FE1 Exam Thread (Mod Warning: NO ADS)

colonel1

JCJCJC wrote: »

50 or better gets you all the respect you need, anything else is overkill. Nikki Lauda used to be the F1 world champion racing driver - I actually saw him win in a Ferrari in Austria many years ago. His motto was 'win, going as slowly as you can'. One hundredth of a second ahead of the next guy is plenty in F1, so be happy with 50s in the FE1s!

JC

Thanks JCJCJC for being the voice of common sense as usual:D


Frustrated TC the big firms certainly do look at FE1 results (as you already know), presumably as a way of cutting down the huge number of applicants that apply to them for TCs. They also look at leaving cert results and in some cases Junior cert results! Hopefully medium size and smaller firms won't do the same. Bravo that you got a 60, you clearly have a good exam technique. But 50 is the magic mark, as these are professional exams and are marked at a different standard to university exams. That is what I keep telling myself anyhow;)

solicitor?

Does anyone know how long the FE1's last for? I originally though they lasted for 5 years from the year end in which you passed your first three. However, someone told me recently that they last for 5 years from the year end in which you pass your final exam...

if anyone could shed some light on this it would be great..

Cheers.

Hogzy

solicitor? wrote: »

Does anyone know how long the FE1's last for? I originally though they lasted for 5 years from the year end in which you passed your first three. However, someone told me recently that they last for 5 years from the year end in which you pass your final exam...

if anyone could shed some light on this it would be great..

Cheers.

5yrs from when you pass your first 3

JCJCJC

Hogzy wrote: »

5yrs from when you pass your first 3

Depends what the question meant.

Getting all 8 - five years from the end of the year where you got the first three. That actually gives 5.5 years to someone who got the first three in Spring.

Starting a training contract - five years from the year of getting your eighth exam.

I would take the second meaning from the question. Once you have all eight FE1s passed, you can take a career break, do a further qual or just howl at the moon every night for five years. Then become a solicitor.

JC

Hogzy

JCJCJC wrote: »

Depends what the question meant.

Getting all 8 - five years from the end of the year where you got the first three. That actually gives 5.5 years to someone who got the first three in Spring.

Starting a training contract - five years from the year of getting your eighth exam.

I would take the second meaning from the question. Once you have all eight FE1s passed, you can take a career break, do a further qual or just howl at the moon every night for five years. Then become a solicitor.

JC

Sorry, you are correct. Its 5yrs from when you pass your first three that you must complete all 8.

solicitor?

Yeah i meant from when you pass your last exam. Thanks a million JC.

Mojo22

smjsmj wrote: »

Just received my results as I was away this last week and failed company and equity. so so disheartened now. Starting sitting the exams in march and got 4 out of 4 and failed two in this sitting.
I was sure i had done really well in company and i got 38%. and 43 in equity.

Did anyone else do worse in company than they thought?

When do you have to apply for the march sitting of the fe1 as i cant see the deadline on the law society website.
Thanks

Hi smjsmj

Do not worry alot of pople are in a similiar position. I have not sat company yet but I felt the same way about the equity exam & recieved the same result as you. Itd very frustrating when you think you have passed and you havnt.

Deadline is the 3rd of Feb.

Did Company Law change much with the 2009 Act??

Mojo22

lennylaw wrote: »

Hey,

I am signing up this week for EU and Constit courses and wondering if anyone would advise one of these colleges over the other. I was initially planning to do Griffith as i have been studying from their manuals for the last four and passed but now after reading posts recommending City Colleges Constitutional lecturer im confused.

Any advise appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Lenny
I did both of those subjects in Griffith. The EU lecturer i found brilliant but not so much the constitutional lecturer. I printed off the sample answers and used them with my manual to study. Found the sample answers a must for study. They were a great help.

cooper10

banterful wrote: »

Hi all,

Congrats to all who passed & commiserations to anyone who like myself didn't get good news last week.

I passed 2 & failed 2 of my first set so utterly disappointed. Means I have to push back Blackhall by a year if I don't do all 8 together in March. Having started from scratch studying for the October FE1s as my degree isn't in law, I'm not sure if doing 8 in March is really a goer. I went to a prep course for this set & just used the manuals. I didn't really take advantage of doing sample answers as I concentrated mainly on taking notes which took a lot longer than expected leaving me no time to do questions before the exams, though I did look at sample answers so had a good idea of the format required.

I suppose I'm just wondering if anyone has been in this position before in regards to a training contract & possibly deferring it - & whether this is the best route rather than taking on 8 in March. My feeling is to defer Blackhall, sit the 4 I just sat again in March to make sure of them, then sit the next 4 in September. I'm wondering whether it might be a good idea to take on a 5th subject now though, as I was so close to getting 3 in October & have all my notes done for the first 4 so could perhaps afford to take on a 5th subject to at least increase my chances of getting 3/4, but hopefully get a 5th one of the way now. Then once I finish the September sitting I'd hopefully start in the firm a few months early in 2013 before Blackhall. Out of company, tort, property & EU does anyone have any tips as to which might be best to take on as a 5th subject?

Would really appreciate anyone's advice on this, especially those of you that have sat a few of the FE1s already or those that have been in this position in regards to a training contract.

Cheers for all the great advice so far on this thread.

Do you have a training contract secured for Sept 2012???

cooper10

smjsmj wrote: »

Just received my results as I was away this last week and failed company and equity. so so disheartened now. Starting sitting the exams in march and got 4 out of 4 and failed two in this sitting.
I was sure i had done really well in company and i got 38%. and 43 in equity.

Did anyone else do worse in company than they thought?

When do you have to apply for the march sitting of the fe1 as i cant see the deadline on the law society website.
Thanks

Yeh I spent 10 days on it and expected a higher mark but I passed it so I suppose I can't complain. Don't be disheartened with equity. When I sat it I thought it was easy and would be my best result. I passed it but by the skin of my teeth. I'm not sure what the examiner expects but try and get your hands on sample answers because the questions do tend to repeat themselves word for word every couple of years. Are you getting a re-check on equity?

banterful

cooper10 wrote: »

banterful wrote: »

Hi all,

Congrats to all who passed & commiserations to anyone who like myself didn't get good news last week.

I passed 2 & failed 2 of my first set so utterly disappointed. Means I have to push back Blackhall by a year if I don't do all 8 together in March. Having started from scratch studying for the October FE1s as my degree isn't in law, I'm not sure if doing 8 in March is really a goer. I went to a prep course for this set & just used the manuals. I didn't really take advantage of doing sample answers as I concentrated mainly on taking notes which took a lot longer than expected leaving me no time to do questions before the exams, though I did look at sample answers so had a good idea of the format required.

I suppose I'm just wondering if anyone has been in this position before in regards to a training contract & possibly deferring it - & whether this is the best route rather than taking on 8 in March. My feeling is to defer Blackhall, sit the 4 I just sat again in March to make sure of them, then sit the next 4 in September. I'm wondering whether it might be a good idea to take on a 5th subject now though, as I was so close to getting 3 in October & have all my notes done for the first 4 so could perhaps afford to take on a 5th subject to at least increase my chances of getting 3/4, but hopefully get a 5th one of the way now. Then once I finish the September sitting I'd hopefully start in the firm a few months early in 2013 before Blackhall. Out of company, tort, property & EU does anyone have any tips as to which might be best to take on as a 5th subject?

Would really appreciate anyone's advice on this, especially those of you that have sat a few of the FE1s already or those that have been in this position in regards to a training contract.

Cheers for all the great advice so far on this thread.

Do you have a training contract secured for Sept 2012???

Yep...

smjsmj

cooper10 wrote: »

Yeh I spent 10 days on it and expected a higher mark but I passed it so I suppose I can't complain. Don't be disheartened with equity. When I sat it I thought it was easy and would be my best result. I passed it but by the skin of my teeth. I'm not sure what the examiner expects but try and get your hands on sample answers because the questions do tend to repeat themselves word for word every couple of years. Are you getting a re-check on equity?

no i wasnt going to get a re check i think i'll just re sit it, may as well do it as i have to resit company. They are just the 2 subjects that i'm not good at.
Really need to start applying for more tc, applied to a & l goodbody and mop and got rejected. do people think doing a masters would help securing a tc?

JCJCJC

smjsmj wrote: »

no i wasnt going to get a re check i think i'll just re sit it, may as well do it as i have to resit company. They are just the 2 subjects that i'm not good at.
Really need to start applying for more tc, applied to a & l goodbody and mop and got rejected. do people think doing a masters would help securing a tc?

Listening to what people on this discussion say about TCs often makes me think we are living on two different planets here - there's a Dublin-centred approach, and there's rural Ireland which is very different. In small-town rural Ireland, TCs are going to be with firms of one to maybe five solicitors, and getting in to one of those offices is a matter of developing a personal relationship with the decision-maker in the firm. If 'the face fits' and if you are likely to bring some business to the office through your friends, family, sporting and community contacts etc, your chances improve. What matters hugely also is your 'soft skills' - can you write and speak formally in a lawyer-like manner etc, don't say 'like' in every sentence - 'I'm, like, thinking of going to Blackhall, but I haven't like, really decided..... ' It sounds awful to anyone who speaks English as a first language.
Quite a lot of importance is placed on IT skills, if you have certification in word processing and file management, system administration etc you will be a useful addition to a law office. The minimum anyone would look for would be ECDL, if you have MCSE (Microsoft-certified software expert) certs it is the heavyweight one.
If you have a Facebook or Bebo page, ideally lock it off to the prying public and if that's too much of a sacrifice weed out all the crap out of it because an employer is going to Google you and that's what they'll find.
Go along to your local District Court and Circuit Court and see your prospective employer on his/her feet, note what kind of work they are doing - criminal, licensing, family law, debt recovery etc - the normal bread-and-butter of a small law practise. Note if they act for any fairly substantial corporate client, eg the County Council, a bank, a credit union etc.
When you go along for an interview, the above will guide you. There's no point saying you'd love to represent the Gov't of Germany against the European Parliament in Brussels if the dude has just spent a week in the parish hall defending guys with no television licenses. Ground yourself in reality.
When s/he asks why you'd like to work in that office, you will be able to say I've seen what you do well in court etc and I think I would learn a lot from you....that sort of line.
Look very right when you meet the employer - get help if you're not confident. For guys, if you go into a manshop and say you want a good suit, shirt and tie for an interview, they'll look after you properly usually. My best recc would be Gentleman's Quarters in Cork for that mission, if you have any choice. Don't wear a silly watch or piercings and tats, lawyers are conservative people generally.
A huge edge at the moment would be competence in an Eastern European language, because of the volume of business coming from non-Irish people. Many firms now employ secretarial and admin staff with the language skills to enable the firm to deal with Eastern Europeans, but if you as a trainee lawyer have the languages, your attractiveness to a firm is enormous.

That's the approach I'd suggest outside of Dublin anyway.

Just my two cents - I'm promised a tc in a rural office in Kerry once I get these bloody FE1s done. And the Government of Germany won't be troubling us too often to represent them.

JC

brumbram6

JCJCJC wrote: »

Listening to what people on this discussion say about TCs often makes me think we are living on two different planets here - there's a Dublin-centred approach, and there's rural Ireland which is very different. In small-town rural Ireland, TCs are going to be with firms of one to maybe five solicitors, and getting in to one of those offices is a matter of developing a personal relationship with the decision-maker in the firm. If 'the face fits' and if you are likely to bring some business to the office through your friends, family, sporting and community contacts etc, your chances improve. What matters hugely also is your 'soft skills' - can you write and speak formally in a lawyer-like manner etc, don't say 'like' in every sentence - 'I'm, like, thinking of going to Blackhall, but I haven't like, really decided..... ' It sounds awful to anyone who speaks English as a first language.
Quite a lot of importance is placed on IT skills, if you have certification in word processing and file management, system administration etc you will be a useful addition to a law office. The minimum anyone would look for would be ECDL, if you have MCSE (Microsoft-certified software expert) certs it is the heavyweight one.
If you have a Facebook or Bebo page, ideally lock it off to the prying public and if that's too much of a sacrifice weed out all the crap out of it because an employer is going to Google you and that's what they'll find.
Go along to your local District Court and Circuit Court and see your prospective employer on his/her feet, note what kind of work they are doing - criminal, licensing, family law, debt recovery etc - the normal bread-and-butter of a small law practise. Note if they act for any fairly substantial corporate client, eg the County Council, a bank, a credit union etc.
When you go along for an interview, the above will guide you. There's no point saying you'd love to represent the Gov't of Germany against the European Parliament in Brussels if the dude has just spent a week in the parish hall defending guys with no television licenses. Ground yourself in reality.
When s/he asks why you'd like to work in that office, you will be able to say I've seen what you do well in court etc and I think I would learn a lot from you....that sort of line.
Look very right when you meet the employer - get help if you're not confident. For guys, if you go into a manshop and say you want a good suit, shirt and tie for an interview, they'll look after you properly usually. My best recc would be Gentleman's Quarters in Cork for that mission, if you have any choice. Don't wear a silly watch or piercings and tats, lawyers are conservative people generally.
A huge edge at the moment would be competence in an Eastern European language, because of the volume of business coming from non-Irish people. Many firms now employ secretarial and admin staff with the language skills to enable the firm to deal with Eastern Europeans, but if you as a trainee lawyer have the languages, your attractiveness to a firm is enormous.

That's the approach I'd suggest outside of Dublin anyway.

Just my two cents - I'm promised a tc in a rural office in Kerry once I get these bloody FE1s done. And the Government of Germany won't be troubling us too often to represent them.

JC

HI JC,
agree with everything except for one. I have an Eastern European language and having applied to almost all big law firms this year and haven't got interviews for most of them, I would love to be a native English speaker and do believe that I could have secured TC much easier.:( no huge demand for foreigners

JCJCJC

irkalein wrote: »

HI JC,
agree with everything except for one. I have an Eastern European language and having applied to almost all big law firms this year and haven't got interviews for most of them, I would love to be a native English speaker and do believe that I could have secured TC much easier.:( no huge demand for foreigners

Try the small rural firms, that's the point I'm making. the bigger Dublin firms practise a different kind of law. Go along to District Courts, meet the solicitors who are defending and ask them for a quick word - have a cv ready to hand to them. I think you'd easily get sorted out.

JC

law girl

If anyone has secured a TC with one of h bi firms I would be very interested to hear how and why they think they secured it, are all the people who go in holders of 1st class honors degrees or what is it that separates them?

I tried to approach one of he recruiters to get some insight but after several failed attempts of contact I gave up!

birdie89

law girl wrote: »

If anyone has secured a TC with one of h bi firms I would be very interested to hear how and why they think they secured it, are all the people who go in holders of 1st class honors degrees or what is it that separates them?

I tried to approach one of he recruiters to get some insight but after several failed attempts of contact I gave up!

i know several friends who have obtained TC this year with the big firms and none of them have first class honors.

moonbino

law girl wrote: »

If anyone has secured a TC with one of h bi firms I would be very interested to hear how and why they think they secured it, are all the people who go in holders of 1st class honors degrees or what is it that separates them?

I tried to approach one of he recruiters to get some insight but after several failed attempts of contact I gave up!

final stages of interview with 2.1 non law degree. Waiting on offer or pfo...

colonel1

moonbino wrote: »

law girl wrote: »

If anyone has secured a TC with one of h bi firms I would be very interested to hear how and why they think they secured it, are all the people who go in holders of 1st class honors degrees or what is it that separates them?

I tried to approach one of he recruiters to get some insight but after several failed attempts of contact I gave up!

final stages of interview with 2.1 non law degree. Waiting on offer or pfo...

Hey Moonbino did you have any legal experience? I do have a first class honours degree! Perhaps you have lots of interesting hobbies:-) Hope you get some good news:-)

evercloserunion

law girl wrote: »

If anyone has secured a TC with one of h bi firms I would be very interested to hear how and why they think they secured it, are all the people who go in holders of 1st class honors degrees or what is it that separates them?

I tried to approach one of he recruiters to get some insight but after several failed attempts of contact I gave up!

I secured one and I have a 2.1, most people I know who secured one have a 2.1 AFAIK. I think you need to get a 2.1 minimum so that employers will actually give your application serious consideration; after that, you can use other means to convince them that you are trainee material. At that stage I think factors such as personality and maybe extra-curricular stuff play a more important role.

valleyoftheunos

from what I've seen of people gaining TCs with the big firms its about a proven and extended period of fairly high achievement, even if it is no way related to law. They got high marks in their JC, LC and at third level (id consider a 2:1 high achievement). Along with that they tend to have good extra curriculars right through second and third level and have no idle periods on their CV.

My conclusions are based entirely on anecdotal evidence so I'd be interested to hear if people think I'm right or wrong.

moonbino

colonel1 wrote: »

moonbino wrote: »

law girl wrote: »

If anyone has secured a TC with one of h bi firms I would be very interested to hear how and why they think they secured it, are all the people who go in holders of 1st class honors degrees or what is it that separates them?

I tried to approach one of he recruiters to get some insight but after several failed attempts of contact I gave up!

final stages of interview with 2.1 non law degree. Waiting on offer or pfo...

Hey Moonbino did you have any legal experience? I do have a first class honours degree! Perhaps you have lots of interesting hobbies:-) Hope you get some good news:-)

I have little legal experience but let me tell you it is so much harder for non law to prove they really want to be a solicitor even if you genuinely always wanted to be a lawyer. At one point in my interview I was thinking if you doubt me so much why put me through to the final interviews. Also, I am about 10 yrs older than most applicants so I am not going to have the straight out of college into law profile. I swear they must have picked our names out of a hat! I really want this and I am very nervous now. Let you all know how it goes. Oh yeah, they do look beyond grades, for personality and whether they could see themselves working with you. Good luck to those who are still waiting for an offer.

colonel1

moonbino wrote: »

colonel1 wrote: »

moonbino wrote: »

law girl wrote: »

If anyone has secured a TC with one of h bi firms I would be very interested to hear how and why they think they secured it, are all the people who go in holders of 1st class honors degrees or what is it that separates them?

I tried to approach one of he recruiters to get some insight but after several failed attempts of contact I gave up!

final stages of interview with 2.1 non law degree. Waiting on offer or pfo...

Hey Moonbino did you have any legal experience? I do have a first class honours degree! Perhaps you have lots of interesting hobbies:-) Hope you get some good news:-)

I have little legal experience but let me tell you it is so much harder for non law to prove they really want to be a solicitor even if you genuinely always wanted to be a lawyer. At one point in my interview I was thinking if you doubt me so much why put me through to the final interviews. Also, I am about 10 yrs older than most applicants so I am not going to have the straight out of college into law profile. I swear they must have picked our names out of a hat! I really want this and I am very nervous now. Let you all know how it goes. Oh yeah, they do look beyond grades, for personality and whether they could see themselves working with you. Good luck to those who are still waiting for an offer.

Me too Moonbino! I would be older than most going in + I don't work in a law related job. It is full time so all my spare time was taken up with study for the FE1s. So I had no time for hobbies. What hobbies would appeal in any case? I am not a sporty person so apart from that?

moonbino

colonel1 wrote: »

moonbino wrote: »

colonel1 wrote: »

moonbino wrote: »

law girl wrote: »

If anyone has secured a TC with one of h bi firms I would be very interested to hear how and why they think they secured it, are all the people who go in holders of 1st class honors degrees or what is it that separates them?

I tried to approach one of he recruiters to get some insight but after several failed attempts of contact I gave up!

final stages of interview with 2.1 non law degree. Waiting on offer or pfo...

Hey Moonbino did you have any legal experience? I do have a first class honours degree! Perhaps you have lots of interesting hobbies:-) Hope you get some good news:-)

I have little legal experience but let me tell you it is so much harder for non law to prove they really want to be a solicitor even if you genuinely always wanted to be a lawyer. At one point in my interview I was thinking if you doubt me so much why put me through to the final interviews. Also, I am about 10 yrs older than most applicants so I am not going to have the straight out of college into law profile. I swear they must have picked our names out of a hat! I really want this and I am very nervous now. Let you all know how it goes. Oh yeah, they do look beyond grades, for personality and whether they could see themselves working with you. Good luck to those who are still waiting for an offer.

Me too Moonbino! I would be older than most going in + I don't work in a law related job. It is full time so all my spare time was taken up with study for the FE1s. So I had no time for hobbies. What hobbies would appeal in any case? I am not a sporty person so apart from that?

Not sporty either. I love Scrabble, Sudoku and music. Was worried they would think I'm unsociable but if the truth can't get me through then what will...

colonel1

moonbino wrote: »

Not sporty either. I love Scrabble, Sudoku and music. Was worried they would think I'm unsociable but if the truth can't get me through then what will...

Lol I give up Moonbino:D Next time, I am going to write in my CV that I love guns and believe in the right to bear arms;)

moonbino

colonel1 wrote: »

moonbino wrote: »

Not sporty either. I love Scrabble, Sudoku and music. Was worried they would think I'm unsociable but if the truth can't get me through then what will...

Lol I give up Moonbino:D Next time, I am going to write in my CV that I love guns and believe in the right to bear arms;)

Hahaaa. I guarantee that will make you stand out. :-D

brumbram6

colonel1 wrote: »

Lol I give up Moonbino:D Next time, I am going to write in my CV that I love guns and believe in the right to bear arms;)

oh guys, i am feeling like i am going to give up very soon. if its meant to happen - TC will come, if not - it's fine too.:( After all I have a job and I better concentrate on it.

moonbino

irkalein wrote: »

colonel1 wrote: »

Lol I give up Moonbino:D Next time, I am going to write in my CV that I love guns and believe in the right to bear arms;)

oh guys, i am feeling like i am going to give up very soon. if its meant to happen - TC will come, if not - it's fine too.:( After all I have a job and I better concentrate on it.

If you really want it don't give up. Around this time can be stressful anticipating interviews and PFOs but nothing in life is easy. I know I'm not giving up. I won't be happy doing anything else.

colonel1

moonbino wrote: »

Hahaaa. I guarantee that will make you stand out. :-D

lol, that is the plan moonbino:D

lilfeely

moonbino wrote: »

If you really want it don't give up. Around this time can be stressful anticipating interviews and PFOs but nothing in life is easy. I know I'm not giving up. I won't be happy doing anything else.

Hi guys, we are all in the same boat. Im finding it very difficult to get a training contract too. I have a 2:1 in law, a Masters in Law and legal work experience. I have received alot of PFOs over the past month which is very disheartening. However I have done a couple of interviews and I think it all comes down to how you perform at the interview and a bit of luck helps too. I won't be giving up either, its going to happen, just have to preservere!