FE1 Exam Thread (Mod Warning: NO ADS)

MoneyMilo

leitrimjoe90 wrote: »

Also for all those constitutional law experts out there, can anyone tell me, in the case of a right to die scenario, with parents etc present, how do you bring in a42.5 and the threshold for state intervention? Surely I thought 41 and 42 applied only to married families for the purposes of the constitution, so therefore, if it was a non-married family, is 42.5 applicable?

In the right to die question on the last paper, wouldn't parental autonomy be a non-issue here given that the patient is an adult?

sorchauna

-splatto- wrote: »

When are the papers written?I was under the impression that they are written months in advance so it is unlikely that any questions involving the recent Constitutional changes will be included?Anyone able to let us know what the lecturers in the likes of Independent and City Colleges are saying about this?

I would assume paper is written around December/January. The constitutional examiner is one who is the most topically I think out of the all so I would be aware of any changes since Oct and new cases. After all this guy does a conference every year at the end of this month with the big cases of last year. Its meant to be very good and nod oubt he has those in mind when he was drawing up his paper. I have not been to one but you may have seen here people who have gone to it in the last paper and said a couple of the new cases he mentioned were stuff they brought up in the exam. City Colleges has flagged new cases as ones to watch but every course I assume would say that anyway.

leitrimjoe90

MoneyMilo wrote: »

In the right to die question on the last paper, wouldn't parental autonomy be a non-issue here given that the patient is an adult?

yes and no.. i mean you technically are correct but the whole idea of who makes decisions for the patient is an issue and family implicates on this...

does anyone have any other thoughts?

also does the presumption of cons. attach to local authority decisions, and if so, is the decision of a local authority easier to challenge than a statute?

frustratedTC

sorchauna wrote: »

I would assume paper is written around December/January. The constitutional examiner is one who is the most topically I think out of the all so I would be aware of any changes since Oct and new cases. After all this guy does a conference every year at the end of this month with the big cases of last year. Its meant to be very good and nod oubt he has those in mind when he was drawing up his paper. I have not been to one but you may have seen here people who have gone to it in the last paper and said a couple of the new cases he mentioned were stuff they brought up in the exam. City Colleges has flagged new cases as ones to watch but every course I assume would say that anyway.

Thanks i can see the right to die featuring heavily. What new criminal charges cases have appeared? and what are city flagging? I'd say he wrote both the March and October papers this month.

CClaw

Hey guys, quick question..I am rather confused at the moment, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Do people actually pass FE1s the first time around? I have heard some horrible stories about the FE1s and that people never pass on their first attempt..is this true?

I was going to attempt them during my masters and decided not to because of the workload , so i would like to start the in Oct.ideally, I would like to pass all 8 in two sittings..then go travelling for awhile.

What are the chances of passing all 8 in 2 sitting? was thinking of taking 5 in Oct. was going to do the revision courses for the summer
Maybe Property,Equity,Company then two more, which two should i take? any advise?

Sorry bit all over the place at the moment

CClaw

sorry posted twice

frustratedTC

A lot of people do pass, Ive got mine on first go anyway, heres hoping the last 2 don't change that. Its important for the first 4 to pick a mix that you are good at, so that you know you will at least get 3.

CClaw

frustratedTC wrote: »

A lot of people do pass, Ive got mine on first go anyway, heres hoping the last 2 don't change that. Its important for the first 4 to pick a mix that you are good at, so that you know you will at least get 3.

Thanks I was good at Company and Land at undergrad, we did equity in final year, so it's still kind of fresh in my mind. So I was thinking of those three .. then two more.. may be contract and criminal.. heard bad things about constitutional/tort/EU

I was told people rarely pass on the first attempt ( because it's different to undergrad exams blah blah) and I really want to pass all 8 in two sittings

frustratedTC

There is so much scare mongering with these exams, if u practice your exam technique, don't cherry pick topics, and know the stuff, you will get them. They are definitely tough exams, but by no means impossible. Tort is really interesting, but the examiner has supposedly toughened the marking up. Equity is a fair examiner, property is meant to be the 'easiest' exam, I loved company and I think he has maybe eased off failing people, I think company is very straightforward, criminal is interesting but make sure you know the Statutes well, he really knocks off marks for not knowing those, a lot of people are surprised when they fail criminal and I think it must be lack of knowing the particular section that applies. I did contract under the old examiner, Ive heard the new examiner marks harder though. Im doing EU and constitutional so can't comment until they are over, but they are definitely the most dense in terms of content.

sorchauna

frustratedTC wrote: »

Thanks i can see the right to die featuring heavily. What new criminal charges cases have appeared? and what are city flagging? I'd say he wrote both the March and October papers this month.

Nothing is flagged, he's one person you cannot predict. But yeah right to die would be topically. That was the case of the judge and the will, not as relevant since she resigned and did not need to be removed as a judge.

sorchauna

CClaw wrote: »

Hey guys, quick question..I am rather confused at the moment, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Do people actually pass FE1s the first time around? I have heard some horrible stories about the FE1s and that people never pass on their first attempt..is this true?

I was going to attempt them during my masters and decided not to because of the workload , so i would like to start the in Oct.ideally, I would like to pass all 8 in two sittings..then go travelling for awhile.

What are the chances of passing all 8 in 2 sitting? was thinking of taking 5 in Oct. was going to do the revision courses for the summer
Maybe Property,Equity,Company then two more, which two should i take? any advise?

Sorry bit all over the place at the moment

There are doable, yes it takes some people a few times to do the exams but not everyone has time to spend their whole days to them. Alot of people work full time and have families so that can impact on study. I sat my first 4 last oct and passed all 4 and am going to sit my final four in march and hopefully pass. I work part time in a solicitors so I tend to get flexibility in the job. That helps, just depends on your personal circumstances. Property it predictable in the paper but is harder marked because of it, equity is straight forward, company can be abit diffcult but my no means unpassable. I'd suggust contract and criminal or pick one of them and one of the more difficult ones of Eu or constitutional.

redscan

Anyone know what the issue was in Q5, October 2012 in Tort was? Is it professional negligence or negligent misstatement? Thanks!

CClaw

frustratedTC wrote: »

There is so much scare mongering with these exams, if u practice your exam technique, don't cherry pick topics, and know the stuff, you will get them. They are definitely tough exams, but by no means impossible. Tort is really interesting, but the examiner has supposedly toughened the marking up. ....

sorchauna wrote: »

There are doable, yes it takes some people a few times to do the exams but not everyone has time to spend their whole days to them...

Great, thank you for the information guys , out of interest, how many months did it take you to study for the first 4 exams, do you reckon June - sept. ( 4 whole months) is grand for 5 subjects? I have a horrible feeling that I prob will have no life for the year that I am doing the FE1s

frustratedTC

4 months is plenty, personally i think 3 is more than enough

DeSourire

frustratedTC wrote: »

There is so much scare mongering with these exams, if u practice your exam technique, don't cherry pick topics, and know the stuff, you will get them.

I could not agree more with this statement. For those with a law degree these exams are blown completely out of proportion in my opinion. Like Frustrated TC said they are very tough exams and they are different to college exams in how you approach the question etc but the content is the same, it's not like Foss v Harbottle in company law or donoghue v stephenson in tort are no longer important. The fundamental principles and the theory are exactly the same!

I am a law graduate who did a masters straight out of college and then sat the exams. I worked full time and took 3 weeks off before my exams and passed them and did this for two sittings and I am not a genius! average 2.1 in my undergrad.

It goes without saying that everyone is different but getting on top of these exams mentally is half the battle.

That's just my opinion and you will definitely find those who disagree but sure that's what this thread is for!

Fe1exams

Does anyone have any tips on keeping Professor Shane Kilcommins happy.
I just read his report on Oct 2012 (17 pages long) in contrast to 2,4,6,8, for the others.
Im not sure if its appropriate to ask here, but is he slightly mental or eccentric?.. i can delete mental if the mods require?

He seems to be extremely well qualified... perhaps a genius..
http://publish.ucc.ie/researchprofiles/B012/skilcommins

sorchauna

Fe1exams wrote: »

Does anyone have any tips on keeping Professor Shane Kilcommins happy.
I just read his report on Oct 2012 (17 pages long) in contrast to 2,4,6,8, for the others.
Im not sure if its appropriate to ask here, but is he slightly mental or eccentric?.. i can delete mental if the mods require?

He seems to be extremely well qualified... perhaps a genius..
http://publish.ucc.ie/researchprofiles/B012/skilcommins

I sat criminal in the last sitting and have had Shane twice in UCC and he is an amazing lecturer (though none of the subjects were criminal). Also I find him a great fair marker. To be honest criminal I was worried about as its very mixed and thought out of my 4 I may have failed that one and I hit high 60%'s so I was surprised. But he will give you marks for what he can. The main think is identify the issues and know the act. He doesnt seem as pushed if you don't know the section or if you forget case names. Also he gives the BEST reports. As you notice he doesnt just say a few lines but writes the ideal answer. I used them alot in looking at how to answer the question and I think that paid off. The whole point of the detailed answers is that fact that this is what the ideal answer would be. Also for those who may not have access to sample answers, its a moot point as they have all you need.

Also note he as written a criminal book with two other people which is very detailed but easy to understand. If your worried about criminal and have access to a library, you should look at it.

Fe1exams

Ill have a look at his book!

The funniest thing i found in his report was re question 4(iii) He mentions that one student said in the exam: "James couldnt be from Kilkenny beacuse he would not have missed when he threw a brick over the bridge at the opposing fans." i must admit i thought that was funny. I hope that student passed!!!

Also his refernce to persistance in q4(iv) He quotes DPP v. Lynch - was a blinder - is he a comedian awell as legal guru? i would have loved to have had the opportunity to attend some of his lectures if they are anything to go from his reports. Instead i have the pleasure of him correcting my exam which i dont think unfortuantely he feels the same about!

sorchauna

Fe1exams wrote: »

Ill have a look at his book!

The funniest thing i found in his report was re question 4(iii) He mentions that one student said in the exam: "James couldnt be from Kilkenny beacuse he would not have missed when he threw a brick over the bridge at the opposing fans." i must admit i thought that was funny. I hope that student passed!!!

Also his refernce to persistance in q4(iv) He quotes DPP v. Lynch - was a blinder - is he a comedian awell as legal guru? i would have loved to have had the opportunity to attend some of his lectures if they are anything to go from his reports. Instead i have the pleasure of him correcting my exam which i dont think unfortuantely he feels the same about!

Haha someone wrote that! I suppose easy way to make yourself memorable in the exam. I suppose if you correcting hundreds of papers, something like that is fun to see. He has a very quick wit about him no doubt which you can see and you would have no problem going into him for an hour and two as he does make the class alot more fun. He really was great I thought. I had him for jurisprudence and evidence and a few times I had seen him talk in my masters. But he was also a great marker!Hope it makes you feel better!

evercloserunion

DeSourire wrote: »

I could not agree more with this statement. For those with a law degree these exams are blown completely out of proportion in my opinion. Like Frustrated TC said they are very tough exams and they are different to college exams in how you approach the question etc but the content is the same, it's not like Foss v Harbottle in company law or donoghue v stephenson in tort are no longer important. The fundamental principles and the theory are exactly the same!

I am a law graduate who did a masters straight out of college and then sat the exams. I worked full time and took 3 weeks off before my exams and passed them and did this for two sittings and I am not a genius! average 2.1 in my undergrad.

It goes without saying that everyone is different but getting on top of these exams mentally is half the battle.

That's just my opinion and you will definitely find those who disagree but sure that's what this thread is for!

Absolutely. If anything they don't require as much depth as college exams (though I guess that's compensated for by a higher pass threshold). My first set was definitely the more mentally taxing, despite the fact that I left all the harder ones until the second set and also had less time for the second set. Most of it is that you don't know what to expect, both in terms of what will be in the exam and (more importantly) in terms of how it's marked.

conmo

Does anyone have any experience in sitting the fe1s and a masters in law at the same time?( sitting in one academic year fe1s in october and march, masters october - may(exams in january and may)). Is it possible to do it and keep on a job one day a week?

sorchauna

Does anybody know if the red cow is confirmed as the hotel this sitting?

brumbram6

guys does anyone know where to find sample answers on griffith moodle website. can't seem to find it.:(

KoukiKeith

brumbram6 wrote: »

guys does anyone know where to find sample answers on griffith moodle website. can't seem to find it.:(

Past exam bank. On my Company & Tort modules, it's the 4th section on the individual subject page.

frustratedTC

Hi
Does anyone know with respect to Oct 2010, Q5 as to what the effect is on the SC of the recent judgement holding a national exemption scheme to be incompatible with a directive is?

Cant figure out if this is just the interpretative obligation, or if it is mandatory duty to refer a q to ECJ?

Thanks in advance

leitrimjoe90

Hi does anyone know how to answer constitutional q3 october 2007- its the question on the government ban on the headscarf.

Does equality apply as the ban applies to all?

Also do you do a proportionality analysis- I believe that you only discuss proportionality when its statutory measure as opposed to a government circular. Can anyone help on this?

leitrimjoe90

Hi does anyone know how to answer constitutional q3 october 2007- its the question on the government ban on the headscarf.

Does equality apply as the ban applies to all?

Also do you do a proportionality analysis- I believe that you only discuss proportionality when its statutory measure as opposed to a government circular. Can anyone help on this?

chops018

leitrimjoe90 wrote: »

Hi does anyone know how to answer constitutional q3 october 2007- its the question on the government ban on the headscarf.

Does equality apply as the ban applies to all?

Also do you do a proportionality analysis- I believe that you only discuss proportionality when its statutory measure as opposed to a government circular. Can anyone help on this?

From the sample answer I'm looking at now they discuss equality. Mentions Quinns Supermarkets .v. AG and says a prima facie valid discrimination will be rendered void if it is out of proportion of the objectives sought. They then discuss Heaney .v. Ireland and the High Court found that impugned
discrimination must be rationally connected to objective, have minimal effect on rights and impair rights only to an extent proportionate to the objective in order to comply with Article 40.1. (Equality).

They also looked at ECtHR case law on Religion, and they then sought to see if a balance was struck between the conflicting rights. They came to the conclusion that the ban is prima facie proportionate with the objective sought under Article 40.1 and so she wouldn't succeed.

Basically they gave a discussion of Religious Freedom - Article 44.2.1 and 44.2.3. Then discussed the ECtHR views on Religion. They then discussed how Equality can effect it, and they then look to see if the objective sought was proportionate to the rights being supposedly infringed i.e. has a balance been struck with regard the conflicting rights, if so then there is no infringement.

chops018

Anyone going to this, what should we bring and is it casual wear?

Just saw it's in Merrion Square. Is that hotel hard to find? I'll probably come in by Baggot St and park somewhere around there and walk up, according to google maps the distance isn't far.

Caoileann

chops018 wrote: »

Anyone going to this, what should we bring and is it casual wear?

Just saw it's in Merrion Square. Is that hotel hard to find? I'll probably come in by Baggot St and park somewhere around there and walk up, according to google maps the distance isn't far.

It's the Mont Clare hotel right? I didn't get any confirmation of venue so just looked it up online. I'm sure there will be a few suits there as there will be both professionals as well as students but I imagine anyone not going straight from work will be dressing casually. l certainly will!