LAW SCHOOL NEWS & NOTES:

* The Honorable Arthur L. Alarcon, a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals since 1979, addressed our Civil Procedure class yesterday. Judge Alarcon is in his 80s, earned a Purple Heart in World War 2, and was the second federal judge of Mexican-American heritage in the United States. It was an honor to hear him speak. Law school is chock full of neat opportunities like this, and I for one am intent on appreciating them as they come.

* Speaking of neat opportunities, Sandra Day O’Connor is coming to speak to the law school this Friday. Thankfully, Hillary gets out of school early on Fridays so she gets to take advantage of this cool opportunity, too.

* My Contracts professor, Professor Barry McDonald, is the new father of a baby boy!!! In a surprise gift to us, he cancelled class today! Over the course of the year, it seems that Professor McDonald has slowly transformed from one of our most feared professors into one of our most favorite (even though we still don’t want to get called on in his class!).

* Now that the Appellate Brief is done in LRW, we are preparing for this weekend’s 1st Year Moot Court competition. Each set of partners will be competing with another set of partners in front of a panel of judges – our very first opportunity to argue before a judge! Thankfully, it isn’t graded, but I suspect most all of us will be nervous anyway.