Law at Macquarie (1 Viewer)

[kelly_xxx]

Hi:

I was wondering if anyone here does law at Macquarie? What is it like? I am considering it as an option for next year but I am absolutely clueless.... im thinking of combining it with business adminstration or commerce... can someone give me a general picture of what its like? e.g. course, assignments, uni life..

Also... how easy is it to transfer? say, you start with a combined degree... and you fail after first year... is it still possible to transfer to graduate law in other unis?

oh and also.. whats uni life like? I don't think I can stand an apolitical uni.. ARGHHHHHH


ANY information is GREATLY APPRECIATED....

 

[Tabris]

There is something called the Priestly 11, in order for the univeristy to have an accredited law degree it must have certain compulsery subjects, otherwise it aint a "law degree", so generally a universities roughly have the same subjects.

There will only be 2 law subjects in your first year, one in the 1st and one in the 2nd semester.

1st one is LAW114 Jurisprudence and the 2nd is Law Lawyers and Society

Right now, MQ handbook website is down, but Jurisprudence is a legal philosophy course, i.e. :

WHat is Law and what are the different views on it.
How the law should be interpreted - formalism? or activism?
RIghts theorists v Utilitarianism.
Rawls v Nozick,
Feminism, Marxism critical legal studies

Lots of reading but there are only 2 assessment, a mid term assignment and a take home exam

Law Lawyers Society is more like 50% intro to law and 50% ethics

it will go into areas like the separation of powers, executive, legisltive and judiciary for the 1st half of the semester as well as how to interpret law. The 2nd half is about ethics, what lawyers can and cant do, and how they should carry out their behaviour in their profession.

Again, lots of reading but not as much as juris, there are 3 assignments, 1 mid term essay. 1 statutory interpretation and the final exam.

As for transfer...

Why would u transfer? want to goto a uni with more prestige? Well in that case your marks must be astronomically high for our subjects, which only few students can achieve, (only 1-5% can get 85%+, so thats around less than 20 out of 300 students). All other university have very high transfer criterias for external students and they will take into account GPA and UAI.


Is it Political?

I think that Macq isnt as political as USYD or UNSW but we do have sme political posters.

Uni life

Macq is next to Macq centre, which means movies shops and lots of places to eat, dont support Chairman Ma at SAM.

There are ongoing events at the SAM bar, and also Macquarie University Law Society has law balls and events,

But it also depends on how well connected u are with your friends, if u have friends continued on from high school, its good, but if u dont, its sometimes hard to stay in touch and connected to your new friends.

MaryJane, Scarecrow of Oz and I Wanna Rock will have some more info....


As for B commerce, it depends on which area and thats an enturely different story.

 

[kelly_xxx]

The course does sound very interesting. Thank you for your insights

 

[*jellz*]

i just finished first year law at Macquarie, i topped Jurisprudence and got an HD in Law Lawyers. I can't speak for the later subjects but for first year, just make sure you do all the readings on time and pay attention in all of your classes, and you will be absolutely fine. At first I resented having to do philosophy-type subjects when everyone in other unis seemed to be getting 'stuck into' the meat of the law, but now my honest opinion is this way is better. Macquarie Law teaches you to be an independent thinker; not someone who just memorizes cases and statutes without any thought to the social and political rammifications. The Priestley 11 stuff is spot on though-- despite unis having different focuses, you will come out with the same basic knowledge as everyone else.

As for the prestige thing, if its a concern, I really wouldnt worry. It's becoming less and less relevant; I know plenty of mac students (myself included) who have paralegal work, while other friends in 'better' law schools can't find any. Some older friends of mine who just finished thier fourth year both scored clerkships with top firms; one with Freehills and one with Clayton Utz. So basically, going to Macquarie will far from close doors for you-- if you work hard, the legal world is your oyster.

 

[...]

MQ needs more law graduates to take on Chairman Mao..i mean, Chairman Ma

 

[xeuyrawp]

i just finished first year law at Macquarie, i topped Jurisprudence

Nice. Which class were you in? I got the top mark for the critique in Meyerson's class, and she said that it was one of the top marks for the whole year. I gave up on law by the take-home exam, though, so my final marks weren't that great.

I can't speak for the later subjects but for first year, just make sure you do all the readings on time and pay attention in all of your classes, and you will be absolutely fine. At first I resented having to do philosophy-type subjects when everyone in other unis seemed to be getting 'stuck into' the meat of the law, but now my honest opinion is this way is better. Macquarie Law teaches you to be an independent thinker; not someone who just memorizes cases and statutes without any thought to the social and political rammifications. The Priestley 11 stuff is spot on though-- despite unis having different focuses, you will come out with the same basic knowledge as everyone else.

Bah, I think it's crap. They should have two law subjects per semester in first year. They could make Juris and LL&S the two first year subjects, or something. Doing Juris without having done an introduction to the legal systems unit was such a waste of time. I was lucky in that I was doing LEGL100 at the same and thus knew about the legal system. As it stands, all these first year law students were lost because they knew nothing about the law system in practice.

I really have no idea why a legal philosophy unit comes before an introductory legal unit.

I also think that just doing one subject a semester is silly. As an alternative to having Juris and LL&S as the first sem subjects, they could have one of those (preferably LL&S first, juris second) and a substantive law component (preferably contracts) as well per semester. Have it like every other uni in NSW and not waste a year of student's lives on airy fairy theoretical bullshit.

[/rant]

 

[AsyLum]

Thats cause you're a historian

 

[Supra]

Thats cause you're a historian

hes got a point though, it was airy fairy bullshit

 

[glitterfairy]

oh and also.. whats uni life like? I don't think I can stand an apolitical uni.. ARGHHHHHH


ANY information is GREATLY APPRECIATED....

Politics exists on campus, but happily is never shoved down your throat. Provided you don't actively seek it out, you can go through MQ life with not a clue what's going on politics-wise.

 

[xeuyrawp]

Thats cause you're a historian

Historians like to rant.

hes got a point though, it was airy fairy bullshit

Now, let's consider what you have to say. Descriptively, yes it could be considered bullshit. However, as Hart would point out, it is normatively an unfair statement. Blah blah blah *trails off, aimlessly...*

 

[AsyLum]

*puts a spin on things*

Wooo for Media!

 

[wheredanton]

All law schools will teach you the same basic knowledge. The maqu people I've met are just the same as any other law students.

Yes Maqu people do get clerkships in front of unsw/usyd/uts and do get clerkships at the top tier firms. But please consider that, so I was told by a maqu law student I know who got a clerkship, that only 15 or so in their year got one. That's not good if you are looking to get into the world of corporate law.

 

[Tabris]

hes got a point though, it was airy fairy bullshit

I wouldnt call it bs, philosophy is enlightening, and it is a welcome break from concrete ECFS units.

As for prestige and getting a job, Macq Law is the top non g8 faculty according to the Melbourne Institute.

 

[wheredanton]

As for prestige and getting a job, Macq Law is the top non g8 faculty according to the Melbourne Institute.

The melbourne institute doesnt determine the G8?

 

[MaryJane]

Prestige is bs. If you are a good student, with good grades (or, D grades and extensive work experience) you will get a position somewhere, regardless of the uni you attend.

I think all the transfer stuff has been dealt with in great detail; ta Tabris and Rob

Personally, I have only met one or two students who have doubled law with commerce etc. Generally, they do not seem to have a hectic workload at all; in fact, it seems me as a psych double, and actuarial students, are the ones with the major stress. A media double seems to be the crusiest

 

[AsyLum]

Oh you better believe it

Most of the Media/Law people I talk to hate the law part and regret ever taking it haha, though I have met one who liked the inverse so all hope is not lost!

 

[xeuyrawp]

But please consider that, so I was told by a maqu law student I know who got a clerkship, that only 15 or so in their year got one. That's not good if you are looking to get into the world of corporate law.

Which year was that, Asqy?

 

[kelly_xxx]

what's the lecturers like? Isn't professor Fraser racist and crazy?

 

[xeuyrawp]

what's the lecturers like? Isn't professor Fraser racist and crazy?

He's a nationalist and has very warped views about immigration. However, he's gone.

 

[Tabris]

WHAT ARE THE LECTURERS LIKE?

I cant tell really, although there is an ostensible bias towards feminism when we did the topic in law114,

I dont think there was enough content on feminism's adversary : the "masculinity of the law"

Professor Fraser did not teach 1st year law, and what is there to be racist or facist about? the 1st year content doesnt particularly focus on 'left wing, right wing views"