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Durham Law

Hi! I'm an international student and I intend to firm my offer at Durham for law. However, just had a few questions that I hope current students / anyone who has insight can offer advice:-

1. How is the workload? Is it manageable enough that I'd be able to work part-time?

2. What's the general structure of assessment ie are they mostly assignments or exams? Further, are closed-book exams frequent?

3. I understand that Durham is quite far from London. Does that hinder networking opportunities and job prospects?

4. How's life at Durham in general? I come from a city so I'm kinda looking forward to a more quiet environment.

Bonus question: I have more than a year of legal secretary / paralegal experience at a local law firm. However, I realise that I might not want to continue this area of law when I graduate. I'm feeling quite boxed in as I feel like if I were to venture into another area of law, my experience would become quite redundant. Anyone able to quell my worries?

Any and all responses will be much appreciated!

Reply 1

Stiffy Byng

All experience is valuable. Durham is a long way from London, but the train connection is OK. I gather that representatives of London law firms may visit Durham for careers events.

Reply 2

tired-satellite

Original post

by Stiffy Byng

All experience is valuable. Durham is a long way from London, but the train connection is OK. I gather that representatives of London law firms may visit Durham for careers events.

Yeah I’m probably just being a little silly and psyching myself out. I’ve seen your comments on a few posts on here and if I’m not wrong, you teach in law? Any advice on how to navigate law school?

Reply 3

Stiffy Byng

I am a practising barrister, but I teach part time on the LLM course at UCL.

Treat university as your job. Work 35 to 40 hours a week. Focus on reading cases ahead of commentaries and glosses. Aim to read maybe two thirds of the recommended reading for any assignment (more if you can, but academics don't usually expect students to read everything on the reading list). Make time for rest, exercise, and social life. Network a bit on LinkedIn, mainly towards the end of your course.

Reply 4

tired-satellite

Original post

by Stiffy Byng

I am a practising barrister, but I teach part time on the LLM course at UCL.
Treat university as your job. Work 35 to 40 hours a week. Focus on reading cases ahead of commentaries and glosses. Aim to read maybe two thirds of the recommended reading for any assignment (more if you can, but academics don't usually expect students to read everything on the reading list). Make time for rest, exercise, and social life. Network a bit on LinkedIn, mainly towards the end of your course.