1. Locate and select relevant primary and secondary materials by effectively employing print and digital resources.

Enquiry

2. Identify, explain, interpret and apply principles of statutory interpretation and the operation of the doctrine of judicial precedent.

Knowledge and Understanding

Application

Analysis

3. Analyse and evaluate secondary sources of legal commentary

Analysis, Enquiry

4. Communicate effectively employing a style appropriate for legal academic writing including the accurate use of the OSCOLA referencing conventions.

Communication

The assessment will require the students to use their research skills to find a reported case and relevant journal article. Students will produce an appropriately referenced summary and analysis of the case and journal article (LOs 1, 2, 3 and 4).

Finding primary and secondary materials using electronic and hard copy resources; statutory interpretation; judicial precedent; referencing, source evaluation, skills for the legal professions, transferable skills for academic study and graduate employment.

The Legal Skills modules is designed to equip students with the core skills necessary to be a successful law student and legal professional. Students will learn how to find, interpret and use the law – such as statute and case law – as well as other relevant material such as journal articles.

The majority of learning materials will be presented online asynchronously organised as a series of weekly topics. Students will be encouraged to follow the weekly schedule where this is possible.



Three synchronous online webinars will be held to provide opportunities for live interaction between students and lecturer, to cover an introduction to the module and learning expectations, an assessment guidance session, and a consolidation session prior to the assessment date. These sessions will be recorded for the benefit of students who are unable to attend at the scheduled time.

Each student will also be offered a 1-hour individual appointment to discuss the progress of their work, and for the tutor to provide additional tailored guidance about the student’s choice of materials for their assessment. This reflects the fact that this module is the student’s first opportunity to engage with the concept of primary and secondary legal materials, and to offer additional support for the development of the key skills of research and source evaluation.

The online learning materials will be organised as a range of short activities for each topic. Instant feedback will be provided where appropriate on computer-aided tests of knowledge. Summaries and explanations of applied tasks will be available, allowing students to assess their progress against suggested answers..

PDP activities will be embedded in this module in the form of dedicated sessions relating to core skills for studying law and progressing to the legal professions or further academic study, with an emphasis on developing ethical attitudes and complying with agreed standards of behaviour:

Academic integrity

Summarising and paraphrasing

Referencing according to OSCOLA conventions.

Finch E and Fafinski S, Legal Skills (7th edn, OUP 2019)

Gillespie A and Weare S, The English Legal System (7th edn, OUP 2019)

Both the above texts are currently available in electronic version on Law Trove via the Library.

Students will have access to a number of resources via the Library, including:

Texts

Embley J and others, Legal Systems & Skills: Learn, Develop, Apply (4th edn, OUP 2020)

Partington M, Introduction to the English Legal System 2019-2020 (14th edn, OUP 2019)

Holland J and Webb J, Learning Legal Rules: A Students' Guide to Legal Method and Reasoning (10th edn, OUP 2019)

Wilson S and others, English Legal System (4th edn, OUP 2020)

The OUP texts listed above available on Law Trove.

Databases

Students will have access to LexisNexis and Westlaw

Journals

The Library also has access to a variety of relevant journal titles