2nd year law degree

lfp

It looks like the 4 modules I'll be doing from Sept 2014 will be,
Jurisprudence,
Administrative,
Contract and
Land law.
Simply put I won't have the time between work and family to give enough time to College during the academic year, so I'll need to give a bit of time to a few modules over the summer, to get ahead, before I start to fall behind!
Which of the 4 are the toughest? What would be the best way to get a few areas/chapters into the head in advance that are "core" to the module.
Having done Criminal and Tort the advice I'd give to myself 12 months ago would be just get into the basics and cases for actus reus, mens rea and defences. In Tort get into Duty of Care from Donoghue v Stevenson with the UK developments and Irish ones to glencar etc. And one or two simple specific stand alone areas like med neg and or defamation, animals.

What would be equivalent advice for the four listed above?

chops018

Administrative law without a doubt. I have a law degree, a master's and completed the FE1's and I still haven't a notion what it's about, think I just got over 50 in it back in college... horrible subject, the lecturer didn't make it any easier either and it seemed he didn't know half the time himself.

Jurisprudence is all about the philosophy of law, parts of it can be interesting but a lot of it is boring.

Contract law can be tough but it is manageable and more straightforward.

Land law will be scary at first, but once you get over going over all the very old laws relating to it then you should be fine. However, don't be surprised if you have to go over a topic a couple of times to get to know the area and understand it. I think Fiona De Londras has a fairly recent book called Principles of Irish Property Law, it's not that long and is very reader friendly I found.

I would recommend getting the nutshells for the above subjects to be honest. They don't go hugely in depth and you will fly through them, they should give you a basic knowledge of the whole subject too.

Alternatively, I would recommend undergrad students get second hand FE1 manuals, if i'd have know about them in undergrad I think I would have done miles better. Should be a thread on here selling them. You'll only get them for Contract and Property though.

Bepolite

How long is a piece of string, what are your strengths and weaknesses, what are the lecturers strengths and weaknesses?

Chops has told you admin law is hard, I'll tell you Juris is a complete nightmare. This will come down to all of the above and more. I found Admin law to be a walk in the park, Langwallner's love (bordering on obsessional) with Dworkin makes for a class that is exceptionally stimulating but almost impossible to get through all the material.

Contract Law is generally accepted to be the easiest but then I know people who got firsts in tort but completely screwed up contract.

One thing I will agree on Chops with is the Manuals and (two things :P) don;t let Land law throw you. It's actually pretty easy (at undergrad level) just don't let the French and Latin confuse you, or that you learn the common law and the LCLRA which conflict. You have to bear in mind the time scales involved with land-law cases (hundreds of years in some cases).

chops018

Bepolite wrote: »

How long is a piece of string, what are your strengths and weaknesses, what are the lecturers strengths and weaknesses?

Chops has told you admin law is hard, I'll tell you Juris is a complete nightmare. This will come down to all of the above and more. I found Admin law to be a walk in the park, Langwallner's love (bordering on obsessional) with Dworkin makes for a class that is exceptionally stimulating but almost impossible to get through all the material.

Contract Law is generally accepted to be the easiest but then I know people who got firsts in tort but completely screwed up contract.

One thing I will agree on Chops with is the Manuals and (two things :P) don;t let Land law throw you. It's actually pretty easy (at undergrad level) just don't let the French and Latin confuse you, or that you learn the common law and the LCLRA which conflict. You have to bear in mind the time scales involved with land-law cases (hundreds of years in some cases).

+1 on all this. Land Law is fresher in BePolite's head (am I right, you finished second year or is it third year this year?), so listen to him/her.

It depends on yourself, you might find Admin interesting and relatively easy.

Bepolite

chops018 wrote: »

+1 on all this. Land Law is fresher in BePolite's head (am I right, you finished second year or is it third year this year?), so listen to him/her.

It depends on yourself, you might find Admin interesting and relatively easy.

You wont find it interesting! :P

I actually cocked up my third year and am heading back in October. Thankfully without caps, but my transcript is going to take some explaining. Hopefully when it finally comes round to devilling my boyish good looks, charming personality and the fact that most barristers can't be arsed looking at the CV of the person who will be opening their mail for a year will carry me through.

That or hopefully I'll get someone who shares my warped sense of humour!

chops018

Bepolite wrote: »

You wont find it interesting! :P

I actually cocked up my third year and am heading back in October. Thankfully without caps, but my transcript is going to take some explaining. Hopefully when it finally comes round to devilling my boyish good looks, charming personality and the fact that most barristers can't be arsed looking at the CV of the person who will be opening their mail for a year will carry me through.

That or hopefully I'll get someone who shares my warped sense of humour!

Indeed.

So one more year and hopefully straight into the Inn's?

EDIT: sorry, a bit of thread derailing going on now.. I'll stop.

lfp

Derail away! Thanks for all the advice.

Hippo

Bepolite wrote: »

I actually cocked up my third year and am heading back in October. Thankfully without caps, but my transcript is going to take some explaining. Hopefully when it finally comes round to devilling my boyish good looks, charming personality and the fact that most barristers can't be arsed looking at the CV of the person who will be opening their mail for a year will carry me through.

It's news to me that any barrister ever looked at a devil's cv!

Hunchback

I was taught Admin Law at NUIG by two excellent lecturers, Tom(s) O'Malley and Hickey and it was the most interesting and easily digestible subject I took.
But trying to read the Delany book on admin - I found it really REALLY turgid, which (given that others find the exact opposite to be true of admin) makes me think that it depends almost entirely on how engaging you find the lecturer to be - how much they enjoy lecturing that subject.

Hunchback

CKonetheonlyone wrote: »

I was taught Admin Law at NUIG by two excellent lecturers, Tom(s) O'Malley and Hickey and it was the most interesting and easily digestible subject I took.
But trying to read the Delany book on admin - I found it really REALLY turgid, which (given that others find the exact opposite to be true of admin) makes me think that it depends almost entirely on how engaging you find the lecturer to be - how much they enjoy lecturing that subject.

Further to the above,
Having just finished final year of my undergrad, everybody finds juris to be massive, but really interesting.
Maybe, get ahead with juris because it will help you to build up speed and there is so much ground to be covered anyway.

2c

234

CKonetheonlyone wrote: »

Further to the above,
Having just finished final year of my undergrad, everybody finds juris to be massive, but really interesting.
Maybe, get ahead with juris because it will help you to build up speed and there is so much ground to be covered anyway.

2c

Depends where it is taught. When I did it it was quite compact.

Bepolite

Hippo wrote: »

It's news to me that any barrister ever looked at a devil's cv!

Some do, although the majority, of course, still work on the cut of the jib test.

@Chops - aye Inns next year now Still working out whether I'll do it full or part-time.

Right Turn Clyde

chops018 wrote: »

I would recommend getting the nutshells for the above subjects to be honest

Roundhall also publish a series called Essential Law Texts. They're like Nutshells on steroids. Not all of the core subjects are covered, but the Administrative Law one by Gerrard Coffey is very good.