Drafting exam

This is tomorrow. I am having very mixed feelings about it.

This is an exam. Exams are supposed to require work. I had made no plans for the weekend and prepared to work.

However, I have found this entire subject very fluffy and difficult to revise. It all seems to obvious and I'm not really sure what I should be learning.

So I haven't done very much.

Which makes me feel guilty.

But then when I try to do some, I end up putting it all away again because it seems so easy and obvious and I feel like it really can't be that hard an exam.

This worries me. Drafting doesn't strike me as particularly difficult to pass, but I am a rather diligent student, so I can't help but feel guilty when I end up doing something else, and feel like maybe I should be afraid and should do more work and learn something else.

So I pick it up again and so the cycle continues.

Stupid.

Last year...

...someone apparently got 100% for Business Law and Practice.

Would be nice. Doable? Perhaps not...

Something wicked this way comes

And I don't mean wicked as in evil. I mean wicked as in excellent.

Dear readers, you may be in shock if my blawg is a new feature of your daily life. But my more established readers will not be surprised.

EXAMS ARE COMING!!!

I like exams. I like revision, suffice to be said. I have been spending some time this week going over what needs to be done in terms of revision, and putting together a revision timetable. And I must say I'm very excited!

The pre-Christmas mock examinations went very well (78% upwards well, in fact some papers very much upwards!) and this has erased some of the horror from last year's exam hell of my first two papers.


In other news - someone suggested a money-making idea in the form of publishing my blawg as advice to budding lawyers. I always have fancied being a published author but I can't see who would want to a) publish something I wrote and pay me money or b) buy it!

But secretly I've already been designing the cover of course...

Mock examining

Next week we have mock exams. Three of them to be exact - one for each compulsory subject.

The consensus in law school is that most people are anticipating abject failure. Apparently the average mark last year was an impressive 30%. Considering the mark required to pass the final exams is 50% I felt this fosters a great deal of confidence in the fact that since most people passed their final exams, there is enough time to do all the revision well between now and the end of February. As a result many of my peers are planning to carry out minimal revision and prepare to perform the happy dance if they succeed in obtaining over 30% in the mock exams (seeing as that would be deemed 'above average').

However, the situation has created within me considerable cognitive dissonance.

In one corner is the Logical Susie. She accepts there really is not enough time for the kind of decent revision between now and next week that would be required for say a 60-70% outcome. Therefore she has decided the best course of action is to instead focus on detailed consolidation and do what she can in the mocks, and not worry if the result is less than encouraging. It is all about experiencing what the exams will be constructed and suchlike.

In the other corner, however, is Competitive Susie. She is thinking that really it would not do to fail the mocks. This is despite the fact that they are entirely insignificant and most people improve greatly from their mock result when they sit the final exam. She is wanting to do all she can to maximise the points she can score, and see exactly how well she COULD do, to provide confidence for the impending final exam revision and at least a small smidgeon of self-satisfaction.

Currently Logical Susie is winning. She has convinced me to sit down and carry out very diligent consolidation activities which, although taking longer than superficial cramming, is providing me with a much better in-depth understanding of the topics and which should put me in good stead come exam-time.

However, notwithstanding this victorious outcome, I fear it is highly unlikely that Logical Susie will be able to convince Competitive Susie not to be too disappointed when she averages 29% in the mock exams...

Work glorious work!

Currently I have a surplus of it. I started consolidation this week and that was actually quite helpful, particularly for property which I was slightly despairing with originally but now am pretty confident it will be fine...

I've just completed a 'to-do'-list for the five remaining weeks of term and it is looking pretty full. To be honest, I prefer it that way as it will motivate to work hard.

Mock exams take place te last week of term - one in property, one in BLP (Business Law and Practice) and one in Civil Litigation. I mused briefly with the idea of just turning up and doing my best without any revision but that thought didn't last long - instead I've decided to attempt a reasonable amount of revision for two reasons:

1) I want to get an idea of what the exams will be like in a more realistic way - my downfall on the conversion was not knowing what to expect in exams!
2) There will be less work to do for the actual exams as I will have already gone through the topics in the mocks and can simply alter or supplement my revision notes.

Organising what work to do is such fun. Doing it is sometimes a rather different matter... wish me luck!

London Law School v Susie Law School [2007] HC

Facts: The defendant [D] was a student at the Claimant's [C] educational institution [London Law School, 'The Law School']. D wished to study in the London Law School Library ['The Library'] on Sunday 27th May 2007 and Monday 28th May 2007. Counsel for C submitted that they did not want D to perform to her usual high standard and thus due to no sensible reason whatsoever it was necessary to close the Library on Monday 28th May 2007 in the middle of the examination period, despite the fact that this would cause significant hardship to not only D but several other students at the Law School. It was also submitted that closure of the Library on 27th May 2007 was due to 'essential building maintenance'. C sought a revision freezing order to prevent D studying on the above dates.

Counsel for the defence conceded that the Sunday closure was acceptable due to the reasons given above regarding maintenance but contested the closure on Monday 28th May 2007. In an affidavit to the court, D stated that she considers her residence to be restricted to relaxing, and due to rarely working at her residence, she finds it difficult to focus on studying therein. D works particularly well in a library-environment, and at home her concentration levels suffer significantly. Defence counsel submitted that the closure of the Library on the given dates would have a disastrous effect on D's revision plan and subsequently the maximum grades she was likely to obtain in the forthcoming examinations in Land Law, Equity and Trusts Law, Criminal Law and European Union Law. The freezing order on D's revision would be unreasonable, particularly in light of the £8000 annual tuition fee which would be more than sufficient to cover any costs of staffing on the above date.

Held: The court accepted the Claimant's argument and a revision freezing order was granted in the interim to freeze D's revision for the above dates.

Applying the test from Derby & Co v Weldon the court held that (1) Susie had revision to do within the jurisdiction [GDL Exams], (2) there was a good arguable case that if Susie is unable to do revision, her exams will not go very well and (3) keeping the Library open on Bank Holiday Monday would involve a real risk that some revision would actually get done.

The defendant has appealed to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division).

Susie Law School (Law Student)

In my revision haze...

...I failed to notice that the other day I made my 100th post! Excellent!

I would like to thank the Academy and of course all my lovely readers, I wouldn't be here without you. Well I probably would but then it wouldn't be called a Blawg as much as just a diary...

Mwah!

Tort is evil

This is a fact.

Next week's exams are Constitutional and Administrative Law on Monday (three essays, hopefully should be ok, as long as questions I like come up), Contract on Wednesday (ditto) and Tort on Friday.

Tort I am not looking forward to. If the first two go badly, I will be even less keen on it. An Occupiers' Liability question I can manage, Defamation I can hopefully manage, same for Nuisance. Not going to manage extraordinarily well, but manage all the same. But, if one of said topics is an essay I have to resort to my back-up - Clinical Negligence or Employers' Liability.

Me and negligence just don't mix. There is a mutual love-hate relationship going on, and it's not likely to improve if I have to answer a question on it in the exam.

Bah.

I'm currently doing ok with my revision though, you will be happy to hear, and I am firm believer in the "it will get done" philosophy. There is no problem in understanding the law, or knowing the law, it's just those pesky unseen problem questions that get me down! How dare they... ;-)

5 days to go...

Yesterday I finished all my revision notes and sheets and diagrams and stuff and now all that is left is committing it all to memory and doing past questions. I started yesterday afternoon and last night was the first night I got home from the library and felt exhausted! I suppose this is what it will be like from now on until I finish...

But I was glad to notice that I knew a lot more than I thought I did and now need to just get on with the detail and the structures.

I haven't sat an exam in several years, and I don't really remember what it's like... I always liked them at University, so I hope it will be the same now, although perhaps not due to the excessive transport pressures (exam venue is not at the Law School and I am at the mercy of several unpredictable and capricious tubelines) and the fact that I really am not sure I will remember how to actually DO exams! He he...

But 5 days and counting before they start so I better get on with learning something about the law!

12 days to go...

...until my first exam.

I don't feel even remotely like I will be ready, but I know it'll get done and it'll all be alright on the night... well morning. I've finished all my reading and notes, now I just have to learn it, which I thought wouldn't be too bad but I possibly may have underestimated quite how much detail there is to know.

Life is on hold now until the 11th of June. Heh!

Dear Law School

Why do you feel the need to discourage students at such a vital time as in the middle of revision? Why was there any need to briefly destroy my self-confidence - could you not have waited until July when you could have done it in one go? In future please consider students' feeling, particularly geeky overachievers like me, when releasing coursework marks in the middle of the revision period.

Kind regards

Susie Law School.


Yes, the coursework marks came out yesterday. No mine was not good. In fact it was the lowest mark I have EVER EVER got in ANYTHING academic. This is highly upsetting since I know I can do better and my mock assessments prove it. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things and a distinction is still highly possible, however I am SO ANGRY at myself for doing such a bad job. Hmpf.

Panic setting in...

... I don't tend to panic about exams. I like them. I like revision and knowing stuff.

But today I feel impending doom.

A little bit like maybe a distinction isn't going to come my way. I have no benchmark, no idea how good an answer will have to be, but until now I've at least felt like it was attainable.

Today I'm not so sure.

I'm hoping this is just a blip. Coursework marks are out on Friday, I guess I'll have a better idea then.

I'm going back to Employers' Liability now.

Welcome to the world of revision

So Mummy and Daddy Law School's visit is over and revision has officially started. My social life is officially on hold until the 11th of June, apart from a few carefully selected engagements to break up the studying. It's quite exciting, albeit a little bit stressful but I have never been one to shy away from a challenge. If I didn't thrive on a little stress there really wouldn't be any point in becoming a lawyer.

This week I will be mostly finishing off all the reading I should have done during the year but didn't have time to/couldn't be bothered to do and highlighting and tagging all the relevant provisions from my statute books, ready for the exam.

My carefully selected social engagements are drinks with the girls tomorrow and a friend's birthday on Friday. But there will be no excessive drinking or suchlike, as the rest of the time will involve military-style precision for getting to the library and taking regularly scheduled breaks.

I hear many of you saying that it all sounds a bit too structured and organised, but that's how I function. Deal with it. It works and who am I to mess with a working formula?

Oh and Legally Blonde is on TV on Wednesday so obviously I will be watching that!

Exams? What exams?

Believe it or not, readers, my first year of Law School is starting to near an end. I know it feels like only yesterday when I first walked in through the doors of Law School to take the first steps in my future career.

I now have two weeks of proper Law School left and then revision leave. The last week I have spent writing an essay, which to some degree took over my life for a few days (apart from a LOT of procrastination... ahem...) so today I have put it to one side, to enable me to look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow. Instead I am going to organise myself for revision.

I love revision. I can hear many a groan coming from several of you, but I do love it. Knowing stuff is cool! So I have bought coloured tags for my statute books, another lot of coloured pens for my revision notes (yes, all my subjects are colour-coded) and I'm on the lookout for the perfect notebook to put my revision notes in.

Now I am about to start working out the topics I need to revise, the reading and consolidation I need to do, and putting together a revision timetable and I'm so excited I thought I should share it with you all...