I am officially finished with my first month of law school. I must say it was exhausting.

But other than that, I have little to complain about. My professors are great (and I’m not just saying that to kiss their you know what!), my classmates are likeable (my small section is completely devoid of gunners), and the classes are engaging.

There were a few surprises along the way. The course that gave me the most boredom concern was contract law. But what I’ve found is that contract law is full of surprises, like the fact that there was math involved (I’d hoped to never see another math problem after undergrad. Ever!). Contract law also provides a whole host of policy issues that I’ve never bothered to consider, such as that efficient breaches are good for the economy. Then there is the fun sounding vocabulary, things like “making the person whole,” “expectation damages,” and “mitigation.” So contract law has far surpassed what little expectations I had of it.

My main beef with law school is the case method. I understand the pedagogical qualities that it brings, but it just seems like madness. If someone hired me to write a brief in a particular area of which I was unfamiliar, the last place I would start my research is by delving into the minutiae of Supreme Court decisions where the standard seems to change with each successive case. Or by studying a common law case from 1850 something. No, I would read a hornbook or law review article that gives a broad overview of the law so I could eat the whole pie rather than just a slice. I am a glutton that way. I can’t stand the suspense; I want to know what the relevant standard is NOW!

One other note: Dear Supreme Court, could you please stick to the doctrine of stare decisis rather than these stealth overrulings. In addition to being disengenous, you are creating a lot of needless work for law school students who are stuck trying to make sense of the mess you’ve created.

Anyway, I have about 25 pages of reading to do yet tonight and an extra assignment. So that’s it folks.

P.S. I take that back Supreme Court; I love you.