Month: November 2018

Jon Completes Law School: A Review of Four Years at NWCU Law

Graduation CapOn Thursday, I took my final exams for my final year of school at Northwestern California University School of Law. Assuming I passed my exams, I now have a law degree making me eligible to take the February 2019 California Bar Examination, which I shall do.

If you’ve been following, you know NWCU is a distance learning school. They combine reading assignments, live online classes, recorded coursework, and a message board to accomplish a legal education. The American Bar Association categorically refuses to accredit law schools that offer distance learning, so graduates are left to take the bar exams of states that do not require the ABA’s blessing. That said, four years at NWCU cost me about a tenth of a traditional law school (~$15,000 — total, not per year), and I was able to do it without giving up the day job.

The graduation rate at NWCU seems to be in the range of 15%, based on a count of students in each year, so it shouldn’t be thought that this law degree is easy. It also requires passing California’s First-Year Law Students’ Examination after the first year, which is probably the biggest driver behind the low graduation rate given that the pass rate for that exam hovers around 20%.

I posted a review of my experience at around the 2 month point and the 2 year point. I still think those are fairly reflective of my experience: you must be self-motivated, have 2 hours per day, every day for 4 years, pay attention to deadlines, and know that if you don’t, no one’s going to remind you until it’s too late. It would probably be in eveyone’s interest if the school did more to keep people on track, but then again, you’re an adult in law school, and as a lawyer, no one is going to hold your hand to make sure you file that brief on time. I do also wish NWCU would update some of their materials that have obviously aged quite a bit, but then again, for most areas of the law, the curriculum hasn’t changed that much.

I look forward to beginning my bar prep shortly. I feel well-prepared and appreciate that I was able to learn the law with minimal disruption to my life. Three months until the exam…

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Trump Bans CNN Reporter from White House after Firing Attorney General – Nationwide Protests Today

 

This blog is really, really not a political blog.  I’m a civil rights advocate, not a partisan.

However, the President today took two steps that cross a line from “politics I may not like” into “authoritarian behavior we should not tolerate.”

First, Trump demanded, and obtained, the “resignation” of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  A.G. Sessions was a regressive who struggled to concede that heroin was more dangerous than marijuana, and no one on either side of the aisle would be sad to see him go but for the obvious reason for the firing: Sessions had recused himself from the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election instead of shutting down the investigation as Trump wanted.  This crosses the line because a president must not interfere with law enforcement investigations, especially when his own staffers are the subject of those investigations (several of which have already plead, or been found, guilty of felonies).  I couldn’t care less if you think the Mueller investigation is a “witch hunt:” allowing an official to stop investigations into his own people is flatly fascist regardless of whether the investigation turns out to show no misconduct.  If Mr. Trump has nothing to hide, then there is no reason to obstruct this investigation.

Second, this evening Trump revoked the clearance of CNN’s White House Correspondent, Jim Acosta, resulting in the veteran reporter being unable to step foot on White House property.  The justification given by the Trump administration is that he “assaulted” a woman during a press conference.  Take 20 seconds to watch this alleged assault:

A White House intern attempted to take a microphone from Acosta, reaching over and grabbing at him, and Acosta’s arm grazed hers in the process.  It is clear that Acosta committed no “assault,” but rather that Trump was upset at Acosta’s line of questioning and thus ordered him removed.  The only assault here was Trump’s upon the press and upon the First Amendment, and for this, and for blatantly lying to the American public about what happened, Trump has also crossed a line.

Today, protests will occur across the country focused on Trump’s attempt to obstruct the Mueller investigation.  You may find your local event here.  Whether you vote Red, Blue, or are colorblind, ask yourself if the above is ok, and if not, step outside and let the White House know.

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USPTO Grants Registered Trademark on Professional Troublemaker

USPTO Registered Trademark for Professional TroublemakerIt’s been a slow fall here at the Professional Troublemaker blog, as I prepare to finish law school in just 2 more weeks. There haven’t been any substantial updates on any of my lawsuits since the summer, as they work their way through the courts.

But, today I got a letter from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office indicating that they’ve completed the registration of a trademark for “Professional Troublemaker.” Near the beginning of the year, I sent in an application, largely as a way to get some experience with trademark law. Filing trademarks can now be done entirely online and registration of a simple mark comes with a fairly reasonable $225 fee, so long as you complete the process without any paper filings.

I’m not sure I got too much useful experience or learned a whole lot from the process — I spent half an hour submitting online forms, gave them the filing fee, waited about 8 months, and got my mark with no hassle — but it’s always interesting to me to see how another area of law works.

So, watch out, imposter troublemakers: the name is mine!

(Why would I pick the name Professional Troublemaker? What is a “profesional troublemaker?”)

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