Just as I thought that I was getting somewhere with the BVC Summer Spoiler (homework), I received an email informing me that there has been a change in the first Advocacy SGS. Funnily enough, it was one of homework's that I'd tackled and proudly ticked off my list on Sunday morning.
Evidence-in-Chief. Bugger, does that mean I have to be nice to the witness?
At present I'm working on an Opinion and I don't mind admitting that it's gruelling. Contract law just baffles me at times and I seem to go off at tangents and suddenly realise that I've missed out the most obvious point completely. I guess I'm up to about 3'500 words so far and still haven't ventured out of liability into remedies. I eagerly await getting to the Writing Skills class to hear "right how many of you idjuts went down the contract route before realising that it is really a negligence claim - oh just the one of you then".
I imagine that some/many of my classmates won't bother doing it, or much other homework come to that, but I thought that I'd better have a go seeing as the Opinion Writing exam is one of the first exams that we do in the second year. All of our Opinion Writing to date has been on civil law, I'm not sure whether or not we do any criminal Opinions, but it would make a nice change.
Legally Ginge has finally come out the closet, so to speak, and has published her first blog post. I've added LG's blog to my blogroll and recommend that you nip over to her place for a quick gossip.
Just as Bar-Os seemed to be on the mend from his cough, he's had a set back. At first it looked to be quite serious, he'd had a nosebleed which appeared to be coming from both nostrils (a sign that there is something untoward in his respiratory tract), but it hasn't re-occurred and it may now be that it was only one nostril, but the blood had smeared across to the other one. I took him out for a walk on Sunday and he immediately went across to the orchard looking for pears and it transpires that if none are to be found, he attempts to climb the tree in search of it's offerings. Me thinks that he has perhaps upset a wasp or two with his scrumping and they gave him what for up said nostril.
Living in the country is mostly very nice, but the insects can take over the place at times. This year has been particularly bad for wasps (or I suppose good if you happen to be a wasp!), and my house has also been invaded by spiders, loads of them in all shapes and sizes, David Bellamy would be in his element:-) . I haven't seen many hedgehogs this year, but there are plenty of squirrels about, which up until last year had disappeared from the village. I had a stable built last year and the swallows have been regularly inspecting the place, but none have taken up residence yet. Starlings seem to be making a come back this year and we also have some sparrows which seem to be constantly arguing with one another, to the point where I have to go outside and tell them to clear off.
As for pigeons, there are loads of them and they seem to spend their entire time copulating on my fence or performing ridiculous mating rituals around the garden. I used to be quite indifferent to them, but they are starting to piss me off with their seemingly insatiable appetite for nooky next to the window ("more tea vicar").
On a more serious note, I read with sadness and dismay the Nearly Legal article about the BVC student who sought judicial review following 2 failed assessment results, which resulted in her failing BVC. Most surprising was the appeal process and the difference in marking between the provider and the external marker, one of which failed the student, the other awarding a V.C. I must admit that the article has unnerved me, to the point where I'm now considering that it is probably not a good idea to choose Advanced Criminal Litigation as one of my options, simply because it's too easy for an examiner to take a personal dislike to a student and fail them. The written skills exams do not require the student to provide their name, so marking is blind, but the oral skills exams by their very nature do not offer such protection.
Although the student was eventually awarded her BVC, it took some doing to achieve justice and the whole process must have had very serious consequences on her career because it appears that this matter has rumbled on for 3 or more years. I am not certain whether her BVC will run from when she should have graduated (but for the fail), or whether it will run from the judicial review decision, but either way, 3 years is a long time to be waiting and must have proved very demoralising at times.
To think that we BVCers pay such vast amounts of money to our providers, I can't help but think that there needs to be some way of ensuring that this sort of thing doesn't happen on a regular basis. Perhaps it should be that all oral skills exams are marked only by independent examiners and double checked to ensure conformity? What do you think?
9 comments:
My Dear Maid,
Isnt it just bloody typical of providers that they move the damned goalposts with respect to set work? I lost COUNT of the times I turned up to weekends believing myself to be fully prepared only to find some EEJUT decided to swap matters about, meaning late nights and frantic visits to the library in order to cobble something together ( the response to complaints? 'get OVER it, this will be something that happens to you when you practice')
I for one am glad to see that you are getting your opinion writing together - by doing this I have no doubt that you will be simply MILES ahead of your cohort-most of whom probably cant be arsed- and that consequently your grasp of ,and ability, to perform an undertaking which seems on the face of it to be seriously bloody daunting will improve refine and extend exponentially.
My provider taught remedies as a separate issue, only melded into opinion writing and drafting roughly halfway through the whole shebang; this made things confusing, but oddly in the end it was worthwhile, because as distinct as they were one couldnt consider one without the other.
Poor old Bar-Os! What a price to pay for having a sweet tooth! For what its worth, my dog, Actress, loves wild strawberries ( she is a strange and unusual creature) and is forever getting stung; she presently has a nose like a belisha beacon.
With respect to the machinations of Cardiff Law School I think it sufficient to state that I sincerely wish it would disappear up its own self important ARSE. Since it is the only BVC provider in wales, it believes it can treat its students as if they are something its scraped off the bottom of their shoes. I think the BSB should whip its validation away forthwith.
Judicial review on an academic decision? That's rather unusual... However, I think it's well known that, at your provider, all NYCs, Os, and borderlines (+/- 2% from a boundary I think) are second marked, so don't worry too much about your options. Apparently one of my papers was marked 4 times before they settled on a borderline mark. (Sadly it was under the border...)
It was about half way through the course that I settled on a way of doing opinions efficiently: plan them out first using an application designed to do it. Some sort of diagramming tool that allows you to set out the main sections and all the broad brush contents, and then move them around if you need to. It helps you to see the overall layout and balance (that Oh-so-important quality as we were tool), helps you not to forget vital bits, before you start writing. Promise you: some sort of computerised planning tool is the way to go... It saves all that flicking around in Word whilst thinking "I know I've dealt with [Xxxx] somewhere!" - Word just becomes the tool for writing it all down; the work is done in a more useful way then. My opinions improved immeasurably once I started doing that. I guess it could also be done on paper, but the computerised thing is far easier.
Who's the client?
Morning BM
We didn't do criminal opininions in the "opinion" stream, but our assesment for advanced criminal was an opinion (advice) so thats when we did them, although I gather at your provider AC is assesed by advocacy so perhaps you will do them later in your opinion classes!
Horses have nose bleads? Really? Waw.
Thanks for the punt! I need to work out how to use blogger for links etc- reading the instructions seemed like far too much hassle!
LG
I remember stumbling across a JR of another bar student's results in the 1990s (or rather the external academic reader's decision?) when I was researching something completely different. It was JRable because the provider was a uni and the reader or whatever this appeal body was called was connected to the uni (apparently all unis have them). It was a pretty sad story, as it appeared that the student had failed his assessment because of having to take on a job with utterly ridiculous hours to support himself through the course.
LM - yes providers don't seem to realise just how pushed for time we are on occasions!
Chris - I'm not sure that I'd cope with a 'programme'. I have resorted to setting it all out roughly on paper before typing it up. I'm dreading remedies because there's so much to consider. The opinion is Bluesails. Similar in some ways to the Groovy UV opinion, but more complex:-(
Think I'll wait and see with the options, plenty of time yet I guess.
LG - You're welcome, have just been over to your place to see who's spotted your blog.
Anon - Yes it's a sad old business this BVC thing and I suspect that there's many a broken dream/person to be found on the pupillage path.
Advanced crim lit. Surely there is a more attractive elective on offer, such as gouging out your own eyes with a bic biro ?
Horses for courses BB! I'm sure that your fave elective of 'how to paint your hallway through your letterbox' will be over subscribed anyway:-)
BM, 5000 words? Blimey. I tend to go for 'IS to note this is too complicated. Send me an easier one'
Didn't know 'orses got nose bleeds. Do you have to hold the bridge of their nose till it stops? How many hands does that take, seeing as their noses are so big?
I have tagged LG now. Well done for mentioning it. Too much stuff just passes me by in a blur nowadays.
Swizz
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