Blackhall 2016

Hunchback

Hey,

I searched this forum and I don't think that there has been a thread started on Blackhall 2016, so here goes..

I was just wondering how is everyone fixed for September? Personally, I am in the process of getting things sorted at the moment in terms of getting the application pack sent back by my training firm before I send it into the Law School.

Anyway, all going well, I should be starting in Blackhall in September. My training firm are a mid-sized Dublin firm. I don't off the top of my head know anyone that is going to Blackhall in September, but no doubt when I get there I will see some people that I know that were in my year in college. I just graduated from college in 2014 (as a mature student of 34), so a lot of my classmates will prolly be at the same stage as me and hitting Blackhall this Sept. Although the few that I would have been best mates with in college have either gone in other directions in their careers or are still in the process of completing their FE1's.

Anyhoo, first days in new jobs/new institutions can be a bit of of an awkward drag when you don't know anyone. I'd be well into meeting up for a coffee on the first day, just to have a few friendly faces to chat to or whatever. Literally just looking to bypass the initial awkwardness of the 'first day' and hopefully make a few mates along the way

The_Minister

For barristers, the first day of classes is inevitably followed by a trip to the King's Inns pub - I would be shocked if a similar pattern is not evident for solicitors.

chops018

Yeah there will be no problem with meeting new people.

You are sent up to a room with your tutorial group and there is chats about what to expect for Blackhall by previous people who were there and then by your tutor head. You will then have "get to know you" activities and everyone heads to the student bar afterwards. You will get to know your tutorial and skills group very well.

My tutorial group was great as it was very mixed; there was a couple of people from small firms, a couple from medium firms and the rest big firms but there was no more then 2-3 from each big firm so we all gelled together really well and did loads of things together.

I did hear from people in other tutorial groups that there was like 8 people from one firm in the group and they ended up just hanging out and doing everything together alienating the others, didn't sound nice.

There won't be a shortage of things to get involved in so don't worry. Blackhall was great, I would have enjoyed it more if I had more money ha.

Also at 34 you won't be the oldest at all. I was in the late stream and we actually seemed like a young stream in that most seemed to be 25-30 but the early stream they all seemed a lot older and even people I knew in the early stream said the same. In my tutorial group I was middling in the age bracket, the oldest was 29 and the youngest was 23 I think.

I think at the very first lecture they told us the average age, I don't remember but I was very surprised at how high it was, also the female to male ratio was very high too for the first time ever they said, and they told us that we were the lowest number intake in 14 years or something.

Hunchback

Great to hear Chops thanks a million.

Really looking forward to it

nuac

chops018 wrote: »

Yeah there will be no problem with meeting new people.

You are sent up to a room with your tutorial group and there is chats about what to expect for Blackhall by previous people who were there and then by your tutor head. You will then have "get to know you" activities and everyone heads to the student bar afterwards. You will get to know your tutorial and skills group very well.

My tutorial group was great as it was very mixed; there was a couple of people from small firms, a couple from medium firms and the rest big firms but there was no more then 2-3 from each big firm so we all gelled together really well and did loads of things together.

I did hear from people in other tutorial groups that there was like 8 people from one firm in the group and they ended up just hanging out and doing everything together alienating the others, didn't sound nice.

There won't be a shortage of things to get involved in so don't worry. Blackhall was great, I would have enjoyed it more if I had more money ha.

Also at 34 you won't be the oldest at all. I was in the late stream and we actually seemed like a young stream in that most seemed to be 25-30 but the early stream they all seemed a lot older and even people I knew in the early stream said the same. In my tutorial group I was middling in the age bracket, the oldest was 29 and the youngest was 23 I think.

I think at the very first lecture they told us the average age, I don't remember but I was very surprised at how high it was, also the female to male ratio was very high too for the first time ever they said, and they told us that we were the lowest number intake in 14 years or something.

How things change

In 1960 six ladies in a class of about 60

Good luck all

Grolschevik

Female majority (albeit pretty slight) in the solicitors' profession now.

OP, make good use of the Students' Bar and persuade your cohort to do likewise! It's always good to remember what a boon it is, and how much crack it can be when there's a bit of a crowd.

It would be sorely missed if it was closed for lack of use. I still have fond memories of the Buttery, as was, in Trinity. Gone now, and the current students have no idea what they're missing.

That said, the Dice Bar on Benburb is pretty cool, too.

Hunchback

Ha ha! Daytime pints, eh? Sure why not like

Grolschevik

CKonetheonlyone wrote:

Ha ha! Daytime pints, eh? Sure why not like

Stays open after 5 too! (If there are customers).

dashdoll

Random qs re PPC1......I'm supposed to be going on holiday around the October time for 5 days.

Is this a total no no as i have heard that attendance is mandatory?

If so, is there any point between Sept and March that we have a few days off together apart from the Xmas break.

I'm not going to get a chance to get away before Sept so was hoping I could squeeze something in during Blackhall!

chops018

There are certain days where you could "skive" off. That is miss a few lectures and tutorials.

However, all the Irish stuff is mandatory and sign in so if you miss any of those you will be back the following year to repeat. The same with the skills modules. This stuff is usually weekly so it would be hard to grab a good few days together.

Best bet would be to look at the timetable and try figure out when compulsory sign in's are and work around those. Most lectures aren't sign in and you can miss a good few tutorials before they say anything so try to work it around that I reckon.

There are random days off during the year and then other days where it's just lectures which aren't sign in so most people wouldn't go in. A few days away is doable several times during Blackhall once you figure your timetable.

vickyplumx

Hey guys! Started with my training solicitor this week. Just received in the ppc1 application pack which has a closing date of this Friday! !!! I'll never get it in on time as have no birth cert to hand and my training solicitor is out tomorrow so can't fill in forms.... will I get a place if my application is late?

Hunchback

vickyplumx wrote: »

Hey guys! Started with my training solicitor this week. Just received in the ppc1 application pack which has a closing date of this Friday! !!! I'll never get it in on time as have no birth cert to hand and my training solicitor is out tomorrow so can't fill in forms.... will I get a place if my application is late?

Yes, you can still apply. The only difference is that applications received by the Law School after 17th June are subject to an additional fee of €50.00.

Not ideal, but at least you haven't missed an actual deadline. Full details are in the application pack.

Hunchback

Mods -

I wonder if it would be possible to change the name of this thread to just 'Blackhall 2016'?

vickyplumx

Hunchback wrote: »

Yes, you can still apply. The only difference is that applications received by the Law School after 17th June are subject to an additional fee of €50.00.

Not ideal, but at least you haven't missed an actual deadline. Full details are in the application pack.

I rang the law school this morning who were saying I might not get a place and I should've had it in on time. I literally only got my job Monday. My training solicitor was great though. As were my referees getting everything to me. I managed to get everything together and off in the tracked dx this evening so they'll have it in the am. My mother unearthed my short birth cert too so happy days ! 😂

OfficeGirl2015

Any ideas when we might get our timetables?

OfficeGirl2015

Hunchback wrote: »

Hey,

I searched this forum and I don't think that there has been a thread started on Blackhall 2016, so here goes..

I was just wondering how is everyone fixed for September? Personally, I am in the process of getting things sorted at the moment in terms of getting the application pack sent back by my training firm before I send it into the Law School.

Anyway, all going well, I should be starting in Blackhall in September. My training firm are a mid-sized Dublin firm. I don't off the top of my head know anyone that is going to Blackhall in September, but no doubt when I get there I will see some people that I know that were in my year in college. I just graduated from college in 2014 (as a mature student of 34), so a lot of my classmates will prolly be at the same stage as me and hitting Blackhall this Sept. Although the few that I would have been best mates with in college have either gone in other directions in their careers or are still in the process of completing their FE1's.

Anyhoo, first days in new jobs/new institutions can be a bit of of an awkward drag when you don't know anyone. I'd be well into meeting up for a coffee on the first day, just to have a few friendly faces to chat to or whatever. Literally just looking to bypass the initial awkwardness of the 'first day' and hopefully make a few mates along the way

Hi Hunchback, Im a bit of a mature student too at 30...glad to hear that there will be a good mix of us!

vickyplumx

OfficeGirl2015 wrote: »

Hi Hunchback, Im a bit of a mature student too at 30...glad to hear that there will be a good mix of us!

I'm 26 so not quite the fresh out of college sort here either!

Hunchback

vickyplumx wrote: »

I rang the law school this morning who were saying I might not get a place and I should've had it in on time. I literally only got my job Monday. My training solicitor was great though. As were my referees getting everything to me. I managed to get everything together and off in the tracked dx this evening so they'll have it in the am. My mother unearthed my short birth cert too so happy days ! 😂

That is interesting that this was said to you by the Law School. One large firm, for example, advertised their traineeship program on the Law Society vacancies page as recently as Monday 13th. The whole interviewing process would have to be completed by this large firm and after that the process of applying to the Law School would have to be done by the successful interviewees. In addition to this is the fact that the application pack says that applications would be accepted after June 17th.

Not that it matters a bit for you as you got your application in on time, fair play. Just that it is a bit odd that this was said to you on the phone in light of the above. Maybe applications are significantly up? Maybe, I dunno.... some other stuff??

vickyplumx

Hunchback wrote: »

That is interesting that this was said to you by the Law School. One large firm, for example, advertised their traineeship program on the Law Society vacancies page as recently as Monday 14th. The whole interviewing process would have to be completed by this large firm and after that the process of applying to the Law School would have to be done by the successful interviewees. In addition to this is the fact that the application pack says that applications would be accepted after June 17th.

Not that it matters a bit for you as you got your application in on time, fair play. Just that it is a bit odd that this was said to you on the phone in light of the above. Maybe applications are significantly up? Maybe, I dunno.... some other stuff??

Ya it seemed very strange . Maybe they were just covering themselves. Ya I've seen a few firms are still recruiting trainees for blackhall in September. Strange but all sorted for now!

Bertie1986

vickyplumx wrote: »

I'm 26 so not quite the fresh out of college sort here either!

I'll be 30 going to Blackhall too. It sounds like a real mixed bag.

Does anyone know how the iPad system works? When/how do you order them? I'm training with a big firm, who have organised our applications - do you think they arrange the iPads too?

Any idea of the Blackhall start date?

Thanks All.

dashdoll

Il be 28, turning 29.

My firm are sorting my application too so not sure about the ipads but I think some of the trainees last year ordered them online but a lot closer to the time if I remember correctly.

PPC1 is starting 6 Sept.

Bertie1986 wrote: »

I'll be 30 going to Blackhall too. It sounds like a real mixed bag.

Does anyone know how the iPad system works? When/how do you order them? I'm training with a big firm, who have organised our applications - do you think they arrange the iPads too?

Any idea of the Blackhall start date?

Thanks All.

Hunchback

Great - seems to be a good mixed bag of ages going - a least amongst the Boardsies anyway.

The only part I was a bit 'urg' about in the whole process was revealing my FE 1 results to my training solicitor. They were as low as could be without failing. Still, everybody appreciates normally that it is just about passing these exams and getting over the line? I heard. And I never ha to repeat, thank God

vickyplumx

Hunchback wrote: »

Great - seems to be a good mixed bag of ages going - a least amongst the Boardsies anyway.

The only part I was a bit 'urg' about in the whole process was revealing my FE 1 results to my training solicitor. They were as low as could be without failing. Still, everybody appreciates normally that it is just about passing these exams and getting over the line? I heard. And I never ha to repeat, thank God

Did your training solicitor ask for your fe1 results?!

Hunchback

vickyplumx wrote:

Did your training solicitor ask for your fe1 results?!

They didn't ask, but the Law School do ask on their application and my training solicitor did see that.

vickyplumx

Hunchback wrote: »

They didn't ask, but the Law School do ask on their application and my training solicitor did see that.

Oh really? I just sent in the last letter that said I was deemed to have passed... I didn't realise we'd to send them all in...I'm sure they'll be back onto me so if it's wrong lol! The stress of trying to get it in got to me 😂 Ya my training solicitor barely looked at all of my stuff.. I was cringing that he'd read my character references but he didn't !

Hunchback

No no, I may well have enclosed more documentation for my training solicitor than I needed to. I pretty much enclosed everything that I was sending to the Law school on the basis of the bit that the solicitor signs that says ' I have verified all the documentation and confirm..... etc etc ( paraphrasing). Even as I was doing it I was unsure if it was necessary for me to include things like my education record etc. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that it wasn't necessary.

vickyplumx

Is anyone still waiting to be sent the indentures....? Sent in the application 3 weeks ago. Did I read somewhere that it could be 6 weeks at this time of year?

FE1 student

Hunchback wrote: »

Hey,

I searched this forum and I don't think that there has been a thread started on Blackhall 2016, so here goes..

I was just wondering how is everyone fixed for September? Personally, I am in the process of getting things sorted at the moment in terms of getting the application pack sent back by my training firm before I send it into the Law School.

Anyway, all going well, I should be starting in Blackhall in September. My training firm are a mid-sized Dublin firm. I don't off the top of my head know anyone that is going to Blackhall in September, but no doubt when I get there I will see some people that I know that were in my year in college. I just graduated from college in 2014 (as a mature student of 34), so a lot of my classmates will prolly be at the same stage as me and hitting Blackhall this Sept. Although the few that I would have been best mates with in college have either gone in other directions in their careers or are still in the process of completing their FE1's.

Anyhoo, first days in new jobs/new institutions can be a bit of of an awkward drag when you don't know anyone. I'd be well into meeting up for a coffee on the first day, just to have a few friendly faces to chat to or whatever. Literally just looking to bypass the initial awkwardness of the 'first day' and hopefully make a few mates along the way

Delighted to hear there are mature students heading in in September, definitely up for coffee or something stronger on the first day!! Might be the only day I have money given the serious drop in wages I have to take to go to Blackhall. See ya there

Hunchback

Great stuff! :cool:

Hunchback

Ipads - can we order them yet?

Hunchback

vickyplumx wrote: »

Is anyone still waiting to be sent the indentures....? Sent in the application 3 weeks ago. Did I read somewhere that it could be 6 weeks at this time of year?

Mine took around 2 weeks to arrive, as far as I remember, which was a good bit earlier than I expected. I sent in my application pack around a month ago.

OfficeGirl2015

Hunchback wrote: »

Ipads - can we order them yet?

I was on to the trainee section last week and they said the timetable will be up closer to the start date i.e. A couple of weeks before but they don't know yet. She also said that iPads could be done online through the law society website but when I tried to do it, it wouldn't work. If anyone is successful you might let me know!!!

OfficeGirl2015

FE1 student wrote: »

Delighted to hear there are mature students heading in in September, definitely up for coffee or something stronger on the first day!! Might be the only day I have money given the serious drop in wages I have to take to go to Blackhall. See ya there

Ha ha I know the feeling....not sure how we're going to survive!!

vickyplumx

Hey! Sending back my indentures. I don't need to send in the credit application form right now do I?

OfficeGirl2015

I recall reading in the application pack that the earliest they will consider the credit application is October 2017 and not to send it before this but, I could be wrong?

Hunchback

OfficeGirl2015 wrote: »

I was on to the trainee section last week and they said the timetable will be up closer to the start date i.e. A couple of weeks before but they don't know yet. She also said that iPads could be done online through the law society website but when I tried to do it, it wouldn't work. If anyone is successful you might let me know!!!

I called about ordering the IPads today and the person who I spoke to said to expect something up on the website in the next week

angela1711

Just out of curiosity how do you guys continue to use websites such as justis, westlaw etc after you are done with your degree ? Do you just pay the fee ? Not having access to all of those resources while studying for the FE'1s would suck

Hunchback

angela1711 wrote:

Just out of curiosity how do you guys continue to use websites such as justis, westlaw etc after you are done with your degree ? Do you just pay the fee ? Not having access to all of those resources while studying for the FE'1s would suck

Some people ask others who they know are still in college for their library logins, I believe

mg2014

Hunchback wrote: »

I called about ordering the IPads today and the person who I spoke to said to expect something up on the website in the next week

Thanks for this. Would that be in a public part or do we login like we did for FE1 results? Also, I have received indentures back from Law Society registered. Does anyone know the process from here? I saw someone posted 6th Sept as a starting date, has that been confirmed?

sophya

The starting date is listed as 6 September here but the page for PPC I itself hasn't been updated: https://www.lawsociety.ie/Trainees/PPC-Courses/

Hope they have it up and running soon, need to book the Ipad before I go on holidays. What Ipad is everyone going for?

vickyplumx

sophya wrote: »

The starting date is listed as 6 September here but the page for PPC I itself hasn't been updated: https://www.lawsociety.ie/Trainees/PPC-Courses/

Hope they have it up and running soon, need to book the Ipad before I go on holidays. What Ipad is everyone going for?

I know. They are so slow to update anything. Regarding the ipad- are we thinking bigger storage bigger screen is a must? Will most stuff be saved on the I cloud rather than the device? I'm an apple novice tbh 😂

Hunchback

vickyplumx wrote:

I know. They are so slow to update anything. Regarding the ipad- are we thinking bigger storage bigger screen is a must? Will most stuff be saved on the I cloud rather than the device? I'm an apple novice tbh 😂

I remember when I got my first Apple product (many moons ago) that I always regretted not stumping up the few extra quid for a better model at the initial time of purchase

As for screen size - that's got to be a preference thing? My eyes go squinty so I'll go large but I imagine others will prefer convenience and portability of a smaller model.

I'm still not fully on board with cloud storage - it made a mess of iTunes for me. So I reckon I'd I get a 64gig model? I know the course content will only use a fraction of this

vickyplumx

Hunchback wrote: »

I remember when I got my first Apple product (many moons ago) that I always regretted not stumping up the few extra quid for a better model at the initial time of purchase

As for screen size - that's got to be a preference thing? My eyes go squinty so I'll go large but I imagine others will prefer convenience and portability of a smaller model.

I'm still not fully on board with cloud storage - it made a mess of iTunes for me. So I reckon I'd I get a 64gig model? I know the course content will only use a fraction of this

Ya I think bigger the better if we're going to be reading a lot ta stuff on it...be going googly eyed otherwise lol!

Hunchback

mg2014 wrote: »

Thanks for this. Would that be in a public part or do we login like we did for FE1 results? Also, I have received indentures back from Law Society registered. Does anyone know the process from here? I saw someone posted 6th Sept as a starting date, has that been confirmed?

I guess at the end of the day, entering 'Ipad' into the search function will take you there, but I would say it will appear in the news section of the trainee page.

mg2014

Hunchback wrote: »

I guess at the end of the day, entering 'Ipad' into the search function will take you there, but I would say it will appear in the news section of the trainee page.

Checked it this morning and it asks you to log in. Assume we get log in details at a later date. I am informed that there is yet another registration pack waiting at home for me so maybe something in there.

JCJCJC

vickyplumx wrote: »

Hunchback wrote: »

I remember when I got my first Apple product (many moons ago) that I always regretted not stumping up the few extra quid for a better model at the initial time of purchase

As for screen size - that's got to be a preference thing? My eyes go squinty so I'll go large but I imagine others will prefer convenience and portability of a smaller model.

I'm still not fully on board with cloud storage - it made a mess of iTunes for me. So I reckon I'd I get a 64gig model? I know the course content will only use a fraction of this

Ya I think bigger the better if we're going to be reading a lot ta stuff on it...be going googly eyed otherwise lol!

Hi guys, good luck to you all, I've just finished PPC2. Get the bigger ipad, I paid about 400 extra to the Lawsoc for mine and never regretted it. You'll be taking it into the exams on PPC 1 & 2 so its helpful to have huge capacity available to you for storing off-line pages from the www, one less thing to worry about. The standard small one is about the size of a cigarette box and is tedious to read and write on it.
At all costs don't miss the bloody Irish, the lawsoc take it far more seriously than the legal subjects. I missed one session due to consultant-certified illness, I have broadcast-quality Irish, been on TG4, Radio na Gaeltachta etc and I still had to repeat the bloody one-hour session the following year before I was fully "deemed to have passed PPC1".

Enjoy yourselves - great coffee shop across the road in the bicycle shop ;-)

JC

OfficeGirl2015

I see that the PPC1 2016 has been updated slightly on the Law Society website - draft timetable up by friday and the core groups & icalender by the end of the following week. Has anybody any opinion in relation to the locker situation?

Hunchback

OfficeGirl2015 wrote: »

I see that the PPC1 2016 has been updated slightly on the Law Society website - draft timetable up by friday and the core groups & icalender by the end of the following week. Has anybody any opinion in relation to the locker situation?

More of a question than an opinion -

The website says that there are a limited number of premium lockers available with USB chargers in them and that these will be allocated on a first-come/first-serve basis. Does this mean first there on the day to physically collect and request a key, or does it mean first come in terms of when people reserved their lockers online. I must have a trawl through the old thread to see if the answer is there.

I-Pad selection available from 10th August, also!

spaz_hawk

Does anyone know if there are shower facilities down there? Wouldn't mind being able to shower after gym/cycling in but not holding out much hope after seeing the changing rooms at the football pitch...

dashdoll

Hi guys.

I have a couple of qs re PPC1 if anyone could shed some light!

-Ipads: Do most people seem to go with the ipad mini or are the majority using the bigger Ipads? Unsure which one to go for and what memory I would need. Do we also use these Ipads at ppc2?

-Lockers: Are these nemissary or a good idea? Was thinking we don't have books now that we have Ipads but of course I could be wrong!

-Parking near blackhall: Is there any? Is traffic a disaster around there anyway? Guessing it's probably better off to try walk it get a bus (not near the luas).

Any other tips are very welcome :-)

spaz_hawk

dashdoll wrote: »

Hi guys.

I have a couple of qs re PPC1 if anyone could shed some light!

-Ipads: Do most people seem to go with the ipad mini or are the majority using the bigger Ipads? Unsure which one to go for and what memory I would need. Do we also use these Ipads at ppc2?

-Lockers: Are these nemissary or a good idea? Was thinking we don't have books now that we have Ipads but of course I could be wrong!

-Parking near blackhall: Is there any? Is traffic a disaster around there anyway? Guessing it's probably better off to try walk it get a bus (not near the luas).

Any other tips are very welcome :-)

We get manuals as well (i think at least anyway!) so i think a locker is a good idea, plus handy if you plan on going straight on the piss from college any day/want to head home for the weekend! Ipad is for ppc1 and ppc2, I've been told its worth upgrading but no need to get the air wifi 2. Think there was info in the application pack about parking but don't have it to hand, I'd suggest buses or cycling though.