FE1 Exam Thread (Read 1st post!) NOTICE: YOU MAY SWAP EXAM GRIDS

Milkypops

hi guys,

in relation to right to life in constitutional....can someone explain the case R(Purdy) v UK to me please? i know the plaintiff wanted to avoid her husband getting in trouble for assisted suicide and guidelines were developed but thats it??

unknown1990

Milkypops wrote: »

hi guys,

in relation to right to life in constitutional....can someone explain the case R(Purdy) v UK to me please? i know the plaintiff wanted to avoid her husband getting in trouble for assisted suicide and guidelines were developed but thats it??

As I remember it, it basically demonstrates the difference between the Irish stance on the right to die and the echr. Firstly, in the Irish context, it was held in re a ward of court that a right to die is implicit in the right to life and that sometimes dying is necessary to give sanctity to an individual's life. However, on this point the echr does not necessarily seem to be of the same opinion. Further, the key difference between the two cases is that on re a ward of court, what was involved was an omission ie. simply no longer continuing with life support while on pretty v uk what was involved was a positive act of ending someone's life. The case of pretty seems to recognise also that on not allowing the assisted suicide/right to die that there could be an interference with art 8 echr and privacy but the echr gives huge discretion to the ms in relation to their criminal laws. Hope that helps!

Lawstudent007

Anyone ever passed on four and a half questions, of which 3 and a half was very good and the fourth one vague but on point ie. not much case law but not total BS?

Milkypops

unknown1990 wrote: »

As I remember it, it basically demonstrates the difference between the Irish stance on the right to die and the echr. Firstly, in the Irish context, it was held in re a ward of court that a right to die is implicit in the right to life and that sometimes dying is necessary to give sanctity to an individual's life. However, on this point the echr does not necessarily seem to be of the same opinion. Further, the key difference between the two cases is that on re a ward of court, what was involved was an omission ie. simply no longer continuing with life support while on pretty v uk what was involved was a positive act of ending someone's life. The case of pretty seems to recognise also that on not allowing the assisted suicide/right to die that there could be an interference with art 8 echr and privacy but the echr gives huge discretion to the ms in relation to their criminal laws. Hope that helps!

thats all correct but the case im looking for is R(Purdy) v UK not pretty v uk :P

thanks anyway!

Milkypops

Lawstudent007 wrote: »

Anyone ever passed on four and a half questions, of which 3 and a half was very good and the fourth one vague but on point ie. not much case law but not total BS?

it really depends on the subject....youd get away with it in criminal but with the likes of constitutional and eu they want you to have the 5 questions.

Lawstudent007

Milkypops wrote: »

it really depends on the subject....youd get away with it in criminal but with the likes of constitutional and eu they want you to have the 5 questions.

Property and equity

Stormington

Lawstudent007 wrote: »

Property and equity

Equity.

I winged it by answering 3 questions well, 1 badly and just over half and 1 less than half. Maybe not quite 5 seems to be ok.

Milkypops

Lawstudent007 wrote: »

Property and equity

for equity i did 5 alright but i def answered one question completely wrong and for the 5 question was a 2 part a & b one....my part b was waffle one case and i got bang on 50

Galw2014

Just wondering if anyone has a link to the City Colleges Tort review?

Ownleme

Bayley1 wrote: »

I'm the exact same, I'm def doin them but still trying to decide if I should focus more or less on mareva :-(

Don't think you should do mareva personally. The same one seems to come up twice in a row n then it changes.

Presume no1 who wants city colleges links has the independent links?

Lawstudent007

Milkypops wrote: »

for equity i did 5 alright but i def answered one question completely wrong and for the 5 question was a 2 part a & b one....my part b was waffle one case and i got bang on 50

I did 5 questions in equity and property as well. And same as with yourself, I had three really good answers, a vague 4th one which was not completely wrong and my fifth question was also an a) and b) - the a) completely wrong and the b) part really good. Just concerned whether that'll be enough to see me over the line in both of them. For constitution I also answered 5 questions - 3 good and the other 2 not even sure if I answered them correctly as many seems to have a different answers for those. So just don't know how the examiner will mark those 2 questions. This set if exams were absolutely horrible. The first time I sat these I could fairly guess whether I passed or not, this second set were horrible and this time around I just don't know how I did. I didn't walk out of the exam thinking I failed but I didn't walk out thinking I passed either.

MissM89

Has anyone any advice for Company - I was doing corporate authority all along, but as it came up on the March paper is it likely to reappear? I havnt even looked at Ultra Vires and i feel it is a bit late to start now! Any ideas?!

Lolers11

MissM89 wrote: »

Has anyone any advice for Company - I was doing corporate authority all along, but as it came up on the March paper is it likely to reappear? I havnt even looked at Ultra Vires and i feel it is a bit late to start now! Any ideas?!

Yea I'm wondering that myself! Anyone hear of any tips for Company? I'm doing most of the course, finding it very hard get down to it though!!

MissM89

Lolers11 wrote: »

Yea I'm wondering that myself! Anyone hear of any tips for Company? I'm doing most of the course, finding it very hard get down to it though!!

I did the city review tutorial from the first paper, and he said that it is likely to reappear as he didnt think the paper would be totally different, but as it came up and UV didnt I dont know if it is a silly risk to take! I have cut down the course a bit and feel I would probably still have enough but then again.....I think I am loosing my mind over these exams!

Padjo1

Hi all

Anyone got the link for criminal review classes or the paper. If you could post it would be greatly apprecitated

Thanks

another question

Would someone mind sharing their experiences of studying for the FE1s. I plan on doing them but I don't have a law degree. Would it be totally ridiculous to even consider sitting four of them this September. I haven't started any study and I don't have any manuals yet, I was just going to do a prep course with City Colleges.

I suppose on a scale of 1-10, 10 being extremely difficult, what number would most of you consider them? This was something I had in my head for a few years but never settled down to do it and now that I've found out I'm being made redundant in June, I feel like just going for it.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts/honest opinions.

chops018

another question wrote: »

Would someone mind sharing their experiences of studying for the FE1s. I plan on doing them but I don't have a law degree. Would it be totally ridiculous to even consider sitting four of them this September. I haven't started any study and I don't have any manuals yet, I was just going to do a prep course with City Colleges.

I suppose on a scale of 1-10, 10 being extremely difficult, what number would most of you consider them? This was something I had in my head for a few years but never settled down to do it and now that I've found out I'm being made redundant in June, I feel like just going for it.

I suppose on a scale of 1-10, 10 being extremely difficult, what number would most of you consider them? This was something I had in my head for a few years but never settled down to do it and now that I've found out I'm being made redundant in June, I feel like just going for it.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts/honest opinions.

If you started studying within the next week or two then there is no reason why you shouldn't pass at least 4 in the exams the end of September. Even with a non-law degree. Once you have the manuals, past exam papers, and dig out previous sample answers from someone then you should be able to get cracking.

I suppose with not having a degree in law then maybe doing a prep course is a good idea.

What is your background can I ask?

As for difficulty on a scale of 1-10. It depends on the subject, as a whole I would personally give them a 7 or 8 out of 10 - they are horrendous exams, and you usually have to know 90% of the syllabus, unless you get lucky.

In saying that I found some of the exams to be quite easy. For example I found Property handy and would put that at a 3 or 4 difficulty, I found Equity easy and I would also give that a 3 or 4. Then I had middling subjects like Constitutional, EU and Criminal, which I would give a 5 or 6. But note on the first two of those, they are the biggest in terms of material, and most people find them the hardest, my Masters involved a lot of EU law and Constitutional so that's probably why I found them grand. Then there's Contract, Company and Tort, I would give them a 10 on difficultly, I found Tort horrible and messy and harshly marked, even though loads find it one of the easier one's. Company is my final FE1, and hopefully after this sitting it will be my last time doing it. I cannot stress enough how much I hate it and just can't get my head around some of the areas involved.

So you will see from the above that they are extremely difficult exams, but they are not impossible. Put your mind to it, do the study, look at past papers and sample answers to see what to zone in on, and learn off that stuff and you should be well prepared. Try not to leave areas out, but you will see from exam grids that there are a few areas that can be left out.

Be weary with the likes of Criminal and Contract as they mix topics in questions - you could have 4 or 5 bits of topics in one question in Criminal!!

As for my personal experiences with them - I did my first 4 just after my Masters, and tbh I did barley any study and failed miserably. I said right, I'll chalk that down to being an eejit, as I wasn't at all prepared. I re-focused, got everything I needed and just studied flat out for 3 months before and passed all 4 in the next set. Also, for that first 4 I passed I was only working part time - so I did have plenty of free time. Then I did 2 and passed two, and last October I did what I hoped were my final 2 bit I failed Company. I am hoping I get it this time and I'm done with these horrible exams. I'm at them over a year and a half and they are just getting annoying now.

Plus I'm working 2 jobs since November - an internship with a law firm, and a retail job at the weekends so it has been difficult to flat out study, even though it is only for one exam.

The best of luck with the study. And remember, if you are well organised, are familiar with the types of questions asked for the topics, and just get down to it and study you'll be fine. Of course you will find some difficult topics, or indeed difficult subjects, but persevere, you will get there if you want. I know people who it only took them 2 sittings to get all 8, and I know some who it took 3 years to get them. The average person seems to get them all in 3 sittings by the looks of it.

another question

Super answer Chops018, thank you.

dashdoll

Hi guys,

Just wondering what people's opinions are on sitting all 8 together in September?

I know this is possibly lunacy but I really just want to get going and get as many as possible ticked off.

I'm considering leaving my job to study full time for the summer so would have prep courses and 4 months to study full time. Have a LLB and LLM and looked at manuals and papers before so I know what is involved but I'm just wondering if anyone has attempted this before without having a total melt down!

chops018

dashdoll wrote: »

Hi guys,

Just wondering what people's opinions are on sitting all 8 together in September?

I know this is possibly lunacy but I really just want to get going and get as many as possible ticked off.

I'm considering leaving my job to study full time for the summer so would have prep courses and 4 months to study full time. Have a LLB and LLM and looked at manuals and papers before so I know what is involved but I'm just wondering if anyone has attempted this before without having a total melt down!

Have a look at the previous FE1 thread. I'm 99% sure I saw a couple on there attempt all 8. I think one of them got 7, and I think I saw someone write up that they knew someone who got all 8.

Fair play to you if you do. That would be 4 in a row, weekend, then another 4 in a row. Some going.

EDIT: If you use the search function in the old FE1 thread that should bring up some results. There defo hasn't been anyone on this thread who has tried it, I've been on here since this one was opened.

another question

I don't suppose City Colleges or the others sell the manuals without buying the entire course? Or is there anywhere I could buy 4 manuals as soon as possible?

dashdoll

chops018 wrote: »

Have a look at the previous FE1 thread. I'm 99% sure I saw a couple on there attempt all 8. I think one of them got 7, and I think I saw someone write up that they knew someone who got all 8.

Fair play to you if you do. That would be 4 in a row, weekend, then another 4 in a row. Some going.

EDIT: If you use the search function in the old FE1 thread that should bring up some results. There defo hasn't been anyone on this thread who has tried it, I've been on here since this one was opened.

Thanks a mil, I'll have a look at that. The only reason I'm in a bit of a hurry to get as many done as possible at once cos I know I'll be finishing work and would have 4 full months to study. Pretty sure I'd have no life for that time but I would just have to get on with it really. If I got 6 I would be delighted. However, I'm afraid I would just become totally overwhelmed by attempting 8 and do myself no favours at all!

http://www.lawsociety.ie/Documents/education/hbs/FE1%20dates.pdf Had a look at the timetable and don't know if I could even physically manage it but at least there's a day off each week I guess!

Morris_fe1s

Would it not be relevant to add in the parole evidence rule and its exceptions for an essay on implied terms in contract law? i would have thought it would have been yet i am told it is not relevant.

Asho87

Lots on adverts

Legalgrad

another question wrote: »

I don't suppose City Colleges or the others sell the manuals without buying the entire course? Or is there anywhere I could buy 4 manuals as soon as possible?

Yes lots on adverts and more will be available in next two weeks

JamesLaw

dashdoll wrote: »

Hi guys,

Just wondering what people's opinions are on sitting all 8 together in September?

I know this is possibly lunacy but I really just want to get going and get as many as possible ticked off.

I'm considering leaving my job to study full time for the summer so would have prep courses and 4 months to study full time. Have a LLB and LLM and looked at manuals and papers before so I know what is involved but I'm just wondering if anyone has attempted this before without having a total melt down!

All 8 is certainly do-able and many of the top firms would be very impressed by that.

From my personal experience of sitting fe1s- I wouldn't risk attempting all 8 in one go. Yes it would undoubtedly be a great achievement and a great point of discussion in an interview, but the amount of work required is massive and will consume your life as you will have no free time between now and oct coming.

Also if things go wrong you could easily become disheartened with the Fe1 system and walk away- I have good friends who worked hard for their first three and unfort didn't get them they walked away and I know they lament that now!

The fact that you have two sittings before the next possible Blackhall in-take I would divide the work down sit 4 in oct and 4 next march (or even 5 and 3) this would give you better odds of attaining all 8 in time for Blackhall sept 15. There is no point in rushing - set out a plan now to sit a good handful and then the remainder next year.

Best of luck

penny1500

I'm half thinking of giving it a go myself!! Are you going to do any of the preparatory courses on offer? If you are willing to just put your all into it I don't see why it can't be done...a lot of dedication needed though!!!

dashdoll wrote: »

Hi guys,

Just wondering what people's opinions are on sitting all 8 together in September?

I know this is possibly lunacy but I really just want to get going and get as many as possible ticked off.

I'm considering leaving my job to study full time for the summer so would have prep courses and 4 months to study full time. Have a LLB and LLM and looked at manuals and papers before so I know what is involved but I'm just wondering if anyone has attempted this before without having a total melt down!

another question

Does anyone here claim BTEA whilst studying for the FE1s. I know that the PPC courses are eligible for grant funding and a training payment is paid but not sure about studying before actually applying to Blackhall.

Glinda!

How is everyone feeling about Tort tomorrow? Im really at a loss as to what I should be concentrating on as this stage! Anything could appear!

dandadub

Glinda! wrote: »

How is everyone feeling about Tort tomorrow? Im really at a loss as to what I should be concentrating on as this stage! Anything could appear!

Yes panic has firmly set in. I'm focusing mainly on General Negligence, Causation, vicarious liability, nuisance, trespass to person, economic loss, res ipsa loquitor, passing off and product liability. Less so on standard of care, nervous shock, defamation, defences, professional Negligence.

You?

What do you find helps to learn off by heart?