FE1 Exam Thread (Read 1st post!) NOTE: YOU MAY SWAP EXAM GRIDS

LawBoy2018 · 31-03-2020 03:59PM

For anyone with a training contract, I wouldn't be worried tbh. The legal industry has never been stronger in Ireland and the extra competition from newcomers will only strengthen the hands of future trainees. They wouldn't be foolish enough to throw away talent that they already had locked in.

XyzLawyer123 · 31-03-2020 07:36PM

LawBoy2018 wrote: »

For anyone with a training contract, I wouldn't be worried tbh. The legal industry has never been stronger in Ireland and the extra competition from newcomers will only strengthen the hands of future trainees. They wouldn't be foolish enough to throw away talent that they already had locked in.

Trainee solicitors are not premier league footballers and the legal industry isn’t nearly as strong as you are suggesting. WIP disappears very quickly and advisors are the last to be paid. There will be deferrals , it is not beyond the realms of possibility that there will be rescissions (it happened before) , and more likely , deferrals will go on sufficiently long that candidates voluntarily lose interest and take jobs down the chain , in different sectors , and in different jurisdictions.

LawBoy2018 · 31-03-2020 09:34PM

XyzLawyer123 wrote: »

Trainee solicitors are not premier league footballers and the legal industry isn’t nearly as strong as you are suggesting. WIP disappears very quickly and advisors are the last to be paid. There will be deferrals , it is not beyond the realms of possibility that there will be rescissions (it happened before) , and more likely , deferrals will go on sufficiently long that candidates voluntarily lose interest and take jobs down the chain , in different sectors , and in different jurisdictions.

The current situation is completely different to that of 08. Why would there be recissions? An economic downturn = a boost in litigation, insolvency, dispute resolution, etc. The market for paralegals will definitely dry up, but future trainees have nothing to worry about imo. My firm has confirmed that starting dates have been pushed back, but everyone will be attending blackhall as planned. No need for the fear mongering..

XyzLawyer123 · 31-03-2020 10:00PM

LawBoy2018 wrote: »

The current situation is completely different to that of 08. Why would there be recissions? An economic downturn = a boost in litigation, insolvency, dispute resolution, etc. The market for paralegals will definitely dry up, but future trainees have nothing to worry about imo. My firm has confirmed that starting dates have been pushed back, but everyone will be attending blackhall as planned. No need for the fear mongering..

Situation could well be worse than 2008 and add to that Brexit uncertainty which is all but forgotten at the moment. That is the prediction of the WTO. The ESRI latest prediction is a GDP fall of 7.1%, the fall was 8.5% in 2008/2009.

A boost in litigation activity, which is typically at a discounted rate, does not offset the downturn in M&A, finance and other areas that are the core of a major firm.

biglawhead420 · 31-03-2020 10:29PM

There will definitely be less fees coming in.

That said, the bigger firms are a lot less reliant on M&A and commercial property than they were in 2008. Also in 2008 a lot of the sackings / rescinding were for solicitors in the worst affected areas. These were entirely propped up by a bubble. The increased hiring of say 5/10 solicitors in those areas mentioned above were nothing compared to the 10s being sacked in others.

In reality none of use really know until the quarantine is lifted and the economy responds to its shock paddling.

XyzLawyer123 · 31-03-2020 11:04PM

biglawhead420 wrote: »

There will definitely be less fees coming in.

That said, the bigger firms are a lot less reliant on M&A and commercial property than they were in 2008. Also in 2008 a lot of the sackings / rescinding were for solicitors in the worst affected areas. These were entirely propped up by a bubble. The increased hiring of say 5/10 solicitors in those areas mentioned above were nothing compared to the 10s being sacked in others.

In reality none of use really know until the quarantine is lifted and the economy responds to its shock paddling.

Big firms are less reliant on M&A and commercial property? What do you think they are doing now?

Louis Litt · 01-04-2020 09:35AM

Has anyone who is planning to sit Tort and EU for the first time at the re-sit started study? Presume there has been no update as to when these will take place. Struggling to face back into the study again

lawgrad15 · 01-04-2020 09:50AM

Louis Litt wrote: »

Has anyone who is planning to sit Tort and EU for the first time at the re-sit started study? Presume there has been no update as to when these will take place. Struggling to face back into the study again

I was due to sit tort last month. I haven't started studying for it again yet. For me, it's always so much more difficult to study when there is no date set for the exam. Leaves me way less concentrated.

ahhhhhFE1s · 01-04-2020 12:19PM

Beano7760 wrote: »

Apologies, I'm kinda jumping in here.

I'm nearly finished my FE1 and had planned on getting a grant through Susi to help pay for PPC I. I was looking through the criteria and spotted this "A student who already holds a masters degree at level 9 is ineligible for funding for the Professional Practice Course unless that masters degree is in law".

I'm gutted as I can forget about getting funding through Susi if that's the case. I don't fit the criteria.

I've put lots of work into doing these exams and not it appears for nothing. There's no way I'm taking out a loan to cover it, would cripple me financially.

Does anyone know : is there a way of overcoming this?

Any clarification appreciated.
Thank you.

Have you thought about applying for the Access Programme?? If you have any assistance at college level particularly access this will greatly assist you in securing that funding but they accept applications even if you haven't so might be something to think about! believe there is also a bursary scheme but you can only apply or find out how much they award you when your are already in PPC1 so a bit more unpredictable- have a look at funding available https://www.lawsociety.ie/Public/Become-a-Solicitor/fe1-funding/

In relation to SUSI itself, I would ring and confirm that you definitely don't might the criteria as it might not always be as clear as you think! Good luck

lawDani · 01-04-2020 12:47PM

nmurphy1441 wrote: »

There is a lot in tort but it can be handy enough to pick up! You either love it or hate it. Personally I enjoyed it. I’ve never ever looked at EU but I’m going to sit it during the extra sitting! Study it for the next few months but I think it’s worth a go! Trying to sit the two from scratch could be very tough, just all depends how long we have!

Yeah I guess that’s all I can do. I’ll get both materials and just go from there when we have more of a timeframe I’ll judge it more. I think il like tort as working in a law firm introduces litigation and damages....
we can try suss EU together ha. Have you all material?

nmurphy1441 · 01-04-2020 02:51PM

lawDani wrote: »

Yeah I guess that’s all I can do. I’ll get both materials and just go from there when we have more of a timeframe I’ll judge it more. I think il like tort as working in a law firm introduces litigation and damages....
we can try suss EU together ha. Have you all material?

Sourced EU material from adverts.ie. Ended up getting manual, tabbed legislation, exams and reports. Very happy with it! Not as bad as I thought it was going to be so far but I’m not that deep into it yet! I find Tort isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be, there’s just a hell of a lot of topics!

Fe119 · 01-04-2020 03:23PM

I'm looking to buy EU Legislation from someone second hand for the exam in the summer. If someone is willing to post it I can include payment for that too!

Fe119 · 02-04-2020 04:08PM

channing90 wrote: »

I need tort too preferably sample answers but I could send you Eu stuff alri.

Hi there, I'm starting EU from scratch now in the hope of sitting it in July/Aug. I've passed Tort so I can swap you what I have for your EU stuff?

Twinings2016 · 02-04-2020 05:07PM

Does anyone have an up to date exam grid for EU??

And also any advice as to the most important topics re. exam?

Thank you!!

biglawhead420 · 02-04-2020 07:11PM

Do we have any ideas as to when they’ll be on???

shaunadennyham · 02-04-2020 07:46PM

biglawhead420 wrote: »

Do we have any ideas as to when they’ll be on???

Ah here would you cop on how can they possibility confirm when the exams will be on when the country is essentially in lockdown? If they gave an indication of when it will be on and they had to change it people would be up in arms. They'll reschedule it as soon as this pandemic has abated. We'll be given notice. Relax

mydogwentroof · 02-04-2020 09:46PM

shaunadennyham wrote: »

Ah here would you cop on how can they possibility confirm when the exams will be on when the country is essentially in lockdown? If they gave an indication of when it will be on and they had to change it people would be up in arms. They'll reschedule it as soon as this pandemic has abated. We'll be given notice. Relax

Chill ...

channing90 · 02-04-2020 10:41PM

mydogwentroof wrote: »

Chill ...

I predict August at the earliest, just throwing it out there based on nothing but my own guess work.

HappyKitten62 · 02-04-2020 11:34PM

channing90 wrote: »

I predict August at the earliest, just throwing it out there based on nothing but my own guess work.

I think August would be far too late for Blackhall. But we can’t possibly know. No point in speculating. We’ll be given plenty of notice.

channing90 · 02-04-2020 11:40PM

HappyKitten62 wrote: »

I think August would be far too late for Blackhall. But we can’t possibly know. No point in speculating. We’ll be given plenty of notice.

There’s going to be no mass gatherings for months, a vaccine is needed for normal life to resume again.

HappyKitten62 · 02-04-2020 11:43PM

channing90 wrote: »

There’s going to be no mass gatherings for months, a vaccine is needed for normal life to resume again.

I don’t know about that. We will have to wait and see. Restrictions have been lifted in other countries after three months. I’m not speculating anymore as it only adds to the worry. Good luck.

Coulter97 · 03-04-2020 12:18AM

channing90 wrote: »

There’s going to be no mass gatherings for months, a vaccine is needed for normal life to resume again.

We won't be in lockdown or anything close for longer than 2 months. It's not economically sustainable. Social distancing measures will remain and so will the ban on mass gatherings but by and large people will be told to go back to work during summer.

spygirl · 03-04-2020 11:44AM

PPC1 resits are happening via Moodle. Saw it on the law Society website. Wonder will something similar occur for other exams if this continues.

Legalmate · 03-04-2020 12:01PM

spygirl wrote: »

PPC1 resits are happening via Moodle. Saw it on the law Society website. Wonder will something similar occur for other exams if this continues.

Have you got a link to that announcement?

Louis Litt · 03-04-2020 12:46PM

spygirl wrote: »

PPC1 resits are happening via Moodle. Saw it on the law Society website. Wonder will something similar occur for other exams if this continues.

Correct me if i'm wrong but aren't they open book anyway?

Coulter97 · 03-04-2020 03:10PM

I have a friend with a TC in 2023 and he's worried about cancellation/deferment because of the economic crisis. Is that likely or possible?

shaunadennyham · 03-04-2020 04:37PM

Coulter97 wrote: »

I have a friend with a TC in 2023 and he's worried about cancellation/deferment because of the economic crisis. Is that likely or possible?

Sure how is anyone supposed to know - if she gets her FE1s between now and then who knows what'll happen - nobody has a crystal ball

Mod
This forum is for legal discussion, so Coulter07 has a reasonable query.

lawstudentirl · 03-04-2020 09:16PM

Coulter97 wrote: »

I have a friend with a TC in 2023 and he's worried about cancellation/deferment because of the economic crisis. Is that likely or possible?

I really wouldn’t worry if I were him. If anyone will be affected it’s those with start dates now/soon. Even if there are smaller intakes in 2023, the intake obviously isn’t full yet so people like your friend who already have a contract will be grand, it’d just be harder to get one if you don’t.

I know it’s easier said than done but really try not to be stressing out about a job that isn’t for 3 years. Plenty things in the nearer future to be stressing about!

channing90 · 03-04-2020 10:46PM

Anyone with any idea on any online courses to do during this time to upskill that would be useful for getting a traineeship etc

Coulter97 · 03-04-2020 11:46PM

lawstudentirl wrote: »

I really wouldn’t worry if I were him. If anyone will be affected it’s those with start dates now/soon. Even if there are smaller intakes in 2023, the intake obviously isn’t full yet so people like your friend who already have a contract will be grand, it’d just be harder to get one if you don’t.

I know it’s easier said than done but really try not to be stressing out about a job that isn’t for 3 years. Plenty things in the nearer future to be stressing about!

That's what I was thinking. Firms always need trainees. And chances are by 2023 the economy will be up and roaring again.

FE1 Exam Thread (Read 1st post!) NOTE: YOU MAY SWAP EXAM GRIDS

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