Studying Law

Aquilinus

I am a first year BCL law student in the fine University of DCU and it is the end of week two and I pulled an all nighter to get work done but just ended up singing and playing guitar anyway to get back on topic have any past law students any tips for me on studying Law like Notes reading lectures assignments and exam tips thorough sincere Tips from Law student's would be of great help. We have load's of reading on moodle but if I read it all I wont be able to have a social life so need help I wanna get a 1st class in all modules if I can as I got 90 point's more than required of this years Bachelor of Civil Law. Any help would be great. P.s. what are the best club's and soc's at DCU I joined load's!

You actually passed Leaving Cert english???

Aquilinus

I got a B2 in Higher level English. Not my best grade but it was sufficient

Aquilinus

I know that the Leaving Certificate is completely different to BCL I was just replying to a previous comment that had like your response little relevance to my question I was just asking for tips maybe joining Boards.ie was a bad idea for studying tips....

Konata

No unhelpful posts please lads. The OP is asking a genuine question. Any further posts like the one above (and the ones deleted by another user) will be dealt with appropriately.

Ashashi

As a final year BCL, I will tell you that it is not necessary to do all the reading. What is necessary is to understand how the law works, not learn off everything. The basis of the law degree is to teach you how to understand and apply law.

You can apply law when you learn it off but it is like LC Maths, if you don't understand it you will be stumped by the harder questions because you only learnt it all off.

My method involves writing... a lot. I feel that when I write it leaves an imprint in my head and helps me remember it. Don't over exert yourself in First year but do aim to the best you can. A good placing in first year is the foundation for the rest of your degree.

Aquilinus

Thank you for your relevant and helpful post unlike the previous replies to my thread.

I just try to re read the lecture notes and fill in anything I missed in lectures into my A4 notepad. I have read several different chapter's from several different book's like constitutional law by Casey or criminal law Smith and Hogan if a chapter is put up on Moodle and I have time.

In leaving certificate I wasn't the best at learning off as my comprehension or understanding was my strongest point when learning thing's like leaving certificate Physics or Leaving Certificate Math or English and Even Art.

Tell me more about your methods or good methods you observed by other students over the course of your BCL that would be most helpful for my studies as I want to get a realistic and achievable grade that I am pleased with.

I find it hard when reading law text books as the English seems archaic sometimes and very formal. Do you have any advice on that matter?

ldxo15wus6fpgm

Another final year BCL here.
My advice for first year:

Don't grind yourself down working too hard. Relax, have some fun, join some clubs and socs, make some new friends, have a beer or three. You will find it a lot easier come the really important year (final year!) of the degree to get your head down for exams and such if you've got it out of your system by then. (Your 2nd year results might also be looked at if you apply for a masters/PhD - most people won't until after they've qualified as either a solicitor or barrister so again don't worry too much)

As for studying, essays etc. I would focus more on cases than just reading textbook chapters. What I do at the moment if I'm studying is read the lecture notes, have a quick skim through the most relevant chapter in the nearest textbook to hand and then read through a few cases and take notes. Try not to focus on the facts of the case (i.e. male 40 year old being prosecuted for sexual assault of a woman at... bla bla) but more on the point of law dealt with. What is the legal principle set down by this case? Is it currently the law or has it been overruled/developed further? If you can figure out what the law currently is it will be a lot easier to read chapters and answer questions.

Once you understand the case law/statute then you can go back and pore over the textbooks as much as you want.

As Ashashi has stated, writing does help big time when it comes to remembering things later on. Definitely take notes in lectures if you can concentrate and also when you're studying.

As for the archaic language I'm afraid you're just going to have to deal with it. If you're truly stumped by something then ask a lecturer or read a nutshells book and follow on from there (do NOT rely on nutshells for exams/assignments, you WILL be shot.) DO learn how to use apostrophes properly. Right now. Go do it.
Another thing is the comma. A lot of people in my class at least have struggled every now and then with sentences containing 4 or 5 or more commas. Learn exactly how they work and how they can change a sentence, it can make a huge difference.

Overall the main thing I would say to you is relax, it's only first year. If you do a half decent amount of work you'll be just fine.

Konata

I don't know what the hell the above is about but asbestos12 infracted for signing up just to post nonsense on this thread.

Konata

Asbestos4Life and asbestos12 both forum banned for being re-reg/troll accounts.

EDIT: daddysalawyer also banned. Same user again etc. etc.

Posts by the above users have been deleted.

Hunchback

i hope they're not posting from a pc suite or this could get tedious with prolly 50 pc's to choose from

Aquilinus

That is probably a guy from my law class who doesn't know that I asked the Tort law lecturer about Mesothelioma cases because my close relative died of it. That is why a few people say I am the asbestos guy not knowing a very close relative died of cancer because of asbestos.

Hogzy

I finished my law degree a few years ago and im just after sitting my last FE1 exam.

I think the best advice I could offer is read ahead. If you read ahead and have a brief understanding of the topic, then your lectures will be very effective. Sometimes towards the end of the week you can get very bored at lectures. Law can be very boring at times. If you stay ahead of the class, everything being taught in the lecture will make sense. That will also massively benefit you when it comes to exam time.

It is possible to cram for law exams but its tough and requires wayyyyy more effort than actually doing an hour or two of reading at the end of the day. If you can understand the basic principles of a topic after each lecture then you will breeze through the study at exam time.

RJunior

I posted this before about studying for FE-1s. Same principles apply to undergrad degree. Might be useful to you.

Konata

adammc21 wrote: »

That is probably a guy from my law class who doesn't know that I asked the Tort law lecturer about Mesothelioma cases because my close relative died of it. That is why a few people say I am the asbestos guy not knowing a very close relative died of cancer because of asbestos.

People are idiots, ignore them.

Hunchback

I was freaking out a little bit all year last year, and I was only in first year just like you are now. I might have worried a lot less if I knew to......

Focus on taking really good notes.
Do not bother committing anything to memory at this point, because you will forget it anyway (some things you will naturally remember at any rate). I say this because the time you commit to memory is just prior to your exams, when you return to the good notes you have taken.

Tutorial attendance is a must. There is a very very strong likelihood that the topics covered in tutorials will appear on your exam paper.

Attendance, even IF the notes appear on Blackboard is crucial, I promise you. You can get by on an attendance that is so-so, but if you want to get firsts you need to be consistent.

Any assignments that you are given - start them early, that is of key importance.

Best of luck, start early and be consistent and you will come out on top

SeanyboyQPR

A little off topic, but what is the difference between this and say, the BCL in UCD or the LLB in TCD?

smeal

I'm in 2nd year BCL in DCU:)!

Like every course, if you put in minimal work you'll come out with minimal results and law is certainly no exception. As you know by now, we haven't many hours in comparison to courses like science, engineering etc so with law, it's so important to keep on top of extra readings, cases etc and avoid becoming lazy. The recommended readings that the lecturers put up are important- some of them are hard to get hold of especially if they are books but if they are journal extracts or case notes that are easy to research via the Library database then READ THEM. They'll give you a more diverse view on the topic you're studying. It's very simple with law assignments to cite the basic law books etc but if you cite things like additional journal articles or abstract cases you'll get way more morks! These things are the difference between a standard pass and a 2:1.

I strongly advice you join FLAC or Debate & Law or get involved with Mooting if you haven't already. As you'll find in the next year or so when law firms come in to talk to you they love students who are involved in extra things and the more you get involved in things like that (or anything at all- volunteering, sports, ANYTHING!) the stronger the chance of you building a good CV and perhaps getting called for an intership interview (if that's the route you want to go down!).. But things like FLAC and Debate & Law are definitely a major help with your legal studies and you'll also develop stronger links with lecturers and people from the outside legal world! Our course is only 3 years, it goes so quickly trust me! Make the most of your time as a DCU Law student, keep on top of your work load, start researching your assignment topics early and you'll be grand!:) best of luck!

LawLess2013

I read your posting with interest.

I am a ( v) mature student planning on sitting the K Inns Entrance in August. Very hard to get back to the study.

I am working from Nutshells right now to try to get coverage of the subjects

Most people I have talked to have distilled their notes significantly - which is necessary for such a gruelling week with 5 x 3hr exams in arow across major law subjects.

I cant afford tuition - do ou know of any resource that has the proverbial summary cards for the subjects ?

Thanks for the consideration

smeal

Nutshells are extremely simplistic giving only the tiny outline of the subject. Some of them can be slightly broader than others, tort and criminal are good but for the likes of constitutional and property they definitely aren't enough for even undergrad exams never mind Kings Inns exams. Flashcard Exchange online (type it into google) gives great notes for Contract law I know that from experience (haven't looked up other subjects but its worth a try!) but have you tried maybe looking up the second hand Griffith college manuals or something on the likes of donedeal? I know theres a post in the "Legal Issues" thread somewhere with all FE 1/Kings Inns related stuff and links to ads selling notes, they'd be a cheaper option to the books for definite and they'd give you a great outline of the kings inns exams and all you need for them:)