Personally I would'nt compare law to medicine. Medical people whether they are nurses, doctors, EMT's, consultants are respected/admired, lawyers are not.
Secondly the practice of law is not rocket science and nowhere near as skilled as medical people and in reality the work of a solicitor in particular is all about preliminary advice and preparation (litigation more so). On Apr 4, 2:39 pm, Lousy Moe <[email protected]> wrote: > On further reflection over this post, I'd have to agree with Daz with > regard to the FE-1's and how little their application is to practise. > It appears that we've forgotten the run of ourselves here. We have to > face facts. As far as the FE-1s are concerned...we are all at the > same level. Regardless of our backgrounds be it Law Degree, Music > Degree or no degree whatsoever - to the Law Society we are nothing > more than your exam number which you put down on the front of that > green sheet be it in the RDS or down below in Neptune. So upon > reflection in this post, rather than argure merely over who should > enter the golden gates, maybe we should instead reflect upon the > following facts and how best to get around it: > > (1) There are approximately 1,200 Solicitors currently on the Dole. > (2) 700 newly qualified Solicitors are set to come out of the Law > School this year. > (3) We are experiencing a world recession / depression. > > These are the facts, the Law Society knows this and has recently > announced a support centre for unemployed Solicitors advising them of > how to find work abroad etc. In my opinion, FE-1 students are the > last of the problems that The Law Society are thinking about at the > moment. I'm afraid this is the sad reality. If you are a Law > Graduate then you are fortunate in that you can apply to other > jurisdictions and sit a one / two year diploma course and then gain > entry into the Law Society of that jurisdiction (UK and Canada come to > mind). > > So where then for the hopeful FE-1 student? The answer is commitment > and stamina. Adjustments indeed have to be made. working 2 jobs > etc...if that is the case then so be it. It is an unfair system but > the problem is that even if the Law Society were to limit the FE-1's > to just Law Graduates and/or non - law graduates with a diploma in > law, the market would still be swamped in light of the facts I pointed > out above. > > I always like to treat the role of Solicitor to that of Doctor wherin > you are providing a service for your client. You are assisting your > client with their legal issues just as a Doctor assists his patient > with their medical issues. If you are a medical student who wishes to > become a doctor, you must have at least 7 years training. Law also > requires the same level of training (indeed if not more). Now that > I've finished my analogy look at how the medical profession is doing > during these troubled times? Why isn't it the same for Solicitors? > The obvious answer to that is the collapse of the building boom and > the financial institutions that faciliated this boom. So those > Solicitors have to go back to the Law Society and obtain training for > other areas of Law apart from Conveyancing. I'm certain that other > areas of Law have to pick up in the next few months, Liquidations, > Debt Collection etc. > > Although I have simplified the above reasoning as if it were for the > mind of a 5 year old (and I apologise in advance if this sounds > patronising to say the least) but as for the FE-1 Student all you can > do is plough on. If you are in this for the quick buck then forget > it! You will have to go back to the pre - boom years where > Apprentices worked for nothing more than IR£60 a week (€100). I agree > this is harsh but this was reality back then and it appears that this > may be the reality that we will shall have to face. So if you're in > this for the long haul then you will succeed. Look on it as a part of > your training. For the record, I come from a "disadvantaged > background" and wasn't afforded the luxury of using the Law Library as > my science lab (i.e. I had to study Law by night). Despite my years > working as a legal executive I will have to take a cut in my wages > during my apprenticeship or attend Law School and go to work straight > after. I look on this as similar to a Junior Doctor. > > So in response to Paudie looking for a better system, the only way I'm > afraid is to just get in the door first. i.e. pass the FE-1's and beg > for an apprenticeship somewhere. I don't think forming a cohesive > voice will do us much good as the Law Society will just ignore us as > we are merely applicants and not members of the Law School, then again > I am open to the contrary. Maybe a support group would be a better > idea... > > On Apr 4, 1:56 pm, Daz <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I don't really come on here anymore but sometimes out of habit I have > > a check. I'm very surprised at the tone of the law graduates thus > > far. Just because times are tough for everyone doesn't mean we should > > go back to the way things were and make law a closed shop again. > > > The FE-1s level the playing field for all. A non-graduate who can > > complete the FE-1s is just as worthy as anybody else to do law. The > > law graduates should find the FE-1s easy anyway so I don't see any > > harm in making them do them. I disagree totally with the idea that > > one has to have an educational qualification in law in order to work > > in that area. Those are the kind of sentiments I'd expect from the > > recently graduated law students, i.e. those who haven't really been in > > the workplace as of yet. > > > As an apprentice solicitor with no law background who has worked his > > **se off for the FE-1s and to get an apprenticeship (not to mention > > working my **se off in my apprenticeship) I have barely used the > > knowledge from my FE-1s in my time in work. EVERYTHING I have learnt > > has been on the job training. Sure there are some bits and pieces > > from the FE-1s which may have filled in the blanks for me but not to > > any great extent. > > > I think it's just a reflection on some of the people here that they're > > complaining about non-law graduates. It's very easy to blame your own > > failures on the system that;s in place or on the non-law graduates > > taking your apprenticeships but I think it's a bit of a cop-out. The > > market is very competitive at the moment. There are too many > > potential apprentices out there and not enough apprenticeships. That > > just means everybody has to work that bit harder to secure a > > position. Do unpaid work experience. Take a job in the post room of > > a law firm. Just because you have a degree does not mean you're > > automatically entitled to walk into a job at €50,000 a year.- Hide quoted > > text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "FE-1 Study Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.ie/group/FE-1-Study-Group?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
