insider guide to studying law

Insider’s Guide to Law School

Insider’s Guide to Law School | 2010 3

Welcom

e

Welcome: Presented by VUWLSS 20104 ......... 2010 VUWLSS Welcome5 ......... 2010 VUWLSS Member’s Cards 6 ......... 2010 VUWLSS Exec8 ......... 2010 Events

First Year: On the Frontier10 ...... How to approach First Year Law | Henry Clayton

10 ..... Peer Assisted Study Support (PASS) Program 201011 ....... 100-Level Law: A Guide12 ...... The Secret Tunnel of GB GO713 ...... The Socratic Method | Amelia Keene

Your LLB: Making you think14 ...... Mature Student’s Guide 15 ...... Kelburn to Pipitea:

First Year Law to Law School Law16 ...... Claudia Geringer’s Ten Step Guide

to Sitting Law Exams | Claudia Geringer

18 ...... 300-Level Law18 ...... LLB (Hons): What it is and how to get there.19 ...... Lord Denning: A Tribute

Social Endeavours: University Life in Wellington20 ...... Wellington Café Culture20 ...... Wellington Nightlife21 ...... Dining Out: Restaurants in Wellington22 ...... Cracking the Corporate Dress Code:

Shopping and Style in Wellington

Extra Curricular: Getting Involved24 ...... Introduction to Competitions24 ...... A Guide to 2010 VUWLSS Competitions 25 ...... A Guide to Mooting | Oliver Searle

26 ...... Negotiation | Kate Stone

26 ...... Client Interviewing | Adam Edwards

27 ...... Witness Examination | Yogehs Patel

28 ...... Community Law Centre28 ...... Law Review V. Law Revue28 ...... The Law in Schools Project28 ...... Arbitrators’ and Mediators’

Institute of New Zealand Careers: Feeding your family with an LLB

30 ...... Why an LLB doesn’t mean you have to be a lawyer31 ...... Eternal Student: The LLM | Jessica Kerr

32 ...... Summer Loving: A Complete Guide to Summer Legal Jobs

34 ...... Clerking for Judges | Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere

Editor’s NoteHannah Wilson

The 2010 edition of the Insider’s Guide builds on the hard work of the 2009 Executive who launched the first edition of this publiation in September last year. The purpose of this guide is to pass on to first and second year students information about the LLB and opportunities open to law students. The idea is to utilise the institutional knowledge of past and current senior students to help younger students make the most of their time at law school. Many thank must go to the contributors to this publication. Without your thoughts, advice, and practical knowledge this could not be a true Insiders’ Guide. With this 2010 edition it is hoped the publication of the Indiers’ Guide will be cemented as an important function of the VUWLSS. If there is something you think is missing from this publication we want to know. We want to include material which will be of real use to our readers. If you have any suggestions for articles we will include it in 2011.

Acknowledgments

Kitty Higbee, Jamie Eng, Amelia Keene, Sam McMullan, Polly Higbee, Julia Caldwell, Jeremy Keene, Kathy Scott Dowell, Genevieve Taylor, Henry Clayton, Caleb Hensman, Nicholas Chan, Greg Robins, Oliver Searle, Claudia Geiringer, Nicky Saker, Pauline Castle, Kate Yesberg, Jane Pring, Nick Chapman, Kat Helms, Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere, Gordon Stewart, Tony Smith, Jess Kerr, Yogesh Patel, Ed McGimpsey, Bernadette Scanlan, Rupert Abraham, Anna Smith, Kate Stone, Anne O’Driscoll, Olivia Krakosky, Lydia Nobbs, Adam Edwards, Emma Geard.

Contact UsEmail: [email protected] Facebook: Just search VUWLSS and join our Facebook groupWebsite: www.vuwlss.org.nzLocation: G16, Faculty of Law, VUW

Contents

Insider’s Guide to Law School | 20104

Wel

com

e

Standing on the front steps of the Law School you look out to the House of Representatives and the Beehive. Look to the right and you can make out the High Court, with the Court of Appeal a stone’s throw behind. To your left, the newly opened Supreme Court. The picture that’s emerging is that we’re not short of inspiration here. If the iconic Old Government Buildings weren’t enough, Vic Students rub shoulders with the best and brightest of law, politics and academia on a day to day basis, even if they don’t realise it. Seen a couple of friendly looking chaps walking out towards the courts? It could very well be Justices Blanchard and Wilson off to deliver a constitutionally significant Bill of Rights judgement. And if it’s not them, it may well be Sir Ivor Richardson and Sir Kenneth Kieth off for a coffee.

Perhaps more important than the legal celebrities walking around is the fact that the Law School is at the centre of nationally – and internationally – important debate and dialogue about the public issues that affect us all on a daily basis. The School hosts guest lectures, conferences and other forums that really count, almost all of which are open to students.

Vic law students inherit a proud history. Victoria graduates have disproportionately often been appointed justices of the Court of Appeal and Solicitors-General, with Lord Cooke of Thorndon – one of the Faculty’s most significant alumni – widely regarded as New Zealand’s most distinguished jurist. They have also punched above their weight on the international stage. In between stints as a lecturer and diplomat, Ken Keith (now Sir Kenneth) acted for New Zealand in the International Court of Justice Nuclear Tests Cases in 1973, 1974 and 1995. When making his closing remarks in the 1995 litigation against France he wondered how long it would be before he returned to the ICJ. It turned out that the answer was 11 years, when he was sworn in as a judge, the first New Zealander to be elected a permanent member of the Court.

Perhaps as important as the Law School’s proud history is the history of students being students. With the Faculty Club (these days called the LSS) directing the tom-foolery. The Law Ball dates back to the ‘30s and stein evenings (these days T-Shirt night) to the ‘50s. These days the social calendar is fuller and more varied, but you get the feeling that the old guard of trouble makers would’ve approved.

So, the moral of the story? This place gives you some pretty serious opportunities; get amongst it and you never know where law at Vic might end up taking you.

Welcome to Law at Victoria

Vic law students inherit a proud history.


Welcom

e

2010 VUWLSS

In association with Simpson Grierson we are proud to present the VUWLSS 2010 Member’s Card. The card offers holders a fantastic range of products and services both law and non-law related.

The cards retail for $5. The membership card is dynamic and flexible and will offer students an increasing number of rewards as the year progresses.

Offers are subject to change. Please see www.vuwlss.org.nz for details.

VUWLSS EventsPre-emption for VUWLSS events.

Waterloo Bar & Grill$4 wine and spirits and $3.50 pints.Free fries on Fridays with the first drink purchased.

Working StyleInvitation to Working Style/VUWLSS evenings where VUWLSS members will be granted a 10% discount.

Green Cabs10% discount on taxi fares for VUWLSS members.

Check www.vuwlss.org.nz for deal updates.

VUWLSS President for 2010: Just below the clock which adorns the magnificent façade of Old Government Buildings are the words “tempus fugit” or “time flies”. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if a large number of law students at some point during the course of their LLB, feel that Dante’s foreboding warning, “abandon all hope ye who enter here” may be somewhat more appropriate. Struggling through the greyness of Wellington’s wind and rain, feeling the burden of course materials they think to themselves abandon all hope, all hope of a maintaining a social life and enjoying your weekends, all hope of holding on to some sense of childish innocence and naivety about the way the world works. This is an undeniably pessimistic way to start this welcome to law school and indeed I sincerely hope that I have not completely destroyed any small ounce of optimism you had about studying law with a single paragraph. The reality is that while at times (although very infrequently) such a negative, pessimistic warning may seem appropriate for the hallowed doors of law school, the quality of your experience here is very much within your control. The Law Students’ Society is here to aid you in your endeavours to combat the pain and misery that might otherwise be law school. It works tireless to present social events to enable you to let your hair down and get amongst it (or put your hair up and get all sophisticated for the classier events) - the Law Ball, the Chapman Tripp T-Shirt Night, the Quiz Night, the Bell Gully Student v Staff cricket match, the Patron’s Lecture, Cocktail Night, the Leavers’ Dinner and of course the inaugural VUWLSS Law Camp to name but a few. Additionally, it offers educational opportunities to hone your legal skills through the law school competitions and to widen your horizons through events like the VUWLSS Talk Series and the Chapman Tripp Women in Law evening.

The aim of VUWLSS in 2010 is to build on the success that it has had in recent years and to ensure that all of Victoria’s law students know who VUWLSS is and what it is able to do for them to make their time at law school more enjoyable and rewarding. I strongly encourage you to make the most of these opportunities – come to the events, listen to the lectures, participate in the competitions. It’s easy to find out what VUWLSS is up to and what’s happening next. Just pick up a wallplanner, keep an eye out for posters around law school, join the Facebook page, check the website (www.vuwlss.org.nz), join the mailing list, visit the VUWLSS office on the ground floor of Old Government Buildings or simply ask out someone who looks like they might be in the know.

So get amongst it, be active and combat the stress and pressure that might otherwise be law school. With a little bit of involvement you’ll see that time really does fly.

See you around law school,

Nick Chapman President 2010 | VUWLSS | www.vuwlss.org.nz

Victoria University of WellingtonLaw Students SocietyWelcome to the Victoria University of Wellington Law Students Society (VUWLSS). The VUWLSS is your student representative body at law school. The society has two main purposes. First, it is a representative voice for students at law school. Second, it is a society committed to making the Victoria University law school experience more rewarding and valuable. The society works hard to maintain a strong relationship with faculty. This relationship gives the society the unique ability to voice student concerns in the appropriate areas. VUWLSS is involved in a wide array of activities around law school designed to enhance the law school experience. Society involvement ranges from social events like t-shirt night and the annual law ball, through to more educational activities such as competitions, guest lecturers and mentoring schemes.

The VUWLSS wishes all law students a happy and successful year.

Students who wish to contact the VUWLSS are encouraged to drop by the VUWLSS office on the ground floor of Old Government Building.


Kate StoneEducation Officer

Yogesh PatelAdministrative Vice-President

Anne O’DriscollEducation Officer

Nick Chapman President

Ed McGimpseyEducation Vice-President

Kate is in her sixth year of her LLB/BA. She completed Honours in Political Science in 2008 and was inspired to run for office, she was successfully elected as one of the Education Officers for 2010. Kate was winner of the Wellington Negotiation Competition in 2009.

Kate is a frequent traveller and is slightly obsessed with South America – making her 5th journey there over the summer. She speaks Spanish and attempts Te Reo. She also loves to write, paint, and run. She tutors public law and politics papers to pay the bills.

She survives law school on long blacks from Cellarvate and sneaky naps on the G11 couch. She is a proud redhead and believes that hair-ism is the new racism – join her in the fight against discrimination on the basis of ginge!

Yogesh is in his fifth year of his LLB/BCA (Hons). Originally hailing from Palmerston North, Yogesh managed to gain the book-keeping and minute recording skills required to be Administrative Vice President from slaving away at corner-shop convenience stores for below minimum wage. He is a keen debater, hockey player, FCOM tutor, and dabbles in golf, squash and tennis. Yogesh is the current New Zealand and Austral-Asia Witness Examination champion.

Yogesh has a penchant for Vitamin Water, pate rolls from Concorde Bakery and getting measured for new suits. He will often be found sampling cheese boards and cocktails at Motel or watching one of his many loved TV series. Make sure you say hello if you see him around as he’s always keen to hear your thoughts on what LSS can do for you!

Anne is in her final year of a rather extended period of time at law school. In 2010, she is one half of the Education Officer duo along with Kate Stone. She is here to represent student views on the Faculty Board and contribute however she can to the law school experience. You’re most likely to encounter her as head tutor for contract or roping you in to doing editing work form NZJPIL (help always very much appreciated!). She is a bit of a caffeine addict and a tad chaotic but she is always keen to hear students’ thoughts. If you have any suggestions for seminars or speakers you would like to see or if you’d like to share your views on your legal education at VUW, go ahead and email her at [email protected].

Nick is in his fifth year of an LLB/BA (Hons) and is the President of the Victoria University of Wellington Law Students’ Society, stepping up from 2009 when he served as Education Officer. If you need him, chances are he’ll be around Law School, although normally playing cricket in the hallways rather than doing his readings. Introduce yourself, say hey – he’s pretty friendly.

His priority is ensuring that VUWLSS holds awesome social events, that it presents excellent educational opportunities through competitions, workshops and guest lectures and advocacy for students. In short, he’s committed to making sure VUWLSS is a society students want. This year promises to keep him busy as the 2010 VUWLSS Exec is dedicated to running new events and building on the old favourites.

Ed is Education Vice President for 2010. Ed, going into his fourth year at Victoria, is working towards a LLB/BA majoring in Art History and Political Studies. Born and raised in Wellington he attending both Northland Primary and Wellington College. Ed loves Wellington and believes the city is great place to study. Last year, as Publications Officer, Ed was responsible for the creation of the Insider’s Guide to Law School and the overhaul of www.vuwlss.org.nz. This year, as Education Vice President, Ed will have a major role in all areas of LSS life but will maintain a particular focus on competitions, publications and sponsorship. If you happen to see Ed wandering aimlessly around Law School please don’t hesitate to stop him and share any ideas you may have that would help the LSS become a better organization.

VUWLSS Executive


Bernadette ScanlonCompetitions Officer

Rupert AbrahamCompetitions Officer

Anna SmithSocial Officer

Celeb HensmanSocial Officer

You will most likely run into Bernadette, one half of the dynamic competitions’ crew, sitting in the law school common room either using the wireless net, reading the newspaper or chatting with friends. If it is lunchtime, the topic of conversation will most likely be how amazing Sushi B is, with its artistic array of pure delectable goodness. To her side would be her mammoth bag which would bring Mary Poppins to shame. To summarise, Bernadette is basically the same as her namesake, the late and great Bernie-Mac, except she is neither chocolate coloured, a man, rich nor famous and definitely not funny. She is uber psyched to be working with the marvellous Rupert and can’t wait to get you involved with the legal competitions...whoopa!!

Rupert is heading into his fifth (and hopefully final) year of his law degree. He has completed a science degree; a rare/stupid minority who try to cope with physics and law at the same time. But now the BSc is done and dusted, he is looking forward to focussing on his legal studies. He might even try that “do your readings” thing which lecturers love to rave about. Besides school, Rupert lives the typical Wellington student lifestyle: a little bit of BYO here, a bit of isn’t-it-nice-on-the-waterfront-in-Wellington-on-a-good-day? there and some coffees in the middle. He is really excited to be in charge of competitions with the wonderful Bernie. Don’t hesitate to stop him in the corridor if you have any questions. He says everyone should enter the competitions at the start of the year!

Anna is in her fifth and final year of law school, having completed a BA (Political Science) in 2009. Anna spent 2009 in awe of the world famous “Social-Bloc” of Benji Crossley and Johnny Osborne. Anna originally hails from the Waikato. Anna is involved in social hockey, social netball, generally all things at a social level.

Anna and Caleb plan to make 2010 an unforgettable year with regard to VUWLSS social events. While the LSS is more than T-Shirt Night and the Ball, these are the events students remember about their time at Law School, and the Social officers recognise their responsibility to the student body to raise the game year after year! Any ideas as to new events or improvements on the tried and true are more than welcome.

Caleb is in his final year as a law student in 2010, having completed his politics degree in 2009. He enjoys books, movies, and pretty much any sport (though he only takes cricket and rugby seriously). As the male half of the 2010 Social Bloc, Caleb anticipates this year to be packed with more exciting events than any in the past. So put your drinking shoes on, strap in, and enjoy the ride.

Oh, and as an aside, Caleb doesn’t endorse the notion that Anna Smith is head Social Officer, in fact, he detests it (she rigged the votes, I swear).

Hannah WilsonPublications Officer

Hannah is in her fifth year of law, having taken a ‘year off’ to complete a BCA Hons (Public Policy) in 2009, and is taking on the LLB Hons in 2010. Having spent the year with wannabe bureaucrats, Hannah is keen to once again get amongst the law school crowd by taking on the role of LSS publications officer. All law students are members of VUWLSS, so it’s important everyone knows of the LSS events and gets involved.

Hannah enjoys catching a play at Downstage, visiting historic houses, late night studying at midnight Espresso and the odd game of spotlight.

You can usually find Hannah around the first year tutors office so drop by and have a chat!

Olivia KrakoskyFirst Year Representative

Olivia Krakosky is the second year representative for 2010. Before university she attended Naenae College where she was Deputy Head Girl, Chairperson of the Student Council, a Prefect and Dux. In 2009 she began her LLB and also a BA majoring in History and Political Science. She loves New Zealand History and would love to focus her BA on that. After University she aims to work either in politics or doing something to do with New Zealand History. She loves reading, swimming, cycling and running. She plans on doing a triathlon this year. She is looking forward to working with the LSS in 2010.


Wel

com

e

5-7 The Inaugural VUWLSS Law Camp, supported by Thomson Reuters.

8 O-Week BBQ

9 LSS Tennis Open

11 T-Shirt Night

12 Recovery Brunch

27 First Year Function - Post-121 Terms Test Party

28 Jackson Trophy Students v Faculty Cricket Match

Events The Law Students Society runs a number of social events throughout the year for law students. The main social events take place during the Chapman Tripp O-Week from 8-12 March, however, there are plenty of other social events during the year to get involved with!”

March

October15 End of Term Drinks

16 Leavers Dinner

August7 Law Ball

“

”YOGESH PATEL (VICTORIA UNIVERSITY) SUmmER CLERk 09/10 LITIGATION & CORPORATE ADVISORY GROUP

Start your career at Russell McVeagh

Russell McVeagh is synonymous with excellence, and even as a summer clerk you soon begin to understand why. The firm acts for high profile clients in situations where the stakes are always very significant.

They have received many accolades testifying to the quality of this work, such as being crowned IFLR New Zealand Law Firm of the Year 2009. Despite the pressure that comes from representing large clients, Russell McVeagh’s ‘work hard, play hard’ approach seems to have struck the right balance for its staff; reflected in The Australia and New Zealand Graduate Careers Survey naming Russell McVeagh as the top law firm among New Zealand’s graduate employers for two years running. There’s nowhere better to begin your career than an environment where success is prevalent and fostered in all staff from day one.

Apply for a summer clerk position with Russell McVeagh now and find out what everyone’s talking about.

Application packs are available from your university for a limited time from March 10th.

For more information visit www.russellmcveagh.com or www.summerclerk.co.nz

RMV172.VUWLSS_Ad_v4.indd 1 2/03/10 5:08 PM


Firs

t Ye

ar

PASS (Peer Assisted Study Support) is a program organised by the Student Learning Support Services at Victoria. These sessions are informal study groups led by 200 level students who excelled in the course the previous year. PASS is available to students in all the 100 level law papers and is a great opportunity for students of any level to reinforce the course material and develop study skills and habits that will be useful throughout their degree.

The sessions are like any study group, the aim is to gain a better understanding of the subject material that you have learned in lectures and tutorials. The role of a PASS leader is to facilitate and guide the study group by encouraging active learning and sharing techniques for studying and answering exam style questions. Asking questions in lectures or even tutorials can be intimidating, but these sessions provide the participants with a comfortable forum where they can ask their peers, the leader or fellow students, questions and work through any difficulties that arise in the course material.

Students can sign up for PASS in week two of the semester and sessions begin during week three. Availability is limited and sessions times for the 100 level law courses fill up quickly, but if you miss out there are opportunities to join a group later in the term. PASS is not only a great way to complement lectures and tutorials but it is an opportunity to make friends at law school and set up study groups in the future.

PASS

Emma Geard PASS Leader 2009

Everyone works and studies in different ways, but here are five key tips to make life a little easier:

You should always start as you mean to go on, so right from day one you should carefully read your course outline. Your course outline is your guide to the paper: the weighting of assessments, assignment due dates and mandatory course requirements. The easiest way to fail a paper is by not complying with the course outline, so take ten minutes on the first day to get up to speed.

A quick note about tutorials: first, go to tutorials. The tutorial programme is an integral part of the course and will benefit you enormously when it comes to assessments. With that said, you will only get out what you put in. Take the time to prepare for tutorials and take an active role in the group discussion.

Law School is not about wrote learning, assessments are fact-based scenarios. This means you need to focus on understanding not repetition. Practice is the only way to get better at this kind of assessment. Your tutorial prep is a good way to practice. After your tutorial have a go at re-writing your answer.

While law school can be a competitive place, remember that two heads are always better than one. Get to know your fellow class mates so you have a group of people you can bounce ideas off and work through tricky issues with. Look around you, you will be spending the next five years with these people, so you might as well make friends!

• Read your course outline.• Work towards the assessments. • Go to tutorials.• Be patient.

First year law is not like the rest of law school. And it is even less like practicing law. First year law is therefore not a good introduction to law in the sense that is not the best representation of what law is like. But it is a good introduction to law because it teaches the necessary knowledge and skills needed to understand and use law.

First year law is also not homogeneous. It is made up of three different papers which each have a different focus and very different types of assessment. So the best way to approach first year law is to approach each paper separately.

That said, some general guidance applies to all of first year law. So this Guide first makes some general comments and then makes some comments about each first year law paper.

Hannah Wilson

How to approach first year lawHenry Clayton | 2008 VUWLSS President


First Year

Breakdown of 100-Level LawLAWS 122

In LAWS 122 you learn how to study cases and, crucially, how to answer “problem questions” based on case law. The first thing you need to learn is case comprehension – how to read and understand cases. Without good case comprehension you will not get much further. The next thing you need to learn is how to apply case law – knowing how a particular case fits together with other cases to form the law and what a particular case means for different situations.

Your ability to apply case law is assessed by “problem questions”. Problem questions are questions where you are given a set of facts and asked to assess how the law you have learned would apply to those facts. Some people will find this type of assessment very peculiar. It can take some time to master, but do not be put off if you do not have early success.

Your lecturers and tutors should teach you good approaches to answering problem questions. So this Guide will keep its advice brief – structure. Structure your answers by moving through each legal issue one by one. This will help organise your thoughts and make it easier for the reader to follow your analysis. And within each issue, write according to the ILAC/IRAC structure (you’ll find out what this means).

Something you can do to improve both your case comprehension and problem question answering skills is to prepare for class. Read cases before lectures and try and work out what they mean. Then at the lectures you can see where you went wrong and (hopefully) why. Similarly, attempt tutorial questions before the tutorials so that at tutorials you can see what you are doing well and where you need to improve.

It is often said that LAWS 122 is the first year law paper most similar to the rest of Law School. While that may be true, those who struggle through or do not enjoy this paper should not be put off. While the rest of Law School does have a heavy focus on studying case law and being assessed using problem questions, it is still quite different to LAWS 122.

LAWS 123

LAWS 123 has the most peculiar and unique style of assessment of all of the first year law papers. But throughout this paper do not lose sight of its focus on language and argument.

LAWS 123 develops and assesses your ability to read language critically and use language precisely. You are required to identify issues in interpreting the meaning of various words and sentences and then use language yourself to argue what the meaning is. LAWS 123 has a heavy focus on making arguments and artificial assessments are designed as a way of testing your ability to argue. The interpretation issues posed are often not realistic (and sometimes even ridiculous) and a quite rigid way of resolving interpretation issues is encouraged. But just remember that this paper is more about your ability to argue than the actual issues you argue about.

Because of the peculiar style of assessment, you really should attend tutorials for this paper. You must take the opportunity to practise problem questions and have a tutor lead you through good and bad answers. If you leave a lecture confused, you may find that the next tutorial you attend helps make sense of everything again.

The rest of Law School does not look and sound much like LAWS 123 and its unique form of assessment. However the essential tenants of the paper – language and argument – are fundamental to the law. But those who do not enjoy this paper should certainly not be put off Law School or a career in law.

LAWS 121

LAWS 121 is the law paper most similar to high school study, which is just as well since it is the first paper at Law School. The main focus of LAWS 121 is getting a grounding in the basics – which means learning and retaining a lot of information.

In all university study, and especially in LAWS 121, it is not enough to just retain information – you need to understand the information. Make sure you listen carefully in classes and read carefully, all the time making sure you understand the material. Do you know why correct things are correct and why incorrect things are incorrect? Do you understand why one event led to another? Can you see why one argument is better than another? Do you understand the relationships between things? If you understand information, you will probably also find it easier to remember.

There is also a strong focus on written expression in LAWS 121. It is not just enough to understand and retain the information, you also need to be able to communicate your understanding clearly. Law is language after all. To do well in LAWS 121 you will need to know how to structure a good essay or long answer.


Firs

t Ye

ar

With an imposing façade, sweeping staircases and kauri clad interiors, it is difficult not to be impressed by Old Government Buildings, the home of Victoria’s Law School. Built in 1876, it originally housed the entire Civil Service as well as Cabinet. Even today it continues to be the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere and, the second largest in the world. However this is not an article about the known history of the building, rather its focus is on something much more mysterious contained within its hallowed walls, something much darker - the secret tunnel of GB G07.

Should you venture to the most north-eastern corner of the most north-eastern room of the ground floor, you shall find a steel grate on the floor. The grate is locked, but one can look down to see a ladder descending into the darkness. The contents of this darkness has plagued the mind of many a law student during the course of an uninteresting Torts lecture. And while many of these students have been unable to resist the temptation, and snuck through the darkness late at night towards GB G07, none have been able to solve the mystery. Stopped by either the steel grate or the darkest depths of their fears, the tunnel remains unexplored and the mystery remains unsolved.

However, the stories continue, passed down from one generation of law students to the next. Indeed, should you come across a senior law student at a time of the evening when their beer glass is empty and their morals loose, through their unintelligible slur you may discover some of these tales. The most prominent of these rumours is that the tunnel links Old Government Buildings with the current Parliament buildings. Beyond this the tale becomes murkier still. Where precisely does it lead to? Directly beneath the Speaker’s chair? The Parliamentary library? In the middle of the Cabinet table? One less known rumour is that it leads to a man-sized safe contained in the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Murray McCully. Mr McCully has neither confirmed nor denied this rumour.

But the Parliament account is only one of many. An unnamed source has been known to claim on numerous occasions that the endpoint is definitely the partners’ lounge at Bell Gully. One staff member holds that if you crawl through the dust and soot for long enough you shall eventually reach the office of Justice Tipping of the Supreme Court.

More recent years have seen the rise of an alternative hypothesis, that it is indeed not a tunnel at all, but rather a pit of some form. Curling its way deep beyond the foundations of Old Government Buildings and its underground lake to some specific yet even more secretive location. Supporters of this thesis can largely be classified into two sects. The first holds that past the darkness and trap-doors, surrounded by candles and adorned in red velvet robes lies the body of Chief Justice Prendergast. Supporters of the second group believe that the crypt instead contains the fourth article of the Treaty of Waitangi, the one that holds that in exchange for giving up their land, the Maori tribes shall be given complete and undisputed sovereignty over New South Wales.

The mystery of the tunnel of GB G07 is only one of many strange tales of OGB. Tales of the student who lived in the attic library for weeks; the supposed ghost in the Cabinet Room, the allegation that the library is sinking because the architect hadn’t factored in the weight of the books. These mysteries have answers which are waiting to be uncovered. Indeed, the onus is now on you, the bright eyed, bushy tailed, pesky yet well-meaning first years to uncover these dark tales. Happy tunnelling.

The Secret Tunnel of GB G07Nick Chapman

The grate is locked, but one can look down to see a ladder descending into

the darkness.


First Year

The Socratic Method or “How to Put Your Hand Up In Class”Amelia Keene | 2009 VUWLSS President

It’s 9.34am and you’ve arrived late to Contract, as usual. You slink to the back and get a seat on one of those spare desks behind the back row. You slouch down. This class is just too early. It’s Contracts and Professor David McLauchlan is already ranting about the lies that some Judge or another told. You’re about to start on the Sudoko when you hear your name... it booms across the room and your heart starts pounding. Low profile. Low profile, you tell yourself. Your name. YOUR NAME. Louder. Heads are turning around the room… Do you raise your hand?

I could be described as an expert at putting my hand up in class. Four years of Law School either makes you an expert mumbler of “I haven’t done my readings”, or it makes you a geek. Either way, if you’ve got the stamina, you’ll still finish with a law degree. But the point of this article is to suggest that if you learn to love the ‘Socratic method’, you might end up with some valuable skills as well.

But what does Socrates have to do with Law School, anyway? Apart from finding himself on the wrong side of the Athenian law, the great philosopher’s teaching method survives today in law schools across the world. Socrates engaged in a dialogue with his students, questioning them rather than lecturing ‘at’ them. His purpose was to make his students think, to expose flaws in their reasoning, and ultimately to get to the bottom of things in a meaningful way. This collaborative search for truth is not unlike the process that a really good Socratic lecturer will engage in at a law school. While the great schools of North America all practise the Socratic Method, Victoria is the only school in New Zealand to do so consistently.

For that reason, the Socratic Method is a distinctive feature of our Law School. But it’s also a fearsome phrase in the minds of students; even Hollywood has depicted the terror of the method, in the 1973 rip-snorter, The Paper Chase. Perhaps the most vigorous proponents of the method at Victoria – and certainly one of the most effective – was ex-Prime Minister, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, who was reputedly not averse to using a wooden ruler to swat the desk of the ill-fated student subject to interrogation.

But so much for legend. At Victoria in 2010 the Method doesn’t lead to too many scenes fit for Hollywood. Today, Socrates and his method help us to be better law students; more engaged, critical and questioning in our own right.

So, the first thing to remember is that you are here because you want to be here. Presumably you want to learn about the law, so grab Law School by the horns and ride the Socratic bull.

Secondly, remember that no-one likes being put on the spot. Even the simplest questions become impossible when there are 200 people staring at you and a lecturer with your name and a big black pen, ready to cross or tick. Don’t panic. It’s fine to ask the question to be repeated. It’s also fine to pause and have a look through the materials. Don’t stress. Perhaps more importantly, everyone is in the same boat!

Third, answering questions is basically impossible unless you do your readings. The dialogue between an informed student and a wise lecturer is a truly fantastic thing to behold. But you’re not likely to get that

connection unless you prepare for class. Properly. Like get out a pen and annotate your readings. Think about what they mean. It’s fine to go to class not understanding what you’ve read. But it defeats the purpose if you go to class without reading at all.

The fourth and most important thing is that if you offer the answer when you know the answer, you’re much less likely to be asked to answer when you don’t. The most frustrating Socratic-style classes are the ones where the lecturer chews through a whole-row of law students before finding one who can give an answer even close to what was wanted. If you feel like you know the answer, then put your hand up. It’ll probably come as a welcome relief to the other students, and the lecturer will appreciate it.

The Socratic method is scary. But it is also valuable and I would refuse to go to a law school that didn’t use it. It helps students develop oral skills that are a crucial part of a lawyer’s tool-box. It also makes lectures more meaningful. You get to make a contribution. The other slightly geeky thing to say is that putting your hand up in class increases your profile. People know who you are. Lecturers write you references and recommend you for research assistant or tutoring roles. Students vote for you to go onto VUWLSS, in my case, as President. So putting your hand up in class is a lot more valuable than you might think.

Grab law school by the horns and ride the Socratic bull.


Firs

t Ye

ar

Mature students sit in the front of the lecture theatre. I like people to think I sit there because it makes for better learning. The reality is my hearing and vision deteriorated after the age of 25. Whatever your reason, most mature students sit near the front. Those who don’t are usually making some sort of “statement”. I know – I tried being cool in the back row, but couldn’t hear or see a damn thing!

There is a tendency for us to see younger students, straight from school, as immature, hedonistic, irresponsible, disrespectful kids who know nothing of life or the “real world”. There is also the tendency to think that younger students insightful geniuses who reveal me to be the fake that I am. Both views are wrong. Younger students are normal people. Treat them that way.

Mature students often get bogged down in details. Attention to detail is an important skill but the ability to discriminate is more important. Being able to quickly see what is important and what isn’t takes practice. For the moment just ask yourself, “Will spending five hours on this minor point get me any marks in the final exam?” Sometimes the answer will be yes. Usually, you’ll waste good time that could be better spent learning something else. Study smarter, not harder.

Victoria Law School encourages questions and class discussion in lectures. You’ll have opportunities to clarify points that are unclear, but remember that lectures are an opportunity for everyone to learn from the lecturer, not for individual discussion. Some students don’t understand this and a good rule is - if you’re not satisfied with the response within three exchanges, stop! See the lecturer afterward to continue the discussion. This has the bonus of preventing everyone else in the lecture mentally willing you to shut up or drop dead.

Studying in groups is highly recommended. If you want to study with other mature students… you’ll find us at the front.

Don’t forget you’re a student and can legitimately get a student discount for movies, coffee, dentists, travel....

Mature students have more life experience than most students. This brings valuable real-world knowledge to tutorials and group learning as long as any contribution is concise and relevant. If it’s drawn out and irrelevant you’ll look like a tosser.

It is really rude to complain about the quality of the lecturer, exam, marking, tutors and course work if you got any grade higher than a ‘B’. You might well be an under-appreciated genius who has a better understanding of the law than the professor, but you still look like a dick to those who are thrilled with a ‘C+’.

Mature students have added commitments like work, children and mortgages on top of their study workload. How you manage the balancing act is up to you, but don’t be afraid to ask friends, family, your employer or especially the Law School for help or leeway when you need it.

Make time away from study and other commitments to have some fun and get a clear head. Your grades will benefit in the long run.

Some advice for mature students – From a “mature” student


Your LLB

Kelburn to Pipitea

Congratulations. You made it. If you’re reading this, you must have figured out whether a goldfish is an animal, and know the intimate details of the footballer’s lives. You’ve made the progression down the hill, and it’s time now to swap the Quad for the Cafe, and embark upon legal immersion. There’s no shame in feeling a twinge of pride and excitement as you walk through those majestic gates under the watchful eye of Peter Fraser – in fact, wholeheartedly embrace it.

This article is supposed to give you some idea of what to expect when you turn up with pencils sharpened on your first day. So here we go. There is no ultimate combination of the four second year courses, so stop asking everyone about it. If you haven’t learnt yet, make sure you squeeze together the spiral bindings on your course notes otherwise they’ll have had it by week three – this is of particular importance this year as Law School lecturers seem to have a fondness for dividing course notes into several sub editions released in strategic stages throughout the year. Lectures start at half past down here. Spare yourself the walk of shame across the front of the lecture on the o’clock.

As for behaviour in lectures themselves, I learnt the hard way that writing your name messily on the seating chart won’t relieve you of Socrates’ curse. In fact you’ll probably be targeted. Appearing to be deep in academic discussion with your neighbour is much more

effective. I would also recommend sitting with a few of your friends, but get to know some other people too – and definitely try and go for a row in the middle of the lecture theatre. If the lecture gets boring you can just look at the latest YouTube clips, as one of the Laptop gang is bound to be looking at them in the rows in front of you. The rolling office chairs can fluctuate in number per row, but they make up for this inconvenience in pure awesome units. A final academic related point – tutors are gold. Get a good one. You can tell who they are, they’re the ones always in vintage T-shirt Night garb.

Law School encourages its protégées to get as involved in law related things as possible, and I would definitely recommend giving mooting / client interviewing etc a go. You might even get a glimpse of the Gods of the Law School who have spent sleepless chunks of their lives across the ditch memorising Australian tax law and winning prizes for it. If you are participating, speak s-l-o-w-l-y and keep Denny Crane references to an absolute minimum. You can’t really go wrong, judges are always telling porkies anyway.

Second years know the Occi does $3 eggs on toast that can be comfortably finished

before a 9:30am lecture, and will probably have finished at least one Egg Loyalty Card by the time the year is through. You should also try sandwiches from both Mr Pie and Concord Cafe (Mr Pie has the advantage of using real chicken as opposed to processed slices, although Concord is marginally closer if you’re running between classes). Sweet Fanny Anne’s is always good. Culinary highlight of the year is definitely the biannual LSS barbeque – lectures are always so much funnier afterwards for some reason.

Look, there are lots of tips and tricks I could write about but there’s something intangibly lovely about being in the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere every day. On its good days, Law School truly is the delight of everyone. The Law students study and the judges watch. The lawn area is well rolled and mown. The pigeons do not mind the law students. The library lift has a quaint charm to it. You can’t help feeling happily studious carrying the brick that is Torts in New Zealand on the bus up to Kelburn (and feeling just a bit superior to the commerce student sitting next to you). And who doesn’t wish Denning was their Granddad? Keep your head, drink lots of coffee and study hard. Yes, that could well have been Tipping J that you saw. And I too think the Supreme Court is coming along nicely.

xoxo Law Girl

The pigeons do not mind the law students.


Your

LLB

The ten rules Preparation:

1. There is no such thing as an open book examAny time spent in an exam rifling through your notes is time you could spend answering the question. In a problem-based law exam you need to concentrate all your energies on applying the legal (or constitutional) rules and principles to the facts. To do this, you need to come into the exam knowing the law like the back of your hand.

Prepare for every exam as if it were closed book.

2. Don’t just memorise – understandYou can’t apply law that you don’t really understand. So concentrate your energies on trying to understand the way the law works rather than memorising it. Once you understand something, memorising it is easy. If you don’t understand, seek help – from your peers, from your tutors or from the lecturer.

One way to test your understanding when you are studying is to come up with

your own fact situations and attempt to apply the law to them. Sometimes, it’s only when you try to apply the law in practice that you work out where the gaps in your understanding are.

And when it comes to the examination, make sure you demonstrate this understanding. For example, when setting out a legal test, it is bad form to simply recite to the lecturer the headings that appeared on a powerpoint slide. The lecturer wants to know that you understand each step of the test; not that you are capable of copying down the powerpoint. Demonstrate that you understand everything you write down.

Scoping the question:

3. Divy up your timeBecause law exams tend to be pressured, one of the keys to doing well is apportioning your time carefully.

As soon as you get into the exam, work out how much each question is worth and how much time you should therefore spend on it. (For example, if a two-hour exam contains two questions worth 50% each, you should spend one hour on each question).

Use the mark allocation as a

Claudia’s step guide to sitting problem-based law exams10Editor’s Note: Claudia Geiringer is a Senior Lecturer at VUW School of Law. She is particularly active in the field of Public Law and rights jurisprudence. This guide, although written with Public Law exams in mind, has sound information for law students at all levels of their degree.

I calculated the other day that during my prolonged period as a tertiary student I probably sat in excess of 50 exams. Sad, isn’t it? If nothing else, I have had plenty of opportunity to refine my technique. Since becoming a university lecturer, I have also had plenty of opportunity to observe from the “other side” common mistakes that students make when answering exam questions. I would estimate that most students could improve their grades by around 20% just by tightening up their exam technique.

So here it is: my attempt at a ten-step guide to exam technique. It is specifically aimed at answering legal problems, although some of it may apply equally to other kinds of exam questions.

clue to what the lecturer expects from each answer. For example, if a lecture has only allocated 10 marks out of 100 to a question, he or she is probably expecting a relatively brief answer to it. (If so, it will be important to get straight to the point!)

Stick to your allotted time. If you run out of time on one question, leave it and start on the next one. If you have spare time at the end, you can always go back and complete your answer.

4. Read every wordWhen we read, say, a newspaper, we tend to read by general impression. Our eyes skip quickly over whole phrases, sentences or paragraphs. When we read this way, it is easy to make mistakes about the detail. Your brain can play tricks on you. It decides what it expects to see (based on the information it has already taken in) and substitutes it for what is actually written.

This is not the way to read a law exam. When you read a law exam you must take in every word and register its significance. If you find this difficult, one way to improve your concentration is to follow along the line you are reading with a pen. This slows you down and increases the chances that you will register each word. Another (and complementary) technique is to take a highlighter with you and to highlight key phrases as you read. Make notes as you go as to the potential arguments you might want to make (see, below, under Rule 5).

As you read, you should think about all the parameters of the question that has been asked. For example:

What tasks has the lecturer asked you to perform?

Are there issues the lecturer has specifically asked you not to address?

Are you being asked to write from a particular perspective (eg, to write a submission for one party or to give a judge’s opinion)?

Is the lecturer asking you to apply the legal/constitutional rules and principles as they currently are in New Zealand? (You can presume this unless told otherwise). Or is he or she telling you to apply some other test that you have learned about in class?

And when you’ve finished reading the problem through slowly and carefully …

… read it through the same way at least one more time before you start writing. On the second reading, you will know what the task is that the lecturer is ultimately asking of you. The relevance of facts that did not seem significant to you the first time you read the problem may now be apparent to you.

5. Try to read the lecturer’s mindWhen I was a student, whenever I read an exam question I would try to put myself in the lecturer’s shoes and to guess why they had written the problem in a particular way. I still think this is a really good way to approach the problem.

For better or worse, lecturers put a lot of effort into designing exam problems. Although there will be some red herrings, most of the facts are there for a reason. They are there because the lecturer thinks that they raise issues in terms of the application of the relevant legal or constitutional tests or principles.

As you read through the problem, see if you can read the lecturer’s mind and identify the reasons he or she has included particular facts in the problem. What arguments do you think the lecturer is hoping you might make? Make a note of them.

Here is an example from the second tutorial problem. It concerned the applicability of imperial legislation. Questions 1.a and 1.b contained different dates at which the event was supposed to have occurred: 1987 and 2006. The minute you saw those dates you should have been trying to think through their significance – why would the legal or constitutional position be different at one date from the other? The answer, of course, is that the law governing reception of imperial legislation into New Zealand law changed in 1988 with the enactment of the Imperial Laws Application Act 1988. The first question required you to identify and apply the pre-1988 framework and the second question required you to apply the post-1988 framework.


Your LLB

Format:

6. Leave space for late additionsUnless you have got the most organised mind in the world, you will almost certainly get half way through answering the problem and remember something that you should have said in the first (or second, or third) paragraph. One way to deal with this is to leave every second (and opposite) page in the exam booklet blank. That way, if you want to add in an extra section, you can write it on the blank page and draw an arrow across to where you want it to be inserted. You will go through more exam booklets this way, but who cares?

Not all lecturers like it when you do this. Personally, I think it’s great. But if a particular lecturer has expressed a preference that you don’t do this, best to avoid it. The examiner has untrammelled legislative sovereignty after all!

Writing your answer:

7. Answer the question. And only the questionBefore you start writing, let go of all your hopes, expectations and predictions about what might have been in the exam. You will get no marks for working into your answer information that you thought you were going to be (but haven’t been) asked for. Nor will you get any marks in a problem question for giving a general dissertation on the state of the law.

Every single word you write should be relevant to answering the question you have been asked. Before you write each sentence, ask yourself whether what you are about to write assists in some way to answer the question. Be brutal. If it’s not directly relevant, no matter how much time you’ve spent learning it, leave it out. You don’t have time to waste.

One common mistake students make is to begin their answer with a general and wide-ranging discussion of the particular area of law that is at issue. For example, a student asked about the reception of a particular imperial law might be tempted to embark on a general discussion of the significance to imperial

law to the constitution. Be aware – unless this discussion in some way assists in answering the problem you have been asked to address, you are unlikely to get any marks for it. Cut straight to the chase.

Cite authorities, but only give as much information about them as is needed to support your answer. Often, all you will need to do is succinctly state the rule that a case stands for (and perhaps give some information about the status of the Court). Occasionally, it will be necessary to explain a little of the facts giving rise to the case (for example, if you are trying to distinguish the case). Generally, it is a mistake when answering a legal problem to give a miniature case brief for each case you refer to.

And don’t say the same thing twice. You’ll only get marks for it the first time.

8. DO state the obviousYes, everything you write should be relevant to the question you are answering. But this doesn’t mean that everything you say has to be stupendously insightful and original. Many of the marks in a law exam are allocated to the obvious and the mundane. We want to know that you’ve understood the basics. So build your case from the ground up. Be methodical. We need to know that you understand every step that you need to take to solve the particular problem. No matter how obvious it seems, if it’s relevant to answering the problem, let us know you understand it.

This doesn’t mean that you need to spend much time on obvious points. If a point is uncontroversial, state it as succinctly as possible and move on!

9. But don’t shy away from the hard issuesBut having made all the obvious points, have the courage to also make a stab at answering the hard issues. Most problem questions contain some issues that are hard to resolve. The application of the legal tests or constitutional principles to the facts that you have been given is uncertain. There is no clear answer.

In such cases, what conclusion you end up with is probably not all that important. Most of the marks are allocated for identifying the issue, for exhibiting an understanding of the arguments that can be made either way to resolve the issue, for having a go at making sensible arguments on the facts about how the issue should be resolved, and for coming to a conclusion that is supported by your analysis of the law and facts.

10. Apply the law (or constitutional principles) to the facts. And again. And again. And againAnd this is perhaps the most important point of all. Problem questions are all about applying the law (or constitutional principles) to the facts of the particular case. The point is to demonstrate to the examiner how the relevant legal tests or constitutional principles apply to the particular facts you have been given.

The first aspect of this is, of course, to identify from the material you have studied the legal rules, conventions and principles that might assist in resolving the problem. The fact situations you are given in a law exam will rarely be identical to ones you have studied in class – they will be variants. The skill is to be able to recognise the analogies between what you have studied and the fact situation you are given, and to be able reason logically about how the rules and principles you have studied might therefore apply.

In order to do this you need to integrate your discussion of the law and the facts. In other words, it rarely works to have one large chunk of your answer devoted to setting out all the relevant law and another chunk devoted to setting out all the relevant facts. Generally, the best way to show the marker that you understand why the law is relevant to your particular fact situation and how to apply it to the particular facts is to move back and forward between the law and the facts, identifying and then applying the relevant legal tests, methodically, one by one.

So, for example, if you were considering the application of the

pre-1988 law governing reception of imperial legislation, you would begin by identifying the relevant legal framework: section 1 of the English Laws Act. You would then break that section down into elements and go through each in turn, asking if it applies to the facts:

Is the law in question a law of England existing on 14 January 1840?

Is the law in question “applicable to the circumstances of New Zealand”?

You would explain, in turn, whether or not the facts satisfy this test, and if the answer is unclear, you would explore the arguments either way before reaching a conclusion.

As you went through, at each step you would also consider whether any of the other authorities you looked at during the course (case law and commentaries) might assist in applying the test. In this case, you would decide that the Falkner test (discussed by Philip Joseph) assists with the second limb of the statutory test. You would set out the sub-tests identified in Falkner and, again, consider in turn whether each sub-test is satisfied on the facts.

Some of you will have learned about IRAC (if you haven’t don’t worry about it). My personal view is that IRAC can be a little dangerous because students sometimes think that it means that each problem will involve one issue, one rule, and so on. Many problems raise several issues, or one issue and a range of sub-issues. So IRAC generally works best if you apply it over and over and over within any one problem. In other words, for each step in the legal test you are applying, identify any issues that are raised and the relevant rule, apply the rule to the facts and state your conclusion.

Oh, and one last thing. Stick to the facts you are given. Don’t get carried away with flights of fancy about what might be going on between the parties. The lecturer wants you to discuss his or her version of the facts; not your own.

Claudia GeiringerSenior Lecturer, VUW School of Law


Your

LLB

Honours in Law ExplainedAt all the New Zealand law schools there are two varieties of law degree. You’ve got your stock standard Legum Baccalaureus (Batchelor of Laws, or LLB) and then your LLB (Hons). At Victoria, the Honours programme is open to more or less 30 students per year. Admission to the programme is on the basis of marks at 200-level, and is by invitation. Nevertheless, if a student has missed out on the required grade point average by a slim margin, the Honours Coordinator will consider applications.

Once you have accepted an invitation into the Honours programme the structure of the degree changes slightly. Instead of taking 12 elective papers, you will take 10 electives and two Honours seminars in your fourth and fifth years, write an extended essay (the ‘489’) in the fourth year and take a Masters paper in the fifth year. This means around six pieces of legal writing between 3,000 and 15,000 words in length. Typically, the most popular component of the Honours degree is the seminar programme, where each student in the group of 12 presents his or her 3,000 word paper as a seminar each week. This small group format is a particularly exciting way to learn about the law. After having a series of introductory lectures from the professor leading the seminar, students are well equipped to debate with each other (and even with the lecturer), leading to a lot of engagement with each other and with the issues. Typically the seminar class will be on a relatively broad topic such as Media law, International Economic law, or the Treaty of Waitangi, which gives students the opportunity to pursue interesting topics about which they are passionate. While domestic Honours students make up a large part of the honours and masters seminars, these classes also involve international LLM students, especially those from the Pacific and from Germany. This is a particularly enjoyable aspect of the programme, as the range of perspectives in a seminar class can lead to great debate and discussion.

300-Level ElectivesIn an LLB you get to choose 12 elective papers, in an LLB (Hons) it’s 10. So what should you bear in mind?

What are the core papers?The absolutely core papers are compulsory for everyone and you will have already done them. The only exception is that you must make the effort to take Laws 334 (Ethics) to be admitted to the bar. If you want a well-rounded LLB (the best sort) you should also seriously consider Family Law, International Law, Business Associations (Company Law), Jurisprudence, Evidence, Bill of Rights, and Conflict of Laws.

Should I specialise?As we’ve hinted, the best sort of law graduate is one that has a broad base of skills andknowledge. Make an effort to take papers across the spectrum; the Faculty Undergraduate Handbook (available from the office) will help you do this. That said, it is absolutely legitimate to follow your interests, whatever they may be, as long as you have covered your basics.

You might like to weave you degree so you have strengths in, say, Media Law and Constitutional Law, or Contract Law and the law relating to major financial transactions.

Should I take ‘practical’ papers?The law degree is, on a fundamental level, about skills in legal analysis and writing. All papers should ground you in these skills. For that reason you should take a range of papers that interest you and that you enjoy studying. You should also beware of preconceived notions of which papers are not ‘practical’. These notions are very frequently wrong. Above all, find out what papers are actually about and then decide whether the area is one that interests you.


Your LLB

Alfred Thompson ‘Tom’ Denning, Baron, Law Lord and Master of the Rolls, has pride of place on my bedroom wall. Dear Denning has watched over me during many a late night of law study. “Why?”, you ask. I should note at the outset that I do not intend to substantively trace the influence that Denning LJ had on the development of the common law. Nor do I intend to write a biography. Far more careful publications on both themes already exist. Rather, I wanted to share with other law students why I consider Lord Denning a significant enough judge to put his picture on my wall.

Lord Denning is perhaps most famous for being the only judge in history who began a judgment with the lines “In summertime village cricket is the delight of everyone. Nearly every village has its own cricket grounds where the young men play and the old men watch.” (Miller v Jackson [1977] QB 966). For a law student, Lord Denning is exciting. His judgments are colourful and full of poetic descriptions. He never hesitated to scoff loudly at the dusty relics of the common law.

Although I never met him, I imagine that Lord Denning was a charming gentleman with a toffee-nose Oxfordian way of speaking, who insisted on wearing tweed, three-piece suits and a fob in his top right pocket. Law students these days often choose law because they do not want to do something

related to maths. It may be interesting to note, then, that Lord Denning studied both Maths and Law at Oxford. He served in the First World War and then became a barrister on completing his studies. He was made a King’s Counsel in 1938. For more biographical information on Denning, have a search for him on Wikipedia.

In the legal context, Lord Denning was somewhat of a revolutionary and could also be described as a naturalist. He saw justice as the primary goal of the Court and applying the law as rather secondary. Although Lord Denning was originally appointed a Law Lord, he resigned to become Master of the Rolls in the Court of Appeal, which is why he is referred to as Lord Denning M.R. Denning LJ seemed to feel that he was restricted by the House of Lords. Fewer cases were appealed all the way to the House of Lords, so the Court of Appeal would often remain the most authoritative precedent. Furthermore, in the CA there were only three judges, rather than five. As Denning commented at the time of his appointment back to the Court of Appeal, the odds of justice being done were shortened from 4 to 1, to 2 to 1.

Denning would almost always look, albeit disdainfully, at the previous common law rules. But he would rarely stop there in his analysis. Rather, Lord Denning could be relied on to work through the underlying logic and justice of a case. Thus common law could be blown out of the way in an instant if he thought necessary. This approach infuriated some people as it threatened the sovereignty of Parliament. According to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, the Court’s role is to interpret, rather than create the law. The common law has always played a somewhat murky role within parliamentary sovereignty. Arguably Lord Denning stirred up the muck by suggesting that judges could create law, as opposed to merely interpret the common law and statutes. Perhaps, he had a point.

If, after thais spiel about who Lord Denning is, you still feel no closer to finding out why his picture is blu-tacked to my wall. Rather than re-read this peice, go and read one of Denning’s judgments. Despite his death a few years ago, Lord Denning remains an inspiration. He exhibited a careful, disciplined approach to the law. He was also a fiercely individual judge, who clearly expressed his dissension where necessary. One may not agree with everything that Lord Denning uttered in his incredible lifetime. Yet most would agree that he is a humbling example of a great legal tradition, of which all law students are now part.

Why you should have a picture of

on your wall.

Amelia Keene

For a law student, Lord Denning is exciting.


Soci

al E

ndea

vour

s

Fidel’s 234 Cuba Street, Wellington

A fun little café with great ambience, superb coffee and delicious food - try their pizza menu! It’s situated up the top of Cuba Street and has a great outdoor area providing the perfect spot to hang out with friends on those sunny Wellington days.

Caffé Italiano 229 Cuba Street, Wellington / 19 Brandon Street, Wellington

Also situated up on Cuba Street this great little café is like stepping into another world with their imported food and coffee equipment. The food and coffee are amazing, but it is the cakes and cabinet selection that makes Café Italiano worth a visit. Monday and Tuesday evening’s play host to perhaps the best student deal this city has to offer when their already reasonably priced pastas sell at two for one.

Astoria 159 Lambton Quay, Midland Park, Wellington

Astoria is a local haunt for most Law School students due its central location at the lower end of Lambton Quay. The café offers a great location for either morning coffee or late afternoon wine. Hosting a good cabinet selection and worthy menu it is also worth a visit for something more substantial. Get in quick as it can often be hard to get a seat.

Verve250 Lambton Quay, Wellington

Another spot close to Law School worth checking out. Verve is connected to the Lambton Quay CD & DVD store. The café has a funky vibe, sweet tunes and a relaxed feel. The cabinet hosts an inviting array of croissants, paninis and wraps, while the blackboard menu is filled with well priced other options. The spicy wedges are superb and unlike so many other places offering spicy wedges, theirs are actually spicy.

Gotham Chews Lane, Between Willis and Victoria Street

Situated in the new Chews Lane development (off Willis Street) this Batman inspired café is worth a visit. Gotham provides a delicious selection of cabinet food, cool raised booths and an absolutely divine breakfast/brunch menu on the wall. A very well priced café that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Parade Café 148 Oriental Parade, Wellington

Located on Oriental Bay, this famous alfresco Wellington Café is perfect on a sunny day, and looks out over the central city. While its counter food is delicious, Parade Café’s reputation stems from its breakfast and lunch menu. The prices are reasonable, the portions sizable, and with the finest French Toast in Wellington, Parade Café is the ultimate spot for Sunday morning brunch followed by a dip in Oriental Bay.

Good Luck Bar 26 Cuba Street, WellingtonSituated underground off Cuba Street, this Asian-inspired bar is a haven for students who enjoy a good cocktail, great dance music and a superb night out with friends. The music is always very fresh, alternative and presented by some of the best local and international DJs.

Hope Bros 31 -35 Dixon St, Te Aro, Wellington

Located on Dixon Street, Hope Bros offers a great spot for a drink and dance with mates before hitting either the Courtenay Place or Cuba Street scene. Hope Bros has a pleasant vibe. The bar hosts a wide array of live music. The upper floor, with its deep booths and pool tables, offers welcome respite from the crazy downstairs dance floor.

Lotus Room 24 Courtenay Place, Wellington

Found on Courtney Place, Lotus is a newish club with a steep set of stairs and a formidable line. Once you get in, the bar has strong indoor/ outdoor flow, loud music and bright lights. DJs pump out beats that have a Ministry of Sound vibe. While the dance floor is small, this never seems to worry any of the town goers. The hugely popular Lotus is always home to a good night out.

Matterhorn 06 Cuba Street, Wellington

Wellington’s most iconic bar is situated in the heart of Cuba Mall. New Zealand Bar of the Year for the past three years, The Matterhorn has a beautiful ambiance, good indoor and outdoor areas and a truly unrivalled drinks list. The bar tenders are young, knowledgeable, well trained and very approachable. While you’re there consider checking out the restaurant, which has just been named Cuisine Magazine’s 2008 Restaurant of the Year. You can’t experience Wellington without a visit to The Matterhorn.

Southern Cross 35 Abel Smith Street, Te Aro, WellingtonFound up the top of Cuba Street, Southern Cross, is another old Wellington icon. Although a bit off the beaten track, Southern Cross is worth the trek. The bar is large but worth exploring in order to find the perfect spot. With both an indoor and outdoor bar, drinks are never far away. Southern Cross Bar is a great place to start the night before heading inwards to the bright lights of Cuba and Courtenay.

Socially Speaking:

University Life in Wellington


Social Endeavours

Wagamama The Meridian Building, 33 Customhouse Quay, Wellington

Wagamama is the perfect restaurant for a dinner break during long library study sessions. Situated within five minutes from the Law School, the waterside location makes it the perfect place to escape your studies. You would think that sharing a view with Shed 5, the White House and Martin Bosleys would inflate prices well beyond a student budget, yet the meals are affordable, fast and most of all, delicious.

Mojo The Meridian Building, 33 Customhouse Quay, Wellington/ PriceWaterhouseCoopers Building, 119 The Terrace, Wellington

Coffee fiends, your favourite Wellington café chain now does dinner. The Mojo pizza deal on Thursdays and Fridays will get you a pizza and two glasses of wine, or Tuatara beer for $25. The Summit Cafe on the Terrace is a great place to stop on your way home from those killer 5.30 tutorials.

The Occidental Cnr Lambton Quay & Ballance Street, Wellington

Breakfast is vital for early morning law lectures and why wouldn’t you with the Occi breakfast deal? Three dollars for eggs on toast makes eating out affordable every day.

Leuven 137 Featherston Street, Wellington

The six dollar breakfast deal during weekdays is ideal for a Monday morning lift. Close to the Law School and in the heart of the CBD, this Belgian café/restaurant does fantastic cooked breakfasts and sugar waffles for the student wallet. While drinking before class isn’t encouraged, do return to sample a range of delicious fruit flavoured Belgian beers and 2kgs of mussels for the price of one on Sundays and Mondays.

Scopa 141 Cuba Street, Wellington

Scopa, on the corner of Cuba and Ghuznee Street is renowned for its hot chocolates and delicious pizza. The hot chocolate, which is closer to hot chocolate mousse, than the usual watery alternative is certain to boost your calorie levels after strenuous hours fasting in the Law Library. Their sandwiches are also well worth the price – these are no soggy take-away ham triangles.

Tinakori Bistro 328 Tinakori Road, Thorndon, WellingtonWe all know where to do cheap BYO. If it has Oriental in the title or any sort of Kingdom then you will be sure to find rowdy groups of students shouting over bottles of cheap wine. Doing BYO with a little bit of class is more of a challenge. The Tinakori Bistro is one of Wellington’s few restaurants to offer a first class menu with the option of bringing your own wine. While perhaps a more expensive option than the usual suspects, the meals are no greasy satay.


Soci

al E

ndea

vour

s

How to crack the

Marvel Menswear 106 Victoria Street, Wellington

Stocks a wide variety of New Zealand designer labels and a few international brands. Really great cuts in their shirts and pants and a useful place for the blending of business and casual wear. The service is professional and the shop assistants really know their product and are helpful in choosing items of clothing which will suit your body shape and the ‘look’ you are going for.

Crane Brothers Shop 3 99 - 105 Customhouse Quay Wellington

After ten very successful years in High Street, Auckland, Crane Brothers has finally opened a Wellington store. Crane Brothers holds, arguably, the position of New Zealand’s premier suit-maker. Such a title would typically come with price tags to match. Made-to-measure suits at Crane Brothers are priced at the same rate as off-the-rack. Crane Brothers pricing comes due to the belief that there “should be no additional barriers in making the decision to invest in a well fitted suit”. The staff are

second to none and really do know their trade so it pays to listen to what they say. Crane Brothers is the perfect place to spend that summer clerking clothing allowance on a suit you will be proud to wear.

Mandatory 108 Cuba Mall, Wellington

Mandatory is a well established Wellington menswear brand offering a wide array of apparel, accessories and tailoring services. Located in the heart of Cuba Mall the store features a collection that is well made, reasonably priced and continually updating itself. The store offers suits in both off-the-rack and made to measure. Both services are well priced and produce outstanding suits that last.

Barkers Capital On The Quay226 Lambton Quay, Wellington

Barkers is a great place to get that new season look for a good price. Honestly, Barkers is the best place to get any basic item of clothing if you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg. Along with their casual essentials, they have a great selection of more formal attire with blazers and vests in the latest cuts.

The university lifestyle has many special benefits, including an informality of dress that is evident at every campus. Almost any outfit is acceptable so long as it is clean, fashionable and generally inoffensive. The mixture of eclectic wardrobe styles offers a level of individuality in dress that you are not going to get anywhere else.

Corporate dress to the outsider can seem uniform, conservative, restricting and most of all, expensive. With internships starting well before graduate level, law students are at the disadvantage of having to pay corporate price tags without the full-time salary. Trust that a well groomed, professional image is worth spending a few dollars on. Whether you like it or not, the first impression you make at an interview is the one that counts. You want to project that you are young, professional, confident and hardworking.

Regardless of your individual taste in clothing, consider carefully the culture of the organization where you hope to work. There are two levels of business attire: business professional (usually in firms where you are expected to interact with clients and project the company’s image) and informal business professional (a more relaxed version of the professional look). As a hopeful lawyer, your sights need to be set on the former.

Business professional for men is relatively straightforward - it means suits and ties. While this is simple, many men get it wrong. Suits do not have to cost the world; more important is fit. The shoulders are the only aspect of a suit that a tailor can’t alter. Spend an extra bit and get it tailored and it will turn an averagely priced suit into something you will be proud to put on. With regard to shirts and ties, do the basics right, shirts should fit well and flatter the body shape, take an extra minute to ensure that your knot is neat and the tip falls at the top of your belt buckle. In terms of shirt, tie and suit patterns, if you’re not confident then keep it simple, go with safe block colours that work together every time.

Women have a few more options when it comes to business professional attire. Essentially there are no rules. While a suit is not mandatory, it is always a safe option and certainly good to have. Stick to classic colours such as black or charcoal and brighten up the look with a coloured shirt or structured top. Whether or not you wear pant suits or skirts is a matter of personal preference only. You can even mix and match different coloured jackets with your black suit skirts and vice versa. Keep in mind that regardless of whether you are wearing a suit, your outfit must be conservative, well tailored and thoughtfully put together.

Be wary of casual attire at work. Casual Friday has been the most misunderstood and subsequently abused custom ever to hit our wardrobes. Your goal is to blend casual with urban chic in a way that still projects an image of professionalism. Leave your gold boots, low tops, jungle prints, mini skirts, tattered jeans and anything else that is in your current clubbing rotation of clothes at home.

Where to Shop for your corporate look.Jeremy Keene

Editor’s Note: The selection of these stores has a deliberate corporate theme. It seeks to provide a starting point for your working wardrobe.


Social Endeavours

Workshop Old Bank ChambersCnr Customhouse Quay and Hunter Street, Wellington

Located in the Old Bank Arcade, Workshop is a great place for clean cuts and simple design in men’s clothing. Their denim is amazing and fits well in a variety of cuts, colour washes and shapes – it’s a place to find items that go from everyday to something more formal.

Area 51Cnr Cuba and Dixon Streets, Wellington

Situated on the corner of Cuba and Dixon Street, Area 51 is great place to get casual, good- looking clothes from some of the best international and local street designers. Stockists of Huffer, Diesel, Fred Perry and ksubi, the shop has a great vibe about it. Watch out for the seasonal sales where you can find much of the stock slashed to half price. With well-informed and helpful staff Area 51 is the place to go for the latest in casual and formal street wear.

Mi Piaci Capital on the Quay250 Lambton Quay, Wellington

Mi Piaci on Lambton Quay is a really good place if you are after high fashion and formal dress shoes. All styles are very European and look great worn casually in town with jeans and can also be buffed up for more formal events.

Overland Capital on the Quay226 Lambton Quay, Wellington

Overland on Lambton Quay has a great variety of casual and formal mens’ footwear. You are bound to find something here, whether it’s a pair of casual loafers, casual dress shoes or formal dress shoes. There is quite a selection, with a price range to suit a student pocket.

Ultra Shoes 55 Manners Mall, Wellington

Found on Manners Mall, this is a great little shoe store that stocks many fantastic international labels including Ben Sherman, Julius Marlow and Camper. A fine store to find casual and formal men’s shoes which are fashionable and yet aren’t all over town. Ultra offers a student discount on all their reasonably priced shoes.

Cue 226 Lambton QuayCapital on the Quay, Wellington

Cue is city chic, offering current trends mixed with classic corporate style. Their clothes are designed to make you feel young, professional and confident. Cue is great for classic cut suits or the latest corporate trends if you are feeling more daring. Their fabrics and tailoring are always of high quality and the staff are well versed in how to equip your first corporate wardrobe.

Veronika Maine 35 Willis Street, Chews Lane, Wellington

Veronika Maine is a sister store of Cue and offers a similar range of classic suits and corporate attire. They stock a great range of signature jackets, coats and dresses in corporate styles with a modern edge. VM is renowned for its innovative designs, unique detailing and interesting colour palette. Their sizing is cut slightly larger than Cue which makes it a great option if you feel that you are in-between size ranges.

Country Road Harbour City Centre179 Lambton Quay, Wellington

Country Road is fantastic for corporate basics. If you are not comfortable wearing shirts, they stock a great range of dress tops which can be classified as corporate with the right outfit.

Witchery Corner Feathertson and Hunter Street, Wellington

The New Zealand flagship store of this major Australian brand has just opened on Featherston Street. In a similar vein to Country Road, Witchery offers a range of on-trend, well-made pieces that won’t ruin your credit rating.

Unity Collection BDO House, 101 Customhouse Quay, Wellington

Situated on Featherston Street, Unity Collection is easy elegance. Although their primary market is older, they stock a range of well-made, well-designed pieces

ranging from suits to evening wear. A lot of local designers are stocked including, Trelise Cooper, Deborah Sweeney and Tymone Winter.

Andrea MooreOld Bank Arcade, Lambton Quay

Colourful signature items which set you apart from the black masses is a great way to move into the corporate code without feeling conformist. Andrea Moore is all about stunning, bright items which test the corporate boundaries in a way that can only be described as fabulous. Unfortunately, with style, beauty and jaw-dropping clothes comes high price tags. This may be a place to save until the big pay checks roll in.

Mi Piaci Capital on the Quay, 250 Lambton Quay, Wellington

What is an outfit without the shoes to match? Make sure to team your corporate look with clean, polished classic court shoes or heels. They are a great match with suit skirts which are cut longer than you may be used to wearing. Mi Piaci has a fantastic range of classic heels and flats with a modern edge.


Extr

a Cu

rric

ular

The next four pages are a guide to law school competitions from those in the know. However, if you are still on the fence about giving competitions ago, here are a few reasons why you should get involved.

- the most fun you’ve hadwith a case in a long time

Witness examination: witness examination involves the examination in chief of ‘your’ witness and the cross-examination of the witness called by the other side.

Client Interviewing: client interviewing replicates the scenario all practising lawyers deal with regularly, interviewing clients to find out what their problem is and to give advice (not specific legal advice) about what the next step for the client might logically be.

Negotiation: negotiation competitions are typically face to face negotiations between two lawyers acting for a client in a commercial deal. The object of the competition is to get the best deal for your client while observing the best negotiation practices.

Mooting: Most moots simulate appellate level litigation (eg a case in the New Zealand Supreme Court), however the Vis Moot is a good example of a simulated arbitration.

• Anyone can do it. Start with a competition that requires less detailed knowledge in your second year, move on to mooting or witness examination in your third year.

• It’s fun. Comps are basically the thrill-seeker’s sport at law school. There’s nothing like standing up and making a case or cross-examining a witness to give you an adrenaline rush.

• Competitions develop real skills. The four competitions on offer from the NZLSA (New Zealand Law Students Association) really do reflect the skills a good lawyer needs. This is your chance to develop practical skills before you graduate.

• Make the law work for you. There’s nothing to make a case come alive like needing to use it to make an argument to a real live mooting judge who will ask you real questions.

• Win competitions and travel the world. The winners of the Victoria round of the four NZLSA competitions compete at the NZLSA and Australian champs, and the New Zealand winners go on to represent their country at the international championships. The cost of these trips is paid by the sponsoring firms.

• Meet fantastic people. Whether they’re Vic students from your classes, Aussies in Sydney, or Swedish students you meet at a competition in Austria, entry into comps can lead to fantastic friendships.

Types of Competititons


Extra Curricular

An Insider’s Guide to Mooting

Oliver Searle1. Actually read the cases. You’ll be given cases to cite to support your argument -read them. The answers are in there, if you look. Taking the time to read the cases, andnote down important things, will make a huge difference.

2. Believe in your case. You are right, your client is right, the other side is wrong.The more passionately you can fool yourself into believing in your case, the moreconvincingly you’ll be able to advocate for them. And that’s the aim of the game. Remember that it’s a fine line between believing in your case and being a prick about it.

3. Think before you answer questions. Tis better to look a fool than to open one’smouth and prove it. As you have to open your mouth, think through what you’re aboutto say, rather than launching into it. Silence is not the enemy.

4. Practice before you do it. Being familiar with the material is vital, so practice.Reading your ‘speech’ to the mirror is okay, being questioned by a friend is great - itmakes you respond to things you might not otherwise have thought of.

5. The judge is your friend. If you have a former mooter as a judge, they’re likely going to grill you. Someone did it to them once, and they’re going to do it to you. If you have anyone else (practitioner, academic, judge etc), odds are they’re not trying to trip you up, they just don’t understand what you’re saying, so don’t dodge or dismiss their questions, engage with them.

Mooting can be great fun, introduce you to amazing people and take you around the world (or at least to a tiny hotel room with a lovely view of the sun rising as you’re finishing your submissions at 5.30am). Try not to perceive it as a new form of torture, it’s just you and the Judge, having a chat about a bit of law. Put in a bit of time before hand, then be polite and clear in what you say and you cannot go wrong.

Moot (n): (1) A hypothetical case argued by law students as an exercise.(2) An exercise in intellectual sadomasochism. Sometimes a nerve-wracking ordeal, yet people seem to come back for more. At Vic, you’ll have opportunities to moot in various voluntary competitions as well as the compulsory mooting paper – LAWS 299.

In light of the fact that you’re going to moot at least once at law school, here are five simple tips for surviving your first moot:

The European Law Students Association WTO Moot

This highly competitive World Trade law moot saw the Vic team romping to victory in the Asia/Pacific round in 2008.

The Buddle Findlay Second Year Moot

This junior moot is limited to those taking 200-level papers and is an ideal stepping stone to more advanced mooting. The quality of judging is high, with a Court of Appeal or Supreme Court judge presiding in the final.

The New Zealand Family Law Moot

This moot is hosted by the University of Otago Law Faculty and is only open to those who have not represented their university in a national competition. Selection is by trial moot and/or on the basis of interest in family law.

The Bell Gully Mooting Competition

This prestigious open entry moot is the main mooting competition at Victoria. Winners go on to represent Victoria in the New Zealand and Australian competitions. The best speakers in the final receive the Thomas Prize and have their names entered on the Sir Richard Wilde Cup. The final is held in the High Court number one courtroom and is presided over by a judge of the Supreme Court.

The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act Moot

This moot is held in Wellington each year and deals with a problem based on the Bill of Rights Act.

The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot

Victoria continues to be one of the strongest performing universities at this arbitral moot hosted in Vienna each April.

Mooting Opportunities at Victoria University


Extr

a Cu

rric

ular

NegotiationKate StoneWinner of Victoria Negotiation Competition 2009

Last year a good friend of mine, Zoe Lawton, convinced me to enter the Vic Negotiation Competition on the basis that it was just going to be a couple of hours of prep, one evening and a bit of fun. Before we knew it we were in the Vic Semi-Finals, the Finals and then on our way to ALSA and NZLSA to represent Victoria in negotiation.

I had not had any previous experience in formal negotiation, but have always taken an interest in alternative dispute resolution and participating in the Negotiation Competition was an excellent opportunity to gain some practical understanding of how a negotiation works.

In the first round without any idea what we were doing Zoe and I played off each other’s strengths (rolling out somewhat of a good-cop/bad-cop routine), informal negotiation skills, and I guess a bit of luck. We received our fact situation and confidential facts for our client a couple of days before the first negotiation, and prepared for what we thought the other team might throw at us. Once in the negotiation we tried to seem amicable and flexible, while maintaining in control and getting the best deal for our client. For the next few negotiations we only received the fact scenario shortly before the negotiation. This meant we had to get to know each other’s negotiating style well and trust each other.

Throughout the process we got excellent feedback from experienced judges which meant our performance improved markedly with each round. I learnt heaps about working in a team, and that although negotiation is meant to be a less adversarial form of dispute resolution it still gets pretty heated in there – the key to success is the ability to seek mutually beneficial solutions even when the parties seem to have conflicting interests. It was a great chance to meet other law students from Vic, and other New Zealand and Australian universities – not to mention the free trip to Australia!

learning the art (and science) of good conversationAdam Edwards Winner of the Victoria Client Interviewing Competition 2009

So you are studying law and want to become a lawyer? One of the largest and most important parts of practicing law is being able to competently interact with a client. If you are anything like me, interacting with clients is where much of the intrigue of a career in law lies. However if you are studying law with no view to practice, it will come as no surprise to know that you will still have to interact with people. In nearly everything you do, both now and once you begin your professional life, you will need to be able to converse clearly, listen attentively and treat people considerately. Should you wish to improve your proficiency in these crucial skills, the Client Interviewing Competition may well be for you.

What is it?As is the case with all four competitions there are regional finals at each university, national finals, Australasian finals and, if you are lucky, international finals. The Client Interviewing Competition enjoys impressive support from Russell McVeagh.The competition judges competitors in teams of two on how they handle a fictitious client problem as “lawyers”. The interview itself is broken down into two main stages – the actual consultation with the client and the post-consultation period where the client is not present and the lawyers discuss how the interview went and how they will proceed to address the client’s situation. The client is played by an actor who, with any luck, will look, sound, feel and smell just like a real client (though focusing on the final two senses in an interview is not recommended). During the consultation stage the client should react to things you say, ask questions when they do not understand and show emotion when necessary. You will be evaluated on how well you interact with them, handle any issues that arise during the interview, how you extract information from the client and ultimately the legal and non-legal advice you give. The fictitious problem can be on any area of law.Reading that paragraph may make the prospect of participating in the competition sound daunting but do not be put off. Your task is simply to direct the actor through the process – to listen, react and suggest some solutions. It is not about ‘legalese’ either, judges (typically a lawyer/faculty member and another with counselling experience) are looking for relaxed conversation, good questions, simple explanations and common-sense solutions.

What will you need?As the competition requires that you must compete in a team of two, you will need a friend who is also studying law. Pick someone you are comfortable with or have worked with before. Ideally you will both be confident, have the ability to think and react quickly on your feet and possess good common-sense. A broad general knowledge of a few different areas of law does help but is not essential.If you want to do well in the competition, try to talk to someone who has participated in the competition before you compete and pick up a copy of the Client Interviewing Competition Competitors’ Pack from VUWLSS to familiarise yourself thoroughly with the rules.

Why should you get involved?There is a misconception out there that law school competitions are only for (geeky) senior students. This is far from the truth. No special experience is necessary and these competitions provide invaluable opportunities to develop legal skills and substantive knowledge of various areas of law. The Client Interviewing Competition offers you an opportunity to develop these skills and discover life in law school outside the lecture room. The perks are pretty good too. Do well and not only will you win a trophy and add a new facet to your CV, but you may get to travel – all expenses paid – within New Zealand, to Australia and potentially even further abroad. You will have a bloody good time and meet some fantastic people and find that this is perhaps, the best part of the experience. Give it a go.


Extra Curricular

Witness ExaminationYogesh PatelWinner of NZLSA and ALSA Witness Examination Competition 2009

“It’s a competition for those of us who are too lazy to moot, and not diplomatic enough to enter negotiation....” - Anoymous previous competitors

What is it all about?Each witness examination has two competitors, the prosecution/plaintiff and the defence/defendant, in what is either a criminal or civil trial. You are given two witness briefs and a set of common facts with relevant law. The twist being your witness’ evidence will contain several points of clash and inconsistency with your opponent’s witness’ evidence about the course of events in question.You are given an hour to read over these materials and prepare an opening, an examination in chief, a cross examination, and a closing; the aim being to advance your theory of the case in a way that undermines your opponent’s theory.You then meet with your witness for thirty minutes and discuss potential lines of questioning your opponent might ask them in cross examination, and the important things about the case you are proposing that they should be aware off.The two competitors then argue their case, in front of a judge. The prosecution/plaintiff will open, and then conduct an examination in chief of their witness. The defence/defendant will then cross examine that same witness, do their opening, and conduct an examination in chief of their witness. The prosecution/plaintiff then cross examines that witness, before each competitor delivers closing arguments.

The most fun part? Well, apart from the time you manage to get your opponent’s witness to confess all in cross examination, it has to be ‘objecting’. Just like Boston Legal, you can jump to your feet and object to lines of questioning your opponent is conducting. Unlike Boston Legal, you should have a reason to object before you jump up... even if it’s a pretty loose one.

Do I need any experience to enter?No.I had none. I had never seen a witness examination, didn’t know what ‘openings’ and ‘examination in chiefs’ were, and had no idea there were rules of evidence to know about and object to (they still somewhat elude me...)To ensure you have some idea of what’s going on, upon entering the competition you are given an outline of what happens and all the rules you need to know. Plus, VUWLSS is running workshops this year, so you will have some idea of what to expect!

What’s in it for me?First and foremost, it’s actually really fun to do. It’s high intensity, makes you quick on your feet, and the problems you argue are wide ranging, from terrosim threats, to people streaking in Westpac Stadium.Apart from that, like the other competitions, there are free trips up for grabs. ALSA is held in Adelaide this year, and if you win the VUW Witness Examination, you will representing Victoria against the very best in Austral-Asia. NZLSA is the New Zealand version of this competition, and will be in Dunedin... not quite as glamorous, but certainly just as fun.Did I mention the trips are both free? The flights, accommodation, meals and your drinking. Superb. There is also the chance, should you make it to the finals, to argue your case in front of some pretty impressive judges in some pretty impressive locations. Their questioning of your case can certainly make anyone sweat (read: High Court of Australia /Supreme Court of New Zealand).

So is there a chance to make it this far?Last year I won Witness Examination at both competitions – the first time a New Zealand competitor has done this in the same year. So yeah, your chances aren’t bad at all!


Extr

a Cu

rric

ular

The Law Revue vs The Law Review If the student lifestyle doesn’t provide you with enough drama and excitement, then you may need to get yourself involved in one of law school’s most entertaining attractions, the Law Revue. The Revue is an annual show in the finest tradition of student revues: a loose and humorous plot, a bunch of funny skits and heaps of fun for the cast. And that’s the beauty of it; the object of the show is first and foremost to have a great time getting to know the other law students and young lawyers who appear in the show. The consequence is that Revue parties are about as frequent as Revue rehearsals. That’s not to say that the Revue isn’t a top notch show, brimming with artistic genius. Just ask the punters. The 2009 Revue – A Night in Law School – received rave reviews from sources as diverse as High Court judges, my flatmates, and the director’s mum.

Another thing about the Law Revue: don’t confuse it with the Law Review, the scholarly journal published by the Faculty of Law at Victoria. The VUW Law Review is a leading journal published four times a year, it gives students a chance to work with academics and other leading legal scholars across the breadth of legal scholarship. The Review is internationally recognised, and is distributed to over 450 law schools, libraries, and organisations internationally. The job of a student editor is very rewarding and choice on the CV!

Volunteer at the Community Law Centres

If you’re wondering how to get more out of your law degree, why not give a little back at one of Wellington’s community law centres? The Wellington Community Law Centre (WCLC) is the obvious choice – it’s been around for ages and has established programmes for law student volunteers. However there are others around, like Te Ratonga Ture Maori Legal Services in the city, or Whitireia Community Law Centre in Porirua who also need eager young minds.

Volunteering at a law centre gives you a taste of the law in action – applying what you learn at school to real life situations. It’s a great way to get some practical experience before you graduate and might help spark revelations about what you actually want to do. The type of work will vary – all centres provide a full range of legal services so it’s anything but monotonous. You might be helping with protection orders, then employment contracts, then care of children applications, then consumer rights. The list goes on. Some centres also provide topic-specific services - the WCLC has services dedicated to Refugee and Immigration and Women’s issues, and Te Ratonga Ture has expertise in Maori land issues.

You don’t have to give up a tonne of time either – just an hour or two a week. Future employers think it’s great. You get to meet cool kids doing the same things you may want to do later on. And they really need your help. Like most free services – law centres are not resource-rich and rely on community-minded, good-hearted, philanthropically-persuaded people like us. If you’re interested, check out www.communitylaw.org.nz, or call the Wellington Community Law Centre (04 472 2320), Te Ratonga Ture (04 473 1781), or Whitireia Community Law Centre (04 237 6816).

The Study of Law Leads to Dispute Resolution

Hollywood would have it that law graduates will inevitably become litigators slogging it out in a Court. When I embarked on a law degree at Vic, I had that vision for myself. However the reality is that even those who wish to be litigators will need dispute resolution tools at their disposal, as most clients want their lawyer to be able to negotiate and much legislation today requires consideration of settling the dispute without recourse to the Courts, often by mediation or with a range of alternative dispute resolution methods.The Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ) is the largest professional institute in New Zealand for people working in the area of dispute resolution. Its members include arbitrators, mediators, adjudicators, conciliators, facilitators, investigators and expert witnesses plus those who are interested in alternative dispute resolution.AMINZ offers students a free membership while they are in full time study. Membership provides the following benefits:• Networking opportunities with experienced, working professionals in dispute resolution.• ccess to the database of information held on the members’ only part of the AMINZ website.• Member only discounted rates to all AMINZ events including training, networking events and the annual conference.• Regular emails and notices to keep you updated on matters of interest to dispute resolution professionals. • Bi-monthly newsletters. • Commercial benefits including discounts on relevant texts, corporate Koru Club membership and discounted professional indemnity insurance.You can apply to become a member online: www.aminz.org.nz Click on “membership” and follow the link to the application.

Deborah HartExecutive DirectorAMINZ

The Law in Schools ProjectThe Law in Schools Project is designed to introduce secondary school students to the New Zealand legal system and to everyday legal issues. The Project, funded by the Law Foundation and Russell McVeagh, uses senior law students at Victoria who provide seminars to groups of interested secondary school students. The Project involves two major components:

1. A basic introduction to the New Zealand legal system, which discusses the reasons for having law, and the types of law we have in New Zealand and;

2. A selection of modules on specific legal topics selected by individual schools, including aspects such as flatting, employment and dealing with police.

The advantages to the student volunteers for being involved with the Project include being able to write and research information for the modules and to introduce young people to the law. In most schools, students simply do not have exposure to this important knowledge, and so it is a great way of giving something back to the community.The Law in Schools project is always looking for volunteers to help teach classes and research modules. If you would like to be involved, please contact us through [email protected] or visit our website: www.lawinschools.org.nz

Applications open on Thursday 1 July 2010, and close on Wednesday 1 September 2010. Students who will be completing their degree/s in 2012 are eligible to apply. Application forms will be available at your Law Faculty Reception, University Scholarships office or on-line at: www.simpsongriersongrads.co.nz from 1 July 2010.

SIMPSON GRIERSON WANTS TO GIVE YOU $3000.Simpson Grierson understands the importance of having the best possible start to your career. That’s why we are offering at least nine national scholarships for 2011.You will receive:• $3000 towards your penultimate year of study• a summer clerk position for 2011/2012 in either our Auckland or Wellington office• $1000 cash clothing allowance for your summer clerkship• access to our law library• a mentor to provide you with advice and guidance on your studies and career

This is your chance to apply yourself.


Care

ers

Some four year-olds line up their soft-toy animals and pretend to be a zoo-keeper, while others dream of being doctors, using the kitchen table for make-believe surgeries, many pretend to be astronauts, bouncing up and down the hallway in a low-gravity fashion. Some just want to be batman. Perhaps the saddest of all four year-olds are those who steal mum’s black dressing gown and dad’s briefcase and pretend to be lawyers, articulating why their beloved teddy bear should be found not guilty of some arbitrary offence. Indeed in your lectures some of your contemporaries would have been like this, dreaming of being a lawyer since a very young age.

But fear not if you were not this child. You may arrive at your first class at law with no intention of ever practicing law, many leave their last class of law with that very intention. The idea of selling away your youth for the hope of being made a partner and given a corner office may not excite you. I mean, who wants to be just another dark suit strolling Lambton Quay or hidden in the dark shadows of Astoria, just another butt of a bad lawyer joke. In this situation it’s easy to say to yourself, I have no interest in being a lawyer, so why am I studying law?

The purpose of this article is to put your worried mind at ease. On one level, law is a professional degree designed to produce lawyers, however in reality it is much more than this. It is a qualification designed to change the way in which you think about the world and equip you with some of the skills you may need to solve its problems. Given this, the opportunities for where your LLB may take you are much broader than the aforementioned corner office.

It is beyond the scope of this article to list the endless-list which is available. But Victoria graduates regularly attract offers from government departments such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade or the Ministry of Justice. Many take their skills deeper into the world of politics either working for particular members of Parliament or becoming MPs themselves. Indeed Victoria’s law school has a proud history of its alumni holding prominent positions in government, two out of the three New Zealand Prime Ministers who have held law degrees have come from Vic as does the current Minister of Justice Simon Power, Attorney General Chris Finlayson and the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs Georgina te Heuheu.

Outside of the wheels of government, students have been known to go on and be involved in the private sector in industries such as banking, insurance, telecommunications and so on either as an in-house legal advisor or in a more general management role.

It may be that the University lifestyle appeals so much that you just don’t want to leave. Many students find their lecturers to be inspiring and opt to follow in their footsteps continuing on with postgraduate study in law, honing their understanding of dark and mysterious concepts and passing that knowledge on to future students.

This is just a small introduction to the world of possibilities that an LLB presents. At the end of the day, if none of it appeals, just follow in the steps of Vic LLB (Hons) graduate Conrad Smith and become an All Black.

Why Studying Law doesn’t mean you have to be a Lawyer


Careers

Victoria University student, Jessica Kerr, received a 2008 Fulbright New Zealand General Graduate Award to complete a Master of Laws degree at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Jess reports on her initial impressions of the historic Ivy League university.

Flying into New Orleans hot on the heels of Hurricane Dolly, over a giant oil spill in the Mississippi and into a city of thunderstorms, oppressive heat, unforgettable jazz and super-sized everything made for a dramatic start to my Fulbright year. The three weeks I and another New Zealand Fulbrighter, Rob Vosslamber, spent at Tulane University were designed to give us an introduction to the US legal system and help us catch our breath before the year began in earnest.

There were definitely some academic eye-openers, like the day spent in court watching first-time marijuana possession accused, some of whom had been in custody for days, shuffling in shackled at their wrists and ankles. But the city was a whole learning curve in itself. Being robbed on our first night out in the French Quarter may have been a little too educational for comfort, but everyone else I met was so overwhelmingly friendly that it was hard to take away anything other than happy memories – in fact, memories verging on awe at how such a ravaged city had sustained an incredible, all-pervading mood of dedication to eating, drinking and generally making merry.Onwards and upwards (literally) from Louisiana, I survived Philadelphia airport and staggered into the more sedate environs of Yale Law School, where the first week flew

by, recovering from sensory overload and letting the tranquil New England summer ease me into an appropriately dignified Ivy League state of mind. New Haven is a small city, perched on the coastal arc between Boston and NYC, with a fairly grim reputation that I’m now beginning to understand as stemming from the pervasive (and, for a New Zealander, un-ignorable) economic gulf between Yalies and, well, almost everyone else around here. In the central Yale campus area it’s breathtakingly pretty, and in the late summer the campus buildings – which could be described as a testament to Americans’ complete unconcern with historical snobbery – almost seem to glow. Even my underdeveloped colonial sense of history had to respond to the surreal vibe of our gorgeous Harry Potter-style Sterling Law Building, which proudly juxtaposes several distinct architectural eras and many artfully “repaired” leadlight windows –making it easy to forget that it was all constructed in the space of a year or so in the 1920s.

Our orientation into the “small but perfectly formed” law school community was perfectly managed – it’s amazing how quickly my sense of unmitigated unworthiness (which seems to be standard for YLS international students!) faded as a succession of accomplished and articulate faculty and undergraduates reached out to welcome me. And it was astonishing to realize that my announcement of my nationality (if there was any doubt about it from my apparently incomprehensible accent) was a source of much, much more than polite curiosity or even predictable amusement. There really is a sense of wonder about our tiny, tough little country and how we seem to have escaped so much of the grief and rage that fills the political and cultural histories of classmates, especially those from Latin America and Eastern Europe. Taking the first tentative steps towards seeing my personal and national history through the eyes of perceptive, interested people from all over the world has already opened my eyes in a way that I don’t think any amount of sitting and thinking at home could have done.And it really has been true so far, as we were told

on our first day, that the richest part of the learning experience at this very sophisticated institution is often in simple conversation – in talking, and listening, and marvelling at the space that opens up as our different perspectives gain new depth and possibility in relation to each other. Which isn’t to say that the formal teaching environment isn’t wonderful – I’m lucky (or foolhardy) enough to be taking only very small seminar courses this semester, which puts me in astonishing and pretty daunting proximity to professors I could spend a whole lifetime listening to, if they didn’t spend most of the time listening to us and inviting us to discover and sharpen our own ideas.

Did I mention that when I’m not in class, in conversation or in rapture at the fall foliage just starting to turn, I’ve been walking 100 metres down the road to a hall where I’ve seen Tony Blair speak one week, Bill Clinton the next, and had the unbelievable good fortune to be allowed to sit in on three absolutely blissful (for me) days of frank and inspired discussions between some of the most distinguished Supreme Court judges in the world? I’ve eight months left at Yale to soak in everything I can, and this new life in New Haven, in a country that may be about to usher in an entirely new political age, won’t be getting old in a hurry.

Article courtesy of Fulbright New Zealand & V. Alum.

Law and Academia: The LLM and Beyond.Jessica Kerr

I’ve been walking 100 metres down the road to a hall where I’ve seen Tony Blair speak one week, Bill Clinton the next.


Care

ers

Summer Clerking in a Big Firm

The GigSummer law clerking (pronounced ‘clarking’) is a job opportunity which occurs every year. Each of the large nationwide law firms hires clerks to work in their Wellington or Auckland offices over summer. .Summer clerks are paid a pretty decent salary, and law firms get to see close-up who they might want to make offers of graduate employment to. The process of applying for one of these jobs is pretty involved – hundreds of students apply and each of the firms will only take between 5-20 clerks in each of its offices (although there are sometimes more spaces in Auckland offices). If you do get the chance to clerk though, it can be a pretty awesome opportunity to learn how a large law firm really works; decide whether you want to go into corporate law; make some great friends in the other clerks, and also get paid over the summer!

Applications and cvMailApplication packs are available on the 11th and 12th of March 2009 in the Law School Common Room. These packs usually contain information about the firm, application forms, and some kind of gimmick (past examples include, but are not limited to: giant paper clips, American hot dogs, baby pohutakawa seedlings and branded stationary). Choose as many application packs as you want – the firms know that you will be applying to other firms (often all of them).

Because the big firms are young and hip and cool, these days all applications are dealt with electronically via a magical system called cvMail. By registering as a user at www.cvmail.co.nz students are able to submit their personal and academic profiles to as many of the seven big firms as they choose to click. It’s important to remember, though, that some firms want to know more about you than others – read the fine print – and that you will be able to attach different versions of your CV for different firms Applications for the big firms are due on

the 29th of March 2009, so the turn around time is not very long. It is actually a lot of work getting together your applications, and some of their components may take a while to compile. You should bear the following in mind:

• CV preparation is important. Make sure that your CV is tailored to a clerking job and highlights the right aspects of your skills and experience. Talk to Vic Careers – they will be holding CV preparation workshops, some of which will be facilitated by law firm reps, throughout March (http://careerhub.vuw.ac.nz);

• School testimonials are sometimes required - make sure you give your school enough time to get as many copies as you need to you

• Letter writing takes longer than you think, and its best if you try and tailor your letters to the firms (include any aspects that drew you to that firm, what you hope to get out of the clerkship, and any area you are especially interested in);

• While only some firms require a scanned copy of your academic transcript

• Some firms electronic pass photo

Pre-interview drinksIf the firm likes your application they will send you a letter inviting you for an interview. Before this though, you will be invited to drinks at the firm (obviously your interview does not take place directly after the drinks, but in the week following). These drinks are a chance to meet some of the people who work in the firm, especially recent law grads who will know exactly how nervous you are and will be really nice to you. You will also probably be introduced to the people who are interviewing you. It makes sense to get someone to point them out to you if no one does introduce you – this will make your interview a lot less scary, because you already kind of know who will be sitting on the opposite side of the table. These

drinks usually start at around 5.30pm so it is unlikely that you will have had dinner and the nibbles will probably not suffice to make sure that the champagne doesn’t go straight to your head.

Make sure you have a glass of water handy and that you actually take something off the nibbles trays. For a start they’re delicious, but more importantly you want to be intelligible, cool, calm and collected after your second or third drink… Do not crowd around partners. The biggest

mistake people make at these functions is to latch on to partners like oh so many blood sucking leeches. You need to work the room, and that means the whole room! Sure, spend some time being articulate and charming with a few partners, but you also need to make a good impression with the grads and intermediate level solicitors. For the love of God be yourself! There is nothing more distasteful in the legal world than law students being greasy and disingenuous at a corporate cocktail function. Broadly speaking, firms like people with personalities (of their own). Above all have a good time, do NOT drink too much and try and actually take in what people are saying. Remember that the way you engage with the staff at these functions is a part of the process for firms to work out whether they want to hire you!

The interviewThis is probably the hardest part of the whole process, because it’s where one or two of a law firm’s partners (sometime plus someone from HR) actually ask you - in veiled terms - why on earth they should hire you as opposed to every other over-achieving, intelligent law student who has made it through to the

Summer Clerkships and InternshipsWhatever your day job during term, clerkships and internships are a great way to earn a crust and get a great start to your legal career. Summer clerking in one of New Zealand’s ‘big seven’ corporate law firms is typically the career move that law students start making a song and dance about around third year of law school. But like your Grandmother always said, there are many ways to skin a cat, and it couldn’t be truer of summer clerking. This section of the Guide covers career opportunities available to law students to get some real-life experience while you’re still studying: summer clerking; public sector internships; clerking in small and medium-sized firms, and the clerking OE.

The nibbles will probably not suffice to make sure that the champagne doesn’t go straight to your head.


Careers

interview process. Every firm asks different questions in interviews. While some are informal rambling yarns, others can feel like the Spanish Inquisition. Most firms will give you one or more ‘situational’ or ‘behavioural’ questions – the classics include Can you tell me about a time when you’ve worked with other people as a team? and Can you tell me about a difficult challenge you’ve faced and how you overcame it? Yet more bizarre questions have been used, such as If one of your family members was in this room right now, what would they say your biggest faults were? And then the obligatory: what do you hope to gain out of your clerkship? Why do you want to summer clerk? (do think about this one!) What do you think you can bring to the firm (eg particular skills you have - they’re not expecting you to bring in new clients just yet!) At the end they will ask you if you have any questions – do try and think of some, they want to know that you are genuinely interested. Try and think if you got offers from every firm what would be the deciding factor for you to go to one of them – would it be a placement in the right team, would it be having a try at lots of different teams, would it be the specialist area a firm is involved in etc. Remember – the interviewers want to get to know you, they don’t want to

make you nervous or be mean. Try and think about the interview as a positive chance to show off your best skills and to get to know someone who knows a bit about the corporate legal world.

Most importantly:• Go to interview skills workshops offered by the firms at by Vic Careers.

• When you have found out who your interviewing partners are, go to the firm’s website and have a look at what they do for a living. You may even like the look of what they do and want to ask them about it - they’ll most likely appreciate that.

• Dress smartly, be clean (especially nails), arrive on time, smile (you want the clerkship!), and thank the interviewers for their time. They could be charging someone $550 for that hour.

• Most firms have a junior solicitor ready to meet you when you arrive. This is great because it’s someone near your age who can help you relax and adjust to the big shiny corporate environment. The people who do this are also singularly friendly and nice. Remember, though, that this person is not only making you comfortable, but may also be sizing you up as part of the interview process.

• If you have a question that requires taking time to think, that’s totally OK. Just say that

you might need a few seconds to think of a time when you were in a situation where you had to resolve a conflict! If you really can’t think of any applicable situations you can ask to come back to the question later.

• Don’t be false (don’t say things you don’t mean) – firms want real people with real ideas.

The Pay-Off - Offers and the JobA couple of weeks after the interview, firms will send you a letter saying whether they are making you an offer or not. Usually you’ll have a phone call as well if you are to receive an offer. Depending on how keen the firm is that year they may also send you any or all of: postcards; chocolate bars, text messages, and gift hampers… what recession?

If you don’t get any offers, you’re not alone; if you get more than one, you might have to think carefully. If you’re in the fortunate position of making a choice, think about what you want out of the clerkship and then go along to the post-offer dinners (these are pretty flash) and try to judge the firms, the people and what they say against those criteria that you’ve set for your summer.

Once you get to work it’s a fantastic job. There’s great people, great work, and perhaps most importantly, great in-house catering. Not to mention the Friday night drinks.

Thinking Outside the Legal Square

While most people are swept up in applying to the large national firms, it’s important to remember the abundance of firms who have a more low-key summer recruitment process while still offering amazing opportunities for summer work.

Boutique FirmsSome of the best – but by no means the only – examples include the Crown Law Office and Chen Palmer. While the Crown Law office does not often advertise summer internships, it typically does take on one or two interns who are able to experience some of the most interesting and important legal work done in New Zealand. Similarly, Chen Palmer – New Zealand’s leading public law firm – will take on summer clerks from time to time who have expressed an interest directly to the firm. Another highly-respected Wellington firm which sometimes takes on summer clerks

is Izard Weston – one of the country’s oldest legal practices. To get a foot in the door for these jobs a little more investigations and initiative may be required, but it can pay off spectacularly.

The Clerking OEAnd if New Zealand is too small a pond for you, exciting opportunities exist overseas for New Zealand law students with a bit of initiative. In particular, firms in Australia and London have increasingly begun to hire New Zealanders as paralegals or summer clerks. Last year Vic students worked as seasonal clerks in Melbourne and Sydney for top Australian firms Allens Arthur Robinson and Blake Dawson (applications open 2 march 2009 - for more information see http://careers.blakedawson.com/ and http://www.aar.com.au/). Recently Herbert Smith, one of the UK’s top firms has also been hiring Kiwis. For more, see http://www.herbertsmith.com/Careers/.

Public Sector Internships

Great recent additions to the summer internship menu include the State Services Summer Internships. For those who are more inclined towards public service than legal practice these internships beef up the cv and offer great opportunities to gain experience. While the majority of positions do not have a specifically legal focus, some do. For example, working for three months in the Treasury’s legal team can be a great stepping stone to legal practice as in-house or in a law firm. Applications are typically called for in the middle of the year. For information and deadlines, visit http://www.jobs.govt.nz//jobseekerinfo/internships.aspx

Summer Clerkships and Internships Continued


Care

ers

Otto von Bismarck once said that the law is like a sausage: it is better not to see it being made. For those who inherently distrust former inaugural Chancellors of the German Empire, then considering becoming a Judges’ Clerk should be top of the agenda.

Not many law graduates have meaningful interaction with the Judiciary in Court, and still less have interaction with it out of Court (excluding those prone to stalking the streets of Karori and Khandallah). In this regard, Judges’ Clerks are in an envious position.

Essentially, the position of a Judges’ Clerk is a research assistant to the Judges of the High Court, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court. Although they are close to demigod status, the simple fact is that Judges are not necessarily aware of all the recent developments in all areas of the law. The job of a clerk involves assessing proceedings that come before Court, researching the applicable law and apprising the Judge on the most relevant and recent legal authorities that area. This sometimes means long hours spent in the library or in front of LexisNexis, but it also affords the opportunity to discuss and debate complicated legal issues with both Judges and other clerks. For those with a penchant for matters academic, that is one of the highlights of the position.

Judges’ Clerks are directly employed by the Ministry of Justice, but operate at the pleasure of the Judges of High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. At the High Court, the three permanent registries (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch) hire Judges’ Clerks on a ratio of two Judges to one Clerk. At the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, each Judge has their own clerk. Each of the three Courts have a different jurisdiction, and this roughly correlates to a different culture and emphasis for the clerks employed there. Since there are fewer cases heard at the Supreme Court level, more time can be spent on research into the policy reasons and principles underlying the Court’s judgments and the development of the common law. In the High Court, the volume of cases heard is very high, so there is less of an emphasis on academic research, and more exposure to the business of practically resolving proceedings with efficiency and efficacy. The Court of Appeal lies somewhere in between. Despite these different emphases however, the roles at each Court remain richly rewarding.

Moreover, being so close to actual Court proceedings will allow those law students who aspire to appear as barristers before the Court to gain a unique insight into the Court process. For those law students who have a predilection towards the more academic and intellectual aspects of the law, then the heavy research component in the position affords opportunities not present in other graduate positions.

Given New Zealand’s common law jurisdiction and the weight that is placed on judgments as developing and elucidating the law, it is particularly inspiring to see those judgments being made. To horribly extend a metaphor, whilst other graduates may be content with merely eating a sausage, Judges’ Clerks have the joy of seeing and assisting with what goes into that sausage. Delicious.

Clerking positions are usually advertised mid-way through the academic year, and those in their final year who have expert research skills and an excellent academic record are encouraged to give judges’ clerking some thought.

judges clerking!M. B. Rodriguez Ferrere

Whilst other graduates may be content with merely eating a sausage, Judges’ Clerks have the joy of seeing and assisting with what goes into that sausage. Delicious.

BE A PART OF WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Join Chapman Tripp as a summer clerk and you’ll find yourself at the heart of the action, working on matters that impact New Zealand’s business community, government policy and the economy. That’s just one the advantages of being part of this country’s pre-eminent law firm.

Visit www.graduates.chapmantripp.com. Applications close 25 March 2010.

APPLY NOW

www.graduates.chapmantripp.com

insider guide to studying law

Documents