Esquire Coffinberry's Great-Grand-Niece

A small town in eastern Tennessee discovered that by requiring commercial property owners to make their own arrangements for trash pick-up, the town would save $6,000 on landfill fees. The town signs a new contract with the trash-pickup guy. What a brilliant political move - conserving taxpayer's money! Three weeks later, the mayor comes blustering in to the council meeting: “He has not picked up city hall’s garbage for three weeks,” the mayor exclaims. “He says we are commercial which we are not and that if we want our garbage picked up we will have to get a dumpster or pay the dumping fee.” The town council members are perplexed. "You mean we are paying him all that money and he won’t even pick up our garbage?" says one. And another wonders how come the trash-pickup guy isn't honoring a past agreement to pick up government trash. A third council member has already checked this out with the town attorney (whom, it seems, nobody thought to consult before signing the...

Yesterday's tort's practice mid-term was interesting. In retrospect, I can see that I totally blew off the respondat superior analysis, treating the agency issue in a completely conclusory way (oops). I had the elements of battery, but was foggy on how to apply them to the facts (oops). Did well, I think, on the likely privilege of consent. It was amazing how much had to be addressed in just the one hour! The suggested Calabresi reading the appendix was helpful (Prof. Calhoun does want to see policy analysis on her exam responses), but I suspect that the Posner Law-and-Economics reading that was immediately before it might have been as much if not more helpful, considering that Posner (the same one? I am showing my ignorance) was the appellate judge for Mathias v. Accor Lodging(2003) , which appears to have been the real-world source for the fact pattern. I was gratified to see my analysis of the battery, however baby-steps, conclusory, and incomplete it may have been, was at...

I am sooooo not wanting to study for the CivPro midterm. And I am sooooo not wanting to look up Riske v. King Soopers, or look at any more IIMD stuff. Anyone got some motivation handy??? (roots around for chocolate)

Just got this email from one of our tutors... "If you do not get these emails, you are not on my [class name deleted] list. Please notify me immediately if this is the case. " Uh, right...

At last! A little bit of a vacation. Since my husband has to work, and the kidlets have school, it's just as well that I've got loads of outlining to do (along with a practice mid-term or two) and an open memo to research. But this afternoon, I just couldn't face studying. So I made two homemade beef pot pies and a pair of pumpkin pies. They're in the oven this very minute. Mmm-mmm! They smell delish! And the cinnamon crispies made from the leftover dough are yummy, too! **** Imaginary phone call with Sony: Sony Customer Service: Hello, how can we help you today? [see, you should be able to tell this imaginary right there!] Me: Do you have any cat-proof keyboards? SCS: What kind of keyboards? Me: Cat-proof. For my Vaio laptop. My cat keeps biting off the keypads, and I have to crawl around on the floor looking for the little pieces, and with with my old eyes, they're awful hard to put back together. I even broke a pin off one tiny piece yesterday. SCS: Our keyboards...

This morning's drive brought this to mind: WHEN the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock, And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock, And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens, And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence; O, it's then the time a feller is a-feelin' at his best, With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest, As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock, When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock. They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here— Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossoms on the trees, And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees; But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days Is a pictur' that no pa...

A surreal moment in Torts yesterday: entering upon Washington v. Louisiana Power and Light Co. , Prof. Calhoun selected her victim, and the first thing out of the young thing's mouth was that she didn't know what a citizens band radio antenna thing was. Oh my. Technology has come so far since I was a kid. Back when I was a child, before there were cell phones and Blackberries, there were CB Radios. You know, like "Convoy" and "Smokey and the Bandit." When my parents left me at home in charge of my six siblings, they kept in touch by radio - we had a big ol' base station, and they had mobile sets in the cars. And before microminiature technology, with chip generated waves, the radio depended on actual crystals to vibrate... in order to talk on another channel, you had to have another crystal in your set. Those in the know, and not wanting to have the general public in on every conversation, opened up their radios, unplugged the crystal, and turned it arou...

A new week, a new chore; this week it is one-and-only-daughter whose lot it is to do laundry (which means that really, it is my chore, since she's only 7, and 6 people are an awful lot of people to wash up after). My actual chore this week is cleaning the living room. *** It is Spirit Week at LHS; today is "Super Hero Day". Now, SonOne can't be bothered with such silliness, but SonTwo left the house this morning with a red blanket tied into a cape across his shoulders, a colander pot on his head, and a tool belt loaded with celery, carrots, broccoli and tomatoes: he is Captain Vegetable! (Of Sesame Street fame...) And in his newly acquired baritone, he is more than happy to belt out It is I! Captain Vegetable, with my carrots, and my celery! Eating Crunchy vegetables are good for me... *** And now, it's time to review Torts.

Reading about Dynasty Trusts... (p. 338 in Property, Dukeminier & Krier, 5th ed) Question 2 about "If your ancestor had, in 1800, created a perpetual trust for his descendants, how many beneficiaries would there be today? Would you know where they are?" At last! The whole time I'm reading about the Rule against Perpetuities and the USRAP etc., I'm thinking "Do these people ever stop to consider just how many descendants there will be of somebody some 360 years or whatever insane time down the road? The genealogist in me is chuckling madly - Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Talk about vested future interests subject to open! I know that the book in my possession written back in 1965 thoroughly detailing all the descendants of Friedrich Krebill (1788-1849) and his wife Anna Risser (1794-1857) was a thumb-thick, with an average of twelve persons per page - my brother was the youngest child in that book... there's been almost two generations more since then; the descendants n...

Late last night, (after movie & pizza night -- Papa Murphy's Sicilian Pizza is yum, and Robots is a cute funny movie -- the kids watched it twice) I was studying CivPro. My husband asked, "Coming to bed?" and I answered "Yeah, just after these last two questions... I'll be right there." And then the problem reached out and grabbed me. I understood the issue being asked in the hypo - when is a respondent required to answer a request for admission (Rule 36). I just was having the dickens of a time imagining how the plaintiff's counsel could have thought it had a case against this particular defendant given the facts (I was thinking to myself, time for a JMOL here). It's Problems 2 &3 on pp.424-5: Scout trips on tent wire (sic. A wire? Rope maybe, but wire?), sues the BSA, another kid tells defense counsel he's seen four other kids trip on the same wire that night. Plaintiff requests an admission to the fact that other kids had tripped on t...

Michelle's posts make me laugh. **** Somebody must have read my blog comment about the Closed Memo people... because none other than Marsha Brady appears in the Open Memo fact sheet. lol. **** I am satisfied with my Closed Memo results. It was fun to show the paper to my sons; they were impressed that I could make so many mistakes, and have so much writing in the margins. They saw the score, and I was impressed with their savvy, when the first thing they asked was "So, what was the curve?" And of course, I had to tell them, I have no idea. My best guess is that the average was 9 (given that the prof said the average for each sub-score was 3 on a 5 scale). Make of it what you will. **** The Open Memo is much fun to research. There's a certain sense of 'pulling it all together' from the substantive courses that comes from digging into the cases. A lot of the CivPro falls into place, reading about how the different pleadings and motions affected the outcomes I r...

Just once, I wish tutoring and westlaw-training and what-all was at 8:00 AM, not in the afternoon. I have missed each and every thing so far, and don't expect it to ever change. Grrrrr.....

In theory (though there's never been any evidence thereof...) this blog also keeps kith and kin in the loop on what is going on at the Coffinberry home... so those who read from the Law School, sorry if I'm blathering. Let's see, what have I been doing this past week? In Torts we've arrived at Causation, and starting with Hoyt 's hotel fire, we've distinguished general from specific causation, and begun delving into joint and several liability (note: if you take your novice buddies out quail hunting, don't let a quail get between you and your buddies!). In Contracts we've now covered the basics of Classical Contracting (Offer+Acceptance+Consideration), Promissory Estoppel (Promise+Reliance), and Restitution theory ("moral" obligation). In Property, we've finished up Acquisition by Capture, Creation, and Adverse Possession and are now beginning (eek!) Future Estates (which remaineth a mystery unto me). Civil Procedure has finally finished it...

The rainy weather down here last night brought snow to our eponymous mountain above us, its broad shoulders mantled in white this morning. The long summer days collapse into long autumn nights, and the trees begin to show a hint of the painter's blush. If I've gotta commute, I'm grateful for the one I have. It's a beautiful world. **** Wake-up call for my cluelessness... I didn't for a moment catch on to the South Park references in the writing assignment. As a matter of fact, the only pop-culture bell they rang was that Marsha Brady was played by Maureen McCormick. I... am... old. sigh. **** Oh, and he did get on to the Youth Symphony....

Just another week. Things are running relatively smoothly now, though the homework tonight was a bit heavy. Calling it a night. Sweet dreams, folks!

A day to sleep in ('til 7:30). The young'uns who've slept over are already up playing video games. My husband has a youth leader training over at church this morning. It's my week for kitchen, so I've got a load of dishes to wash this morning, and a couple of loads of clothes to fold, and I want to work some on the open memo assignment, too. Off in the distance, i hear a viola playing... hmmm. (I think we do music at our house the way other families do sports.) Son Two: Mom, I've got an audition this afternoon. I'm trying out for the Longmont Youth Symphony. Me: Cool. ST: Will you be my accompanist? Me: Uhhh.... sure. What are you playing? ST: Well, the fast piece is the one I did for recital last spring. Me: Good, I already know that one. ST: And the slow piece is this Brahms Waltz. Me: We don't have the accompaniment for that one. ST: Maybe Miller Music has it. (I phone. They do. We drive. We buy. We come home. And I practice. Then we practice.... all ...

are upon us. For weeks now, Daughter-One-and-Only has been asking me about Hallowe'en costumes. [See that apostrophe? I still remember the spelling test in second grade that required that apostrophe to mark the missing 'v'. Shows you how old I am. I don't think you need the apostrophe any more.] Anyway, as I was saying, (a pair of throat-clearer phrases if ever there were any) she's apparently well internalized the fact that I won't be available to make her (yup, I used to do that) a costume this year on account of Law school. So she took matters in her own hands. Quite some time ago she asked me when Hallowe'en costumes would be for sale in the stores, and I told her, quite innocently, "Oh, the day after Labor Day." So after school she met me in the kitchen where I was chopping vegetables for soup and informed me that we needed to go shopping. Today. Right now. Because TODAY the Hallowe'en costumes were for sale. So off to the store we went,...

So, the class of '08 has a reputation already? Apparently in back-room discussion, the professors have agreed that we are "serious" and "hesitant to stand out."

Labor Day - Hurrah to the laborers of the early 2oth century, whose sacrifices made possible many of the conveniences and rights we enjoy today. *** It was darned hot and sunny at Riverside Zoo in Scottsbluff, where the animals had more sense than we humans wandering listlessly among the cages... the critters knew that 1 in the afternoon is time to sleep in the shade, not frolick and play. But the greedy carp, ducks, and catfish in the pond were as fun as ever. I think we blew twenty-five quarters on the dog-food dispensers. The poor turtle... he never could quite swim fast enough to get food. So we'd throw food way far away so the ducks and fish would leave Mr. Turtle alone; in this way Mr. Turtle got to eat three bits of kibble. *** The property reading for tomorrow was L-O-N-G. But interesting. Let's see... build your own gosh-darn news-gathering network... you can copy the uncopyrighted... it's dumb to threaten Volkswagen... don't make a Vanna robot without her perm...

meaning the overwhelming Katrina-induced suffering and loss (I strongly encourage you to do what you can, however limited it may be)... or the historic two-empty-spots on the Supreme Court... I turn to another issue altogether. My tech-minded husband brought this to my attention (he is a Slashdot junkie): Box-wrap Patent Infringement http://tinyurl.com/d5p78 With all of two-weeks worth of Contracts under my belt, I'm thinking "Can they Do this?" (Is there a meeting of the minds, an offer, an acceptance, consideration?) Quickly it becomes obvious that (1) I don't have a clue. (2) This really doesn't seem fair. (Ha! how's that for a non-instrumental policy opinion?) (3) What happened to reduce-reuse-recycle? (4) How on earth would anybody enforce it? (5) As a Customer-relations move, isn't this rather stupid? Does Lexmark (oy vey, a Longmont company) have enough of a strangle-hold on all ink cartridges to get away with this? What if we all bought foreign kn...