School – Leor Pantilat's Adventures

Booked by the Bar

pantilat — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:53:45 +0000

The review course for the CA bar exam is now in full-swing. As anticipated, studying for this 3-day test is going to entirely dominate the next couple months. Unfortunately, this means a rather uninteresting period of time for me as far as athletic pursuits and therefore little to write about on here about myself I will still update if and when cool things come up. Otherwise, I look forward to August!

Law School Graduation!

pantilat — Mon, 05 May 2008 05:08:51 +0000

Today was the graduation ceremony from Stanford Law School! It was a great ceremony and reception with memorable speeches from the faculty member, Professor Bankman, and student rep, Onye. Lunch with the family was also great at Macaroni Grill. We topped it all off by watching some great distance running events at the Payton Jordan track meet at Stanford.

Thus, 19 years in the school system has concluded (k-12, 3 years undergrad, 3 years law school). I am very proud of my educational accomplishments and it’s hard to beleive it is now time to enter the real world.

Wrapping Up

pantilat — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:11:18 +0000

I now have my cap and gown for graduation on Sunday and a nice frame for my diploma, but I also have two boxes worth of review books for the bar review course. Graduation will be sweet, but I will really only feel done after I take and pass the California Bar. I am still super excited to see my family and celebrate!

As further evidence of the amazing trail running in the Bay Area, I checked out a new area called Hidden Villa on a tip (thanks, Gary). Hidden Villa is just off Moody Road in Los Altos Hills – yes, the same Moody Road I have run dozens of times. The Creek Trail is sweet following Adobe Creek in thick oak forest and a “hidden” valley behind Elephant Mountain. The rest of the trails are narrow and steep, but very fun and the trails provide an aesthetic route to access the Black Mountain trail and Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve.

Last Class!

pantilat — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:45:58 +0000

Today I had my class in law school… ever! I also turned in the two long papers and assignments for other classes, thereby completing all requirements.

The last three years have gone by so fast. It seems so recent that I opened the acceptance letter from Stanford and ran around the house in joy. Now, at the end of my time at Stanford Law School, I am just as happy with my decision to come here. I always dreamed of studying here and I thank Stanford Law for giving me the opportunity. It truly was an awesome three years with good classes and professors, many fun times, and great friends!

I have also come to love the Bay Area, with all its parks and open space preserves, as well as the state of California with so many great places to see and cool mountains to climb For these reasons, I am staying right here on the Peninsula and will be working literally a few blocks away from campus!

The next week and half will be a time to do some runs, hikes, and hang out with friends. Then, the weekend of May 3rd is graduation and my family comes down to celebrate! I am super excited for all the events.

Almost Finished!

pantilat — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:35:15 +0000

Graduation from law school is May 4th and all assignments are due April 23rd, but I am almost done, including completion of two long papers (a total of 80 pages). The only major thing left is a contract mark-up which I can hopefully put away by the end of this weekend. I look forward to graduation festivities. It will be nice to have all my family here for one morning.

I plan on using free time over the next few weeks to hang out with friends, run at cool places like Big Sur, and maybe do some climbing in Sierra or Mount Shasta. April 30th is when I pick up review books for the bar exam and this is when the studying and memorizing commences.

Windy Hill Loop

pantilat — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:45:41 +0000

Today I did the Windy Hill Loop and it was awesome as usual. Running time was 1:26 with about 12.5-13 miles covered. Despite a little mud, the sunny skies and fresh air after last week’s rain were a treat. The visibility from the summit of Windy Hill along the Anniversary Trail was spectacular. The sights were all clear, including the East Bay Hills, almost all of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and Palo Alto/Stanford below. Spring Ridge is a beautiful undulating carpet of new green grass right now. The great weather is forecasted to persist for much of the week with even warmer temps arriving tomorrow.

Image of the sweet Razorback Trail in Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, courtesy of the Weekend Hike Blog, which does a fantastic job profiling local hikes around the SF Bay Area.

In other news, I made some excellent progress on the 25 page paper this weekend and I am poised to start working on the 35 page paper tomorrow. My goal is to at least have drafts of both papers by the end of next weekend. With no finals to think about in my last semester at law school, I hope to have a relaxing April before graduation and studying for the bar in May.

Shake-out

pantilat — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:59:27 +0000

Today I did an easy run around campus for 52 minutes. The weather continues to be gorgeous with temps in the upper 50’s and clear skies. However, the weather is expected to become much more active later in the week with rain, wind, and cooler temps. Some of the trails become super muddy (the sticky kind) during rains so today was a good opportunity to run them. I’ll definitely enjoy it while it lasts!

In other news, I am going to get started on my papers this long weekend (a 25 pager and a 35 pager). I have been delaying the inevitable for a few weeks and I really would prefer to finish sooner rather than later with no finals on tap. Therefore, I am starting riiiiight…. NOW!

Final Class List

pantilat — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 05:39:46 +0000

I have finalized my schedule for my last semester in law school. I can’t believe this is my last class list – wow, time flies! It is a very random schedule, but it works:

Partnership Taxation
Advanced Legal Research
Advanced Legal Writing – Drafting Contracts
Minority Rights in Israel
Independent Research in Corporate Lawyer Ethics

I am left with no finals, a couple projects, and two papers, one that is 25 pages and another that is 35 pages. I have a total of 11 credits. So far the semester has been sweet with two ski trips under the belt and seemingly non-stop fun. I intend on continuing it! Graduation on May 4th is now just around the corner…

Today I went out for an easy run and felt ok. I wanted to go easy and I adhered to my intention. I did the Elena Road loop for 47 minutes of running – about 7.5 miles. It was nice to get back out Los Altos Hills and I look forward to tomorrow’s run and building back into a routine of running and feeling great!

Fall Semester Complete!

pantilat — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:16:03 +0000

Fall Semester of my third year in law school is now complete after taking a final exam in taxation this morning. Tomorrow I travel back home to Sammamish, WA for winter break where it is apparently very cold and damp – I’m not surprised .

Some very sad news today regarding global warming. The rate of ice melt in the Arctic this year set a record, smashing the previous low-point from 2005. One expert said “the Arctic is screaming.” The story is the same in Greenland – ice melting at unprecedented rates. Indeed, our planet is in peril and the climate change is on the verge of getting out of control.

Happy Chanukah!

pantilat — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:08:36 +0000

Yesterday was the first night of Chanukah and to celebrate here is a hilarious video of NBA stars wishing their Jewish fans a happy festival of lights!

Today was the last day of classes of the Fall semester! It’s unbelievable how fast it flew by. Now I have to study for one final, take it next Tuesday, and then fly home to Sammamish for the winter break!