goodbye

18 Feb 2026 – Setting the Record Straight

Having received Telegram, Instagram and even LinkedIn DMs from, and spoken to several current students, we (the current and original helpimlawst admins, Bryan '22 and Sheares '25) feel the need to set the record straight with regards to the chain of events that led to the deprecation of helpimlawst. This is our version of events, and the basis on which we acted.

History of helpimlawst

“helpimlawst” was set up in 2020/2021 (thank you to Jason '23 for the name). helpimlawst comprises two components: (1) the notes platform/“muggers” (previously at je.helpimlawst.com), and (2) the forum (at community.helpimlawst.com). Of greater concern to the student population is the muggers platform, so let’s begin there.

Before helpimlawst, there were, to the best of our knowledge, two iterations of muggers platforms: JustEnrichment 1.0 and JustEnrichment 2.0. At the time we were students, we were only familiar with JustEnrichment 2.0. JustEnrichment 2.0 mostly only contained notes for electives, and at the time that we took over, was nowhere as comprehensive as helpimlawst today. The official name for muggers at helpimlawst.com is thus “JustEnrichment 3.0”.

When we were students, notes and muggers were mostly still circulated informally, although FOCC would occasionally consolidate first year muggers and distribute them as part of Orientation. This was a great effort that we were also part of, but we still felt like there were inequities in access to information and resources. If you weren’t friends with the right seniors, didn’t make it into a lucky OG, or perhaps just couldn’t attend Orientation, you very often missed out on the latest muggers, the best muggers, or didn’t even know about muggers altogether (unimaginable, I know). We didn’t like that, we didn’t think it was fair. Everyone deserves to do well in law school.

And so, Bryan '22, Kay Han '22, and Sheares '25 undertook an independent effort to set up helpimlawst. That is, independent of NUS Law Club, and independent of the NUS Law Faculty. We stress this, because this explains why we are still involved in running this such a long time later.

It was only after we had a minimum viable product, that we approached the Faculty for their blessing. We proposed that the Faculty/NUS Law Club purchase a used server workstation, running on the NUS network, to host (1) a forum for students to share information about module reviews (which was previously done on Overheard@BTC), (2) student subclub websites and digital services (which were previously run off expensive paid services), and (3) a muggers platform for sharing notes.

Faculty was amenable to (1) and (2), albeit with concerns about moderating the forum to ensure that students would not post toxic or abusive content on the forum. However, Faculty was VERY clear that they could not sanction a muggers platform, nor the involvement of NUS Law Club in running a muggers platform. This was because of both the copyright concerns inherent with such a platform, as well as the pedagogical concerns over encouraging or facilitating, in any way, the use of muggers. As such, we agreed that we would run the forum and the student subclub services under NUS Law Club, and that NUS Law Club (and by extension NUS Law) would NOT be involved in operating the muggers platform. It was understood that IF we decided to set up a muggers platform, then we would be running it in our personal capacity as students.

Along the same lines, we were also involved in proposing and creating the position of “Academics Director” in AY2021/2022. Prior to that, the position did not exist. The Academics Director was originally intended to moderate the forum (community.helpimlawst.com) and to canvass for submissions for the forum, as well as to advocate for student grievances over academic matters (for e.g. grading issues in Trial Advocacy). In line with the understanding that muggers was NOT (and could NOT be) part of NUS Law Club’s official activities, the Academics Director was not meant to administer the muggers platform.

That said, since asking for submissions for the Academics Guide/forum is also a prime opportunity to ask for students to contribute their muggers, at some point the Academics Director also began helping out with the muggers platform (whereas previously, the FOCC, in their personal capacity, onboarded all freshmen to the platform – especially when the registration site sometimes broke). And we were not opposed to this, since it was always intended that helpimlawst be carried on by students, and we were anxious to find successors to manage the platform.

Clashes with NUS Law Club in 2025

Sometime in July 2025, we received a flood of messages from alumni, telling us that they were unable to access JustEnrichment 3.0. We were puzzled, and reached out to Law Club. Law Club’s then-Academics Director informed us that they had made the decision to exclude alumni from accessing the muggers platform, and had begun deleting alumni accounts without consulting anybody. Upon speaking further with them, they informed us that they had also taken the decision to exclude LLMs from the muggers platform, on the basis that “LLMs did not take the same modules as us and had no use for the muggers”. For those who are confused, this is not true. We also found out that Law Club had decided to limit JDs to sharing a single account, with the stated reason that the muggers platform “could not support that many accounts”. Again, for those who are confused, this is not true.

We disagreed completely with their series of decisions, and thus decided to rollback the changes, and to temporarily pause Law Club’s involvement in the administration of the muggers platform. As we had always retained technical control, this was possible for us to do without Law Club’s agreement. Upon losing control, Law Club reached out. We had a discussion with the then-President of Law Club, who offered to promise that alumni, LLMs, and JDs would all retain access now and in the future, in exchange for us handing over the platform to Law Club. We refused, on the basis that we no longer trusted Law Club to run the platform equitably and in line with the original goals of the project. Much less, of course, the fact that because of the Faculty’s previous opposition to muggers, Law Club was never supposed to run muggers.

We also understood that the Law Club had some security concerns which partially accounted for their decision to limit helpimlawst to existing undergraduate students. We responded to this concern by offering to take on the burden of verifying that all users are NUS Law students/alumni, including working with FOCC to onboard the next batch of Y1s.

Our Point of View

We presume that because of this clash, Law Club decided to launch a new platform in February 2026. We were also taken by surprise, which is also why we took down the platform while we decided how best to respond.

helpimlawst was founded on a belief in equitable access to information and resources. And to us, the decisions taken by Law Club in July 2025 went against that completely, and against the original terms on which students contributed notes and their experiences. There are many notes on JustEnrichment 3.0 that did not exist on JustEnrichment 2.0, and that were contributed ONLY because students in that year believed in the vision that WE pitched them. That their notes would help everyone equally. While we have considered implementing some form of consent by notice (ie, respond in 90 days, or we will migrate your content to the new platform), we decided that this was not viable nor fair to the original contributors.

Further, as a matter of governance, current students have also expressed the fear that the new muggers platform, being run by Law Club, will suffer if/when Faculty changes their stance on muggers. Our view on muggers has always been pragmatic, and the same: that muggers will exist, and that it is better that these notes are shared equitably and out in the open. We are happy to see that the Faculty (or at least some in the Faculty) have come around to allowing muggers (with much stricter copyright moderation, as is understandable), but we are also not confident that this will continue to be the case. Overall, we think that while students must be the ones to run such a platform, we also think that Law Club is not very well-placed to run this in the interest of students, because they are subject to Faculty direction, and such a platform is, perhaps inherently, a thorn in the Faculty’s side.

What Now?

We are NOT the owners of the notes that are on JustEnrichment 3.0, and we take the view that the material on JE 3.0 is not ours to give away to the new Law Club, even if we want the material to be accessible to current students. We have taken the platform down for the time being, because of suspicious download patterns which suggest attempts to mirror the site. We will be putting up the platform again, after implementing more restrictive download tracking, as a temporary solution for students until the new muggers platform gets on its feet.

We ask that students do NOT upload notes to the new platform that do not belong to them. We do encourage students to upload their notes (ie authored by them, or substantially edited/updated by them) to the new platform, so that they may benefit other students, and future batches.

We are tremendously grateful for every single person who has contributed to helpimlawst and the forum, in particular the volunteers from the ‘23 batch that assisted with the module reviews and provided internship / TC information which laid the foundation of the platform.

It has always been very heartening to hear from fellow students about how much the platform has helped them. And if the platform has helped you at all, we encourage you to give back through the Law Club’s new platform.

If any students would like to take over this domain for other purposes/projects, please feel free to contact us.

10 Feb 2026

helpimlawst (the notes and the forum) is currently deprecated.

long story short, we (helpimlawst admins) and NUS Law Club had differences in opinion as to how the platform should be run, and we parted ways. on 10 Feb 2026, NUS Law Club announced that they were launching a new alternative platform for students to share notes. as NUS Law Club is the representative body for all NUS Law students, we thought it best not to compete and fragment the user base.

at the same time, many users and students may be wondering why the old notes platform (“JE”) was taken down, instead of migrating the old notes to the new platform. the reason why this decision was taken (and not lightly), is because we consider that the material on the old platform is not ours to give away. it was uploaded onto JE with a shared understanding that it would be made freely available to ALL students and alumni, including LLMs and JDs (which was a major point of contention). we believe that Law Club’s approach to the new platform is different enough such that the original consent of the owners of these notes does not extend to migration.

it is thus regrettable and a hassle, but we would urge all students to reupload their notes and muggers onto the new platform at muggers.nuslawclub.com. to be clear, we take the position that students should NOT be uploading notes that belong to other people without their consent. we are considering reaching out (where possible) to owners of the notes we have in our possession to ask for their consent to migrate the notes to the new platform.

the forum will be up shortly and for awhile, if and until NUS Law Club decides to launch an alternative. we direct all users to use the NUS Law Club resources. the old notes platform, JE, will also be up (but behind a password) at old.helpimlawst.com, for anyone that REALLY needs to use it in the meantime. please reach out if you need temporary access to it.

thank you for using our platform – we hope it was of some benefit to everyone!