1. Student Perspective How to succeed in the course
5 May 2017

2. Welcome to the law
Disposal of your body - Do you have the legal right to dictate in your will, how your body will be disposed of after your death?
Answer - Smith v Tamworth City Council (1997) 41 NSWLR 680

3. Welcome to the law Intro
The law is fascinating and practically useful in every day life.
Doctrine of necessity - Dudley v Stephens (1884) 14 QBD 273
On 5 July 1884, Four people, Dudley, Stephens, Brooks and a 17 year old boy had to abandon their yacht and board an open boat in the the high seas 1600 miles off Cape of Good Hope
They went 18 days without food and water, bar a turtle they caught, and rain water they trapped on their oil skins
Dudley and Stephens suggested they draw straws to see who should be sacrificed and eaten, so the others could survive. Brooks dissented

4. Introduction
Dudley and Stephens (Brooks dissenting), suggested they killed the boy because he was the weakest.
Dudley, with Stephens consent, stabbed the boy in the throat and killed him.
The three men then fed on the boy’s body for 4 days.
They were rescued. On their return to England, Dudley and Stephens were charged with murder. Both argued defence of necessity (ie they had to kill the boy to survive).
Court held that necessity is not a defence to murder.
Lord Coleridge:
“Though law and morality are not the same, and many things are immoral that are not necessarily illegal, yet the absolute divorce of law from morality would be a fatal consequence; and such divorce would follow if the temptation to murder in this case were held by law to be an absolute defence of it. It is not so.”
“By what measure are the comparative value of lives to be measured? Is it to be strength, intellect or what…in this case the weakest, the youngest, the most unresisting was chosen. Was it more necessary to kill him than one of the grown men? The answer must be no.”

5. Agenda Introduction Past exam statistics Why people fail or drop out
How to succeed in this course
Study groups
Study expectations

6. Agenda Assignment preparation & structure Example assignment
Example exam summaries
Preparing for exams
Exam technique
Student and lecturer questionnaires
What you get out of the course
Question and answers

7. Agenda Please don’t video or take pictures of this presentation.
This presentation will be available on on Webcampus under Legal Institutions, under notes.

8. Introduction I completed completed this course in September 2014
I have four children (youngest is 1 year old)
My partner, completed law in Germany (a civil law system). She completed this course in 2008 and now works as a Criminal Lawyer with the DPP
I worked in the Commercial Litigation, and Insolvency team of one of the big firms after completion of the course
I am currently working as a consultant on a private matter.
I teach the tutorial program for Topic 4 Contracts
I teach the tutorials in the Academic Support Tutorial Program

9. Exam Statistics
Expectations

10. Past Exam Statistics Average over the last 2 semesters: However:
Legal Institutions – 33% DNS, and of those that sat 16% failed
Criminal Law – 23% DNS, and of those that sat 5% failed
However:
Legal Institutions - of those that sat, 26%, achieved a merit (65-74) and 9% a distinction (75 – 100)
Criminal Law – of those that sat, 46% achieved a merit and 8% a distinction
The purpose of this presentation is to give you some suggestions on:
- How to avoid dropping out of the course, registering a DNS or failing
- How to do well in the course

11. Subject Ranking Difficulty
Topic Number
Average Failure 1
Contracts 4
37% 2
Real Property 5
22% 3
Equity 7
21%
Evidence 11
16%
Legal Institutions
* Source - LPAB Statistics. Based on average failure rates for the last two semesters (since closed book exams commenced for all subjects)

12. Tale of Two Subjects Real Property Conveyancing Mark 50’s 90’s
Attended Lectures
Missed 3
Attended all
Subject guide
Didn’t stick to subject guide
Stuck to subject guide
Prescribed readings
Didn’t do readings for 3 lectures
Read all
Summarized
Poor summaries
Didn’t summarize 3 lectures.
Summarized everything
Problem solving exam Practice
Surface review
Extensive problem solving practice
Spotting issues
Did not spot all issues
Spotted all issues
IRAC structure
Didn’t stick to IRAC
Used IRAC to structure all answers
Time management
Ran out of time, didn’t answer whole questions
Finished on time

13. Time Management
Expectations

14. Time Management - Expectations
Throughout the course allow approximately 8 hours of study for each weekly lecture broken up as follows:
3 hours for the readings (some take more)
Reading your notes, prescribed text, case extracts
1 Hour to review and tidy up your lecture notes after the lecture
2 hours to summarize the readings, legislation and case extracts
2 hours to prepare the final cut of your exam summary to pages for each topic
Note Assignment and exam prep are separate to the above

15. Time Management - Expectations
Get Organized
At the start of the semester diarize the following key dates:
Date of your lectures
Study break
Date you need to commence your assignments
Date your assignments are due
Date you need to commence your exam preparation
Date of your exams
When and what you are going to study (set out and work to a project plan)
Discuss the course with your family and work. Their support and understanding is critical to succeeding in this course. Set expectations on:
What you need to do throughout the semester (set their expectations)
The weeks/ weekends you will be tied up working on assignments
The weeks/weekends you will be preparing for exams
The dates of your exams (fact you will be stressed beforehand)
When you need study leave
Example 1 – Sample time table

16. Attending Lectures
Benefits

17. Attending Lectures Benefit of attending lectures
The LEC has found that students who fail to attend lectures are the most likely to fail
Go to all lectures. If you miss a lecture go to the weekend school to make it up.
During the lecture the lecturer:
Tells you what they want you to know
Summarizes the course (they summarize the text and case principles)
Tells you the key cases to know for the exam
Gives you hints of what will be in the exam, or you need to know for the assignment
You get to ask the lecturer questions
You get to form relationships with your peers, feel accountable to them, and stay connected
Its easy to let things slide or drop out if you don’t attend lectures

18. Throughout The Semester Weeks 1-12/13
Study Routine
Readings
Summaries

19. Throughout the semester
The subject guide is your bible. Base ALL of your study around the subject guide. It is your course bible.
Print it out, bind it, and take it to all of your lectures, refer to it all the time.
More on the subject guide later tomorrow
Read the prescribed readings before the lecture (allow 3-4 hours for readings. How many pages can you read in an hour?)
Read prescribed text
Read prescribed legislation
Read case extracts.
Judgments are a Judge’s “EXAM ANSWER” for other judges.
The judge sets out the issue/s, relevant legislation, relevant precedent case law, apply the law to the facts, and come to a conclusion
The factual matrixes of exam questions are based on real cases
Reading case extracts helps you spot the issues in exam questions
Judgments often review the relevant key principles from other cases. So this is a great source of revision.

20. Throughout the Semester
Attend the lectures and actively take notes (see the recording feature in your Office Word program)
Review and tidy up your notes within 48 hours of the lecture (using headings from the subject guide). This is the best way to memorize and lock in the content
Summarize the prescribed readings (text, legislation & case extract) in accordance with the subject guide headings. Settle the first cut of your notes for that lecture.
Summarize the notes for each lecture to pages maximum.
Re read your notes before the next lecture and in the weeks before the exam.

21. Study Groups

22. Study Groups Join a study group of 3 or more people
Study group and the assignment
Meet your study group 3-4 weeks before the assignment to discuss the assignment
Share a basic bullet point outline of the key issues in the assignment with your study group
Do not share your final assignment with anyone, do not post it on Facebook.
Study group and the Exam
Meet your study group a couple of time 4 -6 weeks before the exam to review problem questions and discuss topics.
Don’t meet your study group 3 days before an exam it can confuse and stress you (lock yourself in a cave)

23. Preparation Answering the question Structure
Assignments
Preparation
Answering the question
Structure

24. Assignment Preparation
Each subject is assessed out of 100, 20% assignment 80% final exam.
The assignment is a great opportunity to put marks in the bank. Aim to get 13 out of 20 (or better). This gives you a buffer of marks for the exam.
Commence working on your assignment at least 4 weekends before it is due
Allow 2 weekends for the reading
Allow one full weekend to draft the assignment
Allow another one day to review and polish the assignment. Ask yourself “have I answered the question”.
Allow one night, to sleep on the draft, and amend before submitting
Plan to submit 1 week early. This gives you a buffer if you get sick etc.

25. Assignment Preparation
Read the assignment question several times
Highlight the issues
Read your relevant lecture notes (the lecturer is telling you what they want to see in the assignment)
Read the question again and highlight any more issues you see
Read the text and relevant cases, and for extra marks try do some research (does not apply to the first LI assignment)
Prepare a bullet point outline of the issues and law.
Discuss your outline of issues with your study group (Don’t post on the Facebook)

26. Assignment Structure
Provide a structured cogent answer to the question (for each issue)
Overall introduction - listing the issues you need to address to answer the question
Issue – Identify the issue/s
Law
What is the relevant legislation? Make reference to the statute law – identify which section you are considering (and why you are starting with that section). If parts or phrases of the section are particularly relevant to your answer identify those parts or phrases in your answer without writing out the whole section;
What is the relevant case law (use lecturer’s cases first)? – state the principle in your own words, and cite the case. The relevant law/case law will often contain a test that must be satisfied – state the test clearly using your own words

27. Assignment Structure Apply the law – apply the law/test to the facts
Conclusion – Briefly state your conclusion on each issue
Overall conclusion – If a number of issues, provide an overall conclusion – ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Complete citations, and bibliography
Review, polish and submit
Tip: In your assignment and exam, cite the cases referred to in lectures and in the subject guide (lecturers are looking for this)
Please note the above process may not apply to the first Legal Institutions assignment.
Example 1 - Contracts assignment structure

28. Exam Preparation 8 weeks to exam
Exam summaries
Past Papers
Technique

29. Top 9 Reasons People Fail Exams
Haven’t attended lectures
Haven’t read the prescribed readings, legislation and case extracts
Haven’t allowed enough time to memorize their summaries
Haven’t practiced problem questions under exam conditions
Don’t spot the issues
Don’t answer the question
Don’t provide a structured cogent answer (fail to use IRAC)
Spend to much time writing out slabs of law, rather than simply stating the legal principle and focusing on applying the law
Poor time management in the exam - running out of time
Use the reading time to allocate the time for each question, and stop that question when the time is up!
Remember the easiest marks are the first 80% (16 marks) of the allocated marks for that question. Don’t go over time chasing the last 20% (4 marks)
Tip – Following the exam, apply for an interview to meet with the lecturer to see what they are looking for and what you can do to improve

30. Pre Exam Preparation 8 weeks before exam
Closed Book Exams
Closed book exams are easier than open book exams
The key to succeeding in closed book exams is to do the following:
Summarize into simple layman's terms. If you can’t explain a principle in simple terms to your partner you don’t know it.
Summarize with the exam in mind ie when you summarize create sound bites of the principle for each case, or test for the exam eg. The doctrine of necessity is not a defence to murder; Dudley v Stephens
Summarize your summary for each lecture (readings, case extract and lecture) to pages
Give yourself time to memorize for the exam. You don’t want to find yourself finishing your summaries the night before the exam, leaving you that night to memorize them!
Carry around the subject guide throughout the semester, with simple prompts of the legal principles written next to each case

31. Pre Exam Preparation 8 weeks before exam
8 weeks before the exam
Make your own nutshell book – don’t rely on library nutshell books, they are a false crutch
Summarize all of your notes (lecture notes, prescribed readings, legislation and case principles) to a maximum of 1 – 1.5 pages for each topic (ie 12 lectures in the semester = pages of final exam summaries for the entire subject).
Review and start memorizing your final summary (key sections of legislation, principles and cases)
Do the above, while you continue your prescribed readings and summaries for the remaining lectures

32. Pre Exam Preparation Final 2 weeks before the exam
Plan to finish all of your prescribed readings, summaries etc at least 2 weeks before the final exam.
Time yourself handwriting one page of typed notes. Tells you the amount of typed content you can fit into a 40 minute question in the exam.
Read and memorize your personal exam nutshell every morning in the final 2 weeks before the exam.
Problem question practice
Problem questions are great final step in exam prep
They are the best way to test you what you have learned and ability to channel it into a structured bite sized exam answers.
Warning problem questions should not form the basis of your study. The best prep is to do the course work.
Do as many problem questions as you can (allow 1 day to complete 2/3 problem questions
Do problem questions under exam conditions, by handwriting, with a stopwatch. You need to train your hand to write for exams!
This gives you an idea of time limitations.
Practice applying the law to the questions. Critical!

33. Pre Exam Preparation Final 2 weeks before the exam
Do first problem question open book, give yourself 45 minutes to answer the question. Then take 45 minutes to review your notes and tidy up your problem question answer.
Do the second problem question closed book. After you have finished, spend a further 45 minutes reviewing your notes and correcting your answer. Repeat for the third question.

34. Final Exam Preparation
2 weeks before the exam
Prepare a course “Overview MAP” of the subject linking relevant principles etc. This locks in the course
Print out and bind the subject guide, your final exam summary, and first draft of your summary. Create an index on the first page of your final summary so you can see how the course hangs together
Carry the above with you on the bus or train and continue memorizing for the the exam
Calculate the time you can spend on each question and part thereof in the exam
3 hour exam with 4 questions = 45 mins a question
Less 5 mins reading = 40 mins a question
At 20 marks for 40 mins - a 5 mark part to a question is worth 10 mins of time

35. Pre Exam Summaries Example 2 – Conveyancing Subject Guide
Example 3 – Conveyancing Lecture summary

36. Process Past Papers Technique
During The Exam
Process
Past Papers
Technique

37. In The Exam
Write down the finish times for each question on the front of exam paper.
Eg 2.00pm start, 3hour exam, 4 questions equate to 45mins a question
Q1 finish 2.45, Q2 finish 3.30pm etc
Choose the questions you want to answer
Allocate time allowed for each part of the question (ie write down how long you can spend on a 5, 7, 10 mark question)
Pick the first question you want to tackle. Carefully read the question again, and highlight the issues. Critically make sure you answer the question.
Prepare an answer plan – planning is everything
Answer the question, for each issue, using IRAC method

38. In The Exam
Stop (pen down) when the allocated time on the question is up. This is critical. The first 80% (16 marks) of the marks are the easiest to get.
If there are 4 questions in an exam and you run 5 minutes over for the first three questions, then you only have 30 mins or 30% less time to answer the last question which is also worth 20marks. Ie you have cost yourself 7 marks
Don’t run over time on a question chasing the final couple of marks, move on.
Help the examiner to give you marks.
Write legibly – allows examiner to give more marks. Write on every second line if you have bad hand writing.
Underline or highlight key cases references and legislative
If you can’t remember a case name, state the principle you will get marks
If you are running out of time, then as a last resort in bullet points state the issues, relevant principle and case citation – more marks

39. Post Exam Post Exam Lecturer Interview
After the exam apply for a meeting with the examiner (see course book).
Use the meeting to:
See what the examiners are looking for
Find out how you can improve your exam technique
If you fail a subject
Don’t quit
Some of the best practitioners have failed a subject

40. Student Questionnaires
4. Please see student questionnaires.

41. Lecturers Questionnaires
5 Lecturer’s questionnaires on why students fail
6 Lecturer questionnaires closed book exams

42. Further Sessions
At midday on 6 May 2016 (tomorrow) - I will be running two 1 hour seminars on how to take advantage of the subject guide, taking notes, summarizing two cases and the LI course generally.
Later in the semester – I may be conducting a 4 hour study skills workshop on the following:
Preparing for the exam
Structuring an argument using IRAC
Applying IRAC to some problem questions.
If any of you are doing Contracts this Semester, I will be conducting the Contracts Tutorials for that course.

43. What you get out of the course
An ability to get straight to the issue of work related problems
An appreciation of your time, and time management
A new career in law/or appreciation of the law in your current role
Greater opportunities in your career, based on the respect the workforce has a law on your CV
A great sense of personal satisfaction. Studying law is immensely rewarding.

44. What you get from the course
An opportunity to meet a range of people you would not normally meet (my library friend)
A different way of thinking
Admission to an incredibly well respected profession
Two success stories
Graduation ceremony
Admission ceremony

45. Questions
This presentation, student feedback, lecturers feedback, summary templates and other material is on the LEC website.
Login to the LEC site, Click on “notes” section of Legal Institutions

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

47. Good Luck Thank you for your time Enjoy your studies and good luck!
Now please sit tight for two short student perspective talks from:
A current student
Another past student