Teacher or Lawyer?

Teacher or Lawyer? That was a very difficult decision for me to make 18 years ago. I was a teacher who was doing London University's External LL.B. Programme at that time and just when I was about to complete my final year for this programme, I was offered a place at University Putra Malaysia (UPM) to do a degree in TESL. I wanted to complete my law studies first but at the same time I did not want to delay or reject the offer from UPM. So I ended up killing two birds with one stone. But the problem was that teaching and doing two courses at the same time left me with no time for myself. I was so busy that I did not even have the time to eat. Life was so hectic for me that in the end, I decided to give up my law studies and made up my mind to be a teacher till the end. But today, 18 years from then, I am beginning to ask myself whether I made the right decision to give up my law studies 18 years ago particularly when I was only left with 3 more papers to complete. Did I make a mistake? Am I doing what I really want? This is a difficult question for me to answer now and I choose not to answer. Well, let me reminisce here about those good old days when I thought I would end up being a lawyer and share my collection of law books with my readers. Although I did not complete my final year, I have a very deep, thorough, strong and profound legal knowledge in many legal matters that may be useful to me. After all, knowledge gained is never wasted.

During those days, London University's LL.B. Programme was divided into Scheme A (3 years) and Scheme B (4 years). I started with Scheme A with the LL.B Intermediate where I took 4 papers namely Criminal Law, Law of Contract, Constitutional Law and English Legal System.


LL.B. Intermediate
When I was doing the LL.B. Intermediate, Criminal Law used to be my favourite subject.

J.C. Smith and Brian Hogan's 'Criminal Law: Cases and Materials' was known as the Bible of

Criminal Law at that time.

 

Holborn Law Tutor's Criminal Law 'Suggested Solutions Pack'  really helped me a lot in passing the Criminal Law paper.

 

I did not really like English Legal System but nevertheless P.F. Smith ad S.H. Bailey's text was indispensable to all law students at that time.  Thanks to ELBS Low Priced Editions for making the book available to us(I have yet to find my Contract and Constitutional Law texts).

After completing the LL.B. Intermediate, I changed to Scheme B where I only took two papers in the second year.

LL.B. Second Year
In the second year, I took up Law of Trusts and Law of Tort. I actually spent a fortune buying law books.

Paul Todd's 'Textbook on Trusts' is easier to read and understand than Philip H. Pettit's 'Equity and the Law of Trusts'

 

 Philip H. Pettit's 'Equity and the Law of Trusts' - the main text for Trusts at that time

Equity and Trusts by JG Duddington - a summary of Trusts

L.B. Curzon's Lecture Notes on Equity and Trusts is the best reference book for Trusts

Holborn Law Tutors' Law of Trusts Past Examination Questions and Suggested Solutions

University of London's Study Guide on the Law of Trusts

 

Tony Weir's 'Casebook on Tort'. I find that Tort is more interesting than Trusts

 Winfield and Jolowicz on Tort

 AJ Pannett's Handbook on the Law of Torts

Holborn Law Tutors' Law of Tort Suggested Solutions Pack

Vivienne Harpwood's Law of Tort Lecture Notes - the best revision book I could ever have for Tort

 

 

LL.B. Third Year

For the third year, I took three subjects, namely, Succession, Family Law, and English Land Law.

Caroline Sawyer's Lecture Notes on Succession, Wills & Probate - the best revision book for Succession at that time,

 



The Cavendish Q&A Series for Succession by Ian Jones - comparable to Holborn Law Tutors' Suggested Solutions Pack.

 

Holborn Law Tutors' Suggested Solutions for Succession

University of London's Study Guide for Succession

 

L.B. Curzon's Lecture Notes on Family Law - the best revision book for Family Law of that time

Holborn Law Tutors' Family Law Suggested Solutions Pack - indispensable to all law undergraduates

Family Law Q&A Series by Chris Barton, Hilary Doupe & Mary Hibbs - comparable to Holborn Law Tutors' Suggested Solutions Pack

University of London's Study Guide on Family Law

 

Blackstone's Statutes on Family Law by Mika Oldham - indispensable in the exam hall. This was the only book which we were allowed to take into the exam hall. 

 

 Martin Dixon's Lecture Notes and Q&A Series on English Land Law - two very useful books for all law students

Casebook on Land Law by Meryl Thomas

 LB Curzon's Handbook on Land Law

 

Holborn Law Tutors' Land Law Suggested Solutions Pack for English Land Law

 

LL.B. Fourth Year

In the final year I took Jurisprudence and Legal Theory, Commercial Law, and Law of Evidence. Although I attended Kemayan ATC's intensive revision course for the LL.B. fourth year examination, I did not sit for the exam due to my lack of time in trying to handle two university programmes at the same time. 

 

LB Curzon's Lecture Notes and Q&A Series on Jurisprudence

 



University of London's Study Guide on Jurisprudence and Legal Theory

Holborn Law Tutors' Jurisprudence and Legal Theory Suggested Solutions Pack

Kemayan ATC's intensive revision course on Jurisprudence and Legal Theory.

 

Michael Furmston and Peter Shears Lecture Notes on Commercial Law

University of London's Study Guide on Commercial Law

The Cavendish Q&A Series on Commercial Law by Paul Dobson and Jo Reddy

Kemayan ATC's intensive revision course on Commercial Law

 

Alan Taylor's Lecture Notes on Evidence

Kemayan ATC's intensive revision course on Law of Evidence

The Cavendish Q&A Series on Evidence by Christopher Allen