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Australia’s First, Australia’s Global.
MLM PART-TIME ORIENTATION, JULY 2013
Chantal Morton, LASC, Melbourne Law School
Agenda for Today
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Resources and Supports for your academic experience
Expectations in the MLM Course (graduate work)
Assessment:
 Take Home Exams
 Legal Research Papers
Academic Culture at MLS
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‘Independent learning’
Seminar style
Intensive classes
Take home hypotheticals & research assessment formats
New to law? Or common law?
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Australian Legal system, political, economic & cultural context
Reading case law; new legislation; international law focus
Dealing with the electronic information environment
Legal Academic Skills Centre
Team:
Legal Writing: Chantal Morton and Judy Bourke
Legal Research: Natalie Wieland and Tom Andrews
Workshops Series: Starting Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Legal Writing: 9:30 – 11:30, Room 608
Legal Research: 12:00 – 1:00, Lab on 3rd Floor
Resources including online materials and webinars:
http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/legal-academic-skills-centre
Individual Consultations:
Chantal Morton, Legal Writing and Academic Skills,
[email protected]
Judy Bourke, Legal Writing, [email protected]
Tom Andrews, Legal Research, [email protected]
You can now book an appointment online through the Student Advising
System at: http://student-advising-system.unimelb.edu.au/
Workshop Series: Program at a glance:
July 30 Writing: Reading Strategies and Case Analysis
August 6 Writing: Reading and Incorporating Case Law and
Legislation/ Research: An introduction to research and
understanding case law
August 13 Writing: Strategies for Developing a Legal
Research Paper/ Research: Understanding and researching
legislation
August 20 Writing: Incorporating your research into your
argument and avoiding plagiarism/ Research: Secondary
sources
August 27 Writing: Legal Citation – the AGLC - Domestic and
International/ Research: Foreign and international resources
September 3 Writing: How to write a response to a
hypothetical on a take home exam/ Research: Drop in
session to discuss your specific projects
MLM Legal Writing Clinic
Monday, July 29, 5:30 – 8:30 PM, Room 104
Perhaps more useful to you, this legal writing clinic is
designed for MLM part-time students. We will cover
(in more detail than we do today):
Elements and components of legal research papers
 Planning, structuring, and developing an argument
 Using authority to support your argument
 Citation practices
 Editing for structure and clarity
 Using checklists
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http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/lasc/
As always – more detail on the website
Law School Expectations
The Melbourne Law Masters is a graduate
program in law so standards are deliberately high
Assessment tests the following:
Knowledge
of the subject
Legal skills (for example, in analysis,
communication)
Work must be original and of the highest possible
quality
Always use proper citations
Never resubmit work, or parts of work, you have
already submitted for different assessment tasks
Forms of Assessment
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Three hour exam - RARE
Take-home exam (over 2 or 3 days)
8.000 - 10,000 word research paper
Other exercises
A combination of the above formats
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For details of Assessment
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Check the Handbook or distributed material
Website
Note due dates
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Melbourne Law School marks and
grades
The Law School uses the following system:
H1: 80-100% (excellent, above 85 rare)
H2A: 75-79% (very good)
H2B: 70-74% (good)
H3: 65-69% (quite good)
P: 50-64% (pass-clear pass)
N: 0-49% (fail)
Assessment is for learning, not simply evaluation
Assessment administration (cont.)
Make sure you submit your assessment on the due date
(information is available when you choose your subject)
 In your own interests (and to avoid a marking penalty)
 In the interests of fairness to others
Contact the Melbourne Law Masters Office if you have special
problems that may entitle you to special consideration
Extensions:
 may be applied for and approved ONLY by the Melbourne
Law Masters Office
 are likely to be rare
Exams
Exam techniques
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Exams often mix problems and essays
Plan your time
Plan your answer/s before you start writing
Identify and address all issues in a
problem/question
Take-home exam length: usually 5,000 – 7,000
words
Previous exam papers can be useful revision
Answering Hypotheticals: IRAC (AKA FILAC)
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IRAC is a legal problem solving technique
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identify the legal issues that arise from the facts
 R: review the relevant rules or principles (and note their
sources)
 A: apply the law to the facts of your case; if no clear
answer, argue both ways, supporting assertions with
authority
 C: come to a conclusion about the legal issue (by
assessing the various arguments); and spell out
consequences
Conventions
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Argue all sides to the issue
Organize your answer using headings, and have a
section for each issue considered
Use third person
You may use abbreviations for cases (short titles),
and letters to represent parties as long as it does
not cause confusion for the reader
Using authorities effectively:
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Back up your arguments on each issue with the relevant
authority/ies.
Use cases as analogies where relevant.
Use the most pertinent case law and statutory provisions.
Where warranted, refer to specific section numbers of statutes.
Avoid sweeping statements, such as ‘courts always favour
defendants in cases involving X or Y’.
Avoid wasting and words by quoting (or even paraphrasing) large
chunks of doctrine, or writing out large sections for a statutory
provision.
The best answers succinctly use the gist of the principle.
Good advice for papers too!
Doing well on law exams
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The LASC runs a workshop on preparing for exams –
September 3, 2013, at 9:30 AM – we will cover:
 Preparation
 Build and consolidate your subject knowledge in
advance
 Practice
 Apply subject knowledge to new questions/scenarios
 Performance ‘on the day’
 Time management
 Writing strategies
 The information is also available on the website:
http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/lawresources
Review old exams ....
http://www.library.unimelb.edu.au/examination_papers/
Essays
Research papers
Choosing a topic
Research methods
Research sources
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Primary and secondary sources
Finding and using sources
Plagiarism
Preparing your paper
Presenting your paper
Publishing your paper
Legal essays demonstrate:
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Broad and detailed knowledge of the law on the set
topic and understanding of the issues it raises
Thorough legal and associated research,
demonstrating in turn a sound understanding of the
relevant legal authorities and current thought within
the legal community
Critical analysis and assessment of the various
approaches, issues and arguments
An ability to prioritize and organize (or structure)
information in a logical and coherent manner.
Style, purpose, readership
Defining your own topic:
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Read widely around the field or area that you are interested in.
Often it will be useful to start with a general overview by
reading a legal text, a legal encyclopedia or on line source such
as Lexis that provides an introduction to this field.
Define the content field you will address, including the
governing law and the issues arising from its application or
interpretation.
Determine what tasks you should undertake to best advance
knowledge and understanding of these issues
Formulate your topic and task/s as question/s that your paper
will answer. Based on your research and analysis, consider: Are
these interesting or worthwhile questions? Do you need to limit
the scope of your inquiry (given your word limit)?
Consider the kind/s of argument that you might advance in
response to your question/s
If you are stuck, ask yourself these
questions
Identify the research question
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What are you trying to find out?
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Why does it matter?
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What is the problem?
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What is your hypothesis?
The question should be:
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Suitable for in-depth treatment within the word limit (in
particular, not too large)
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Interesting to you
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Original (you need to be able to write something original)
The Structure
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Introduction –generally serves three purposes:
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Orient the reader to the topic, its significance and the main issues to be
explored
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Preview the author’s argument and main supporting reason/s
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Outline the essay’s organisation and approach.
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In short, the introduction is a functional tool – a road map to prepare the reader
for the journey ahead. As such, it is not necessary or even desirable to attempt
creativity - clear and simple is best.
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Body - should support and substantiate your argument
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The section and sub-section headings should logically relate to your central
argument and enable the reader to see at a glance how you will support your
argument
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Each paragraph should make a contribution by developing a particular topic,
point or subsidiary argument
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Remember to incorporate your sources
Conclusion
Every legal paper needs an Argument
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What’s an argument?
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A succinct answer to the question, developed logically and
persuasively through the essay, supported by evidence,
reasons and authoritative sources
Arguments = analysis, not description
It is a proposition (central thesis) that will need to be
supported and developed through the essay
It is not evidently true or false
 It represents the author’s analysis leading to a conclusion
 Informed by the research
 Others may disagree or hold a different ‘point of view’
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Referenced throughout the paper
Research method
Decide how best to answer the question
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Examples of different approaches:
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Legal analysis
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Empirical research
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Theoretical/conceptual argument
Form a preliminary view about structure:
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Decide on a framework for your paper
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Decide what you need to find out in order to answer the
question
Research sources
Secondary sources can be used correctly to provide an overview of a field, tell
you what others have said so that you can build on their work
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Books and articles
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Reports from NGOs
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Commentary on cases and legislation
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International legal materials
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Empirical data
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Other (for example, government reports, etc.)
The law is found in primary sources
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Cases
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Legislation
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Regulations
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International instruments (conventions, treaties, etc)
Note: Many sources are available online –
but be sceptical!
Avoid plagiarism by:
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Indicate direct quotes with appropriate punctuation.
Use them sparingly and ensure that their significance
in relation to your argument is clearly articulated
Summarising when appropriate
Paraphrasing when necessary
And ALWAYS citing to your sources for the ideas (and
not just direct quotes) you use from the research you
have done (also reminds the professor that you did all
that great research)
Use AGLC format – buy the book from the Melbourne
University Law Review for $20, or download the PDF
for free from the library website
Citing
Footnotes are used in legal writing for 4 main
purposes:
1. acknowledging the words and work of other
authors - this is essential to avoid plagiarism
2. providing authority for assertions of fact and law
3. providing support for arguments or points in your
discussion
4. providing additional information or references
which may be of interest to the reader but which
are not central to your discussion.
Footnotes are not required for your own thoughts
and analysis, or information that is common
knowledge.
Supporting Your Claims
Review your authorities:
 Primary Sources: Are you sure your statement of
the law is accurate and current? Check your
statutes for amendments; note up your case law.
 Secondary sources: Who has authorized or
certified the accuracy of the publication? When
was the information published? Who is the
author? What position do they hold? Is the author
an expert on this topic?
Submission and Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a threat to high quality graduate study
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It is caused partly by the availability of sources online
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Examiners look for work that is not original
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We also automatically check for plagiarism at the time of submission
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All Research papers and take-home exams are submitted electronically using TurnItIn
It follows that email and hard copy submissions will not be accepted
TurnItIn scans all submissions to check for instances of plagiarism or collusion
Submitting assessment
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Go to the relevant subject page on the Masters website (log in using
University username and password)
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Select the TurnItIn Online Assignment Submission that relates to your
assessment and subject
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Follow the instructions for uploading your work
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Hard copies of papers will be returned once they have been marked
The consequences of plagiarism
Our policy is to award no marks for work that is
copied. In serious cases, this means failure, with a
mark of 0
Disciplinary proceedings may also follow
If in doubt about proper practice, ask!
Publishing your paper
If you have written a good paper, you may choose to revise it for
publication or use it in some other way to build your CV
If you choose to submit it for publishing, compare:
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General and specialist journals
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Refereed journals and others (what do ‘referees’ do?)
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Australian and overseas journals
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Internet publishing
If in doubt, ask academic staff for advice
Recap
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Resources, materials and programs in support of
the academic program
Preliminary tips for approaching exams and legal
research essays
Questions?
For more information (resources, webinars, and link for booking
individual consultations), visit the Legal Academic Skills Centre
website at:
http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/legal-academic-skills-centre
I will post the slides there.
Thank you!