Now playing: my penultimate semester of law school

So I started school again last week Wednesday. I've got a busy semester ahead of me, despite only have 11 credit hours. I have two research papers, one as part of a class (Sexual Orientation and the Law) and the other as an independent research project. Thankfully I got to pick the topics myself. I also have one doctrinal class (Corporations), and one skills course (Digital Drafting, aka eLawyering). So all in all it's fairly interesting work, even if there is a lot of it.

I'm really excited about the eLawyering class. We get to play with software and database technology, and our profs arranged for free day passes (including panels and discussion in addition to the exhibition floor) to the LegalTech conference in NYC. I've arranged to stay with a friend in Long Island for a couple of days. So I don't have to worry about trying to travel down to the Conference, network, and travel back on the same day.

The readings and discussion for Sexual Orientation and the Law are very interesting. Lots of different points of view, a lot of discussion on intersectionality, and the difference ways we can approach activism and QUILTBAG rights. I talked with my professor today about my paper topic. It doesn't have to be a legal research paper (meaning focusing primarily on case law and case law analysis), it can be a broader essay that includes introspection on the legal aspects of a topic. So I'm going to do my paper on asexuality.

My independent research project is a law and technology one exploring the use of predictive coding technology in the electronic discovery process (essentially programs that would "predict" which documents would be most useful in litigation). It's pretty cutting edge stuff that is just hitting trial courts now. There are a lot of interesting technical and ethical issues that arise. I should not have a hard time coming up with 20 pages on either topic.

Corporations isn't too awful and I'm getting some much needed financial literacy. Knowing how the business world works is going to be very helpful I think. Plus it's one of the topics that will be on the bar exam. Spring semester is shorter than fall. So I may not be around a whole lot. It will depend on my energy levels.

Asexuality research and paper!

I get to write a 20 page paper on asexuality this semester. I'm going to do a broad overview of the topic for the introduction, look at the issues of cultural discrimination and examine how that discrimination might play out in legal settings. I was particularly interested in addressing on of my classmates comments that basically said zie doubted that asexuals face the same sort of legal discrimination that other folks in the queer community do.

We're going to be allowed to use a wide variety of sources including websites and blogs. So if you have materials on this topic that you think might be helpful or interesting please feel free to mention them in the comments. I have some already (like AVEN) but am certainly on the lookout for more. I'd also love to bounce title ideas off folks.

Now on deviantArt

For those who may be interested I know have a deviantArt account set up and am slowly posting some of my art work over there.