Legal Skills [AJ]

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Sources of law and their relative weight and authority;
• How the law operates in practice in various contexts, including the interaction between discrete areas of law that can arise, and the variety of means through which legal disputes can be resolved.
• The diverse range of legal research methodologies.
• The key role of thorough legal research and accurate use of legal authority in the development of rigorous legal argument.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Formulate an effective, reasoned and structured argument.
• Retrieve and evaluate accurate, relevant and appropriate information from a variety of sources.
• Effectively apply information to solve practical problems.
• Communicate and present arguments supported by appropriate evidence.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Conduct self-directed research.
• Analyse factual scenarios and apply legal rules and principles so as to produce reasoned, structured, and effective arguments, adequately supported by reference to legal authority.
• Evaluate legal materials by way of statutory interpretation, case analysis, and the identification and analysis of relevant secondary materials.
• Identify and locate primary and secondary legal sources both in print (in the library) and electronically (through relevant legal databases).

Exemplars of the topics covered in lectures are given below, but these may change year-by-year, reflecting current developments and allowing syllabus evolution.

• Law in context.
• Reading cases and interpreting statutes.
• Conducting legal research.
• Legal disputes in practice.
• Alternative dispute resolution.
• An introduction to civil litigation.
• Legal remedies.
• An introduction to the criminal trial.

Teaching will be by one 2-hour lecture per week and one 2-hour tutorial per fortnight.

The tutorials are intended as occasions for detailed discussion of specific topics within the broader areas covered in lectures, and you are expected to come fully prepared. Reading and questions for preparation will be placed on Blackboard in advance of each tutorial. Tutorials are also occasions for you to raise problems and questions and to obtain feedback on your progress.

Teaching methods include:

• Lectures to provide knowledge and information within a structured context.
• Small group tutorial work focused on problem solving skills and the development of reasoned argument.
• Advance study and self-managed research is required for the tutorials and active participation required by all members of the group.

Attendance at Lectures will develop:

• The structure of the subject and key applicable substantive principles and rules of law.
• Appreciation of constructive criticism of the law by consideration of key areas of controversy and doubt regarding the regulation of legal disputes.

Preparation for Tutorials will develop:

• Knowledge of the substantive principles and rules of the law.
• Ability to manage and access diverse range of sources of law, especially statutory material and case law, many on-line.
• Ability to critically evaluate those sources and participate constructively in oral discussions concerning them.
• Ability to structure and express thoughts in logically coherent way.
• Ability to apply those materials to problem solving exercises.
• Time management and self-directed research skills.

Learning activities include:

• Directed reading assisted by reading lists and availability of materials on Blackboard.
• Accessing electronic resources in the form of legislation, journals and case materials.
• Reviewing and evaluating complex material.
• Tackling and solving factual legal problems.
• Formulating and presenting in oral and written form reasoned and structured arguments through formative tutorial activities and summative assessment.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Case notes

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback: Individual feedback on a sample of your case-notes will be provided. In addition, generic feedback will be provided on the cohorts’ overall performance in a dedicated plenary session ahead of the distribution of the summative assessment question(s). A written summary of this information will also be available on Blackboard.
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.