My ‘Legal Space’ – Part 1

Paying heed to the adage ‘if you can’t beat them – join them’, I thought this would be a good opportunity to document what is my ‘legal space’. I first saw this over at No. 634 – a US law student blog which is well worth checking out as it happens– who in turn got the idea from someone else.

I guess all of our working practices differ markedly and I’ve certainly seen some strange sights in law school libraries over the years. I’ve actually witnessed much more startling (and at times worrying) student study habits – including bizarre laptop positions - in previous universities where food and drink and general demeanour is less rigorously regulated than at my current and  very ‘traditional’ university.

Here, in all its raw, unaffected glory, is the natural habitat of a postgraduate law student in the midst of a pressing assignment. I should perhaps qualify the terms ‘raw’ and ‘unaffected’ here: my desk is currently considerably tidier than it has been of late owing to one of my girlfriend’s tidying fits that she is afflicted with every now and then.

Reflecting on it, my ‘legal space’ isn’t very ‘legal’ at all; in fact I could be studying almost any subject judging from the items littered on my desk. My textbooks and other legal goodies are stowed at haphazard – or as I’d rather think of it – strategic locations all around my office. Being without a suitably sized shelving unit to fit within arms’ reach of my desk, most of my folders are stowed behind me, leant up against the wall. I guess they form part of my ‘legal space’ too. Pictures will probably follow.

For the time being, here’s my legal space checklist: 

· Coffee mug – check.

· Textbook - check.

· Papers – check.

· Computer – check.

· Lamp – check.

· Friendly leather frog – check. Yep, he’s sitting on the lamp base. Don’t ask!

So there you are: everything a hard-working law student needs.

Strangely, no pens are visible: they’re probably buried under the papers though there is a stationery organiser behind my monitor.