Is legal worth keeping? (1 Viewer)

[ImagineDragin]

^^

Context: I am doing relatively well in terms of rank rn at around the top 5 in a class of around 40 which would likely become around 20 in yr12. I am interested in law but I kinda dislike the english element of legal and apparently it's not that useful for law anyway
Edit: By english element, I mean the rigid essay writing structure rather than actually expressing my ideas

 

[Nezuko----]

Rumours that I've heard is that legal is taught differently and more intensely in law school. But, you can consider the current workload you have right now, the prospects of keeping the subjects such as a possible B6 based on your rank/cohort/yourself? I kept legal based on those reasons.

But, some things that I would've prepared better is keeping up with all the essays I had to write, you will be writing a lot and refining the "legal studies" structure for essays. Honestly, the english part of it is what you will do in law school as well, you will be having assignments of 2000 words + even in first years law. So it is something that is integrated regardless of whether you like it or not.

 

[seremify007]

I dropped legal at the end of year 11 because it required a disproportionate amount of 'effort' for marks which were below average in my school and unlikely to scale well for my UAI (before it was called ATAR). That being said, if you are planning to study law in university because you enjoy it, I'd be surprised if you dropped it now.

I've worked with many lawyers (and even hired quite a few to work for me) and if you aren't enjoying the "English" aspects of it (there is a lot of reading to do even before you get to the interpretation/analysis/application of it), I don't know if you'll enjoy the next however many years it takes to finish a law degree.

 

[ImagineDragin]

Rumours that I've heard is that legal is taught differently and more intensely in law school. But, you can consider the current workload you have right now, the prospects of keeping the subjects such as a possible B6 based on your rank/cohort/yourself? I kept legal based on those reasons.

But, some things that I would've prepared better is keeping up with all the essays I had to write, you will be writing a lot and refining the "legal studies" structure for essays. Honestly, the english part of it is what you will do in law school as well, you will be having assignments of 2000 words + even in first years law. So it is something that is integrated regardless of whether you like it or not.

Is the structure for writing legal studies essays in HS different from uni because that's moreso the part that I dislike.

I dropped legal at the end of year 11 because it required a disproportionate amount of 'effort' for marks which were below average in my school and unlikely to scale well for my UAI (before it was called ATAR). That being said, if you are planning to study law in university because you enjoy it, I'd be surprised if you dropped it now.

I've worked with many lawyers (and even hired quite a few to work for me) and if you aren't enjoying the "English" aspects of it (there is a lot of reading to do even before you get to the interpretation/analysis/application of it), I don't know if you'll enjoy the next however many years it takes to finish a law degree.

My school doesn't do too well in legal compared to my other subjects. I like reading and learning about the content but I just don't really like the writing element especially the structure and formatting that is much different from any of my other subjects

 

[Nezuko----]

Can't give you that answer yet, maybe in a couple months tho Heard it's different, from some of my friends. But like it's a more intense version? (Don't quote me on that) You almost learn to rewrite an essay in the liking of what is required by your job (aka less flowery language, straight to the point, how to quote. etc)

 

[seremify007]

I only did Business Law (which isn't "real" law) since it's required for post-grad accounting qualifications, but at least in those subjects, we followed the MIRAT format (material facts, issue, rules, application, tentative conclusion). From what I understand, this is quite a common way to structure essays/analysis, and dare I say, I actually use it quite a lot in the real world as it's a good way to structure an analysis. What format do you use in school?

 

[Nezuko----]

^^

 

[airora]

Legal studies in high school isn't really law at uni. One of the law professors I talked to at the UNSW open day said to think of it more like criminology and public policy. We're generally judging the law's effectiveness by examining how people are impacted by it and its tensions between different people/communities/other stakeholders. We aren't, for the most part, looking at what the law says and applying this to different scenarios (which I think this is moreso what goes on in law at uni).

My school doesn't do too well in legal compared to my other subjects. I like reading and learning about the content but I just don't really like the writing element especially the structure and formatting that is much different from any of my other subjects

I don't think theres a set structure for legal - I've just followed a general essay structure of like PEEL but integrated with LCMD. If you're generally confident with essay-writing, then legal would be good to keep - it's definitely esssay-heavy. But if you're concerns aren't around general essay writing and more about its "rigid structure and formatting", maybe talk to your teacher and clarify why you think it's hard for you to get your ideas across, or perhaps whether there are other ways of structuring your essay that you enjoy and is acceptable? It might also be a good idea to look at other students essays online to see the different ways essays have been structured.

 

[ImagineDragin]

I only did Business Law (which isn't "real" law) since it's required for post-grad accounting qualifications, but at least in those subjects, we followed the MIRAT format (material facts, issue, rules, application, tentative conclusion). From what I understand, this is quite a common way to structure essays/analysis, and dare I say, I actually use it quite a lot in the real world as it's a good way to structure an analysis. What format do you use in school?

We don't really have a fixed structure but for evaluate questions (the only type we've done so far), one paragraph for benefits followed by another for limitations with each paragraph having an idea, relevant stat/case and then a good explanation

 

[idkkdi]

^^

Context: I am doing relatively well in terms of rank rn at around the top 5 in a class of around 40 which would likely become around 20 in yr12. I am interested in law but I kinda dislike the english element of legal and apparently it's not that useful for law anyway
Edit: By english element, I mean the rigid essay writing structure rather than actually expressing my ideas

uni law is extremely different from what i've heard.

 

[seremify007]

Reading the commentary here and my vague recollection of year 11 legal studies is coming back to me... and I'm inclined to agree, it was far more focused on how we felt about legal ideas/concepts (and an appreciation of the legal system) vs even in my business law studies at uni where we're taking facts, reading the laws (and judgements/precedent) and applying it to the situation at hand.