tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26221053298336102922024-03-13T18:44:03.542+00:00Diary of a Pt LL.B StudentA collection of my experiences, thoughts, feelings and ideas about law, education and the challenges of life as a mature student.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-11500934296599407012014-06-13T23:10:00.000+01:002014-06-13T23:14:54.623+01:00They think it's all over. . . . IT IS NOW!!! So here we are, 6 years, 28 assignments, 22 exams and countless hours in the library later, I've done it. Two days ago I received an email from the university telling me my exam results were posted on-line. I can honestly say that I've never felt the same overwhelming mixture of joy and pride than after reading the following sentence. . . .<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">I refer to the recent examinations for the above named course and have pleasure in informing you that the award of BACHELOR OF LAWS with First Class Honours has been approved.</span></div>
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Happy days! </div>
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Getting a first took a fair bit of work and I've picked up a few tips along the way for anyone looking to do the same. Here's my top 3. . . . </div>
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First of all, deactivate your facebook account, no really, do it. It's a pointless time thief, you'll be better off without it, and when you see your friends and family in person you'll have a lot more to talk about. </div>
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Second, make an effort to get some work done early every day. I can't tell you how good it feels to have an hour of good study under your belt before breakfast, it's hard to get started but it pays dividends. </div>
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Third, look after yourself physically and emotionally: run, walk, go to the gym, play football, swim or whatever takes your fancy a couple of times a week, and try to make time for friends and family. If nothing else it'll keep you sane as the pressure builds. </div>
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Anyhoo, if you've got the honours year on the horizon put the work in and you'll do well. </div>
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Over and out, </div>
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Drew </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-76957728854866921832013-09-23T17:32:00.002+01:002013-09-23T17:33:00.376+01:00Credit where credits are due . . . . <div>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">As I sit writing this I'm on a train heading north, en route to meet my wee aunt Myra for a couple of days in Fort William, we'll take a stab at ascending Ben Nevis and no doubt have a good laugh while we're at it. The sun's shining outside and I'm feeling quite relaxed. That said, there's something tickling the back of my mind, it's telling me not to get too comfortable, which is probably a good thing. You see this trip is probably the last chance I'll get to relax for the next nine months. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">Next week I'm back to uni and for the following nine months I'll be Drew Long, honours student, law clinic advisor and part time croupier, in that order. It's going to be a lot of work and will mean that I don't have too much free time. One of the blessings of the way my uni does things is it allows me to make my work at the clinic directly relevant to my studies. As part of my honours syllabus I've chosen to study "Ethics and Justice", a class ran by the law clinic director, Prof. Donald Nicolson, which awards credits for integrating case work done at the clinic with reflective essays on the ethical implications and issues raised by the work. This class represents what I hope will be a perfect blend of the practical, theoretical and academic side of a career in law.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">I have been assured by other students that this is by no means an easy class, the reading list is extensive and the degree of weekly preparation required is not for the faint hearted. . . . challenge accepted! (I'll suit up if any of my cases go to court). Despite this I am looking forward to this class more than any other. I relish the prospect of being encouraged to look at real world, concrete examples of legal work, assessing it in terms of its ethical implications then looking at how this should affect legal practice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">I began my studies prior to the introduction of the clinical LL.B programme, something which I would have been very keen to be a part of. With this in mind I was delighted to find that this class, an integral part of the clinical LL.B, was open to those of us not on the the clinical programme. The ethos of the clinic is a good one and I'm proud to be involved with its work. By doing practical legal work for those unable to afford representation, then making an effort to view it dispassionately from a considered academic, ethical and moral point of view I hope to start forging a professional identity which I can be truly proud of. It surely can't be a bad thing that in so doing I can earn credits towards my degree.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-81453297897330803132013-09-07T14:38:00.001+01:002013-09-08T09:34:53.244+01:00Ding ding, round four<p dir="ltr">Now is the time, after a year of night school, three years of part time study, one year of full time study, 21 classes, 19 exams and 38000 words of assignments things are about to get serious. Yup, you guessed it, it's the dreaded honours year! </p>
<p dir="ltr">After all the blood, sweat, tears, assignments, moots, voluntary work & study sessions of the last few years I've now got to really pull it out the bag. If I'm going to become a solicitor or dare I say it, an advocate or lecturer one day I must ensure that every piece of work submitted this year is of the highest possible standard. Every mark counts, anything short of a 2:1 and I'll struggle to get a decent training contract and the faculty of advocates will forever be closed to me. </p>
<p dir="ltr">So what's the plan? Michelle Hynes has written a great blog post about the way to go about the dreaded dissertation. Time management seems key. With that in mind I've taken a few steps to free up some time for the coming year: I've stopped volunteering at CAB; I've told the mooting society that I'm taking a "gap year"; and I've made a point of getting all my "life admin" out of the way during the summer. </p>
<p dir="ltr">As far as the dissertation goes, in an effort to be super organised I had a topic in mind early in the year. I was going to focus on a piece of legislation which hadn't been published yet. Then, when the draft bill was published it was worded in such a way that it destroyed my plans. Dammit, back to the drawing board. Well almost. You see by planning early I had secured a supervisor, who has been extremely helpful in re-directing my thoughts and making sure my early work was not entirely in vain. </p>
<p dir="ltr">So here we are, T-minus 3 weeks until the beginning of term, the calendar's set up on the wall, I've tried to remove all unnecessary distractions and drains on my time. I'm feeling a peculiar mix of optimism and terror, which I recon is normal. It's time to get the "Rocky" music playing and dig in for the toughest academic year of my life. </p>
<p dir="ltr">I'd ask you to wish me luck, but I think luck has very little to do with it, this year's all about hard graft. . .</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-83303097057739146132013-04-17T13:29:00.000+01:002013-04-17T13:29:33.021+01:00Lessons form the 3rd sector . . . <h1 class="quoteText" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPkRdngEg885sKF2sNMpBwazYAzK2PWrn2Q2z5AAzLUQGb4qExktdkITtl0I8urqvROIt7aLK23q3vO3SDeCeLRJLF9F6vtCX3Jw7OaL-KgGdtcECYQOSwoCphZCi2Ao6rqw8lRRN7CEV/s1600/Theodore_Roosevelt_laughing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPkRdngEg885sKF2sNMpBwazYAzK2PWrn2Q2z5AAzLUQGb4qExktdkITtl0I8urqvROIt7aLK23q3vO3SDeCeLRJLF9F6vtCX3Jw7OaL-KgGdtcECYQOSwoCphZCi2Ao6rqw8lRRN7CEV/s1600/Theodore_Roosevelt_laughing.jpg" height="200" width="163" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”― </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/44567.Theodore_Roosevelt" style="color: #666600; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #666600; font-size: small; text-decoration: none;">Theodore Rooseve</span><span style="color: #666600; font-size: small; text-decoration: none;">lt</span></a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-P5vXC1qAQs7BrHBMrXgu5m5gF2HTD6QQqXx9JHMVKMSCvYBIfT-a81cofup25a1GnA-rs__1Q7TYSUbtZPbZYWwP2SSFglg3cLjqqbHO9MwEaWW9fGYJCjVoNXl0zy9CFML5ZYHQ1xk9/s1600/lc_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-P5vXC1qAQs7BrHBMrXgu5m5gF2HTD6QQqXx9JHMVKMSCvYBIfT-a81cofup25a1GnA-rs__1Q7TYSUbtZPbZYWwP2SSFglg3cLjqqbHO9MwEaWW9fGYJCjVoNXl0zy9CFML5ZYHQ1xk9/s1600/lc_logo.jpg" height="111" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-P5vXC1qAQs7BrHBMrXgu5m5gF2HTD6QQqXx9JHMVKMSCvYBIfT-a81cofup25a1GnA-rs__1Q7TYSUbtZPbZYWwP2SSFglg3cLjqqbHO9MwEaWW9fGYJCjVoNXl0zy9CFML5ZYHQ1xk9/s1600/lc_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I came across this famous snippet of a speech recently and it really struck a chord with me. With only a few (hopefully) short years left of law school and having done well so far, this year I decided to learn more about the law in action. It struck me that I could do this while helping people in a hopefully direct and meaningful way by joining the <a href="http://www.lawclinic.org.uk/">University of Strathclyde Law Clinic</a> and my local <a href="http://www.cablanarkshire.org.uk/bureaux/cambuslang.aspx">Citizens Advice Bureau</a>, so far I have nothing but good things to say about both. Both provide extensive and useful training and are highly professional, staffed by people who have a genuine interest in access to justice and social issues. I think this interest in community and access to justice are are extremely important. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the public perception of lawyers and those who work with the law can often be far form positive, but there are groups out there who are doing good work and helping people. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVn7BiL_ZLnc8wm8FCw4SUNvL4nm4JOnzCW7mJ3trTkdeVnIHvi3ssBsZ_e3Wb8tCMII-Sg-x-jivi6RXfQ-Pz-g5TMCQ38rlmclQ9wkfi9sA2lYD_OJwcrKxLqhyTk5QcLNg02stMCD5Z/s1600/CAB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVn7BiL_ZLnc8wm8FCw4SUNvL4nm4JOnzCW7mJ3trTkdeVnIHvi3ssBsZ_e3Wb8tCMII-Sg-x-jivi6RXfQ-Pz-g5TMCQ38rlmclQ9wkfi9sA2lYD_OJwcrKxLqhyTk5QcLNg02stMCD5Z/s1600/CAB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVn7BiL_ZLnc8wm8FCw4SUNvL4nm4JOnzCW7mJ3trTkdeVnIHvi3ssBsZ_e3Wb8tCMII-Sg-x-jivi6RXfQ-Pz-g5TMCQ38rlmclQ9wkfi9sA2lYD_OJwcrKxLqhyTk5QcLNg02stMCD5Z/s1600/CAB.jpg" height="122" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A real personal benefit of getting involved with these groups is learning about the law in action. After 4 years of studying law and countless hours buried in textbooks and case law I came to a stark realisation: I have no idea how to sue someone! No idea how to take an action to court, no idea how to appeal a decision of the court, I could tell you how the 'neighborhood principle' works, explain the law's approach to proportionality or the grounds under which someone may seek judicial review. I just don't know how to get the action to court in the first place. I'm sure this is the kind of thing that's dealt with during the Diploma in legal practice and the traineeship, (or is it PEAT 1&2 now? not 100% sure) but I'm kind of keen to find out! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another benefit is the work itself, since starting the law degree and returning to my trade, I've kind of gotten out of the habit of working in an office environment, trying to solve people's problems. I think that in the coming years, with the state of the economy along with the proposed changes to the benefit system and legal aid cuts there will be a mountain of people needing help from the likes of CAB and the Law Clinic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It all strikes me as a win-win, I benefit, the organisations benefit, and the wider community benefits, having some involvement in the charity sector can only be a good thing and I'd encourage anyone thinking about it to take the plunge and just do it . . . .</span></div>
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Horse meat lasagna tastes not bad, I'm pretty sure no-one worked out that there was a problem with the stuff based on taste. Same goes for the burgers I suppose, I doubt the current problem was flagged up because someone thought that their burger didn't taste bovine. I think the problem in most peoples mind centres around two things. One, we the good people of the UK are a bit squeamish about eating something that most of us would regard as one of the cute lovable animals, and two, more importantly we don't like being lied to. </div>
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It strikes me that in recent times we've seen scandal after scandal, this could well be the status quo and now that I'm a proper adult, politically aware and interested I've only just started to take notice. I don't think that's the case however. There has been scandal and political problems for as long as there's been people. It strikes me however that the majority of the problems in recent times, from phone hacking, MP's expenses and lies about WMD's in Iraq, to banks mis-selling and fixing the libor rate through to the recent horse meat scandal all revolve around the issue of honesty and trust. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hvx3TGLIf4e83cLxtlTFwF5_2__fvlIdkwB4a2YXE_aBz-Xc3-SIrODfc8LH1VVMY57CLLUrwMCOO3c4xKLITOgY3XFSL2aZCpBL14GwLbXLudPbXWtyLAtLGR-ZZcTKF4rfVOCD6kK3/s1600/Blackadder_s_back____and_now_he_s_a_greedy_banker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hvx3TGLIf4e83cLxtlTFwF5_2__fvlIdkwB4a2YXE_aBz-Xc3-SIrODfc8LH1VVMY57CLLUrwMCOO3c4xKLITOgY3XFSL2aZCpBL14GwLbXLudPbXWtyLAtLGR-ZZcTKF4rfVOCD6kK3/s320/Blackadder_s_back____and_now_he_s_a_greedy_banker.jpg" width="320" /></a>The purpose of the law is to regulate society, make sure we behave ourselves. It works pretty well when dealing with obviously criminal behaviour, thou shalt not stab people etc etc. It does however seem to be lacking when it comes to regulating the dishonest behaviour of those in power. There was a case of a successful conviction for fraud in Scotland where a man tricked a woman into sleeping with him by pretending to be her husband (William Fraser, 1847 ARC 280). Another case where fraud was held to have been committed was where a miner who changed the labels on a bag of coal to try and earn a bonus (Adcock v Archibald 1925 JC 58), he didn't get his bonus by the way, unlike the bankers. </div>
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So fraud can be relatively simply defined as "the bringing about of any practical result by false pretenses." It strikes me that fiddling your expenses might qualify, or lying to people to make them buy your financial products, or even telling people that they're eating cow rather than horse. I can't help but ask myself why, in these troubled times where dishonesty from above is causing so many problems, in so many industries, on such a grand scale, effecting the lives of so many, fraud convictions aren't going through the roof. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFgkwMq86nkmcU7bkkG8LhYiHIROeGvKubVxyuUtYeD2oY4I-nJfM0hOsu0Y1roH4f9cXVTxjbCTQrDobZnAUt80OWadu9k3Tkv6KXF2Qzx0FxIv2M1z_9oOKZZvrAjGMduxpRY_Z-v6T/s1600/fraud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFgkwMq86nkmcU7bkkG8LhYiHIROeGvKubVxyuUtYeD2oY4I-nJfM0hOsu0Y1roH4f9cXVTxjbCTQrDobZnAUt80OWadu9k3Tkv6KXF2Qzx0FxIv2M1z_9oOKZZvrAjGMduxpRY_Z-v6T/s200/fraud.jpg" width="200" /></a>I am aware that I may be oversimplifying things somewhat, but I do feel quite strongly that the law is failing in its role when it comes to the regulation of the behavior of those within a great many industries upon whom we rely daily. How long will we accept the justification of dishonesty under the banner of "every body else is doing it" or the <a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Nuremberg_defense">Nuremberg defense</a> when it comes to those acting within big corporations or blatantly hiding behind the <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/corporate-veil.html">corporate veil</a> to avoid any kind of personal responsibly? </div>
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Just some thoughts on the current state of affairs, I need to run, my dinner's on the table, Quorn lasagna tonight. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-425163270679046612013-02-16T01:28:00.002+00:002013-02-17T19:14:54.092+00:00Where am I going and how do I get there? So, here it is, the end of the first big chapter in my formal legal education is in sight.In about 3 months time, short of any major disasters I'll have enough credits to graduate as Mr Drew Long LL.B. It has taken 5 years, countless hours of study, a great many night-shifts in my 'day job', and about £10k. I've lived in 3 different places, won a mooting competition, volunteered with CAB, the University law clinic and a small criminal defense firm.<br />
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There's also a small part of me that feels in spite of this that the phrase 'arrested development' may be somehow applicable. In the time I've been chasing the law degree I've seen a great many friends get married, have kids, progress in their careers, get mortgages, divorce, etc etc, all the while i'm still at Uni, plodding away. So I suppose the big question is has it been worth while? Will I regret having put my life on hold to go back to School? I'm hoping not. </div>
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Trying to find work out in the big wide world is likely to be a bit of a challenge, so I'm thinking I'll have to stay on at Uni for another year at the very least to allow me to pop the word 'hons' on to the end of the LL.B. Then, after that the diploma in legal practice, assuming of course I want to become a solicitor or advocate, which at this point I'm pretty sure I do. </div>
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So what's next? I'm thinking I'm now hitting the point where the things start to get really tough, for two reasons; 1. The quest for a worthwhile honors classification, and 2. The hunt for the elusive training contract. </div>
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Number 1 I've got covered (I hope), basically it comes down to good old fashioned hard work. Number 2 sees to me to be the real problem. What to do then? I think there's two possible approaches, you can either go scatter-gun and apply for everything out there and hope for the best, or try very hard to focus your studies and energy on one particular area of interest. </div>
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My plan, for what it's worth is to go for all things criminal and take a stab at earning a training contract with the Crown Office. </div>
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Wish me luck . . . </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-71572660030983067542012-09-27T15:10:00.002+01:002012-09-27T15:17:53.339+01:00Problem Solving Courts<br />
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Last night I had to good fortune of being able to attend an event being ran by my University's <a href="http://www.strath.ac.uk/clcj">Centre for Law Crime and Justice</a> entitled Transforming Justice - Transforming Lives. The event centred around the idea of Problem Solving Courts and how they've been developed and used in certain parts of the USA from the early 1990's. Certain States, in a bid to take a more progressive approach to solving the specific problems caused by repeat offenders who for the most part commit minor offences on a regular basis. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">The American Problem Solving Courts take a variety of forms, from drug courts and domestic violence courts to mental health courts and take a different approach to traditional courts, giving the Judges a slightly different role from the norm. Traditionally in a conservative adversarial system, the Judge can almost be viewed as the umpire or referee, ensuring that the litigants both play fairly and the best man (best lawyer) wins, in problem solving courts the emphasis is on the best outcome and the judge will take a much greater interest in individual cases. Participation is voluntary, so those accused of a crime are given an option, would you like to go through to traditional court system or would you like to try to try the problem solving courts? </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-xKguXjNxMXHUFbxuyJHxeGw8OhMYgcLXkdmA9-g8xZcWU514F-tvPM3MW_uFFXXh4eDVa6MEHigL6GsqCSiHvkGHF8e5K7sf0DZi1tY5FQXd5pIk_7g1__8uVrQVIAkUy_ULqnN200j/s1600/Drug-Court.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-xKguXjNxMXHUFbxuyJHxeGw8OhMYgcLXkdmA9-g8xZcWU514F-tvPM3MW_uFFXXh4eDVa6MEHigL6GsqCSiHvkGHF8e5K7sf0DZi1tY5FQXd5pIk_7g1__8uVrQVIAkUy_ULqnN200j/s200/Drug-Court.jpg" width="200" /></a>This approach is important, as repeat offenders are often doing so because of specific underlying problems, such as psychosis or drug problems. With this in mind the Judge in a Problem Solving Court will be empowered to use drug rehab or psychological treatments as an alternative or addition to custodial sentences. Rather than seeing an accused once or twice they may see them ten or twenty times, ordering them to return to court regularly to check in. In certain circumstances, upon successful completion of a course of treatment, the person in question will 'graduate' from the program. </div>
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One of the key benefits of this is reduced rates of recidivism, one independent study found that in in two districts with comparable populations and socio-economic demographics the district with the Problem Solving courts had a 42% lower rate of recidivism. </div>
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This more compassionate helpful way of dealing with offenders strikes me as similar to the way that we in Scotland deal with child offenders via our Children's Panel system. Here children who have committed crimes are dealt with by the same system that deals with children who are victims of neglect and abuse, recognising that their problems often stem from similar root causes. This progressive approach to using the Judicial branch of the State to deal with the underlying causes and problems associated with crime, drug abuse and other social ills strikes me as the very much the way forward in terms of how we should think and act as a society when trying to deal with our collective problems and is a much more constructive approach than that of punishment alone. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-66587160451938733992012-09-06T13:26:00.002+01:002015-08-22T09:13:45.757+01:00Why Study Law?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwtq2yUxezjdlS4dOMAMaCkvBvRrJoQa26WKSJ9Z3250oPNYlaLdK1Wk1FSHdKFS6VcmD12NTHMwIUpHol2ta3ZmZZMHjyVFJ5SQCzbwnRRFoixK2p0x1diSSMoByh1fBaTA6Matc2QRGO/s1600/WHW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwtq2yUxezjdlS4dOMAMaCkvBvRrJoQa26WKSJ9Z3250oPNYlaLdK1Wk1FSHdKFS6VcmD12NTHMwIUpHol2ta3ZmZZMHjyVFJ5SQCzbwnRRFoixK2p0x1diSSMoByh1fBaTA6Matc2QRGO/s1600/WHW.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> So, after a hectic Uni year, with a ton of changes in my personal life alongside the academic challenge, working full time and fighting my way through my law school mooting competition, a good friend suggested a wee trip. The wee trip she suggested was walking the West Highland way. If you've not heard of the West Highland way, it's a 96 mile hike through the countryside of Scotland. The proposed schedule for the trip had us walking an average of 20 miles a day over a period of five days with the joy of camping by Loch Lomond for the first two days. It sounded to me like a great plan, so on the 3rd of June, 7 of us set of on our wee adventure. </span><br />
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As a poor student of limited means, this was my first holiday for years, it was also the longest period of time I've spent away from Glasgow for a quite some time time. The contrast between being on a lonely track in the middle of nowhere and city life really struck a chord with me. On the second day of the trip I fell into a conversation with one of my friends who works as an insurance underwriter and deals with large commercial projects. What we talked about was simple, the fiction of city life and modern society. </div>
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It's very hard to take an objective look at something while you're on the inside looking out, and I think this applies quite well to city living. Being away from the city, surrounded by nature, with no use for a car or cash for a few days really made me think about how we live today and the significance of both money and law. It strikes me that both money and law are convenient fictions, they are no more than tools to help society stay together. </div>
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I'm not an anarchist, I don't think we need to smash the system, nor do I think that capitalism is evil. What I do think however is that living in a city, we can't help but invest a great deal of time, effort and thought in dealing with moth money and the law (in our system the two are inseparably linked, just look at tax, insurance, shipping, commercial contracts, inheritance etc. etc.). I've come round to thinking that these things are no more than the tools we use for social cohesion, they exist to serve us and allow us to be safe and expect a certain standard of life and a certain standard of behaviour from one another. </div>
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Following this I can't help but think that law, from both a substantive and theoretical point of view, is one of the most interesting things I could have chosen to study. Law represents the rules and regulations by which society functions, as defined by society, what's more these rules and standards continue to develop and evolve. How exciting, with this in mind I can't help but end with a wee quote . . . </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tEwYSohe6vrBeXBleRSefdVrbQSX8a7mdmnA1wFOjfv-pM8ebNMAV4TVHHZJ3YoSrtr09Yo2Uzh9L6etkwD8FAP0meRdaVGsLPeaRkRywqR_T_tQ57Ei9ZEzTh8Bs8yu84DYw6ojZwQE/s1600/Jerryseinfeld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tEwYSohe6vrBeXBleRSefdVrbQSX8a7mdmnA1wFOjfv-pM8ebNMAV4TVHHZJ3YoSrtr09Yo2Uzh9L6etkwD8FAP0meRdaVGsLPeaRkRywqR_T_tQ57Ei9ZEzTh8Bs8yu84DYw6ojZwQE/s200/Jerryseinfeld.jpg" width="159" /></a><span style="background-color: white;">To me, a lawyer is basically the person that knows the rules of the country. We're all throwing the dice, playing the game, moving our pieces around the board, but if there is a problem the lawyer is the only person who has read the inside of the top of the box. - Jerry Seinfeld</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-8776949273905453902012-05-28T19:10:00.000+01:002015-08-22T09:16:41.544+01:00Told you I'd be back . . .<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXwHMXqRU-Xt5OPU8Jjv3cdqa5W8u2COnIMtAC5238WWx48uB8B9GHXls-SCv8cobbVjf9tDqQX-yZk44AGEYxk_Ens8Ql7fitUPvfQz11JKo2wQe5SuDK0OpQekugpnojV-k6k_MtWd36/s1600/Prize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXwHMXqRU-Xt5OPU8Jjv3cdqa5W8u2COnIMtAC5238WWx48uB8B9GHXls-SCv8cobbVjf9tDqQX-yZk44AGEYxk_Ens8Ql7fitUPvfQz11JKo2wQe5SuDK0OpQekugpnojV-k6k_MtWd36/s1600/Prize.jpg" /></a>So, In an <a href="http://drewlawngptllb.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/lets-have-look-at-what-you-couldve-won.html">earlier post</a>, probably about 14 months ago, I shared with the world the torment, pain and suffering that stems from being knocked out of my Uni mooting competition at the quarter final stage. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'm proud to announce that you are now reading the words of the 2011-12, Strathclyde university mooting Champion. Whoop Whoop!<br />
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The whole experience has been great and I can highly recommend it to anyone studying law. I could probably come up with hundreds of reasons to get involved in mooting, but here are my top 5, in no particular order. </div>
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1. You'll learn how to do legal research much more quickly and effectively</div>
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2. You'll meet and get to know other bright hard working law students</div>
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3. If you do well you'll put yourself on the radar of the senior lectures at your school</div>
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4. Your public speaking skills and confidence will grow</div>
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5. Your group work skill will come on in leaps and bounds</div>
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I signed up for mooting off my own back, without a partner in mind. So both years where I've competed I've been assigned one by the mooting society. The partners I've had could not have been more different. In my first year my partner was in her early twenty's highly academic, quiet and extremely hard working. My partner this year was a larger than life, mature student with bags of life experience but very little experience of law from an academic point of view, (when we met at first she was only 3 weeks into her LL.B). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJTB4Htj7udLfffOf6MhbW3gi6WkIB6PDYnbfRs6rUouYA8jl5Wh-U4kwWjhlPKOUocQuNKQihyphenhyphenCMVJPzQfIc9D-R2tHQlLRPaQd9FCmtdcMsiYChgDBOctvMJKu2JxB7LeBx2Si3ZYGh/s1600/moot+final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJTB4Htj7udLfffOf6MhbW3gi6WkIB6PDYnbfRs6rUouYA8jl5Wh-U4kwWjhlPKOUocQuNKQihyphenhyphenCMVJPzQfIc9D-R2tHQlLRPaQd9FCmtdcMsiYChgDBOctvMJKu2JxB7LeBx2Si3ZYGh/s320/moot+final.jpg" width="320" /></a>In the first competition I learned a lot about court etiquette, legal research, public speaking and presentation skills. The biggest thing I've learned this time around has been how to be a better partner. My relationship with my partner this year was pretty tumultuous, we've worked really well at times, we've also came close to falling out at times and been at each others throats. I have learned that when you're working in a close relationship with someone it's extremely important that you learn to trust and rely on each other. You have to be flexible and reliable in equal measure, but most of all, the big thing, the key, the holy grail of good teamwork is, probably has always been and always will be . . . communication. I must admit that this hasn't always been my strong suit. There have been times where I've been guilty of being slow to reply to emails, answer calls and text messages. It's no coincidence that at these times, the tensions have mounted and things have gotten a little less productive. In preparation for the mooting final, I made a point of speaking to my partner everyday and letting her know what I was thinking, where I was at and where I thought she should be. As a consequence, the final of the competition, in the High Court in Glasgow, where we were being judged by Lord MacKay, in front of all the senior lectures from the law school, somehow felt a great deal LESS stressful than some of the moots we did in earlier rounds of the competition. </div>
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Anyhoo, this is my wee celebratory post, I couldn't be happier about winning, for any number of reasons, not least of which being that Prof. Poustie, the head of my law School asked me represent the Uni in external competitions next year. Watch this space . . . </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-32101888612602666352012-04-20T04:47:00.001+01:002015-08-22T09:19:17.188+01:00If you're going through hell . . . keep going!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6dkITpgsnK1osaHdycFqoQn153NhMNOAoL1SIkh0bYpyFpw8GEg90j0tgpQ4aT-wQq7yJG-5Rdp-VCKqudU9s2v2-wMLmMwFEzdxxqdFBlb9WFahFYtYD2_YCQOD5EYiNqecEoXey79F/s1600/stressed+student.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6dkITpgsnK1osaHdycFqoQn153NhMNOAoL1SIkh0bYpyFpw8GEg90j0tgpQ4aT-wQq7yJG-5Rdp-VCKqudU9s2v2-wMLmMwFEzdxxqdFBlb9WFahFYtYD2_YCQOD5EYiNqecEoXey79F/s1600/stressed+student.jpg" /></a><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">There's no mistake, I smell that smell, it's that time of year again . . . What time of year is that I hear you say? Why it's exam time of course! So here we are, 3 weeks from the day when exams start, throw into the mix the fact that I've made it into the final of the <a href="http://www.mootingnet.org.uk/whatis.html">mooting </a>competition, and am going to be working 40 hrs per week between now and then. I'm thinking that smell I can smell is the smell of fear! </span></div>
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How do I, In 3 short weeks, do the reading for the moot, put together my submissions, construct a coherent framework for my subjects in my head to give me enough ammunition to pass, while working a full time job? The thing is, after 3 years of doing this, while the fear has kicked in, it's became a familiar sensation! </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">When I was an energetic first year student, really up for the challenge of learning as much as I could and cramming every possible case into my head, I had a chat with a <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/McAttard">friend </a>who had also went back to Uni as an adult learner. He looked at me with a smile saying 'I remember feeling like that' and told me about how it had all became a process for him. I vowed never to get that way, to maintain my enthusiasm, it hasn't gone down that way! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOInQEYu0QeImQnSkU11fekVEmdSI7jtQwzXQFWsbTvN1nv8LXuEISHDVp02WkcJ2bxvOuFp-JA9s4kNGXqP0vypHIu3APHxYjaKvnhfM2jAyzgypbwMaxw8W1FtGqS-06bkalTWA9EF_/s1600/wig+%2526+books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOInQEYu0QeImQnSkU11fekVEmdSI7jtQwzXQFWsbTvN1nv8LXuEISHDVp02WkcJ2bxvOuFp-JA9s4kNGXqP0vypHIu3APHxYjaKvnhfM2jAyzgypbwMaxw8W1FtGqS-06bkalTWA9EF_/s1600/wig+%2526+books.jpg" /></a><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">I've now got to a point where I'm almost comfortable, I know that I can squash a fair amount of information into my head in a relatively short period of time. I know that I've got a pretty solid framework in my head of legal concepts and principles on which to hang the different ideas, I also know a few memory techniques that allow me to memorise case names and details relatively quickly. So I must reluctantly admit that it's became a bit of a process, but maybe that's a part of what law schools are designed to teach us. I'm thinking a big part of the law school, or even the general university experience is about learning more than just the 'black and white' aspects of your subject.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">I now feel like I've learned some real skills, how to use my mind, commit things to memory with relative ease, to process information quite quickly and manipulate ideas and concepts, maybe that's what the eduction's all about. Learning skills and developing your mind seems to me to be every bit as important as learning the substantive elements of my course. Now I can absolutely see where my friend was coming from when he was talking about studying and learning, it <i>is </i>a process, a series of techniques, a skill-set, and far from being a bad thing I embrace it. Without that process and skill set, I wouldn't stand a chance of passing my upcoming exams or getting through my next moot, which I'm excited to say is the final of the my university's competition, held at the High Court in Glasgow. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">I'd ask you to wish me luck but I think luck's got precious little to do with it . . . .</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-25222965008443786032012-04-15T23:51:00.000+01:002012-04-19T03:12:56.435+01:00The paper free project: How'd it go??<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4X0tQDOE24Gc3znpy24gNK6qZGG4D41vcRBhdunamJEe9koKVZKjKdKzkkQNKQ6-cuj0CELbnpnZi03dyiFjFtZEFMotRGMb2unDmdSzbSAqHoKPdTEATTRhZyMDuAXVpEB3klztOvSt/s1600/netbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4X0tQDOE24Gc3znpy24gNK6qZGG4D41vcRBhdunamJEe9koKVZKjKdKzkkQNKQ6-cuj0CELbnpnZi03dyiFjFtZEFMotRGMb2unDmdSzbSAqHoKPdTEATTRhZyMDuAXVpEB3klztOvSt/s200/netbook.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">So, here I am, 3 weeks away from my exams, just won the semi-final of the internal mooting competition and as yet I haven't printed a single piece of paper for Uni, (the only exception being the bundles of authorities which I've had to submit to my judges in a moot). The question is, would I consider my paper-free semester as having been a success? will I be doing it again? and was it difficult to maintain the commitment to being paper-free. </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">Well, first comes the confession . . . . I broke one of my rules . . . . I deserve a slap on the wrists. A change in personal circumstances has saw me in a position where I now have to spend a lot more of my life commuting, which in turn means I've not been spending all the quality time that I had planned in the library. I'm sad to say, I folded, I bought some books, which made it a lot easier to study from home. Aside from that I've been paper free, I've not printed off any class handbooks, not written anything on paper and not printed anything out. My wee net-book has followed me to every class, tutorial, moot and study session and has been more than enough, not to mention much less cumbersome than paper. </span></div>
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1. <a href="http://www.evernote.com/">Evernote</a> - a brilliant cloud based piece of note-taking software</span></div>
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2. <a href="https://www.sugarsync.com/">Sugarsync</a> -another cloud service which synchronises folders form my netbook with folders on my home pc, my android phone and on-line account. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">Combined with my wee netbook, android phone and home pc, Evernote and Sugarsync have been perfect. One of the big bonuses about using evenrote is that it allows me to make audio recordings of my lectures using my phone and save the audio files into the typed notes I've taken, great for revision. Also if like me you don't mind sharing, you can email a copy of your lecture notes to anyone from within evernote, dynamite for the times when your study buddy misses a class. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">So, has it been a success? yes definitely!</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">Was it difficult to maintain the paper-free commitment? Not at all, after the first few weeks it became second nature. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Tahoma;">I'd highly recommend that anyone interested in grossly simplifying their lives, take the time to learn how to properly use a few cloud based systems like evernote and sugarsync, learn to type and get over the fear of reading from a screen. I've found the whole process quite liberating and am highly unlikely to ever go back! </span></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-27393142630924411312011-12-06T22:42:00.004+00:002012-01-07T07:11:22.801+00:00The Paper Free Semester Project - Rules<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSPsOBH8XOB8ZKxTy3EjVw198g0EP2OTyhMQv8BYaE3qs_xGUY8UGms0WoJqtjs61TO43hAnO7_ekyA6y7HNik8UbyHaDLDxcRSEy35LOYGXISEaKGqG6YYCui3INMvXQQPx9D45jpSLl/s1600/rules.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSPsOBH8XOB8ZKxTy3EjVw198g0EP2OTyhMQv8BYaE3qs_xGUY8UGms0WoJqtjs61TO43hAnO7_ekyA6y7HNik8UbyHaDLDxcRSEy35LOYGXISEaKGqG6YYCui3INMvXQQPx9D45jpSLl/s1600/rules.jpg" /></a><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">If I'm gonna go paper-free next semester I'll need to lay down some ground rules, I'm also going to have to have a think about what tools I'm going to use. So, first things first the rules . . . . </span><br />
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<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">1. No printing, of anything, no cases, photocopies, essay drafts, nothing.</span></div>
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<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">2. If I'm doing any group work, and the group needs anything I give it to them electronically.</span></div>
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<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">So far so good, now comes the tricky part, can I make any exceptions? Does buying books count? I like buying course books, sorry that's not true, I like having a copy of at least one of the major textbooks that go with my course (parting with my hard earned cash I don't like so much). So, do I make an exception to the rule and let myself buy one book per class? Or, do I just tough it out and use the library for all my research and reading? I'm pretty sure most of the Scottish legal textbooks don't come in kindle format (yet), so I'm faced with a dilemma. </span><br />
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<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">My gut feeling is that I can't really claim to be paper-free if I'm buying two books, each of which is the size of a yellow pages, per semester. With that in mind I'm gonna try to go book-free too. This should mean more library time, which can only be a good thing! Should I or could I have any exceptions to my rule? Thinking my way through a typical semester the only place where I think I would absolutely need to print anything would be when I'm preparing my bundle for the Judge at a moot. So there it is the rules in a nutshell, no paper, no books, the only exception is at a moot. I've got my rules, now I need to have a think about the tools, watch this space . . . </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-64406350635546831672011-12-04T22:22:00.015+00:002012-01-09T01:12:35.383+00:00Same Sex Marriage, go on you know you want to!<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOI7BNEMlpmon3oZve5cf_ga2zkzmuyA5iaJsihlHVSKnsseJPrRcXUpaIxqyCUfiBhdeJHHA7KyvhYqNP8dAlpZsPOjg4aPV2WrnCPk-ty-gOkh2QGra8z_SWVqHxn3hhlrtiLAgOajPp/s1600/marriage+portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOI7BNEMlpmon3oZve5cf_ga2zkzmuyA5iaJsihlHVSKnsseJPrRcXUpaIxqyCUfiBhdeJHHA7KyvhYqNP8dAlpZsPOjg4aPV2WrnCPk-ty-gOkh2QGra8z_SWVqHxn3hhlrtiLAgOajPp/s320/marriage+portrait.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Following a recent bit of chat on twitter where I found the 140 character limit, well, limiting I thought i'd do a wee blog post about my feelings on same sex marriage, so here it is, in a nutshell. I can't help but think that the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church are just plain wrong about how same-sex marriage could be damaging to society. Their desire to protect and defend 'traditional' marriage strikes me as ridiculous and is to my mind a fine place to start.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnCnEtrYRB8DUq_xkRC_NGhe9bceBw5SodJ14GQVwNsbTRIiAD4t6ikzoczi-7eSNZXJkK2zQgniPfDz-SMJVH6_v8yHGqTnaqkTTBKUKzBwAunMQwXFb-JQUC1GwOQ49UmfzTHTLGbhJ/s1600/traditional+marriage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnCnEtrYRB8DUq_xkRC_NGhe9bceBw5SodJ14GQVwNsbTRIiAD4t6ikzoczi-7eSNZXJkK2zQgniPfDz-SMJVH6_v8yHGqTnaqkTTBKUKzBwAunMQwXFb-JQUC1GwOQ49UmfzTHTLGbhJ/s400/traditional+marriage.jpg" width="400" /></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As far as I can see, the idea of traditional marriage is dying in this country and rightly so. Women are no longer given away by their fathers in any real sense of the word. Traditional marriage was about transferring ownership and responsibility for the poor hapless woman, from the hands of her father to those of a new man who could take care of her, look after her finances etc. Then there's the ceremonial traditions, how many modern brides can claim that their white dress reflects their virginal purity? This is all before getting into the fact that marital rape was only properly outlawed in Scotland in 1989, I'll say it again folks, 1989! I could go on citing many examples of what 'traditional' marriage is, and what is represented by the various parts of the wedding ceremony along with the legal status of the participants, but what I'm getting at is that the idea of traditional marriage is not a good one. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What does make sense, and good social policy is to recognise what marriage means now, and why people get married in this day and age. I've had the pleasure of attending five weddings this year along with a civil partnership ceremony. All of which were beautiful and all of which I was glad to have been a part of. Having seen so many friends tie the knot recently and having big conversations with the happy couples about their aspirations, hopes and dreams I can honestly say that all the couples I'm friendly with have married for love and the desire to have a lifelong companion. None of them married for any reason other than a firm desire to be together, forever, sharing their lives by forming their own little family unit. This is right and true and decent and good and powerful and a thing to be encouraged. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqkUZA5O2jVafnQOHSQjJv5xJItem2FunxtLBpuC3Vlw7fWPDaX3QkWl874K4Kb_6B1Zl4CprUdO6ioHUWbGTqpT0qLzn0k6ERCeqv-flw2T4XGUCH4tUjiOpGJJSuzET4Jb8gKMu5dLZ/s1600/M%2526P.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqkUZA5O2jVafnQOHSQjJv5xJItem2FunxtLBpuC3Vlw7fWPDaX3QkWl874K4Kb_6B1Zl4CprUdO6ioHUWbGTqpT0qLzn0k6ERCeqv-flw2T4XGUCH4tUjiOpGJJSuzET4Jb8gKMu5dLZ/s320/M%2526P.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is not traditional marriage, there were no dowries, or transfer of estates. None of the participants lost their virginity on their wedding night. All of them lived together prior to their wedding, and all of them made an informed, adult decision to commit to a life together through thick and thin, for the rest of their days. This is not traditional marriage, this is modern marriage and it is a beautiful heart-warming thing. Why then would we as a society have any problem with allowing every consenting adult in the country to make this decision regardless of gender or sexual orientation? </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The opposition from religious groups tends to centre around a few key arguments, which strike me as misguided, ill informed nonsense and feels like they're clutching at straws.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First comes the idea that allowing same-sex marriage could put off heterosexual couples from getting married. This is my favourite, because it's so ridiculous it's actually laughable. I can't imagine any couple, ever, when planning to make a lifelong commitment to one another, living in a society where civil partnership is lawful, giving even a nanosecond’s consideration to what any other couple is up to, or allowed to do in law, regardless of their sexual orientation. Couples getting married, do so thinking only of each other and their future together, nothing else!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then there's the idea that the 'equality agenda' is out to get the church and they'll eventually be forced to marry gay couples. No one can be compelled to perform a marriage ceremony, and the new legislation won't change that. Anyway, what couple in their right mind would choose to be wed by a dour faced, disapproving homophobic priest being forced against his will to perform a ceremony? C'mon now guys get real! </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If I'm honest, as a heterosexual man I'd like the option to enter into a civil partnership with a woman. I like the idea of deciding to spend my life with someone and having the ability to enter into a relationship which is legally designed to be a relationship of equals, a partnership. There are parts of the world today where marriage is akin to slavery, with the woman becoming for all intents and purposes the property of her husband, while that's no longer the case in this country I'm not too keen on carrying on the tradition. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">All that said I’m just scratching the surface, however I can't help but think that anyone who wants to make a lifelong commitment to their partner in a loving, consensual adult relationship should absolutely be allowed to do so, in addition it should not only be endorsed by the state, but actively encouraged! </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-10980454461895230602011-12-03T15:37:00.002+00:002012-01-07T07:12:10.160+00:00The Paper Free Semester Project<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswicjNvYSnLlze8906RPo2h3ePmySIPo6dwsbgIasHdYWsqBU5MvgxoHA0dNvVIa0GO13fgg2cupoPbAZOGAeKSC3FLehMz3ieURn937nJl7gYzKGaMTNkReblHeQ3DIKI2eoYCPkxSyH/s1600/XMAS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswicjNvYSnLlze8906RPo2h3ePmySIPo6dwsbgIasHdYWsqBU5MvgxoHA0dNvVIa0GO13fgg2cupoPbAZOGAeKSC3FLehMz3ieURn937nJl7gYzKGaMTNkReblHeQ3DIKI2eoYCPkxSyH/s200/XMAS.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">It's that time of year again, the time when consumerism goes wild in the celebration of that most beloved of holidays, Christmas! I love it, love seeing family, love the big get together and the meal, the odd whisky or two with uncle Dave, the younger family members playing with their new toys and the whole family getting cosy in front of the TV watching a DVD to round it off. This year however thoughts of Christmas gave way to thoughts of technology, picture the scene, it's pay-day, late November, and I realise there's Christmas shopping to be done, gifts to be bought and the likes. So in order to make sure I get through it all, without forgetting anyone, I whip out my mobile and quickly create a tick list on my "Due Today" app, get dressed and head to work. On my tea-break I pull out my phone and am reminded of the shopping that needs to be done, so I pop open my eBay and Amazon apps, and within 20 minutes, I've got though about a third of my Christmas shopping. The experience made me smile, and made me think about one of my favourite gifts from last year, my Kindle, and just how much time I've spent using it this year.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQx1uXyPEhI0IexJ8gx0A757zut3Qay53nLYxLaknCzZR1Rbbd-M1ANILP6xqcO2EwuCs7qsjlAswtn70jxHT598hhDtthwD266tZLXOXqnIlP8SmZ4WQxymiIBjAphuLb1KbRYIIXS6k8/s1600/htc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQx1uXyPEhI0IexJ8gx0A757zut3Qay53nLYxLaknCzZR1Rbbd-M1ANILP6xqcO2EwuCs7qsjlAswtn70jxHT598hhDtthwD266tZLXOXqnIlP8SmZ4WQxymiIBjAphuLb1KbRYIIXS6k8/s200/htc.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Reflecting on my much loved Kindle, along with how useful I find my recently acquired smart-phone and the fact that I've started taking lecture notes on my netbook, I've had a wee thought. Can I get myself through the rest of my law degree without printing off another sheet of paper? I'm betting that I can, especially with the help of some hi-tech toys. So here it is, my challenge to myself, the paper-free semester Project. I'll run a wee thread in my blog about how I get on, and the tools I use to do it! Wish me luck . . . . </span><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-54148902317295575782011-11-28T16:24:00.002+00:002011-12-05T23:45:53.555+00:00Apparently I'm a Slasher . . .<div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSXosCpRV7S8vPqJlcIr0nhnCJTMHOXbjfqlLSq1oWUoKaXyPtvPGc8fB1TAQlhD3rp1fN9fescUeb4sp8fcvdnsZjJ4Q-j2k03ntX0z6CMLqylLoVOM-MmjUCvquYrkobMBb0ph2dyhO/s1600/Slasher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSXosCpRV7S8vPqJlcIr0nhnCJTMHOXbjfqlLSq1oWUoKaXyPtvPGc8fB1TAQlhD3rp1fN9fescUeb4sp8fcvdnsZjJ4Q-j2k03ntX0z6CMLqylLoVOM-MmjUCvquYrkobMBb0ph2dyhO/s200/Slasher.jpg" width="176" /></a>Rumour has it that if you can categorise yourself like this: Student/croupier/mooter/partner/swimmer you might be a slasher too! This idea and it's dramatic name, (believe me I don't feel like a baddie in a low budget horror) caught my attention recently and got me thinking. I've done a lot of different jobs in my life for a lot of different people, in environments as varied as casinos, cruise ships, offices and luxury hotels, I've been a sales manager, croupier and auctioneer and now find myself ½ way through my law degree, working full time to pay for it, all the while trying to have some kind of life. It's not always easy, in fact it gets quite hard at times! </div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-LlTFYWswzSz30ny_PLN9rPW5wIBhEnGqx37HEukdU4oXl5ZgNO4Mt_Jev4OeZBocxey87kRROiA2ZpYQXomaJMmfuyma90bBPD7z6cWlU0uSBMd_NFU15bUjHHbbrSByZagugF4JYpt/s1600/juggler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-LlTFYWswzSz30ny_PLN9rPW5wIBhEnGqx37HEukdU4oXl5ZgNO4Mt_Jev4OeZBocxey87kRROiA2ZpYQXomaJMmfuyma90bBPD7z6cWlU0uSBMd_NFU15bUjHHbbrSByZagugF4JYpt/s200/juggler.jpg" width="168" /></a></div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">It's for this reason that I try to find ways and means of making it easier. Why make life any more difficult than it has to be, right? Saying that I didn't need to go back to university, or take on any of the extra responsibilities that I have and they all make life more difficult than it has to be, I digress. With all these fun little extras not to forget the major events such as work and Uni how do we best become a successful 'slasher'? (Believe me when I say I'm wincing every time I use the term, it's almost as bad as saying I'll be taking a 'proactive approach' implementing 'blue-sky' thinking, I'm not a fan of management speak, it all strikes me as a bit Orwellian). So my top tips for successful slashing, or to use a less scary adjective/metaphor, juggling, are en-route, it's all about being organised and having a bit of self discipline. </div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwmEuWRWkVouyME4-ow5gCjYaIVSbK84LKlrE9bUt8KBSFfgohMQaAAJtfSVfWnTHea_LR-SPAM3ogYSa6fOdYT_eEwEM75NHbA_5IiJbttqLr2WxCuAfnbzJNJj7E5JQ3tVJZmUk9i40/s1600/palm_tungsten_e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwmEuWRWkVouyME4-ow5gCjYaIVSbK84LKlrE9bUt8KBSFfgohMQaAAJtfSVfWnTHea_LR-SPAM3ogYSa6fOdYT_eEwEM75NHbA_5IiJbttqLr2WxCuAfnbzJNJj7E5JQ3tVJZmUk9i40/s200/palm_tungsten_e.jpg" width="171" /></a></div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Once upon a time I had a busy job and a fancy pda machine, I relied on it for everything, one day it broke and my life collapsed. On that day, or at the very least on a day not long after (when the tears of rage and the pain of loss had subsided) I rushed out and bought myself a wee paper diary. Which was awesome, paper doesn't crash, lose your files etc, etc. This was how it went for a good few years until a few happy months ago when I got my first proper smart-phone. I now have in my pocket at all times the perfect tool for keeping on top of everything. With the use of a few cracking apps, I find myself able to organise my life and also get some degree of reading and work done away from home and on my breaks at work, happy days! </div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The apps I'd most recommend are:</div><ol><li><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.infraware.co.kr/eng/01_product/product17.asp">Polaris Office</a>: lets you read and edit documents spreadsheets and power-point files</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/english-dictionary-wordnet/com.socialnmobile.dictdata.dictionary.english.wordnet3">Wordnet</a>: an excellent free dictionary app</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=c30pjddex3yfx&utm_source=txemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=referral">Sugarsync</a>: Lets you send and pick up your files from any computer you use, </div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/due-today/com.lakeridge.DueToday">Due Today</a>: An excellent to do list app, which also lets you set reminders </div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/touch-calendar-free/uk.co.olilan.touchcalendar.trial">Touch Calendar</a>: A brilliant calendar app which can bring together existing calendars into a single diary allowing you to edit them. </div></li>
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</div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I find that with these few programs along with the standard email and internet options available with most smart-phones today it's very easy to keep track of everything and make sure you're on top of all your responsibilities. The only occasional problem is battery life, for that reason I’ve almost always got a USB cable with me that'll let me charge my phone from any computer with a USB port. </div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Anyhoo, busy busy, off to work then I've got an assignment to submit! </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-30621335146573861022011-11-20T15:01:00.003+00:002011-11-23T23:09:24.444+00:00Procrastination, Dusty Tomes and Hi-Tech toys<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaY6ywn-gM_bo91LojDnp7NvEwXP0rf5JoLamq5vnFCFAUSVQSS7snIwMSYyp92y9wyd4mQhW4NZsE6TugeFcJwNc02zpvDE4PsMxdx1SfUXqpIg7rpO783cZNJI3hyIpgdblNQRJvHoVB/s1600/antique-books.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaY6ywn-gM_bo91LojDnp7NvEwXP0rf5JoLamq5vnFCFAUSVQSS7snIwMSYyp92y9wyd4mQhW4NZsE6TugeFcJwNc02zpvDE4PsMxdx1SfUXqpIg7rpO783cZNJI3hyIpgdblNQRJvHoVB/s200/antique-books.jpeg" width="200" /></a>Having a few minor computer problems and struggling to find the motivation to work at home has seen me actually drag myself out of the house this week in order to go to University. That's right, no Westlaw, no printing things off, no reading cases from a computer screen or kindle, I've actually been in to the library, found the law section, and blew the dust off of a few good old fashioned books . . . and I’ve quite enjoyed it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBTiRnueV0w8J2rWMcmkKQgrN2MsP-Kh08cjoET51dKfhVBMNLBiJgE4-ggIVfI44DMYadL04DJysf_GKZ-jfiKRR4kCNxlS_QdNBjoN28x9CGG0_OeNBPJsP2RejgKYR16MKnktzGibjh/s1600/marshall_mcluhan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBTiRnueV0w8J2rWMcmkKQgrN2MsP-Kh08cjoET51dKfhVBMNLBiJgE4-ggIVfI44DMYadL04DJysf_GKZ-jfiKRR4kCNxlS_QdNBjoN28x9CGG0_OeNBPJsP2RejgKYR16MKnktzGibjh/s200/marshall_mcluhan.jpg" width="175" /></a>I <a href="http://drewlawngptllb.blogspot.com/2011/02/modern-learning-webcasts-v-lectures.html">posted earlier this year</a> about the difference between live lectures and webcasts, and the idea that going to Uni should be about <i>going to</i> Uni. It seems I’ve been a little lazy, I’d been going to lectures but not spending a great deal of time anywhere else on the campus, which I now regret immensely! Spending the time in the library, reading the cases from the musky old books makes me feel a great deal more connected to the material. I must confess that it’s a new experience for me to be able to smell the material I’m reading, there’s something very warm and a great deal less sterile about reading cases and journal articles on paper, old, old paper as opposed to the screen of my (much loved) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle">kindle</a>. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I must stress at this point my love of technology, I’ve got a fancy top of the line android phone, and later this month I’m planning on ditching my netbook in favour of a<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asus_transformer"> tablet/netbook hybrid machine</a>, I love <a href="https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=c30pjddex3yfx&utm_source=txemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=referral">cloud storage</a> and <a href="http://www.spotify.com/uk/start/?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=start">Spotify</a>. I’ve dabbled in <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Linux</a>, was the first of my friends to own a kindle, do most of my shopping via the <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/">eBay</a> app on my phone and am a bit of a <a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com/">tweet deck</a> junkie. I’m just starting to think that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan">Marshall McLuhan</a>’s much quoted <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message">‘the medium is the message’</a> is becoming more and more true today. We’re more and more excited about the fancy phone and the fact that it can do cool things than we are about the value that those things can bring to our lives. I’ve been reading <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Are-Not-Gadget-Manifesto/dp/1846143411">You are Not a Gadget: a Manifesto</a> by <a href="http://www.jaronlanier.com/">Jaron Lanier</a> and think some of his ideas are brilliant, for example, by endlessly re-tweeting the opinions or stories of others you’re nothing more than a mirror, reflecting the thoughts of another. Lanier is a champion for the creation of original content, which is something I whole-heartedly approve of. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHIwhsK5Bv6jlEXw1NnP6iixg1pD2w8o8xnUbuzc25W01enk-OKxjw_6ovelun1s41-CayonVghX8BEIG99FE3ye6qby2zZfoROqlglNpKPws38r9dp9MCSC-6L__Ml1MKYDtOt5JAf6-/s1600/kindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHIwhsK5Bv6jlEXw1NnP6iixg1pD2w8o8xnUbuzc25W01enk-OKxjw_6ovelun1s41-CayonVghX8BEIG99FE3ye6qby2zZfoROqlglNpKPws38r9dp9MCSC-6L__Ml1MKYDtOt5JAf6-/s1600/kindle.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">I suppose what I’m getting at, without trying to overly romanticise things is that reading law, reading anything for that matter is about communication. The tools we use to communicate are more and more often becoming hi-tech, and it’s easy to get lost in the joy of the toy rather than find the time to really engage with the material. I’ve found that by switching off the screen and reading from the dusty, musky book, which doesn’t have any functions other than the communication of information, I’ve gained a little something. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That said, I did write this while I was supposed to be working on an essay and if you’re reading this you’ll probably be doing so from a screen . . . </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-12056441572935867152011-09-15T12:28:00.000+01:002011-09-15T12:29:00.091+01:00Once more into the breach dear friends . . .All good things come to and end, and the relaxing summer spent away from University, exams, stress and study definitely qualifies. I find myself thinking about my summer; the weddings I've been to, the changes I've seen at work, the chaos in the news, riots in London and various events in the wider world. All this serves to remind me that maybe it wasn't such a relaxing summer, maybe without Uni to go to I manage to fill my life and my time with other things, things every bit as engaging as Uni.<br />
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During term time I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure I'm up to date with reading, webcasts etc. I also try to find time to pick up extra curricular activities; mooting, volunteering, blogging. This is all done against a background of working full time (to find the money to pay for the degree) and trying to find time to spend with family and friends. This summer the grand plan was to look ahead to the subjects I'll be taking next term and do a little pre-season training to give myself a head start . . . didn't happen. So I found myself on Monday, with three weeks till term starts, feeling a little guilty about not have done any work over the summer then came the eureka moment. I realized that It's all good, there's no problem, term doesn't start for THREE WEEKS, I'll just do what everyone else does and study during term and not beat myself up about it!<br />
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I'm now feeling all kinds of glad about having had a summer which although not quiet had a distinct lack of academic stuff. Having not spent a lot of time with the books I'm feeling pretty well rested mentally and looking forward to the new term. Roll on Domestic Relations and Commercial Law . . .<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-47651735768117377892011-05-02T19:42:00.004+01:002011-12-06T01:18:51.992+00:00Greenday, undergraduate studies and the Dunning-Kruger effectWhat links the three things mentioned above? A pop-punk-rock band, trying to fill you brain with new ideas for the first time and a theory of cognitive bias? For me they all came together recently when thinking about my upcoming exams.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3x5HBH3xg4Yikn6cmdWNhoTpwCtCNlZ0d-R0g-wOVsIDtgFCRYAsA-VRLPwSYtvrq7XsRJzup17mEjRSD5xhS8KB9bhDAGHWZqcu8UWVZG4c0Q60O8zie8AlkWaImAY0Djyz4aUGCOM4t/s1600/xfactor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3x5HBH3xg4Yikn6cmdWNhoTpwCtCNlZ0d-R0g-wOVsIDtgFCRYAsA-VRLPwSYtvrq7XsRJzup17mEjRSD5xhS8KB9bhDAGHWZqcu8UWVZG4c0Q60O8zie8AlkWaImAY0Djyz4aUGCOM4t/s320/xfactor.jpg" width="320" /></a>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect">Dunning-Kruger</a> effect is the name given to the phenomenon where by people who have very little skill, talent or ability think they're actually quite good at something, while those with skill,talent or ability often think of themselves as less competent than they actually are. The bottom end of this scale is why, year after year we see utterly talentless x-factor hopefuls genuinely surprised at their failure. The idea behind this, is that the incompetent lack the knowledge and understanding to recognise how bad they are while those in the know recognise just how much they don't know!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcGHWNt1_79wdTiPjY7ojY3NWffGrTxqb6vExOnzcRlRv2gIabpdRux5r2BAZUsMIHmqjuMeB3HrLghjt-KWAPgbGJws0YlTlf8zHJ-tJrs1goaCAJwHX0XkuiF9dF-9gq_anWTqP9FmjK/s1600/greenday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcGHWNt1_79wdTiPjY7ojY3NWffGrTxqb6vExOnzcRlRv2gIabpdRux5r2BAZUsMIHmqjuMeB3HrLghjt-KWAPgbGJws0YlTlf8zHJ-tJrs1goaCAJwHX0XkuiF9dF-9gq_anWTqP9FmjK/s200/greenday.jpg" width="198" /></a>There's a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Day">Greenday</a> song called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo96jeVW-cU">knowledge</a>, the chorus of which repeats the lyrics 'all I know is that I don't know nothing' with a jaunty pop-punk feel. I like it, it often pops into my mind when I'm studying, because I know for sure that I don't know <i>nothing,</i> I know <i>something</i>, of course I do, I go to class, take notes and I'm sitting studying. the question is do I know enough? This is the point where Dunning-Kruger raises its ugly head, because the more I learn the more I realise how truly massive the subject is and accordingly just how much I don't know. The fear kicks in, I work harder and the cycle continues. I think the nature of under-graduate study is such that because you're constantly being introduced to subjects for the first time and having to fill your head with them, fully aware of the fact that there are others who've devoted their whole life to these areas and you're only scratching the surface it's very easy to feel overwhelmed by it all.<br />
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But it's all good, it works for me, on more than one occasion I've walked in to exams, worried that I didn't know enough, or hadn't developed a full enough understanding of the subject, only to be pleasantly surprised when results time came.<br />
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I suppose the moral of the story is don't let the fear creep in too much, get the work done and you'll get through, it's worked for me so far . . . .Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-68548948004377557102011-04-15T05:05:00.014+01:002011-04-15T07:07:14.058+01:00It's just not the same in real life . . .<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">If like me you fancy becoming a lawyer when you grow up you've no doubt seen a few TV shows or films over the years which have made it all look like great fun. It's hard to deny the appeal of being a lawyer like the ones on the telly, especially the fun ones like Denny Crane or Allan Shore </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">from '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Legal">Boston Legal</a>'</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">. I do however sometimes wonder if there's any value in having a fictional lawyer as a role model? The more I learn about the law, both academically and from a practical point of view, the further away those fictional lawyers seem.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm sure that's due in no small part to geography and status. The life of a senior partner in a fictional American law firm like 'Crane, Pool and Schmidt' is no doubt very different to the life of a partner in a real world Scottish firm.That gap widens even further when looking at the life of a newly qualified lawyer or trainee. The TV shows are cool, sexy, funny, edgy and even a little political from time to time but do they have anything to offer over and above pure entertainment?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5_r6kn0hORAFvHFU8RIo5qwAC4RHziYH29jLzj067VYEOKE7VScetW7s4jM04Zihz4GUFMdSnv8vWz2NAqpBH1oEH1cuItTcPHRi-q4dRCFukcIWjXiMAhvJFSydq_oKD-v5vnVUSJw2/s1600/Atticus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5_r6kn0hORAFvHFU8RIo5qwAC4RHziYH29jLzj067VYEOKE7VScetW7s4jM04Zihz4GUFMdSnv8vWz2NAqpBH1oEH1cuItTcPHRi-q4dRCFukcIWjXiMAhvJFSydq_oKD-v5vnVUSJw2/s320/Atticus.jpg" width="256" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">I think there are a few things to be taken from the fictional lawyers out there. Lets start with the TV show Boston Legal. Who wouldn't want to have at least some of the attributes of Denny Crane, the septuagenarian senior partner of a law firm who has been massively successful in business and has never personally lost a case? OK maybe a little far fetched and too much to hope for. I very much doubt that there are any lawyers out there who've had fifty years of practising law, during which they've never lost a case, but surely it's something to aspire to as a lawyer working in an adversarial system? Personally, my favourite fictional lawyer is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atticus_Finch">Atticus Finch</a>, from Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mocking Bird. Intelligent, hard working, honest to a fault, full of integrity and compassion, a man of high moral standards who is unwilling to break the rules while being faultlessly professional.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">I may an idealistic law student and somewhat naive but I often find something of interest in the fictional lawyers I encounter. The legal tales they populate may not always give a solid reflection of how the law works, what's likely to happen in real life, or even what's possible within the bounds of the law, however these characters often have some attributes which I feel I could learn from.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-89728104105730982862011-04-08T05:03:00.002+01:002011-04-08T05:29:53.931+01:00Keeping the balls in the air . . .<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiuFqvukj2kVC6UJo6as7V_3WwCHwWSdaQNF0n3kcj7CFFtWSK4hQvlpOUSflAPlKY00cwKLyzVNLTsT2LqtcyB-9BkLmuJLkCXm4kjApZL80QmvCgFyVjmkKGd_DGt_aGde8Pbj57LrtO/s1600/juggling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiuFqvukj2kVC6UJo6as7V_3WwCHwWSdaQNF0n3kcj7CFFtWSK4hQvlpOUSflAPlKY00cwKLyzVNLTsT2LqtcyB-9BkLmuJLkCXm4kjApZL80QmvCgFyVjmkKGd_DGt_aGde8Pbj57LrtO/s200/juggling.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I like to juggle, I can bust out a pretty tidy <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8mjr5PZqgM">mills mess</a> for any juggling enthusiasts, but like many of my hobbies it's taken a back seat over the last few years, specifically from September to May. My University course runs form September to May, coincidence? I think not! In order to pay my way through the LL.B I'm working full time. I'm worried about having a CV that's not brimming with legal experience so I'm trying to pick up as many extras as I can. To that end in my 1<sup>st</sup> year I volunteered two afternoons per week at a law firm, in 2<sup>nd</sup> year I joined the mooting society and made the quarter final of the internal competition, hurrah! The thing is, it's not easy, being committed for so much of my time is, well, time consuming!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">In essence this post is about time management and motivation, for me the two are closely linked. It's hard to get anything done when you're not motivated, and with so much to do in so little time it's also hard to get anything done without being organised. When I'm organised and have a schedule I feel a lot more motivated, It's circular.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I learned a lot about time management a few years ago, I was working for a large company in an incredibly entrepreneurial environment. I often found myself working 65+ hours per week and doing a wide variety of tasks, from conducting seminars and talks to having meetings with clients and organising my staff. The biggest thing I learned, and this probably won't come as a massive surprise, was the importance of a well kept diary. As smart phones were in their infancy, I used a palm pilot, an electronic diary/organiser which was fantastic, until one day it crashed. I was utterly lost, from that day forward I've been a big fan of using a paper diary. The battery never dies, it'll never crash, and it's a lot cheaper to replace if you loose it!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">When I've got a pretty full list of jobs demanding my attention, and I'm trying to work out what one to do first I try to always go for the one I want to do least, that awkward niggley one. I do this because getting it out of the way can be very liberating as the sense of dread is gone and the rest of the jobs feel much less of a chore! Another legal blogger <a href="http://legaleaglemhm.wordpress.com/about/">Michelle Hynes</a> calls this <a href="http://legaleaglemhm.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/lawyers-eat-a-frog-for-breakfast/">swallowing a frog</a>, a name which I quite like!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I like to try to work/study with other people, which is yet another thing to organise. The benefits of group study are massive, it can often allow you to see things you'd miss on your own as well as help your understanding through discussion and interpretation of other peoples perspectives, but that's not all! I find it's a good motivator, I don't like being the one who's shown up empty handed so before a group session I'm more likely to get some work done. Also I'm quite competitive and I think my study buddies are a little more high flying academically than me, so it forces me to raise the bar on myself to keep up. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">And that's it, don't procrastinate, keep a good diary, work hard in good company and you can't go too far wrong! </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-88406766895022157932011-03-25T03:44:00.010+00:002011-03-27T17:30:28.415+01:00Do lawyers really help people or do they just help themselves?It's a big question and it's been asked by the <a href="http://www.syla.co.uk/">SYLA</a> and <a href="http://www.thewssociety.co.uk/">WS</a> as the starting point for their writing competition.<br />
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While I don't plan on entering the competition, the question did get me thinking . . . .<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeav4moxMcaG63P40bJKTPDtSgRifB_K3NQbe-UP9JN5VxbCx1VUR7YMtEeCn3sQQVyIyjkgnBdjI1lOG_QhTHviA5fPyJXqcrgZJQlSpHdlKErN2DSPkV_8qsf0F1Zsf3vyeYmG4_AZG/s1600/Shark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeav4moxMcaG63P40bJKTPDtSgRifB_K3NQbe-UP9JN5VxbCx1VUR7YMtEeCn3sQQVyIyjkgnBdjI1lOG_QhTHviA5fPyJXqcrgZJQlSpHdlKErN2DSPkV_8qsf0F1Zsf3vyeYmG4_AZG/s200/Shark.jpg" width="135" /></a>Do lawyers really help people or do they just help themselves? To me the question suggests that while lawyers think they're helping people, or tell themselves they're helping people, in fact they might not be. Or maybe they know full well what they're doing and like to present to the public the face of respectability when they're really a bunch of mercenaries. A collection of sharp suited, quick talking, arrogant, over educated, overpaid profiteers hell bent on squeezing every last penny from the difficult situations which they are called on to resolve?<br />
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Wait a minute, surely they're not all like that? Isn't it a bit harsh to be grouping lawyers together like that? Would we find ourselves asking the same question of another profession? Lets apply the question to another group who have to train for many years to be allowed to practice and see how well it fits . . . .<br />
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Do Architects really help people or do they just help themselves? Surely they're not interested in helping people to live in the home of their dreams! All they want is the big fat cheque at the end of the job and the respect of their peers! It seems to me like the question simplifies things a little too much.<br />
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The motivation of different individuals for entering a profession can vary considerably, as such their eventual area of practice and method of doing business will vary. In answering the question with reference to lawyers, is it fair to draw comparisons between a newly qualified procurator fiscal (criminal prosecutor), working for the state, with an ideological stance about keeping criminals off the streets and helping society, with a media lawyer who has 25 years of experience in helping celebrities sue newspapers and newspapers to know where to draw the line when printing gossip?<br />
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Surely there are as many different types of lawyer as there are types of legal work and the choice of field may have some correlation with whether or not the lawyer is interested in helping other people or their own selfish ends. It's not too difficult to imagine a child, with a child's understanding of the world wanting to be a prosecutor, locking up the baddies, or being an employment lawyer, helping people to keep their job or be treated fairly an employer. What's a little harder to imagine (for me at least) is that same child wanting to be a tax law specialist, coming up with clever ways for large companies to decrease their tax liability.<br />
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There are many examples of lawyers whose careers demonstrate a desire to help people, I need look no further than Glasgow, my home town, where we have the <a href="http://www.lsa.org.uk/">Legal Services Agency</a> and the <a href="http://govanlc.blogspot.com/">Govan Law Centre</a>. LSA provides free legal advice in a number of areas along with having a dedicated mental health team and refugee department. This is a law firm working with vulnerable groups day in day out, it's hard for me to see how lawyers in this environment could be accused of not really helping people and just being out for themselves.<br />
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How about the often demonised, ambulance chasing, personal injury lawyer? Surely they're just out to make a few quid from the suffering of their clients at the expense of the poor sod who caused the injury? Maybe so but I'm sure their clients aren't too bothered when they receive their compensation cheques!<br />
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Is it not the case that any successful relationship (business or otherwise) should be mutually beneficial? I certainly think so. While the lawyer may always have to focus on billable hours, ultimately billable hours means time spent working for the client, which translates to helping the client achieve their goal. Surely this comfortably creates, in most situations, a win win, whereby the lawyer helps herself by helping her client.<br />
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These are just my initial thoughts, feel free to comment,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-22302421110935907012011-03-16T20:23:00.013+00:002011-03-18T16:13:55.521+00:00Lets have a look at what you could've won . . . .<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a disappointing and painful event this week my partner and I were knocked out of our University's internal mooting competition. In an epic quarter final battle we fought valiantly and won our case on point of law but were however defeated in the moot. To the victor goes the spoils, in this case the opportunity to pass to the semi-final of the competition, competing at the sheriff court in Glasgow. The defeated team takes with them the bitter sting of failure, oblivion, pain and ultimately death, OK I'm over egging the pudding a little but I really hate loosing!</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhBmAiu_oVgiC4KVuOlBvD2mml1scFJ4FGsyI-UpidCSlXczroqvYy1ANguP_zDNPs1dgNfLnbyOTFgFNXmP5GljVA3iJ4hIlg7eNi_tgbrNqYYrsyEigCXphdFocCIr_QVoLc84F6dIHY/s1600/Kavanagh+QC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhBmAiu_oVgiC4KVuOlBvD2mml1scFJ4FGsyI-UpidCSlXczroqvYy1ANguP_zDNPs1dgNfLnbyOTFgFNXmP5GljVA3iJ4hIlg7eNi_tgbrNqYYrsyEigCXphdFocCIr_QVoLc84F6dIHY/s1600/Kavanagh+QC.jpg" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For anyone not familiar with mooting, a moot is a mock courtroom competition where the competitors are given opposing sides of an appeal case to fight before a judge. As the law may be on the side of one of the teams the outcome of the case isn't the deciding factor in who wins the competition, what matters is which team fought the better case. This is judged based on the quality of research, professionalism, presentation, understanding of the law and ability to respond well to judicial questioning. In essence some of the the complex skill set required of the competent QC or Advocate.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The appeal of mooting to a law student is easy to understand, it gives us the opportunity to have a go at being <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Mason">Perry Mason</a>, <a href="http://bostonlegal.wetpaint.com/page/Denny+Crane">Denny Crane</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ally_McBeal">Ally McBeal</a>, standing up and arguing a case. That's what it's all about right? Maybe, it's certainly what made me want to give it a try, but what I've found is that there's so much more to it than that. The benefits of taking part in the competition go far beyond having a go at fighting a case and adding something to the CV.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeDVf5beO4a21QZBFFA_9ZleXhBsu64snVmssNWMztZkQts2_IVvguXnA0r1yUF-RLp9gJumr67GEAGB5WrmyCAh8PfU8uZEVfhtPJIaNI88PWC2efQVqUwwbw36-_zSqZkWxU21_YCfB/s1600/Denny+Crane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeDVf5beO4a21QZBFFA_9ZleXhBsu64snVmssNWMztZkQts2_IVvguXnA0r1yUF-RLp9gJumr67GEAGB5WrmyCAh8PfU8uZEVfhtPJIaNI88PWC2efQVqUwwbw36-_zSqZkWxU21_YCfB/s200/Denny+Crane.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeDVf5beO4a21QZBFFA_9ZleXhBsu64snVmssNWMztZkQts2_IVvguXnA0r1yUF-RLp9gJumr67GEAGB5WrmyCAh8PfU8uZEVfhtPJIaNI88PWC2efQVqUwwbw36-_zSqZkWxU21_YCfB/s1600/Denny+Crane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My involvement has taught me about teamwork, and boosted my research skills. It's boosted my confidence in public speaking and court etiquette. For the first few moots I was very nervous, by the time I reached the quarter final however, I found my confidence had grown and I was much more relaxed in delivering my submissions and dealing with judicial scrutiny. By taking the competition seriously, I managed to reach the quarter final which meant lots of research. With the Quarter final place came a trip to the Supreme Court in London, where we were given the opportunity to sit in on two cases (watching senior advocates at work), and then meet and ask questions of Lord Hope. I've also met a great deal of highly motivated, intelligent hard working law students who I hope to count among my colleagues in the not too distant future.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I was disappointed not to have made it to the semi final, the nature of the competition means that there can be only one winner, and 'my friends across the bar' certainly deserved to win on the day. Not only were they professional, articulate and knowledgeable, but I must concede that they had a little more flair than I as well as being more polished in their presentation. So while my partner and I could've won a semi-final place, based on the things I've learned and the people I've met, I genuinely feel like I'm a winner overall for having taken part, a strange feeling for someone as competitive as I.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will I take part in the mooting competition next year?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the words of my favourite Californian politician . . . . I'll be back!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-59219519604296136982011-03-04T07:22:00.003+00:002011-03-04T18:47:01.743+00:00What did you learn?Why are Americans so keen on high school and college sports? Is it because of the joy of physical activity? The importance of staying fit? or does it run a little bit deeper?<br />
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Last year I watched <a href="http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/">Randy Pausch's last lecture</a> and loved what he described as the 'head fake', the idea that while you're focused on learning one thing, really you're being taught something else. Pausch gives the example of high school football, saying that the 'head fake' about playing football, is that while learning all the key skills for the game such as throwing, catching, running etc he also learned teamwork, tenacity, the importance of a good work ethic and a great deal more ('Don't complain, just work harder' is probably my favorite). Pausch's 'head fake' is what some have called the hidden curriculum and it's something which I believe runs deep at law school.<br />
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Are we expected, as law students to ace every exam and retain all the information from each of the many areas of law we've studied, emerging from our LL.B as experts in a variety of areas of the law? It'd be grand if we could, but I think that's not really the point, especially when so many of us won't go on to become solicitors/advocates and those who do will no doubt specialize in one particular field. Don't get me wrong, the LL.B course is full of great content about the law which I'll go on to use, but I think the skills learned on the course are every bit as valuable as the knowledge gained.<br />
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An example of this is 'Legal Methods', one of the classes which I had to take in my first semester of first year, here we learned about the all important distinction between <i>obiter</i> and <i>ratio</i>, how to reference correctly and the structure of the court system in Scotland and the UK. To me however, the real lesson of the class was <i>how to read</i> a case and <i>how to think critically</i> about a judgement.<br />
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Joining the mooting society is another area with a hidden curriculum. The key skill to be gained form mooting is that of 'Advocacy', learning how to construct legal arguments and submit them verbally in a court setting. Which is fantastic, but for me the real value in joining the mooting society is the positive impact it's had on my research skills. Before mooting I didn't know how to find hard-copies of cases and journal articles, (I was shamefully reliant on Westlaw), now I actually prefer using the law reports and journals found on the shelves of the library. Another massive bonus from the mooting society is working closely with a partner on a legal issue, something which I've had no direct experience of so far on my degree course.<br />
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In a world with an increasingly turbulent employment market, the more value we can find and transferable skills we can learn and be aware of the better. I strongly believe that there is a great deal to be learned from law school over and above 'black letter' law, and wherever I decide to go with my LL.B I'm sure I'll be adding more to my CV than just my academic qualifications.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-84861227679992032172011-02-23T07:01:00.002+00:002011-12-06T01:04:33.773+00:00When to start building a CV?So you wanna be a lawyer huh? You do realize you're not the only one. Why should we give <i>you</i> the training contract instead of the 100 other applicants? While speaking to a newly qualified lawyer friend, she told me about the perils of looking for a training contract. I'm 2-3 years away from my diploma year but I've become very aware already of the fact that it's tough out there and getting tougher. When being introduced to a friend's wife for the first time recently, and discovering she was a lawyer I naturally picked a conversation about law, when she found out I was a student, with a sad glint in her eyes she said 'hopefully by the time you graduate there'll be some jobs again!'.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgLyg6ZEqxSasfI0abdJVMaaCdilmxjwkJ11SBI4EoO9RPug18jfBX9DiMBhXxfY45VmXpbuQ-OpmY6Tc1rtKZ6vciSv2vPIkxgdgOPIkmsdKoUlvQVYhaFB4VbOVEoO_I7funyq0b4oT/s1600/thomas-jefferson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgLyg6ZEqxSasfI0abdJVMaaCdilmxjwkJ11SBI4EoO9RPug18jfBX9DiMBhXxfY45VmXpbuQ-OpmY6Tc1rtKZ6vciSv2vPIkxgdgOPIkmsdKoUlvQVYhaFB4VbOVEoO_I7funyq0b4oT/s320/thomas-jefferson.jpg" width="246" /></a>I'm a naturally optimistic person, but I think <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson">Thomas Jefferson</a> hit the nail on the head when he said 'I find that the harder I work the more luck I seem to have'. With this in mind at the start of my LL.B I decided that if I was planning on looking for a training contract at the end of my degree I'd be more inclined to 'get lucky' if I put the work in to building a strong CV from the outset. I've maybe got a slight advantage as a mature student, by having more experience in terms of trying to get what I want, but realizing that to make that happen you often need to 'bring something to the table'. So what have I done and what am I planning to do to build my winning CV?<br />
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Well, firstly I've tried to think about the experiences I've had in my work life which relate to being a lawyer and the types of transferable skills applicable to law:<br />
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Sales roles: dealing with clients directly, explaining the contracts, persuading them of the best course of action.<br />
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Management roles: Working effectively within a hierarchy, delegating responsibilities, passing on key information to team members, dealing directly with other businesses.<br />
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Being 'Staff/Class Rep'; Dealing directly with senior management, understanding the needs of those you represent and communicating them effectively.<br />
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Then comes the process of trying to find other things to boost the CV:<br />
While attending a charity event during my 1st yr, I happened to meet and get chatting to a lawyer who runs a small criminal defense firm, after a relatively short chat he told me to email him and arrange to pop in for some work experience. I went on to volunteer for six months in his firm 1-2 afternoons per week, this was a great experience where I learned a great deal about the actual day to day running of a law practice.<br />
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Other ways to gain experience include: Law Clinic/Pro Bono work, Citizens Advice etc<br />
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I also try to stay up to date with developments in the legal landscape, I do this by having a number of links on my web browser to favorites such as <a href="http://www.journalonline.co.uk/">The Law Society Journal</a> and <a href="http://www.firmmagazine.com/">The Firm</a>, I have a wee look at these as I'm checking my emails in the morning. In addition I follow the twitter feeds of a number of people who regularly blog on legal news, such as <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law">Guardian Law</a>, (I'm not a big fan of traditional newspapers).<br />
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This year I've joined my University's Mooting Society, and I'm glad to say my partner and I have made it to the quarter final of our internal competition, which brings with it a trip to the Supreme Court. In my mind the benefit of mooting is two fold:<br />
1. It forces you to go and research an area of law you may have little or no experience of.<br />
2. You then have to defend your opinions and research to a 'Judge'<br />
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I'm planning on trying to add to my CV year on year, and make a point of choosing the electives which will give me the best chance both at diploma and beyond, (as far as I'm aware you can't be an Advocate without having studied Roman Law).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61lDUvHHaoPEPU9El469Po7_8R64Y_Q5jh-LdqwNU6XzO5ZJZ0O0UeIUj2wS_v2tWJjs-5xL1RvmQpWZJRtpewMmO5aunTQfdziVYUWEGYfCWzYxS7WsgoU6gjtlb6HIFJzBWpjpeNpxJ/s1600/taehandtoear022605007_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61lDUvHHaoPEPU9El469Po7_8R64Y_Q5jh-LdqwNU6XzO5ZJZ0O0UeIUj2wS_v2tWJjs-5xL1RvmQpWZJRtpewMmO5aunTQfdziVYUWEGYfCWzYxS7WsgoU6gjtlb6HIFJzBWpjpeNpxJ/s200/taehandtoear022605007_1.jpg" width="156" /></a>In a competitive market I can't help but think the jobs and diploma places will go the best applicants. Becoming the best applicant means making an effort to think of the bigger picture from the outset by developing a plan to build a great CV along with the self discipline to implement that plan.<br />
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'Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning' - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison">Thomas Edison</a><br />
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If anyone has any suggestions for other things I could do to boost my chances of success please get in touch, I'm all ears! (Any Malcolm Gladwell fans'll know what I mean when I say I'm chasing after my 10'000 hours.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622105329833610292.post-15706497583096631652011-02-21T06:58:00.003+00:002011-02-23T05:47:38.139+00:00Modern Learning: Webcasts v LecturesIn this day and age of facebook, youtube, blogging, twitter and online shopping, should students, at real brick and mortar universities, be happy with lectures being delivered by webcast/podcast? I find my university course is increasingly reliant on webcasts and podcasts instead of traditional lectures. Is this an example of the university and lecturers making good use of their time and resources or is it simply an example of lecturers distancing themselves from their undergraduate students?<br />
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There are a great many benefits to having instant access to your class lectures online, many of which are obvious:<br />
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<ul><li>Working through the syllabus at your own pace</li>
<li>The ability to re-wind and re-watch lectures as often as possible</li>
<li>Creating your own personal lecture timetable</li>
<li>Having access to lectures during revision periods</li>
<li>Choosing your own study venue</li>
<li>Being able to pause your lecture to take better notes</li>
</ul><br />
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But how about the down side? Are there any reasons not to embrace the webcast lecture?<br />
My personal experience of classes delivered by webcast lectures has been mixed.<br />
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Some of the downsides of webcast lectures include:<br />
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<ul><li>No opportunity to ask questions</li>
<li>It's easy to become complacent, 'I'll watch my lecture tomorrow'</li>
<li>It can be easy to rely on the lectures rather than books</li>
<li>Creates distance between the student and lecturer</li>
</ul><br />
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In a time where we are becoming less and less physically connected with people and living more of our lives online, surely there's an argument to be made for going to University, being about <i>going to</i> University? Having the physical experience of interacting with the academics, who's life work has been the study and understanding of a chosen field. Surely part of what makes University learning so valuable is the access students have to great minds with whom they can interact and not just read about. It's this distinction which has marked the different experiences I've had with webcast lectures.<br />
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When properly implemented, webcast lectures are excellent tools which save time for everyone and are massively accessible; it feels pretty good to be able to listen to your lectures while out for a jog or on the train to work. The problem in my mind comes when these lectures are used as a substitute for actual contact with the academics . . . . you can't ask questions of a podcast (and expect answers).<br />
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The best class I've taken, which was taught largely by webcast, was supported by regular meetings with the professor responsible for the class during which we were all encouraged to ask questions and discuss the ideas from the online lectures. These sessions proved invaluable, as the class knew they were coming and as such they were like progress markers. Everyone would aim to have covered a certain amount of the syllabus in time for each meeting.<br />
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My least favorite class employing webcasts was one in which there was zero contact with the class leader (the professor responsible for more than half of the class material). This lack of contact and structure lead many of my classmates, myself included to become disheartened. Morale was low and there was no-one to pick us up, or offer a helping hand upon which we could rely. Without contact, and the opportunity to tap into the wealth of knowledge of the lecturers first hand there is nothing to separate going to university and taking a correspondence course. <br />
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My overall feelings on online lectures/podcasts can be summed up quite neatly as follows. . .<br />
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Are podcasts and webcasts here to stay? YES<br />
Do I like them and see them as valuable? YES and YES<br />
Are they helpful and flexible tools for teaching and learning? Definitely<br />
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In addition to all this I think it's very important to allow students regular access, via lectures, tutorials or Q&A sessions, to the academics responsible for designing their curriculum. Without the access to the academics and the opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification, our understanding will never reach its full potential.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0