ATAR Notes: Forum
Uni Stuff => Faculties => Law => Topic started by: panicatthelunchbar on January 29, 2013, 09:56:22 pm
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Hey guys, so everyone I've talked to so far say they've never really bought books for uni...and it really depends on what ur doing...
How important is it to purchase books for law subjects, and if it is, which topics should we buy them for? I've got a booklist for my units at uni, but don't know which ones are most important
Thanks
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For ILR just buy the prescribed textbook (Laying Down the Law) and use the library if you need any of the other books (you won't).
For contracts get both the prescribed Casebook (Commentary and Materials) and the recommended 'Principles' textbook.
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Thank you!
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for the contract books, does it matter if we don't buy the most recent edition?
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for the contract books, does it matter if we don't buy the most recent edition?
Personally, I'd recommend buying the latest edition. There have been a few landmark cases in the past few years for example ie penalties with the banks/ PE rule Saleh v Romanous etc etc
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ok thanks :)
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On the same note, which text books I should buy for Torts and Property? Cheers.
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On the same note, which text books I should buy for Torts and Property? Cheers.
Torts casebook isn't all that helpful but I suppose is good to have. Otherwise, Law of Torts in Australia by Cane Lunney and Trindade is excellent. Karinne Ludlow's book is good as well (should be on the recommended list). Finally the Buterworths tutorial series for Torts by Malkin and Davies (not to be confused with the torts book by Balkin and Davis) is really good.
For property all you need is the Casebook by Sackville and Neave - it is really good. For property A, I would also recommend Land Law by Webb and Stephenson - I don't think it is on the booklist but it is one of the best summary books for Prop A.
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Thank you Lynton :)
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Generally, do you (law students) recommend purchasing ebooks or regular books? I do like the ability to highlight as I go but I also don't want to have to lug around heavy material.
Another question - in terms of note-taking, would it be be better to write or type the notes? Again, I am usually one to write my notes but am wondering whether law will be different :)
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ebooks are useless for law because:
1) hard to highlight/underline/note which you will be doing a lot of
2) ebook prices are actually more expensive than the physical books because Monash students get a discount at Monash law book store
3) can't resell the ebook at the end of the year (you will be doing this - can recoup 75%+ of the purchase price).
Lugging the books around is definitely a pain but you don't need to take the heavy books to uni regularly and if you want to do some reading at uni you can always borrow the book from the library.
As for handwriting versus typing it is mostly personal preference so see what works for you. I'd say 80% of law students type their notes. There is a lot of information in each lecture so handwriting can be quite tiring and you may miss things because some lecturers can speak quite fast. On the other hand the exams are all handwritten and you need to be able to write super fast in exams so handwriting in lectures is good practice for that.
If you do go for typing I recommend you use OneNote (not available on mac) because it is really helpful for organising your law notes.
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For LAW7470, (Introduction to Legal Reasoning and Methods):
"Laying Down the Law" is an Additional Text and not prescribed. Was it the same for the undergraduate equivalent?
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Are notes the type of thing you really should be taking for Law? I preferred to just sit and watch the Arts lectures. Is tat feasible for high grades in Law, or should I be stocking up on jotter pads?
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You generally do need to take notes unless you plan on diligently doing all of the readings before lectures and taking good notes on them, in which case you could probably just sit back and take the lecture as a refresher. Then again, I've never not taken notes and I can't imagine not doing it, so maybe you just have a learning style that is beyond my comprehension :P
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Hahaha, thank you Ninwa. God. That's a tough choice. Either way I have to do something :(
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I have never taken notes in law lectures. (Which also means my attendance in law lectures is fairly slack).
I usually create my own set of notes that cover the key areas of the course.
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I have never taken notes in law lectures. (Which also means my attendance in law lectures is fairly slack).
I usually create my own set of notes that cover the key areas of the course.
Just based off the readings/your own research?
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Just based off the readings/your own research?
And notes from friends.
I never start a unit unless I've got a full set of notes from someone who has killed the unit previously.
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And notes from friends.
I never start a unit unless I've got a full set of notes from someone who has killed the unit previously.
Looks like I'm gonna make some friends, then. Ty Sam.
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Looks like I'm gonna make some friends, then. Ty Sam.
Let me know what units you're talking and I'll send you through the notes I've collated. :)
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Let me know what units you're talking and I'll send you through the notes I've collated. :)
I'll certainly do that when I do my timetable. Thank you very much!
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If you only go to one lecture, go to the end of semester one where they go through a past exam, because that's where you'll see exactly how they want you to apply the principles to the problem. One of my best marks was in a subject where (as usual) I didn't go to lectures or do any readings, but only listened to the final revision lectures. Between the 3 streams, the lecturers ended up going through 4 or 5 past exams which basically covered every single kind of problem that could possibly come up and a step by step approach to answering each one. I basically walked into the exam with those sample answers, changed the names/tweaked the circumstances a little to fit the exam question, and transcribed them. Least stressful exam ever. [PS: I strongly suggest you don't play Russian roulette with your marks like this, but if something comes up... like Further... then it's a strategy you can use.]
Another good thing about going to lectures is that often your lecturer will have a chip on their shoulder about a particular judgement (e.g. one of my lecturers last semester REALLY hated one of the previous high court justices) and if you can bring that up casually in the exam you might get bonus marks (because your lecturer marks your exam). I don't know exactly how well this works and it's not really that big of a deal if you work consistently throughout semester, but if you're like me, well you need all the tips you can get :P
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Just another question regarding books - what's the go with recommended books? Are they something worth purchasing or am I unlikely to ever reference them throughout semester? If it helps, I'm referring to the texts for criminal law and legal reasoning at Monash.
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I think for criminal law, they are useful.
I'd recommend getting Waller & Williams, Bronitt & McSherry, Clough & Mulhern and the Crimes Act.
They are all very useful, especially for policy questions, and they tend to refer to each other so it's good having them all.
I'd buy them second hand if you can find them, I bought all 4 second hand for around $200 all up :)
For ILR, probably not worth it IMO, just get the prescribed book.
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Anyone has The New Lawyer for sale? hahaha
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*bump*
Any recommendations for textbooks which would help me grasp the basic concepts of Law? I'm beginning in early 2015, and unfortunately I cannot get access to the current book list.
BTW, I'm assuming you watch Suits by your username. If you think law in real life is anything like Suits, you're gonna have a bad time.