“Fly Part 2 – Ephesians 3:20”

If money and time weren’t a factor, what’s one thing you would do?

Hey hey hey! It’s meee! 🙂

I know, I know, it’s been MONTHS since I’ve written something. It’s been months since you’ve received a notification about a new blog post. Unsure how many of you are upset about the fact I haven’t published a new post in a while, but I know I’m not. Don’t get me wrong, I love writing blog posts. I love generating new content. I love posing questions to my readers to spark a conversation. But one thing I have been doing over the past few months was reducing the amount of pressure and stress I felt to DO something. I don’t want writing a blog post to feel like an obligation. Plus, I have been busy busy busy these last few months!

Here’s a life update — in addition to being a phenomenal defense attorney, out here defending people in these streets, your favorite lawyer lady has also been slaying as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the one and only University of Georgia School of Law!!!!!

When I tell you my God is GOOD!! I was blessed with this professorship opportunity and even though I faced a lot of challenges during the semester, I am proud to say that my first semester teaching as a law school professor was a SUCCESS!!

I ran into the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the fall of 2022 at a networking event. I expressed my interest in teaching a course at the law school, and the next thing I knew my name and course were appearing on the law school’s Fall 2023 course list! He gave me some guidelines and deadlines, but for the most part, I had free range over the course and autonomy on how the semester would flow. That sounded way better than how it ended up actually feeling.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

Ephesians 3:20, NKJV.

I’ve received and read dozens of syllabi during my life, but oowwee, I never knew how difficult it was to actually create one! And one thing that I realized in hindsight, was that a textbook would have probably made creating the syllabus a little bit easier. I chose not to assign a textbook for this course because (1) I couldn’t find one on topic, and (2) I didn’t want to give the law students something more to purchase and tote around.

Oh, that reminds me — I didn’t even tell you what I taught! I taught a 2-credit hour course on criminal sentencing. You would think there was no way one could find enough content on such a specific topic to teach 14 class sessions, but as I said in “Fly Part 1” – when I am given a task, I put my all into it and I never fail. Here are some of the things we discussed over the semester:

• How to meet, interact with, and build rapport with a client;
• The rights victims have in criminal cases;
• How socioeconomic factors affect sentencing in criminal cases;
• The differences in sentencing for juvenile, federal, and capital cases;*
• The Merger Doctrine and the Rule of Lenity;
• Minimum and maximum sentences and sentencing enhancements;
• Plea rights and plea forms;
• Sentencing alternatives; and
• The pillars of sentencing.

*For these topics, I had guest speakers come in and share their expertise because I do not have much experience with juvenile, federal, or capital cases.

The course focused on sentencing in criminal cases at the state level, and I focused more on Georgia law and cases. The students also were required to conduct a sentencing hearing in class on a hypothetical case. I CAME UP WITH ALL OF THAT CONTENT ON MY OWN!

I definitely had examples and resources to guide me, friends and coworkers share thoughts and ideas, and God definitely held my hand through the entire process, but I am so shocked at how much I accomplished and even learned over the semester. Classes met every Tuesday evening from 6:30pm to 8:20pm there were 14 students in the class. They were either 2nd or 3rd year law students. Most of them wanted to practice criminal defense in the future, but not all of them. They all said they enjoyed the class, and I hope they really did! (We shall see what those student evaluations say).

That’s what I’ve been up to for the last few months. Now, I am focusing on a season of REST. I won’t be teaching the course in Spring 2024, but I am definitely returning in Fall 2024! Of course, I have some other endeavors I hope to dive into beginning of next year (can you believe we’re only a few weeks out from the new year?!), and I will keep you all updated. But for now, I will sit in this bliss, be proud of this recent accomplishment, and lean into what God has in store for me moving forward. I will continue to FLY! (I will also be grading 14 final papers 🙂 ) I hope to return here more often and write more posts to inspire you and inspire myself.

Life has been so grand. It’s been so blissful. I hope it has been the same for you, too!

“in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.” Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬, NKJV.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Moni Jay, Off the Record