Top 5 Tips for success at Law School - how to set yourself up for success
If your goal is to get into law school, then you’re probably so focussed on achieving the required ATAR that you haven’t thought about life beyond that all-important score. The good news is, succeeding at law school is about so much more.
Harrison Jones is a graduate of Monash Law who developed some habits during his studies that helped accomplish his goals. So, when Harrison won the 2023 Victorian Rhodes Scholarship we had to capture his top 5 tips for success at law school.
Harrison graduated from Monash Law in 2021 with the Supreme Court Prize for the Best Honours Student, the University Medal for Undergraduate Academic Achievement (Law) and the Sir John Monash Medal for Outstanding Achievement (Law).
Rewind a few years to secondary school and Harrison’s vision of law school was less about awards and more about his sister’s experience studying law.
“I knew there was a lot of reading involved,” recalls Harrison.
Undaunted by the reading and motivated by an interest in constitutional law, he was surprised by what really engaged him.
“Corporations law - the problem solving that’s required to work out the answer in a legal problem, that process is what I found the most interesting. And so I think studying law at Monash far exceeded my expectations,” acknowledges Harrison.
We’re confident that studying law at Monash will exceed your expectations as well, especially if you follow Harrison Jones’ top 5 tips for success at law school.
1. Check the Monash Law Careers Directory page in first year
“When I think about what advice I would give to younger students, it's to start as early as you can because there are employers out there who want very junior law students,” reveals Harrison.
Okay, so you probably didn’t think that we’d advise you to look for a job before you’ve even passed your first year of your Bachelor of Laws (Hons) aka LLB (Hons), but Harrison’s right. There are many advantages to working in law while studying law.
“From June of 2016 when I had just started, I was scrolling through the Monash Law Careers Directory page. I came across a job ad for a litigation firm in the city for a first or second-year law student and was very fortunate to get that job,” recalls Harrison.
Starting so early in his studies gave Harrison almost four years of legal work experience before he graduated and a real-world introduction to legal concepts he was learning in class.
“I was dealing with trust issues before I'd even studied trusts and helping my boss on a conveyancing matter before I'd studied property law. When I went into classes, it was much easier to learn those things.”
In addition to boosting his performance in class, Harrison’s part time job was instrumental in securing his first job after graduating from Monash Law.
“So I really think back about how careful I was about planning that from very early on in my degree and would definitely recommend that to others.”
In addition to building your work experience, working while you study law gives you an opportunity to understand legal theory through a real-world context.
2. Join the Monash Law Students’ Society (LSS)
One thing the Faculty of Law at Monash University is really proud of is our welcoming and supportive law community that we wrap around our students, academics and researchers. That’s a valuable network to have in the first few weeks of semester one and in the last few weeks of every semester to come.
“I very quickly formed a really close-knit friendship group, and that was very different to friends studying other degrees at Monash and from friends studying law at other law schools,” recalls Harrison.
“Monash Law does an amazing job of fostering those friendships, and the Law Student Society plays a really vital role in that.”
With over 2,500 members, the Monash Law Students’ Society (LSS) is one of the largest student-run organisations in Australia. They present a variety of activities, provide study and career support and offer leadership opportunities that build work experience and boost resumes.
“I think probably my favourite was being the Queer Officer of the Monash Law Students' Society. That was just a great time to make a lot of friends and meet students from other law schools around Victoria,” remembers Harrison.
“Making events for your friends to come to and getting to meet queer leaders in the community was just a brilliant experience.”
The Monash Law Students’ Society organises events like the Women In Law Breakfast for students, as well as offering study support, leadership opportunities and a strong network.
3. It’s okay if you don’t get the study/work/life balance right from day one
There’s no doubt that studying a Bachelor of Laws, working part time and having a social life is a delicate balancing act.
It turns out that Harrison didn’t get that balance right in his first semester at Monash Law.
“I was just transitioning from high school, I didn't know how to study for exams, I wasn't particularly good at self-directing myself to study.”
But, with some support from the LSS and the practical experience of doing coursework, assignments and exams, Harrison found that he got into a groove during his second semester.
“When I was studying torts I realised that I could buy a 90-sheet spiral-bound book and as long as I was filling most of those pages with practice exams, that was what worked for me to be able to perform well in the exam,” explains Harrison.
“That was what I would do for every single law subject that I did. I would buy the same book, try to do the same number of practice exams, and start doing my notes in week 10.”
By identifying what worked for his exam preparations, Harrison was better able to identify what was required of him for each semester. He planned out each semester early on, and improved from the learnings of the previous semester.
“Once I was aware of that, I realised that I could also volunteer and work - just as long as I was able to hit that base requirement of what was needed for me.”
4. Join a Study Group
The transition from high school to university is a singular experience that comes with a certain amount of uncertainty. But we can live with a little bit of uncertainty - as long as we have access to advice, support and resources that will help us get through it.
“I think the stereotype of universities is that it's very difficult to make friends - it might be a bit of an isolating experience because there's a massive transition period,” suggests Harrison.
“In reality - even before I started classes, I had already started to meet people.”
Before classes begin in your Bachelor of Laws (Honours) you’ll be invited to Monash Law Orientation Week events. In addition to touring the Monash Law building and meeting our academics and researchers, this is an opportunity to meet other LLB students.
“I walked into my first Foundations of Law classroom and already knew eight to 10 faces and was able to sit with them and have a conversation. That was really central to my experience here,” says Harrison.
Those familiar faces became a study group that supported each other throughout their law school experience.
“At its peak, there were about 10 of us that would all pile into the law library from about week 12 and throughout swot vac.”
“We’d sit down and do the same exam together and then at the end of it, go get a coffee and around the table at the cafe have a chat about what we thought the answer was,” remembers Harrison.
The reason study groups work so well is because nobody is an expert on all topics, but somebody has always done more reading on a topic that they can helpfully explain to the group.
“And at other times, that was the role that I could play for other people. That knowledge sharing was absolutely vital to my time here,” confirms Harrison.
Forming a study group with classmates gives you access to the insights of others and a place where you can test your legal reasoning.
5. Claim your clinical guarantee
Monash Law’s community law clinics change the lives of clients, law students and the wider community. Our Clinical Legal Education Program gives law students a real-world experience as lawyers.
To be eligible to apply for a clinical program, you must have successfully passed 72 credit points of law study by the commencement of the clinical period.
“In terms of perhaps what was most helpful for technical skills and being a lawyer, I participated in the Clinical Legal Education Program and was placed at The Victorian Ombudsman one day a week for 12 weeks,” reveals Harrison.
Monash Law was the first law school in Australia to guarantee the offer of a clinical legal experience where you can work on real cases with real clients, under supervision of expert lawyers, while earning credit towards your degree.
We believe access to quality legal advice shouldn't be confined to those who can afford it and we’ve been offering community law clinics for over 40 years.
“Being embedded within The Victorian Ombudsman and seeing how all that worked helped contextualise how heaps of big organisations work and how big law firms work. So that was a really formative experience.”
As part of our Clinical Legal Education Program, Harrison worked with The Victorian Ombudsman, Deborah Glass who is also a Monash Law Alum.
Enjoy your time at Monash Law School
In addition to applying these top 5 tips for success at law school, Harrison Jones encourages you to enjoy your time at university as much as possible.
“I arrived here at Monash Law and was a bit overwhelmed in my first semester. I found it very difficult, but when I was studying torts in about week six I realised that I loved the subject. I loved the process of reasoned problem solving,” shares Harrison.
“Once I accepted that I loved it, I threw myself as hard as I could into study, and gave myself permission to pursue opportunities outside of the law, outside of university, and also extracurricular activities here within the law school.”
“So I think throw yourself into it as much as you can. Pursue as many opportunities as you can from as early as you can. If you can build that resume from your first year, then when you're applying for clerkships or scholarships, it doesn't look like this was all just an afterthought. It really shows that you've been committed to the law, you've been committed to these extracurricular activities for a while.”
To find out more about the Bachelor of Laws visit Monash Law or call 1800 MONASH (1800 666 274).
Watch the full interview with 2023 Victorian Rhodes Scholarship winner Harrison Jones and Bryan Horrigan, Executive Dean, Faculty of Law at Monash University.