Memo Woes Forum

[ephemeral.bete.noire]

Thanks ph! When you were doing your parenthetical(s) did you keep the contents within relatively brief, or did you go into a detailed explanation? I've seen in some cases where the court goes on for like an entire paragraph (or more) in its explanation of the citation. Obviously I would do nothing quite that lengthy for a memo of this size, but I keep wondering if I am explaining the citation sufficiently so that my professor can follow my line of reasoning as to exactly why I have included this case in support of my argument.

[ph14]

Thanks ph! When you were doing your parenthetical(s) did you keep the contents within relatively brief, or did you go into a detailed explanation? I've seen in some cases where the court goes on for like an entire paragraph (or more) in its explanation of the citation. Obviously I would do nothing quite that lengthy for a memo of this size, but I keep wondering if I am explaining the citation sufficiently so that my professor can follow my line of reasoning as to exactly why I have included this case in support of my argument.

I kept mine brief, but I also added them relatively late in the writing process and didn't have a whole lot of room. Basically mine are along the lines of "(holding that blah blah)" or "(holding X when Y)" and are about 1 or 2 lines each.

[NYC Law]

All done with my last memo woooooooo ... Let's see how this experiment in procrastination works out.

[Bildungsroman]

Damn you memo.

[ph14]

All done with my last memo woooooooo ... Let's see how this experiment in procrastination works out.

I'm basically done with my last memo as well. Just need to proofread and cite check and a little bit of polish. Then turning completely towards finals...which scares the shit out of me.

[Kabuo]

Done. We had to keep track of billable hours. Mine was just shy of 50. How lulzy is it that it would have cost a client ~$15k for this shit? Also, as an English major, let me just say that I HATE writing in the past tense for everything. Give me the literary present back, at least for what the law is, sheesh.

[03121202698008]

Thanks ph! When you were doing your parenthetical(s) did you keep the contents within relatively brief, or did you go into a detailed explanation? I've seen in some cases where the court goes on for like an entire paragraph (or more) in its explanation of the citation. Obviously I would do nothing quite that lengthy for a memo of this size, but I keep wondering if I am explaining the citation sufficiently so that my professor can follow my line of reasoning as to exactly why I have included this case in support of my argument.

I kept mine brief, but I also added them relatively late in the writing process and didn't have a whole lot of room. Basically mine are along the lines of "(holding that blah blah)" or "(holding X when Y)" and are about 1 or 2 lines each.

This is all they should be. Past one sentence you should just be writing a rule and explaining.

[ph14]

Done. We had to keep track of billable hours. Mine was just shy of 50. How lulzy is it that it would have cost a client ~$15k for this shit? Also, as an English major, let me just say that I HATE writing in the past tense for everything. Give me the literary present back, at least for what the law is, sheesh.

Wow that's crazy. Does it affect your grade at all or is it just to see how long you worked on it? I have no idea how long I worked on mine.

[Kabuo]

Done. We had to keep track of billable hours. Mine was just shy of 50. How lulzy is it that it would have cost a client ~$15k for this shit? Also, as an English major, let me just say that I HATE writing in the past tense for everything. Give me the literary present back, at least for what the law is, sheesh.

Wow that's crazy. Does it affect your grade at all or is it just to see how long you worked on it? I have no idea how long I worked on mine.

It's worth like 15% of the grade, but she said all she's looking to see is if we were specific enough. We couldn't write ".5, edited." Had to be more like, ".5, removed an irrelevant case discussion." Not that big of a deal - basically block points.

[ph14]

Done. We had to keep track of billable hours. Mine was just shy of 50. How lulzy is it that it would have cost a client ~$15k for this shit? Also, as an English major, let me just say that I HATE writing in the past tense for everything. Give me the literary present back, at least for what the law is, sheesh.

Wow that's crazy. Does it affect your grade at all or is it just to see how long you worked on it? I have no idea how long I worked on mine.

It's worth like 15% of the grade, but she said all she's looking to see is if we were specific enough. We couldn't write ".5, edited." Had to be more like, ".5, removed an irrelevant case discussion." Not that big of a deal - basically block points.

I'd fail that haha, I never just sit down and work for .5 hours undistracted. And my time would be like 3 hours -- bashing head into desk.

[Kabuo]

I'd fail that haha, I never just sit down and work for .5 hours undistracted. And my time would be like 3 hours -- bashing head into desk.

It was hard to not be snarky and say things like, "10.25, spent missing football, cutting the last 500 words to fit under arbitrary word limit, generally editing, and consuming record amounts of caffeine."

[NYC Law]

Crazy dream last night... I dreamt me and Moby became friends (weird since I don't even listen to Moby), we were going to go on an errand for him at the DMV but I kept having to make last minute changes to my memo since I wanted to drop off the finished memo first, then I was having printing issues and I ultimately made Moby late. He was pretty cool about it though, but somewhere in the process of me trying to turn in my memo there was an explosion and Moby lightly burned half of his face. Poor guy.

[bartleby]

Finished my memo. That shit was brutal. Probably sucked too. Here's hoping for median. Not going to any of my classes today, hallelujah

[always206]

My professor for LRW told me last year the students who earned A's "found a case embedded within another case that was meant to be analogized with a few facts." Also, "the students who only used the first 10-15 cases that popped up on Lexis or Westlaw didn't dig deep enough." Hence, they weren't able to strongly address a few facts.

Anyways, here, the last memo is "open." 65% of the overall grade in the class is based off of this single memo. And, 20% is based on the research (case choice). Hence, all of the kids, including myself, are wasting hours and hours looking for "the perfect case." Is this how LRW classes are usually taught?

[ph14]

My professor for LRW told me last year the students who earned A's "found a case embedded within another case that was meant to be analogized with a few facts." Also, "the students who only used the first 10-15 cases that popped up on Lexis or Westlaw didn't dig deep enough." Hence, they weren't able to strongly address a few facts.

Anyways, here, the last memo is "open." 65% of the overall grade in the class is based off of this single memo. And, 20% is based on the research (case choice). Hence, all of the kids, including myself, are wasting hours and hours looking for "the perfect case." Is this how LRW classes are usually taught?

I didn't get that feeling for my open memo. My professor seems to grade pretty holistically-- it's about writing a memo that works, and not just research contest.

[always206]

My professor for LRW told me last year the students who earned A's "found a case embedded within another case that was meant to be analogized with a few facts." Also, "the students who only used the first 10-15 cases that popped up on Lexis or Westlaw didn't dig deep enough." Hence, they weren't able to strongly address a few facts.

Anyways, here, the last memo is "open." 65% of the overall grade in the class is based off of this single memo. And, 20% is based on the research (case choice). Hence, all of the kids, including myself, are wasting hours and hours looking for "the perfect case." Is this how LRW classes are usually taught?

I didn't get that feeling for my open memo. My professor seems to grade pretty holistically-- it's about writing a memo that works, and not just research contest.

Hmm...

[ph14]

My professor for LRW told me last year the students who earned A's "found a case embedded within another case that was meant to be analogized with a few facts." Also, "the students who only used the first 10-15 cases that popped up on Lexis or Westlaw didn't dig deep enough." Hence, they weren't able to strongly address a few facts.

Anyways, here, the last memo is "open." 65% of the overall grade in the class is based off of this single memo. And, 20% is based on the research (case choice). Hence, all of the kids, including myself, are wasting hours and hours looking for "the perfect case." Is this how LRW classes are usually taught?

I didn't get that feeling for my open memo. My professor seems to grade pretty holistically-- it's about writing a memo that works, and not just research contest.

Hmm...

But I get the sense that these things are pretty professor specific. So do what your professor wants, they're the ones grading it.

[minuit]

Done. We had to keep track of billable hours. Mine was just shy of 50. How lulzy is it that it would have cost a client ~$15k for this shit? Also, as an English major, let me just say that I HATE writing in the past tense for everything. Give me the literary present back, at least for what the law is, sheesh.

I know we all probably spent wayyyy too much time on this thing because we're slow right now, but wtf - way to put it in perspective. I totes deserve my 15k

[ph14]

Done. We had to keep track of billable hours. Mine was just shy of 50. How lulzy is it that it would have cost a client ~$15k for this shit? Also, as an English major, let me just say that I HATE writing in the past tense for everything. Give me the literary present back, at least for what the law is, sheesh.

I know we all probably spent wayyyy too much time on this thing because we're slow right now, but wtf - way to put it in perspective. I totes deserve my 15k

And then the 90% hour markdown by the partner

[minuit]

Done. We had to keep track of billable hours. Mine was just shy of 50. How lulzy is it that it would have cost a client ~$15k for this shit? Also, as an English major, let me just say that I HATE writing in the past tense for everything. Give me the literary present back, at least for what the law is, sheesh.

I know we all probably spent wayyyy too much time on this thing because we're slow right now, but wtf - way to put it in perspective. I totes deserve my 15k

And then the 90% hour markdown by the partner

[bartleby]

hey, do biglaw people just write memos all day? because if that's the case, i am going to drop out tomorrow.

[03121202698008]

hey, do biglaw people just write memos all day? because if that's the case, i am going to drop out tomorrow.

Litigation/appellate people do. They seem to be way more interesting though.

[beach_terror]

hey, do biglaw people just write memos all day? because if that's the case, i am going to drop out tomorrow.

I don't know how you can find memo's less interesting than doctrinal bullshit that's largely irrelevant to actual practice.

[ph14]

hey, do biglaw people just write memos all day? because if that's the case, i am going to drop out tomorrow.

I don't know how you can find memo's less interesting than doctrinal bullshit that's largely irrelevant to actual practice.

+1

[always206]

Do you ever get to the point where you say F** it and just throw some POS together? I feel like I am wasting all my time on LRW when I should be preparing and taking practice exams for my other classes. I think it is time to say the hell with it and move on.