FE1 Exam Thread (Mod Warning: NO ADS)

leitrimjoe90

Fe1exams wrote: »

Yeah there are quite a few people doing grinds in Dublin. Try the law society website. The link below:

http://www.lawsociety.ie/Documents/education/hbs/FE-1GrindsList.pdf

Also if you do a course - some colleges do free repeats and others don't > check it out - might save you some cash!
Perhaps a waste of cash to enroll on a course now as they started ages ago even though the Colleges will be happy to en-role you know
they love the cash like we all do! (perhaps a bit too much sometimes)
Best of luck

thanks very much!

Glinda!

How did the rechecks go? Anyone get the magic 50? I rechecked contract but exact same result on the recheck

brumbram6

same result, left it unchanged.:(

Gibbonw2

Can someone kindly post the oct 2012 Eu casenote choices? Thanks in advance

chops018

Gibbonw2 wrote: »

Can someone kindly post the oct 2012 Eu casenote choices? Thanks in advance

Crosshair posted it on the previous page:

Van Gend en Loos
Tobacco Advertising
Kobler
Laval
Kadi/al Barakaat
Test-Achats
Zambrano
Commission v.Govt. of Gibraltar and UK.

Gibbonw2

Cheers Chops, my bad. Pity the Test Achats one was given 2 consecutive runouts. Hardly going to appear in March. I anticipated its effect on Irish Law would make it a popular casenote.

JCJCJC

Well, what did people think of the 'finding a TC' seminar? There were probably 100 people there, some only beginning the FE1s, some with 'em done for years. It seems to be commonplace for trainees to be completely unpaid, despite the soc's rule to the contrary, so you'll need cash to cover the fees and living ex's for quite some time. What did those who were there think?

frustratedTC

What are the Soc rules on unpaid traineeships? Are people taking out loans and paying their own blackhall fees? Is it just country firms that wont pay, because most my friends are in dublin firms and they are all being paid. TBH it seems to me that law firms are just taking advantage and were stupid enough to put up with it, does it not make us stupid solicitor if we'd accept zero pay, sure were hardly going to be great solicitors for our clients if that is the case. From my experience there are still traineeships, they are just very thin on the ground, so we've to do things to make us stand out?

Hogzy

frustratedTC wrote: »

What are the Soc rules on unpaid traineeships? Are people taking out loans and paying their own blackhall fees? Is it just country firms that wont pay, because most my friends are in dublin firms and they are all being paid. TBH it seems to me that law firms are just taking advantage and were stupid enough to put up with it, does it not make us stupid solicitor if we'd accept zero pay, sure were hardly going to be great solicitors for our clients if that is the case. From my experience there are still traineeships, they are just very thin on the ground, so we've to do things to make us stand out?

It was said that things are no where near bad enough for firms to justify not paying their trainees. We were urged not to take a TC if we werent going to be paid but that is much easier said than done in my opinion.

The main advice given was to find experience (unpaid) so that you are good enough to be considered an asset to a firm willing to give you a TC, so you will subsequently be worth the money because of your previous experience.

JCJCJC

Another thought that struck me on the way home was in relation to the Cork operation they shut down. If, as we were told yesterday, there's no reduction in people doing FE1s and then BHP, currently 400 students, why did they shut Cork? It certainly alters the expectation and the cost for someone in Munster/South Leinster in a huge way.
Also, on the subject of grants etc, they didn't seem to know that Leader companies can grant-aid a person as well, apart from the SUSI system. You'll find your local Leader company on www.pobal.ie.

Hogzy

Thats a good point about the Cork setup JC, unless they cut it because they mistakenly foresaw a reduction in students in coming years.

JCJCJC

Hogzy, the Lawsoc don't do mistakes, they're way too clever for that... ;-)

sorchauna

JCJCJC wrote: »

Hogzy, the Lawsoc don't do mistakes, they're way too clever for that... ;-)

I agree. I'm from Cork and when I started my degree I was influenced by the fact I could do it in Cork. Was not happy to hear they shut it down but if they have the same number doing it, it saves them renting two spaces and increase their profit. And the Law Society is all about profit. No point them telling us not to take a traineeship thats not being paid. They should do their jobs and ensure trainees are protected and paid.

UberStressed

JCJCJC wrote: »

Another thought that struck me on the way home was in relation to the Cork operation they shut down. If, as we were told yesterday, there's no reduction in people doing FE1s and then BHP, currently 400 students, why did they shut Cork? It certainly alters the expectation and the cost for someone in Munster/South Leinster in a huge way.
Also, on the subject of grants etc, they didn't seem to know that Leader companies can grant-aid a person as well, apart from the SUSI system. You'll find your local Leader company on www.pobal.ie.

I think you may have missed the point she was making.. she said there was a reduction in the number sitting FE1s but its in line with the reduction of traineeships. The impression I got was that although there used to be a higher no of traineeships available there was also a far greater number of people sitting the exams during the boom because it was such an attractive job to go into money-wise, so in terms of supply and demand its pretty much the same as it was pre-recession, although there may less money available to pay trainees.

JCJCJC

UberStressed wrote: »

I think you may have missed the point she was making.. she said there was a reduction in the number sitting FE1s but its in line with the reduction of traineeships. The impression I got was that although there used to be a higher no of traineeships available there was also a far greater number of people sitting the exams during the boom because it was such an attractive job to go into money-wise, so in terms of supply and demand its pretty much the same as it was pre-recession, although there may less money available to pay trainees.

OK, thanks for that clarification - I'm still wondering if there's work out there for 400 new solicitors every year though.

Procrastastudy

JCJCJC wrote: »

OK, thanks for that clarification - I'm still wondering if there's work out there for 400 new solicitors every year though.

Nope

colonel1

JCJCJC wrote: »

OK, thanks for that clarification - I'm still wondering if there's work out there for 400 new solicitors every year though.

The seminar was ok. Nice to see some mature students at it.

She said there will be 400 training places this year...however there is no guarantee that you will be kept on pq!! There are quite a few ads on the Law Soc site for qualified solicitors who qualify for jobbridge... a sobering thought!!

JCJCJC

colonel1 wrote: »

The seminar was ok. Nice to see some mature students at it.

She said there will be 400 training places this year...however there is no guarantee that you will be kept on pq!! There are quite a few ads on the Law Soc site for qualified solicitors who qualify for jobbridge... a sobering thought!!

I think an employer going after Job-bridge professionals isn't someone I'd like to work for. Galway Co Co are doing the same thing in relation to civil engineers. Imagine working for 50 yoyos a week, maybe with a 1st class hons post-grad degree, alongside some thick sod with a bad pass, on 75k a year plus ex's & pension - that's what it amounts to.

There's only one thing worse than a mature student, and that's an......;-)

Col, you never said Hello after all. Hogzy was correctly ID'd during the day, but I remained incognito ;-) Johnny no-mates, that's me I suppose ;-)

Hogzy

If a firm has enough work to need another solicitor then they have enough money Coming in to pay them.

JCJCJC

Hogzy wrote: »

If a firm has enough work to need another solicitor then they have enough money Coming in to pay them.

Bloody right.

spiralism

Going to sit the exams in march, starting study around now. How much could i realistically hope to pass and what would be a good amount to do? Im hearing varying opinions, some saying to do all of them but that would surely be too much to ask?

Also, i find myself out of work, are you considered a student when doing these exams or is it acceptable to claim welfare? I really could do without having to go to lengths to find more work while trying to study for the exams

Advice appreciated!

Hogzy

spiralism wrote: »

Going to sit the exams in march, starting study around now. How much could i realistically hope to pass and what would be a good amount to do? Im hearing varying opinions, some saying to do all of them but that would surely be too much to ask?

Also, i find myself out of work, are you considered a student when doing these exams or is it acceptable to claim welfare? I really could do without having to go to lengths to find more work while trying to study for the exams

Advice appreciated!

In order to pass all 8 in one sitting you would need to dedicate alot more than 2 months to study. Thats one week per subject and IMO that cannot be done unless youre super human and you dont sleep. Id do 4 and then 4 in Oct. How much study you must do depends on the individual.

Procrastastudy

spiralism wrote: »

Going to sit the exams in march, starting study around now. How much could i realistically hope to pass and what would be a good amount to do? Im hearing varying opinions, some saying to do all of them but that would surely be too much to ask?

Also, i find myself out of work, are you considered a student when doing these exams or is it acceptable to claim welfare? I really could do without having to go to lengths to find more work while trying to study for the exams

Advice appreciated!

To claim welfare you need to be actively looking for work. Morally you should not be claiming welfare. However another way to look at it is - there aren't enough jobs to go around and you are trying to get to a point that you take a permanent role rather than stack shelves for a few months then do what you wanted to do in the first place.

I also don't see the difference between studying for the FE1s and doing a FAS 'pick your own nose' course. At the end of the day, technically and you shouldn't but in reality...

JCJCJC

spiralism wrote: »

Going to sit the exams in march, starting study around now. How much could i realistically hope to pass and what would be a good amount to do? Im hearing varying opinions, some saying to do all of them but that would surely be too much to ask?

Also, i find myself out of work, are you considered a student when doing these exams or is it acceptable to claim welfare? I really could do without having to go to lengths to find more work while trying to study for the exams

Advice appreciated!

What Hogzy said is fine - but you don't say how much law you've studied to date. If you've recently graduated in law and you generally recall stuff well, you should at least do your best subjects. Get hold of some past papers and decide if you can hit a 50% mark in those. As it happens, there's a great-value bundle of pristine papers currently for sale here, all guaranteed 100% Law Society, unadulterated with anything coming from a horse

Procrastastudy

Sorry if this has been asked before and it relates to the KI entrance exams as well as the FE-1s. I'm dyslexic but the only remedies for this is either to have scribe, and I'm not that bad, or have extra time in exams, which I might as well have a neon sign above my head in exams saying "special". (No offence to anyone who does my concern is that in a field as competitive as law, I don't want to give the impression I didn't compete on a level playing field.)

My question is crap spelling and bad hand writing - how fatal is this is FE1s and KI entrance exams? In college my lecturers are aware of it and although they aren't meant to know who's exam it is it's pretty obvious that where 'anxious scrutiny' has been spelt eight different ways during an answer it's someone with a problem and it's let go to some degree or another.

Many Thanks in advance for any info.

JCJCJC

Procrastastudy wrote: »

Sorry if this has been asked before and it relates to the KI entrance exams as well as the FE-1s. I'm dyslexic but the only remedies for this is either to have scribe, and I'm not that bad, or have extra time in exams, which I might as well have a neon sign above my head in exams saying "special". (No offence to anyone who does my concern is that in a field as competitive as law, I don't want to give the impression I didn't compete on a level playing field.)

My question is crap spelling and bad hand writing - how fatal is this is FE1s and KI entrance exams? In college my lecturers are aware of it and although they aren't meant to know who's exam it is it's pretty obvious that where 'anxious scrutiny' has been spelt eight different ways during an answer it's someone with a problem and it's let go to some degree or another.

Many Thanks in advance for any info.

I'd say you should have a chat with the lawsoc on that issue. Fair dues to you.

Procrastastudy

JCJCJC wrote: »

I'd say you should have a chat with the lawsoc on that issue. Fair dues to you.

The answer is normally the same which is produce evidence and we'll make arrangements - I suppose my issue (and it is me being awkward) is I don't want arrangements. Thanks I'll bang off a (spell checked ) e-mail and see what they say.

JCJCJC

Procrastastudy wrote: »

The answer is normally the same which is produce evidence and we'll make arrangements - I suppose my issue (and it is me being awkward) is I don't want arrangements. Thanks I'll bang off a (spell checked ) e-mail and see what they say.

I did long written exams some years back with a friend who wrote with her toes. People who overcome difficulties of that magnitude humble the rest of us. Barrel on - again, fair dues to you.

Procrastastudy

JCJCJC wrote: »

I did long written exams some years back with a friend who wrote with her toes. People who overcome difficulties of that magnitude humble the rest of us. Barrel on - again, fair dues to you.

LOL - steady on now that's adversity. Dyslexia is merely inconvenient and mostly moot these days will spell checkers and a like. There are actually significant advantages to being dyslexic - three hour written exams not being one of them.

Amre17

Hi all.. Anyone planning on going to Eoin Carolans constitutional update lecture in UCD Thursday week?