IS LAW THE RIGHT COURSE???

[daniel99]

hey, I was considering applying for a law degree next year, after year 12. I no that I will get the marks required but im not sure if law is right for me. I did legal studies and good real good marks for that and enjoyed it. Could you please give me some feedback on what you think of your uni course, institution, the workload and the amount of contact hours and days that you have to attend uni. Im not sure what uni I would go to, I was thinking Deakin Melbourne (Burwood). If there are any deakin students could you please tell me about the Uni and what it is like. Thanks for commenting back, if u do. 

[ninwa]

OK I've only done my course for what, 2 weeks, so don't take this as gospel

Firstly, from what I've heard from classmates who did legal last year, it has just about nothing to do with what we're studying in law this year. That's partly why I didn't do legal. So I would say don't use it as an indicator of whether you'll enjoy law or not, or whether you'll do well or not.

Secondly, if you wanna do law, you better damned well like reading because theres a shitload of reading to do every week and if you don't do it and get a tough lecturer like mine who uses the Socratic method, you're screwed, both in class and for the final exam also get used to the fact that you'll be doing quite a lot of public speaking - if you can't, then maybe law isn't for you, cos you won't be able to get around that during your degree.

I'm at Monash so I can't help you with Deakin, but I'm loving the atmosphere at uni, you get to meet so many new people with similar interests to you and there is so much more freedom!

I'm doing arts/law and yet only have 16 contact hours a week - but for every hour of class you're expected to do 2 hours of self-study, so I guess that's still a heavy workload.

Good luck with VCE

[daniel99]

Thank you for the reply it was very helpful, good luck with law..

[daniel99]

How often would you speak in public and what are the circumstances in which you have to do it?, e.g. in front of a tutorial class etc,

[ninwa]

well less than a week ago I did a presentation in one of my lectures. the lecturer has already said that every single person will have spoken in front of the class at least once by the end of the semester. and for my other law subject the lecturer uses the socratic method of questioning so you don't know when you'll be called upon to give an answer to her questions. and I spose if you choose to do mooting that's another place you'd speak in public ...

[Eriny]

I would see mooting as the best part of law, I think

[Fyrefly]

If you want to do Law @ Deakin and you're unsure of whether Law is truly right for you, I recommend you do a double degree (Arts/Law, Com/Law, etc). The ENTERs at Deakin would be low enough for you to get into a double degree and, if you do decide that law isn't right for you, I'm sure it would be a much simpler process to revert to a single degree using your alternative from the double degree than it would be to switch single degrees entirely *hopes that makes sense*. You'd also get plenty of credit and wouldn't have to start over again.

Also, employers in the legal profession will look highly upon people with expertise in a second area so if you liked both degrees you could keep going with both (You could really use an Arts psychology major or knowledge of business or commerce to push your career forward, depending on where you'd like to go).

The third alternative would be that you find that you absolutely love law to no end and you hate your second degree, so you drop the Commerce or Arts or Science (etc) side of your double degree further down the track. It's really about giving yourself more options I spose, but that's just something to think about. If I was unsure, that's what I'd do.



Deakin Burwood '07 Clearly-In:
Law  93.65, Arts / Law   94.00, Commerce / Law 94.30, International Studies / Law 94.05, Science/Law  93.95.

There were some more double degrees with Law in them, but they're only offered @ Geelong campuses.

[vce01]

with the speaking in public thing, if you're not that good at it atm, would it be a bad idea to take law up anyway? i know its an integral part of the course but you can always improve on it, given that you'll be doing so much (according to you guys), right? or is there no room for people who aren't great speakers?

[dusty_girl1144]

garr what .... public speaking ...

uh ohs...

[Collin Li]

with the speaking in public thing, if you're not that good at it atm, would it be a bad idea to take law up anyway? i know its an integral part of the course but you can always improve on it, given that you'll be doing so much (according to you guys), right? or is there no room for people who aren't great speakers?

I guess that depends on how much potential you have. If you want to do it, and just lack practice (like me), then you probably could practice law with not many problems. Try to make a conscious effort of participating more in classes, and you will naturally become better at speaking. I'm pretty sure assessments in a law degree are typically written, rather than oral.

[ninwa]

dusty_girl1144, if you want to practice law, you're gonna need to public speak

with the speaking in public thing, if you're not that good at it atm, would it be a bad idea to take law up anyway? i know its an integral part of the course but you can always improve on it, given that you'll be doing so much (according to you guys), right? or is there no room for people who aren't great speakers?

Of course you can improve on it only maybe less than half the people in my course are actually brilliant public speakers, the rest of us grab all the chances we can to improve ... such as by doing mooting etc.
There is definitely room for people who aren't great speakers as long as you are willing to improve (or you don't actually want to practice law)

[psychlaw]

or you could be a solistor instead of a barrister

A solistor is basically a type lawyer who gives legal aid outside of court, rather then the stereotypical lawyer who argues in court for their client (a barrister).

[ninwa]

A solicitor still needs excellent communication skills, since they're the ones who interview clients and they're the ones who have to make sure they get as many facts as possible, especially when it comes to difficult clients.

Hence, public speaking if you want to practice law, whether as a solicitor, barrister or judge.

[xox.happy1.xox]

I will probably start off as a solicitor, then slowly move up in the rankings... Giving expert advice, and ultimately, being one of those 'no win, no pay' barristers. Then when I win a case, here come the big bucks. Then I will be a judge for the remainder of my years, and ultimately retire when I'm 70 (why was that referendum passed? )

I'm going to make sure the legal system has my name encased in a wall somewhere

[vce01]

I will probably start off as a solicitor, then slowly move up in the rankings... Giving expert advice, and ultimately, being one of those 'no win, no pay' barristers. Then when I win a case, here come the big bucks. Then I will be a judge for the remainder of my years, and ultimately retire when I'm 70 (why was that referendum passed? )

I'm going to make sure the legal system has my name encased in a wall somewhere

haha you've got your whole life planned out already. nice.

with the speaking in public thing, if you're not that good at it atm, would it be a bad idea to take law up anyway? i know its an integral part of the course but you can always improve on it, given that you'll be doing so much (according to you guys), right? or is there no room for people who aren't great speakers?

I guess that depends on how much potential you have. If you want to do it, and just lack practice (like me), then you probably could practice law with not many problems. Try to make a conscious effort of participating more in classes, and you will naturally become better at speaking. I'm pretty sure assessments in a law degree are typically written, rather than oral.

yeah im probably lacking in practice, i mean, with english oral presentations for example im decent id say. besides the usual butterflies in stomach issue just before you actually do it haha.

dusty_girl1144, if you want to practice law, you're gonna need to public speak

with the speaking in public thing, if you're not that good at it atm, would it be a bad idea to take law up anyway? i know its an integral part of the course but you can always improve on it, given that you'll be doing so much (according to you guys), right? or is there no room for people who aren't great speakers?

Of course you can improve on it only maybe less than half the people in my course are actually brilliant public speakers, the rest of us grab all the chances we can to improve ... such as by doing mooting etc.
There is definitely room for people who aren't great speakers as long as you are willing to improve (or you don't actually want to practice law)

sweet, that's good to know :]

hmm i got another Q though, is it advisable to do an arts degree along with your law degree so that you can improve your public speaking?