Stuff Law Students Like
What’s Your
Perfect Blend? Annie Renouf
C
offee is to law students what honey is to bees, we just can’t live without it. It can be argued that your favourite coffee order says a lot about you and your study style in law school. Whether you are all about a well-structured hypothetical or the kind of person that turns up to a 9am tutorial barely functioning. Here, we break down what the campus baristas think of you. The Long Black You love a black letter law approach. Your day usually starts with a series of perfectly constructed case notes and a long black from Cult Eatery (that you got a 10% discount on with your MULS membership). The same way you don’t dispute precedent, your advocacy for legal precision makes you aim to ensure that everyone in your tutorial knows the well-established rules. You keep an organised collection of unit-based hypothetical scenarios with supporting case law, so you never go into an exam unprepared. You definitely don’t plan to be like your procrastinating predecessors and suffer from the errors of the Ghosts of Law school’s past. You’re efficient and set in your study strategy, which is rooted in tradition and has proven to be successful every time. The Eager Espresso You like your coffee strong and value the certainty that comes from knowing that it will give you the right motivation to survive the long day ahead . You’re an undeniable textual approach fan, seeking to enforce what the law actually says rather than adopting an interpretation of what it should say. The sentiment that judges have no right to subvert the law because they Ed.1 2021
disagree, is something you stand by in law school. When it comes to life beyond university, you have established clear boundaries and work just as hard as you play. The Latte Lover You enjoy a latte because there are so many ways to experience it. To be fair who doesn’t love a coffee with caramel or vanilla syrup? Variety is so important to you that you don’t limit yourself to a common construction of legal theory because the strict mechanics of adjudication doesn’t appeal to you at all. You’re the kind of student to assess the background of a case and have a detailed breakdown of each judge’s approach, while being a friend that tries to consider valid points brought up in tutorial discussions. This unwavering support for legal realism often finds you learning beyond the prescribed legal rules and principles, initiating tutorial discussions about the development of the law. The Mocha Machine Mocha isn’t really a coffee, though we can give it credit for trying to sell itself as one when you see it on a menu. Just like any law student who gets made fun of for their coffee order, you’re all about promoting justice and working towards change. You’re a true judicial activist that focuses on a contextual approach to adjudication, not accepting the limitations prescribed by the application of clear and relevant legal rules. There’s no dispute of your belief that courts should accept change is the norm and you know that you deserve friendships where you can challenge each other through healthy debate. thebrief.muls.org | 29
