An End to a Big Year

·Life, Photos·0 Comment

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Couldn’t let 2013 slide away without one more post.  This has probably been the biggest, most important year of my life so far.  In roughly chronological order, I:

  • shepherded Vol. 54 of the William & Mary Law Review through its remaining issues
  • graduated from law school and won some awards
  • moved back to San Francisco
  • studied for, took, and (ultimately) passed the California Bar Exam
  • watched an unseemly number of excellent TV shows on Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc.
  • got married to Claire and honeymooned in Greece
  • started my career as an attorney in Silicon Valley
  • was admitted to the California State Bar and my local federal district court

Whew.  Unfortunately all that activity has left little free time for blogging.  I can’t promise that will change in 2014 — not only because work, commuting, and life’s other obligations take up so much time, but also because the need that has always undergirded my blogging is mostly satisfied in other, better ways.  I started blogging to create an outlet for my interest in technology and the law.  Over the past five years, I’ve been on a path to turn that interest into a profession.  I no longer feel a deep need to write about technology law, because I am practicing it everyday. (Not to mention that, as an attorney, I have to be careful about how and the extent to which I express my personal opinions on topics related to clients’ interests).  I do hope to continue to use this space for personal updates and other posts.

Anyway: Happy New Year!  May you be as fortunate in 2014 as I was in 2013.

Summer 2013 Phone Thoughts

·Gadgets, Reviews·0 Comment

moto-x

I’m starting my new job in several weeks, and I recently had to make a decision about a work phone.  As a gadget geek I took this decision pretty seriously and gave it many hours of thought.  I’ve made my pick, but instead of letting all that work fade into the ether, I thought it would be useful to record it here for others who might be in a similar position.

There were three basic decisions involved:

(1) Keep a separate personal plan/phone or merge it into the firm plan?

(2) iPhone or Android?

(3) If Android, which phone?

My thoughts and answers to each of these questions are found after the jump.  (TL;DR: I picked the Moto X).

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Freedom

·Life·0 Comment

Last Thursday, I finished the third and final day of the California Bar Exam, putting an end to two months of constant studying and tremendous stress.  I was previously skeptical of claims that the bar exam was the hardest thing people had gone through in their lives.  Not so skeptical anymore.  Very glad to have that experience behind me.

I’m now in San Diego visiting my brother and his fiancée.  The next few weeks are pure freedom, which is a really odd but really welcome feeling.  I’ll be going to the Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park, visiting Google to talk to legal assistants about law school, planning our honeymoon to Greece (!), and getting ready for our wedding — including dancing lessons for our first dance!  And of course, watching TV, drinking beer, and doing as little thinking about the law as possible.

Graduated and Back in the Bay

·Life·0 Comment

Graduated

I graduated from law school on Sunday.  I was happy to receive a few awards the day before, but even happier to have my fiancée and my family — including my 92-year-old grandmother! — there with me.  It was a fantastic weekend, and I am proud to join a long line of Taylors in the legal profession.

After putting my life into boxes and onto a moving truck, I’m now back in San Francisco, the city I left three years ago to start this adventure.  My review class for the California bar exam starts on Tuesday, and although I have some pre-work to do for that, I am going to try to enjoy these few final days of freedom and get to know my new neighborhood of Noe Valley.