law scholarship speech help! (1 Viewer)

[omg_a]

i'm applying for a scholarship to study law next year, from a law firm, and i have to give a 15-25 min address on this:

when a society's system of law breaks down (for example George Speight and the Fiji coup), the consequences are horrific. In particular, media criticism can perpetuate and influence society's perceptions of law, their systems of law (or non-law) and how society reacts to and interacts with law. Our legal system can not exist without lawyers and a system of law is critical to Australian society. Accordingly lawyers should never doubt the importance of their role. discuss.

i have absoluterly no idea where to even begin, any help would be fabulous.....ideas for legal refs, research places, anything/??

 

[Frigid]

i'm applying for a scholarship to study law next year, from a law firm,

eh a scholarship like that exists? where?

okay a list of research places:
AUSTLII - www.austlii.edu.au
WORLDLII - www.worldlii.org
you might wanna check out the law journal links etc

go to a uni library and then look up err i dunno, 'lawyer role' etc?

 

[Ribbon]

Uh thats a tough one. I would break it down into a few parts - quick discussion of the examples given to show you bothered to research it/know what you are talking about, discussion of how media effects perceptions of legal system and how it can affect the way people act. Can legal system exist without lawyers (Hint: I think they want you to answer no to this one)? Is a system of law critical to aus society? why? Why is it important that lawyers never doubt the importance of thier role?

The first thing that jumps to mind (because it really pisses me off) is that the media skews everything to make it look like the justice system is shite (mostly by saying so and so murdered some guy and got 2 years, but those kids that raped that girl got 22... that sends the message rape is worse than murder, blah blah blah its so unjust/unfair)... The justice system in aus has its problems but its not as bad as the media makes it out to be... Another effect of the media is peoples moral justifications behind committing a crime - eg, media portrays speed cameras as revenue raisers, so people getting caught speeding feel thier actions are justified, and they are hard done by, even though they committed a crime.

The point about the legal system needing lawyers you could probably discuss litgants in person and the problems they create like dodgy precedents, ect.... and duh a system of law is critcal to australian society - maybe you could mention the system of law has a duel purpose in regulating the actions of citizens and very importantly the actions of government - ie, no arbitary persecition ect.

for legal refs try some of the online law journals. I won't list them because I forget which ones I can only access because I am an anu student and which ones are free. I know austlii is free but I am not sure how well it goes in ways of journals. If you google it you will come up with alot of law commission reports and reports from individual courts, just don't use any newpaper articles or opinion pieces.

Hope that gives you somewhere to start from... good luck with it... how much is it worth?

 

[MoonlightSonata]

Some thoughts:

what does the law actually do?
how does law govern every aspect of society?
what type of legal system do we have?
--> (adversarial system)
--> consequently, why are lawyers important?
how does law allow commercial exchanges?
--> law of contract
--> making promises enforcable
--> allowing consistency in business transactions
what role does the law play in protecting people's interests?
--> consumer protection; sale of goods, trade practices act
--> land law, intellectual property, personal property: allows consistent system of recognising property interests
--> torts: bodily integrity, economic, property interests
--> criminal law: ensuring peace and order in society
--> constitutional law: regulating government powers, democracy, separation of powers, human rights?
media criticism
--> need for public confidence in the law
--> Mabo:
----> recognition of native title
----> horrible storm of reaction when legal effect basically nothing at all
----> symbollic effect
----> the vibe

 

[omg_a]

it's from a law firm in my town, and it's worth $8000 a year. i nearly died when i saw the topic. i don't even do legal studies, so feeling rather lost right now!! thanks for your help!! i have.....1 week exactly to do this. argh!!

 

[omg_a]

phew! it's over! i haven't had the interview bit, but the speech is done. thanks for your help so much!!! very very useful!! i think i find out in the next two weeks if i get it or not. fingers crossed!!! and i have to actually get into law as well...ah, must study!!

 

[omg_a]

interview done too...find out early next week the decision...country law firm work seems a lot more varied than city firms. interesting.