FE1 Exam Thread (Mod Warning: NO ADS)

cnlbel

when you read it all yourself it makes much more sense! It does definately get easier! plenty of time yet also!

Legal Exec

Can't say I haven't heard of people just focusing on these two and scraping through- I have but wouldn't advise it.

Perseverance is the only solution- guaranteed to work.

Dismiss the importance of these two with Non Jusitcibility at your peril.

Griff do a good forum for clarification as well so post there too.

Jicked

I posted this add last week, but just to let people know that the manuals I have remaining I'm not gonna chuck in free p&p anymore since it turns out thats more expensivethen you think! So if you want any of the ones remaining its now gonna be €30! PM me if you're interested.

Hey guys,

I have my girlfriend and my own old manuals for sale, between us we have a good collection!

EU Law (Independent Coll) Summer 08
Company (Independent Coll) Summer 08
Equity (Griffith) Summer 08
Tort (Independent) Summer 08
Constitutional (Independent) Winter 08/09
Criminal (Griffith) 08
Contract (Griffith) Summer 07
Property (Independent) Summer 08

I've no use for them anymore so the cost is €20 per book incl. postage
(providing they can fit in the envelopes I can steal from work )

pandas

FE-1 Independent Colleges Manuals and past exam papers for sale €50.00 each or all five manuals and booklets for €200.00; in the following subjects:



Equity & the Law of Trusts Manual & past exam papers booklet


Contract Law Manual & past exam papers booklet


Criminal Law Manual & past exam papers booklet


Constitutional Law Manual & past exam papers booklet


Property Law Manual & past exam papers booklet



All related to either the exams in October 2008 or April 2009, so they are all up to date.



I also have the following for sale:


Equity and the Law of Trusts, Hilary Delany, newest edition for €70.00.


Irish Land Law, Andrew Lyall, 2nd Edition for €60.00.



Will post to any county free of charge upon receipt of payment. Contact me at dcan1@live.ie

legal bee

Hi all, I had registered with Independent Colleges to do prep course for FE1s. I registered for Constitutional and Company however due to personal circumstances, i cannot go ahead with these exams. So I am trying to get rid of 2 BRAND NEW manuals and exam papers for October 2009. They havent even been opened. Im charging 80 each including p & p.

PM me if interested

johnfás

legal bee wrote: »

Hi all, I had registered with Independent Colleges to do prep course for FE1s. I registered for Constitutional and Company however due to personal circumstances, i cannot go ahead with these exams. So I am trying to get rid of 2 BRAND NEW manuals and exam papers for October 2009. They havent even been opened. Im charging 80 each including p & p.

PM me if interested

Have you talked to them about getting a refund and deferring your taking of the course until the next sitting? It would save you alot more money than selling on the manuals...

Annie123

Hi everyone,
I assume everyone on here is studying for the october exams, I just kind of decided today that I'd like to do 4 FE1s in october - is it a bit late to start studying for them now, or should I just hang on til April?
I'd really like to get a few out of the way! Opinions anyone?
Thanks!

theo2008

If you have a law degree, I'd say go for it. I have just finished my law degree and decided a few days to do four exams this Oct. If you don't have a law degree, I would still say it's possible to pass them but you would need to put in some serious work, start straightaway and treat it like a full-time job, no slacking at all.

Annie123

Yeah I have a law degree and I did 3 of the subjects I'm hoping to take in october in the last year in college so I have a lot of materials, books etc.
Just can't seem to find a job at the moment which is frustrating as I'm broke, going to keep looking of course, but until I find one at least I have a lot of free time for study!
Thanks

enry

A law degree means Fcuk All if your doing the FE-1s. My advice is, however, if you dont have a training contract sorted out dont go to the bother of doing the FE-1s.

johnfás

enry wrote: »

A law degree means Fcuk All if your doing the FE-1s. My advice is, however, if you dont have a training contract sorted out dont go to the bother of doing the FE-1s.

I disagree entirely. Certainly there is a risk doing them as in they take up alot of your time and there are very few jobs out there but many people if they were not studying for them would be out of work anyway so where is the risk?

People were telling me 18 months ago not to bother sitting them because there were no jobs but I got through them in two sittings, got a job offer at a Big 5 and whilst my entry to the firm has been deferred for a year it has enabled me to apply for an LLM which I was accepted for today with a job offer to go to for the end of it.

I got incredibly lucky and I am very thankful for it - not everyone will. However, there will be people who fall lucky and those people will exist at every sitting of it... whether you sit them depends largely on what you would be doing with yourself if you didn't sit them and also if law is what you really really want to do then keep at it.

enry

johnfás wrote: »

I disagree entirely. Certainly there is a risk doing them as in they take up alot of your time and there are very few jobs out there but many people if they were not studying for them would be out of work anyway so where is the risk?

People were telling me 18 months ago not to bother sitting them because there were no jobs but I got through them in two sittings, got a job offer at a Big 5 and whilst my entry to the firm has been deferred for a year it has enabled me to apply for an LLM which I was accepted for today with a job offer to go to for the end of it.

I got incredibly lucky and I am very thankful for it - not everyone will. However, there will be people who fall lucky and those people will exist at every sitting of it... whether you sit them depends largely on what you would be doing with yourself if you didn't sit them and also if law is what you really really want to do then keep at it.

well fair balls to yea. but I cant see the advantage of doing an LLM. The fact you got into one of the big 5 would probably mean that you sat an interview some time at the end of last year. however how long will it take you to qualify at this stage if your start date has been deferred for another year. lets say you do start your pp1 in oct 2010 your 2 years will start running in 2011 and you will qualify sometime in 2013 which means it will have taken you from 2008 when you sat your interview with one of the big five until 2013 (along time) .

I'm not trying to get at you here. I means it when I say well done on getting a training contract but the time frames are taking the p1ss and I admire you for the fact that you intend working over such a period of time to obtain your goal. however a friend of mine just qualified with frys and they told him they would keep him on, on a week by week basis.

The point is I could go to a number of countries and qualify in about ten min. work there and come back and do a transfer exam and be qualified here. the system in this country is a joke and it about time the law society did something about it.
If someone is think about doing the FE-1s to pass the time great however if there thinking about doing them and are under the impression that once there have passed them qualifying is a walk in the park they are sadly mistaken

johnfás

I'd rather do an LLM than be on the dole, but cheers anyway.

legal eagle 1

however how long will it take you to qualify at this stage if your start date has been deferred for another year. lets say you do start your pp1 in oct 2010 your 2 years will start running in 2011 and you will qualify sometime in 2013 which means it will have taken you from 2008 when you sat your interview with one of the big five until 2013 (along time) .

Does it bloody matter at this stage if it takes him ten years to qualify, fact is he has some great training lined up!!and congrats Johnfas i wish you well i wish i was in your position.

If someone is think about doing the FE-1s to pass the time great however if there thinking about doing them and are under the impression that once there have passed them qualifying is a walk in the park they are sadly mistaken

I think if anyone spent just two mins looking at these threads they'd realise thats not the case and wouldnt be under any rose tinted glasses illusion.
Yes the Law society in this country is a joke, fact is they should be trying in some way to keep control of the ppl taking fe1's , the number of people qualifying etc. but that aint ever going happen, the fact is there too money happy and as long as stupid people like ourselves in our thousands keep paying to sit the Fe1's the longer this will continue!

sunnyside

Some days I feel like such an idiot for having signed up to this fe1 thing. I don't have a law degree and I've paid griffith for a course.

But I'm sticking with it because I'm certain this is the career for me. I've had a few encounters with the law buying and selling property. There were a few complications and a court case involved. This experience made me want to be a solicitor.

I'm 30 which I think is a major advantage because the majority of clients who deal with solicitors when dealing with wills, property, money are older people who are unlikely to have the same confidence in a 21 year old as they do in someone older. I don't mean to offend any of the younger people here but I do believe it's easier for someone slightly older to be taken seriously in the legal profession.

My griffith class has a lot of older people including someone who looks to be around 50.

So I don't see what the major hurry with getting qualified is.

dumbyearbook

Fair play to you ^ and the guy there that stuck it out and got the big 5, Enry your a total kill joy, stop giving out about the law society and just decide what you wanna do and get on with it. TBH i cant see why you have any issue with them you've no law degree and it seems maybe you have just failed an Fe1 or that - its no reason to start the whole " the law society are a joke" rant.

sunnyside

dumbyearbook wrote: »

if you can 'qualify in 10 min. abroad' go do it.

Things that are worth doing are never easy (unfortunately).

I think a lot of the people moaning about the Law Society aren't really committed to working in the leagal profession at all. They just think they are. Many of them did a law degree straight out of school and then when having to decide what to do next FE1's seems like the obvious choice. Then they have trouble getting jobs and blame it all on the law society when the reality is that they aren't really suited to the law profession at all. That's exactly what I was like about the subject I did my degree in. That hasn't worked out as a long term career plan. I did it straight from school, had no real certainty that it was what I wanted to do, I passed the exams easily enough but never got a great job after. I wasn't committed to it though, I know that now.

I know of a guy who was a Guard and wanted to be a solicitor. He didn't have a degree so did a law degree at night, then FE1'S and it worked out. He is now working as a solicitor. Not with a big 5 firm, a small practice in a small town which is what I aspire to. People took him very seriously when he applied for jobs. His background as a guard and all the people skills that go with it was worth more than any law degree. He did this during the Celtic Tiger years as opposed to us in the recession but he still has his job now. He worked hard to do it though.

legal eagle 1

I think a lot of the people moaning about the Law Society aren't really committed to working in the leagal profession at all. They just think they are. Many of them did a law degree straight out of school and then when having to decide what to do next FE1's seems like the obvious choice. Then they have trouble getting jobs and blame it all on the law society when the reality is that they aren't really suited to the law profession at all.

You know just because some of us have an adverse opinion on the Law Society at the minute (an opinion which in many cases is justified) does not in any way mean that we are not committed to working in the legal profession or are not suited to it!! Thats an offensive statement to me, I've worked hard, i spend all day every day trying to make it into the legal world and just because i do not have a high opinion on the Law Society in this country your saying im not committed?! Just because you've decided to change careers does not mean in any way that you are more suited to the profession than us people who have done it straight out of college!!

Dante09

legal eagle 1 wrote: »

You know just because some of us have an adverse opinion on the Law Society at the minute (an opinion which in many cases is justified) does not in any way mean that we are not committed to working in the legal profession or are not suited to it!! Thats an offensive statement to me, I've worked hard, i spend all day every day trying to make it into the legal world and just because i do not have a high opinion on the Law Society in this country your saying im not committed?! Just because you've decided to change careers does not mean in any way that you are more suited to the profession than us people who have done it straight out of college!!

+1

Dante09

just read this article...some of you may find it interesting http://www.independent.ie/national-news/young-solicitors-feel-squeeze-as-40pc-are-let-go-by-law-firms-1803858.html
its bad but tbh i thought it would be worse.
I wonder how many, out of the 40% that have been let go, worked for the larger Dublin firms. Or do yee think that the vast majority making up that 40% would be smaller practices?

enry

legal eagle 1 wrote: »

You know just because some of us have an adverse opinion on the Law Society at the minute (an opinion which in many cases is justified) does not in any way mean that we are not committed to working in the legal profession or are not suited to it!! Thats an offensive statement to me, I've worked hard, i spend all day every day trying to make it into the legal world and just because i do not have a high opinion on the Law Society in this country your saying im not committed?! Just because you've decided to change careers does not mean in any way that you are more suited to the profession than us people who have done it straight out of college!!

Totally agree with the above. My point is quite simple if you passed you exams to become a barrister and do your degree in kings inn you will get a master to take you on without any problems. But if you sit your fe-1s and pass, you still might not get a solicitor to take you on.

Look at New Zealand where to get qualified you do a law degree you then sit 5 exams which take 1hr 30min each then you do around a 13 week intensive course and on completion you are qualified as a solicitor/barrister. However to get your practicing cert you have to work for a number months with a law firm I might add that if your unemployed or having difficulties getting into a law firm don’t worry as the NZ government offers incentives to employers in these circumstances.

So for that individual that said I’m a kill joy. I'm not, I’m genuinely happy to see anyone get on and wish them the best of luck. I’m simply saying that the law society could do more. Otherwise considering the current economic situation the vast majority of those qualifying will be those related to people currently in the profession and I don’t think that’s fair.

legal eagle 1

A record 777 solicitors qualified last year and the Law Society, the ruling body of solicitors, has recently appointed career development advisory staff to help solicitors.
Supports being offered to solicitors by the Law Society include guidelines on job seeking, alternatives to practice and working outside Ireland.

This is a quote from the article Dante09 was so good to post a link up to. See this really says it all about the law society, they had 777 solicitors qualify last year and now there trying to put guidelines and help in place to try and figure out a way to get them working in another area or another country........this is fair enough and a badly needed resource. But, at the same time should they not be also putting some focus on the amount of people they have sitting FE1's, the complete lack of restriction on any person of any discipline taking these exams. Like they should start focusing from the ground upwards.

dumbyearbook

I called you the kill joy enry but you have so made up for it with your 10 min plan to qualify as a solicitor in NZ what a super idea !! It's hardly ten minutes is it ffs you need to get a law degree first and then pass entrance exams and work "a few months" in an office for those without a law degree the irish system is quicker the benefit is there must be jobs there. I'm off to nz to do a degree and get started, your idea is all good if your not already in the system and are looking at options.

enry

dumbyearbook wrote: »

I called you the kill joy enry but you have so made up for it with your 10 min plan to qualify as a solicitor in NZ what a super idea !! It's hardly ten minutes is it ffs you need to get a law degree first and then pass entrance exams and work "a few months" in an office for those without a law degree the irish system is quicker the benefit is there must be jobs there. I'm off to nz to do a degree and get started, your idea is all good if your not already in the system and are looking at options.

Sorry Dumbyearbook for those of us who have law degrees its quicker.

April 2008

Does anyone think some subjects were marked easy in the last sitting, does anyone think the standards are dropping so as to encourage more people to sit FE1s.

Dante09

thought it was weird tbh.
thought i had done better than 60/61/68 in equity/criminal/contract
didnt think i would get a 70 in property at all because
a) its my least favorite subject
b) i genuinely thought the exam didnt go particularly well though i knew i definitely passed it
c) isnt property supposed to be the hardest marked exam?
if marking the exams easier in the current climate is a tactic of the law society...well...that says enough...no need to comment

Legal Exec

From what I've heard no but opinions may differ.

I'm finding it tough out there even with my extensive Legal Exec experience so I'm sure many others are too.

If anyone is being encouraged to do these exams I would like to warn them that it really is a minefield during and after qualifying to get any type of legal work at the moment...

Legal Exec

[SIZE=-1]Full term '08 Manuals & Free Past Paper Homework books Constitutional, Contract & Equity- €50.00 1 day Seminar manuals €20.00 EU Blackstones €10.00. Banking Transfers & Posting (if required) - no probs! legaladviceonline@gmail.com or 08 300 400 76 [/SIZE]

Amigone

Hey,

I have old manuals and exam papers from '07 in all but Const and EU if anyone wants em. Going very cheap for the 6! Pm me if interested.

cnlbel

Griffith manuals and exam papers from lasty sitting:

equity

Constitutional

EU

contract

All in good condition. Will post.

50 each

PM me if interested! happy monday!:)