Law Dissertation: To do or not to do

Hey guys,

I'm in my second year of law and currently deciding if I should a dissertation in my third year.

Any advice from those of you who have already done one, are in the midst of one or are in the same position as I am?

Reasons to do or not to do are very welcome.

Thank you! :smile:

Reply 1

arguendo

Did one as part of an elective module; I enjoyed it, it's the only time in UG that you get to look at anything in that much depth. Shows research skills, can be a talking point in interviews. If you're considering a masters - v useful as you will most likely have to write a dissertation and previous experience of writing longer essays will be helpful.

Besides the reasons for why you might want to do it --- if you're a coursework person rather than an exam person, it's a no brainer. I'm an exam person and my dissertation was my weakest mark in anything in final year - but I didn't regret doing it because I loved the module and it was a good learning curve for my LLM.

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Reply 2

cliffg

Original post by LauraAsh

Totally agree with what above poster has said. I did a dissertation in my final year and a small part of it has developed into my PhD thesis a few years later. So if you are considering postgrad study I think it is a very good option. If considering other paths it is very good for evidencing your ability to work independently, be self motivated and self disciplined.

One crucial thing for success, though, is getting the right supervisor. Ideally you want someone who has taught you before and who you already have a rapport with. You also want someone who has a similar approach to legal research as you intend to adopt. So don't seek out a supervisor who has a very black letter/doctrinal approach if you intend to take a socio-legal one. You both need to be pulling in the same direction. Some institutions impose a supervisor on you, others let you approach academics and the choice becomes mutual. If you are not completely confident that you have the right supervisor I'd suggest you be very wary.

If you get supervision sorted out in the next couple of months and can get one or two meetings with your supervisor before the end of this academic year then you can use the summer to great effect. Not suggesting you will want to work all summer on your diss but a day a week of research or even a week or two wholly devoted to it can put you in very good stead for your final year. One student I knew had all her research done during the summer, was writing up at the start of term,and had her dissertation finished by Christmas. That made for a final term with lots of time to prep for exams and put more time into other courseworks. I wasn't that dedicated! !

Another thing worth mentioning is that a dissertation puts all, or a lot of, control into your hands. You choose the subject, the research question, the research approach etc. You are not subject to the whims of someone who sets a coursework question or exam questions.

Downsides? You are not being taught. A supervisor will guide and advise, sometimes chastise, but will not teach you. So you need to be sure of your ability to conduct your own learning and research. Some students I studied with steered clear of dissertations on the basis that it was too much work. The easier option was to take a taught module, get tutors to give you basics,knock off a decent coursework and nail an exam - job done with a lot less effort. Better than writing 10,000 words on independently researched law.

One final suggestion - go to your uni library and pull out a couple of undergrad dissertations from previous years (think a lot of places put them on-line now). Have a read at them to see the standard required and the amount of work involved. If not available ask a potential supervisor for an example of a good 1st class dissertation.

Reply 3

sph93

My uni requires us to do a dissertation, but I'd probably still have chosen to do one if I had a choice. Absolutely love the freedom you get with it, and love researching so I've enjoyed it.

If you do go for it, make sure you pick a subject you're really interested in. You'll work on it for a long time so don't want to get bored halfway through!

Also, use your summer to do as much research as possible. That way it'll be much easier to balance your workload when you start third year.

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Law Dissertation: To do or not to do

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