In World of Warcraft, Ragnaros (yes, I’m from the Molten Core days and when Marudon wasn’t in-game yet) spent a heck of a lot of time telling me, “By fire be purged!” Well, it would appear this time Mother Nature decided to avenge him with, “By water be purged!”

The search for success continues which is why this post will be a little short – from Saturday to Saturday of this week I will be or have done 6 networking / interview events in 7 days. Two articles are on my plate as well (I promise Melody you’re next on the priority list).

So yeah, I’m back and ready to show the world than I am an unabashed tax nerd who can navigate the Code for the best results possible.

The job hunting front has been feeling a bit better. I’ve secured some alternative sources of funding in the event I go forward with the solo front after graduation. I’d be living the college student diet for a while but such is the price of making your own market. On the flip side, I’ve been working the networking as much as I can and have some leads that may pan out or not.

Tax world has been a little crazy – who would have thought that there would be no estate tax in 2010. Unfortunately for clients its going to be a massive headache as many estate plans have been built around the premise that we’d always have an estate tax and exemptions. With no tax, devises that relied on formulas based on values found in the Internal Revenue Code will be causing all manner of litigation. I suppose I shouldn’t complain about what is a positive outlook for business but it does raise concerns about whether Congress will fix the ticking time bomb that is 2011 when the Bush tax cuts sunset and a whole litany of estate planning tools go up in smoke.

Tomorrow is always another day, hopefully better than the last.

I passed the New York bar examination.

I continue to write in order to keep the skills sharp and continue to learn the ins and outs of networking the best I can between school, the Chicago Bar Association, and my newfound compatriots on Twitter. I also continue to ponder whether I should make that final leap and seize my own destiny by starting my own law practice right off the gate. However, like a good lawyer, I know that I’m going to need lots of information and help waiting in the wings before I go off on my own.

Gwynne, TweetCamp Chicago (@MauraHernandez, @kdc, and their helpers), and the Chicago Bar Association folks have been very helpful in keeping the spirits up and providing guidance as to what I can do to get to where I want to be. Although they get very little if any money for doing this, I think the big picture is that of the human tendency to help others in the eventuality that one day you may need help yourself. There is more to life than pursuit of the almighty dollar although even I admit that they are kind of a required element for bills to be paid =).

More of what used to go up here as short commentary has moved over to Twitter although occasionally I’ll plug something here as legal analysis does not lend itself well to being expressed in 140 characters.

• This is a lesson that many lawyers learn the hard way but it is worth repeating for those who serve on juries. Do not disobey a judge’s order, even if you disagree with it. There is a time and place to argue but in that very judge’s courtroom and presence is not one of them. Juror Who Caused Mistrial With Online Research Must Pay Jury Fees [Lowering The Bar]
• Sometimes I wonder how our predecessors survived as children having such dangerous weapons as knives and hunting rifles. First-Grader Beats Rap for Knife Charge [Lowering The Bar]
• Not sure but I’m fairly certain this is probably one of the largest claims in the nature of qui tam I’ve ever heard about although one does wonder why the informant who got the IRS a case against UBS for $780M plus the back taxes and interest from taxpayers was also thrown in jail. The UBS Informant [TaxProf]

One last thing, I have a new hat to wear in addition to student and attorney – I’m also now the Legislative Liaison for the CBA’s Law Practice Management & Technology Committee. Time to see what Springfield has in store for me come next legislative session.

• The Fourth Amendment never ceases to hound me from my 1L Legal Writing days. Expelled student sues over “unreasonable” cell phone search. [Ars Technica]
• I forsee the mobilization of the most powerful military force the world has ever seen if certain Saudi lawyers ever intend to effectively carry out their threat to erase a well-known cartoon from the Internet. Saudi lawyers demand Mohammed cartoon apology. [Overlawyered]
• We, as a country and as people, generally try to make policy choices that get it right 99% of the time. 100% is the goal but if we wrote laws at 100% you’d have so many exceptions and exclusions that it would take an army of lawyers to sort it all out. It is because of this that you get corner cases like this: Convicted Thief Sues Store He Robbed [Overlawyered]

Until next time, I will be making friends with quite a few pages of 26 USC.

Sat down with Career Services last Friday to sort out the gameplan for securing some kind of employment (solo or firm) in the next 9-ish months. Already doing many things on their list such as going to CBA meetings but need to do more such as pounding more pavement. I’d like to not say I’m living on borrowed time but I think that’s the best way to be living right now in order to make sure I really do land something by the time I get out.

As for odds and ends, Judge Wu finally issued his written decision overturning the three misdemeanor jury verdicts against Lori Drew. As expected, and hoped for by civil liberties groups, the decision was based on a constitutional challenge under the Void-for-Vagueness Doctrine holding there to be definitional and actual notice deficiencies as well as no minimal guidelines governing law enforcement. Many including myself were concerned about the delegation of the definitions of criminality to a civil contract amendable at any time by the opposing party and Judge Wu noted that under normal circumstances, breach of contract exposes a party to civil but not criminal liability. Orin Kerr has a more complete discussion @ The Volokh Conspiracy as well as the decision itself. Although I’m sure there are many who are disappointed that Ms. Drew got away without criminal penalty for her morally reprehensible acts, I believe that this is the correct result in that Ms. Drew was not convicted using a law not intended to proscribe the acts she committed.

The New York exam wasn’t nearly as horrifying as I have been told but it was no walk in the park either. It’ll be until half way through November until the results come out but at least I am already licensed and not in that same rushing-to-wait situation as the 2009 graduates.

Odds and ends:

• There seems to be no end to the list of advocacy blunders surrounding the Joel Tenenbaum litigation – it’s almost a poster child for what not to do. Team Tenenbaum to fight on for those the “RIAA has screwed over.” [Ars Technica]
• Although vigilantism is discouraged, it is odd that the reward for foiling a bank robbery is to be fired from your teller job. Bank Teller Fired For Catching Robber [Lowering the Bar]
• Tuition, books, and what will be 7 years in higher education I don’t think will ever be recoverable for me in the form of a lawsuit. Jobless grad sues college for 70G tuition [Overlawyered]
• I wonder if a do-it-yourself indictment counts as the unauthorized practice of law? Judge dismisses Obama “indictment” [via Overlawyered]
• I think I’d seriously consider advising my client to pick another name for his/her incorporated business because I’d find it terribly awkward to land in this situation: Wait. They offer those in court? NYC is so craaazy. [Legal Antics]

On vacation starting this weekend, will return around the 24th.

• Any lawyer who tells you something is absolutely certain has never met a jury. Gives new meaning to the common financial world legal boilerplate: “past performance is not indicative of future results.” Star Attorney in $8 Million Bungle: Gamble Backfires for Tragic Li Family. [New York Post]
• This motion warrants a place in my folder of epic filings. Lots of competitors have superstitions that help channel their physical and mental energies to maximum performance. Lucky number, lucky shirt, lucky shoes, heck I myself have a lucky charm which although I have not been religious about it does seem to have some subconscious magic of its own. Apparently now we have a Motion to Compel Defense Counsel to Wear Appropriate Shoes because having shoes with holes in them constitutes some form of unfair prejudice. [Lowering the Bar]
• A follow up to the Shoes motion resulted in a mistrial when jurors disregarded instructions on reading outside information about the case. It did validate the lucky shoes by dodging a 2.2 million judgment that the jury was allowed to come to an advisory verdict on. Appropriate-Shoe-Motion Case Ends in Mistrial After Jurors Read About Motion. [Lowering the Bar]
• Kindle users were greeted with a delightfully ironic twist when what was revealed to be unauthorized copies of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm were remotely deleted and refunded. Alot of people including myself were initially surprised at that course of action seeing that in the real life context Amazon couldn’t exactly reach into my house and retrieve an unauthorized copy of a physical book. However, it does turn out that under 17 USC 503 and 509 that a court could authorize the destruction of all copies made in violation of a copyright including those already sold to third party bona fide purchasers for value. Although perhaps the legally correct and properly advised by Amazon’s counsel, Public Relations could have done a much smoother job of communicating why those actions were taken. Some E-Books Are More Equal Than Others. [NY Times]
• Many jokes have been had about the lengths certain lawyers go to find clients. Although I find it better to have clients come to you than the other way around, this isn’t quite what I had in mind: Truck smashes into auto accident law office. [via Overlawyered]
• A poster child for why you should not volunteer information and exercise your right to stay silent: Man pulled over for not using blinker admits to sex with teen. [via Overlawyered]
• Contempt of court is a coercion tool but in civil matters, if it is apparent that continued detention is not going to coerce the contemnor to comply, he must either face due process for criminal contempt or be released. 14 years seems to be a safe number now. Lawyer Jailed for Contempt Is Freed After 14 Years. [Lowering the Bar]
• Disclaimers I like: “OF COURSE IT’S HOT!” [Overlawyered]
• When making copyright claims on behalf of your client, ensure that you are not suing your very own client (or at least one with less propensity to flame out on Twitter). Musician angry after BPI forces YouTube to pull his video. [Ars Technica]

Due to the New York Bar Exam, the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (although I have a previous score it wasn’t high enough for New York but was sufficient for Illinois and New Jersey), and a short family vacation to Yellowstone I will be on limited availability for about the next month. See everyone on the flipside.

• Fundamentals of Trial Advocacy: Do not, if at all humanly possible, irritate your judge. This applies doubly to ignoring or intentionally disregarding his/her orders. Judge Mulls Sanctions Against Berkman Center Founder [Wired]
• On round 2, Jammie Thomas hit for 1.92 million dollars versus her previous verdict of 0.222 million. Jury seemed to really want to stick it to Ms. Thomas despite the generous 1:5333 ratio of the cost of the music she allegedly pirated vs. judgment. Somehow I think between counsel for Ms. Thomas and Mr. Tenenbaum (in the above link) the precedent in this area is being set through less than artful advocacy. But what do I know, after all I’m still fresh from the lawyer mint. Jammie Thomas challenges “monstrous” $1.92M P2P verdict [Ars Technica]
• Trust is hard to earn and easy to lose; why the NSA thinks a new surveillance program will go over easy with the public I haven’t a clue. NSA Shields Government Networks With More Secret AT&T Rooms [Wired]
• There’s zealous advocacy, and then there’s advocacy asleep at the wheel like Rip Van Winkle. Toole County Montana judge Ronald McPhillips issues decision in long lost lawsuit, Ayers v. Rubow 24 years after trial [Popehat]
• There is a remarkable difference between a thing, and a picture of a thing. Sadly, some folks at the TSA haven’t quite grasped that concept quite yet. TSA Detains Mark Sable Because He Is Carrying Script of His New Comic Unthinkable [Popehat]
• There will be those who will be truly unhappy with the end result but I for one applaud Judge Wu for getting the legal argument right: that crimes can only be defined by the legislature and not by civil contract. Judge Aquits Lori Drew in Cyberbullying Case, Overrules Jury [Wired]
• Statutory construction for those of us unable to go to law school – The Food Stays in the Kitchen: Everything I Needed to Know About Statutory Interpretation I Learned by the Time I Was Nine [via Overlawyered]
• Saving the world from the obvious in that sand is an uneven surface – Elf n’ safety warning: You could die laughing
  at these amazing pictures of the Nanny State stating the obvious [via Overlawyered]
• I really ought to forward this on to my old torts professor Richard Wright. I’m sure this has got to be an improvement over the steering wheel with a knife jutting out of it: Man Burned at Burning Man Assumed Risk of Being Burned by Burning Man, Says Court [Lowering The Bar]