UCAS Applications – Oh the pain

Apparently it’s that time of year again.

From the Telegraph 15/01/15:

[It’s] when panic reigns in households inhabited by 17- and 18-year-olds across the country. Schoolbags are thrown across kitchens; bedroom doors are slammed; homework left undone and tantrums even more frequent than usual.

January 15 marks UCAS deadline day, and the beginning of the end of many a school career.

Oddly enough, I don’t remember UCAS applications being that much of a ballache for me.  But I’m sure it was. 

My only distinct memory of the process (some 12 years ago now), was the pain experienced by one of my peers who’d made the mother of all cock-ups filling out her hand-written application form.  She’d spent days finalising that thing, only to be informed by our form tutor that she’d spelt the college’s address incorrectly and she’d have to start afresh.

To describe her reaction as a meltdown doesn’t even come close.

Anyway, the Telegraph have compiled some application form howlers which are well worth a giggle.

Here are some of my favourites.

"Having been head of my form and captain of the debating club, I have grate communication skills."

Of course you do.

"'Eighty per cent of success is showing up.' I feel this attitude correctly demonstrates my passion for Literature where, indeed, you only have to 'turn up' and read the books and to fully understand the topic. I was form captain in Year 7, indicating my sense of responsibility. I enjoyed the challenge of my duties, which included fetching the register and making people sign up for sports days. Also, this year I was voted head girl because I made the most hilarious speech ever. This demonstrates my skill at creative and persuasive writing."

I wouldn’t be too sure of that.

"Thanks for considering my application and I hope I will here from you soon."

Disgusting.

"I am hoping to pass my driving test so I can drive to -insert uni name here- everyday!"

All universities like to feel special.

"Economics is a diverse subject, as economics can be related to anything, especially during economic crisis, which forces to think economically, whereas maths has been long one of my favourite subjects, as mathematics can be applied everywhere, moreover, mathematics is useful in everyday life."

There’s nothing like reading your work through, is there?

"I have a black belt in karate and enjoy marital arts."

Is that a typo or a euphemism?

 

I’m sure that over the years, a fair few budding lawyers have described their deep interest in ‘pubic law’ (rather than the far less embarrassing ‘public law’).

How to use commas

 

I was reading recently about an interesting US case which concerned, amongst other things, the use of a comma in a contract.  It formed part of the volcano of litigation that has erupted following the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Although the case concerned US law, the principle that punctuation can have a material bearing on the interpretation of legal documents applies as readily in England and Wales as it does on t’other side of the pond.

The case turned on whether a comma was missing from a clause in the contract. The clause had a markedly different meaning with the comma missing compared to when the comma was added.

With the comma missing, the clause read:

“[…] as additional insureds in each of [Transocean's] policies, except Worker's Compensation for liabilities assumed by [Transocean] under the terms of this Contract."

With it added, the clause read:

“[…] as additional insureds in each of [Transocean's] policies, except Worker's Compensation, for liabilities assumed by [Transocean] under the terms of this Contract."

It’s a great illustration of the fact that, sometimes, use of punctuation can be absolutely critical. In this case, it was critical to the tune of $750,000,000!

That got me thinking even further (it does happen occasionally!). My recent post on the written communication skills of young lawyers focused on, amongst other things, poor sentence structure in the writing of lawyers to be. A big part of that poor sentence structure is the misuse of commas.

So how difficult is it to educate yourself about how to use commas correctly?  Not very difficult, as it turns out.

Two seconds on Google turned up a very useful guide produced by the University of Bristol.

Here are a few excerpts from their guide on commas.

The comma is a much misused and often over used piece of punctuation.

Here, here!

1. To separate the elements in a list of three or more items

The potion included peanuts, pop-tarts, bran flakes and coleslaw.

There appears to be some debate about whether or not to include a comma to separate the last two items in the series. [Use of a comma in this situation is known as an Oxford comma. Conventionally, it is normal] to omit the comma before the final 'and' unless there is a danger that the last two items in the series will merge and become indistinguishable without the comma.

His favourite puddings were black forest gateau, apple strudel, and jelly and ice cream.

Using an Oxford comma after the word ‘strudel’ is the sentence above is advisable so as to indicate that the jelly and ice cream is a single item.

2. Before certain conjunctions

A comma should be used before these conjunctions: and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so to separate two independent clauses. They are called co-ordinating conjunctions.

She was a fantastic cook, but she would never be as good as her mother-in-law.

He hated his neighbours, so he never invited them round.

A common mistake is to put the comma after the conjunction.

3. To separate introductory elements in a sentence

Use a comma to separate introductory elements in a sentence from the main part of that sentence.

Given the appalling weather conditions, Jonny was lucky to make it home alive.

As the night drew to a close, the revellers wandered home.

4. To separate parenthetical elements in a sentence (i.e. to serve as brackets)

A comma is used to set off parenthetical elements in a sentence. The parenthetical element is part of the sentence that can be removed without changing the essential meaning of the sentence.

Sarah, the most intelligent pupil in the class, was always late for school.

The pyramids, one of the wonders of the ancient world, lie just outside Cairo.

If you are using a comma to do this, it is important that the aside is opened and closed with a comma. A common mistake is to omit the second comma.

Eagled-eyed readers will have no doubt noticed that the case of the missing comma, mentioned above, concerns a comma used in just this situation. (The use of commas in my previous sentence is another example of it, of course.) Permission to roll your eyes: granted.

Paul Rylance, in the excellent Writing and Drafting in Legal Practice, provides another example of the pitfalls of poor comma use:

“A counter-notice must be given to the landlord, who may, or may not, be the immediate landlord who served notice terminating the tenancy and must be given within two months of the landlord’s notice.”

So, is it the “immediate landlord who served the notice” or just the “immediate landlord”?  It should have been the latter.

A better handling of it would have been to use brackets – as shown below:

“A counter-notice must be given to the landlord (who may, or may not, be the immediate landlord) who served notice terminating the tenancy and must be given within two months of the landlord’s notice.”

Personally, I’m not sure you really need the commas within the brackets after “may” and “not”, but I’ll defer to Paul’s better judgement on this one.

5. To separate direct speech or quoted elements from the rest of the sentence

Commas are used to separate direct speech or quoted elements from the rest of a sentence. Use a comma to separate the quoted material from the rest of the sentence.

"That house there," he whispered, "is where I grew up."

6. Commas are used to separate elements in a sentence that express contrast

He was first attracted by her charming personality, not her stunning looks.

She is intelligent, not pretty.

He thought the building was enormous, but ugly.

I think commas used in this situation are ripe for abuse. Providing both clauses of the sentence are very short and it’s genuine contrast that’s being expressed, I think it’s fine. However, it doesn’t take much for these situations to slip firmly into semi-colon territory.

7. Commas are used for typographical reasons to separate dates and years, towns and counties etc.

His home was in Streatham, East London.

My father was born on March 13, 1949.

8. Commas are used to separate several adjectives

The old, ramshackle, dilapidated house had a charm of its own.

That rather dull-looking, badly-dressed, clumsy man is actually a university professor.

Rylance identifies some other instances where commas should be used:

[9.] In reported speech, to mark a person addressed. For instance, “thank you, your honour”.

[10.]  Usually after a phrase that begins with a present participle (-ing). For instance, “standing to address the court, he began his speech”.
 
[11.]  To mark off words and phrases such as “therefore”, “however”, “of course” and “for instance”. Depending on where in the sentence the comma appears, use of a comma in these circumstances can be very similar to a pair of parenthesises or to separate an introductory phrase from the rest of the sentence.

I believe that the comma is probably the most abused piece of punctuation in English and it’s a problem which seems to be getting worse, not better.

The comma can be a particularly difficult piece of punctuation to get to grips with. I think there are a number of reasons for this.

First, there are a multitude of ways in which commas can be correctly used (with some similarity between those categories in certain instances).

Secondly, there’s a degree of discretion as to where commas can be used correctly. Rylance notes the existence of a ‘catch-all’ category for using commas:

“[…] to insert a pause into a sentence so as to break it up into articulate phrases or clauses. The test […] is to read the whole sentence, noting where the voice naturally pauses.”

For the record, that absolutely shouldn’t be taken as carte blanche for whacking in commas hither and thither, just because your voice might pause naturally there.

Thirdly, there are a number of conflicting authorities on correct comma usage. Those authorities are probably best treated as guides rather than absolute rules; providing you don’t stray too far from them, you should be fine.

I think most people’s writing can benefit from some careful consideration of proper punctuation from time to time (mine included).  And you might just find that reflecting on your use of commas when you’re at a loss in the office on a quiet afternoon is time very well spent.  It’s just a pity you can’t get CPD points for it!

Young lawyers’ written communication skills

… aren’t up to much – apparently.

From Young Lawyer 30/07/14:

The number of training contracts available has risen, yet the calibre of candidates is unremarkable [.]

The number of LPC registrations has dropped for a second year running, while the number of training contracts on offer has risen. You may think that candidates can now afford to be more optimistic. However, speaking with law firm recruiters, it seems that many candidates still have a way to go before catching the golden training contract snitch.

I don’t know why I’m so uncomfortable with the word “snitch” but I am. It’s always made me slightly nauseous and involuntarily pull a ‘I’m-eating-raw-lemon’ face. Strange.

One aspect still of great concern to a number of firms during the recruitment process is poor written expression. A recruiter in one City law firm said: “It makes me so sad to read these applications. Their academics are very good, but they use text speak and can’t structure sentences properly.”

That doesn’t surprise me. By no means do I hold myself out as a paragon when it comes to the correct use of English, but even I’m shocked at the sentence structure that some of my younger colleagues trot out. I’ve seen large block paragraphs of text punctuated only by a string of commas presented proudly as ‘finished work’.  Besides being awkward and embarrassing for the reader, it makes the author look downright incompetent.

I remember from my schooldays being taught about good sentence structure and having lessons focused on using different types of punctuation correctly, but I know a lot of others my age who claim their English lessons never strayed into those topics (perhaps they were off sick those days!). 

I think the general standard of English usage in the UK is clear proof that proper sentence structure needs to be actively taught in schools, rather than assuming that pupils will pick it up naturally at some point.

For me, it’s clear the time has arrived to go back to first principles and teach the mechanics of basic English to kids and to only focus on exploring those less-used nuances (iambic pentameter anyone?) once those basics have been mastered.

As Paul Rylance notes in his excellent book, Writing and Drafting in Legal Practice, “good writing is clear thinking on paper”.  If the lawyers of tomorrow aren’t properly equipped to practise that, I dread to think of the standard of written legal advice that’ll be churned out in the years to come.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, a one day elective module on the professional skills course focused on ‘effective written communication’ or whatever won’t cure 15 years’ worth of bad habits, I’m afraid. This stuff should start at the earliest stages of primary school and it needs to get itself firmly back on the curriculum ASAP.

Let’s not get hung-up on commercial awareness

^{A group of people who clearly have commercial awareness.  Ahem.}

Is it commercial awareness month at the moment? If it is, nobody thought to tell me.

I think it must be, as there have been a flurry of articles published in the last few weeks which have piled in on the increasingly tired topic of commercial awareness. You know, it’s that precious skill which all commercial lawyers must demonstrate to be able to justify their existence and the thing which all law students want a transplant of to kick start their careers.

These articles of which I speak were dedicated in the most part to musing over what commercial awareness might or might not be. One article in particular, which was in the most recent ‘Junior Lawyers’ e-magazine, (yes, I still have a butchers at it from time to time – someone has to) questioned whether this mystical commercial awareness business should be taught as a separate skill on the LPC.

No, really.

Since ‘commercial awareness’ become such a buzzword for current and would-be lawyers, there’s been an awful lot written about what it actually is. Strangely, few seem to be able to pin its meaning down with any degree of precision. That still surprises me.

For me, commercial awareness isn’t really that tough a concept to grasp. What I think it boils down to is this.

It’s essentially the ability of a lawyer to use common sense and a bit of perspective and to tailor legal advice in a way which takes into account the commercial context in which the client operates (or will operate) when he or she is dishing out legal advice. Put another way, it’s the context-sensitive application of relevant commercial issues that a lawyer should exercise when advising a client. Having sufficient knowledge of those issues and deciding which are and which aren’t relevant is the tricky bit.

Commercial awareness isn’t a one-size-fits-all concept. I’ve seen some rather misguided careers advice which more or less suggested that reading the Financial Times was a sure-fire way to obtain the requisite level of commercial awareness needed for a career as a solicitor. That’s not just ridiculously silly – it’s plain wrong.

If a small start-up business came to a lawyer for advice on a commercial lease, for instance, it’s not going to matter a whole lot to the client whether the solicitor in question has a firm grasp of what the FTSE 500 is doing at the moment. But their being au fait with the current and likely trends of the local leasehold property market might be very relevant.

Commercial awareness has been talked-up and over-complicated over the last few years to the point where its true meaning has largely been lost. Depending on the circumstances, any number of factors could combine to make up commercial awareness, but that doesn’t mean that it, as a concept, is inherently difficult to grasp. Those factors might vary from things like a client’s financial position, to the common trends in the commercial sector they’re operating in, to how much time, money and other resources they can devote to the issue in question. But most of these issues are ones which are inherently part and parcel of giving legal advice in a commercial context. A lawyer would still need to take them into account to give good quality legal advice across a broad range of practice areas, even if the term ‘commercial awareness’ had never been coined.

I think virtually every solicitor practising in an area which has some commercial connection already has ‘commercial awareness’ and that they are adept at applying that knowledge as a routine part of giving legal advice. If they didn’t have a decent dollop of commercial awareness, they wouldn’t be in the job very long. In other words, it goes with the territory of being a solicitor and everyone (current and prospective lawyers included) should probably ignore this silly commercial awareness label and simply concern themselves with giving good quality legal advice.

Any solicitor worth their salt should have a healthy desire to develop and maintain a working knowledge of the various non-legal factors which might shape or feed into good quality legal advice in their practice area – such as recent developments in the relevant sector. This might be very general, such as the ease with which small businesses are obtaining credit or how much luck start-ups are having attracting private equity finance. Knowing your clients, their problems (current and potential) and helping them manage those problems is at the heart of being ‘commercially aware’.

In a sense, then, commercial awareness is about thinking laterally – or rather, usefully applying lateral knowledge when preparing legal advice. Because of that, developing commercial awareness comes naturally as part of practising law in a commercial area. It doesn’t need to be taught as a separate skill on the LPC – it’s far too inherent and pervasive in the relevant black letter law and in the skill of interviewing and advising clients to be separated out.

To students who are concerned about developing commercial awareness, I’d say you really shouldn’t worry. Thinking practically about factors likely to affect your (hypothetical) clients and tailoring your advice to suit will necessarily mean you’re commercially aware. And while it’s something that will develop with experience, having a sensible head on your shoulders from day one is half the battle won. I guess what I’m saying is that demonstrating commercial awareness as a student is perfectly possible. Being able to point to a previous job, which could be anything from investment banking to having a paper round, will go a long way towards demonstrating commercial awareness if you can show you had an appreciation of the commercial pressures your employer was under. At its crudest, that might be as simple as showing an acknowledgement that money doesn’t grow on trees.

Everything is relative. But the chances are, you’re more commercially aware than you thought.

So let’s stop worrying about what is little more than a silly label.

Slippery slope for Bristol law students

The University of Bristol’s law school is housed in the Wills Memorial Building which is the large castle-like building at the top of the hill in the picture.  Put another way, it’s perfectly positioned for students to sprint out of lectures and slalom their way down a water slide once lectures are over for the day.

Why couldn’t studying law be more like that when I was a student, eh? 

When the slide is set up for a day (yes, that’s all!) in the summer, let’s hope the road is properly closed to traffic.  I don’t want to hear of law students studying tort having their studies bolstered by first hand experiences of negligence claims!  Lucky that the Bristol Royal Infirmary is just down the road.

Solicitors and continuing professional development

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have recently published a consultation seeking stakeholder views on reforming the continuing professional development (CPD) obligations on solicitors.

You can have a butchers at the consultation entitled “Training For Tomorrow: A new approach to continuing competence” here.

Given the ever changing landscape in which solicitors practise, the SRA feel that the rules on CPD are in need of a refresh.

As the SRA put it:

There can be no doubt therefore that continuing professional development […] is a necessary and important requirement for individuals and entities if they are to deliver competent legal services and meet their regulatory obligations.

The SRA highlight that CPD is currently viewed as a necessary evil to which lawyers pay lip service (let’s face it – they’d much rather be fee earning or playing golf / shopping for shoes – delete as appropriate). They’re probably right about that.

To try and make CPD more meaningful and relevant to individual solicitors, the SRA pondered, albeit briefly, whether making the rules more prescriptive would do the trick.

But no: less is more in the new trendy world of outcomes-focussed regulation.  The SRA decided to reject greater prescription for 3 reasons:

1. The wildly diverse needs of CPD between practitioners and areas of practice;

2. The fact that practitioners at different stages of their careers need different amounts of CPD; and

3. For reasons of buck-shifting. The SRA wants the firm entity for which the solicitor works to be responsible for managing CPD.

Maintaining the SRA’s apparent love of the number 3, they set out, yep, 3 options for possible reform:

Option 1 - a shift from procedural compliance to competence.
There would be no mandatory minimum number of hours that must be spent on CPD, or the type of CPD that must be undertaken. It is up to individuals and firms to decide what CPD needs to be undertaken to meet their regulatory obligations set out in the Code of Conduct. The emphasis is on self-reflection and all that jazz. This is the SRA’s favoured option.

Option 2 - regulations requiring solicitors to plan and reflect on their development.
Like option 1, there would be no mandatory minimum number of hours that must be devoted to CPD. Instead, solicitors would be required to reflect on their practice, identify their training needs and plan, implement and evaluate their training on an annual basis. The SRA would take a prescriptive approach in how CPD is planned, recorded and reflected on, specifying the format of a log that must be kept.

Option 3 - retain a minimum hours scheme with some modifications. 
This would involve retaining a mandatory CPD scheme for solicitors which prescribes a minimum number of hours of CPD that must be completed each year. The CPD would have to relate to the individual's current or anticipated area of practice, while allowing a wider range of activities to count as valid CPD.

The consultation window closes on 2 April 2014.

Reducing Stress Whilst Studying Law

From Lawstudent.tv 15/02/14:

It’s true, your first-year of law school will be stressful, very stressful.  From managing all of your assigned reading to preparing for three finals in the same week, time management is key. 

So, how does lawstudent.tv suggest student combat that stress?

Log your hours.  Your first-year of law school will instill some odd new characteristics into you.  One of which is this feeling of guilt you’ll get when you’re not studying.  It feels like you’re not doing enough.  I found a simple way of combating this problem—logging your hours.  So you’ve spent four hours in the library today.  Log those hours.  You spent two hours studying before bed.  Log those hours.  Then at the end of the week, look back at what you’ve accomplished. 

Actually, that’s quite a good idea (and one which, refreshingly, isn’t face-slappingly obvious). It also has the useful side effect of getting students comfortable with recording their time – something which is essential in legal practice. BTW - do LPC providers still require students to ‘run’ a pretend case and record their hours and the usual rigmarole that goes with handling a matter (such as writing up attendance notes, closing matters and the like)? I doubt it.

Make a checklist.  Checklists are a wonderful thing.  You simply keep a running list of the things you must accomplish throughout the week.  As those things are completed, you check them off.  I’ve even heard that the act of “checking something off” produces a chemical reaction in the brain inspiring happiness and calm. 

Depressingly trite. It’s a to-do list in other words. As for the chemical reaction hoojamaflip, what absolute bollocks. To do lists are good – just don’t let’s pretend they’re a panacea to anything.

Keep up with friends […].  Sometimes it helps to get away from a legal environment.  Often times the people you communicate with while attending law school are exclusively law students. [Kind of figures, doesn’t it?]  When you’re not talking about your classes, they are.  Your mind needs a break from school.

As suggestions go, it’s hardly left field. But the point is a good one: all students need some down time.

Workout, often.  Working out is one of the best ways to reduce stress during law school

It’s one way, granted. Staying fit is important, you don’t have to head down the gym and put yourself through the pain of a punishing routine to achieve it. It’s far more important to eat and sleep well, have a regular, balanced routine and try to enjoy the course.

Easy peasey. Who said that studying law was difficult? 

Movie Therapy for Law Students – Book Review

Movie Therapy for Law Students by Sonia Buck is, how shall I put it, one of the more niche titles that you’re likely to come across.

Its chief aim is simple: to bridge the gap between legal study and the watching of legally-themed films.

Confused? It’s simple really.

Law students, being a fastidious and conscientious bunch, tend to feel pangs of guilt when they put leisure time above studying. Well, something like that. With the help of this book, law students should be able to freely engage in some movie-watching downtime without being unduly encumbered by their consciences.


The book considers 33 films, listed in chronological order – all of which have a legal theme running through them. The list spans a diverse spectrum, from the 1962 dramatisation of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird right through to the comedy Liar Liar. Like I said – diverse.

For each movie listed, the book provides details of the plot, the lead actors featured, as well as a couple of key quotes from the script. It then moves on to consider the main areas of law associated with the plot, with helpful extracts of relevant sources of law alongside. Substantive areas of law are considered - such as contract law, the law of tort or criminal law - as well as ethical conundrums affecting the rules relating to professional conduct. In addition to all that, the author provides valuable tips for exam success, along with some ideas for further reading.

Inevitably, a book such as this cannot possibly provide a thorough commentary on each area of law that’s discussed. But the book never sets out to do that. Instead, it succinctly guides the reader in thinking critically about some of the legal issues going on beneath the surface in the various films it considers. Readers will be stimulated by a whole host of thought-provoking questions and ‘what ifs’, which will leave them cogitating long after the film has ended.

Admittedly, the book is focussed on US law and the extracts of source material provided reflect that. Nevertheless, that’s not to say it won’t appeal to law students based elsewhere given that many (if not most) of the thinking points apply regardless of the jurisdiction concerned (it’s just the answers that’ll be different).

To the extent that critical analysis and the practical application of law can be combined with the watching of movies, this book does it well.

As an aside, when I was studying for my A levels, I remember a classmate who seemed to honestly believe that watching previous episodes of Ally McBeal constituted valid exam revision. I think that was a stretch too far but the approach taken by the author in this book makes a damn good attempt at genuinely combining legal study and the watching of movies.

Whilst some might prefer to keep studying and film-watching entirely separate, students should never be encouraged to pass up opportunities for critical reflection on legal issues. As clichéd as it sounds, it’s all part of the process in which students learn to think like lawyers.

And if this book helps in that process, surely it’s earned its place on the bookshelf?

Why law schools should teach humility

Because otherwise they might churn out graduates capable off this type of nauseating display of pomposity.

I’m assuming it’s a law student in private accommodation. Please don’t tell me it’s a trainee solicitor!

The full, painful text is as follows:

Dear Neighbours,

My name is [blank] and I live in Flat [blank] on the [blank] floor of [blank]. As Saturday is St Andrew’s Day, I will be throwing a small party at my place to celebrate the day with friends. My guests are expected to arrive soon after 20:00 and leave before midnight. I will do my best to keep the noise levels down, but, as accommodating to everyone’s idea of what noise levels should be during a party is not always possible, I apologise in advance for any disruption that may be caused.

If any problem arises during that time (or if you think I should be kicked out of the block straight away), please do not hesitate to:

(a) Contact me directly on [blank] as I will do my best to solve it immediately.

(b) (i) As people expected to turn up are lawyers-to-be and trainee solicitors, I suggest you don’t try calling the police, since they probably know the law better than you.

(ii) If you are a lawyer, please refer to section (a) above.

Knowing many of you are going away for Christmas, I would also like to seize the opportunity and wish you a very Merry Christmas, full of love, family memories and understanding (noisy neighbours included).

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Best Regards

[Blank]

Seize the opportunity and wish them a merry Christmas?  I bet the neighbours in question want to seize him or her by the neck!  (Something tells me it was a male who wrote this – and probably a male with ‘small man syndrome’.)

The clincher for me, though, was the capitalised R in “Best Regards”.

Found here.

Co-op legal scales back training contract targets

From Roll on Friday 18/10/13:

Co-operative Legal Services has admitted that it will be unable to reach its target of providing 100 training contracts a year.

Yikes. That’s a lot of training contracts (suddenly not happening).

CLS, which is the legal branch of the Co-operative, announced only last year that it planned to take on more trainees than any Magic Circle firm: 100 a year within just five years. But students who signed up for expensive law courses thinking that this heralded an upturn in the grad rec market should have saved their money.

Whoa. Hang on a second. Since when did the average law student become the proverbial moron in a hurry (actually, don’t answer that!)? Any law student (current or prospective) should have their eyes wide open when considering their career and they shouldn’t be mollycoddled or forgiven for naiveté if they plan on a career in law thinking it’s still the gravy-train it once was. Let’s face it: there’s plenty of doom-mongering and tales of unemployment woes out there for any ignorance to be utterly inexcusable.

Let’s stop treating law students like morons. They know what the chances are of their careers panning out perfectly (or they damn well should do). Give them a little credit.

The Lawyer reports that after a bad year for the Co-op, only ten trainees were taken on in this year's intake.

A spokeswoman for the Co-op told RollOnFriday that said that the numbers might increase in future, but "we are focussing our efforts on our learning academy". In other words, filling its ranks with loads of cheap paralegals rather than investing in training the solicitors of the future.

Sadly, that seems to be what every law firm is doing at the moment. Pity the poor trainee solicitor, I say. They’re a dying breed (soon to be made extinct if we carry on at this rate).

I once overhead someone say that a paralegal is to a solicitor what a processed fish stick is to caviar. I’m not going to attribute that statement to anybody in particular, but they know who they are. (I’m sure they go home and cry themselves to sleep at night.) Whilst no one can doubt the value, skills and knowledge of paralegals out there, I find the notion of a mass ousting of solicitors in favour of an army of paralegals a rather worrying prospect.

At any rate, if this paralegal invasion continues at its current rate, the whole structure of the profession is going to quickly change beyond all recognition. It follows, then, that legal education, qualifications and vocational training is going to need a massive re-think before it’s too late.

LLB students – ignore your first year at your peril

Sponsored PostThe early stages of your university career can often seem unimportant at the time, but the content covered in the early months can be just as important as that dealt with in years two and three. While it won’t count towards your degree classification directly, that early ground can be vital in giving you a good grasp of broader legal principles which can help make studying law that much more manageable. And what’s more, those early lessons have a habit of proving unexpectedly useful (yes, even in practice), and usually it’s when you least expect it.

For the majority of law students, the first few weeks at university are spent in an alcohol-fuelled haze as they explore their newly-found sense of independence having finally flown the family nest. As freshers’ week gives way to lectures, seminars and the onset of academic work, the majority of first year students keep having a good time firmly at the top of their list of priorities.

While any student’s university experience should be much broader and richer than merely studying, it’s important to balance those extra-curricular activities with those that are definitely on the curriculum. All too often, that first year sets the tone for the rest of your degree and if you spend that year in a drunken stupor, you might never fully recover.

Speaking from experience, I was a (relative) mess during the early weeks of my first semester, but by the time the first reading week had come round (in early November) I was beginning to see the need to apply myself. By the time we’d reached Christmas, I’d definitely hit my stride and never looked back. I count myself as one of the lucky ones as I know not everyone’s university career maps out in the same way.

Inevitably, at some point in each law student’s first year, they’re required to study a module concerning the court hierarchy system, the doctrine of precedent and aids to statutory interpretation. All LLB courses tend to have at least one ‘filler’ module in which all miscellaneous content from the first year diet is tossed in for fear of finding no other place for it on the timetable. For me, that module was rather disappointingly entitled ‘National and International Legal Systems’. I know what you’re thinking – a very safe choice.

As part of the focus on our domestic legal system, I remember covering aids to statutory interpretation and construction. Of course, the principles are very similar throughout commonwealth countries (statutory interpretation in Australia, for example, is much the same as in England and Wales).

I recall paying rather scant attention to that segment of the lecture and treating the preparation for a subsequent seminar with even greater disdain. I really couldn’t see that I’d need to have frequent recourse to the literal rule, the golden rule, the mischief rule or the purposive approach. Equally, the fact I was familiar with the canons of noscitur a sociis, ejusdem generis and expressio unius est exclusio alterius hardly made my heart skip a beat. In short, I short-sightedly chalked it up to academic codswallop that would be of limited application in practice.

How wrong I was. On several occasions, those misleadingly hazy principles of statutory interpretation have been central to the advice given to a client.

You live and learn is very much the moral of the story.

There’s no need to wait to see the folly of your hot-headed student ways; it’s far better to appreciate the full value of the material being taught at the time. The LLB is a hectic course, so its’ safe to assume that anything on the syllabus is on there for a good reason.

So, take it from someone who learnt the hard way; those rather broad, all-encompassing lessons that are covered in the first year are vital in helping you manage the challenges of the rest of your degree and indeed later on in practice.

Who was it said that light dawns slowly over the whole?

Law graduates lose out in the early salary stakes

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Despite having a reputation for rewarding its professionals with high salaries, new research suggests that law may not be the most lucrative subject to study – at least in the early years following graduation. New research from the Higher Education Statistics Agency revealed that law graduates typically earn less than the average salary of their peers.

Indeed, even those graduating with degrees in social studies (long regarded – unfairly or otherwise – as being less demanding subjects compared with many traditional subjects) earn more than their counterparts who opted to study law. This is unlikely to be welcome news to current law students studying in London or elsewhere.

Figures from the class of 2008/09 show that law graduates earned an average of £26,000 in November 2012, £1,500 less than the overall average of that year’s graduates. Social studies graduates earned an average of £3,000 more than their peers who studied law.[1]

On the flip side, however, law has one of the highest levels of full-time employment amongst its graduates of any subject.

Some 79% of law graduates are currently in full-time employment, compared with a total average of 72% for all graduates from 2008/09.[2]

Of course, that’s not to say that all law graduates are employed in legally-related jobs, let alone having secured training contracts or pupillages. Indeed, some estimates suggest that of total number of law graduates, as few as 10% - 15% go on to become practising solicitors.

Nevertheless, law has long been recognised as being a well-respected and worthwhile subject to study and one that equips its graduates with a vast array of useful, transferable skills that employers are anxious to see.

While the legal profession is undoubtedly changing, with fewer graduates going on to qualify as solicitors and barristers as firms develop a preference for armies of paralegals, law remains a solid choice. It also happens to be an exciting and challenging degree. Universities are also increasingly offering law courses which combine law with other disciplines such as Law and Management to provide even more diverse and specialised courses.

Potential law students should not be discouraged from studying law just because their first salary post graduation might not quite match their peers who studied other subjects. Adopting a longer-term view of the quality of career that law can offer, there are lots of far worse subjects out there.

^{[1] Story cited from the Law Gazette 09/09/13.
[2] Story cited from the Law Gazette 09/09/13.}

Eating in lectures

From Legal Cheek 19/09/13:

A Canadian law student has got off to a bad start to the academic year after a spectacularly grouchy email they sent to their coursemates was leaked into the blogosphere.

The missive [which can be read in full over at Legal Cheek] takes issue with the author's peers' propensity to eat during lectures, with tuna sandwiches and apples highlighted as particularly problematic snacks because they, respectively, "stink up the entire room" and lead to "the gnashing of your teeth and the crunch crunch crunch".

Eating in lectures has always been a no-no in my book. I consider myself to be on the slightly prudish side of the spectrum when it comes to these things (I’m still not completely sold on the concept of eating something walking down the street, for instance), but I think a lot of students would fine eating in class to be an unwelcome distraction.

When I was a student, my attention could be easily broken and trying to take information in during a lecture can be difficult enough with the various, sights, smells and noises that accompany the average bunch of law students. To try and concentrate in a lecture hall immersed in a scene that resembles feeding time at the zoo is simply too much to ask.

Outside of having a medical condition which affects a student’s blood sugar level, there really is no need to eat in lectures or seminars. Certainly the lecturers at my university universities wouldn’t have stood for it and there’s no need to let standards slip now.

As an aside, in a former job, I was once astounded by the audacity of a colleague who decided that despite eating her mid-morning snack, it was the perfect opportunity to go up and discuss something with the MD. He took it in good humour; personally, I would have told her to come back and see me after she’d finished munching on her apple (and done so in no uncertain terms!). Clearly he was a more tolerant chap than I am.

Lawyers must show adaptability in a world full of change

Career development seminars aimed at lawyers are forever beating the drum for the need to change and move with the times. It seems that “versatility” and “adaptability” are the new legal watchwords (apparently ‘commercial awareness’ alone doesn’t cut it any longer).

Chief amongst the areas in which they need to show this adaptability is how they manage information. Lawyers need to competently juggle an ever-increasing array of materials and sources and across a wide range of formats. Of course, technology can be both a blessing and a curse in this regard. (Isn’t it always?).

Lawyers need to be conversant with electronic and conventional book and paper sources and they cannot afford to ignore one format over another. It’s clear that offices are slowly (very slowly in some cases) moving away from their reliance on paper, but the realisation of the ‘paperless office’ is still a frightfully long way off.

Despite the lack of instantaneous ‘inline search’, conventional book sources still play a vital role in legal practice and legal research. Sometimes, browsing or thumbing through a volume can help you get the ‘feel’ of an unfamiliar area of law and help you focus in on appropriate keywords that can then be used in an electronic search. After all, searching electronically only ever works efficiently when you’ve identified the right words to search for!

We’ve recently made a conscious effort to vastly reduce the amount we print. It’s interesting that the transition was far less painful than people feared and to see how readily people adopted and accepted it. Now we just need to focus on getting employers to recycle more waste besides paper.

While I’m on the subject, why on earth do some law firms insist on having their air conditioning cranked up to such a high level that staff need to sit their shivering with their jackets buttoned-up? Practising law doesn’t absolve people from the need to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

But I digress. For what it’s worth, academia still over-emphasises traditional paper sources which doesn’t exactly help students when they get into practice. The Legal Practice Course is particularly bad in this regard. For instance, it still assumes firms opt to use hard copies of lengthy reference materials over electronic versions. In my experience at least, that’s utter nonsense.

No matter how unshakable you are on using conventional paper sources, when you’re dealing with lengthy pieces of legislation, for example, it simply doesn’t make any sense to use the paper version. Have you seen the full size of the Companies Act 2006 recently? Why on earth are we forcing students to lump around hard copies? Heck, they’ll be brining personal injury claims for lumbar and shoulder injuries before we know it!

We’re in quite an interesting, transitional phase with not just vast electronic databases of cases and legislation but electronic versions of conventional academic law books and practitioner texts. When you combine that with the burgeoning popularity of ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) access to this content across a range of devices such as e-readers, tablets and smartphones is not just possible, but happening. Yes, many law firms still regard BYOD with about as much relish as pro bono work, but there are some avant-garde players out there.

As this transition continues, lawyers must stay on their toes and continue to evolve and adapt to the changing environment of information sources. While it’s vital they embrace the benefits of modern technology, younger lawyers in particular must be careful not to ignore traditional sources or downplay their importance.

Cambridge criminal law exam – what’s all the fuss about

I saw this piece of overblown stupidity was doing the rounds earlier. Everywhere.

What’s all the fuss about?

As an undergraduate, I don’t remember answering a question on sexual offences (despite it being on the syllabus) but I do remember that some of the questions around murder / offences against the person on the exam paper I sat were quite graphically worded. Not jaw-dropping, mind you, just the kind to trigger a supressed grin. We’ve all had that reaction sitting an exam, right?

But here’s the point: any law student studying criminal law has already been subjected to far worse material detailing graphic injuries, mutilations, extremely ripe language and all the rest - simply by virtue of reading case law. (Seriously, I’ve read stuff in law reports that would make a whore blush).

It goes with the territory, sadly. And besides – give them a little credit. Law students are made of tougher stuff than people seem to think; they aren’t going to be scarred for life from an exam question reflecting life in the real world. Heck, they were probably up to worse themselves the night before the exam anyway in those lewd frat houses that plague all UK universities. (Some of the sounds that used to come from the room above me when I stayed in halls as a first year undergraduate were VERY suspicious!!).

As for the argument that such a question “misrepresents university societies”, we all know bizarre initiation rituals go on (it’s called turning a blind eye). Personally, some of the exploits you hear from an average Freshers’ Week are far worse than any sadomasochistic rituals that that can be dreamt up for an exam paper.

And at least the characters in the question weren’t based on characters from popular TV programmes. When I sat my contract law exam, nearly ten years ago now, I remember one of the questions concerned a chap called Phil Mitchell, one called Ian Beale and some other cockney urchin from that fictitious segment of the East End.

Now that’s “horrific”.

Studying for a law exam - a cry for help

It’s been a while since I did a mailbag feature, so here’s to turning that around. ;-)

The following email plopped into my inbox a couple of weeks ago from a law student panicked by the prospect of open book exams:

Just found your law blog after having a complete mare over open book exams.
I appreciate this is a completely cheeky and out of the blue question,
but I don't suppose you happen to have those old company law notes you
mention in your revision entry do you?! Completely terrified about it,
have no idea what I'm doing or how to answer question from the second
semester, and generally worried I'm not going to get a 2:1 and thereby
miss my TC offer!

Totally understand you telling me to piss off, but thanks for the
hints and tips anyway :)

Jodie G

For those wondering, my “revision entry” was this post back in 2009.

I stand by the techniques I propounded there – certainly for closed book exams, anyway – and there isn’t really much I can add.

Open book exams are a bit of a different animal. Quite obviously, they call for a slightly different focus with less of the course material committed to memory and more focus on meticulous organisation and knowledge of your permitted materials. But that’s not to say you don’t need to be able to recall a large proportion of the content without being reliant on your books.

Your permitted materials are an aide memoire – not a memory replacement.

Jodie’s email didn’t really inspire me to respond (nope, not even to tell her to piss off). Amongst other things, the experience of a law degree is about trying different study methods to see what works for you, learning from your mistakes and emerging the other side richer for the experience.

As I said to a student colleague recently, “I don’t want to rob you of the learning experience”. I think the subtext there is blatantly clear.

For what it’s worth, I did have the revision notes of which I spoke in the post but they were a) tailored for my course and not Jodie’s, b) the fruit of my exam-time labours (why should I share them) and c) let me ask you this: would you, even as a desperate law student, risk asking a complete stranger on the internet for revision notes of which you have no assurance of quality, accuracy or anything else?

Who’d do that? It’s scary that someone who’d risk trying that has a training contract offer. (Sorry, that’s how I feel).

Btw – “a complete mare”. Excuse me? Is this new street talk?

Update: I’ve Googled it and thanks to Wiktionary, it seems it’s a colloquial contraction of “nightmare”.

(UK, colloquial) (Shortening of nightmare) A nightmare; a frustrating or terrible experience.

I'm having a complete mare today.

Well, there you go.

Essays win prizes… well, a place on the LPC

I see from my inbox that Young Lawyer have been banging the drum for their 2013 essay competition.  Must be that time of year again, eh? 

The question this year is:  What is the role of lawyers in protecting 
access to justice post-LASPO?

The prize is well suited to those with self-loathing disorders. 

I’m sure any student would prefer the cash equivalent!!

Btw - I had to Google “LASPO”.  Should I be ashamed? 

University Offers – Picking & Choosing

The Telegraph advises students (with a little help from UCAS’ Cathy Gilbert) how to make that killer decision when deciding which university offer to accept.

Ah – the joys.  I remember that dreaded period during A levels when we had all UCASsed our little hearts out and were anxiously waiting for those offers to come back.  If my experience was anything to go by, A levels are an absolutely hideous time in someone’s life and the university application process just adds to the misery.

For what it’s worth, I loved my law degree degrees (heck – one leads to another, right?) but I hated A levels with an intense passion.

Anyhow, what this really reminded me of was a ‘student confession’ quote I saw on the Huffington Post late last year.  It was one of those things in life you just have to take a screenshot of.  I still grimace when I read it now.

My ex and I were together for about 9 months. We broke up when I found out she had been sleeping with her ex-boyfriend for the entire thing. Having discovered this, I promptly went on her UCAS and declined both of her offers. #Gapyear

- Birmingham Uni

Yikes!! 

I believe that’s called serving revenge piping hot.

Stating the obvious – postgraduate study makes a HUGE difference

^{Darn it – there was no electronic version (at least not that I could find). Still, that scanner’s got to justify its existence somehow! ;-)}

Anyhow, let me run that first line past you again.

Students who want to stand out in the job market now need postgraduate degrees, says a think-tank.

Really?

It took a think tank to figure this one out?  Is this another case of “more tank than think”?  Which politician was it who coined that one?  ;-)

This isn’t any kind of revelation at all; graduates have been experiencing the “degree inflation” phenomenon first hand for several years.  Quite why it’s popped up again suddenly as “news” is beyond me.

When I was towards the tail end of my LL.M, I immediately noticed what a difference having a postgrad qualification made.  In fact, my employer explicitly told me it was my postgrad degree which made the difference in them hiring me over other candidates (helped in no small part by my quirky dissertation). 

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that postgraduate study made a huge difference to my employability.  Sadly, it’s gone from being the icing on your curriculum vitae cake to being a quasi pre-requisite now.

And from things I’ve heard anecdotally, I know I’m not the only one who’s witnessed this.

How to improve your grades at law school

^{No, getting an iPad won’t help you.}

I received the following email from a stressed (and struggling) law student a couple of weeks ago.

Dear Sir,

I am a second year Law LLB student. Actually, I have been very worried with my progress at university. In my first year I got very poor marks- I got 2 3rds and 1 2:2. This year I got my semester 1 marked assignments: Tort 52%; Civil Litigation 52%; Evidence Law 42% and Land 41 %. These marks are very worrying for me. I want to achieve at least a 2:1 Law degree. Will I be able to achieve a 2:1 with these poor marks? What do I do to get a 2:1? 

The remarks for my essay are that I am too descriptive though I have a good knowledge of the question asked and I give some good cases. What should I do not to be descriptive? Could you give me an example about this, please. 

I would be much grateful if you could advise me on this matter. 

Many Thanks.

Kind Regards,
[Law Student]

Deary me.  What’ya think folks?  Is our law student in trouble? What should the advice be? Is it too late for a second year law student to pull it around and get (at least) a 2:1? Heck, should a second year law student even be asking these kinds of questions?

I responded:

You shouldn't be too downcast over your grades at this stage; there is still time to do something about it and a 2:1 is not out of reach.  Clearly, though, your grades need to improve considerably for you to attain that.

I think the feedback you have received from your lecturers has already told you where you are going wrong; you are being too descriptive and not providing enough analysis of the law.

Simply stating what the law is is relatively simple and will not allow you to achieve the higher grades you're aiming for.

What you usually need to do in an essay type question is to critically analyse the law and set out suggestions for improvement.  Think about shortcomings in the way legislation has been drafted or problems resulting from how the common law has developed.  How could the law be improved?  Conversely, consider what could be argued in favour of leaving the law as it is or allowing it to develop via the common law rather than enacting new legislation.

Of course, it's essential you tailor your answer to the question being asked.  Consider the precise wording of the question very carefully.  It sounds obvious, but it's surprising how many students don't read the question carefully enough.

When answering problem questions, you should be extremely careful to apply the law to the facts you are given and not just state what the law is.  The higher marks here are for effective application of the law, and not mere description.  

Don't be tempted to needlessly mention as many cases as you can recall in any given area of law; you should limit them to only those which are relevant to the facts at hand.  Equally, don't get bogged down describing the facts of the case.  It is the legal principle it established or its value as a precedent which is important, rather than the circumstances of the case.

The scariest thing is that the student came back with a second (and arguably more worrying question).  I might share that at some point, too.