Tried and Tested: April Roundup April 30, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Tried and Tested Roundup.add a comment
The ones I have no use for but the concept is good:
- Taskbarn it is streamlined and easy to use. Initially you have a task list – no different from most GTD task lists/to do lists – you can set priorities; assign to a particular person, or is simple is your method of choice – just enter them in a straightforward list.However, the thing of interest with Taskbarn, which other project collaboration tools don’t utilise, is the feed. “Notes” are very like twitter (in fact you can post it to twitter at the same time). You have 140 characters to create a message, you can attach a link or a file (document/picture etc) and this will come up in the dashboard/feed for other members to see.
Others do it better:
- I Need to Read this -The format is similar to later this you simply create an account (the usual username/email/password) then drag the bookmarklets to the bookmark tool bar. Simply click I need to read this when you are on an article you want to save for later. To read it later click read an article – couldn’t be more simple. Simple to use.
- Chandler and tagged Frog - list organise and tag things. Both are time consuming and uninteresting. Tagged Frog is all about linking, tagging and searching, while chandler is more GTD and organising tasks.
Lunch with LPC students – life after the LPC? April 29, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Life After the LPC.5 comments
Yesterday, I finally had the time for a quick lunch to catch up with a fair few of my group. The question on everyone’s mind was: 7 weeks left, then what?
Between us there are is a varied mix; and everyone seems to fall into one of the following categories:
- training contract
- deferred training contract
- further education
- travelling/working abroad
- job hunting – paralegal work/anything to pay the rent
- changing part-time job to a full time job in retail/sales etc
- moving home / trying to get out of debt
For me the choice is further education or job hunting. A group of law students get together and the recession/lack of jobs rant continues. I’ve always said I never want to be a student again – therefore the LLM has never really been a tempting option for me.
Generally the number of postgraduates in any discipline has increased (due to the recession), apparently it is easier for students to spend more money and build up more debt, instead of trying to find a job.
It is bad enough the everyone feels that they have to get a degree just to get any old job these day. And you have to wonder if, more and more people continue to do postgraduates, will it turn into an issue of: a degree isn’t enough - you need a masters as well. Suddenly, I feel very under-qualified (and very broke).
A lot of people on the LPC are doing a masters as well: will this be more favourable with potential employers, even though in reality it is for something to do with their time? Well firms seem to be encouraging it as well: Simmons & Simmons are even offering their trainees to undertake a legal MBA at their expense. I suppose with law it is always a case of, the better you look on paper the more chance you have of getting that interview. But should I really be pressured to undertake a masters because “everyone else is doing it”? I should think not.
I think I’ll just stick to the job hunting for now (although I’m guessing after a couple of jobless months I’ll be wishing otherwise). However, I would be interested in people’s thoughts about the advantages and disadvantages of the LLM.
[LPC] 30 days, 30 workshops April 27, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Exams, Legal Practice Course (LPC).4 comments
With exams at the beginning of June, it doesn’t hurt to be a little prepared: bearing this in mind, I devised a study schedule for these 30 workshops (the content of which is examinable) as part of a revision plan, with 31 days in May this leaves one day free to be *completely* work free (starting early because I’m away bank holiday weekend). This then leaves a full week before the actual exams for CRAMMING and the usual exam PANIC.
(Picture: My rough schedule).
The key to this system is to go about things in a relaxed manner – just get as much done in the most efficient way possible.
Each day I’ve scheduled preparation for ongoing classes as well as revision sessions. For the days I’m not in uni I’ve designated a “catch up” slot for the times I’d ordinarily be in uni, for doing additional work on things that I didn’t have time to do because I was in class. For example today:
- Morning class
- Preparation for Patents and Copyright class next week: I did this afternoon waiting around for a Commercial property lecture. This involved a reading list of various information and legislation, as well as questions on the set reading.
- Because of the lecture, didn’t get home till late, so didn’t get as much done as I would have liked, but started working down my checklist which I have devised as a general outline (see below).
- Because I had a full day in Uni – on Wednesday when I have no Uni, I’ve marked the morning as a catch up session for both today and tomorrow’s work.
I appreciate that everyone has different systems and the way I work might not appeal to everyone – but one thing I think is useful no matter what way you is the general list I go through with regards to each workshop when revising.
What I do for Each Workshop (Class):
1. Check that I have all the material required: quite often we are required to print off material from the uni resources or look up stuff on the web. The first thing I always do is check it is all there. and then file it in order. For example, today I printed off revision questions on contract law that we did as pre-workshop work for commercial law/sale of goods and Traders’ Guide from Berr.gov.uk. ALSO be ruthless and get rid of things you don’t need – more paper you have longer it takes to get through. I had a whole crate of paper to recycle which I removed during my compulsory subject exams.
2. Review set pre-reading: When completing the reading first time round everyone attacks it with a highlighter. But NOW that you’ve actually done the class you have a better idea of what is important as the stuff covered in class has the most potential to appear on the exam – so using my workshop notes, I use a different highlighter and markup and annotate the pre-reading.
3. Write up Notes: Whether you type or write up your notes, it is a good idea to put them in a more organised and coherent way (of course some people can use the notes they made in class straight off): the important thing is to UNDERSTAND them and be able to NAVIGATE them.
4. Summary Page of Key Facts: Sometimes depending on the material of the workshop I feel it is important to do a separate page of KEY facts. This is particularly good if the exam you are studying for has multiple choice questions – this can even be just a list of the most important sections relevant to a topic.
5. Charts/checklists/flow diagrams: Frequently a topic will be capable of representation in a visual manner – E.g. steps that need to be satisfied before you can move onto the next thing, or a particular procedure that needs to followed before legal action can be taken. Vital information – a good summary to flesh out and keep you on track is great in an exam.
6. Legislation / Documentation: make sure all legislation, contracts, leases etc are correctly highlighted and annotated cross referencing between general notes and these documents is also pretty helpful. I like to also set out scenarios: if X happens, Y will apply, but if A happens both Y and B will apply, etc.
7. Tabbing: one thing that always amazes me in exam rooms is the extreme use or lack of tabs – no one ever seems to use in moderation. but in open book exams, tabs need to be labelled, coloured coded or be in whatever format that helps you to find your way around your notes with ease. I like to take the opportunity when revising to straighten this all out.
8. Exam Technique: always important to review exam technique, whether this is a list of everything you must talk about in a particular question; hints provided for by the tutors and the revision questions you have been provided with.
This may, at first glance, seem a lot to do – but today in the space of 2 hours (which was all I could spare today) I completed the first 4 points for my first workshop. The last four are the less time-consuming ones and I will be able to complete them in my catch up session on Wednesday.
Wikis in the law firms? Who took up the offer? April 26, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Online Tools.add a comment
So last week I was thinking about twitter and collaboration wikis in the classroom. Today I came across some old American (of course) articles and a slideshow (posted below) about the use of Wikis within law firms.
As a student I’ve not had the full experience of working in a firm so I cannot comment on the use in a law firm. However, I did spend 2 months turning a local charity into a paperless office (single-handed, I might add) and the use of a wiki, I feel would have been very beneficial to their objectives.
Why are Wikis a good thing? There is an ability for each person to contribute and organise material without feeling they need to rely on other people’s computer skills. Wikis are easy to update and everyone knows when changes have occurred. In addition the Commercial Wikis are relatively cheap, especially for the smaller firms.
However, there are some downsides as always – wikis are more likely to integrate and work alongside some existing system – due to time and costs. In addition, as I’ve stated with regards student wikis – it is important that everyone is enthusiastic about the project and gets involved. It only works when everyone collaborates and contributes content.
I see no excuse why a wiki couldn’t be used. Especially now, when I’m sure most people actually know what one is. Last year there was all this pushing towards wikis for the legal profession, I wonder how many actually embraced the idea?
See also: Go Forth and Wikify (CJO); Article from KM Space on the Rosen Wiki; Law Firm Intranet on ILTA 08.
[End of the Week] 26th April 2009 April 26, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in End of the Week.add a comment
- Much Needed Legal Twitter Apps (from TechnoLawyer)
- This week’s burning question at LawCareers: The Patent Troll
- Charonqc: Lawcast 129: Professor Steve Molyneux – the magistrate who resigned after a complaint following his use of Twitter
- Uncomfortable Plot Summaries (think inappropriate descriptions of movies, twitter style) list provided by postmodernbarney – some of the best entertainment comes from the comments though, where readers have made their own submissions, and hotly debated Rocky.
- Newspapers24 provides links to thousands of national and local online newspapers. Can search by country/region – or search by English to find news from another country’s perspective.
[LPC] If textbook fails, Can self-made notes replace the need? April 24, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Exams, Legal Practice Course (LPC), Note-taking.1 comment so far
The past 2 days I’ve been trying to get to grips with Planning Law (part of my Commercial Property Elective).
On a number of previous occasions I have complained about the Manuals we have been provided with as part of the course – chapters missing, spine breaking on the first day and pages falling out, out of date law even though the change was 2 years ago etc etc. Planning law has been no exception.
Yes all the chapters are there, but it appears that they fail to cover the information in the sufficient detail required for our course. We have been provided with 70-odd pages of additional notes (which are add-ons to the paragraphs in the manual which requires a lot of going back and forth and cross referencing for them to make sense and not enough room to write them in) and then there is of course a reading list and online resources we need to make use of.
Planning being the smaller component of the Commercial Property course will probably result in adding up to one question on the exam paper. So maybe the lack of coherent notes is seen as a minor issue – but I’m looking for a solution without resorting to writing my own textbook.
——————–oOo———————
The question I am debating today is whether self-made notes could replace the textbook?
Obviously, initially you need a source of information somewhere. Books, Articles. legislation are the obvious sources. You could pool this together to make a good set of notes.
But of course in my experience – even with the most perfectly prepared notes, there is often the need to refer to the textbook. It is hard for us students to know what is really important sometimes – all the flow charts, summaries and lists can only provide us with the information if we know it in the first place. Notes are only as good as your teacher – textbooks provide good backup.
in my Criminal litigation exam we had a 20 mark question, which our group covered only in lectures and never in class. My group came out of that exam wondering what that question was in relation too and had answered with a lot of ramblings, other groups came out having a perfectly structured answers….
Of course, as well as my limited knowledge of a topic such as planning law, there is also the time issue – how much time can I really give to trying to make a bulky and resourceful notebook? Particularly if it is only 20% of commercial property course (like what, 6% of my whole set of forthcoming exams).
I think self-made notes could replace a text book, if time was unlimited – but in the time given, it could never come close – notes are so exam related, with little room for personal interest or historical and practical tangents.
Nevertheless – this feels like a challenge…
[LPC] Teaching with twitter – any use on the LPC? April 21, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Legal Practice Course (LPC), Twitter.2 comments
I read (and commented) earlier in the month on an article about a class where discussion was encouraged in class using twitter (Chronicle).This involved much of the discussion in class being via twitter and appearing on the projector screen.
On the LPC, we discuss things heavily – both as a group and in sub-groups working on tasks.This also includes the more practical things like conducting a negotiation. Would this work on a platform like twitter? Probably not.
On the LLB we had an couple of Internet law classes – we all brought our laptops to class and engaged in some online interaction (it was in fact that very class that got me signed up to twitter in the first place). We set up a class blog and class wiki, hoping for class participation – but it never took off. I think a total of 3 people in addition to our tutor commented, and then gave up, highlighting the need for people to get involved for something like this to work.
I can obviously understand the use of twitter in an undergrad class – keeps your students interested – and dare I say it, everyone is likely to be passing notes or on the internet anyway. But on the LPC, we’re back to good old fashioned paper (compared to LLB) and no one uses laptops. However people do tend to “show off” more on the LPC, so maybe that could be used to our advantage. People would be more willing to participate.
But before disregarding a tool like twitter, just because of lack of discussion or it merely being another distraction – you’ve got to consider the benefits:
Firstly, it would be a breath of fresh air in a three hour class.
Secondly, the advantage it has for the hearing impaired, like me. To see the discussion in writing would be a god-send – it would be like the SUBTITLES of life. My studies would be considerably easier, not to mention there would be a record of what was said (whether it was right or wrong) – no furiously scribbling notes, only to realise it’s end up more like a fill-in-the-blanks and you’ve missed the conclusion.
and finally, the potential to engage in a full discussion. Whether its because some people don’t like contributing, or someone won’t let anyone else get a word in – twitter, potentially, could allow everyone to participate and say what they think (having thought about their comment first) – there are always those interesting comments that never get heard; people are smarter than you think sometimes and people surprise you – I would like to hear that different stuff every once in a while.
[Employment Tribunal] Sitting in April 17, 2009
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As part of our Easter work we’re required to sit in at a hearing and write a report on our experience. We phoned ahead to see if we could attend, but they knew we were coming, everyone on our course seems to be trying to fit in a session this week. Met a few other colleagues while we were there and engaged in quiet and polite chitchat.
Arrived in good time, and we sat at the back armed with paper and pen. Neither side was represented in the case we were sitting in on (2 days, we only attended 1 day). This meant that the judge started out slowly and careful, explaining the questions he needed the answer to – I don’t think he got any the whole time we were there. The only thing the parties agreed on at the end of the day was the starting date of the claimant’s employment – and even that was debated before the claimant realised that there was a typo in the documents and he did in fact start work in 2005, rather than 1995. He was actually convincingly arguing that 1995 was 4 years ago.
Due to the “mess” that the witness statements were in; we heard from the Respondent’s witness first – just so the claimant would know the case against him. Well if he knew, good on him, because I certainly didn’t know. The poor 80 year old witness for the respondent was forgetful and changing his statement every 2 seconds and getting all flustered. He didn’t even have personal knowledge of the events that took place.
I honestly don’t see how this system works because from what I saw today, I don’t know how anything gets decided. Those representing themselves have clearly been watching too much legal tv, wear ridiculously bright yellow socks and somehow manage to fit in some clothes shopping in the lunch break before we have finished enjoying our coffee.
Now, back to writing some kind of report…
[LPC] Convincing my parents the LPC is worth it April 14, 2009
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My parents are visiting for Easter this week. And I know one of the inevitable lines of questioning with involve:
- What do you plan to do next?
- Why haven’t you got a job?
- Do you even think you are going to pass?
Last year I had a challenge convincing my parents to let me change law school – I was all set to go to BPP Manchester, paid my deposit etc when my bf was offered the job of a lifetime. Some people may think it was silly to “follow” him, but my reasoning remains the same – I would want to move following my LPC anyway and I’d have a better time arguing why I was applying to X firm if I had at least done the LPC locally as opposed to a sudden move North to South. Nevertheless, this involved long drawn out arguments with my father who couldn’t understand why anyone would give up a place at BPP. But I won that challenge.
But now I am presented with another one.
Don’t get me wrong my parents understand that its a recession, and given that legal job cuts etc are in the news they believe me when I tell them – jobs are scare and I lack experience.
So instead they have pinned their hopes on my getting an immaculate result from my LPC. So in preparation from them coming I decided to look into LPC Pass rates.
QED law does a listing of the results at some of the providers. But fails to do the Big providers, probably because they were unwilling to part with such information. But in summary these were the results last year:
| Provider | Distinction | Commendation | Pass | Fail |
| Aberystwyth | 33.3% | 29.25% | 16.7% | 20.8% |
| Anglia Ruskin | 8.8% | 47.1% | 20.6% | 23.5% |
| Cardiff | 21.3% | 28.5% | 16.7% | 23.6% |
| City | 11.9% | 34.8% | 16.3% | 37% |
| De Montfort | 24.0% | 34.7% | 13.3% | 28.0% |
| Leeds Met | 5% | 23.3% | 30% | 41.7% |
| LJMU | 26.1% | 39.1% | 10.9% | 23.9% |
| London Met | 19.5% | 24.4% | 9.8% | 46.3% |
| Manchester Met | 10.6% | 37.1% | 21.9% | 30.5% |
| Northumbria | 29.8% | 31.7% | 13.5% | 25.0% |
| Nottingham | 43.0% | 27.2% | 7.7% | 22.1% |
| Staffordshire | 15.7% | 32.5% | 22.9% | 28.9% |
| Swansea | 27.7% | 33.0% | 9.6% | 29.8% |
| Thames Valley | 4.2% | 33.3% | 4.2% | 58.3% |
| Westminster | 24.7% | 7.1% | 16.5% | 51.8% |
| Wolverhampton | 22.4% | 40.8% | 12.2% | 24.5% |
My law school claims that they law school’s shouldn’t publish pass rates, for fear of students picking an institution because of a higher pass rate at a lower price. (They do publish the CPE/GDL rates on the website though). However, in a profession such as the law, surely people choose a law school for its reputation.
But all this information, doesn’t help convince my parents that the LPC is worth it, and certainly won’t convince incoming students who have yet to secure a training contract.
