The Law Society are an educational organisation that have a duty to provide a minimum standard of care to those paying for the FE1 exams. Every year, multiple petitions are created for their lack of organisation, communication, and regard for FE1 candidates. We are people paying for a service that hinges heavily on our future careers and being treated like we are an inconvenience and ignored.

This has a considerable toll on the mental health and well-being of candidates. 

The only thing that seems to elicit any sense of urgency in them is being called out more publicly – e.g. being tweeted at, or receiving calls/emails from firms/training solicitors on behalf of exam candidates etc. It's not fair that students are put in the position where this is their only option when they will be understandably reluctant to put their name out there publicly or kick up a fuss in complaint against the professional body they are hoping to be a part of for the rest of their careers.

With the above in mind, this petition proposes a number of potential solutions to current and on-going problems;

1. Push out the March 2021 exams to late March or April to account for the loss of time both from the Autumn 2020 sitting being pushed out and then the lengthier amount of time than prior years marking exams. By not doing so, this results in candidates having only 1.5 months to prepare for any failed exams, in addition to worrying about the limited time available for requesting scripts and re-checks before the early March sitting.

EDIT: As of January 15th, the Law society has published the new examination dates for FE-1 Spring 2021 candidates. Brilliant news. For detailed, up-to-date information regarding the FE-1s, please visit the Law Society's website. 

2. Provide a proper marking scheme for candidates. Period.

3. Provide proper exam feedback for candidates. The examiner reports vary in quality and some do not set out helpful guidelines for students to improve. Furthermore, exam scripts are given a single numerical value with no indication as to what is being afforded marks. A re-check (115EUR) costs more than the exam (105EUR) itself which serves as a financial tactic to provide income and deter candidates from applying. This would not be necessary for candidates if they had a marking scheme to go by.

4. Engage in better communication with candidates. There are a vast amount of individuals who never hear back from the FE1 section in the Law Society via email or phone, learn last minute about changes to exam structure or results, hear about important updates through the grapevine or Tweets rather than contacting candidates formally via email, waiting for refunds from August 2020 exams still in January 2021 with no reason as to why. This is astounding and does not equate to their mission statement and values located on their website (see below).

In continuing to provide such a poor service above, the Law Society is taking advantage of this power imbalance and their monopoly in respect of FE1 students who pay them huge sums of money to sit these exams, while at the same time the organisation posts frequently about mental health and supporting new entrants to the profession and younger colleagues.

I would like to remind everyone of their Mission Statement:

"The Law Society of Ireland is committed to providing a high standard of service to our members, students, stakeholders and members of the public at all times. We act with the highest possible standards of integrity, fairness and independence as we work to fulfil our Vision and Mission in accordance with our Values.

Enquiries:
We will..

- Work to make all of our communications with you straightforward, clear and concise.

- Respond to all enquiries promptly. If we are unable to respond with a full answer to your question, we will let you know we’re looking into it and when you can expect an answer. If we are out of the office, we will let you know who to contact in our place through our voicemail or out-of-office email."

This has not been the experience of those trying to become successful members of the Law Society who will be equally accountable to uphold such values once becoming qualified members. We believe that in our effort to join a society that states the above, the above values and statements should be true.