We made it to the end of the most challenging semester you’ll hopefully ever face at university. Congratulations!
As a club, LAWSOC has always done most of our business on campus. Being away from UC, it was important to us that we continued to provide a service to law students throughout the lockdown, so we adapted. Never did we imagine needing to run online mooting, or have our tutors livestreaming to hundreds of law students from their bedrooms, but that’s what we did. Here’s hoping we can have a relatively normal Semester Two. Law students are a bunch who like to talk and we like to help each other out, but the lockdown kept us away from our peers. Between the law clubs, one of the things we decided to do was create the Meremere Members Facebook group. Our aim is for every law student at UC to be a member. It is an online space to connect law students and promote all our respective club initiatives. The group is also a platform for students to raise issues, which the clubs will anonymously pass onto the faculty. Advocacy has been on the forefront of our minds recently and we have made your voices heard. We all now enter a challenging period as law students and future lawyers. LAWSOC held an interesting panel discussion with the College of Law on what the future entails for us. It’s clear that the coming years will be a period of adjustment. We hope to see the profession become a more inclusive and diverse community as we go through this adjustment period. Firms may start to reevaluate their expensive office real estate, lawyers may increasingly work from home, and there may be increased demand for lawyers with specialist knowledge outside the law. Our panelists also stressed that students looking for law jobs will be in demand, especially when borders open and hundreds of lawyers will travel for overseas experiences. Finally, I would like to make you all aware of some flagship events coming up soon. First, Law Ball. You should be marking 25 June as the highlight of the your 2020 social calendar. Yes, there will be food this year. Secondly, Law Revue will be live on stage in August. Thirdly, LAWSOC elections are fast-approching. You’ll see the 2020 executive still running events until the end of the year but late-August is the time to find our successors. Keep an eye on our social media for updates. I highly encourage you to run for any of our challenging but rewarding executive roles. I would like to make special mention of all those who missed their opportunity to graduate in April. We recognise your years of hard work. Robert Petch LAWSOC President Welcome to the first ever fully online edition of Obiter; how very progressive.
We are putting out this edition in the hopes of maintaining a link with members of LAWSOC during the uncertain times of present. While face to face interaction and certain beloved events have fallen to the wayside, we want to reinforce the idea that not only in our capacity as the executive, but as fellow classmates, we are doing our all to ensure the transition back to normality goes as smoothly as possible. We cannot promise you a 5% increase in grades (hey thanks mate) however we’ve chucked together a few pages of stuff to take your mind off things as you wind down after exams. In this edition we are lucky to have had Raymond Elwood contribute a significant amount of work he has undertaken, in interviewing faculty, fellow students, and practitioners. Some Obiter staples such as red card ideas are unfortunately omitted due to the current climate, however we'll give you some inspiration (free of charge) to get you through; we call it Drinking with your flat because some of them went home for lockdown, have just got back, and drinking is the social glue that binds you. It's actually remarkably simple. Purchase some vintage William Mavericks at the local; no need for refrigeration, simply leave them overnight in the living room that your landlord swears has sufficient insulation to meet the legal requirements. Just for fun, incorporate the evening news into your imbibing and take a sip every time a new story comes on that makes you want to buy 2020 a mirror so it can take a long hard look at itself. Karen does't want to wear a mask because it's an infringement of her rights? Mav. Authoritarian foreign government passing further restrictive legislation? Mav. Recession just as you are about to graduate? You know the drill. While the seamless combination of high quality bourbon and refreshing cola is obviously not a healthy long term method of therapy, it is important to make the most of a bad situation and always keep in mind that course related costs where created for the express purpose of stimulating the commerce of local liquor stores. Having said that, 2020 has obviously been a weird one so far, and keeping in mind all that has gone on, it is more important now than ever to make sure we are looking after each other. We encourage anyone struggling, whether it be due to international events or having issues winding down, to reach out to loved ones, friends, or the array of services available through UC. LMFAO (lotsa mother frigging aroha only), Ed and Islay x |
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February 2023
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