10 Bar course knowledge subject tips

These are my 10 Bar course knowledge subject tips. These tips will help you, regardless of your provider. So whether you are doing City's BVS, the BTC or the BPC, this should be of assistance to you*.  

 

1. Always use the syllabus when studying: the syllabus will tell you what you need to know - and in what level of detail - as well as what you don't need to know. Never make assumptions - always check the syllabus.

2. Begin with understanding each topic. Trying to learn something thoroughly without understanding it, is almost impossible. If that means you start with lecture notes, textbooks, revision guides, that is fine. Work your way through the resources you have been provided, pausing when you come across something you don’t understand and addressing that problem before moving on.

3. Once you have that understanding, you can start to drill down into the detail. You will need to look at the specific wording of certain rules and provisions. Now is when you need to crack open your Blackstones and White Book. The subtle differences between “may” and “must” are important here, also the factors involved in discretionary decisions, etc. Using the syllabus as set out above, you need to be clear about which rules are tested, which cases you need to know by name, which Practice Directions (PD) you need to have checked (and which paragraphs), which paragraphs of Blackstones and the White Book you need to have read and made bullet point notes on.

4. Do not cut any corners. There are no quick fixes. You need to cover everything. You then will need to revise everything. My favourite topic as a tutor might never come up; I am not writing the exam paper! So you can’t expect any hints from tutors or former students.

5. Make your own notes. They will help you make your own sense of the material. EVEN IF your provider gives you documents, slides etc. They can help you with your understanding. But because you have not organised the information yourself, it will not "stick" as well. Think about how you want to make your own notes. Some prefer to type their notes. If you do, then you must ensure you are meticulous about saving and backing everything up.  However, old school handwriting works for a lot of people. The research paper "The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard" (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014) suggests that the link to memory from writing is better than with typing. The challenge with paper notes is organisation and filing. Whether you use paper or typed notes, make sure you date everything. Immediately after a session, make sure you fill in any gaps in your notes; do it while your mind is fresh.

6. Participate in your sessions. It is only by attempting the questions that you will be able to bring your knowledge together into a cohesive whole. Being able to explain your understanding will clarify and deepen your knowledge. The BVS is very much a “Learning by doing” course – (social constructivist/constructivist pedagogy). Sitting back will not assist you constructing your own knowledge.

7. Form a study group from the outset. Supporting each other, learning from each other's insights are important. We are also social animals. It is good not to feel alone. Covering the material with a group can help lessen the load - divide the topics between you. You can hold your study group sessions in person or online, depending on when you want your sessions and where you all are located.

8. Think about the questions you are being asked to answer in class. What facts are being used in the question? Why these particular clues? What are the clues in the question to trigger the relevant knowledge? What sub-questions do you need to know the answers to in order to be able to answer the main question?

9. Test yourself regularly. Testing helps train the brain's recall. The top quizzers in the world regularly use self-testing to keep their knowledge fresh. A "test" doesn't always have to have the purpose of obtaining a pass mark - training your brain is just as useful. Many students avoid testing themselves because they worry about not achieving the pass mark, and so they put off doing mocks and tests; they only test themselves at the end of their revision period. This is the wrong approach as the testing is not to check if you can pass – it is a learning technique in itself. You can use the questions provided by your law school, or you can try to write your own, or get your study group to write a few questions each to create a “paper”. At its simplest, you can just cover up your notes and see how much you remember.  

10. Start as you mean to go on. Especially at the beginning of the course, because work piles up and the concepts become more complex as you progress. Keep up as well as you can. If you fall behind, try to catch up. Don't leave making your full set of notes to the last minute. Don't leave trying to understand the subject matter to the revision period.

Good luck with your studies.

 * BVS = Bar Vocational Studies, BTC = Bar Training Course, BPC = Bar Practice Course

This is an expanded and updated version of my blog post on BPTC knowledge tips, which you can find here: https://snigsclassroom.blogspot.com/2018/10/10-bptc-knowledge-subject-tips.html

How to structure your LLM dissertation

In my work as an assessor of LLM dissertations, I see that some students who were adept at writing law essays on either the LLB or GDL, tend find the format of a dissertation difficult. Or even intimidating, despite having the skills and ability.

I am writing to provide guidance to students who are required to write a “practice focussed” dissertation for an LLM. This type of dissertation is set on the BVS LLM. Although there are other LLM courses which set similar dissertation projects. Please check your module/course handbook to ensure that this advice complies with what is being expected of you. 

Always remember – a dissertation is the distillation of the researching, reading and analysing process. So you are not writing up to the word limit. You are attempting to answer a current and relevant question relating to a contemporary legal topic which is connected to the practice of law in England and Wales. Your thoughts, analysis and reasoning should (if written down) exceed the word limit, and require crafting and editing to bring it into the prescribed word limit. It needs to be concise, incisive and free from padding. Students who write up to the word limit tend to waffle and use padding to reach the limit. The padding usually involves long quotations, long recitation of the facts of a case, description of the law.

Dissertation – structure

An LLM practice faced dissertation needs to have a structure and layout appropriate to legal academia. This involves certain formal requirements and other items I would suggest would show a well-researched, complete and well presented piece of legal academic research, analysis and writing.

The introductory pages

Title page – course, title, candidate number, word count, some people include the university logo

Abstract – 300-400 word summary of the dissertation – do not write this until you’ve finished the whole dissertation or it could conflict with the rest of the content

Optional: acknowledgments

Contents – doing this accurately takes a lot of effort, checking and double checking. Do not leave this to the last minute.

Table of statutes – include the sections relied on, the full name of the Act of Parliament and the year

Table of statutory instruments – include the regulations relied on, the full name of the SI, the year and the SI number

Table of cases – include full case names and citations

The dissertation

Chapter 1: Introduction chapter, including:

- Introductory remarks addressing why the topic is important/relevant - reasons for choice, questions being addressed

- Methodology – what it is, why it has been chosen, why it is appropriate to title/subject matter

- Research methods used – keep this brief

- Scope of the research/dissertation – including a justification of any limits

- Overview of structure (if space allows - if you are running out of words, leave this out).

Chapters – 2/3/4 etc – these should usually address the sub-questions you identify. Or your can use the approach below:

Chapter 3 Case Study Examples/Comparative element (with caveats)/critical analysis of key issues/ statistical analysis (with caveats)*

Chapter 4 Evaluation of the law - or Proposal of reforms - Or analysis on the legal doctrine from a critical perspective

Conclusions and recommendations – you should not introduce any new analysis or legal provisions here. But you need to draw together the conclusions which answer the main question here.

At the end

Bibliography – you should be adding to this every time you find a new source, or you may find you miss something. This can lead to allegations of plagiarism because the sources have not been properly credited and cited, so this can be a serious error to make.

Identify: books, practitioner texts, journal articles, newspaper/magazine sources, government reports, Law Commission reports, other reports, websites (give the date of access for these and the URL).

Things to think about

Using subheadings within chapters.

Using sub-sections within the chapters – 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc.

Don’t repeat yourself – use cross references to let the reader know where to look back or ahead when necessary.

Ensuring there are not lots of long paragraphs of text. Any single paragraph of, say, more than half a side of A4 (single spaced) is probably too long.

Avoiding setting out long quotations from cases, statute or journals with no good reason. Try to pick out what is essential and keep it brief. Remember that TurnItIn measures the content against other sources for similarity.

Avoid setting out long explanations of the facts of a case – only use the facts where they directly influence the reasoning of the court and help illustrate an important point.

Keeping quotations from sources separate from your analysis to avoid any possibility of being accused of plagiarism. This means careful use of quotation marks and ensuring as you compile your notes it is clear what comes from the course and what is your analysis or commentary.

Accurate pagination is a must. This means you must not leave your work until the last minute as this is when things are most likely to go wrong.

The caveats

*Caveats: Comparative analysis is very difficult to do successfully. It usually ends up being nothing more than padding, with descriptive writing of the jurisdiction being compared. CLS sets a limit on comparative analysis in the LLM dissertation. I would avoid it as far as possible. Statistical analysis should be based on information already available (eg; Employment tribunal statistics, Office of National Statistics information). You cannot do data collection on a dissertation of this type. Unless you are just using the figures from other studies, you will need statistical analysis skills and you will need to explain your methods. Proper statistical analysis is a skill in itself, which you must be able to carry out accurately.

The dissertation files

You might find these other posts helpful:

Dissertation tips: https://snigsclassroom.blogspot.com/2020/02/llm-dissertation-tips.html

Methodology matters: https://snigsclassroom.blogspot.com/2020/07/methodology-matters.html

My recommended book on LLM dissertations is “Law Dissertations: A step-by-step guide” by Laura Lammasniemi.

For guidance on research methods and methodology in particular, I would recommend “Research Methods In Law” by Dawn Watkins and Mandy Burton, Routledge.

For guidance on critical thinking [because your writing must not be descriptive, it must be critical in nature] I would recommend “Critical Thinking: The Basics” by Stuart Hanscomb, Routledge.

Your dissertation will need to use OSCOLA referencing and the guide to this system can be found here: oscola_4th_edn_hart_2012.pdf (ox.ac.uk)

I strongly encourage students to draw up a timeline for your research and writing, please see: https://explorationsofstyle.com/2017/04/18/can-you-have-too-much-writing-time/

Good luck with your work!

Snigdha Nag

June 2021