Law Advice
Hi potential law students,
I know that this is the time of year when everyone gets worried about whether they've made the right choice to study law. There are lots of forums that give advice on studying law, so I thought I'd post one on how to cope with the workload.
Law is a hard subject and is more intense than other courses, however that doesn't mean you have to spend every evening and weekend working flat out.
In your first year, the lecturers will say " for every one hour we teach you, you must study 3/4" IGNORE this and take it with a pinch of salt, lecturers often have to cover themselves and this is just a requirement that they have to say.
Reading cases - you will have a lot of cases to read, that is true but that doesn't mean you have to read them in full. For the majority, all you need is the facts and the main point of law. Lecturers will obviously tell you not to use Wikipedia but sometimes it comes in handy - just make sure you confirm what Wikipedia is saying with a textbook. We had one lecturer who sometimes got his own notes from Wikipedia!!
Reading Textbooks - on most reading lists, it will say read chapters 3-5 for example. This doesn't mean spending endless nights reading page after page. Textbooks are more for reference. Use the lecture notes and if there is anything you don't understand then look it up in the textbook, treat it as a giant Dictionary.
Reading journals - some academic law journals are hard to read, don't worry if you don't understand a single word!! Sometimes you can get away with the abstract or even just the conclusion. If you refer to a journal in an essay or exam - just remember the main points, who wrote it and what journal it was from.
Using those little handy revision guides like nutcases and law express - my advice would be USE them just don't rely on them. Lecturers will advise you not to use them but they are handy and summarise everything perfectly, you can't rely on them for an essay but you will find that most uni bookshops sell them, so they do indirectly endorse them.
Also for exams, you sometimes don't have to revise every subject and you can pick the questions you want to answer. I hope this helps anyone who is worried about studying law. I got a first at a top university and during the whole 3 years probably only read 5 cases in full, I was also able to maintain a good social life. The important thing to remember is “what do I actually need for the exam” this will help focus your study.
And don't worry if you don't want to be a lawyer, you often get the impression from some lecturers that you are a failure if you don't go into the legal profession. Remember you are doing a law degree, which is an excellent degree in its own right.
I know that this is the time of year when everyone gets worried about whether they've made the right choice to study law. There are lots of forums that give advice on studying law, so I thought I'd post one on how to cope with the workload.
Law is a hard subject and is more intense than other courses, however that doesn't mean you have to spend every evening and weekend working flat out.
In your first year, the lecturers will say " for every one hour we teach you, you must study 3/4" IGNORE this and take it with a pinch of salt, lecturers often have to cover themselves and this is just a requirement that they have to say.
Reading cases - you will have a lot of cases to read, that is true but that doesn't mean you have to read them in full. For the majority, all you need is the facts and the main point of law. Lecturers will obviously tell you not to use Wikipedia but sometimes it comes in handy - just make sure you confirm what Wikipedia is saying with a textbook. We had one lecturer who sometimes got his own notes from Wikipedia!!
Reading Textbooks - on most reading lists, it will say read chapters 3-5 for example. This doesn't mean spending endless nights reading page after page. Textbooks are more for reference. Use the lecture notes and if there is anything you don't understand then look it up in the textbook, treat it as a giant Dictionary.
Reading journals - some academic law journals are hard to read, don't worry if you don't understand a single word!! Sometimes you can get away with the abstract or even just the conclusion. If you refer to a journal in an essay or exam - just remember the main points, who wrote it and what journal it was from.
Using those little handy revision guides like nutcases and law express - my advice would be USE them just don't rely on them. Lecturers will advise you not to use them but they are handy and summarise everything perfectly, you can't rely on them for an essay but you will find that most uni bookshops sell them, so they do indirectly endorse them.
Also for exams, you sometimes don't have to revise every subject and you can pick the questions you want to answer. I hope this helps anyone who is worried about studying law. I got a first at a top university and during the whole 3 years probably only read 5 cases in full, I was also able to maintain a good social life. The important thing to remember is “what do I actually need for the exam” this will help focus your study.
And don't worry if you don't want to be a lawyer, you often get the impression from some lecturers that you are a failure if you don't go into the legal profession. Remember you are doing a law degree, which is an excellent degree in its own right.
Any advice for writing essays in exams? From the mentioning of journals I'm assuming you did further reading. How much? if you don't mind me asking. What are you doing now after your degree?
Original post by Sesshomaru24U
Any advice for writing essays in exams? From the mentioning of journals I'm assuming you did further reading. How much? if you don't mind me asking. What are you doing now after your degree?
Yes, definitely use journals for an essay but the most important piece of advice I can give with essay writing is - answer the question.
I know it sounds obvious but one essay I used journals, newspapers, cases etcbut I'd diverged away from the actual question and only just scraped a 2:1. It’s about quality not quantity.
I never wanted to be a lawyer; I just enjoyed the subject of law. I work for a rural development company and sometimes spend time in London. During conferences and networking events, I often talk to law firms and I get the impression that I could still secure a training contract with some firms if I desperately wanted to be a lawyer. This is because I've got a good degree and I now havework experience.
If you don't secure a training contract whilst at uni, it’s not the end of the world. The legal profession has changed rapidly over the past few years and with the introduction of CILEX you don't actually need a degree to be a lawyer.
A lot of my friends who studied law were desperate to be a lawyer and couldn't secure a training contract. It’s often useful to keep an open mind when studying law and think "Do I really want to be a lawyer?" Think about the lifestyle. There are some amazing opportunities with the police, local government, civil service etc. You can earn good money in many other professions without the pressure that the legal profession brings.
(edited 10 years ago)
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