Monash Summer units: LAW4160, LAW4538, LAW5114

[vashappenin]

Hey guys,
I'm thinking of doing a summer unit this summer, and from the list provided I'm eligible for the 3 mentioned units (based on prereqs.)

LAW4160 - Negotiation and Mediation law (Tom Harber)
Okay, I know preference is given to later year students and there's a quota and all, so I'm not expecting that I'll be able to do this unit. However, do you think it's worth a shot to just try and apply anyway? I've heard of students who aren't in 4th or 5th year who've gotten into the program so is it a bad idea to just try and apply or am I very unlikely to even be considered?

LAW4538 - Lawyers, literature and cinema (Eric Wilson) and LAW5114 (Arie Frieberg) - Sentencing and sanctions
I'd never really seen these before they were listed in the summer units but they both seem quite interesting. Has anyone done any of these or heard of people who have done one of these? What were they like? Interesting? Boring? Hard?

All suggestions and opinions are welcome and will be very helpful!
Thanks in advance

[brenden]

Wilson is definitely a... character...

...of sorts.

[ninwa]

Apply for neg/med anyway, of course! You're not losing anything by trying.

I have a friend who did a sentencing and sanctions unit at Deakin and she absolutely loved it - she said it was really interesting. However, she has a really strong interest in criminal law. Why do you want to take it?

edit: oops, I'm a dumbass, I forgot one of my closest friends actually took the Monash sentencing subject. He also loved it - again though, he wanted to practice criminal or family law. If your interests lie more in commercial law then maybe you won't enjoy it as much. Also, Arie Freiberg used to be the Dean of the Monash law faculty so he's probably quite good

[vashappenin]

Awesome! Yeah I guess I've got nothing to lose

Hmm, cool! I've got a real interest in family law so I guess it'll be really interesting! Do you know what it's like in terms of difficulty? Hopefully it isn't too hard or anything :S

I wanted to do intro to family law but you need to have done torts .. got so excited for nothing

[ninwa]

so I asked my friend and this is what he said (typing on phone on Facebook, hence the choppy formatting lol)

[him]
If it's Fox who teaches it
Then do it
He is worth it
His humanity and his perspective
It's not hard
It's a bit of reading

[me]
it's arie freiberg apparently (the old dean)

[him]
He is good friends with Fox
Also knowledgeable
I find him dull though
Haha
But he'll be very good
He basically designed the website
The material they give you is good
And comprehensive
Not a hard subject
Much like civil

[me]
so it's quite formulaic then?

[him]
yep!!!
But you can be creative

you probably haven't done civil procedure, but it's a rather easy subject because it's pretty much step-by-step, "if this happens then use rule X, if this happens then use rule Y" - there's not that much room for hypotheticals unlike other law subjects

on the other hand, I've done some basic study of sentencing law because of my volunteering work, and he's right about the room for creativity - judges tend to use some degree of discretion and there are a range of factors to be taken into account and weighed differently - so it's still a very interesting subject IMO

[ninwa]

(Also, I know several people who really enjoyed family law, so you've got a lot to look forward to!)

[vashappenin]

Thanks so much for asking! Sounds interesting

[vashappenin]

Aw man I just realised that sentencing and sanctions needs crim as a pre-req As if I didn't realise that earlier.. Okay I think I'm going to consider LAW4538 (Lawyers, literature and cinema) instead. Anyone know much about it?

[lynt.br]

I've asked a friend of mine who did LAW4538 (Lawyers, literature and cinema) over summer and will get back to you when they respond.

[vashappenin]

Thank you so much!

[lynt.br]

re Lawyers and Cinema unit, my friend said:

"difficulty - 2
Content was highly highly enjoyable
it was not a law unit in my mind, but rather an arts unit
i really really really enjoyed it and highly recommend it!"

[vashappenin]

Thanks for helping me out! It really sounds interesting! Does difficulty 2 mean it's easy or hard? What is that out of? Haha
Thanks

Edit: 800th post 

[zhenzhenzhen]

difficulity 2/2

[cocaman]

sorry for hijacking this thread!

What do you guys think of Sentencing and Sanctions OR International Commercial Arbitration for an uprising second year law student?

[McFleurry]

Go for it!
From what I hear, if you've done 'solid'/non-introductory law units, you should be fine

Is this for a summer unit as well?