FE1 Exam Thread (Mod Warning: NO ADS)

frustratedTC

well done third fox thats a terrific result.
For those of you have sat EU, Company, constitutional and property, any advice on them, they are my final 4

RS1987

I (just about) passed my first three FE1's (second time round!)

Criminal - 50
Tort - 50
Company - 50


Last sitting I also got 50 in Tort and Criminal!!! but only 31 in company.

The first time I ever opened a law book was last May (I dont have any degree - I passed the preliminary exam in March 2010) so I am absolutely delighted.

Planning to sit Property, Equity and Contract in October and then EU and Constitutional in March 2012.

Thirdfox

frustratedTC wrote: »

well done third fox thats a terrific result.
For those of you have sat EU, Company, constitutional and property, any advice on them, they are my final 4

Eu, know something about the case studies... it might be enough to scrape you a pass (speaking from personal experience)

Company, I found it rather easy surprisingly, know the main areas - it tends to be predictable what comes up.

Constitutional, scraped a pass...don't know what to say except give it your best.

Property, there is a huge love for treasure trove for some reason... But the examiner is a very very very nice marker... I was hoping to scrape a 50 but got 57 instead. This could be "new examiner" syndrome which may wear off at any time.

dynamokev

Mr Nonar wrote: »

Hey guys,

A heartily congratulations to all those who received their results. I am rather envious. Only setting out on the FE1 road. Will be attempting my first four in Oct. I plan on taking Company, Equity, Contract & Land. What does everyone think of this subject combo? It means for my 2nd set I’ll have Constitutional, Tort, EU & Criminal. Would they be doable together?

I would say if you intend to get them in two, split the difficulty accordingly.

The best advice I can give anyone, setting out on the FE1 road is to split EU and Constitutional in 2 different sittings. For first timers I would say do EU, because the areas are a little more self contained than Constitutional which is so wide. I feel with EU if you do the work you'll pass and thats not something you can say with certainty with Constitutional. Also EU lecturer seems to be a pretty generous marker.

After that I would choose contract and property for definate. Easiest markers and because of the new 2009 Act the property course has been squeezed a great deal, so the exam is the most predictable of them all.

As your fourth I would choose one of criminal or tort. The thing with these subjects is the cases involved are so memorable , that you never stuck for anything to say in the exam. Criminal course is shorter so maybe that would sway my decision towards that.

frustratedTC

Seems like i'm going to be doing the toughest ones, do people ever get company, EU, constitutional and property together..do you mind me asking whats the big fuss with EU and constitutional, everyone seems to really dread them

dynamokev

frustratedTC wrote: »

Seems like i'm going to be doing the toughest ones, do people ever get company, EU, constitutional and property together..do you mind me asking whats the big fuss with EU and constitutional, everyone seems to really dread them

Well I just think personally there is as much content in those two subjects as the others (bar tort) put together. And they are that bit more complex than the others, (say for example, criminal, where all the material is really straightforward and you don't really have to get your head around it). Also Constitutional is just so expansive, there can be so many things going on in a problem. Thus if you are sitting the exams first time, why I strongly suggest doing EU.

2040

RS1987 wrote: »

I (just about) passed my first three FE1's (second time round!)

Criminal - 50
Tort - 50
Company - 50


Last sitting I also got 50 in Tort and Criminal!!! but only 31 in company.

The first time I ever opened a law book was last May (I dont have any degree - I passed the preliminary exam in March 2010) so I am absolutely delighted.

Planning to sit Property, Equity and Contract in October and then EU and Constitutional in March 2012.

Congratulations. That's a huge achievement.

JCJCJC

frustratedTC wrote: »

Seems like i'm going to be doing the toughest ones, do people ever get company, EU, constitutional and property together..do you mind me asking whats the big fuss with EU and constitutional, everyone seems to really dread them

For me the prob with EU is that I did it in college and it has altered entirely since the Lisbon Treaty. I may as well be studying mongolian poetry for all the sense it make to me.
Constitutional law is sort-of conceptual - the answers don't lie in any one place, for instance if you want to discuss how the C is interpreted you will have to know a huge number of cases, and yet at the end of it all, the judges take the approach that gives the actual result they want on the day.

law86

Well done to everyone who passed. I still can't log in. I've tried requesting a new password and all the other suggestions in the previous pages but it tells me that the username is invalid (I'm using the seven digit number which is the reference on all correspondence from the Law Soc). Anyone in the same position?

bob_lob_law

dynamokev wrote: »

Well I just think personally there is as much content in those two subjects as the others (bar tort) put together. And they are that bit more complex than the others, (say for example, criminal, where all the material is really straightforward and you don't really have to get your head around it). Also Constitutional is just so expansive, there can be so many things going on in a problem. Thus if you are sitting the exams first time, why I strongly suggest doing EU.

I'm doing the same except criminal instead of property (property is one of the easier ones btw so I wouldn't worry about that). I've never studied Irish Constitutional law or Company so I'm going to do a distance course for one of them at least - incidentally, if you had to choose between the two, what one would you recommend doing a revision course in? I'm leaning towards company as I don't have a bog notion what it's about, Constitutional sounds so pie in the sky, and I studied politics before and uk constitutional law, so I'm thinking I might be able to wing it by myself. Any thoughts? Sorry to hi-jack btw dynamokev!

frustratedTC

Does anyone know which prep course is better IC or griffith for constitutional eu property and company? I've heard mixed reports!

corkgirl88

frustratedTC wrote: »

Does anyone know which prep course is better IC or griffith for constitutional eu property and company? I've heard mixed reports!

I did the griffith course for EU and found the lecturer and notes really good.

ShindyB

frustratedTC wrote: »

Does anyone know which prep course is better IC or griffith for constitutional eu property and company? I've heard mixed reports!

I took the online course with IC for all 8 subjects and found them very good. The Company lecturer was excellent and really approachable. I didn't find the Property lecturer great at the time but when it came to the exam I realised that her approach was actually spot on. Tort/Contract lecturer went through lots of exam questions which helped enormously and whenever I sent in sample answers to be corrected they were returned very quickly with a mark and helpful comments. The EU lecturer was a bit dry but always on the other end of the phone/email whenever I had a question (including the night before the exam!). All in all I found the course well structured and they are completely focused on getting you through the horribleness that is the FE1 experience.
Best of luck to everyone with their FE1's in the future. I never thought I'd see the back of them so trust me when I say keep the faith and keep going!

Dylan123

Congrats to those that passed!

Still cant work out how i got 42% in tort and also 42% in property when i thought i answered 5 reasonable questions.

Is it technique, is it going off the point, or a lack of case law and specific knowledge. A little frustrating not knowing and prob a combination of all?

blathblath

DId anyone receive the actual letter with results in the post this morning??? No sign for me!

bob_lob_law

blathblath wrote: »

DId anyone receive the actual letter with results in the post this morning??? No sign for me!

Got mine.

Orla FitzP

on my final two now EU and Constitutional, as i dont have a law backgorund id love a basic book along the lines of "EU / Constitutional for dummies" so i can have the basics before starting my revison course??

Any tips??

colonel1

Orla FitzP wrote: »

on my final two now EU and Constitutional, as i dont have a law backgorund id love a basic book along the lines of "EU / Constitutional for dummies" so i can have the basics before starting my revison course??

Any tips??

Fergus Ryan's Essential Law Text on constitutional law + his nutshell on same are excellent introductions to constitutional law.

farela

blathblath wrote: »

DId anyone receive the actual letter with results in the post this morning??? No sign for me!

Yea got mine this morning, such a nice feeling opening it knowing it was my last

pflann

Hi,

Got my results on Friday. I sat 5 subjects - Contract, Criminal, Equity, Constitutional and Company. Passed all except Company. Am completely confused over Company. Would have thought it was the one I was most likely to pass. Felt confident I had done 4 good questions and one mediocre. Got 36 and am completely stumped over how I failed it so badly and passed the other 5. Am going to get it re-checked but has anyone experienced anything like this before??
Also any happy stories of getting a re-check and your mark increasing to a pass??

Jkeena

Got 45 in Constitution, got 57 in Eu so its my only one left... im devastated. Thinking of appealing...worth a shot?

law86

I just got my results today, as I couldn't log on over the weekend. Passed my final two, so relieved. Thanks to everyone on the forum and good luck and persistence to everyone still doing them. It will be worth it in the end.

blathblath

pflann wrote: »

Hi,

Got my results on Friday. I sat 5 subjects - Contract, Criminal, Equity, Constitutional and Company. Passed all except Company. Am completely confused over Company. Would have thought it was the one I was most likely to pass. Felt confident I had done 4 good questions and one mediocre. Got 36 and am completely stumped over how I failed it so badly and passed the other 5. Am going to get it re-checked but has anyone experienced anything like this before??
Also any happy stories of getting a re-check and your mark increasing to a pass??

Company without a doubt is currently the hardest to pass....his standards are very high and he really does not show any mercy! I am so relieved I passed it this round as it was my last one but to be honest it has been the one subject that has left me devastated on two previous occasions.... It is essential to even get the bare 50 that your exam is almost perfect!

Thirdfox

Company law has a pass rate of around 30% to 40% every year I heard...so it's quite tough, on the other hand it is easy(ish) to predict the general area of what will come up so it's really a matter of knowing exactly you're talking about.

For example - in the question about the inherent power of shareholders to use oppression legislation I mentioned in the first line that I thought the question itself might be flawed as shareholders had no inherent power to use (s.205?) and only members - drawing a distinction between members and shareholders (supported by cases from an earlier answer I gave on member/shareholder distinction). I then proceeded to answer the question on the basis that it asked about member's powers...

But I imagine that he liked the balls of someone telling him that essentially the question could be answered in one line - "shareholders have no inherent power to use oppression legislation". Things like that should add a few marks to your final score as it shows you really do understand what you've studied.

Good luck on your appeal should you choose to do that or on your resit

Heineken pants

JCJCJC wrote: »

Commiserations - but to be honest, I wouldn't. The appeal process seems to be the last-chance saloon. I appealed 45 in contract last spring - no change, got 67 in Autumn. A friend appealed a 49, forget which subject - no change. I am thinking this morning of maybe appealing my 45 in Constitutional, has anyone had any success with appeals in Constitutional so far?

JC

Failed Const 3 times got 42 40 and 45, appealed each time, got moved from 40 to 45 on my second attempt, but there was no change in the others. I would say its very rare that someone gets passed on a recheck of Const paper. Just seems the hardest marked exam. Thought I did a great exam this time around and got 51, was expecting in the 60s. Id say def appeal if you have the cash.

Heineken pants

Hogzy wrote: »

What are peoples opinions of the Constitutional Course in Independent Colleges?

Think griffith is the way to go. Their sample answers for every question are extremely helpful, plus David Landwallner is pretty solid and not too hard to listen to at all

brian__foley

Heineken pants wrote: »

Failed Const 3 times got 42 40 and 45, appealed each time, got moved from 40 to 45 on my second attempt, but there was no change in the others. I would say its very rare that someone gets passed on a recheck of Const paper. Just seems the hardest marked exam. Thought I did a great exam this time around and got 51, was expecting in the 60s. Id say def appeal if you have the cash.

Part of the re-check issue may be to do with the use of assistant correctors who may, at times, have varying approaches etc. For all sorts of reasons, I don't think this arises with constitutional law and I'd be surprised to see re-checks working on that subject because I'd be pretty confident in that the mark you get is the mark you deserve in that subject.

RandolphEsq

Going to sit 4 FE1s in the autumn. First time sitting them but have a law background. Going to do Tort, Equity, Criminal and Property as there is (at the moment) a 2 day gap between these subjects' examinations.

Have no plan of doing a 12 week course as I have a law degree. Was just going to get the manuals from the course and study myself over the summer. Would anyone recommend doing/not doing a 12 week course?

Hogzy

Heineken pants wrote: »

Failed Const 3 times got 42 40 and 45, appealed each time, got moved from 40 to 45 on my second attempt, but there was no change in the others. I would say its very rare that someone gets passed on a recheck of Const paper. Just seems the hardest marked exam. Thought I did a great exam this time around and got 51, was expecting in the 60s. Id say def appeal if you have the cash.

I have also failed Constitutional 3 times and i got the exact same results as you on 3 occasions. Although when i got 45% i was bumped up to 48% on a recheck.

Glad to hear you have passed it on your 4th attempt as i am loosing all hope with the bloody exam.

JCJCJC

RandolphEsq wrote: »

Going to sit 4 FE1s in the autumn. First time sitting them but have a law background. Going to do Tort, Equity, Criminal and Property as there is (at the moment) a 2 day gap between these subjects' examinations.

Have no plan of doing a 12 week course as I have a law degree. Was just going to get the manuals from the course and study myself over the summer. Would anyone recommend doing/not doing a 12 week course?

If I were you, I'd do contract instead of criminal, or even as welll as - do five, criminal is a small syllabus. The reason I say this is the broad effect of equity, which crosses over into contract - your study efforts will help you in more than one subject at a time.
I also have a law degree (LLB/UL), but I have found that the change of style from college exams to FE1s is very substantial. At a minimum, I would recommend that you should do the GCD one-day intensive refresher courses - I have passed four FE1s so far on that basis and I think I wouldn't have without the GCD inputs. They give you all sorts of useful tips, analyises and exam strategies that all make good sense when you hear them.
Also, keep monitoring BAILII for new case law, the FE1 examiners like much fresher material than would be acceptable in college. I quoted Egan v Bord Pleanala [2011] in the most recent constitutional exam, it went up on Bailii on the wednesday night before the exam on thursday morning.