Money saving tips for law students

Continuing my ‘back to school’ series for law students, next up is saving money and general thriftiness.  Now freshers week is a distant memory, it might be time for a bit of common sense and sound judgement when it comes to finances..

I admit it’s a bit of a quirky list, but it should prove a useful starter for ten for any law student.

• Budgeting: if you’re concerned about your willpower and general prudence with suddenly having so much money, create a separate bank account for the first term taking just under a third out. Go mental with it and enjoy yourself. Then grow the hell up.
  
  
• Don't bother with expensive screen wipes for your laptop. Instead, keep the free ‘freshen up’ wipes you get given when ordering a KFC and use those instead.
  
  
• Buying the previous edition of textbooks second hand is a false economy. The hassle of having to update them / always wondering whether the content deals with the most recent law means it’s worth paying more for the convenience.  
  
  
• If you get a part time job, make sure the emphasis is on the ‘part’.  Anything more than 12 hours a week is silly - unless you’re planning on aiming for a ‘desmond’ 2:2 … or worse...?  Your call, partner.  ;-)
  
  
• Don’t buy your textbooks all in one go.  You'll over-purchase and regret it. 
  
  
• Thinking of adding a legal dictionary to your shopping list?  Seriously, don't bother.  
  
  
• If you’re in rented accommodation avoid putting the heating on.  Instead, call your partner around for a bit of 'afternoon delight' - the thrifty way of warming up.  If in halls of residence, however, get every damn penny out of them you can.  A free ‘n’ easy approach is recommended re. lights and heating and, as far as water is concerned, consider opening a bottled water business - Delboy style.
  Finally (and this is a personal favourite of mine), always nick the vacuum cleaner for the block, keep it in your room for the term before returning it.  An alternative might be pawning it on the final day.  
  
  
• Bum as many free meals as possible.  
  
  
• And talking of bums, don’t bother buying toilet rolls.  Your university have plenty.  Make sure you stock up whenever nature calls on campus.
  
  
• Always down the union?  Don't - corridor parties are far cheaper.
  
  
• Cold feet?  Fashion your partner’s underwear  into thongs, saving the material as insoles for your shoes in the winter.  See - everyone’s a winner!  ;-)

What is it with law and portals?

From the Lawyer 19/09/11:

Lawyers were told earlier this year that to stay on the roll they would need to ­register between 30 August and 14 October - only then could they submit their applications before the deadline of 8 November.

Complaints were made after the site’s launch was delayed by several days and passwords were rejected.

“It took me 10 days to ­register,” one lawyer said. “It was a long process and the system just kept coming up with complete gibberish messages. I called the SRA twice and they couldn’t help - they said the deadline wouldn’t be extended.

“The problem is that everyone will leave it until the last minute and then there’ll be a deluge and it will go into meltdown.”

An SRA spokesman said that so far 25,000 solicitors out of 165,000 had registered online and ­activations have risen to 3,000 per day.

“Implementing [the] mySRA [system] signals a step change in the way ­regulated individuals and firms will access our ­services in future,” said the spokesman. “We’d like to apologise to anyone who has experienced difficulties ­trying to log on to mySRA. Despite extensive testing prior to launch, there have been some ­initial problems.

Two things immediately strike me from this.

Firstly, mySRA is a horrible name and is worrying close to the killer hospital bug MRSA.  Given the atrocity of MySRA that solicitors up and down the country have had to suffer through, I think the name is scarily apt.

Secondly, why is it any portal concerning law or anything legally related turns into a disaster.

Early attempts at the Land Registry portal anyone?  And how about the Pupillage Portal for crying out loud.  Now MySRA. 

Holy Cripes!

That’s… an interesting approach

 

If you find the average EULA (End User Licence Agreement) a touch trying for its verbosity, awkwardness and generally unappealing nature, how does the above grab ya?

The lawyer in me is screaming in pain at this. The free-radical hippie undercurrent(that’s probably more under than current) is whooping for joy.

Found here.

Welcome to Goldeneye Law…

Fom ISP Preview 28/09/11:

Golden Eye International, a law firm that claims to hold numerous film copyrights and is linked with the Ben Dover porn brand in the UK [yep – of ‘fancy an Indian’ fame - ahem], has attempted to sue three broadband ISP customers for "illegal" internet copyright infringement (piracy) after at least one of the accused failed to respond when a letter arrived demanding a payment of £700 (i.e. "speculative invoicing") to settle the dispute.

I think those “air quotes” were more apt than the author thought. I love it how many niche journalists who should know better get in a pickle over illegality and unlawfulness.

But ok, we all get it: these actions are too silly for words.

Boob number two, though - Golden Eye International don’t seem to be a law firm per se. They kind of position themselves as the A-team of the IP world, flying hither and thither jumping in with their size tens where there’s a sniff of IP infringement and often when there isn’t.

Actually, they’ve instructed Tilly Bailey & Irvine to act for them in this case.

Surely it was self-evident.  I know the credibility of the profession is in relative tatters out there, but really -  ‘Golden Eye Law’?  Don’t tell me – the list of senior partners includes Pussy Galore* and Auric Goldfinger?

* I assume that’s not PC any longer and we have to substitute her name with that of Alota Fagina.

Studying Law – Intentions versus Reality

It’s back to school time, kids - law school style. For the countless students out there, it’s time to dust off your textbooks, dig out your laptop and get your sweet little cheeks down to your university’s campus for enrolment.

For newbie students, or seasoned pros who should know better, here’s the Law Actually run down on typical law student kit, what it should be used for, and what you’ll probably end up doing with it.

Item	What you’re meant to do	What you actually do
Textbooks	Read them and, you know, learn about some lawwy type stuff.	Use them as expensive doors stops, or stack them up as a bedside table.
Casebooks	Read the relevant bits of jurisprudence to save you dragging your sorry ass down to the law library to read the full case (you know… like you were meant to)	Doorstop, thick coaster or propping up that dodgy shelf.
Laptop	Type up all of those first class scholarly papers.	Surfing porn, f***book and twitter, and researching whether you’ve picked up an STD as a fresher.
Legal Dictionary	Remind yourself of those legal terms and bits of Latin which you really should remember	Provide an ideal environment for dust bunnies to thrive.
Study Guide	Use it as a pathfinder to help ease your way into a subject, or whilst outlining revision notes.	Crack it open in sheer desperation when you realise your 3000 word paper is due in in 4 hours’ time and you haven’t got the foggiest.
That money your parents gave you	Spend it wisely and carefully on essentials	Blow it down the student union on your first night there!
That credit card you took out for emergencies	The clue’s in the name – though it should have come stamped with ‘for emergency use only’.	Give in to temptation and buy that Xbox 360, Kinect, widescreen plasma TV... hot tub?
Study session in the library	Researching / writing / slowly returning to life having snuck out of the early lecture after nearly pickling your brain the night before down ‘the union’.	Ogling the tastier members of your class / chatting with buddies
Printer	Printing out those scholarly papers.	Print out those embarrassing pictures of that night you got really wasted so you can pin it up on your dorm room wall. Better be quick, before the ink dries up in the cartridges!!

Crazy search terms strike again

It’s been ages since I’ve done one of these posts, and I’ve got some brarmers in store!

“how fast can graduates go on the dole” – and who said ambition was dead?

“law actually blo” - I don’t think I’m comfortable with it being referred to as a ‘blo’. It makes me feel kind of cheap.

“stinky line of people” – just head down to your nearest railway station.

“baywatch shauni monobrow” - I’m glad I'm not the only one who noticed it.

“court stenographer+darts” – What’s this – some kind of party game for law students where you draw straws for being the dart board?

“pupillage HOW TO CHEAT” – wow... you can really sense the desperation there.

“i am doing llb law at bpp in Manchester” – good for you.  

“brothels in looe” - People come to Cornwall for all kinds of reasons  - brothels shouldn’t be one of them!!

“seat belt law cpntributory negligence” - everything that’s wrong with the world... when it’s easier to leave typo and let google make thoughtful suggestions as to what it thinks you meant...

“is it illegal for insurance firms to look at your facebook” -  nope.. and it’s too late to delete your ‘crash for cash’ boasts to your friends.

“human rights act family life ivf” - oh do you yourself (and the rest of us) a favour and don’t bother.  We’ve a large enough population on our hands and if you can’t have them naturally, maybe you weren’t meant to.  

“wins solciters calculater” - asked the dyslexic to Google

“get real pupillage” - ah an interesting play on words…

“can you miss classes on bpp fast track lpc” - what the frick do you think?  the words ‘fast track’ and ‘lpc’ should tell you all you need to know.

“most commonest bird in road accident” - a drunk one.

“what can you do with solicitors that have been posted on the solicitors from hell web site” - you can pay Rick Kordowski some money so he removes it (or is he too busy dealing with litigation being brought against him now?)

“pupillage applications tiring” – Diddums.

“can you charge someone with murder with no head uk”  - Well, think about it… who would the officer charging the defendant address when he’s reading the criminal charges?  I guess he could talk to their shoulders... ;-) (Or check this). 

Tourist offended by fish in harbour

From The Telegraph 05/09/11:

[W]hen David Copp came across a fishing trawler moored in Ilfracombe Harbour he took great offence and complained about the “disgusting” smell.

The 46-year-old was outraged that his children, aged seven and nine, had been forced to endure the sight of 12 crates of dead fish and crabs, piled up on the quayside.

Poor little bast*rds. I don’t know how they coped.

He said the ordeal had left them “quite distressed” and demanded to know why the harbourmaster was not more considerate to tourists.
“It’s not the sort of thing you want to see on holiday, there was a real stench.

“My children were quite distressed by it. These people should be a bit more considerate to the holidaymakers."

Bless.

Copp called Ilfracombe harbourmaster Rob Lawson to complain about the smell that had emanated from The Lady of Lundy trawler before calling the North Devon Journal to air his woes.

[Lawson said] "I told this chap that you shouldn't take your children to a harbour if that is how they react to dead fish."

Good answer – I like it. 

Copp is understood to have been on a two-week family holiday ... when he lodged his complaint, which attracted disbelief from locals.

One said: “Ridiculous. Does he think all his food comes in packets? What did he expect to see at a working harbour?”

I grew up in a Cornish fishing village so can sympathise – with the locals I mean, not with Davey Copp and his oversensitive sense of smell. Tourists should enjoy the fact they can wander around working harbours, savouring the sights, smells and atmosphere. Whilst fishy harbours might be a tad pongy to some, speaking from experience, I think tourists themselves emit far worse smells when they’re out and about.

The truth is, the greatest danger from working harbours come from being pasty-raped by a seagull, overcome by diesel fumes from the fishing boats, fork-lift trucks running your over on the quay (once, in my home village, passing just a metre or so from me carrying a naval contact mine which a trawler had inadvertently dredged up**) or your toddler taking an unexpected dip into the harbour.

Strong smelling fish are a feature – not a problem.

But surely the local council or harbour authority could have done something to help ol’ Davey out?

Maybe they could have offered him a clothes-peg to be clipped on the end of his nose for use when walking around the quay. And as for his children finding the smell egregious, well, maybe his wife should have clothes-pegged the end of his penis years previously. That would’ve solved the problem.

**Long story – I was angling as a child in the mid nineties (as you do) and was most aggrieved to be forced to evacuate the quay pending the bomb disposal squad’s arrival. Everyone feared it was a live WWII mine. But they needn’t have worried. The presence of the words ‘sand filled dummy’ on the side of the mine’s casing was a dead giveaway. Shame it took the navy divers nearly 90 minutes to figure that out – utterly wrecked my fishing session.