How to prepare for Family Law in Legal Studies? (1 Viewer)

[Bumbletiger]

Having finished crime and human Rights, we've moved on to Family Law. I've written majority of my notes for FL, but still unsure of how to approach study. In crime and HR, I've studied pretty much everything back to front, inside out. However, can I simply write a draft essay for Family Law and mould that to one of the given questions, or should I study everything in relation to family law (Incl. legal requirements, alt family relationships, rights and obligations, adoption for the 1st topic) and then proceed to everything in "Responses to problems in family relationships" (Domestic Violence, consequences of separation) etc in order. I feel writing a draft essay would be so much easier & would cut out a whole lot of time..what do you think & what are your experience?

 

[Maxwell]

Firstly, Legal Studies is a course that requires the synthesis of known knowledge to cater to the specific needs of the question asked.
What specifically do you mean by preparing a 'draft' essay? One would assume you mean you would be implementing all the of the 'students learn about' from each subtopic of the syllabus to an essay (e.g. Applying The Nature of Family Law learn abouts to an essay draft specifically for answering a question regarding this section of the syllabus).
If this were the case, I would not recommend the preparation of a 'draft' essay per se - rather, I would recommend you gather a myriad of legislation, media articles/files, reports, statistics and cases (LMCR) that pertain to the specific dot point that you would be using in your evaluation/assessment for a specific question. e.g. gathering LCMR on the legal rights and obligations of parents and children to answer a question regarding the nature of family law (I don't think you specifically get asked about this section of the Family Law syllabus, though. Correct me if I'm wrong). Do this for all sections of the Family syllabus to ensure you are thoroughly prepared to argue your point using relevant cases, legislation, etc. Make sure you still have a good understanding of the content as well - examiners will see the holes in your knowledge if you don't.
Also make sure you have a look at past paper questions to get a feel for the type of question they ask. This is what I'm going to be doing

So in summary:
- LMCR for all dotpoints (content) you will use if you are asked to evaluate XYZ
- Synthesise your own knowledge to cater to the needs of the question!!! Prepared responses for humanity subjects really do show (esp. when you talk about something completely irrelevant to the question in LOTS of details)
- Look at past papers
- Still have a good understanding of the Family Law content.


Best luck


p.s. gimme reps i want dem

x0x0 gossip sloth

 

[enoilgam]

If this were the case, I would not recommend the preparation of a 'draft' essay per se - rather, I would recommend you gather a myriad of legislation, media articles/files, reports, statistics and cases (LMCR) that pertain to the specific dot point that you would be using in your evaluation/assessment for a specific question. e.g. gathering LCMR on the legal rights and obligations of parents and children to answer a question regarding the nature of family law (I don't think you specifically get asked about this section of the Family Law syllabus, though. Correct me if I'm wrong). Do this for all sections of the Family syllabus to ensure you are thoroughly prepared to argue your point using relevant cases, legislation, etc. Make sure you still have a good understanding of the content as well - examiners will see the holes in your knowledge if you don't.
Also make sure you have a look at past paper questions to get a feel for the type of question they ask. This is what I'm going to be doing

This pretty much - a memorised essay in Legal could work, but there is a significant risk of the question being different. So I would write notes which offer fact, analysis and LCMR for each key dot point in the syllabus. Keep in mind though that some sections wont be asked in an essay - however, you will need to know the theory from those sections to master the rest of the topic.