The module will focus on:

- Introduction to professional legal skills and professional identity in legal practice
- Legal research in practice: identifying client issues, locating and evaluating primary and secondary legal sources, and assessing reliability and limitations of legal data
- Use of digital legal research tools and technologies in professional contexts, and responsible use of emerging legal technologies including artificial intelligence.
- Working with unfamiliar or lightly introduced areas of law (e.g. wills and the administration of estates) as a vehicle for skills development rather than substantive doctrinal mastery
- Client-focused legal problem-solving, including translating legal research into practical and professional written outputs
- Legal writing for practice, including research notes and optional drafting exercises appropriate to client-based scenarios
- Structure and purpose of a client interview, including preparation, information-gathering, active listening, questioning techniques, and appropriate professional follow-up
- Collaborative working in legal contexts, including group research, task allocation, professional communication, and project management
- Ethical awareness and professional standards relevant to research, collaboration, and client-based work
- Reflective practice in legal education, including identifying gaps, assumptions, and biases in legal knowledge, skills, and professional behaviours
- Personal and professional development planning, lifelong learning, and transferable skills relevant to legal and non-legal career pathways

Assessment for this module comprises two components: a group coursework task and an individual reflective blog. The group coursework will require students to work collaboratively to produce a research-based legal output, which may include a research note and, where appropriate, a drafting exercise. The task will be situated within a private client law context (wills and the administration of estates), providing students with a fresh and unfamiliar legal setting in which to practise and develop core professional legal skills. This assessment will evaluate student's legal research skills, effective use of digital legal tools, and ability to produce professional legal work in a collaborative context.

The individual reflective blog, submitted in written or recorded form, will require students to reflect critically on their learning, skills development, and professional growth. Students will be assessed on their ability to identify gaps and biases in their knowledge and practice, and to articulate how these insights will inform future learning and decision-making as developing legal professionals.

The contact hours for the module will be made up of lectures and workshop activities. Lectures will be focused on introducing core knowledge and concepts to students in a holistic way. The workshop activities will include discussions, groupwork and drop-in support sessions.

Small group activities will take the form of workshops in which students will be actively engaged in the co-construction of knowledge and practical skills through a range of individual, paired and group tasks. Students will be developing their understanding of the subject knowledge and practical skills through application to real life scenarios. They may do this through a range of practical tasks including advising a client. Active learning will be at the heart of the strategy, and students will be asked to feed ideas and information back to the group for discussion.

Students will be recommended to spend time on independent study tasks including preparation for workshops, carrying out recommended reading, and consolidation of lecture and workshop notes. The balance of the independent study hours will be spent on activities related to the assessment.

1. Conduct and evaluate legal research and apply relevant legal principles to a practical legal issue in order to develop a reasoned legal response.

Digital literacy
Research skills

2. Produce a structured professional legal output, working collaboratively to communicate legal analysis clearly and appropriately for a specified audience.

Digital literacy
Critical reasoning and collaboration

3. Reflect on their contribution to collaborative legal work, identifying strengths, areas for development, and implications for their future professional practice.

Reflection
Personal development and entrepreneurship

Physical and digital library
Law Trove
Legal databases

Emily Finch and Stefan Fafinski, Legal Skills (10th edn, OUP 2025)

Jonathan Herring, Legal Ethics (3rd edn, OUP 2023)

J. Scott Slorach, Legal Systems and Skills (5th ed., Oxford University Press 2023)

This professional legal skills module will develop your ability to research, collaborate, and communicate effectively in a legal practice setting. Using practical tasks situated in a private client law context (wills and the administration of estates), you will apply digital legal tools, produce professional legal outputs, and reflect critically on their personal and professional development. The module emphasises transferable skills, ethical awareness, and reflective practice to support your future legal career and lifelong learning.