Below, I have listed 5 key websites I believe will ease you along in your journey to becoming a law graduate.
Throughout your first year, you will be told that you shouldn't worry " first year does not count".
Law students should not listen to this advice. Although your results in first year do not go towards your degree classification, in other words your 1st class Degree or your 2:1, it does go on your transcript that future employers look at.
To ensure you maximise the quality of your assignments i have listed five recommended websites for law students.
1. WestLaw UK
Westlaw UK is one of the leading online legal research services providing access to cases, legislation, journals, books online, news and EU materials.
The website lists journals and sources from all over the world. when in your first year using these will get you into those A boundaries. Using this website demonstrates further research and the depth of your research.
Law students will know the hell when your assignment requires you to aimlessly read through thousands of websites to find one piece of information.
The website has everything in one place. For example if you type in Theft into the search engine, it will bring up cases, legislation and journals all relating to Theft.
Westlaw has a subscription with selected university's, that allows students to use their services for free, Be sure to check your electronic library catalogue for the source link. It is important to note that if your university does not have a subscription, you can access some sources for free.
2. LexisNexis
LexisNexis is a provider of legal, government, business and high-tech information sources. I find this website just as helpful as Westlaw. The websites can be complicated to navigate and filter through. The key is to insert a variation of titles in the search tab. For example if you are looking for a journal on corruption, and you are having difficulty finding relevant information, try to be more specific, type in Bribery Act 2010. This leading legislation governs acts of corruption and will bring up many articles surrounding this topic.
3. The Law Society Gazette
The Law Society Gazette explores the Legal world. This website displays a range of News posts, discussing current legal affairs. As of today the 10/02/2017, the website displays news regarding Brexit, as we all know is a hot topic right now. If you plan to practice in the legal field in the future and just for general knowledge, it would be useful to refer to this site regularly, Be realistic i know you wont read it every day because i definitely don't, but it helps when thinking of reforms in assignment conclusions.
4. E-Law Resources
E-lawresources provides lecture outlines with links to statutes, law reports and case summaries relating to most of the units studied on the law LLB. These include but are not limited to: Contract Law, Law of Tort, and Criminal Law. To be very frank in your first two years of study, lecturers do not mind you using this website because they summarise case facts quickly, which is helpful when it comes to revision. But BEWARE!, in the third year they require you to examine cases and the facts surrounding them in much more detail. So for first and second years use it wisely, but third years if you come across this website, ABORT, ABORT, ABORT!!.
5. The Law Teacher
Law Teacher provides bespoke law essays written for you by leading law professionals.They also provide law dissertations and coursework.
Although i wouldn't recommend you getting them to do your work for you, it would be helpful to refer to their website for help with extensive case facts and relating case law. it is also perfect for perfecting structure their provide samples that you can read.
Hopefully this post was helpful, if you are still struggling after navigating through these websites book a session with me and i will gladly talk you through it, i am here to help. Thank you for reading and i will see you in the next post.
TENIOLA OPARA
ASPIRING ACADEMIC
