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On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Recognise and select the key relevant issues, and to formulate them with clarity.
Apply acquired knowledge and understanding to problems and substantive legal issues, making personal and reasoned judgements based on an informed understanding of standard arguments in the area of law in question.
Identify and retrieve accurate, current and relevant information from a range of appropriate sources, including primary legal sources and standard paper and electronic sources.
Communicate knowledge and arguments in written form appropriate for the purpose and audience, using proficient English and correct legal terminology.
Demonstrate awareness of fundamental aspects of professional ethics in legal practice.
This module provides students with the skills required to study law at undergraduate level, and to develop the critical and research skills required for both the study and practice of the law. The skills studied will be applied in different contexts through other modules on the degree programme, providing students with the opportunity for progressive development. In particular, students will be introduced to the case study format, legal method and the specific legal application of Knowledge and General Transferable Skills under the Joint Statement as required by the SRA and BSB for a QLD, and the particular skills of:
- research
- analysis
- critical judgement
- literacy, technical language and communication
- ethical practice (as informed by SRA's Code of Conduct)
Though the skills of case analysis and research will inform a range of modules at Level 4, LAW 4022 Contract Law will have the specific role of developing the practical and applied aspect of these skills and this module will be used to reinforce and hone the relevant methods and skills.
The module will provide an introduction and overview of the basic format for reviewing, analysing and evaluating specific cases in relation to the relevant legal principles, courts and likely outcomes. The main teaching methods relate to rehearsing this method in order to identify, clarify and support the specific learning techniques and methods required to study, research and revise legal subjects. The case studies in this module will researched, prepared and written, rather than performed in a 'live' context (viva or exam). This is to help develop the understanding of the basic processes that will then be deployed in 'live' contexts in other modules.
Advice will be given on analysis, evaluation and the articulation of knowledge, as well as on the importance of identifying how to relate various case content to the most appropriate legal process or rule, using key indicators or features to help with classification, and key terminology. The SRA's ethics guidance will also be used to indicate fundamental aspects of legal practice, so that students are prepared for their end of year placements.
The module will also cover the marking standards, and key resources and search tools (and how they will be progressed by level).
Lectures, seminars, tutorials
Hours: 40
Intended Group Size: Cohort
Guided independent study
Hours: 160
Further details relating to assessment
Directed activities: these consist of weekly tasks that must be completed and submitted for inspection at timetables sessions each week. The assessment will be assessed on a pass/fail basis with a pass requiring at least 75% of all weekly tasks to be completed successfully. A pass will lead to the full award of 10% towards the final module mark. A fail in directed activities will contribute 0% to the final mark.
Practical Assessments: The two practical assessments test the range of skills (case analysis, statutory interpretation, research, organisation of legal sources, legal reasoning and legal writing). These skills will be related to the case study format (used throughout the Law programme). This will be done by written work based on a real or hypothetical problem or case study, and requiring independent research. The assessments should be stepped so that the first practical assessment occurs in the first half of Semester 1 to allow for formative support, while the second practical assessment, at the end of the semester, tests and confirms the skills to provide the student with confidence in their application. The assessments will share the same format (2,000-word equivalent), but the marks vary (20% and 40%) to reflect the developmental role of the first and the summative aspect of the second practical assessment.
Coursework: this is a basic topic investigation that is designed to test capability in research methods, techniques and practical knowledge of key research tools.
Formative assessment in this will be ongoing, and will be provided within seminar activities and linked to the development of: research skills; analysis of cases; critical judgement, and presentation (written and verbal).
001 Directed activities Throughout Semesters 1 & 2 10%
002 2,000-word equivalent Mid Semester 1 20%
003 2,000-word equivalent End of Semester 1 40%
004 2,000-word equivalent End of Semester 2 30%
Module Coordinator - Nathan Uglow
Level - 4
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 4YL
