FE1 Preparation Program

Preparatory Course for the Law Society of Ireland's Final Examination - First Part (FE-1) (Entrance Examination)

The Law School at Portobello College was founded in 1991 and had the internationally renowned and distinguished Professor John Wylie, the leading authority on Irish Property Law, as its Founding Father and course consultant.

Portobello College Law School now offers Preparatory Courses for the Final Examination - First Part (FE-1) of the Law Society of Ireland each year. 

What is the Final Examination - First Part (FE-1)

The Final Examination - First Part is the entrance examination to the Law Society of Ireland. A person holding a degree in any discipline or who has passed or gained exemption from the Preliminary Examination can sit this examination. It is held twice a year, normally in April and September.  

The next two sittings of the FE-1 Examinations will be from March 28th - 14th April 2008 and from 29th September - 5th October 2008. Examinations will be held in both Dublin & Cork.

It consists of the following eight papers:

• European Union Law
• Equity
• Constitutional Law
• Company Law
• Criminal Law
• Law of Contract
• Law of Tort
• Real Property   

Course Duration: 14 weeks in total

Timetable:

Thursday
6.00 pm - 8.00 pm  - EU Law
8.15 pm - 10.15 pm - Criminal Law

Friday
6.00 pm - 8.00 pm - Constitutional Law
8.15 pm - 10.15 pm - Equity & Trusts

Saturday
9.00 am - 11.00 am - Contract Law
11.15 am - 1.15 pm - Tort Law
1.15 pm - 1.45 pm - Lunch
1.45 pm -  3.45 pm - Company Law
4.00 pm - 6.00 pm - Property Law

Preparatory Course Profile:

The course is designed with the FE-1 students€™ needs in mind.  Its main features are:

• It is taught through the medium of printed notes explained and illustrated by experienced lecturers and practitioners
• Students focus on FE-1 examination technique from the outset and past examination papers are studied and examined internally
• Essays in all subjects are set and marked each week
• Students have full access to the extensive facilities offered at the College's Law Library
• Students have free access in the College to critical legal search engines - such as Lexus Nexus
• Photocopying facilities are made available to students

Course Fee:
The course fee is 375 per module, or 2,700 for all eight modules

Application Procedures:
Applicants for these courses should complete the application form (available online) and return it along with the relevant payment to The Admissions Office, Dublin Business School incorporating Portobello College, 13/14 Aungier St, Dublin 2

First Irish Examination:

Every aspiring solicitor, regardless of nationality or country of origin, must sit and pass the First Irish Examination. This is a written and oral examination in the Irish language. Please note that the Law Society will not and cannot grant exemption from this examination. This Examination is held twice a year, usually in Winter and Summer. The closing date for applications is about six weeks before the examination. The First Irish Examination must be passed before an application can be made for consent from the Law Society to become a trainee solicitor. While you do not have to pass the First Irish Examination before you sit the FE-1 Examinations many students elect to do this course in or around the time they are preparing for their FE-1 Examinations.

DBS offers a short Irish course for those who wish to sit this examination. For course dates and fees please contact the Law School directly.

Lecturer Profiles

Equity and Trusts
Clem McGauley BL is the course Director for the FE-1 Preparation Programme. He has fifteen years experience in preparing students for these examinations and has lectured in Constitutional Law, Contract Law and Equity and Trusts.

Company Law
John Eardly BL is a practising barrister based in Dublin. He practices primarily in the area of civil and commercial litigation. John is also a member of the external academic staff of both the Law Society of Ireland and the Honorable Society of King's Inns. He is editor of the Employment Law Review and is a regular contributor to conferences and professional journals.

Criminal Law
Majella Walsh BL is a practising barrister specialising in Criminal Law. She has had extensive Criminal law lecturing experience and is co-author of "Revenue Investigations and Enforcement", published by Butterworths. Before her call to the Bar, Majella spent seven years working in the financial services sector.

Law of Tort
Shane O'Driscoll BL has an extensive general practice but specialises in the area of Tort law. He is an experienced lecturer who has contributed to numerous legal publications.

Constitutional law
Joanna Howells Roder BL is an experienced teacher and practicing barrister. She has an extensive knowledge of Irish Constitutional Law both academically and in practice.

EU Law
Glen Gibbins B.L. is a practicing barrister who has had many years experience in preparing students for the FE1 Examinations. He has an extensive general practice

Contract Law
Deirdre Creighton BL practices in the area of Employment Law, Immigration, Contract, Tort and Landlord and Tenant Law. Alongside her practice, Deirdre reports regularly for the Irish Reports. She has ten years experience at university level.

Property Law
Maura Paula Guinness BL is a practicing barrister based in Dublin. Prior to her call to the Bar she was a solicitor for several years and has had many years experience in tutoring and lecturing on the Law Society professional Course.

History of the School of Law
The Law School at Portobello College was founded in 1991 and had the internationally renowned and distinguished Professor John Wylie, the leading authority on Irish Property Law, as its Founding Father and course consultant.

Currently, the undergraduate law School offers a three year honours LLB degree. This LLB Law Degree at DBS incorporating Portobello College is validated by the University of Wales and HETAC - the first of its kind in Ireland. Since October 2006 the Postgraduate Law School has offered a Higher Diploma in Legal Studies. This is a one year, full-time academic course and will cover all eight subjects examinable at the FE1 examinations. The Design and content of this course makes it an excellent preparation for those intending to qualify as a solicitor.

The Law School at DBS prides itself also on offering an intensive preparation course for those who intend sitting the eight FE-1 Examinations over one or more sittings. This is attended by law and non-law graduates alike and it offers the most focused preparation for what are considered the most challenging professional exams in a solicitor's early training. Those who have attended the FE-1 course at the Law School attest that it continues to provide the best exam centered preparatory course currently on offer around the country.

DBS is one of the leading and largest independent third level educational institutions in Ireland with in excess of 8,500 students per annum studying a wide and varied range of curricula. However, our roots are firmly based in preparing students for the rigorous demands of professional examinations.

As a subsidiary of Kaplan Inc., the educational division of The Washington Post, DBS has engaged in an ongoing programme of developing and enhancing the facilities we provide as part of the learning experience. The lecture rooms at DBS provide you with a relaxed, informal study environment equipped with tools necessary to deliver a product that appeals to individual learning styles, whilst promoting active learning.

Facilities for Law Students

The entire second floor of our main city centre campus building is exclusively dedicated to library and electronic learning resources to augment the traditional classroom delivery. These are all essential ingredients in achieving "Excellence through learning" in the Final examinations (Part one) examinations. We also provide study rooms; canteen; subsidised parking facilities and a dedicated administrative support team to ensure your learning experience runs smoothly. We constantly remind ourselves that whilst you are primarily our students, you are also our customers.

The Law Library at Portobello College has an unrivalled reputation providing seating for approximately 175 law students. The total Law Book Stock currently stands at some 2,800 volumes (not including Law Report series) and the Library holds all of the major Irish Law Report series and a number of the more important UK and European Law Reports. As well as maintaining subscriptions to all current Irish legal journals, the Library subscribes to most of the more important UK legal journals which cover areas taught in the LLB Degree Programme.

Critically for FE-1 students, a number of the more important sites of legal interest are bookmarked and easily accessible on the Library Network, including BAILII, Delia Venables' Guide, EUR-Lex, The Legislative Observatory, CURIA, Irish Law, and Pre-Lex. The CD-Rom service available contains full-text of all Irish Acts, along with some Bills and Statutory Instruments.