Today's the day ...

[LiamKerrington]

Hi everyone,

today I received important mail regarding my final exam. The examination office has admitted me to the final exams in late January 2013 ...
Now things get much more serious over here.

I just let you know about this as an explanation in order to inform you that I will be off for the next a little more then two months - just in case you would wonder otherwise ...

So, happy Thanksgiving to you guys from the US (and anywhere else where thanksgiving is important), enjoy the nearing ending of WA season 3 and see you in February 2013 again ... Aye, and Merry X-Mess and a Happy New Year!

All the best!
Liam

[scbubba]

Hi everyone,

today I received important mail regarding my final exam. The examination office has admitted me to the final exams in late January 2013 ...
Now things get much more serious over here.

I just let you know about this as an explanation in order to inform you that I will be off for the next a little more then two months - just in case you would wonder otherwise ...

So, happy Thanksgiving to you guys from the US (and anywhere else where thanksgiving is important), enjoy the nearing ending of WA season 3 and see you in February 2013 again ... Aye, and Merry X-Mess and a Happy New Year!

All the best!
Liam

Best of luck, good sir. I hope you knock it out of the park.

Happy holidays and we'll keep the zombies out of the tower while you are gone.

[LiamKerrington]

Hi everyone,

part one is done. Today I put a lot of effort into the sixth of six written exams. Some time in May or June I will be informed about the results; and if something good's grace is on me then the results will be fair enough that I will be allowed to join into the frail of a final oral exam in June which would conclude my studies. Just wish me some luck.

Funny thing: Although I decided to skip this forum for a while, it kept me busy and I was pretty eager to get my opinions online a lot more then I expected it to happen. Well ... Anyway! Thanks for your support. Wish you well and see you around.

Now I just need a ton of sleep. Or two tons ...

All the best!
Liam

[reaper239]

so what were the exams for? high school, entrance exam, acadamy graduation? you're a really smart dude, and more importantly than actually knowing things is you can think critically, which is worlds more important than being able to spew back facts. no doubts you did great.

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

Things are moving in the right direction, hm, Liam?

[LiamKerrington]

Hi there,

so what were the exams for? high school, entrance exam, acadamy graduation? you're a really smart dude, and more importantly than actually knowing things is you can think critically, which is worlds more important than being able to spew back facts. no doubts you did great.

wow, thank you. That's very kind of you, reaper239.
I am a student of law here in Germany. And the written exam as well as the oral exam in June conclude the studies, which would make it an acadamy graduation (I think). This would make me a lawyer "first degree", if you like. With that I wouldn't be allowed to become a lawyer, actually, 'cause I would be considered only half a lawyer, if you like.
Instead I would have to pass two more years of legal clerkship which would be concluded with just another final exam. As of now I am not sure, if I want to do this. Since I am born in '76 and the time is running away like crazy, I actually think about considering my studies as finished in June this year, and I would like to get into a position as a legal consultant or adviser or stuff ... In fact I will hand in my applications by the end of february at various companies and I will look into what's going to be the result of this. If this is going to be too frustrating, I will reconsider the legal clerkship as the next step.
But, as we say in Germany: "You shall not honor the day before the eve", thus I will (have to) wait for the results of the written exams; this will help me decide things. The frustrating thing here in Germany with successfully passing the legal studies is that the number of candidates utterly failing is huge on a regular basis; so ... Not sure what to think of my future so far ... And yet ... I feel very good about what has happened during the last two weeks; and I feel like a heavy burden has fallen off me ...

funny_lawyer_mug.jpg

Things are moving in the right direction, hm, Liam?

Yep - at least, if I consider my efforts and attempts in my written exams as "moving in the right direction". Now things are to be decided by others - people which don't know me, and which I do not know. For them I am just a number - which would be candidate 5032-13. And they will have to decide, whether or not candidate 5032-13 passed the written exams. It is very frustrating to know that only two of the six written exams need to be passed successfully, and they have to amount to at least 21 'points' together, which seems to be a very low score considering the possible total of 180 in six perfect written exams; the frustrating part is that it is very hard to get more then 5 or 6 points with a single written exam (with 4 being the mark to having have scored successfully), which in return means that you actually have to pass three to four written exams of the six in order to pass the magic threshold of 21 ... The more I think of it, the more mad and crazy it drives me ... This system in Germany is well thought through - and crazy ...

All the best!
Liam

[reaper239]

so what do the exams consist of? my guess is there isn't a lot of multiple choice, but i can't quite imagine what kind of exam you would be taking. is it like essay questions, or do you have to, like, write up mock briefs, or... i don't know, other lawyer-y things?

[scbubba]

Liam,
congrats on getting through this part. I'm sure the waiting is gonna seem like an eternity but it will pass by....
Here's hoping that you did indeed pass this examination portion of your journey (I have a feeling you probably did) and that, regardless of what comes next, you're gonna tackle it with the same critical thought and hard work that you have so far.

Peace!

[LiamKerrington]

so what do the exams consist of? my guess is there isn't a lot of multiple choice, but i can't quite imagine what kind of exam you would be taking. is it like essay questions, or do you have to, like, write up mock briefs, or... i don't know, other lawyer-y things?

Mh. The written exams cover the three major branches of German law - public law (2 written exams), criminal law (1 written exam), and civil law (3 written exams). About 98% of the tasks in written exams look like this: the candidate gets a case with several different legal complications; then you have 5 hours time to fully understand the case, translate it into and compare it with written law, and in the end you need to come to a conclusion. This ends up with approximately 25-30 pages of hand-written text - think of it being an essay in a very "special" way of language, which would be best translated into English as "legal expertise", if you like. In general the cases and complications are based on "real" cases which were decided by the different high courts (Federal High Court, Federal Constitutional Court, Federal Adiministrative Court, European Court of Justice, Federal Labor Court) in Germany over the last 50 years; sometimes the cases are about new questions which were not decided yet. In the end it is not so important what exact result you have analyzed for yourself; more important is that you show you have undesrtood the principles and systematics of the different legal systems of coded law, and that you argue with the legal understanding of the coded law and not with common sense or none-legal arguments.
The other 2% of tasks may be small essays on certain legal questions for the candidate to prove a certain broad or general understanding of all things legal ...

The cases are challenging, since the time for working on each case is very, very short; 5 hours pass so quickly ... Really, in only one of the six exams I have finished my work - and that was about 5 minutes before the time was over; in three of the cases I forced some bad spelling through my pen and tried to press as much information in as little time and words as possible ... Crazy, I tell you.

If you are interested, in the PS you'll find the cases of my written exams during the last two weeks. I have abbreviated them a lot; and for the sake of simplicity I have left out several details which are/ were important for the case. Be advized: the answer to each of the cases is not as obvious as it seems on first sight ...

All the best!
Liam

P.S.:

#1 - civil law case - A car driver (Mr X) has to avoid another one (Mr D-Bag) who has violated several traffic rules. This evasive maneuver leads to damages on the car which is possessed by a rent-a-car-service; the car-owner wants money for the damges. Also the evading car driver kills a dog and hurts a second dog which both are owned by an old lady who was out for a walk with her dogs. She suffers heavy depressions due to the loss of the first dog (a German Dackel), while she insists on having her second dog (a cheap breed) to be treated by a vet; all in all her damages sum up to a lot of money. Now Mr X wants to know if he can claim all the money from Mr D-Bag, Mr X had/ has to pay to the car owner and the dog-loving grandma.

#2 - civil law case - Guy One sells his flat to Guy Two; they agree that after the ownership of the flat has changed, Guy Two will have some repairs be done by craftsmen and that the bill for those works are to be paid by Guy One. When they have officially signed the contract they come to agree on a second trade: Guy One sells an expensive and huge bookcase to Guy Two; but they agree that Guy Two has a week time to decide if he wants to step back from the contract. A few days later Guy Two meets the spout of Guy One and tells her that he does not want to buy the bookcase, but the spout forgets to inform her mate Guy One about it. When Guy Two gets into his new flat he is surprised to find the bookcase in the flat. Since the bookcase is in the flat the work of the craftsmen cannot start, which is why the bill for the craftsmen rises. Later Guy Two realizes that the flat is much more clairaudient then he expected it to be; instead of giving Guy One the chance to take care of it, Guy One invites craftsmen to solve the issue.
The questions in this case were, if Guy Two can claim all the additional costs he had from Guy One.

#3 - civil law case - Stupid S puts his laptop and laptop-case on a chair on a fair; it gets stolen. Finder F finds the case without the laptop, delivers it to the finder's office; and half a year later the office transfers ownership to F, because none claimed the case as his. Five months later S meets F in a bookstore and recognizes "his" case; then he grabs it and does not give it back to F.
Questions were: Who is the real owner of the case? And if the case is brought to court, how would the court decide, if a) F claims to get back the case with S not responding with own rights, and b) F claims to get back the case with S asking the court to rule him as the legal owner of the case?

#4 - criminal law - The three brothers A, B, C are notorious criminals who simply did small burglaries, thefts etc. One day they decide to kidnap the rich son S in order to extort half a million from his parents; they hide im in a nearby forest. One day before the exchange the forest burns down, and with it S dies.
Frustrated that the kidnapping and extortion went bad A, B, C linger around; they see a former school-mate X, who is hated by the three of them. They force him into a back-alley and start beating him up; they get more and more brutal; to the surprise of B and C A gets into a blood frenzy and kills X.
Shocked by this B runs away, followed by C and then by A; B is frightened that A might turn against him and C, while C already realized that A is not as mad; but C holds a grudge against A, which is why he insinuates to kill A to B. Then B turns around and stabs the surprised A who dies from the wounding.
In what way B and C have violated criminal law.

#5 - public law - The horse owner O has to go to jail. He owns 15 horses, but he does not care for the animals. Then the public authorities learn about the bad situation the animals were in, which is why a private group of horse-friends take care of the animals and address the public authorities to pay their bills; this the public authorities do. Then, a few days later the public authorities write a letter to the jailed O and tell him that he has to take care of the animals; and if he does not do so within the next two weeks, they would sell the animals. O did not respond and did not take any action. 2 1/2 months later the public authorities start a public auction and sell all the horses. O is furious and wants his horses back. What can he claim from the public authorities? And can he force the public authorities to return the ownership of the horses back to him with the new owners not accepting such a move?

#6 - public law - Soccer is a violent game, especially regarding the fans. The city of H establishes an edict which forbids fans to wear fan-articles and -clothing while visiting sport-events, because they believe that clothing supports violence. The fan F want this edict to be canceled by court. Will he be successfull?
The police in the city of H learn that certain fans from another soccer-team of another city will visit the city of H in six weeks, when their team is the guest against the city's team. That's why the police writes letters to several known hooligans and tell them: If you break law, we will inform the drivers' licence authorities about your deeds, and they will have to consider the cancellation of your driving licences. The hooligan G thinks this treatment by the police is not legal, which is why I wants this to be canceled by a court-decision.
Since the violence in stadiums is getting out of control, the police forbids the owner of the stadium in the city of H to sell tickets to the fans from guest-teams. The losses for the stadium-owner are about 50.000 per match. He wants to know if the police may prohibit the selling of tickets to fans from the outside.

[LiamKerrington]

Hi there,

Liam,
congrats on getting through this part. I'm sure the waiting is gonna seem like an eternity but it will pass by....
Here's hoping that you did indeed pass this examination portion of your journey (I have a feeling you probably did) and that, regardless of what comes next, you're gonna tackle it with the same critical thought and hard work that you have so far.

Peace!

thank you very much. That is very kind of you. Where ever this journey brings me and how ever hard this waiting will become ... I will get passed it. Too many downs in my life so far; it couldn't get much worse by now ... And I will try to keep up with your expectiations.

Peace and all the best!
Liam