With only a month to go until the first day of the BVC it is now becoming apparent that I need to start preparing properly, some of which will be fun (mostly the buying stuff), and some not so fun. These include:
- Reading the pre-reading now available on BPP's blackboard site;
- Going through all of my core legal subjects textbooks and revising the areas which BPP say you should know before starting the course (basically everything);
- Buying new suits, shirts, and ties for the advocacy, negotiation, and conferencing elements of the course;
- Buy a laptop and other stationery for my home study area;
- Buy an annual zone 1-6 travel card.
I have so far completed most of section one including the legal research and case preparation manual, and the what I should know before arriving at BPP section. Tomorrow I will begin section 2 so that I am ready to hit the ground running come the 7th of September. The good stuff including buying some new suits will have to wait for a while unfortunately. Something that couldn't wait was the £14795 that I had to cough up yesterday, ouch.
I am also thinking about starting to create a list of all achievements and experience ready to construct a new CV ready for two non-OLPAS pupillages that ask for a CV. Which neatly leads me onto explaining why the last post made it onto my blog (other than for reasons of insomnia).
As you can see below I went climbing in Wales last week and I did indeed end up doing the rather dangerous and very high traverse starting at Crib Goch. While I was clinging onto a rock 980 metres above sea level, absolutely petrified and scared witless, I could think of nothing but getting down of the mountain and finding the nearest public house.
However on reflection I have realised that I might be able to use this in an interview or on an application form under the heading "challenge overcome " or "triumph over adversity". I am wondering if it might be just the kind of standout detail that would catch the eye of an OLPAS form weary barrister as different and interesting? Maybe this is the kind of original, outside of the box, blue sky thinking I need to be employing when writing applications? (Maybe I should stop asking rhetorical questions and using stupid corporate speak?)
I am going to post on some legal/political topics soon, the first being why Harriet Harman is misguided, and secondly on the Assisted Suicide question. Until then,
BoB
11 comments:
Hi BoB, wouldn't worry too much about the pre-BVC revision, just stick to the basics of contract, negligence and the main criminal topics (assaults and theft). During my first year (part-timer), we didn't touch land law or trusts and although there are some obscure areas of law that crop up, they are on topics not covered during LLB.
I would recommend that you read the overriding objective section to the White Book which is available online, apart from that, go with the flow, relax a little and enjoy your last few weeks of 'freedom'.
Cheers Barmaid, useful advice. I think I will do those first and tackle trusts, land and judicial review if I have time, although I may refresh my memory on the HRA 1998 as it seems to crop up as a consideration fairly regularly.
I will also have a look for the White Book Section you mention. I think that I may have read it while volunteering for the Legal Charity I did the county court advocacy work for.
I would second the advice from the award winning BM. The pre-course advice from BPP is crap; probably because they are too busy double invoicing students for money which have already been paid. The basics of contract, tort (negligence only) and criminal law are definitely needed. If anything else ever crops up, the chances are it will be infrequent and obscure, meaning that you will have to look it up at the time anyway.
Which books are you keeping?
Do you know of any good contract/tort books? I was useless at both!!
Best of luck at BPP!!
I have kept all of the books which relate to the seven pillars of legal knowledge (Criminal, Contract, Tort, Trusts, Land, EU, and Constitutional and Administrative), as they are an easy way to refresh the memory and I thought that they would be the subjects which the BVC would concentrate on.
I personally use Treitel, although I am told that this is disliked by many as being too verbose. I, like you Lost, didn't really like contract and have forgotten most of the little I knew. It was lucky that the whole course was assessed on a single piece of coursework, otherwise I wouldn't have come close the 65% I achieved.
Oh, and for Tort I use the Winfield and Jolowizc. Again a hefty tome but very thorough and well written.
I would also plump for Treitel on Contract. A superb book, not only in content but, also, in writing style. If one wants to be snotty about it, the only complaint is that the book doesn't cover consumer law.
Treitel (and other leading academic texts such as Smith & Hogan on Criminal) are not recognised as practitioners' texts and so, don't figure at the vocational stage, where, for example, Chitty is the dogs for contract stuff. Nevertheless, it is worth having Treitel etc., because, when you move from an academic approach to a practitioner approach, it often helps to have something to fall back on when you are stuck on trying to find answers in new sources with which you are unfamiliar. The same even goes for the really noddy stuff, e.g., Nutshells. I think everyone uses them at some point. It's just that no one admits to it.
I have read Treitel before, he is quite good, Chitty is amazing if you want references to everything to particular paragraphs.
Smith and Hogan - I've never actually read it, I had Wilson's Doctrine of Crime or something like that, though I suppose I shall have to switch to S & H fairly soon!
Bob, are you actually looking forward to BPP? It seems all final!!
To be completely honest I cannot wait to start at BPP. The plan to be a barrister was formed right at the beginning of deciding to leave the Army and study Law.
I know that it is still only another stage along the way, but learning the practical part ofbeing a barrister finally makes it seem as though I am getting somewhere.
Hiya BoB,
I'm with maid on the pre course reading front - a little contract and tort will go a long way to sustaining you through the rigours of the upcoming year.
With regard to reading, though try to get into the practitioner texts, if possible - Chitty on Contract (very very EXCELLENT) and Clerk and Lindsel on Tort, because these are the texts which you will essentially be expected to refer to in argument. Also be completely sure that you are up to speed with research techniques - particularly the efficient use of WestLaw, Lexis and Lawtel ( go over the user guides a couple of times), since this will make life a lot easier ( and in some cases may even give you a bit of a head start over the rest of your cohort!)
All the very best for your upcoming endevours, I am sure you will take to it like a duck to water!!
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