Law School Bulletin January 2024

Welcome back to campus! With Term 1 exams over and Term 2 underway, it’s an opportunity to reflect and look forward.

If you have ambitions personally, socially and academically this is a time for you to think about what will benefit you and plan how you’re going to achieve this. At Exeter we have a lot of support in all areas of the Law School and the University; whether you’d like to make more of your personal tutor sessions, engage with different social activities, attend a guest speaker’s lecture or utilise the study skills support, reach out and get involved.

Our monthly newsletter suggests a variety of new experiences to try and options to develop your skills. Read on for more ideas to help you make the most of 2024.

Craig

Craig Newbery-Jones, Director of Education and Student Experience Law School

📖Education Matters: Thanks to You

Your ongoing feedback about your studies and social activities really makes a difference. Thanks to your suggestions we have introduced changes based on what you have said:

“More feedback opportunities”

• We held ‘town hall’ Q&A sessions with the Head of School and the senior education team for feedback, and we have more planned for Term 2

“More help with feedback”

• We offered library support, drop-in-sessions, ELE gateway

“More resources to support your assessment preparation and skills development”

• We put more resources on the Law ELE Gateway and introduced drop-in skills sessions

“More skills events”

• We introduced a new series of skills competitions involving mooting and negotiation, led by a dedicated Skills Officer (Lindsey Connett)

Please continue to give us feedback via your SSLC rep, your personal tutors and join in with the forthcoming Town Hall events.

📰News ⌨️

Did you see Professor Moorhead on BBC Newsnight?

It's been an exceedingly busy period for Professor Richard Moorhead in the days around the release of the ITV drama, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office. He was interviewed for many radio, TV and online articles speaking about the role of lawyers in this miscarriage of justice. Richard leads the postofficeproject.net and is on the advisory committee for the Horizon Compensation Committee. Read his reflections on our news page here. Professor Moorhead will also be delivering the Hamlyn Lectures this year in October.

Congratulations to Professor Ana Beduschi who recently gave her inaugural lecture. 

“I am grateful for the support and encouragement I received from my colleagues and the university leadership throughout my career at Exeter Law School.

It was an honour to share my journey and my research on human rights and the governance of digital technologies with such a supportive community of colleagues and friends.”

🔬Spotlight on Lindsey Connett 👩‍⚖️

Lindsey has been the Director of Mooting, Negotiation and Client Interviewing in the Law School since September 2022. She oversees the internal competitions and supports students who have been chosen to represent the University at regional and national level. Lindsey says there are countless ways you strengthen your CV and employability by taking part in these competitions and develop skills which are highly valued by the top law firms: 

• You will increase your confidence in public speaking and how to present yourself
• Gain practical hands on experience in a safe place to grow your experience
• Develop the knowledge to ask the right questions for client interviewing
• Learn tactics and mental agility to respond in negotiation scenarios

As well as gaining all those skills Lindsey emphasises the opportunities being at such events can open up.

"There are chances to network with competition sponsors, law firms who are judging the events, as well as learning by watching other students taking part."

Lindsey spends a lot of time helping students to prepare for the competitions, helping them to develop their arguments, signposting experts within the law school and importantly, ensuring students have the financial support to attend the external events.

If you're interested in these opportunities they are outlined at the beginning of the academic year, and of course you can always email Lindsey in the meantime.

📆 Opportunities and Events 

Interested in Company Law?

Dr Jonathan Hardman will be presenting on his forthcoming book 'The Limits and Logic of Agency Theory in Company Law', at the next Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law (CCCL) event. Read more about the speaker and book a place on this link. (Please only book if you are sure you can attend.)

Mooting Competition: Register by 5pm, 2 February

The Law School and University of Exeter Law Society are pleased to announce a joint school-wide mooting competition to take place later this term (end of February/beginning of March). This competition will be open to all undergraduate and post-graduate taught students.

See the full details here.

Broaden your knowledge and understanding of environmental law by joining one of these online events:

Friday 2 February, The Barnfield Theatre, Exeter

There is a performance of ‘A Family Business’ which is a drama about nuclear disarmament and the role played by diplomats, lawyers and activists in this area. Students can buy tickets for a discounted £5 via this link.

📆 Events 🍿

From listening to your feedback we know that you have enjoyed some of the social events we put on last term, so we have more planned for Term 2. Our next Film Night is a showing of 'LEGALLY BLONDE' - A comedy film from 2001, with a great legal theme. The evening is free and you can book your ticket on the Fixr link here. There will be non-alcoholic refreshments and popcorn provided.

We're also planning another Cook-a-long with David Yuratich, and towards the end of term a legal Easter Egg 🐣 hunt!

✒️Academic Writing Support 📝

Exeter Law School has the privilege of hosting a Royal Literary Fund (RLF) Fellow, a professional writer and editor who is available to help all students improve their academic writing skills.

Chris Wakling is based in the Law School for two days a week and offers 1:1 academic writing tutorials for up to 50 minutes. These are free and confidential bespoke sessions focusing on particular aspects of your written communication.

Possible topics in your session might include:

• essay planning and structuring your argument;
• how to make a draft clearer and more economical;
• rewriting and editing;
• ‘writer’s block’;
• or even just understanding an essay question 

The sessions are intended to be useful however good your writing is!

The sessions are held in-person on Tuesdays in Boardroom 2 (near the Moot Court), or on Teams on Wednesdays. To arrange a tutorial please email Chris.

Your Voice - NSS

If you’re a final year undergraduate, you’ll be aware the National Student Survey is now open. As well as providing us with valuable feedback about your entire Uni experience, there’s a chance to enter a prize draw with a top prize of £500. There are also ten further prizes of £50 each to be won, plus we will donate £1 to charity for every survey that is completed, via RAG (Raise and Give).

Look out for the promotional stands around our campuses, where we’re also giving away £3 vouchers for every completed survey, to put towards food or drinks on campus. 

You can complete the survey here.

🤳 Law School Socials 😍​​​​

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER LAW SCHOOL

If you would like to see previous editions of the bulletin, they sit on our Law webpages here.  And if you have any suggestions for future editions, or would like to share a story with us, please email lawcomms@exeter.ac.uk. Fin