is ideal, but it means spending most of your 1L year pregnant. Which can add to the stress and emotion. Shouldn't stop you, but something to consider.

(I don't really expect any current students to have read this far, but if you have, feel free to add your perspective in the comments!)

Legislative success

2008-04-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Laura Arras and Michael Sterner who helped out with the lobbying effort in Olympia this year, and especially Dave Brown, 3L and GPSS president. They got us more money! Here's Dave's description:

GPSS Wins Major Victory for Student Parents; Securing One Million Dollars for Childcare
GPSS and the Washington Student Lobby secured a one million dollar increase in childcare grants for student parents statewide, and the passage of legislation to make the allocation of those grants more predictable and equitable. Grants will now be allocated on a basis proportionate to the contribution made by student governments at each of Washington’s four-year schools. Because over $800,000 of our student dollars are dedicated to childcare grants annually, this increase means that next year over one million dollars will go to UW student parents. This increased funding will allow graduate and professional student parents greater access to quality childcare and ensures that childcare is and remains affordable to our student community.

Missing tree

2008-04-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that the Ben tree is missing from its spot. Wha? Perhaps you noticed this long before me. Rike reassured me: "A water pipe underneath it broke, and it is safe in the nursery. it will be put back soon--I hope!"

Another article on work-life balance

2008-03-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

This time in the LA Times.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lawstudents18mar18,1,1509837.story

New babies!

2008-03-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Vanessa, who had her son earlier this week. To help y'all have a moment to de-stress before finals, here are some photos of a few of the law school babies who were born this year. There are more new babies out there -- send me photos!

Carlos Manuel "Manny", Vanessa's son

Nathan, Karen Horowitz's son

Alexander, Eric and Melissa's son

Eli, Emma Kagel Berry's son

Corinne, Peter Moreno's daughter, born Feb. 29

Work-life balance panel downtown

2008-03-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately it's during finals week.

Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association of Seattle
Invites you to attend our next monthly brown bag lunch:
“MAMAs in the Job Market”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When: Wednesday, March 19th, 12:00 noon Where: K&L Gates 925- 4th Ave, Suite 2900

RSVP: by Monday March 17th to Stephanie Morris : sa_morris99 (((at))) hotmail.com

Please join us for a brown bag panel discussion on "MAMAs in the Job Market"
We will hear from a panel who will offer advice to MAMAs seeking employment as well as discuss ideas for employers hoping to recruit. Topics to be addressed include: How to reenter the job market after staying at home with children; how employers can better recruit people who have taken time out of the profession for child-rearing; tips for finding a "family friendly" employer' how to make a positive impression during the application process (including resumes, cover letters, interviews, etc.); tips for interviewing for in-house positions; tips for looking for government jobs; how to work with a legal recruiter; and planning for career advancement. Our panel includes Lynn Hubbard, Director of Business Development for Major, Lindsey and Africa; Maggi McConnell, legal recruiter for Washington Mutual; and Kate Corcoran, Assistant Director of the UW Law School Career Center. The moderators will be Stephanie Morris (at-home mother attorney) and Lori Lynn Phillips (shareholder at Heller Ehrman LLP). CLE credit is pending for this event. http://www.mamaseattle.org/

The panel is at K&L Gates
To reach our office driving south on I-5
Take the exit exit number 165A toward James St.
Stay straight to go onto 6th Ave.
Turn right onto Columbia S.
Turn right onto 4th Ave.Follow 4th Ave. to 4th & Madison Building at 4th and Madison.

Here are the publications:

Off ramps and On Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success
http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article.jsp;jsessionid=KIEC0VTCVFFG2AKRGWCB5VQBKE0YOISW?ml_action=get-article&articleID=R0503B&ml_page=1&ml_subscriber=true

Women Lawyers and Obstacles to Leadership
http://web.mit.edu/workplacecenter/docs/law-report_4-07.pdf

Lawyers Who Take Time Off Face Tough Return
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1158829526982

Another major firm adopts work/life policy

2008-03-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

Cleary Gottelieb Steen & Hamilton, a NY-based firm of 900+ lawyers with an international practice, recently adopted new policies for parental leave and "flexible work." The new policies, in sum, are:
* Up to 18 weeks paid parental leave (including for adoption), plus employees may take vacation time and unpaid leave time. The 18 weeks of paid leave are split between different types of leave. For example, the parent who is not the primary caregiver is eligible for less than the full 18 weeks.
* Any associate can telecommute one day a month, or two days a month after two years. (This actually seems pretty strict to me.)
* Associates can apply for a flexible or part time schedule, meaning working from home, or working up to 40 percent less than full time. Associates who have worked more than two years design their own schedule and apply to the partnership committee for permission. Going with such a plan reduces your salary, bonus and vacation time proportionally, though not your benefits, and extends the partnership track.

Currently more than 60 associates work flexible or part time schedules.

I have copies of memos from Cleary Gottleib. Email me if you 'd like a copy. They might come in handy if you're thinking of asking your employer for similar accommodations.

Thanks Hollybeth Hakes for the info.

Falknor

2008-03-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

The Falknor Moot Court competition is kind of a cool way to get two non-graded credits. You're entitled to earn up to six of those credits while you're in law school. For Falknor, you sign up with a partner, you write a brief on an assigned topic (there are two questions, so you and your partner each address one), and then participate in oral arguments. You have to do at least two rounds.
For me, it was a good way to get experience doing oral arguments since my schedule precludes me from taking trial ad. Plus, having the two extra credits freed up some time later in my schedule. I signed up because I saw a couple of student-parents do it the year before. Email me (kremerl@) if you want to know more about it.

Work-life follow up

2008-03-04T21:57:00.000-08:00

Hi team,
After some reflection, I'd like to put Monday's Maybe Baby panel (see post and comments here) in a bit of a context. Sarah and Carson both work full time -- more than full time -- but that isn't the only option that parents have. In fact, for the last several years PALS has put on a "work-life balance" panel each spring, in which we ask three or four attorney-parents (both men and women) to describe how they manage to balance their work and life. Their solutions to work/life balance often are to work part time, or to job share. We often get complaints after those panels, too, because people want to know how to work full time and still have a happy personal life. (We'll have that panel again this spring, and try to have a variety of viewpoints.)

The best solution would be institutional change. That IS happening, slowly -- we just can't always get those people as speakers here. For example, see the link at left to the Project for Attorney Retention, a group that's working on ways to make work-life balance more possible. As another example, next month KC-WWL is hosting a CLE on work-life balance and stress management -- I'm trying to get those speakers to come here to the UW, by the way.

In more specific examples, I think if you inquire at just about any firm in town you'll find people who work less than full time, and still make a family wage. I know several government attorneys who went to a part-time schedule after a few years. I was able to negotiate lower billable hours in the job I'll start next fall -- in part because, unbeknownst to me, the partners at my firm had recently discussed that they want to be more family friendly.

The institutional change isn't here, but it's coming. Sarah and Carson probably still are the norm. And the norm (if you follow the link at the left to the New York Times article on work-life balance) is that lawyers often burn out or get disgusted after a few years and find ways to make life more manageable. Clearly that's a model that's doomed to failure. I think as new grads, we ought to -- carefully -- try to be part of the change.

p.s. Another sign of change? Both Career Services and Academic Support came to the panel to get ideas for how better to support student-parents. Yay them.

PALS meeting Tuesday

2008-03-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

PALS Quarterly Membership Meeting, Room 116, 12:30-1:20. Food! Elections! Talk!

Maybe Baby recap

2008-03-03T22:24:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the folks that came out for the Maybe Baby session today. There were 30 people there, quite a turnout. I heard from some people who thought it was a great discussion, and some who were pretty depressed. What did you think? I'd love to get some comments. You can post anonymously on this blog.

My recap:
Regarding whether to have your baby during school, Carson (who had a baby in school, and another as a second-year associate) said school is the way to go. There, if your baby needs extra attention and you have to neglect your work, the only one who is affected is you, and all that will happen is you'll get a lower grade. Plus the Remote Learning Room is such a great resource. Whereas now that she's working, if there's a problem with the baby, potentially a client could suffer (though that's never happened to her). Sarah, on the other hand, chose not to have a baby during school because she needed to keep her grades up -- scholarships at her school were based on grades. Plus she was going to be coming across the country to find a job, so grades (and law review, and federal clerkship) were crucial.

A couple of people asked what if you want/need to take the summer off with your baby, and I asked, what if you need to take a quarter off and graduate late. Both speakers thought that if you had a hole in your resume you could explain, it shouldn't bother employers, though it's a good idea to look for something that takes minimal time away from your baby, like doing research for a professor.

Sarah works full time at a big Seattle firm (I'm leaving out identifying details because this blog can be googled). She enjoys it, and finds that she rarely has to work nights and weekends to make her hours. She gets about an hour a night to purely devote to playing with her 17-month-old son. This was one of the things that some of the audience members found depressing: one hour a day. Sarah also said she makes a point at work of never "playing the mommy card" -- never blaming her son for having to leave or for having difficulty making a deadline. Sarah was kind of the hard-core example of how to work full time with a baby.

Carson's work is more flexible, with paid maternity leave, and partners and associates who work less than full time. She works full time. She said she's absolutely focused when she's at work, and eats at her desk, but rarely does work at night or on weekends.

So, the discussion strayed from the "Maybe Baby" topic and wandered more into the "work-life balance" area. For those who were looking for more answers about what it's like to have a baby in school and how people made the decision to do that, PALS members are more than happy to talk about it. In particular, Laura Arras, 3L, had a baby her 1L summer and brought her to school most of her 2L year. You can email her at arras@... Vanessa Hernandez also is willing to share her thought process and experience. You'll see her around -- she's the one that looks like she must have been due two weeks ago (but she still has a couple of weeks to go).

What did you think of the panel? Any suggestions for follow-up discussions?

Maybe Baby Discussion Monday

2008-02-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

Is law school the right time to have a baby?
Is it a bad idea to have a child as a new associate in a law firm?
What are the pros and cons of juggling law school with a baby in tow?
Join us for an informal discussion at 12:30 Monday, March 3, in room 207. We have two featured guests. One is a first-year associate at Davis Wright Tremaine who had a baby the summer before she started work at her firm. The other is a second-year associate at a smaller firm who had a baby during her 3L year.
Members of Parents Attending Law School who had babies during school also will be there to lend perspective. This discussion is open to everyone. Lunch will be provided. If you’re thinking of coming, please drop me a note so I can get an estimate of our food needs. Also email if you’d like to submit questions anonymously ahead of time. Send emails to Lisa Kremer, kremerl@...

Pals quarterly meeting Tuesday -- free food

2008-02-28T13:30:00.002-08:00

Dear PALS,
I will soon be leaving UWLS, and quite honestly, Lisa's draconian reign of terror has gone on long enough. Therefore, I encourage you all to elect new leadership at our quarterly meeting next Tuesday, March 4 at 12:30, in room 116. If you don't, a great power vacuum will exist . . . and nature abhors a vacuum (as does Louis Butler).
As an additional incentive, we will provide lunch. Hope to see you there.
Stasiu Nowak

$1,638 raised for Athay scholarship fund

2008-02-28T13:30:00.001-08:00

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Oliver Athay Scholarship Fund. We raised a total of $1,638! Students, faculty and staff all contributed. Oliver is the 1-year-old son of Ben Athay, who was a 1L last year and made an impression on many as a great student and upbeat new dad. Ben died of a brain hemorrhage last summer. Our gift to Oliver’s fund will be made in the name of PALS and Friends of PALS. If you’d like to contribute on your own, here’s the info:
Oliver Grant Athay College Scholarship Fund
Citizens Bank
PO Box 30 Corvallis, OR 97339
The account is handled by Liz Colombe, 541.752.5161

Mothers Attorneys Mentoring Association of Seattle

2008-02-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

MAMAS invite you to their next monthly attorney networking event on Sunday, March 2, 2008 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at The Children’s Center at Burke Gilman Gardens, 5251 Sand Point Way NE, Building 5, Seattle, WA. Mothers, children, and partners/helpers are welcome! This event is FREE. Please RSVP by February 27, 2008 to Mavis Bates at mbates(((at)))kellerrohrback.com.

Childhaven drive this week

2008-02-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

This week is the Childhaven drive! Please bring in new or gently used toys, clothes and books, plus diapers and nonperishable food items. You’ll see the PALS table in the hallway at lunch this week. If you’d like to staff the table, just come on by, sit down, and keep folks company.

Everyone please give many thanks to Christine Porter for organizing the Childhaven Drive this year. Christine has put it together almost single-handedly. Be sure to give her a pat on the back. Thanks also to Laura Arras, who made the poster, and Ray for posting them, and everyone who's staffing the table and making the delivery on Friday. We'll have the table in the hallway at lunch all week.

Childhaven is a Seattle childcare and research center that works to break the cycle of abuse and neglect by helping families in crisis. The center focuses on children birth to 5 years old and their families. Our annual Childhaven drive was started by last year's co-presidents, Merisa Heu-Weller and Greg Wong, who believed that as law students we're awfully lucky, and we want to share some of our good fortune with others. For more information on Childhaven, check childhaven.org -- or tell Christine that you'd like to come along on Friday to drop off the goodies. Visitors will get a tour of the facility. Christine's email is porterc@...

The Oliver Athay scholarship fund

2008-02-11T14:05:00.001-08:00

This week we're collecting contributions for the Oliver Athay scholarship fund. Oliver is Ben's 1-year-old son. We'd like to make a contribution on behalf of PALS, to honor Ben's involvement with our group. If you'd like to contribute, there is an envelope on the table where we're collecting donations for Childhaven.

However, if you contribute this way, you won't be able to deduct it on your taxes. If you'd like to contribute directly to the fund, here's the info:

Oliver Grant Athay College Scholarship Fund
Citizens Bank
PO Box 30 Corvallis, OR 97339
If you want to speak with someone at the bank, ask for Liz Colombe -
541.752.5161 - she handles the account.

Advocating for parents

2008-01-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

* Thanks to PALS board member Laura Arras who testified in Olympia this week for a bill that would increase funding for child care for student-parents. If you see Dave Brown in the halls this quarter, tell him thanks for working so hard to support this bill (Dave is president of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate this quarter). Dave said Laura did a phenomenal job testifying. Laura said it was a "no-brainer" -- aid for child care enabled her to put her son in a decent center so she could focus on her education during the day. (Laura's externing with the AG's office this quarter.)

* Keep an eye out for the meetings with the Dean candidates this week. If you're so inclined, don't hesitate to ask about the candidate's opinions about student-parents, or whatever else strikes you.

Work/life essay contest

2008-01-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

The Project for Attorney Retention and the Ms. JD blog are offering a $1,000 prize for an essay on work-life balance. The essay must be 1,500 words or less and address the question, "How Do We Close the Gap Between Baby Boomers and Millennials on Work/Life Balance?" Essays are due by Feb. 29 and the winner will be announced March 28. It appears to be open to both lawyers and law students.

The Ms. JD blog further describes the topic: "What would you say to a baby boomer law firm partner who thinks young lawyers are lazy and don't understand what the profession is all about? What would you say to a senior colleague who says she had to put in the work, so why shouldn't you? In short: what's your rationale for work/life balance reform in the legal profession?"

For more information and an entry form, see http://ms-jd.org/index.php?q=essaycontest

Money for child care

2008-01-15T21:14:00.000-08:00

Student lobbyists are working in Olympia this session to promote a bill that would help student-parents. Please contact Lisa or Stasiu, or GPSS VP Sarah Reyneveld (see below) if you are interested in writing a letter in support of the bill, or going to Olympia to speak at a hearing or meet with a legislator. I spoke at a hearing last year and it was a good experience.

Here's GPSS president Dave Brown (3L)'s explanation of the bill:

Improving the affordability and access to quality childcare services for
student parents has long been a GPSS priority. Working with ASUW and the
Washington Student Lobby, we are aggressively pushing HB 1856. Prime
sponsored by Rep. Roberts, HB 1856 will award child care grants to state
institutions of higher education in an amount matching the amount that the
institution's student government association contributes for child care.
HB 1856 is an important first step in increasing state support for student
parents and ensuring that childcare is accessible and affordable.

We need your help to ensure success in Olympia.We need your voice and ideas
as we work to make a difference for graduate and professional students. If
you’re interested in supporting our legislative efforts in Olympia, testifying
on behalf of HB 1856, or supporting an increase in mental health providers on
campus, please don’t hesitate to contact Vice President Sarah Reyneveld.
Sarah is our lobbyist in Olympia this quarter and is leading our
legislative efforts. Her email is: gpssvp (at)
u.washington.edu.

Hello winter

2008-01-07T21:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome back! PALS is gearing up for our Childhaven clothing/toy/food/diaper drive (we really need a shorter name) and some other things. We’ll schedule our quarterly meeting later, but meanwhile, here’s an update on what’s coming up. Please email kremerl... or stasiu... if there’s anything you can or want to help out on.

* The Graduate and Professional Student Senate will be lobbying in Olympia for more money for childcare for student-parents. If you are interested in testifying, meeting a legislator, writing a letter or anything else, please email kremerl...
* The Childhaven drive will be during the week that includes Valentine’s Day. Laura Arras and Christine Porter will be running it. We’ll need volunteers to help man the table and take things to Childhaven. Stay tuned for more info. Meanwhile, please start setting aside things that would be good donations for Childhaven: new and used toys and clothes that are in good condition, plus new diapers and nonperishable food.
* We’d like to have a panel discussion this quarter called Maybe Baby, on whether it’s a good idea to have a baby during law school. Email kremerl... if you're interested in working on it.
* Several groups would like to partner with us on an adoption panel. Lisa Goldoftas will be PALS’s point person on this. Let us know if you’d like to be involved too.
* Elections! According to our bylaws, we are out of office at the end of this quarter and the new presidents take over during spring quarter. Start thinking about whether you want to be a PALS officer for 2008-9.
* Babies! There will be a ton of new babies this quarter. The Remote Learning Room will be busy. If you use it irregularly, you may be surprised. Please try to keep it clean and be conscious of the room’s other users.
* Advocacy: Let us know if there’s anything PALS can do to help out with the administration or building management. We’re happy to throw our weight around for you.

Stasiu and Lisa

Food Friday: Pull-Apart Bread

2007-12-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

This is how I procrastinate. Finals? What finals? Ok, to be more accurate, this is one of many, many ways I procrastinate.

My daughters made this bread last weekend. I did some minimal supervisory actions. This is a fantastic activity for the 2-and-older set, and the bread actually tastes great. The recipe comes from this month's RealSimple Magazine.

Easy Cinnamon Bread

2 1-pound packages refrigerated pizza dough
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted, plus more for the pan

Heat oven to 375.
Tear off small bits of the dough and roll them into 1- to 1.5-inch balls. Place balls on a plate.
Combine cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. Dip each ball in the butter, then in the cinnamon sugar. Drop the balls into a buttered Bundt pan.
Drizzle remaining butter over the top and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar.
Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Remove and let cool 5 minutes.
Place a plate on top of the pan and carefully flip it over. Tap the bottom to release the bread. (I let the pan rest on top of the plate for a while so the bread would disengage by itself.)
Let people pull the bread apart with their fingers.

Santa photos

2007-11-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

Here's a great opportunity to get family photos with Santa without the lines or extortionate prices at the mall.

The Latina/o Law Students Association has recruited Prof. Schnapper to play Santa Claus for photos next Wednesday. Apparently he’ll be all dressed up as the jolly old elf, complete with a festive, Latino-inspired backdrop. LLSA will take your photo with a digital camera and email it to you, and/or you can bring your own camera. LLSA will email you the photo they take. LLSA is asking for a $3 donation, but apparently everyone actually gives $5.

Money raised will benefits LLSA’s outreach programming for disadvantaged students.

Here’s the info:

Wednesday, December 5, 2007
2:30 to 4 p.m. in Gates Hall, Room TBA
UWLS Main Hallway
Email Rosario Daza, rdaza@... for more information.

Law School Stress talk

2007-11-28T21:23:00.000-08:00

Adjunct professor Andy Benjamin spoke at lunch today at a meeting sponsored by Nontraditional Law Students. I was enlisted to take notes, and I took pretty thorough ones, so if you would like a copy, email me at kremerl@.... Here are some highlights.

Benjamin is a pretty thorough critic of the law school pedagogy. "We create cynical, angry, hostile folk," he said. Law school undermines professionalism and health, he said, because it:
* negates healthy values such as intimacy and community
* promotes unhealthy values, such as valuing external rewards, status and comparative worth
* substitutes competition and anxiety for healthy motivation such as personal enjoyment and values-based effort
* Habituates students to frustration of fundamental needs, such as health routines, self esteem, relatedness, authenticity and security.

Solutions:
Address health and social issues:
* solid sleep, eating, exercising patterns
* Social support
* Knowledge of signal emotional states – result in activation of wellness behaviors
* Balance struck in all areas of life
* Any two of four conditions above absent, seek assistance from Sandra, SBA, Mentors
Minimize unnecessary excessive stress:
* Eliminate habitual overwork
* Abandon zero-sum competitive “need to win” paradigm, which creates perception of failure for any previously successful students
* Build skills at collaboration and legal counseling.

I know some people are interested in this: Benjamin repeated the observation that he has been criticized for making in orientation sessions: single women tend to be the most negatively affected by law school. Women in relationships tend to survive law school's stresses better. "Romantic involvements are protective," he said. "I’m not joking. Please start dating."

Here are symptoms of depression to look out for:
* mixture of anxiety, depression and hostility
* thoughts of killing self
* feeling so unhappy that you cannot shake it
* dissatisfied or bored with most aspects of life
* nicotine use (the most efficient anti-dysphoric on the legal market)
* disruptive sleep – never feeling sufficiently rested (early waking, inability to fall asleep)
* increased social isolation
* limiting normal exercise patterns

If you have more than two of these for more than a couple of weeks, he said, get counseling.

The session covered more ground, including many very specific questions from students. Also, all these lists came from his powerpoint, which had cites for studies that were the sources of the info. If you want the notes or the powerpoint, email me.

Diversions

2007-11-25T11:28:00.000-08:00

It's getting toward the end of the quarter, papers are due, exams are coming. Time for distractions.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a link to the now-classic “Landlord” video with Will Ferrell. Caution: if you don’t like seeing 2-year-olds swear, you might not like it. Oh, come on, it’s totally worth it.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74

Here’s a mom’s version of the William Tell Overture:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ati3k32-NXI

(thanks Mary Whisner)

And finally, this is just an amazing wildlife video. This is NOT funny, just amazing. It gets a bit grim about two minutes in, and then gets even grimmer, but the ending is great. It’s called the Battle at Kruger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

Managing stress

2007-11-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

Here's a nice event held by Non-Traditional Law Students (NLS is generally for older, second-career-type students, or anyone who considers themselves different from the traditional path). Last year NLS held a couple of events with Andy Benjamin, and they were well-received. I'll be going to this one -- please rsvp to Lisa G at lgoldoft@ ... if you are planning to go.

Stress & Uncertainty: Andy Benjamin on Balance During Law School.
As the end of the quarter fast approaches, many of us find ourselves getting caught up in the stresses of preparing for exams, doing job searches, and dealing with other life demands. Join us for a lunchtime talk with Andy Benjamin about dealing with law school stressors and gaining better perspective and balance. The event will take place on Wednesday, November 28, 2007, from 12:30 to 1:20, in Room 118. Lunch will be provided.
Please RSVP if you are planning to attend so we can order enough lunches for everyone. We also welcome specific questions for Andy, which will be presented anonymously. Please send RSVPs and any questions to: lgoldoft@...

Balancing a legal career and childcare

2007-11-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

A new study analyzes some of the ramifications of taking time out to take care of children. The study uses data from University of Michigan Law School grads. It's called "Gender and the Legal Profession" (follow link for the full study). The study profiles not only what happens when you take time out (you end up being happier, but less wealthy -- surprise!), but also what type of people do it, and some of the social stereotypes around it.

One of the study authors described the results to Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession:

In a nutshell, we find that childcare responsibilities drive much of the differences in income and promotion experienced by men and women lawyers, and that men who miss paid work to do childcare experience the same disadvantages as women who miss paid work to do childcare. We also find that both more men and more women lawyers are missing paid work to do childcare, that they are taking longer absences from paid work to do childcare, and they are working less hours after they return to their careers.
Some of our less systematic, but more curious findings are that: in part male lawyers earn more than women lawyers because they are more interested in income than the woman lawyers; women who have kids but who do not miss paid work to do childcare are more likely to be in private practice and be a partner than women without kids, even though women without kids work more hours; and women who miss paid work to do childcare have significantly higher LSAT’s and GPA’s than women who don’t miss paid work to do childcare.

Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession

2007-11-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

Speaking of Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession, they recently published a study on diversity in the country's biggest law firms, assigning the firms "Diversity Report Cards" based on how many female, minority and gay attorneys they employ. The New York Times wrote an article on the study. Want to look up a firm? The study itself is here.

Law Students Building a yada yada is a Stanford-based student group. They recently published a post I'm rather fond of. It's sort of a manifesto on the group's goals. Here's an excerpt:

Law students at the nation’s top schools are valuable assets for firms. Ask
managing partners what their top priorities are for ensuring the continued
success of the firm, and almost all will tell you that recruitment of the very
best young associates is absolutely critical. Top schools are producing far
fewer graduates than firms need to fill their ranks. This is why large firms
have massive budgets for finding, wooing, hiring and retaining law students. And
this is why it will matter to firms if some of their best candidates decline
offers out of concern about the environment they are about to enter.
. . .
[T]he group aims to incentivize the managers of leading firms to make workable choices about billing, hiring, and community involvement.
. . .
Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession understands that law is a demanding profession. It is this, in part, that has attracted many of us to the field. But this is not the only demand we recognize. We choose not to simply set aside the demands of other aspects of our lives. We choose not to work in environments that lack diversity, openness, and a commitment to professionalism and respect.

Daylight savings, or, I want my hours back

2007-11-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

Prof. Calandrillo has published an argument for keeping daylight savings year-round. It's here:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/338554_daylight07.html

He's absolutely right, though his reasons are all wrong. Biannual time changes are hideous. Spring, of course, is obviously a problem: we lose an hour of sleep. Fall, once upon a time, seemed like the better side of the coin, the cool side of the pillow, as it were. But NO! It turns out that when the time changes, the little darlings get up an hour EARLIER. What used to be a 7 a.m. wakeup is now a 6 a.m. wakeup. Logically, you would think that would mean that they would go to bed an hour earlier, yes? No! They do not.

I am not sure where my hour went, but I want to file an appeal. I'm with Prof. Calandrillo, though my reasons may differ. Come to think of it, he has kids....

Nursing news

2007-11-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

I would just like to say, what blog brings you boob news, eh? Is the law school's blog going to tell you the latest research on breastfeeding? I think not. Trial ad notes? Ha! Hunk99 might have been a source, but he's gone, and the FedSoc blog is moribund. No, no, my dears, if you want to know about all things mammary, this is the place to come. And you won't get thrown off the library computers for reading it!

So, to the point:

Recent research says not to blame breastfeeding for your droopiness. Nope, it's repeated pregnancies or smoking that does it. Nurse away! (So guys, if you have boob droop, quit smoking.) See the story here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21599854/

p.s. Blame Laura for this post. She said the item would be "interesting to those with boobs and those who love boobs."

p.p.s. What, do you want me to write items about law school security or something? Gimme a break.

More on Outlining

2007-11-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

Lisa asked me to describe my outlining system. Here is what I try to do every quarter:

I take notes in the book before class, writing out any questions in the margin. During class, I take notes on my laptop, using a new Word document for each week. At the end of the week, I print out those notes, read them over, and organize them into outline form. This takes me a LONG time.

Near the end of the quarter (maybe a week before classes end), I go through my longer outline and condense it to a 10-20 page outline. I try to make sure that I understand each key concept as I condense the outline. Like Lisa, I also try to create a short, 2-page outline to take into the exam with me.

Ideally, I finish all of this outlining a week before exams start so that I have the rest of the time to do practice exams. Before my 1L fall exams, I spent so much time on my outlines that I didn't have time to take practice exams, and that was a HUGE mistake. I think it is more important to take lots of practice exams and go over the answers with other classmates than it is to have the perfect outline.

I had Schnapper, Wolcher, and O'Neill during my first quarter -- if anyone wants to see my outlines for those professors, email me at porterc@u.wash

Also, I think Professor Kaltsounis's outlines are the best I've ever seen, and she has great advice about studying for exams. If you couldn't make her outlining session, at least ask if you can take a look at her outlines sometime.

Outlining

2007-11-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

Ok so I missed the big "how to outline" shindig this week -- was it any good? 1Ls, if you want outlines from your PALS pals, let us know (email me, kremerl@, or put a comment here) what class you need an outline for. We might not have had the same teacher as you, but it's often helpful to see how other people did it.

Everyone's outline is different. I have a friend who isn't happy unless she has a 70-page, single-spaced outline to take into an exam. I do best when I've managed to condense my outline down to about 15 pages, and also have a two-page version along with me. One friend of mine made an enormous color-coded civil procedure outline with charts and graphs and boxes and lord knows what else.

So, here's my process. (I'll try to get some other 2Ls and 3Ls to describe their system here (any volunteers?)) In 1L year, I would read the material in advance and take notes in outline format, using the structure of the casebook. Then I'd take copious notes during class. Toward the end of the quarter I'd combine my handwritten notes and my outline. Which took forever.

Now my system, if things are going well, is this: At the beginning of the week, I quickly create an outline of the material we'll be covering. Before class, I read that day's material, writing notes into the book if I think I'm going to be called on. During class, I type notes into my outline. At the end of the quarter, as I'm preparing for the exam, I usually can just tighten up the outline I've already created, and find the spots where I'm confused and clarify them. Then my main occupation is synthesizing the info so I can create my 2-page version.

Structuring the outline can be tricky. Usually I just use the structure of the casebook itself, which can be very helpful in orienting myself when I'm feeling lost. But for some professors (see Schnapper) it's more helpful to create the outline based on the syllabus. For other professors it can be a combination of both.

Exam prep

2007-11-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

If you haven't yet seen Prof. Aronson's lecture on "How to Prepare for and Take Law School Exams," don't miss it. It'll be 3:30-5:30 p.m. Nov. 13 in room 138. This is what I would call a babysitter worthy event. Or, you could probably watch it from the RLR if necessary.

Also the Career Center is having a workshop on resumes and cover letters at 12:30 Nov. 7 in room 133. It's as good a place to eat your lunch as anywhere else.

Superbug!

2007-11-02T16:04:00.001-07:00

Well, really, I wasn't particularly worried about the antibiotic-resistant superbug that's been floating around, although a Federal Way man just died of it, but I just ran across a fairly authoritative post on how to avoid catching Superbugs. It's by Nurse William, a blogger I've never heard of, but I like his attitude. Here's a sample of his advice:

ANY old soap is "antibacterial" when used correctly; All you have to do is make
LOTS of suds. Its the suds that make a soap antibacterial. "Really?" you ask.
"How so?" you ask. Well, settle down and I will tell you: Suds form micelles
around dirt and bacteria and lift them from the skin's surface to be rinsed away
to the black hell from whence they came.

The post is at http://nursewilliam.blogspot.com/2007/10/truth-about-mrsa-without-media-panic.html.

Fall Festival photos!

2007-10-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks for everyone who put in so much work to make the Fall Festival a success, and to everyone who came! If you have feedback on how to make the party better next year, please leave a comment or email kremerl@....
More pictures to come later!

Fall Festival this Friday

2007-10-22T17:37:00.000-07:00

The Fall Festival is Friday! It will be 3:30-6 p.m. in the lobby, main hallway and courtyard. Come bring the kids, in costume. There will be games and booths from just about every student organization, including face painting, pumpkin decorating, and more. We’ll have a giant bounce house in the courtyard. SBA will be grilling food for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike, and for the first time they’re also providing beer and wine as well as pop and juice.

Nowell has made a special effort to invite faculty, and several faculty members have told him they’re coming and looking forward to it. Come see your profs and their kids!

Please also invite your classmates who don’t have kids. This event is open to all and is a great chance for our kids to meet our buddies and vice-versa.

See you there!

Lisa and Stasiu

p.s. if you’d like to help decorate, I’ll be in the lobby and main hallway after 1:30 on Friday, stringing up ghosts and spreading cobwebs.

Food Friday: pumpkin soup

2007-10-22T17:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a seasonal recipe I love that can take a lot of variations. The theory is that you can get your kids to eat vegetables this way, but my kids won't eat it. That's ok -- more for me. This with a roll and an apple makes a great law school lunch.

Pumpkin Velvet Soup

1 pumpkin or other winter squash weighing about 4 lbs
(note! Must be a sugar pie pumpkin, not a decorative pumpkin!)
3 Tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
6 cups chicken stock (or broth, or water and boullion cubes)
1/4 cup orange juice
salt
pepper
nutmeg
1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

Put pumpkin on a baking sheet and bake at 375 for at least an hour, until soft. Let cool.
Cut pumpkin in half, scoop out strings and seeds and throw away, and scoop flesh into a bowl.
In a large soup pot, saute onion in butter until soft. Add stock, bring to a boil, add pumpkin and simmer until pumpkin is completely soft and heated through.
If you have a hand blender, blend soup until smooth. If you don't have a hand blender, let soup cool, then puree in batches in a blender and return to pot.
Stir in orange juice, cream if desired, and dashes of salt, pepper and nutmeg.

That's the basic recipe. I made it last week with butternut squash and added 1/2 cup sour cream, cayenne pepper and garlic salt. I think you could add a potato to thicken it up, or an apple to give a sweet flavor, or even do a variation with maple syrup. Let me know if you try it out.
Here's how I accomplish soup during the week: Shop one day. Next day, turn on oven at dinner time, throw in pumpkin, take out an hour or two later and let cool, throw in fridge. Next night (or the night after) actually make the soup.

Toxic tots

2007-10-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

Stasiu forwarded this link to an article regarding the stunningly high level of toxins that can accumulate in children's bodies:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/22/body.burden/index.html
Yeah, I'm headed for the organic section tonight.

Baby news

2007-10-17T10:59:00.001-07:00

Emma Kagel Berry's son was born last night (Oct. 16), and Emma, Charley and son are doing well. I'll post more details as they arrive. Emma had an outrageously easy labor, according to Charley (where can I file an appeal regarding my own birth experiences?).

Congrats also to 2L Greg Albert, whose second daughter was born during the first week of classes. And to Peter Moreno, whose wife is expecting their second daughter. There are at least four other pregnant 2Ls and 3Ls out there due to give birth during the school year.

Christal Wood, 3L, had a lovely comment this morning:

Congrats, Papa Peter!...and congrats to Ashley, too, whose baby's gonna' have one smart mama! :-)And to everyone else with a degree in the oven.... A thought occurred to me recently while I was struggling with my own hectic schedule, and wondering at how anybody handles the elevated challenge of law school, while raising one or more small children (my kid's a teenager, and I can get away with limited supervision in exchange for a different set of challenges). As an "older" parent, I wanted to remind you what a gift you're giving your children to be taking this step; in modeling perseverance, in (hopefully) an improved and more stable way of life, in the knowledge that you'll inadvertently confer, and in the enhanced protection you'll be able to give them as they navigate their way into tomorrow's society, bound to be governed in some way by an increasingly complex rule of law.Congratulations to everybody for that--here's to you, I raise my coffee cup to you, as I write this, intolerably late for class. :-) Pax. -cw

Food Friday: fried rice

2007-10-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

I don't like fried rice. Unless I make it. Using this recipe, or some variation thereof. This stuff is not only great -- and a family favorite -- but it heats up well as leftovers and it freezes well too. And it only uses one pan! But don't make it if you don't have Chinese pork, that's the magic ingredient. And the oyster sauce. Let me know if you have other variations I should try.

Fried Rice

1/2 c. oyster sauce
1 Tblsp. soy sauce (plus extra)
1 c. frozen peas
vegetable oil or peanut oil
mushrooms (shitake are best, but button or canned oyster work too)
two chicken breasts
flour
salt
two eggs
hunk of Chinese pork (try the deli section or the bacon section)
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 c. uncooked rice

Start cooking the rice. (If you cook the rice the night before, put in a plastic bag and hit with a wooden spoon to break up the chunks.)
Dump peas in a colander in the sink and spray with water for a minute or two to thaw.
In a small bowl, mix oyster sauce and one tablespoon of soy sauce; set aside.
Heat oil in large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. When hot, add mushrooms. If you weren't able to get shitakes, add a few splashes of soy sauce to give your shrooms some flavor. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are limp. Pour mushrooms out of pan onto a plate.
While the mushrooms are cooking, chop raw chicken into bite sized pieces. Put a handful of flour into a plastic bag, add some salt, and dump in the chicken and shake until coated. Add more oil to the frying pan, let heat, and add chicken. Cook until lighly browned on all sides. Dump onto the plate.
Add a bit more oil and let heat. Lightly stir eggs and pour into frying pan. Let set for 1 minute, then stir and break up until just barely done. Dump onto the plate.
Add a bit more oil and let heat. Chop up Chinese pork into small pieces. Add garlic to frying pan; let cook 30 seconds. Add Chinese pork and peas. Cook 2-3 minutes until heated. Turn off heat.
Add cooked rice to pan.* Pour oyster sauce mixture over rice and stir. Add all other ingredients from the plate and stir.

Notes:
I haven't been able to find fresh shitakes for more than a year! It's driving me nuts. Dried shitakes creep me out for some reason. I've found that adding soy sauce to the mushrooms helps. The original recipe here called for Chinese sausage, which I haven't found, and I think chicken is a healthier alternative anyway.

You can cook the chicken however you want. This is how I've been doing it lately, and it's pretty good, though it takes a bit more time than just plain stir-frying. Easiest is poaching chicken the night before, throwing it in the fridge, and cutting it up cold and adding it with the pork. But that's no fun.

* If you are an overly accommodating, horribly indulgent parent like me, scoop out some of the rice and pork at this point to serve to your children. You're so nice, they don't deserve you.

Firm makes motion based on family time

2007-10-14T21:51:00.001-07:00

The Wall Street Journals' blogs are abuzz over an East Coast law firm that asked a judge to change a handful of crucial court dates so they could spend more time with their children. The motion reads,

“These dates [Dec. 18, 19, 20 and 27] are smack in the middle of our children’s winter breaks, which are sometimes the only times to be with our children.”

Some commenters think the firm is being manipulative; others think it should be no skin off anyone's nose just to change the dates by a week or so.
See the law blog post here, which has links to the motion and response:
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/10/09/the-law-blog-pleading-of-the-day-starring-weil-gotshal/

Another WSJ writer checks in with a work-life expert who says this is great progress toward getting the business of law to be more flexible (I'm not convinced):
http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2007/10/10/lawyers-ask-to-schedule-hearings-around-kids-calendars/

Congratulations new lawyers!

2007-10-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all the former PALS members who passed the summer bar! Results were announced recently. I found PALS co-founder Freya Thoreson on the list, as well as last year's co-presidents Greg Wong and Merisa Heu-Weller, and board member Kent Diamond. The full list is here:
http://www.wsba.org/lawyers/licensing/summer2007.htm

The Ben tree

2007-10-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

Ben's memorial on Friday was lovely and his wife is just amazing. She spoke beautifully. Oliver, their son, is 11 months old and just starting to walk.
The tree planted in Ben's memory is a cedar. It is at the bottom of the stairs by room 138, at the far end of the building. Or if you were to go down the exterior stairs by the cafe, it's on the left side of the path just as you go past the end of the building.
PALS is planning to work on collecting money for the scholarship fund that has been created for Oliver. Look for opportunities to contribute in the future. We'll probably have an envelope at Fall Festival.

PALS board

2007-10-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to PALS's new 1L board members Tami Becker Gomez, Kevin McCrae, Christie Wang and Yin Cheung!

The PALS executive board is:

Co-presidents Lisa Kremer (kremerl@) and Stasiu Nowak (stasiu@)
Co-VPs Amanda Carmany-Rampey and Christine Porter
Secretary Michael Sterner
Treasurer Lisa Goldoftas

Executive board members are Laura Arras, Peter Moreno, Pat Schaff, Ray Liaw, Peter Santos, Louis Butler, Tami Becker Gomez, Kevin McCrae, Christie Wang and Yin Cheung.