i am beat. tired, i mean. i had a hearing early this morning in the lands of southern jersey. i'm back in the office now and it's all catching up to me. there's a certain kind of exhaustion i only feel at times like these, after i wake up early, get hyped up to argue a case, and then come back after i am finished. i feel finished. unfortunately, the day isn't quite yet.
nor will it for some time. i volunteered to be a moot judge tonight. i.e. i am pretending to be an appellate judge and for moot court. moot court is one of those law school traditions where law students pretend to be lawyers and argue before a fake court. only no one wants to call it "fake court" because it doesn't sound legalesy enough. so instead it's called "moot", a bad name, if you think about it. something is moot when it is too late or already settled. if anything moot court is too early. the pretend attorneys are not attorneys now, but will be in the future. i'm not a judge now, but, at least theoretically, i could be in the future. the court is not moot, it's unripe. but "unripe court" doesn't sound all that pleasant, so they go with "moot."
before oral arguments tonight, the participating law students have to brief their arguments. that means they write this long paper explaining why their side should win and the other should lose. i'm supposed to be familiar with their briefs before argument tonight. when i volunteered to do this i completely forgot that there would be homework. i still haven't done it yet. i'm not sure if my eyes will stay open long enough to get through the briefs. i'm really really beat. maybe the adrenaline surge i get from a real hearing will hit me again when i step into court tonight. or maybe i will be completely unprepared and falling asleep on the bench. either way, the students will be getting something resembling a real courtroom experience.
maybe i'll even drop by drinking liberally before it begins. then i can stagger into moot court, reeking of alcohol and throw up on the nervous students. it may not put them at ease, but it should put their troubles in perspective
