Learnmore-legal method

coursework blogBy Sabina Andrei, Sabrina Bernard,

Halimah Miah Begum, Rahida Khatun

INTRODUCTION Lawbore is the City Law School’s legal portal which

provides students with additional information for the studying of law. It highlights law related events that are coming up in the city as well as the current English law related news. It also provides additional information on modules and it encourages students to further reading. Basically Lawbore helps to make law students lives easier.

Lawbore is split up into : Topic Guides, City Hub, Learnmore, Blog, Keeping up to date with Lawbore and Improving my prospects with Lawbore. Our presentation is a critical review of Learnmore.

Learnmore helps students learn important new skills by providing online tutorials, videos and learning materials. It is divided into 6 categories: exams, newbies, writing, moots, research and careers.

EXAMS

NO STRESS?- Make a revision plan! It will help you figure out how much time you need to revise and

how much time you need to do other things. - Be realistic and don’t set yourself silly goals ( I know…we do that all the time!). Its not

possible to study from 8am-8pm so give yourself enough time! Make a checklist everyday to see what you have achieved so far.

- Read your lecture handouts even if you think they are useless! They actually are there for a reason. They help you know what you are expected to do and they will highlight the fundamental issues and cases! SO READ THEM!

- Create a good study environment. It is preferable to be quiet and tidy but then again, it depends on every type of student! So figure out what is best for you

- Make revision notes that will help YOU study so again, figure out what is best for you: pictures, diagrams, colours . Don’t make them pointless though, it really is a waste of time.

- Put cases into context and don’t try to write a lot about them and memorise everything because it will take you 5 hours to get all the details straight. So don’t do irrelevant case studies.

- Past papers are the best way to revise although you need to study before looking through them.

- Test yourself and see if you are able to remember the cases and the rest of the material.

HOW TO ANSWER EXAM QUESTIONS?- Essay questions: don’t stray from the topic, read the question

carefully because you will get no credit if you answer a different question, get to the point, don’t write everything that you know about a topic just to impress the examiner and criticise the law if you don’t agree with it ( you are allowed to!)

- Problem questions: Facts: Problems will be in their form of facts so it is a good idea to not argue with the facts stated in the question but discuss what they are asking you to. Make sure that your point is relevant, have an introduction and then get straight into the question they are asking you. Reasons and authorities (cases and statutes) must be given. However boring and dull some cases and statutes are!

NEWBIES

EXPERIENCE IS A MUST! Getting experience in a law firm is

important to get anywhere in your career in law.

It helps you understand what actually working in a law firm is all about and can give you a taster to what your life will be like.

Being around barristers and solicitors all the time will help you realise the reality of you career and what it entails. It is such a good insight in your career.

Also, other law firms love it if you have had work experience previously as it shows you are interested and not a lazy, partying, drinking student!

KEY SKILLS! In the first year of university students should start thinking about their future

jobs and the skills that they have to develop in order to become great barristers and solicitors. There are different types of skills:

The transferable skills are the ones that you can develop: initiative, attention to detail, able to work under pressure, written & communication skills, advocacy and research skills, team work etc.

However, added to these skills law students have to have a true passion for law in order to achieve greatness. They have to be committed and they have to like studying law. If you find it boring and you don’t like doing it then I don’t see much point in going on with it.

If you want to be a barrister you have to know that in the first years you will be financially unstable, you will be self employed. You need to be curious and be willing to go on by yourself or in a team.

If you want to be a solicitor you will work more with a team and with the clients. Great solicitors are the ones who can communicate easily with their clients. And also remember, you have to have skills in packing your luggage fast because there will be a lot of traveling!

Most important bit: you need relevant experience starting with your first year. So don’t think you can leave it all to the last years, it doesn’t work like this.

Writing

NOTE TAKING You don’t want to find yourself overwhelmed by pages and

pages with useless notes. A very good idea is to have a detailed set of notes from different textbooks, case summaries and articles and other notes for revision. The revision notes should only be done after the student has completed all the required reading and has made the detailed notes.

In order to summarise different points use bullet points, underline and highlight important information.

In order to write the revision notes make sure that you read other sources on top of what you’ve read already such as statutes, debates and other articles.

WRITING TOP TIPS! Read the questions carefully and make sure you

have a good plan of what you are going to include in your paragraphs.

Get to the point and it is always useful to criticise the law if you don't agree with it.

Make sure you use the facts! Be relevant and don't stray off the topic at hand The question is there to test your ability so prove it

in your answer that you fully understand what you are talking about.

Rules and authority is important in getting extra marks as it helps give you a highly regarded essay paper. Using cases and statutes to back up your argument holds great authority.

Learn more: MOOTING

Don't know what mooting

is?

Well, Learn more allows you to access mooting and gives you all

the basics you need to know.

This consists of :• Slides telling you what

mooting is• The Do’s and Dont’s during a

mooting competition• And....Real life footage of a mooting session which is great because you can get an idea of

what to expect!

Also....You can get

tips from the students

who have experienced it first hand by clicking

on the video’s!!!

http://learnmore.lawbore.net/index.php/Take_It_From_The_Students

CAREERS

UNSURE ABOUT HOW TO START YOUR LEGAL

EXPERIENCE? :S Learnmore has a section for:

This is very informative for newbie's who are studying Law for the first time. It includes topics such as work experience, pro-bono, LPC and many more...

The career’s section is useful as it aims to meet the needs of every individual. For example, there are sections for aspiring solicitors or lawyers only. This also makes it easier for the individual to navigate their way round without having to waste time browsing for what they are looking for.

Despite the “Careers” section being useful, there is far too much writing

involved!!!

This makes the website seem:

BORINGDULL

TEDIOUS

Cant find a Case your looking for?

Then check out the RESEARCH section

on Learnmore.

It includes power points which tell

you how to understand legal reports, how to understand the

legal abbreviations and more.

It also includes information on how

to find what you need! This makes finding cases or journals much

easier and simple.....and you’ll

find out that you don’t ALWAYS

have to go to the library!

BUT, sometimes you cant just Google everything!

Despite this, the research section will tell you exactly where you can find the

legal information you need.

Then, maybe there needs to be an FAQ page where you might find answers to what you are looking.

But, does the research section answer all your

questions?

NO!

As you have now seen....

Learn more is fun and exciting to explore. This is because its very interactive e.g. slides., videos which makes learning more

enjoyable rather than reading continuous paragraphs and getting lost halfway!

Its like an all-in-one book which you never have to return

It gives you all the legal information you need without having to stress about the complicated legal language! (Phewww…..)

BUT……..

Some of the videos, for example “take it from the students” are veryyyyyy long.

Also, learnmore GIVES you the info, BUT doesnt test your knowledge & understanding. So, there could be quizzes at the

end to see what you have learnt.