Torts Illustrated (Issue 2, 2017)

QUT law society inc.

Torts illustrated issue two 2017 acknowledgements The QUT Law Society’s annual Careers Guide publication would not have been possible without the support of its sponsors, as well as its dedicated Media & Communication team.

Our sponsors Allens | Clayton Utz | Johnson Winter & Slattery | McCullough Robertson | MinterEllison Thomson Geer | QUT PLT | Ashurst Herbert Smith Freehills | King & Wood Mallesons Content Editors Claudia Choi [Vice-President of Media & Communication] Visual Design and Formatting Claudia Choi [Vice-President of Media & Communication] Royce Adcock [Designs Officer] Article Writers Megan Dudley [Publications Officer] Mellisa Hillier [Publications Officer] Models Sarah Nguyen

Contents Connect with us on.................................................................................................4 What’s on this semester.........................................................................................7 From the Editor ........................................................................................................9 From your President..............................................................................................10 Keeping up with your Executives.......................................................................11 Being Extra: How extracurricular activities can impact your law degree...............................................................................18 Hitting Reset: Preparing for semester 2.........................................................20 Curious Cases..........................................................................................................23 Suits off! Wigs on..................................................................................................24 What If I Failed?.....................................................................................................26 External Existential Crisis.....................................................................................29 4 Terrible Reasons to Study Law.......................................................................30 Contact Us .............................................................................................................34

Connect with us on...

QUT Law Society Website: www.qutlawsociety.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/qutlawsociety/ Instagram: @qutlawsociety

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What’s on next semester Education & Social Events Competitions AUGUST

WK 1

Herbert Smith Freehills Paper Presentation

5

Law Cup

WK 2

QUT v UQ Grudge Moot

9

King & Wood Mallesons Intellectual Property Law Information Evening Rugby Grudge Match

WK 3

QUTLS First Year Moot

WK 5

Ashurst Commercial Arbitration

WK 8

Clayton Utz Negotiation

19 24 31

Introduction to Criminal Law Practice QUTLS Pub Crawl

SEPTEMBER 2

QUTLS Election

6

Maurice Blackburn LGBTIQ Legal Careers Forum HopgoodGanim External School Lunch Allens & QUTLS Law Dinner

9 9

Disclaimer: These dates above are subject to change.

Please like our Facebook page for all updates on our events and competitions.

21-22 Herbert Smith Freehills & QUTLS Law Revue TBC QUT vs UQ Rugby Match OCTOBER 7

Student v Professional Cricket Match 10 MinterEllison World Mental Health Breakfast 18 Cooper Grace Ward White Ribbon Domestic Violence Breakfast NOVEMBER 17

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From the Editor Claudia Choi

QUTLS Vice-President of Media & Communication Hi guys, Congratulations on another semester done and dusted!

You are all champions for surviving this hellmouth that is university.

This semester has been a busy one for the Media & Communication team. We’ve published the Springboard Careers Guide, First Year Guide and Issue One of Torts Illustrated! The rest of the team have been busy snapping pictures at many of our events or creating artwork for the other portfolios.

The next project that we are currently undergoing is the refurbishment of the QUT Law Society website.

We’ll be giving it a whole new look and making more information available for students. So stay tuned for more information!

Personally, this semester has been physically and mentally draining. I began a permanent part time job which took up four days of the week, I was studying a 3 unit course load and the QUT Law Society was busy as ever. On top of that, trying to socialise and spend time with my boyfriend, the lack of sleep, and the fact that I (minorly) sprained my ankle twice was exhausting.

However I don’t regret a thing. I recently met up with my sister who encouraged me to make the most of the time I spend at university, so as I think back to how I survived this semester, I am so proud of myself. I didn’t die… there may have been some mental breakdowns here and there… but I survived! So I’d I’d like to dedicate this note from the editor to surviving.

need advice or tips, please do not hesitate to contact anyone from the QUT Law Society and we will be there to help you out.

To those that are graduating this semester… I am so jealous. You’ve travelled far, slept very little, overloaded on energy drinks, ate too much junk food… and you’ve made it! I hope you have enjoyed your time at university and that you’re ending up in a place that you hoped you’d end up at. If you aren’t, just think of this as a stepping stone to get to where you want to be.

Lastly, thank you to my officers for their contribution to the success of the QUT Law Society. Royce Adcock, Mellisa Hillier, Megan Dudley, Tristan Hall, Izzy Machin and Rianna Shoemaker… you are fabulous!

For any media and communications enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact me at vp.mediacommunication@qutlawsociety.com Claudia

To all first years who have just completed their first semester, congratulations! You’ve made it through your first milestone as a university student. Before you too excited (or too cocky about being a law student), remember… you’ve got a long, long way to go. Sorry to rain on your parade, but just keep swimming. If you 9

From Your president Harrison Bell QUTLS President

With Semester 1 of 2017 now complete, our team is gearing up to prepare for a full calendar of events for next semester.

We have had a killer year so far with a string of successful events, competitions and educational seminars. I am proud of my team for everything they have accomplished and the way they have conducted themselves.

In the past 4 months, we have run our Meet the Profession networking event at Room 360, the Women in Law Eventing at the Hilton, the Law Ball at Cloudland with a record 1300 people, the Senior Moot at King & Wood Mallesons and the Soccer Grudge Match against UQ. We also kicked off the year with some of the strongest L Card sales QUTLS has ever seen. This joint venture between QUT, UQ, Griffith and several other Queensland Law Societies makes student’s party times more affordable. Special mentions must be made to the Events team and a variety of other volunteers who took time out of their holidays to make this a success.

There have been some big changes in our committee.

I am delighted to welcome our new Secretary, Kate Jamesion, and our new Vice-President of Events, Yehanka Ranasinghe. Both are experienced members have stepped up from their roles as competition and merchandising officers respectively.

However, we must say goodbye to two vital veterans of the QUTLS, Nick Arndt as the past Vice-President of Events and long standing Secretary, Sarah Nguyuen. I thank you both on behalf of the Society for your help and guidance over the past few years. You have both been integral members to the QUTLS. If QUTLS is something that you are interested in being involved with next year, we will be holding our elections in September. All details on how to apply will be posted 10

on our Facebook page and via our weekly emails. I cannot recommend the experience enough to expand your student and professional network whilst having a great time and making new friends.

Further, keep an eye out for our Semester 2 events which feature our Grudge Moot against UQ, Criminal Law Night, First Year Moot, Cricket Grudge Match, Pub Crawl, Law Dinner and other various initiatives. It doesn’t matter if you are a first year, lost 3rd year or weary final year, we have something for everyone.

I congratulate the Publications Portfolio on producing yet another strong publication which I hope you enjoy reading.

Harrison

Keeping up with your executives With 2017 well underway, it’s time to check in on your executives to see what their portfolios have been up to!

Alastair Page

QUTLS Executive Vice-President Hello again, Congratulations on making it through another period of assessment! Those remarks are multiplied tenfold if this was your first. I hope you are all looking forward to a relaxing mid semester break, recharging for the next semester marathon.

Over the course of the last semester, the QUTLS has continued to operate at full speed: running competitions; competing in sporting events; winning competitions; publishing newsletters; and of course, hosting bar tabs for your consuming pleasure.

Now whilst I could list all these events like a glorified text-to-speech of our Facebook page, the future of our society holds far more interesting opportunities. So, much like a glorified text-to-speech of our Facebook page, allow me to share what the next semester has in store for the QUTLS. Over the next couple of months, the Society executives will be undergoing a major overhaul of our corporate Constitution. This aims to not only change the internal mechanics of our organisation, but improve our culture from a grassroots level. That culture means nothing without you, the students, and we look forward to you taking part in this new chapter in what it means to be a law student at QUT.

If getting involved in an office position doesn’t fulfil everything you’re looking for, semester two is a fantastic time to get involved in one of our external competitions. Having received many prizes for various competitions, the QUT Mooting Community is currently in very high regard amongst employers. They stand ready to progress your advocacy skills to the next level.

Don’t let fear hold you back on these life changing opportunities. Taking the words from the great Shia LeBeouf: “Just Do It”.

Finally, I am pleased to confirm that we will be continuing our commitment of providing spectacular social events that will keep you from quitting your degree. From the annual Law Dinner to the legendary Law Revue, make sure you find some time to be social with your peers. Duffey and Field would want it. So should you.

So for my final entry into this publication as Executive Vice-President for semester 1, I want to thank you for being a part of our law student community, and wish you all the best for the upcoming semester ahead.

Alastair

Duly following this, we will be holding our election mere weeks into the semester. Given the hectic nature of democracy over the last couple of years, there has never been a better time to run for a position that you feel passionate about. Remember: If a narcissistic loudmouth can become the President, then the odds of you becoming a officer in the law society look pretty good.

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Sarah Nguyen QUTLS Secretary

Another semester over and not a day wiser.

This semester has got to be one of the busiest semesters I’ve had in a long time. Procrastinating, procrastibaking, procrastidrinking and the occasional procrastistudy - dearest GPA, may you Rest In Pieces.

Now, with the heaviest of heavy hearts, I would like to announce that I am stepping down as your best-cretary and will be replaced by the lovely Kate Jamieson for the rest of the 2017 term, beginning 31 July 2017. Why? I’m headed on exchange!

QUT Law Society has been one of the biggest sources of my friendships, angst, dramas and tests of patience thus far. Through it, I’ve made lifelong friends, countless networks and garnered skills I wouldn’t have found anywhere else. Seriously - it’s lit. So here it is, my eulogy to the QUT Law Society: thank you for the shared wikinotes; the alarming number of coffee breaks to be had within the space of an hour; the serious ‘which pen should I buy for my exam’ chats; the ‘DO YOU HAVE/YOU NEED TO BUY/PLEASE BUY AN L CARD’ duties; and of course, the vomit-inducing office fridge with the funky what-flavour-vomit-will-itpermeate-the-air-with-today odour. I will miss it all.

Even the fridge.

So, may your GPA be as bright as the eyes of a first year law student before they know what they’re really in for.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

With all the love I can muster, Sarah Nguyen Your to-be ex-bestcretary

Courtney Brown QUTLS Treasurer

Congratulations, we have finally made it halfway through yet another year of law (read: “institutionalised torture”). At times Semester 1 felt like a bit of a drag however on reflection (shout out to Dispute Resolution), I find myself wondering where those 13 weeks went.

Semester 1 brought about a lot of changes within the finance portfolio. Quite a few procedures were amended from last year and some new ones were introduced. I’ve also begun to restore previous records and have implemented systems to ensure that our financial data-keeping improves each and every year.

The 2012 to 2016 audits are well underway and are expected to be completed by the mid to end of August (and believe me, I am counting down the days). Our primary goal will continue to be not that of profit but rather reinvesting funds into making your experience at QUT that little bit better. Or at least to provide you with bar tabs hefty enough so that you can forget about it.

The Executive have finally managed to wrangle Harry and Alastair into line so Semester 2 promises to be better than ever. At least we hope so - tackling 4 fourth year law subjects may just be the death of me.

On that note, best of luck for your release of grades this month, I know I’ll be crossing all of my fingers and toes...

Courtney

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Patrick Johnson QUTLS Director of Mootclub

Hi everyone, The Moot Club has been preparing for our biggest and busiest event of the year − the third year of the High School Moot Competition. This competition has been a great success in previous years. It provides aspiring law students with an opportunity to dip their toes in the water with the guidance of QUT student mentors.

Yanery Ventura Rodriguez QUTLS Vice-President of Competitions

Semester 1 2017 was a big one. The competitions team has been hard at work, so hard in fact we welcomed a fourth Competitions Officer on board, Ebony-Lee Corbyn. A huge thank you to all our volunteers, new and old, for helping me and the team this year.

Over the semester we ran the Junior Moot, Senior Moot, Client Interview, and Witness Examination. We warmly thank our sponsors King & Wood Mallesons and QUT Practical Legal Training and a special thanks to Herbert Smith Freehills for hosting our Junior Moot Final.

Some highlights from the semester included our most popular final for the Junior Moot with a whopping 80 persons in attendance. Another memorable moment was when Saul Holt QC presided over our Witness Examination final and when he shared tips for criminal defence. There are plenty more exciting times to look forward to next semester.

I was lucky enough to be able to judge last year, and I must say that the standard of the competition was excellent. It was almost as though it was a regular internal university moot as opposed to a school skirmish. I’m sure this year will just as impressive. This competition would not have been possible without the hard work of Mootclub Officer William Zhou, who kindly took the lead on this project before I left for overseas in March.

I’m glad that the Society has been able to run this competition again this year and hope that we are able to continue this for many years to come.

I never had the opportunity to moot in school, but I’m sure I would have loved it. ​Who knows?

Maybe i​f I had the opportunity to enter the QUT High School Moot I​ would have worked out that I wanted to go to law school a lot sooner. ​​ Patrick

Next on the agenda is: • Herbert Smith Freehills Paper Presentation – week 1 • QUT v UQ Grudge Moot – week 2 • QUTLS First Year Moot – week 3 • Ashurst Commercial Arbitration – week 5 • Clayton Utz Negotiation – week 8 If you have any questions about the upcoming competitions or you want to get involved in volunteering, please email competitions@qutlawsociety.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Yanery 13

Jake Stacey

QUTLS Vice-President of Education The Education portfolio has had a range of successes throughout Semester One including the First Year and External Lunch. We also held our annual Careers Without Clerkships and hope the wise wisdom from our experienced panel from CBP Lawyers, students now feel more informed about their options post graduation.

One of the highlights of the semester was our annual Reconciliation Breakfast. We hope students enjoyed the presentations given by Her Honour, Justice Philippides and Uncle Sam Watson and thank the sponsoring firms and broader community for supporting such an important initiative.

We have new and exciting events planned for Semester Two which include: Intellectual Property Law Information Evening (Week 3), Introduction to Criminal Law Practice Information Evening (Week 5), External Lunch (Week 7), LGBTIQ Legal Careers Forum (Week 8), World Mental Health Breakfast (Week 11), White Ribbon Domestic Violence Breakfast (Week 12).

For advice on updating your CV or interview tips, contact Lee Moy at lee.moy@qut.edu.au. Before joining QUT, Lee was a People & Development Consultant at Clayton Utz for over 10 years.

QUTLS hopes the range of events planned for next semester will provide valuable opportunities for all students. Please feel free to contact me at vp.education@qutlawsociety.com if you have any career-related queries.

Jake

Nicholas Arndt

QUTLS Vice-President of Events Hey learned pals!

To all of our first year readers, well done for making it through your first semester of Law! If you’re a fresh faced 17-year old who missed out on Law Ball, there are still a couple of AMAZING QUTLS events coming this year!

The QUTLS Law Ball ‘The Royal Affair’ last semester went off without a hitch. We ate like Kings and drank enough to deplete the reserves of any self-respecting kingdom. The amount of people who were still on the D-floor at 2am made this VP very proud of his cohort.

Now looking to the future! Semester 2 will have the L Card Launch 2, Pub Crawl and Law Dinner. Pub Crawl was postponed until Semester 2 because of scheduling issues, but do not fear, Pub Crawl is not going anywhere. Law Dinner is a more reserved affair, with a 3 course meal and a guest speaker. However, the moment the music comes on, we will be absolutely cutting loose.

It’s a bit nippy in Brisbane (at least for us), Yehanka has been busy creating some winter warmers, so don’t forget to have a squizz on QPAY if you would like to pick up a QUTLS pullover or hoodie!

The Events portfolio is a hard working gang who I cannot thank enough for their enthusiasm and support last semester, I know I can count on them going into Semester 2. So thank you to Jack Bristed, Elena Dimeski and Yehanka Ranasinghe!

Good luck this semester and not to be too hard on yourself. See you at the Pub Crawl!

Nick

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Alexandra Pearman

QUTLS Vice-President of Sport & Health Hey guys, Sport and Health has been busy kicking goals and fostering lasting friendships throughout semester one.

Social Sport has been underway with water polo, soccer and netball teams meeting weekly to compete in the QUT Guild Social Sport Competition. The ability to come together each week with other law students from across all study levels allows players to build strong academic friendships and de-stress themselves by knowing we all have suffered through Contracts and Civil Procedure together and survived. These teams will be resuming again after the semester break so contact me at vp.sportandhealth@qutlawsociety.com if you’re interested.

Semester one also saw the grudge match of the year against UQ. A nail biting Soccer Grudge Match put our law school to the test as it saw QUT Law Soccer go against UQ Law Soccer in an amazing show of skill! There was a lot of cheering ( jeering), shouting (screaming) and friendly banter (mild verbal abuse) hurled by the strong QUT supporter turnout to cheer our boys and girls on. To celebrate the end of the semester for QUTLS Sport students, a few cold ones were cracked at the QUTLS Sport Pub Crawl to round off the stress of week 12.

Semester two will see the Law Cup, Rugby Grudge, Students v Professionals Cricket Tournament, Social Sport resume with the addition of touch football, and Mental Health Week will also be a highlight. So stay tuned for any announcements!

Alex

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LCARD treat yourself

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Pre-purchase your L Card at qutlslcard.getqpay.com and collect your card at the QUTLS Office*. *The QUTLS Office is located in C402. Our official opening hours are Monday and Wednesday from 12-3pm from Week 1-13 of the semester.

However, if you ever see anyone in the office, drop by to say hi and collect your card. We’re more than happy to help you out.

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being extra

how extracurricular activities can impact on your law degree Written by Megan Dudley QUTLS Publications Officer

If you’ve been through clerkship applications or graduate interviews, you will know that grades just aren’t enough to cut it anymore. To be a successful graduate, companies often look to how you have engaged in various university activities. Whilst it’s a given that not all companies have the same hiring practices, it is more likely than not that a full and well-rounded resume will give you the edge over other applicants. There are several ways to boost your resume, but here are the most common.

competitions QUT Law Society offers a diverse range of competitions for all law students at different stages of the degree. Competitions are run in mooting, negotiation, witness examination, written paper competitions and client interviews. Participating in competitions is a great way to not only add a few extra activities on your resume, but to learn and develop your skills. In a mooting competition, you will learn how to refine your oral argument skills as well as practically apply case law and legislation to complex cases. In alternate competitions, other skills such as listening and communication are tested.

If you are heading into a job interview of any sort, it is a positive conversation point about your extracurricular competitions.

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social sport QUT offers social sport for both semesters of the year. Depending on the semester, different sports will be available. There are multiple benefits for participating in team sports. First of all, showing you have team skills is critical for most workplaces. This is something you are able to bring up in an interview should you be asked how you participate in a team environment. The second benefit is making friends!

If you decide to join a team with a friend or solo, you are almost guaranteed to make more university friends. However, if you already have enough friends to fill a team, you can do that too! The third benefit and arguably the most important, is the social sport event at the end of each semester.

university life If you’ve been around QUT for a while, you’ll know there are several clubs you can get involved with.

With QUTLS, you can get involved with student events such as O Week. Each year, the Society is always on the look out with people who want to be involved. If that just really isn’t your thing, QUTLS puts on several events a year such as Law Ball and Law Dinner that are must attend events. Of course, this isn’t something you can necessarily put on your resume, but it’s damn fun.

volunteering Of course all of your extracurricular activities don’t need to be university based. Getting involved in a CLC is a highly beneficial and rewarding experience that allows you to contribute to your community.

The best way you can get involved is to approach your local CLC and ask if they need volunteers, or how you could declare your interest so that when an opportunity does come around, you are first on their radar.

hobbies Honestly, if you don’t have one already, you should get a hobby. Not only does this relieve stress during and after exam time, but it gives you something to mention when a recruiter asks. I’m sure we’ve all had the question ‘what do you do when you’re not studying?’ and it’s always a trick to answer. By having a hobby that you love and enjoy, it will make your university experience much more meaningful.

So there you have it. Some good options to get your resume beefed up and ready for a job!

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out all the empty cans and wash those dirty cups and plates that have somehow appeared over the past 3 weeks. Once this is done, you will feel much more refreshed. For real, it’s the juice cleanse of the law student.

Reconnect with Friends

HITTING

RESET

Preparing for Semester 2 Uni is over for another Semester. Exams are a thing of the past and you can’t even remember what assignments you handed in throughout the past 13 or so weeks. Now what?

Chances are your room is a mess, notes and books thrown all over the place in some crazy caffeine fueled revision haze. Your diet was one of take-out, instant noodles and too many of those homeownership restricting lattes and you have no idea what to do with yourself. It’s time to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and fix up your life.

Clean up your Desk

The first thing to do is clean up your desk. I know the last thing you want to do is revisit the place that has been the site of late night tears and hair pulling, but you need to do it. Now. Kind of like facing your abuser, the first step to healing is sorting your desk out.

In other words, clean up your shit so you don’t have this reminder of Uni hanging over you. A clean workspace come the start of next semester will help you hit the ground running. You don’t want to be sitting there in week 3 saying, I could study tonight but my desk is covered in shit, I’ll clean it on the weekend and catch up then.

File your notes away (even though you want to burn them – Wait till July 7th at least to know if you’ll need to reuse them), restock your stationary, throw 20

I know sometimes the last thing you want to do after a long semester is actually do things. Take this chance to reconnect with all those friends you’ve basically neglected for the past couple of weeks.

Go for drinks, have an Avo on toast, actually do things. Tagging them in memes while you’ve been procrastinating isn’t catching up. You need to get back into some form of routine where you are social again and can talk about things other than what the hell was the answer to Q2 in the past exam?

(Seriously though, what the hell was that?)

Enjoy this newfound guilt-free time, before those waves of stress come rolling in again.

Fix your diet

It might be time to ditch your staple food groups: fried, salty and sweet. The guy in drive-thru at Maccas may miss you, but you need to hit that produce section in Coles ASAP (ketchup, pickles and diced onion don’t count). Your body will thank you for it.

This is a good time to pick up the habit of meal prepping, it isn’t just for body builders anymore.

Getting your meals sorted a week or 2 ahead can be a lifesaver come exams next semester.

Pro-tip: hit up the weekend markets just before closing, you’ll find a lot of produce will be like 80% off as they’d rather sell it than go through the hassle of packing up.

Make Some Money

If you’re lucky, you have been able to skip out on work for the past couple of weeks to sit your exams.

If you haven’t, I’m glad you survived. It’s time to get back into the swing of things. If you can pick up some extra hours, squirrel away some nuts for Sem 2 so that when you’re feeling down you can treat yo’self.

Just Relax

Do whatever the hell you want to do for a couple of days, Exams sucked. Let’s have some fun.

Written by Mellisa Hillier QUTLS Publications Officer

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Curious Cases Written by Megan Dudley QUTLS Publications Officer

For most law students, unsolved mysteries is a fascinating area of criminal law. Below are just a few of several outstanding and interesting unsolved mysteries.

The Mysterious Disappearance of DB Cooper

Dan “DB” Cooper boarded a 30 minute flight to Seattle on 24 November 1971. Just after the plane had taken off, DB Cooper handed the flight attended a note. Thinking the man had just given her his number, the flight attended thought nothing of it and put it in her pocket. Cooper then told her “Miss, you’d better look at that note. I have a bomb”. Sipping on his bourbon and soda with a fresh cigarette, Cooper ordered the flight attendant to sit next to him whilst he dictated his demands. He asked for $200,000 USD, four parachutes, and a fuel truck standing by in Seattle to refuel the plane. After notifying local and federal authorities, his demands were met. The plane refuelled, as Cooper outlined the flight path to the pilots with a final destination of Mexico City. Cooper requested strange flying conditions, such as under 10,000 feet and an unpressurised cabin. The plane took off around 7pm the same night. During the flight, the pilots were notified by onboard systems that the rear door had been opened. As the other other people on the flight beside Cooper, the pilots landed the plane.

Cooper had disappeared.

to the beach. Jane, Arnna and Grant Beaumont, aged 9, 7 and 4 caught the bus to the beach and were expected to catch the bus home.

There have been several witness reports that the children had been seen playing on the beach with a tall, blonde man. Other witnesses reported that they saw the children leave the beach with the man, whilst the local postman reported that he had seen them walking towards their home around 3pm.

During the investigation, the police identified a number of suspects however no one was officially charged with the murders.

The Lizzie Borden House

In 1892, in Massachusetts, USA, the bodies of Andrew and Abby Borden were hacked to death in their home. The couple were believed to be murdered with an axe. Their bodies were found in different rooms in the house. The only evidence that was found from the scene was a handle-less axe which was clean of blood. The only suspect the police had at the time was 32 year old Lizzie Borden, the daughter of Andrew and Abby. Lizzie’s sister Emma was away, and the family maid Bridget was on the third floor reported to be suffering from food poisoning. Lizzie was tried for the murder, but ultimately acquitted. This case involved a lot of uncertainty and was formed into America’s pop culture. There have been movies made about Lizzie Borden and more recently a mini series.

Following the discovery, local and federal authorities poured resources into finding Cooper, but to no avail. In 1980, an eight year old found $5,000 of the ransom money given to Cooper but no other traces were found. From the time of his disappearance until 2016 when the case was deemed inactive, there had been ongoing active investigations into his appearance. The FBI has classified this case as their longest and most exhaustive investigation.

The Beaumont Children

On Australia Day 1966, at Glenlg Beach in South Australia, three siblings vanished after taking a trip 2323

Suits off! Wigs on.

Australian legal dramas that will have you ‘lit up’.

If semester one kicked your boo-tay and you’re currently sitting there wondering why the hell you wanted to study law in the first place, I’ve got you covered. Put on your trackies, pull on your socks and park yourself in front of the TV (or lie in bed glued to the laptop. I’m not your boss - you do you boo).

It’s time to get your binge on – Aussie style! Because to be honest you’re goddamn right I’m sick of hearing about people shitting the bed. Lets turn off Suits (sacrilegious, I know) and take a look at some of Australia’s legal dramas. I guarantee that by the end of this epic binge extravaganza you will be well rested and ready to hit the books with restored vigor. Thank god that in the Age of Yummy Mummies and twenty episodes of Masterchef a week, the ABC is still taking risks and producing some of the greatest TV Australia has ever seen.

Rake

What can I say about Rake? Well for starters, Richard Roxburgh is a true blue LEGEND! He takes the lead playing the messy but brilliant criminal barrister, Cleaver Greene. Champion of the lost cause, Cleaver defends the indefensible – from bigamists to cannibals and everything in between. Marvel at his brilliance in the courtroom; laugh at the bastardry of his personal life.

With legitimately awesome guest stars such as Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Sam Neil; and 4 seasons, Rake is guaranteed to keep you entertained all weekend long. Important note – do not mix Rake up with its crappy American adaption – it’s busted.

Trivia – Cleaver Greene is based on one of Sydney’s most colourful barristers, Charles Waterstreet – coauthor and co-creator of Rake.

Catch the first 3 seasons on both Netflix and Stan. Buy season 4 if you like it – or pull a Cleaver and get creative.

Crownies

This show gets props for producing its incredibly popular spin-off Janet King. Crownies follows the personal and professional lives of five fresh out of law school solicitors who work at the NSW DPP. Of course, working at the DPP, they are affronted with cases that highlight the moral dilemmas and issues facing civilized society. With the average age of solicitors at 27, they struggle to understand their place in the legal profession beneath their senior counterparts the Crown Prosecutors.

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This show can come across somewhat messy as it pushes and pulls you between flirtatiously sexy, coolly cynical and blazingly emotional tones. Thankfully, the spin-off Janet King takes all of the good and none of the bad. Still, Crownies is definitely worth a binge over the holidays, especially if you’re interested in a career with the DPP. I can’t find Crownies on any of the streaming providers, so I don’t know, YouTube it or something.

Janet King

Marta Dusseldorp, reprises her role as Senior Crown Prosecutor, Janet King, in this gripping legal drama.

Bringing back a slew of characters from Crownies, this show has taken the best parts of Crownies and reimagined them, while removing the aspects that were so messy. The first season follows Janet King fresh from maternity leave returning to the DPP and swept up in controversy from the get go. I won’t give away too much as any real description will be full of spoilers and this is the kind of show that you love to be surprised by. Each season contains a self-contained story with enough suspense, drama and intrigue to have you yelling at your TV that yes... you are still watching. If you want a meatier show with a fair bit of grit, this is the show for you. Feel free to skip Crownies and jump right in to Janet King, just make sure you have a bit of free time because the show is definitely binge-worthy.

Catch season 1 on Netflix and Stan, Seasons 1-2 are available on ABC iView, while Season 3 is currently airing weekly on the ABC and can be caught up with on ABC iView.

Newton’s Law

This is what I’ll be bingeing over the holidays. Marketed as an “upstairs downstairs” legal drama, the story revolves around newly appointed barrister Josephine Newton who must juggle the high-powered barrister’s world of Knox Chambers and the haphazard legal tangles of her former solicitor’s office as they join forces in a class action, taking on a pharmaceutical company that tried to cover up the side effects resulting from their drug trials.

Newton’s law has an outstanding lineup of Aussie talent including leading lady Claudia Karvan, Toby Schmitz, Brett Tucker, Georgina Naidu, Sean Keenan, Miranda Tapsell, Andrew McFarlane and Jane Hall.

Catch all 8 episodes on ABC iView.

Written by Mellisa Hillier QUTLS Publications Officer

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What if I Failed?

Written by Mellisa Hillier QUTLS Publications Officer

With take homes submitted and exams sat, all that is left to stress over are the results. Some of you may be feeling zero stress because you adequately prepared and studied, but for the rest of you, I hope the late night red bull and fried food cram sessions paid off. If on 7 July you find out that it didn’t, here are a few things to keep in mind.

If you have failed a unit, the major point to keep in mind is that failure does not define your personal worth nor your future “Success is not final, failure success, and it certainly does not signify the end of times – even is not fatal: it is the courage though with all the pressure and hyper-competitiveness that law to continue that counts” school brings, it can feel like it. If anything, failing a subject is an − Winston Churchill indicator that some element of your approach to study is not working. Perhaps you have been dealing with personal or family problems, swamped under too much work, social or sport commitments. Who hasn’t bit off more than they can chew at one point or another in their lives? Help is available.

QUT offers free counselling services to assist with circumstances that interfere with study such as stress, depression and anxiety; relationship and family issues; grief, loss and adjustment difficulties; academic demands; and university rules and procedures among other things. In regards to failing a unit, counsellors can assist you with the procedure to appeal academic fails such as lodging an application for special consideration or performing alternative or supplementary assessment. The QUT Guild is also well equipped to help with special consideration, review of grade, and academic misconduct applications as well as exclusion appeals and grievances against the university. See them in person, call them on 1800 WINGMAN, or flick an email to wingman@qutguild.com. For detailed information, see QUT’s Manual of Policies and Procedures (MOPP), particularly Chapter E: Student Services and Administration.

Best case scenario – you may be able to reverse the fail on your record.

ADVICE ON APPROACHING ACADEMIC APPEALS

• When drafting your appeal or complaint, concentrate on being clear, concise and factual when explaining your problem.

• Don’t get emotional. Even though you may be feeling that a great injustice has been done to you or that your world is being turned upside down, using overly emotive language may distract from or cause a genuine grievance to be lost.

• Stick to the facts. Ask yourself – What happened? How did it affect you? Why should your application be considered? Basically, Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. E.g. (relative name and relationship to you) passed away on (date). It caused great emotional stress because ….. I was unable to withdraw because it was after the census date etc.

• Have someone external to your situation read over your appeal – such as a student advocate - to ensure that what you have written is clear and appropriate.

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Visit www.allens.com.au/careers, www.linklaters.com/ukgrads and www.linklaters.com/hkcareers to find out more.

External Existential Crisis Written by Mellisa Hillier QUTLS Publications Officer

Thanks to advances in technology, many universities offer completely or near complete (sans exams) virtual degrees, which allows people to juggle existing responsibilities and careers alongside their new area of study. Whatever reason you have for studying off-campus, it’s not without its disadvantages and no matter how much virtual degrees are advertised as being “virtually” the same, it’s a damn lie. Having studied both externally (pre-QUT) and internally, I can definitively say that I would rather study on campus then ever go external again and here’s why...

Starting on a positive note, with all lectures and tutorials available online, I didn’t have the burden of being stuck with a strict timetable of classes. My study arrangements were completely flexible and all that really mattered was that I completed the work each week. But this is where the positives end.

Many of the lectures and tutorials are recorded from classes held on campus and while I didn’t expect lecturers to sit around and record special lectures and tutorials just for me, I did expect them to at least repeat or summarize student’s questions/answers. There is nothing more infuriating than slowing down and repeatedly playing 10-30 second clips of the lecture recording – boosting volume etc – just to try and hear a muffled vital answer. You better believe the muffled bit was on the exam.

Speaking of lecturers, you really can’t beat that invaluable face-to-face contact. Not only does it allow you to build a rapport with your lecturer or tutor, you can also ask and get your questions answered in real time, allowing you to understand whatever obscure law has you stumped and move on without 1.

Forgetting to ask the question or 2. Waiting 3 days for an email response. I get that lecturers might have hordes of students but come on – 3 days? It’s a bit rough.

Moving on, getting involved with student societies is impossible if you're not on campus. For many people, getting involved with their relevant student society is part of a well-rounded university experience, creating contacts and friendships that will hopefully prevail through our careers. Having returned to being a campus baby, I can definitely say that being a member of QUTLS is an experience I would have missed if I had remained external. I think that all student societies have an obligation to represent the entire student body, not just those on campus – think Skype meetings.

Finally, my last gripe: Readings are not substitutes for entire textbooks and if you don’t have access to the library you’re pretty much forced into shelling out your hard earned dollars on your own copy. Bummer.

Now I know that many of my gripes with external study also affect internal students, particularly the muffled answers in lectures and textbook availability, but it EXTRA sucks when you can’t turn to your peers for clarification/borrow their books/use the library copy and spend your weekly food money on the photocopier.

Nothing beats having a group of study mates and I guess that's what it really comes down to. So my advice to current external students or anyone considering the shift is -create a Facebook group, grab your class list and add everybody. Law is hard and you need a squad to survive.

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4 Terrible Reasons to Study Law Written by Megan Dudley QUTLS Publications Officer

When you’re deciding to study law, you often go through the logical reasons of why you want to be a lawyer. For some, the decision process is simple. For others, the passion to study law hasn’t always been inherit. As a student, you’ll be asked from time to time why you want to study law, and why you aspire to be a lawyer. You may find that in some instances social injustice bothers you to the core and you want to do something about it.

However, there are also students who pick law because of the below terrible reasons:

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You’re good at arguing

This is the go-to reason that your parents throw around like delegation of housework.

You may be encouraged to study law because you argue so much that you could make a career out of it. Whilst argumentative skills may come in handy if you’re a barrister doing oral arguments, the bulk of a solicitors work isn’t based on arguments.

In practice, it is unlikely that you will be arguing with a client, but instead persuading them to see your point and follow your advice.

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You want to be Harvey Spector Whilst Suits is a fantastic show that provides insight into the more extremes of the legal profession, it’s very unrealistic. First of all, as a graduate lawyer it is highly doubtful you will be dealing with multi-million dollar clients and deals in the same capacity as Mike Ross.

Once transitioning into the profession, there is a noticeable absence of Donna’s, drama and midnight deadlines. Also - who can afford all that fancy fashion and tailored suits on an intern or paralegal wage? Not us.

3

Lawyers make lots of money

This reason is largely misconceived who think all lawyers are earning big money. For the first few years of being a graduate lawyer, you aren’t going to get paid much at all. In fact, you’re probably lucky if you get paid at all considering there is an over-demand of graduated law students and subsequently rising unemployment.

Another issue that comes with the large paycheck is the long hours. On your way up to a decent salary, there is no doubt that you will work extremely hard doing very long hours. This is definitely something to factor in.

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Because law is a good degree

Yes − law is a great degree. But would you go through four or even six years if you’re doing a double degree of torture just to get a well-rounded degree? N o p e.

Doing a law degree provides an exception foundation for many different career types and is no doubt a very comprehensive degree to have, but it shouldn’t be studied for the sole purpose of its reputation as a degree. Whilst there are students who undertake law studies with no intention of being a lawyer, there is usually a career path that can be reached by studying law.

If any of the above are the sole reasons you are studying law - you’ll probably need to rethink your life choices.

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As a junior lawyer, your enthusiasm is in overdrive. Everything is interesting. You have a million questions for everyone. You want to be the best. And for me, I wanted to be the best lawyer and leader I could be.

Right now I’m a corporate and tax lawyer, buying and selling companies, structuring investments and having the occasional battle with the ATO.

STAY TRUE.

So, a little while after I started at Clayton Utz, I joined the social committee. A powerful assembly fuelled by lunchtime pizzawielding lawyers making important decisions like choosing the Christmas party theme. They knew I liked pizza, but had no idea I was gay. You see, I wasn’t out at work yet and this became a genuine source of anxiety for a good two years.

But In May 2015 this all changed...

To listen to Luke’s full story, go to: claytonutz.com/graduates Academic brilliance certainly counts, but graduates who thrive here have something extra – a natural passion for connecting with people and a strong sense of self. That’s what staying true is all about. If you have these qualities, Clayton Utz is for you.

YO U R C A R E E R , YO U R C H O I C E SHAPE YOUR CAREER Develop strong technical and client service skills.

Benefit from professional development programs and mentoring from Australia’s best lawyers.

Get regular feedback on performance.

THRIVE WITH NO BOUNDARIES Collaborate with diverse teams of specialists across the country.

Work side by side with experienced partners.

Dip your toe in various practice areas, all free of financial targets.

EMBRACE YOUR AMBITION Build relationships with executives from Australia’s most successful companies.

Contribute to our reputation for practical commercial solutions and outstanding client service.

Play a meaningful role in complex transactions and disputes.

www.jws.com.au/en/graduate-lawyer-careers

Join our clerkship program to experience a realistic snapshot of your future with us.

9 a m - 12 p m , We d n e s d a y 2 2 M a r c h 2 01 Level 25, 20 Bond Street , Sydney

Contact Us President Harrison Bell president@qutlawsociety.com Executive Vice-President Alastair Page vicepresident@qutlawsociety.com

Secretary Sarah Nguyen secretary@qutlawsociety.com Treasurer Courtney Brown treasurer@qutlawsociety.com Vice-President of Competitions Yanery Ventura Rodriguez vp.competitions@qutlawsociety.com

Director of Moot Club Patrick Johnson director.mootclub@qutlawsociety.com Vice-President of Education Jake Stacey vp.education@qutlawsociety.com Vice-President of Events Nicholas Arndt vp.events@qutlawsociety.com Vice-President of Media & Communication Claudia Choi vp.mediacommunication@qutlawsociety.com Vice-President of Sport and Health Alexandra Pearman vp.sportandhealth@qutlawsociety.com

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