Hardest law subjects/units

[mseleanor]

Hey all.

I'm a first year doing Arts/Law at Monash. And just out of curiosity I wanted to know what law subjects/units you found the hardest (and, the 'easiest').

It'd just be nice to have some idea of what I'm getting myself into each semester 

[Art Vandelay]

So far for 2nd year me, in terms of easiness, ILR>RAW>Crim>Contracts

[ninwa]

Harder:
- equity
- trusts
- admin
- consti
- evidence
- corps
- tax policy (elective)
- tax law (elective)
- copyright/intellectual property (elective)

So-so:
- contracts
- property
- EU law (elective)
- prof prac (elective)

Easier:
- crim
- torts
- civil procedure
- ethics
- int'l human rights (elective)
- negotiation & mediation (elective)


This doesn't correlate at all with my marks btw. Some of my best were the "hard" subjects and some of my worst were the "easy" ones

[|ll|lll|]

Harder:
- equity
- trusts
- admin
- consti
- evidence
- corps
- tax policy (elective)
- tax law (elective)
- copyright/intellectual property (elective)

So-so:
- contracts
- property
- EU law (elective)
- prof prac (elective)

Easier:
- crim
- torts
- civil procedure
- ethics
- int'l human rights
- negotiation & mediation

This doesn't correlate at all with my marks btw. Some of my best were the "hard" subjects and some of my worst were the "easy" ones

I've heard that consti and admin are easier than property (albeit more boring).
I'd also say that contracts is "easy" if property and prof prac are "so-so"

But the ones that are definitely hard are the quasi-compulsory equity, trusts and corps.

[ninwa]

^ yes the above is only my opinion, of course others may disagree

[Rohmer]

Pretty much per what ninwa said, though I haven't done quite a few of those units. Contract, Tort and Crim are basically on a par, although Crim is actually arguably the easiest, despite no longer being done in 1st year (I found it a bit more intuitive). Property A isn't as bad as Property B which has some conceptual difficulties. Consti...opinions seem to vary a bit. While it is not perhaps as conceptually difficult as some of Property B, I actually found it to be less interesting - rather dull in fact. There are a few interesting discussions, and Kirby usually has something to say that's worth reading (often in dissent), but the cases are sometimes long and boring. Pretty much every decision is from the HC and hence has a bunch of long judgments that often differ in minor ways and then have to be reconciled. Haven't done Admin but it seems to have a reputation of being a little harder than Consti.

Equity pretty much follows on from where Property B left off w/r/t conceptual difficulty...except it's closed book, so it's even worse. Have not done Trusts, Corps or Evidence yet but they all seem to have a reputation for being hard.

[lynt.br]

It's worth remembering that because Monash Law grades are standardised according to the whole cohort the actual difficulty of the subject isn't all that important. Getting a good mark is more about doing better than everyone else than knowing your stuff, so sometimes it can actually be easier to score higher on a more difficult subject than an easier one (assuming you studied )

[LOVEPHYSICS]

It's worth remembering that because Monash Law grades are standardised according to the whole cohort the actual difficulty of the subject isn't all that important. Getting a good mark is more about doing better than everyone else than knowing your stuff, so sometimes it can actually be easier to score higher on a more difficult subject than an easier one (assuming you studied )

Yeah I agree; think that is how most law schools work nowadays. I also find that it is easier to do better in subjects that you enjoy, possibly because you spend more time studying it.

[lynt.br]

Yeah I agree; think that is how most law schools work nowadays. I also find that it is easier to do better in subjects that you enjoy, possibly because you spend more time studying it.

Although sometimes knowing too much can be a bad thing because there is the temptation to write more than is necessary to show your knowledge and then run out of time More of a flaw in law exam design though.

Otherwise definitely pick out subjects you enjoy, but always remember a law exam is a race against the clock! In the words of a Monash lecturer (this is a serious direct quote): "law exams are just about issue spotting and nothing else".

[LOVEPHYSICS]

Although sometimes knowing too much can be a bad thing because there is the temptation to write more than is necessary to show your knowledge and then run out of time More of a flaw in law exam design though.

Otherwise definitely pick out subjects you enjoy, but always remember a law exam is a race against the clock! In the words of a Monash lecturer (this is a serious direct quote): "law exams are just about issue spotting and nothing else".

Yeah, completely agree with law exams as a race against the clock. However, we do emphasise on application and analysis quite a bit as well. A tutor just told me that the difference between first class students and university medallists is that the latter have superb exam techniques - they are very good in doing quick but insightful analysis on all the issues without actually sacrificing too much substance.