Freshers’ Guide 2014-2015
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Welcome to Cardiff University Law Society Fresher’s Guide 2014-15!
At Cardiff University Law Society, we feel it is important to give you Freshers a short guide to our Law Society and life at Cardiff Law School. After all, we’ve all been in your shoes as Freshers and know you must all have so many questions. We hope this short guide answers some of your queries, however if you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Our secretary, Tamsin Best is usually the best first port of call. Her email address is secretary@cardiffunilawsociety.co.uk feel free to direct any questions her way. Freshers is a time of year that will be everything that you have heard whispered on the student grapevine and even more! It’s a fun filled time and is best to keep on top of all that is going on. Please come join our law society and meet your executive committee team at the Freshers Fayre in the Student Union on the 22nd and 23rd of September. As a Gold Tier society, we’ll be there on both days so do come down and see us! Edited by David Mckeown Publicity Officer 2014-15 Special thanks to Tamsin Best and Joseph Perrins for all their work on this guide
Contents: 3: President’s Welcome
9: Writing Opportunities
4: Annual Trip
10: Law Sports Teams
5: Law Ball
11: Things to look out for
6: Socials
12: Join our Executive Committee
7: Commercial Awareness Award and Mentor Scheme
13: Law School Opportunities 14: Who can help?
8: Public Speaking and Mooting
15: Careers and Employability
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President’s Welcome Dear Fresher, Well done with your results and getting to Cardiff Law School! As I’m about to enter my final year of Law here at Cardiff University and knowing that all you Freshers’ are only just about to begin the best years of your life makes me feel quite old! Take it from someone who only has one year left; these will genuinely be the best years of your life. I’ll be very sad to leave! These years will fly by so quickly and I want to do my best to make sure you get everything from the very best socials to career opportunities and everything inbetween from your Law Society! This society has been like a family and is honestly one of the best elements of university life that I’ve come across; although some might say I’m slightly biased given my position! So what exactly is this society that I want as many of you to engage in all about? Well we are the biggest and best society on campus in terms of membership and sponsorship funding. Due to this we are able to provide so many different opportunities for you to get involved with over the course of the academic year such as a Public Speaking Series and a Commercial Awareness Award programme to get involved with! If writing is your passion, we have our ‘Unprecedented’ magazine and blog, as well as the Academic Journal to get published in! Of course there is also plenty of time to let your hair down with the Law Society, and our Social Secretaries will organise a number of brilliant alcoholic and non-alcoholic socials for everyone to get together for a good time. The highlight of the year for many members’ social calendar is the Law Ball, a glamourous black tie event where tickets sell out faster than most concerts! To keep in the loop with all things Law Society related, please ‘like’ our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter @CULawSoc and join us on Instagram which is Cardiff University Law Soc to make sure you are aware of all the opportunities from Freshers’ Week onwards! You are probably going through an emotional cocktail mix of excitement, worry and everything in between. Take it from me, once you are here having an amazing time settling in, meeting your new flatmates and of course, joining the law society (I promise I’ll stop with the shameless plugs now!) you’ll feel right at home here in Cardiff. Just remember you are all ultimately in the same boat! So enjoy the rest of your summer holidays, and if you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to get in contact. I can’t wait to meet you all soon! Yours, Joe Perrins. Email: president@cardiffunilawsociety.co.uk 3
Annual Autumn Law Trip
The Law Society has run an annual trip for a number of years. Previous destinations include Edinburgh, Paris and Dublin. This year our Vice President, Chelsea Mitchell is delighted to announce that we will be travelling to Amsterdam. The final dates, tickets and more information will be made available very shortly so do keep an eye out for this fantastic opportunity to explore a fantastic European city while making new Law Society member friends along the way to boot!
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Law Ball The Law Society’s annual Law Ball is out most spectacular and glamorous event of the year. The ball is held in at Cardiff’s City Hall for a night of elegance and splendour. The evening begins with a champagne reception and is followed by a three course meal, with entertainment throughout the evening. After the meal we then go to a club with exclusive deals for an after party where we can all let our hair down. In the two previous years of the law ball sold out in less than an hour, you can see what Joe Perrins meant by it selling out quicker than concerts! The ball is always themed, with last year being the Great Gatsby and the previous year a masquerade ball theme. So you can be sure that this year’s as of yet undisclosed theme will be just as exciting! The theme is usually made public some time before the ball to maintain excitement but to allow you to get suitable attire. The Ball not only represents the opportunity to celebrate your hard work but also to socialise with fellow students in a nonacademic environment. So make your first year a year to truly remember and get yourself a ticket for what will be one of the best nights of your life. As a member tickets are heavily subsidised to make sure our members have the best ball at Cardiff University and at a competitive price to boot! The provisional date for this year’s Law Ball is the 7th of March. Further information in relation to the event will be published through our social media feeds and newsletter closer to the event. In addition to this as the Law Ball is such a popular and exclusive event tickets often sell out on the day of their release. Therefore, as a society we cannot reiterate enough the importance of buying your ticket early.
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Socials Let your hair down for some great socials Cardiff University Law Society is renowned for its outstanding socials. They bring the entire law school together and serve as a perfect opportunity to meet people on your course. The socials range from nights in town to more relaxed pub quiz evenings. There really is something for everyone including nonalcoholic socials. For our club nights we aim to bring you a variety of the best clubs in Cardiff. Our social secretaries Amy Devlin and Chloe Walkley have worked really hard to organise these deals, along with other events with a selection of businesses all over Cardiff. Please do keep an eye out as all of these deals are finalised which you will have access to as our members via your membership cards. Please keep an eye out for details of our first social event on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it is set to be a huge night and is invaluable for meeting as many fellow members as possible. We want our socials to be the biggest and best ever and we hope you’ll join us at them to make this possible.
Networking Socials Networking is arguably a key skill required to gain contacts and begin a legal career (or indeed any career) so why not start early at university? This is an ideal environment which is more relaxed then stuffy career events to meet a variety of employees from firms. Leading firms such as Freshfields, Allen & Overy, and Slaughter & May have visited Cardiff recently (as Freshers if you don’t have a clue who these are, they are some of the best law firms globally!). These socials not only provide interesting and engaging tasks that test your legal knowledge but also allow you to develop and show your potential to the best! Lok out for these invaluable opportunities as they are announced!
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The PwC Commercial Awareness Award Commercial awareness is considered to be one of the most important employability factors considered by graduate recruitment teams. This is a phrase that you will hear constantly when looking for work experience or applying for a graduate job. This year, Cardiff University Law Society we decided to help you all out with our own bespoke award programme, sponsored by PwC and officially endorsed by Cardiff Law School. PwC is perfect as a sponsor, given they own their own law firm and also offer a variety of other business work for those considering a non-legal career. This award will help students develop skills which will be invaluable when entering the work place. The Award will encompass a series of workshops in Commercial Awareness and Negotiation and will have talks from a variety of employers, not just the legal sector for those of you considering careers outside of law. This is still useful for those looking for a career in law as some of these businesses lined up use commercial law firms and have their own in-house legal teams within their respective business. To gain the Award, a certificate for participation they will be required to attend many of the workshops and event. This is completely supplemental to you5r degree programme and is a way to stand out to other graduates when competing for a job!
The Linklaters Law Mentor Scheme One of the key focuses of the Law School and Law Society here at Cardiff is to make sure every law student is involved and can have the help that they need to achieve your very best. This came in the form of a law sibling scheme over the last few years. This year we would like to expand this into a full mentor scheme, involving groups of students from all year groups mentoring each other. This will include multiple socials/events and meet ups with a student's respective mentoring group throughout the year. To highlight the professional connection with this project, we have secured the fantastic firm Linklaters as the sponsor of this project and there will be an event in the first term involving them for a ‘Meet the Mentors’ programme! As first years you will all be assigned to one of these ‘law families’ and the old year group students will be able to help you with any questions you may have and is a great way to meet with people from a variety of year groups.
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Mooting and Public Speaking Mooting I’m sure many of you have seen court room dramas and for some of you this may be one of the first things that got your attention when considering studying law and a possible legal career. Here at Cardiff Law, mooting is taken very seriously. Mooting is similar to debate. Two teams of advocates argue a fictitious legal problem before a panel of judges. One team assumes the role of counsel for the appellant and the other team counsel for the respondent. On both teams there is a senior and junior counsel. Despite competitive mooting only being available to second and third year students, first year students will have the opportunity to take part in a mock moot the end of your Legal Foundations module. Our Mooting Officer, George Prat is looking to extend this more to first years. We have an exciting partnership with the law firm Carbon Law Partners who are looking to do an event called the Carbon Moot which although being a commercial legal sector issue, will be carried out in the style of a moot.
Freshfields Public Speaking Series Being able to articulate your thoughts and ideas is a key skill in every profession; however, public speaking can be a nervewracking and daunting experience. Therefore, Cardiff University Law society designed the Public Speaking series to tackle the problem head on. Our Public Speaking Officer Harry Scott has organised a range of workshops throughout the year that are led by the Centre for Professional legal studies or by practising lawyers. Expect to see representatives from law firms, barristers’ chambers and even the judiciary! At the end of the year there is a popular annual competition, with the price for first place being an IPad mini. This really is an invaluable opportunity and as a law society ran series, is open to all of our members.
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Writing Opportunities Unprecedented Magazine & Blog Is writing your passion? If you would like to write an article for either our magazine or blog then this may be the perfect opportunity. Unprecedented magazine is the Law Society’s official blog and magazine platform. It aims to provide engaging and thought provoking articles on all things legal. It affords you the opportunity to write for a legal publications and to express your opinions on both topical and relevant subjects. This is far from academic work and is more like a journalistic report or opinion piece on a relevant topic, news or area tied to law. In addition to these student provided articles, there are also articles from top law firms and chambers. We additionally include society news and reports for upcoming events. The blog works in a similar manner however it allows for individual blog posts throughout the academic year then the termly publication of the magazines. Please see our website for online copies of the previous year’s magazines. If you would like to write for either of these then please contact David Mckneown: publicity@cardiffunilawsociety.co.uk
Law Journal Getting an academic piece of work published in our law journal is something brilliant for your CV. This is invaluable not only for budding academics but is also perfect to demonstrate to any future employer that your work is worthy of academic publication. Our Academic Officer, Daniel Tucker will be working with Cardiff Law School staff to make sure every submission meets the rigors and demands required for publication. If you would be interested in getting a piece of work published or wanting to write your own academic essay, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our Academic Officer, Daniel Tucker: academic@cardiffunilawsociety.co.uk
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Law Society Sports Teams The law society has a thriving sporting community. This comes in the form of Law Rugby, Law Netball and Law football teams.
Rugby Our rugby team the ‘Outlaws’ is a thriving team which has some of the best players at Cardiff University. Why not join the team that represents the sport’s most closely associated with Wales during your time in Cardiff? Our rugby team was undefeated this season and went on to win the IMG Rugby Final. The team also hosts fantastic socials that are ran in conjunction with the other sports teams and the wider law society as a whole.
Football Our Football team has been very successful this year also, echoing in much of the rugby team’s success but on the football pitch! Additionally the Additionally, the team hosts both an A and B team, as a popular team within the Law Society, all members get their time on the pitch! Our teams are very relaxed and are a fantastic way to keep fit alongside your studies, after all you’ll be spending enough time in the library (in theory) so make the most of some on the pitch time too!
Netball Law netball is truly a team that is its own fully fledged community within the Law Society. For many of the girls, the team has produced some of their best memories from the year. Again as with all of our sports, please do not hesitate to look to join our teams regardless of ability, it really is the taking part that counts and with a great community such as netball to work with you’d be silly not to get involved! The teams have competed in a number of university integral competitions and our ambition is to move our teams into external competitions with other law teams from fellow universities and possibly even law firms!
Sports Tournament An ambition for us this year is to host a multiple university Law Society sports Tournament. We've had huge interest for this from our members and other universities and believe that this could be a tremendous event for us to host this year. If you would like any further information about our sports teams and the opportunities presented please get in touch with our Sports Secretary, James Williams: sports@cardiffunilawsociety.co.uk 10
Things to look out for Welsh Law Conference 2015 A new and exciting event that we are putting on this year is the Welsh Law Conference. This will be a major public lecture for all law students, staff and members of the public with invitations to many fellow universities in the surrounding areas. This event will without doubt be an academic highlight of your first year at Cardiff University and is due to take place during the second term. We are working closely with Cardiff Law School to organise some fantastic speakers and topics to be discussed. There will also be a panel of speakers and a Q & A session afterwards.
Law Book Sale Every year the law society gathers all the books from students that they no longer need and provide an opportunity to come and purchase the books at a much lower price than getting the same books new. Please hold off from obtaining any books until you are here in Cardiff and have gone to our book sale, we can promise that you will not be disappointed.
Law Society Clothing From hoodies to onesies the Law Society offers a broad and fashionable range of clothing to its members proudly sponsored by Freshfields. The clothing is great quality and durable- perfect for staying cosy in lectures and the library. You will be able to order these as soon as you arrive in Cardiff, with a first batch ready to pick up straight away!
Discounts There are many examples of discounts that we offer and many more will be revealed in due course and in your information pack when you join us. Here is an example of but one discount that you will benefit from as a member. We are proud to announce a new discount with Glam nightclub and Glam Boutique. Members with our membership cards will have:  
25% off food all day, every day before 9pm at Glam Boutique. Half price tickets and queue jump every Thursday in Glam nightclub.
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Join the Law Society Executive Committee
Joining the Committee Do you like what you have seen so far of the Law Society? Want to be a part of Cardiff University’s biggest and best society? Well as soon as you arrive in Cardiff we will be running elections for a First Year Rep! The role is to act as a point of contact for all first year students to the rest of the committee. It provides a link between first years and the committee and allows us to deal with any concerns in an efficient and professional manner. So please start thinking about running in this election if you would like to be a part of everything that we do. This makes a fantastic starting point if you would like to run in for a committee positon at the end of this year for the other executive roles. Our own VicePresident, Chelsea Mitchell was the First Year Rep last year showing what is possible if you are successful in winning this election!
Joining a Sub-Committee We also have sub committees with certain committee positions which when applications are opened; you are more than welcome to apply for. This is not an election and will be decided by the respective officer on the merit of the case you put forward in your application. You will act as a helper and gain an insight into the committee and our roles. In fact many of the current committee used to be on sub committees before we were elected for our current roles. The sub committees we will be recruiting for are:
Socials Sub-Committee Careers & Public Speaking Sub Committee Academic Sub Committee Publicity Sub Committee
Please keep your eyes peeled for when these opportunities are available to apply for!
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