It didn't look too bad from the 28th floor of the hilton, but traffic out of toronto was creeping along. I was on the QEW for a while doing an okay speed when I hit a patch of ice, flew across the grassy median ditch and landed facing oncoming traffic on the other side. Fucking crazy. Someone else did a 180 right behind me and a little farther a couple tractor trailers were jackknifed and cars were just all over the place. I made it back okay, 2.75 hr trip.

From the office window

Walden galleria just became a much more attractive place.

So, as you all know, I passed the NYS bar exam. Woo! I'll be admitted to practice Feb. 23, if the character & fitness interview goes well. However, I am dedicated to my little town in Pennsylvania and need to be licensed there as well. This means taking the Pennsylvania bar exam on February 28 & 29 in Philadelphia. I grubbed up enough cash to pay for the bar review class (Themis Bar if anyone's interested) yesterday and now I've started studying. Goal for this time around: no one dies. If you're planning to die and I'm needed to take care of your family members during funeral preparations, could you please hold off till March 1? Thanks. I'd really appreciate it.

Yesterday I reviewed the PA bar exam structure: Two days, first day is six essays on PA law mixed with common law (common law is the judicial tradition of law which can differ from "black-letter law" such as statutes and regulations - they also like to call it "fundamental principles of law" even though those principles might not actually be true for your state) and a performance test. NYS uses the multistate performance test (MPT) devised by the National Council of Bar Examiners (NCBE), but PA makes up its own. The second day is the multistate bar exam (MBE) also crafted by the NCBE. I did fine (scaled score of 150, average is 140-143) when I took it in NYS, but PA requires that I take it *in* the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Seriously? Yep. Do it over.

I will be admitted to NYS on February 23, five days before the PA bar. In Pennsylvania, being sworn in means going to a prothonotary's office in Pittsburgh within a couple months of getting positive bar exam results. In NYS, you MUST attend a ceremony in Rochester. MUST. I kinda wonder if taking the NYS bar first wasn't a mistake. I'd already be licensed in PA by now and I would have been able to take the exam in Harrisburg (way more convenient than Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, but not offered there in Februarys). I'm annoyed that a day that should be celebratory will instead be an annoying and time-wasteful day trip to Rochester. (e:kookcity), wanna have lunch?

Today's focus is criminal law. The vocabulary words are mens rea and actus reas. You have to have the proper mental state - mens rea - to commit the crime: specific intent, general intent, malice, and strict liability. The specific intent crimes are first degree murder, inchoate crimes (look that one up), attempt, and theft. You have to intend for these events to happen to be charged with those crimes. General intent means that you knowingly, recklessly or negligently made these events happen. Malice is for arson and not-first-degree murder. Strict liability means that it doesn't matter if you intended it or not, the event happened. Statutory rape is an example of a strict liability crime.

Actus reus is the act of committing a crime or the omission of acting when you have a duty. Thoughts aren't crimes, but speech can be (like creating a conspiracy to commit a crime).

Friday sunset