Legal Essay Headings Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

Students need to demonstrate the following: legal research skills legal writing skills skills in critical legal analysis familiarity with style conventions ability to use research tools the aim of this assignment is to provide an opportunity for students to: put the legal research skills into practice that were learned in the legal research and methods unit. This includes acquiring some familiarity with of a range of research tools and with primary and secondary legal materials, such as case reports, statutes, and law journal articles. Put into practice the legal writing skills which are formally taught as a part of the legal process course. Gain an insight into some specific area of law that raises important theoretical, policy, or other analytical issues.

Analytical Phd Thesis

Acquaint themselves with some of the key features of the law faculty 039 s style guide, and with the requirements of formal legal writing. Students are assesed on the following: level of research level of analysis level of originality writing skills assessment will be via: the level of research demonstrated. Has the student accurately identified the key laws and demonstrated a reasonable breadth of research? the level of analysis demonstrated. Is there more than mere description of the law or arguments that have been raised by others in relation to policy issues? the level of originality demonstrated i.e.

Is there some sense of the student author 039 s voice, a willingness to develop their own view, etc? the writing skills demonstrated spelling, grammar compliance with style, and clarity of expression. The most common difficulties are associated with the following: understanding qualities of a good essay understanding how best to research and prepare for the essay the main difficulties include: a lack of understanding of what is required. This is explained at length in class, and students are urged to look at the monash law review for examples of good legal writing. A lack of understanding of the amount of time required for initial preparation and research, and final checking of the assignment. Some tend to be too informal and others may have a rather stilted or archaic style. A lack of understanding of the need to refer to primary legal sources for legal propositions.

For example, students might look at what happened in one specific case and automatically assume that the result will be the same in all other cases, without explaining the basis for that generalisation. International students from countries where this has not been an issue of public debate. But by reading, they would see arguments that discuss the slippery slope in euthanasia, or personal autonomy. Some international students handle the relevant issues very well, even though they may give them a rather different perspective e.g.

We hope that as students go through law school they won 039 t simply learn what the law is, but they will be able to participate in law reform. They will actually be able to see how the law operates, explore what it is trying to achieve and how well it is achieving it and so critically evaluate it. Some students find it hard to recognise the difference between a high distinction and a distinction or credit. Sometimes the reasoning is not of a very penetrating quality: it is very much only a scratching of the surface. A student might only point out that there are these arguments for and against, and state which one they favour, but they do not really develop and argue their case.

Another problem is a tendency to gloss over arguments and come up with simplistic statements such as euthanasia is bad because it involves killing people ! it is very important to engage with the issues and the arguments presented for or against. Students are often unsure how much reading they need to do, and the type of texts they should be reading. The information students need cannot be obtained from the lectures or class notes. A minimum of six texts and then to follow up by actually finding, and referring to, the relevant primary materials i.e. Legal writing needs to be particularly clear precise well structured legal writing is distinguished by a number of features. Good legal writing is reasonably formal but not archaic.

For example, it is not acceptable to use contractions such as won 039 t or isn 039 t. But at the same time, students should avoid using words such as aforementioned and heretofore. The tone should be measured rather than involving excessive use of hyperbole, for instance and the writing should be reasonably objective. , sometimes the first person might be preferable, such as in the introduction where you might say in this essay, i will argue that.

While students should develop their own views, they should also acknowledge and deal with any counter arguments. And also to requirements of style are very important a lawyer 039 s skills are very dependent upon his/her ability to make effective use of language. A misplaced comma can alter the meaning of a clause, and documents that do not comply with required formalities may be rejected by a court. Legal writing is usually less discursive than writing in other humanities subjects, and precision is more important than variety. Sentence structure should not be too complex it is usually unnecessary to make extensive use of adjectives or adverbs, and consistency of terms is often required. For example, when describing a case, the plaintiff should always be referred to as the plaintiff. Using multiple descriptions of a person by referring to him/her with a variety of terms the plaintiff.

Columbia University Department of Economics Discussion Paper Series

Generally the most important characteristic of the person in a legal argument is his/her legal role i.e. Students need to refer to primary sources statutes and common law judgments and not solely rely on secondary sources expert commentaries on the law. Even if the secondary source is accurate, it is possible the law has since changed. How should students approach primary sources? usually, students will begin with secondary sources, and develop a sense of what the issues are and a framework for their approach to the assignment task. Secondary sources play an important role in helping students understand the kinds of issues surrounding any area of legislation and the arguments that are brought to these issues.

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