This is a guest post from Leo Miles.
What is perhaps the biggest myth in Oxbridge law admissions is that candidates aren’t expected to know much about the law.
In a way, it’s true. And in many ways, it’s not.
The stellar candidates who successfully pass the interview may not have the legal knowledge yet, but they certainly have that legal mindset. They exemplify the thinking skills and vocal presentation tutors want to see in their tutorials. These candidates may have these skills naturally or they already fine-tuned these skills through the rest of their education.
For the rest of us, we have to figure out how to study for the law interview with very minimal information.
I’ve spoken to many past Oxbridge law students, read through Oxbridge professors’ textbooks, and finally narrowed down the key elements to study. I’ll highlight one, in this post, and the rest you can find in my book The Oxbridge Law Interview Tiny Handbook: Getting into Oxford and Cambridge Law. Available on Amazon.
Causation
Causation, on the surface level, is when one situation leads to another. I’ll go ahead and represent it with a chain.
Example: The kid kicks the stuffed animal. The stuffed animal falls over.
kid kicks -> stuffed animal falls over
At first glance, we can easily see who’s at fault here. If the owner of the stuffed animal comes over, we can point to the kid.
But what if there’s more to the story?
Alternative Reasons
During an Oxbridge interview, the tutor wants to see how far you can look beyond the obvious. Any scenario they give you will be tweaked and extended to see how you react.
So let’s tweak our example.
Example: There’s a birdhouse on the grass in the yard. The kid, not paying attention, trips over it. In that same motion, he kicks the stuffed animal. The stuffed animal then falls over.
birdhouse on grass -> kid trips + kicks -> stuffed animal falls over
Now we have several added elements, and the culpability of the kid comes into question.
Awareness
If it can be determined that the kid not noticing the birdhouse was reasonable, then perhaps the kid shouldn’t be blamed for the stuffed animal falling over. Or at least, the kid shouldn’t be punished that severely.
On the other hand, if the birdhouse was glaringly obvious in shape, bright red, and a gigantic heap on the grass, then the kid’s inattentiveness would be a charge against him.
Another Extension
How about we take it one step further? We can add another element to this example.
Example: The brother likes to play pranks on the kid. He sets a small birdhouse on the grass in the yard, knowing the kid wouldn’t notice it. Just like he predicted, the kid trips over it. In that same motion, the kid kicks the stuffed animal. The stuffed animal then falls over.
brother puts birdhouse on grass -> kid trips + kicks -> stuffed animal falls over
Here, there’s another party involved. The brother very deliberately placed the birdhouse, knowing the kid would trip over it. Is the brother to be blamed for the stuffed animal falling, then?
There are many factors to consider here as well.
Could the brother have reasonably predicted the stuffed animal would be affected by his prank? Perhaps he didn’t even see the stuffed animal. Should he be on the hook for an unintended consequence?
Would the kid have tripped if the brother hadn’t put the birdhouse there? He could’ve always been a clumsy kid.
Should the kid not be held responsible at all? Even if he was pranked, he was the one who kicked the stuffed animal. Not the brother.
Questions and Answers
During your law interview, you’ll be given scenarios and your job is to analyze them. You’ll be asking similar questions as the ones mentioned previously to support your answer. The topics covered could include driving, doctors, family members, etc.
These topics are familiar to you, but the way you analyze and think them through may not be.
I hope this article gave you a taste of what to expect. Good luck with your interview, and I hope you got a stellar score on the LNAT!
If you’re interested in reading all the scenarios and concise explanations for each one, check out my book The Oxbridge Law Interview Tiny Handbook: Getting into Oxford and Cambridge Law. Available on Amazon.