Diploma in Law - LPAB

[shona1990]

You can hide this advertisement by registering.

I was just wondering who's done it, how challenging they found it, the sort of workload involved, what job you managed to find yourself while doing it, etc.
Any info or tips would be much appreciated!



I was thinking of starting off with just one subject to ease myself back into studying (I won't be starting until May and did my hsc in 07, so it might take me a while to get back into the habit!)

[Frigid]

i think most of the 'regulars' on the forum are in uni, so they might not be able to help. however, have you tried asking the LPAB provider themselves, whether they could refer you to any current students/alumni?

[DTFM]

This forum is dedicated to the LPAB: http://www.legalised.com/forums/index.php

I'm planning on starting it in May too.

[shona1990]

Originally Posted by DTFM

This forum is dedicated to the LPAB: http://www.legalised.com/forums/index.php

I'm planning on starting it in May too.

Thankyou!!

[IProcrastinator]

Hi

I'm an LPAB Student.

It's demanding, but rewarding. I know many lawyers who've taken this route to learning and cannot find a judge who would prefer to hear from a uni graduate over an LPAB Dip Law grad.

Send me an email if you'd like to chat further.

Regards

Luke

[ninjapuppet]

Ive done this course, back when the exams counted for 100% of your marks!!!
i hear they have changed it this year to make the assignment 50% and exam 50%.

here is what i think other people's perceptions are:

-ppl that know what the LPAB actually is, think its tougher than uni.
-younger people from prestigous law courses will tend to look down on the lpab, because its a diploma.
-people will "baulk" at the high fail rates. but keep entrants are usually not as high a caliber as the prestigous law courses such as the 99.6 at usyd.


here is my perception:
i never studied law at uni, so cant compare directly but i have studied other degrees, and found the dip law "easier" than medicine and actuarial studies, which i'm quite struggling with at the moment.
- i note that my uni law friends had alot of home work every week, and teachers whip your ass if you dont do assignments. with the lpab, there is only 1 or 2 assignments, so when theres no assignments , you have to get your act together. no one is there to whip your ass. because of this, you end up a more motivated individual than an average uni graduate of law.
-after a few years working, no one really cares what degree you came from, so it can end up as a cost effective way to a lucrative career. i worked as a paralegal at mccllelands lawyers, and the boss was a dip law graduate, with 16 lawyers under him and a 500k car. cant be doing too badly. even tho its theoretically possible, I do not know 1 doctor that drives a 500k car.

a bad thing may be that its harder to get your foot in the door right from the begginning into a top tier firm. but after a few years experience, still possible.


- to transfer to another uni mid way, only UNE accepts the hardship you have suffered. usyd and others just fobb you off. but UNE is going through financial hardship so this may change.

all up, i would highly recommend it!

[ninjapuppet]

@ shona1990

i just realised you're straight from highschool, had 1.5 years off and heading into the LPAB. in that case, i think you will likely find it very tough unless you really really enjoy reading, I can not think of any better sleeping tablet that works better than law books.

i would recommend a paralegal job to help you get used to legalese and the way lawyers word things. many law firms dont advertiser jobs. i found out when i applied to work for free, (to get a feel for the environment) and the boss decided to pay me.

[spence]

Originally Posted by ninjapuppet

- i note that my uni law friends had alot of home work every week, and teachers whip your ass if you dont do assignments.

What? I don't do law, but uni teachers never chase up students' work in my experience

[Brant57]

Originally Posted by ninjapuppet

i never studied law at uni, so cant compare directly but i have studied other degrees, and found the dip law "easier" than medicine and actuarial studies, which i'm quite struggling with at the moment.

Wow! You've done an LPAB, studying actuarial studies and medicine and doing your HSC is in 2011? You must be really smart!

Originally Posted by ninjapuppet

- i note that my uni law friends had alot of home work every week, and teachers whip your ass if you dont do assignments. with the lpab, there is only 1 or 2 assignments, so when theres no assignments , you have to get your act together. no one is there to whip your ass. because of this, you end up a more motivated individual than an average uni graduate of law.

How does that work? I'm doing an introductory law subject (Law and the Modern State) at uni and there are four assignments as part of it. And none of my tutors/ lecturers could care less if we do/ don't do our assignments. I don't know what your basing that comment off...

[Strawbaby]

I'll agree that in all my two and a half years of law school, no teacher has ever cared whether or not we've handed in an assignment, nor when we start or how hard we work. The questions go out and they barely mention it until they're handed back.
Our marks tend to either be 100% exam or 50/50 assignment/exam, too.
I'd never heard of this LPAB thing.

[ninjapuppet]

i did yr 12 over a decade ago in Adelaide.

i meant that my law friends from uni, always complaining of homework due. at Adelaide uni, students had to get into groups of 4, and summarise cases and report back to the class. this meant that you could fudge it, but there was at least some pressure to do homework.

with the Lpab, there is no homework other than just studying + 1 or 2 assignments.

i'm doing commerce now, and 5% of some subjects are given purely for doing homework. some subjects have frequent tests, mid sems, class participation, etc etc, so in a way, if you care about marks, you should try to do whats given. In comparison to the LPAB, uni feels like you are more forced to work. thats where i'm basing my assumptions between the difference between lpab, and uni law courses.

you surely cant argue that uni motivates you less than the lpab. thats why many people go to uni to do actuary, instead of the alternative CT exam papers from the institute actuaries.

[incentivation]

Originally Posted by Strawbaby

I'd never heard of this LPAB thing.

Probably because it is a NSW institution.

[Strawbaby]

Originally Posted by incentivation

Probably because it is a NSW institution.

That would make sense.

[shona1990]

Thanks for your replies!

ninjapuppet - At the moment our marks are still made up of 100% exams Although we were told that next semester the exam would be worth 80% and the assessment would be 20%... which is an improvement!

I'm currently working as a paralegal and 3 out of the 4 partners of the firm have a Dip Law rather than an LLB. After talking to numerous people in the profession, it seems as though a Dip Law is actually looked very highly upon. From what I know, a huge number of employers know how hard the LPAB course is. Plus once you're an admitted solicitor with experience, nobody really cares anyway.

To be honest, I'd prefer to work at a mid tier firm while I'm still starting out. I feel as though I get way more exposure to all aspects of the industry this way. Plus it's very cosy and more friendly.

I'm really happy where I am right now. My job is amazing - I'm given much more responsibility than I was expecting... And while studying on top of that is a bit of a pain, it'll be worth it in the long run. I imagine that 5 years experience as a paralegal and a Dip Law would be looked more highly upon than someone with their LLB fresh out of uni.