LLH201 Legal Research Unit Guide PDF

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Unit guide 2020...

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LLH201 Legal Research – Semester 2, 2020 – UNIT INFORMATION

1. Unit Overview As a legal practitioner, you will need to be able to identify legal issues, find and update relevant law, and analyse the law to apply it in order to be able to provide practical legal advice. A vital part of a practitioner's skills is the ability to communicate effectively to a diverse audience - for example, to a client, a court, a fellow legal practitioner or a government department. Therefore, this unit will give you the opportunity to further develop skills relevant to future employment, professional practice and life-long learning. In this unit you will develop and practise your skills of research, analysis, problem solving and reasoning, and written communication. All of these skills are fundamental not only for the completion of your law degree, but for legal practice in all of its professional contexts.

The aim of this unit is for you to further develop, within real world contexts, the skills in legal research, analysis, problem solving and writing that were introduced in your earlier units. This is to ensure that you are able to perform tasks required to progress your study of law and that you can reflect on the continued development of your legal research and writing skills to equip you with the skills required in legal practice.

2. Rationale

Research and professional judgment are fundamental skills required by all law graduates. As a legal practitioner it is necessary to possess research skills in order to maintain current knowledge and find solutions for legal problems in a variety of contexts that may involve new, amended or developing areas of law. Professional judgment includes the ability to act and think well in uncertain situations, and therefore this unit develops the problem solving and research skills which were introduced in first year and applies them to ill-defined problems. The unit also introduces, as part of the legal research process, topic analysis and research project management. 3. Aims This unit aims to:

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   

Introduce topic analysis; Introduce research project design, planning and management; Consolidate the written communication, legal reasoning, critical and creative thinking introduced in the first year units; and Develop professional judgement.

4. Learning Outcomes At the completion of this unit you should be able to: (1) Solve ill-defined legal problems by applying the appropriate methodology. (CLO 2.1; 3.2) (2) Plan and execute a research project that involves the intersection of various areas of law to generate possible solutions, within a set timeframe. (CLO 2.4; 3.1; 3.3; 3.4) (3) Apply legal reasoning to justify possible outcomes to problems and communicate these clearly, adhering to citation requirements. (CLO 2.2; 4.1; 5.1) (4) Self-assess performance and respond to feedback to further develop as an independent learner. (CLO 3.4; 5.3; 5.4) and (5) Apply the protocols of academic and technological literacies including academic integrity (CLO 3.1) 5. Content The content of this unit includes: 

The planning and management of research projects;



Legal research, including topic analysis and problem solving, structuring arguments, written communication, logic and reasoning and research methodologies;



Statutory interpretation; and



Academic integrity/academic honesty

6. Approaches to teaching and learning This unit is a combination of content and skills that will develop the course learning outcomes. Therefore, the unit is blended, taught through a mix of podcast lectures to promote an understanding of the content and the theory behind the skills being developed, and 1.5 hour workshop facilitating the practice and development of the skills of project management, problem solving, and statutory interpretation and communication. Students can participate in live workshops and a recording of one of the live workshops will also be

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available to facilitate asynchronous learning. Workshop activities will be made available on Blackboard ahead of each week’s workshop.

Student learning is also supported with online materials to provide feedback on the understanding of the principles and skills of the unit.

There will be continued emphasis upon reflection and self-assessment of one's own progress. In this cornerstone unit of the course, students will be encouraged to reflect upon their development of the requisite skills and knowledge thus far, as well as forming some understanding of the levels of skills and knowledge expected to be attained. This will enable you to formulate a rudimentary career plan (Assessment Item 1) specifying their career goals and objectives.

Timetable WEEK

PODCAST LECTURE TOPIC

WORKSHOP TOPIC

1

Unit introduction & legal research methodology

Legal research methodology and topic analysis

2

Legal analysis and problem solving

Secondary source research

Statutory interpretation

Legislation research

International law research

Case law research

3 4

NO WORKSHOP

Research Task due 11.59pm Tuesday 25th August 2020 (35%)

6 7

9

International law research Assessment feedback and reflective practice

Statutory interpretation

Legal writing

Assessment feedback and reflective practice Citation integrity

10 MIDSEMESTER BREAK

MID-SEMESTER BREAK

and

Legal writing 1

12

Legal writing 2 Unit review

academic

MID-SEMESTER BREAK

11

13

Career Plan due 11.59pm Tuesday 4th August 2020 (10%)

Research task preparation and troubleshooting

5

8

ASSESSMENT

Research paper preparation and troubleshooting

MID-SEMESTER BREAK

Research Paper and Reflection Task due 11.59pm Sunday 25 th October (55%)

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Note: There are no face-to-face lectures in this unit. Podcast lectures will be uploaded to the Blackboard site during the weeks indicated in the timetable above.

7. Blackboard The online Blackboard site is accessible via the QUT home page. Important Note You will need a QUT access username and password to be able to enter the Blackboard site. Information concerning your access username and password will have been provided to you with your enrolment.

Why are we using an online site? The objectives of offering unit information online are: 

To increase your access to materials such as the PowerPoint slides from the lectures, electronic access to cases and legislation;



To allow for increased communication between you and staff members within the unit through the use of Announcements;



To allow you to learn and practice skills concerning the use of information technology; and



To allow you to provide timely feedback to us in relation to the teaching of the unit, the format of the online site and its effectiveness in enhancing your learning of the unit.

How often should I visit the site? The information within the online site will change on a regular basis. Announcements may be posted on a regular basis. You will be expected to log into the site at least once a week to read these announcements and review the learning material for that week, including lecture PowerPoint slides and the workshop materials for that week. 8. Assessment The assessment scheme has been designed to facilitate the ongoing development of 4

required skills, to deliver formative exercises and feedback, and to encourage the development of your understanding of research and writing skills as fundamental related skills that are transferable through the law degree and in professional practice.

Assessment in this unit is both summative and formative.

8.1

Summative Assessment

Assessment

Weight

Due Date

Stage 1 Career Plan

10%

Tuesday 4th August 2020

Research Task

35%

Tuesday 25th August 2020

55%

Sunday 25th October 2020

Research

Paper

and

Reflection Task

In this unit you will be graded on a scale of one to seven. Assessment in this unit is both summative and formative. The summative assessment consists of a career plan, research task and research paper plus reflection task . All assessment must be submitted online via the designated assessment submission link by 11.59pm on the due date. No hard copy submission is required.

Overview of Assessment: Assessment Item No. 1 Assessment name: Stage 1 Career Plan Description: Students will report on their development against course learning outcomes in preparation for their future careers. Relates to learning outcomes: 4 Weight: 10% Internal or external: Both Group or Individual: Individual Due date: 11.59 pm Tuesday 4th August 2020

Assessment Item No. 2 Assessment name: Research Task 5

Description: Students will analyse an ill-defined problem and undertake preliminary research in order to identify legal issues and key authorities. Word limit: 4-6 pages. The feedback on this item of assessment will form part of the self-assessment in the Research Paper. Relates to learning outcomes: 1, 2, 3 and 5 Weight: 35% Internal or external: Both Group or Individual: Individual Due date: 11.59pm Tuesday 25th August 2020

Assessment Item No. 3 Assessment name: Research Paper Description: Students will plan and execute a project that requires research of various areas of law that intersect and submit a correctly referenced research paper which resolves the legal problems. Word limit: 2500 words. Students will also include a reflection upon the feedback received on the Research Task to identify how they responded to that feedback for this item of assessment. Relates to learning outcomes: 1-5 Weight: 55% Internal or external: Both Group or Individual: Individual Due date: 11.59pm Sunday 25th October 2020

8.2

Instructions for all assessment items

Unless advised otherwise, these instructions apply to all assessment items: •

Criteria sheets and examples of assessment tasks

Detailed criteria referenced assessment sheets (CRAs) for each piece of assessment will be placed on the QUT Blackboard site in advance of your assessment due dates so you know what criteria your work is assessed on. It is important that you review the CRA prior to submitting your assessment, as this is an opportunity for you to understand how you are going to be assessed.

•

Word and Page Limits 6

Word and page limits will be enforced strictly. In accordance with Law Faculty policy, words in excess of the designated page/word limit will not be read and will not be taken into account when assessing the mark. All words must be counted, including words of one or two letters such as ‘a’ or ‘at’, and words quoted from primary or secondary sources. Footnotes are not counted, as long as they do not include substantive content.

•

Format

Answers must be typed or word-processed using 1.5 line spacing (unless otherwise specified). Margins need to be professional and not too small. Submission of a hand-written answer does not constitute a valid attempt at that item of assessment and it will not be read or marked. Pages should be numbered consecutively.

•

Citation

All assessment should comply with the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC 4).

•

Due Dates and Extensions

The due dates for all items of assessment are noted in this document. Assessment must be submitted by 11.59pm on the due date. To avoid all disputes in the case of misplaced or destroyed items, all students must keep a paper copy and disk or electronic copy of items submitted for assessment. You may be required to show that your assignment has not been altered after the due date. All extensions are approved by administrative staff – not by academic staff - so if you wish to apply for an extension you must do so using the appropriate form. You can contact Law Enquiries for more information.

You do not need to contact the unit coordinator or your tutor for an extension. Please ensure that you have applied for an extension prior to 4pm on the specified due date.

•

Late Assessment Items

All late assessment items without an approved extension form attached will not be marked and the student will receive a grade of 1 or 0%. 7

If you don't have an approved extension you should submit the work you have done by the due date and it will be marked against the assessment criteria. QUT's assessment submission requirements reflect the expectations of professional practice where you will need to meet deadlines. 9. Academic Integrity

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site. A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

For

all

relevant

faculty

policies,

please

consult

the

Law

Student

Gateway

(http://www.student.qut.edu.au/about/faculties-institutes-and-divisions/faculties/law):

It is your responsibility to read and understand these policies and to ensure that you comply with them. This includes supporting and assuring academic integrity of assessment. Any actions or practice by a student which defeat the purpose of assessment is regarded as a failure to maintain academic integrity. A breach can include plagiarism or cheating in examinations. Plagiarism involves representing another person's ideas or work as one's own. Failing to maintain academic integrity is regarded by QUT as student misconduct and is a serious breach of QUT Student Rules (Manual of Policies and Procedures (MOPP). (http://www.mopp.qut.edu.au). All instances of failing to maintain academic integrity in this unit will be dealt with in accordance with the University procedures as detailed in Chapter C of the MOPP and penalties may be imposed. (http://www.mopp.qut.edu.au/C/C_05_03.jsp#C_05_03.04.mdoc)

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Checking your work: 

You are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services such as the QUT Cite|Write program to help you consider and check your assessment items.



Use content matching software such as Turnitin.



Consult with your tutor/lecturer prior to submission if you are unsure - including interpreting reports from plagiarism detection software or checking the level of collaboration is permitted. 10. Feedback

Students are provided with feedback to assist their learning throughout the semester. The feedback is provided through: 

The discussions in the workshops;



Online materials;



The individual feedback provided on assessment with the completed Criteria Referenced Assessment form;



Generic feedback posted on the unit's Blackboard for each item of assessment;



The option of consultation with a member of the teaching team.

Self-Reflection You should reflect upon the feedback (both your individual and generic feedback as provided on Blackboard) for the purpose of identifying: •

Inadequacies in your skills of locating and updating cases and legislation;

•

Gaps in your knowledge and understanding of the rules of statutory interpretation;

•

Inadequacies in your skill of writing and referencing in correct legal style;

•

Strategies to improve your problem solving, research skills and written communication; and

•

Areas for improvement for future studies within the LLB. 9

11. Resource Materials There are no prescribed texts in this unit.

Recommended materials Jay Sanderson and Kim Kelly, A Practical Guide to Legal Research (Thomson Reuters, 4th ed, 2017). Bruce Bott and Ruth Talbot-Stokes, Nemes and Coss' Effective Legal Research (LexisNexis Butterworths, 7th ed, 2018). DC Pearce, Statutory Interpretation in Australia (LexisNexis, 9th ed, 2019). 12. Teaching Staff

For all administrative matters (e.g. special consideration, requests for extensions), students must contact the appropriate administrative staff member in the Law School. For all academic matters concerning this unit, students can contact the Unit Coordinator, or any of the other members of the teaching team, whose contact details appear below. Full-time staff members also have weekly student consultation times. Part-time staff members’ details will be posted to the Blackboard site. Full-time academic staff: 1. Dr Carmel O’Sullivan (Unit Coordinator) 

2.

[email protected]

Professor Ben Mathews (Podcast lectures only) 

[email protected]

Sessional staff and tutors:

3.

Margie Young (Tutor) 

[email protected]

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4.

Mr Bruce Brown (Tutor) 

[email protected]

13. Risk Assessment Statement There are no unusual risks in this unit.

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