How bout this

Two D-Lo's and one J-Lo passed the California Bar Exam. Including, of course, yours truly.

http://members.calbar.ca.gov/exam/search.aspx?ln=lowe&fn=

My brother making it big

My brother talks high school wrestling.

Listen to any given two minutes (for example, begin around the 11:15 mark) and you will understand what it's like to talk sports with my brother.

Let's Go Former Tribe

This took me all of about 4 minutes.

Starting Lineup

1. Ben Francisco (Phi) -- CF
2. Mark De Rosa (Stl) -- 2B
3. Victor Martinez (Bos) -- C
4. Manny Ramirez (LA) -- LF
5. Jim Thome (LA) -- 1B
6. Ryan Ludwick (Stl) -- RF
7. Casey Blake (LA) -- 3B
8. Ronnie Belliard* (LA) -- SS
9. CC Sabathia (NYY) -- P

Rest of the Rotation

Cliff Lee (Phi)
Paul Byrd (Bos)
Carl Pavano (Min)

Matt Guerrier** (Min) -- Setup Man
Rafael Betancourt (Col) - Closer

*Belliard is actually a 2B, but he'll play out of position in this lineup.

** Guerrier was never an Indian, but he is from Cleveland, a fact mentioned during every Indians v. Twins game.

Presidential Reading List

Richard Pryce and George Pelecanos, two of my favorite authors, made President Obama's summer reading list. I haven't read Lush Life or The Way Home yet, but allow me to recommend Freedomland, Clockers, The Night Gardener** and Drama City.

**I assume the President is not reading The Night Gardener only because I bought the last copy at the Barnes and Noble at 30th and M last summer while he was busy, ummm, campaigning for President.

Did you read my memo?

Checking in on my baseball predictions

Predictions: here. Last update: here.

The Good

Albert Pujols leads both leagues in VORP. Tim Lincecum leads the NL in PRC. Felix Hernandez is 3rd in the AL in PRC and 3rd in the Cy Young Predictor. The Dodgers are kicking butt.

The Bad

Besides the Dodgers, I stand to miss the other seven playoffs teams if the season ended today. That is astounding.

My rookie of the year picks were not very good either. Cameron Maybin has a .590 OPS in less than 100 ABs. Matt Wieters and David Price have not met their lofty expectations.

FWIW, the rookie leaders in VORP are here.

The Ugly

My AL MVP Grady Sizemore spent 6 weeks on the DL, but his OPS has crept up to a respectable .770 since my last update.

5. A-Rod hits less than 20 HRs, Jeter slugs less than .400, Joba pitches less than 130 innings, and the Yankees win less than 90 games.

Wrong. Very, very wrong. Very wrong. Very, very, very, very wrong. Ouch.

I had Cleveland winning the World Series (for the 4th straight year). They will not (for the 51st straight year). I don't want to talk about this anymore.

Predictions

Well, the California Bar Exam begins in less than 12 hours. A little over one third of the exam consists of 6, one hour long essays. Each essay covers one or more of 19 subjects. The only subject we know for sure will be tested is Professional Responsibility. For posterity's sake, I figured I would throw out my ideal lineup (the subjects I feel strongest in) and my predicted lineup (the subjects I'm guessing will be covered). As applicants, we are told there is no rhyme or reason to how the examiners pick which subjects are to be tested, so this is complete guesswork.

Ideal Lineup

1. Professional Responsibility
2. Constitutional Law
3. Criminal Procedure
4. Federal Rules of Evidence
5. Federal Civil Procedure
6. Community Property

Projected Lineup


1. Professional Responsibility
2. California Civil Procedure
3. Constitutional Law / Criminal Procedure Crossover
4. Wills / Trusts Crossover
5. Evidence (California and Federal Rules)
6. Corporations

Wish me luck!

IRACing The Unbreakable Vow

[I ran out of Practice Contracts Essay Questions so I wrote one of my own. I think it helped me better understand some of the important concepts.]

Narcissa and Severus, two members of the same organization, met one evening at Narcissa’s house. Narcissa was concerned about Severus’s loyalty to their leader, Voldemort, and had threatened to report Severus’s disloyalty to Voldemort. Narcissa also wanted Severus’s help to protect her son, Draco. Narcissa asked Severus to form an “unbreakable vow.” Severus agreed to do the following: (1) Watch over Draco as he attempts to fulfill Voldemort’s wishes, (2) Protect Draco from harm, and (3) Carry out the deed Voldermort ordered if Draco is unable to perform.

Narcissa remained in town, while Severus went to Hogwarts to assume the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Neither told Draco about the unbreakable vow.

If Severus were to break the unbreakable vow, what claims can Narcissa assert and what defenses does Severus have?

Assuming the unbreakable vow formed a valid contract, what claims could Draco bring to enforce the contract?

Analyze according to the law of your jurisdiction (as opposed to magical law).

1. Narcissa v. Draco

The U.C.C. applies only to goods and not services. Because Severus agreed to provide a service for Narcissa, the U.C.C. does not apply.

Narcissa’s rights and remedies against Severus depend on whether a valid contract was entered into between the parties. A valid contract requires offer, acceptance, and consideration.

Mutual Assent

An offer is a communication that creates a reasonable expectation in the offeree that the offeror is willing to enter into a contract on the stated terms. An offer requires 1) a promise, undertaking, or commitment to enter into a contract, 2) certainty and definiteness in the essential terms, and 3) communication to the offeree.

An unbreakable vow is how both these parties and the magical community display their willingness to enter into a contract. By offering the vow and communicating the terms to Severus, Narcissa created a reasonable expectation in Snape that she was willing to enter into a contract. While the terms “Voldemort’s wishes” and “the deed Voldemort ordered” are not completely certain, they are probably capable of being enforced. Furthermore, “protect Draco from harm” is very clear and capable of being enforced.

Snape accepted the contract by expressly agreeing to Narcissa’s terms.

Consideration

Courts will enforce a contract only if it is supported by consideration or a consideration substitute. Consideration is bargained for exchange for something of legal value. Consideration must exist on both sides of the contract. Here, Severus has promised to do three things for Narcissa. The issue is whether Narcissa is bound to perform on the contract.

Severus will argue that Narcissa is has made no duty on the contract. Narcissa may argue that she made an implied promised not to go to Voldemort with her belief that Snape has been disloyal. However, this promise is illusory because it is not part of the vow, and Narcissa can break this promise without breaching the contract. Therefore, the contract is not supported by consideration.

Detrimental Reliance

Detrimental reliance is a sufficient substitute for consideration. Detrimental reliance requires a promise that is reasonably relied upon and is in fact relied upon. Here, Narcissa will argue that when Severus promised to protect Draco, she gave up other ways should could have tried to protect Draco, and that Severus could reasonably expect her to rely on his promise. With Draco in his capable hands and under his careful watch, Severus should expect Narcissa to feel safe and not to worry. Because there was detrimental reliance, the promise will be enforceable despite the lack of consideration.

Statute of Frauds

The Statute of Frauds requires a writing for a service contract that is impossible to perform in less than one year. In this case, nothing indicates that the contract could not be performed within one year. It is not impossible for Draco to fulfill Voldemort’s wishes within one year, which is the measuring life of the contract, so the contract is not subject to a Statute of Frauds defense.

Ambiguity

If both parties were aware of an ambiguity in the contract, there is no contract unless the parties intended the same meaning. If only one party was aware of the ambiguity, there is a binding contract based on what the ignorant party reasonably believed to be the meaning of the ambiguous term.

While some of the terms discussed above are ambiguous, the facts indicate that both parties were aware of their meaning. Therefore, no ambiguity defense exists here.

Illegality

[Omitted, spoiler.]

Duress

Severus will argue that the contract should be unenforceable because he entered into the contract out of duress. He will argue that when assented to the unbreakable vow, Narcissa was threatening to turn him into Voldemort. However, Severus is a much more powerful wizard than Narcissa and is very good at legilimency and occulmency, so he would not have feared Narcissa at the time he entered into the contract. Severus will not have a duress defense, and a court would find a valid contract between Narcissa and Severus.

2. Draco v. Severus

Only an intended third party beneficiary has contract rights. When Severus and Narcissa entered into the unbreakable vow, the parties identified Draco as the intended third party beneficiary.

A third party can only enforce a contract when his rights have vested. This occurs when he manifests assent to the promise or materially changes position in justifiable reliance on the promise. In this case, Draco does not know about the promise. Therefore, he cannot sue Severus for breaching the contract.

There's Always Next Year, Part 41

13 games under .500, 10 games out of first place.

6 straight losses, 5 of them heart breaking.









So it goes.

King of Kong

I cannot recommend The King of Kong highly enough.