Official

Many years of jumping through hoops culminated with a seriously special moment this afternoon. While randomly checking to see whether my bar number had been issued, I discovered that I was officially admitted to the bar today. I am officially a licensed attorney.

Before this, it has felt like every legal milestone has come with conditions subsequent. Even when I finished law school, I had the bar exam hanging over me. When I finished the bar exam, I had results pending. After finding out that I passed the bar, I still had an online seminar, swearing in, and fees that I had to satisfy. And now, everything is satisfied, and I am finally licensed to practice my craft.

It's just as well that I'm licensed because I start my associate lawyer position soon. I know that many challenges await, but I've been working for years for this.

Taking the Oath

On Tuesday afternoon, I took the oath of attorney and was sworn into the Washington State Bar.

It was just a few days from getting my letter to scheduling my swearing in. Unfortunately, that meant that one of my biggest supporters, my mom, was not able to be there. Fortunately, it happened to be scheduled when one of my most enduring and closest friends, Denaye, would be in town to share the moment. Denaye's presence was definitely fitting given that we were chatting on the phone when I got my mail on February 22, 2007 and discovered that I'd been accepted to law school. A couple of my local friends, Theresa and Shahms, were also able to get some time off of work to attend the ceremony. And, of course, my George was never far away.

I wish I could tell you that I'm now officially a lawyer. Unfortunately, that lovely letter that told me that I passed the bar exam also told me that I had about four boxes to tick: 4+ hours of online training, pay yet more fees, fill out yet more forms, and be sworn in by a judge. My final online video ended just a few moments ago, so I have officially satisfied every...single...requirement for bar admission. Now, it's in the hands of the bar association and the Supreme Court. Once they issue me my bar number and bar card, I'll be official.

Proof

The official pass list is posted here. And the official stats are posted here.

My friend, Brian, stopped by the WSBA office today and sent me these photos:

Walla Walla Wine Weekend

In celebration of Sam's 30th birthday, she and Brian invited George and me and two other couples to Walla Walla for a weekend of wine tasting. We had a great time seeing a bit of eastern Washington (a first for George and me), tasting wine, catching up with old friends, and making new friends. Because we had rented a house, we were able to hang out together and cook dinner at the house rather than deal with the hustle and bustle of a restaurant.

Over Saturday and today, we visited the following wineries: Waters, Gramercy Cellars, K Vintners, Russell Creek Winery, Mannina Cellars, Dunham Cellars, Buty Winery, and Terra Blanca. We definitely tasted a lot of wine we liked, but I felt that Walla Walla (at least the part that we visited) lacked the ambiance of Napa and Willamette, which have a certain romance with the vineyards surrounding the winery. Then again, Terra Blanca definitely had beautiful buildings, caves, and grounds.

This summer was so mild that the fruit has been ripening very slowly, and harvest is weeks behind across the Pacific Northwest. Because of the delay, we were able to see a lot of action: fruit still on the vine, fruit being sorted and de-stemmed, fruit in bins being fermented, barrels being filled. It's definitely a busy and exciting time to be in wine country!

All in all, it was a very enjoyable weekend...made even more enjoyable by a very special letter waiting in the box upon our return.

Photos are here.

Results

We spent this weekend in Walla Walla, Washington on a wine tasting trip with some friends to celebrate one friend's 30th birthday. (More on that in a future post.) Just a few moments ago, we got home, got the mail, and read these precious words:

"Dear Amanda: It is our great pleasure and honor to inform you that you have passed the Washington State Bar Examination. Congratulations!"

To say that I'm happy is a bit of an understatement, and I am pretty certain that George feels even more strongly than I do because I know he was not excited about the prospect of living through another bar prep course. Woooooooooohooooooooooo!

Bar Watch 2010

Bar results were mailed yesterday, and they are supposed to be posted online on Monday. I'll likely get my results when I pick up my mail at home tomorrow...or if they post online earlier. Either way, I promise to tell you as soon as I know whether I passed or failed..............................

The End.

The exam ended nearly 5 hours ago. I'm still alive but really exhausted. The answer to the million dollar question (when are results published?) is October 18 at http://www.wsba.org/.

Besides that, I don't really know what to write.

I have gone through 20 years of formal education, 2 months of torturous bar prep, and 2.5 days of exam craziness...all waiting for this moment to arrive. Now that it's finally here, all I can get my brain to do is alternate between random, geeky legal thoughts and urges to sleep. I have no idea how I feel (besides tired). I have no idea what I feel like doing (besides relieving the constant feeling of guilt for not studying). It's going to take some time to feel fully human again (i.e. live without reducing everything to elements of a legal issue, type without counting characters, live more than 45-minutes at a time, relax without thinking of how many essays await).

I'm going to attempt to get back to normal by watching a movie, having a drink with friends, doing laundry, getting a massage, and celebrating a friend's wedding. That sounds like a good start. :-)

Day 2

I'm pleased to report that I have survived the substantive portion of the bar exam. In the past two days, I wrote 18 essay questions totaling 13.5 hours of writing time. I feel moderately confident, though I felt a lot more confident before those last three questions this afternoon. (Can they possibly fail everyone when the call of the question was completely unclear and facts pointed to a topic supposedly not tested?)

Needless to say, I'm exhausted and less than excited about diving into professional responsibility, tested in 6 short essay questions after 6:30am registration tomorrow morning. Here goes...

Day 1

I'm pleased to report that I have survived the first day of the exam, and I'm even smiling about it.

T-Minus Way Too Little Time

I am feeling an overwhelming, paralyzing amount of stress with the start of the bar exam approximately 18 hours away. And, because I'm short on time to type out how I'm feeling, I'll leave you with a link to Above the Law and just a few words of my own.

Do I think I'm going to pass? Probably, but plenty of people who are smarter and better prepared than me have not passed the bar the first time through, so I know that failure is a very real possibility. Ultimately, I do not know (and will not know until mid-October) whether what I know is enough, but I do not know what more I could have done to prepare over the past two months. So, I'll study for a few more hours, eat some dinner, attempt to forget about the exam, attempt to sleep, and go to the Meydenbauer Center in the morning knowing that I'm about to leave it all on the field.

(Thank you for your cards, calls, texts, and email. I promise to respond eventually.)

Treat Time

Even though I still had 3 essays* ahead of me, I just had to take a break to make dinner tonight. These days, little things like walking out to get the mail or making dinner or buying groceries are big treats for me. :-)

Inspired by an appetizer from Chateau Ste. Michelle's Riesling Rendezvous, I set out to create a pizza out of a pile of yumminess. The project was a success, so I've decided to write down the "recipe" and share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Crust:

One Pillsbury Pizza Crust (homemade or frozen crust would work fine, too)

Sauce:

BBQ Sauce (We like mixing Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet n' Spicy and Rufus Teague Honey Sweet.)

Cheeses:

3 ounces of blue cheese, crumbled

3 to 4 ounces of mozzarella, shredded

Toppings:

6 ounces of mushrooms, rinsed and sliced

1 medium to large onion, sliced and caramelized [how to caramelize an onion]

8 ounces of meat, cooked (we used chorizo from Bill the Butcher)

Cook meat. Caramelize onions. Add some or all mushrooms to the onions for the last 2-3 minutes (just to soften the mushrooms a bit).

As meat and onions are finishing, roll out dough on greased pan or pizza stone. Spread BBQ sauce across entire surface. Cover with 2/3 of the blue cheese. Add other desired toppings (onions, mushrooms, meat, other veg). Add rest of blue cheese. Cover with mozzarella. Bake at 400F (204C) for 10-15 minutes or until melted and browning. Slice and enjoy!

*In case you're curious, I finished them all!

Better News

I have good news for a change...

• David was released from the hospital today and is now recovering under my mother's watchful eye. He'll be returning for regular check-ups to get through this round of healing and then schedule the next surgeries.

• The bar exam begins two weeks from today. Eeek! These last two weeks give me a half day to one day per subject to make sure I have everything down...and for some subjects, I definitely need every minute. You won't be hearing much, if anything, from me until it's over as I've taken myself off of Facebook and generally out of communication to focus on my finishing touches.

• George and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary this past weekend. On Saturday night, we returned to Canlis for dinner, a tradition we hope to keep for many years to come. On Sunday, we spent the evening at a riesling tasting at Chateau Ste. Michelle. We had an excellent time tasting riesling (and some sauvignon blanc and pinot noir) from around the world, though I admit we spent a lot of time hovering around the New Zealand tent and a fair bit of time at the Oregon table. Most of all, I loved getting to hang onto my sweetie's arm all night. Am I a lucky gal or what?!

Progress Report

Well, it looks like I've reached the halfway point in my bar study plan. We have just one more week of classes and four more subjects to cover, and then I'm left to study according to "the plan" for two weeks and a few days. The vast majority of my time post-class will be spent memorizing...by studying my outlines, writing and studying flashcards, and writing a whole lot of practice essays.

So far, I analogize the process to being handcuffed to a treadmill set just a little too fast. You can't stop it or slow it, and getting off is not an option.

For those of you who appreciate a numerical breakdown, I've done the following since June 1: attended 64 hours of class, written 15 outlines totaling 120 pages (size 11 font, single spaced), written 90 essays, and had zero days off.

For those of you who appreciate a visual, this is what my essays and outlines look like in a (virtually full) 3-inch binder:

I apologize if your call, email, text, or Facebook message has not been returned...or if it's been returned and you've received "I've been better" as a response to your inquiry about how I am. Hopefully this helps to explain it. :-)

They're serious.

It's difficult to put the bar prep experience into words, but this article explains it pretty well.

Bytheway, Day 19 is the Rule Against Perpetuities. It's famous for being impossible to understand, and the California Supreme Court, in Lucas v. Hamm, ruled that it is so difficult to get right that a mistake involving the RAP does not constitute the basis for a malpractice claim.

My Day in Numbers

It started with 2 extra hours of sleep and 1 cup of coffee.

And it continued with the following:

9 practice essay answers [three 45-minute ones; six 22-minute ones]

5 loads of laundry

1.5-mile run (most of it with George)

1 trip to the supermarket (with George)

Phew.

What comes next?

For the next 8 or so weeks, I'll be taking a bar exam prep course from BarBri and then studying independently for the bar exam. Classes are roughly 5 days a week for just a few hours a day, but the curriculum calls for approximately 10 hours of study on class days with an additional 10 hours over the days off each week. Phew!

The bar exam is held in Bellevue on July 27 to 29. The exam tests 18 substantive topics (contracts, torts, evidence, family law, criminal procedure, sales, corporations, agency and partnership, Indian law, etc.) mixed up in 18 essay questions, each covering 10-20 distinct issues, over the course of the first two days. The third day of the exam is a half day with six short-answer essay questions on professional responsibility. Of course, everything is time- and character-limited. Bar exam results will be mailed on October 15 and posted publicly (on WSBA's website) on October 18.

At the end of all of this, I look forward to the little getaway we have planned to the tropics. Ahhhhhh!

In the mean time, I am not sure how often I'll be posting on here. Sure, it's a great procrastination method, but I'm doing to do my best to not procrastinate with so much on the line. On the other hand, this is a slightly easier way to send out a smoke signal than emailing or calling each of you. We'll see.