7 NOVEMBER 2015

Student PerspectiveHow to succeed in the course

Welcome to the law

IntroThe law is fascinating and practically useful in

every day life.Doctrine of necessity - Dudley v Stephens (1884) 14

QBD 273 On 5 July 1884, Four people, Dudley, Stephens, Brooks and a

17 year old boy had to abandon their yacht and board an open boat in the the high seas 1600 miles off Cape of Good Hope

They went 18 days without food and water, bar a turtle they caught, and rain water they trapped on their oil skins

Dudley and Stephens suggested they draw straws to see who should be sacrificed and eaten, so the others could survive. Brooks dissented

Introduction

Dudley and Stephens (Brooks dissenting), suggested they killed the boy because he was the weakest.

Dudley with Stephens consent stabbed the boy in the throat and killed him. The three men then fed on the boy’s body for 4 days. They were rescued. On their return to England, Dudley and Stephens were

charged with murder. Both argued defence of necessity (ie they had to kill the boy to survive).

Court held that necessity is not a defence to murder. Lord Coleridge: “Though law and morality are not the same, and many things are immoral

that are not necessarily illegal, yet the absolute divorce of law from morality would be a fatal consequence; and such divorce would follow if the temptation to murder in this case were held by law to be an absolute defence of it. It is not so.”

“By what measure are the comparative value of lives to be measured? Is it to be strength, intellect or what…in this case the weakest, the youngest, the most unresisting was chosen. Was it more necessary to kill him than one of the grown men? The answer must be no.”

Agenda

Please don’t video or take pictures of this presentation.

IntroductionPast exam statistics Why people fail or drop outAttending lecturesStudy groupsStudy expectations

Agenda

Assignment preparation & structureExample assignmentExample exam summariesPreparing for examsExam techniqueStudent and lecturer questionnairesWhat you get out of the courseQuestion and answers

EXPECTATIONS

Time Management

Time Management - Expectations

Throughout the course allow approximately 8 hours of study for each weekly lecture broken up as follows:

3 hours for the readings (some take more) Reading your notes, prescribed text, case extracts

1 Hour to review and tidy up your lecture notes after the lecture

2 hours to summarize the readings, legislation and case extracts

2 hours to prepare the final cut of your exam summary to 1 - 1.5 pages for each topic

Note Assignment and exam prep are separate to the above

Time Management - Expectations

At the start of the semester diarize the following key dates: Date you need to commence your assignments Date your assignments are due Date you need to commence your exam preparation Date of your exams When and what you are going to study (set out and work to a project plan)

Discuss the course with your family and work. Their support and understanding is critical to succeeding in this course. Set expectations on: What you need to do throughout the semester (set their expectations) The weeks/ weekends you will be tied up working on assignments The weeks/weekends you will be preparing for exams The dates of your exams (fact you will be stressed beforehand) When you need study leave

Example 1 – Sample time table

BENEFITS

Attending Lectures

Attending Lectures

Benefit of attending lecturesThe LEC has found that students who fail to attend

lectures are the most likely to failGo to all lectures. If you miss a lecture go to the weekend

school to make it up.During the lecture the lecturer:

Tells you what they want you to know Summarizes the course (they summarize the text and case principles) Tells you the key cases to know for the exam Gives you hints of what will be in the exam, or you need to know for

the assignmentYou get to ask the lecturer questionsYou get to form relationships with your peers, feel

accountable to them, and stay connected

STUDY ROUTINEREADINGS

SUMMARIES

Throughout The SemesterWeeks 1-12/13

Throughout the semester

1. Base ALL of your study around the subject guide. It is your course bible.

Print it out, bind it, and take it to all of your lectures, refer to it all the time.

More on the subject guide later tomorrow

2. Read the prescribed readings before the lecture (allow 3-4 hours for readings. How many pages can you read an hour?)

Read prescribed text Read prescribed legislation Read case extracts.

Judgments are a Judge’s “EXAM ANSWER” for other judges. The judge sets out the issue/s, relevant legislation, relevant precedent case law,

apply the law to the facts, and come to a conclusion The factual matrixes of exam questions are based on real cases Reading case extracts helps you spot the issues in exam questions Judgments often review the relevant key principles from other cases. So this is

a great source of revision.

Exam Preparation Recipe For Success

Throughout the Semester3. Attend the lectures and actively take notes (see the

recording feature in your Office Word program)4. Review and tidy up your notes within 48 hours of the

lecture (using headings from the subject guide). This is the best way to memorize and lock in the content

5. Summarize the prescribed readings (text, legislation & case extract) in accordance with the subject guide headings. Settle the first cut of your notes for that lecture.

6. Summarize the notes for each lecture to 1- 1.5 pages maximum.

7. Re read your notes before the next lecture and in the weeks before the exam.

Study Groups

Join a study group of 3 or more peopleStudy group and the assignment

Meet your study group 3-4 weeks before the assignment to discuss the assignment

Share a basic bullet point outline of the key issues in the assignment with your study group

Do not share your final assignment with anyone, do not post it on Facebook.

Study group and the Exam Meet your study group a couple of time 4 -6 weeks before

the exam to review problem questions and discuss topics. Don’t meet your study group 3 days before an exam it can

confuse and stress you (lock yourself in a cave)

PREPARATIONANSWERING THE QUESTION

STRUCTURE

Assignments

Assignment Preparation

Each subject is assessed out of 100, 20% assignment 80% final exam.

The assignment is a great opportunity to put marks in the bank. Aim to get 15 out of 20 (or better). This gives you a buffer of 5 marks (or more) for the exam.

Commence working on your assignment at least 4 weekends before it is due

Allow 2 weekends for the reading Allow one full weekend to draft the assignment Allow another one day to review and polish the assignment. Ask

yourself “have I answered the question”. Allow one night, to sleep on the draft, and amend before

submitting Plan to submit 1 week early. This gives you a buffer if you get sick

etc.

Assignment Preparation

1. Read the assignment question several times2. Highlight the issues 3. Read your relevant lecture notes (the lecturer is

telling you what they want to see in the assignment)4. Read the question again and highlight any more

issues you see 5. Read the text and relevant cases, and for extra

marks try do some research (does not apply to first LI assignment)

6. Prepare a bullet point outline of the issues and law. 7. Discuss your outline of issues with your study group

(Don’t post on the Facebook)

Assignment Structure

8. Provide a structured cogent answer to the question (for each issue)

Overall introduction Issue – Identify the issue/s Law

What is the relevant legislation? Make reference to the statute law – identify which section you are considering (and why you are starting with that section). If parts or phrases of the section are particularly relevant to your answer identify those parts or phrases in your answer without writing out the whole section;

What is the relevant case law (use lecturer’s cases first)? – state the principle in your own words, and cite the case. The relevant law/case law will often contain a test that must be satisfied – state the test clearly using your own words

Assignment Structure

9. Apply the law – apply the law/test to the facts10. Conclusion – Briefly state your conclusion on the

issue11. Overall conclusion – If a number of issues, provide

an overall conclusion – ANSWERING THE QUESTION

12. Complete citations, and bibliography 13. Review, polish and submit Tip: In your assignment and exam, cite the cases referred to

in lectures and in the subject guide (lecturers are looking for this)

Please note the above process may not apply to the first Legal Institutions assignment.

Example 1 - Contracts assignment structure

PREPARATIONEXAM SUMMARIES

PAST PAPERSTECHNIQUE

Exam Preparation6 weeks to exam

Top 7 Reasons People Fail Exams

1. Haven’t attended lectures2. Haven’t read the prescribed readings 3. Haven’t practiced problem questions under exam conditions4. Haven’t spotted the issues5. Don’t answer the question6. Don’t provide a cogent structured answer (fail to use IRAC)7. Poor time management in the exam - running out of time

Use the reading time to allocate the time for each question, and stop that question when the time is up!

Remember the easiest marks are the first 80% (16 marks) of the allocated marks for that question. Don’t go over time chasing the last 20% (4 marks)

Tip – Following the exam, apply for an interview to meet with the lecturer to see what they are looking for and what you can do to improve

Pre Exam Preparation6 weeks before exam

Open Book Exams (a false sense of security) - Prepare for the exam as a closed book exam! You don’t have time in the exam to refer to your notes.

6 weeks before the exam

1. Make your own nutshell book – don’t rely on library nutshell books, they are a false crutch

Summarize all of your notes (lecture notes, prescribed readings, legislation and case principles) to a maximum of 1 – 1.5 pages for each topic (ie 12 lectures in the semester = 12-18 pages of final exam summaries for the entire subject).

2. Review and start memorizing your final summary (key sections of legislation, principles and cases)

3. Do the above, while you continue your prescribed readings and summaries for the remaining lectures

Pre Exam PreparationFinal 2 weeks before the exam

Plan to finish all of your prescribed readings, summaries etc 2 weeks before the final exam.1. Time yourself handwriting one page of typed notes. Tells you the amount

of typed content you can fit into a 40 minutes in the exam.2. Read and memorize your personal exam nutshell every morning in the

final 2 weeks before the exam.3. Problem question practice

Problem questions are great final step in exam prep They are the best way to test you what you have learned and ability to channel it into a

structured bite sized exam answers. Warning problem questions should not form the basis of your study. The best prep is to do

the course work. Do as many problem questions as you can (allow 1 day to complete 2/3 problem questions Do problem questions under exam conditions, by handwriting, with a stopwatch. You

need to train your hand to write fro exams! This gives you an idea of time limitations. Practice applying the law to the questions. Critical! Best thing is to do 3 problem questions in a row on the same topic (best way to

memorize)

Pre Exam PreparationFinal 2 weeks before the exam

Do first problem question open book, give yourself 45 minutes to answer the question. Then take 45 minutes to review your notes and tidy up your problem question answer.

Do the second problem question closed book. After you have finished, spend a further 45 minutes reviewing your notes and correcting your answer. Repeat for the third question.

Warning problem questions should NOT be your sole source of study.

Final Exam Preparation

2 days before the exam

1. Prepare a course “Overview MAP” of the subject linking relevant principles etc. This locks in the course

2. Print out and bind the subject guide, your final exam summary, and first draft of your summary. Create an index on the first page of your final summary so you can find things quickly

3. Tab the relevant sections of your notes, legislation and prescribed text for quick reference in the exam.

4. Calculate the time you can spend on each question and part thereof in the exam

1. 3 hour exam with 4 questions = 45 mins a question2. Less 5 mins reading = 40 mins a question3. At 20 marks for 40 mins - a 5 mark part to a question is worth 10 mins

of time

Pre Exam Summaries

Example 2 – Conveyancing Subject GuideExample 3 – Conveyancing Lecture summary

PROCESSPAST PAPERSTECHNIQUE

During The Exam

In The Exam

1. Write down the finish times for each question on the front of exam paper.

- Eg 2.00pm start, 3hour exam, 4 questions equate to 45mins a question

- Q1 finish 2.45, Q2 finish 3.30pm etc

2. Choose the questions you want to answer3. Allocate time allowed for each part of the question (ie

write down how long you can spend on a 5, 7, 10 mark question)

4. Pick the first question you want to tackle. Carefully read the question again, and highlight the issues. Critically make sure you answer the question.

5. Prepare an answer plan – planning is everything6. Answer the question, for each issue, using IRAC method

In The Exam

7. Stop (pen down) when the allocated time on the question is up. This is critical. The first 80% (16 marks) of the marks are the easiest to get.

If there are 4 questions in an exam and you run 5 minutes over for the first three questions, then you only have 30 mins or 30% less time to answer the last question which is also worth 20marks. Ie you have cost yourself 7 marks

Don’t run over time on a question chasing the final couple of marks, move on.

8. Help the examiner to give you marks. Write legibly – allows examiner to give more marks. Write on every

second line if you have bad hand writing. Underline or highlight key cases references and legislative If you can’t remember a case name, state the principle you will get marks If you are running out of time, then as a last resort in bullet points state

the issues, relevant principle and case citation – more marks

Post Exam

Post Exam Lecturer Interview After the exam apply for a meeting with the

examiner (see course book). Use the meeting to:

See what the examiners are looking for Find out how you can improve your exam technique

If you fail a subject Don’t quitSome of the best practitioners have failed a

subject

Student Questionnaires

4. Please see student questionnaires.

Lecturers Questionnaires

5 Lecturer’s questionnaires on why students fail

6 Lecturer questionnaires closed book exams

Further Sessions

At 12 midday and 1pm on 7 November 2015 (tomorrow) - I will be running a 1hour seminar on using the subject guide, taking notes, summarizing cases and the LI course generally.

On Friday 29 January 2016 – I will be conducting a 4 hour lecture on the following: Preparing for the exam Structuring an argument using IRAC Applying IRAC to some past paper exam questions. If any of you are doing Contracts this Semester, I will be

conducting the Contracts Tutorials for that course.

What you get out of the course

An ability to get straight to the issue of work related problems

An appreciation of your time, and time management

A new career in law/or appreciation of the law in your current role

Greater opportunities in your career, based on the respect the workforce has a law on your CV

A great sense of personal satisfaction. Studying law is immensely rewarding.

What you get from the course

An opportunity to meet a range of people you would not normally meet (my library friend)

A different way of thinkingAdmission to an incredibly well respected

professionTwo success stories

Graduation ceremony Admission ceremony

Questions

This presentation, student feedback, lecturers feedback, summary templates and other material is on the LEC website.

Login to the LEC site, Click on “notes” section of Legal Institutions

Persistence

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. Calvin Coolidge

Good Luck

Thank you for your timeEnjoy your studies and good luck!