NCA Grad Tips: Professional Responsibility Tips & Notes
Hello current and prospective NCA students! In today’s blog I’ll outline my experience with and tips for taking the Professional Responsibility (PR) NCA exam which is a core exam for all NCA candidates. This means that even if you’ve already done Professional Responsibilities in previous studies, or even practised in another jurisdiction, you will still need to complete this NCA to obtain your certificate. Note that I wrote my PR exam before the most recent August 2019 syllabus was released, but the syllabus merely added a couple of cases and so the information below is still relevant today.
Initial Thoughts
Overall, the content of the PR course is not that difficult to grasp. The Model Code of Professional Ethics is quite straightforward, and the cases are memorable. Since the exam isn’t province-specific, you do not have to spend a lot of time understanding each province’s codes of ethics; simply focus on the FLSC Model Code and use any knowledge of provincial differences as optional points of interest to collect bonus marks.
Difficulty and Key Focuses
Again, the exam is not difficult if you’ve studied properly. The course begins with a lot of “theory” around why we have professional responsibility and why the rules are structured in the manner that they are. While you may not receive a direct question on these materials, don’t skip them! I found this theoretical foundation quite helpful in building a PR mindset that helped me reason my way through the subsequent materials and fact patterns.
In addition to the FLSC Model Code, there are a number of cases to wrap your head around. Many students say: “Focus on the Model Code and that is enough.” While technically true, I found the cases were helpful “handles” for contextualizing and understanding the code itself. Seeing how courts have interpreted and applied the rules is key to explaining your answers to problem questions on the exam. The cases often have very memorable facts which makes for interesting reading as well.
Unlike in other courses where knowing the rules that cases stand for is often sufficient, PR Cases turn on their facts (similar to tort or civil procedure cases). Knowing the broad stroke facts of PR cases is key as this will help you apply and distinguish cases against the facts of each problem question on the exam and effectively explain how a court would likely apply the model code based on the fact pattern. Depending on which version of the PR exam you receive, it may be problem-question heavy. Therefore, investing the time in case law is worthwhile.
Things to Look Out For
Everything is fair game for the PR exam but there are certain difficult concepts that you should ensure you have a firm grasp on. One of the most relevant, I think, is the difference between Privileged client information and Confidential client information as you are likely to receive a question that will revolve on this difference (e.g. what can and can’t disclose given certain facts). I would also ensure you have a clear understanding of the conflict of interest chapters as this is prime material for problem questions.
Resources
I personally used the NCA Tutor™️ notes to pass my exam; they have recently been updated to match the August 2019 syllabus, contain everything you need, and are easy to understand. Additionally, I am enclosing my Professional Responsibility Mind Maps which I used for quick reference in the exam—having read the cases and notes closely, this was all I needed to jog my memory on facts and rules when answering problem questions. The Mind Map also references page numbers where further details can be found in the NCA Tutor notes. The notes have since been updated so the pages may be off by 1 or 2 pages. You can use the detailed table of contents in the notes to find the references and update them.
The PR sample exam provided on the NCA website is fairly representative of a real exam and is a good way to practice structuring your answers once you are done studying. You will also want to print a copy of the Model Code and bring it with you; however, I did not find I used it at all in the exam due to time constraints.
Happy Studying!
- Tiffany
Tiffany is an LLM candidate at NYU Law. and a regular blogger for NCA Tutor™.