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• What are the most common forms of writing used in Law School assignments and exams?
• What's the difference between writing essays for law units and other university writing activities?
• What is the purpose of setting writing tasks for law studies?
• What are the main features of legal argument?
• Based on your experience in assessing law essays, what advice would you give to first year students?
• What are the features of assignments in law which receive high marks?
• Why does a piece of assessment writing in law receive a poor mark?
• What citation conventions are used in law assignments and exam essays?

What are the most common forms of writing used in Law school assignments and exams?

Essay writing

Most assignment/essay writing tasks in law are set to test your ability to analyse and research a topic from your study area. Essays in first year are usually between 500-2000 words in length and follow traditional university writing conventions. That is, they have an introduction, body and conclusion and are appropriately referenced using the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (3^rd ed, 2010) (AGLC 3).

Essays written under exam conditions also follow traditional university writing conventions. However, the purpose of exam essays is to demonstrate your knowledge of a topic and you are not usually expected to reference your writing to the extent required in your assignment work.

Problem solving essays

Problem solving essays have a purpose and structure similar to the traditional essay. You will be required to analyse, research, compose answers (from 500-2000 words) using an essay format with appropriate citations. Problem questions, however, differ from the traditional essay in that you are required to address specific legal issues contained within the given fact situation. You will be required to provide legal advice to a party or parties based on your analysis of these issues.

You will be asked to write problem solving essays for assignment tasks and in exams from your first to your last years of law studies.

Other assessable writing tasks

In some law units, you may be required to do legal writing activities which are related to practices which lawyers undertake in the daily life of law work. Writing exercises could include case analyses, memorandums, opinions and letters. The expected form for these writing activities is taught in these subject areas. You will find examples of this type of writing in the Writing samples area of this site.

 

What's the difference between writing essays for law units and other university writing activities?

Elements of legal style

Most writing styles are absorbed during reading - the more you read legal texts the more likely you are to reproduce that style of writing with some accuracy. However, if you are just starting out with legal writing, it may be helpful for you to have a few tips about 'legal style'. You should make note of these features during your reading and apply them to your writing. Some guidelines for effective legal writing include consideration of the following:

• Audience
  The style of your writing will be governed by your audience. The audience of most of your legal writing will be your lecturer. You will be writing for someone who has experience and expertise in your field of study and who knows the form and standards required for academic writing. In some law units, you may be asked to write for a defined audience. For example, you may be asked to write a letter to a client stating their legal position in relation to a problem or you may be asked to write a memorandum to another lawyer within a law firm. Such exercises are designed to challenge you to deliver information suitable to a target audience so you must adjust your writing style accordingly.
• Simplicity and preciseness
  You are urged to use simple language as much as possible to transmit information and develop legal arguments in your essays. Every subject area has terminology which is used to discuss subject matter with the preciseness required by that field of learning. In legal writing, precision is more important than expressiveness. Legal terms should be used consistently throughout your writing. For example, terms such as plaintiff, defendant, judge, witness etc do not require the use of synonyms to vary your writing. These legal terms may be used in a precise and meaningful manner when they are structured into clearly written simple sentences (ie no longer than 2-3 lines in length). The use of active voice as a sentence structure strategy will assist you to achieve the simplicity and preciseness which is required. When you are at the editing stage of your assignment work, mark off every sentence in your draft assignment. Sentences which are three lines or more may require rethinking for clarity and preciseness.
• Formality
  Legal writing is formal in style. To achieve this formality you need to avoid using:
  • casual or colloquial language constructions (as you may use in informal speech)
  • contractions (eg should've, can't…)
  • first person (eg I, we…)

  When referring to individuals use their full and correct title (eg Dixon CJ).

Citation conventions for legal writing

The School of Law follows the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (3^rd ed, 2010) (AGLC 3) for its referencing conventions. This method of citation differs from other UNE disciplines.

 

What is the purpose of setting writing tasks for law studies?

Legal research and the use of research tools

You are taught legal research skills in LS 100. You are expected to develop familiarity with a range of research tools to locate primary and secondary materials including case reports, statutes and law journals. Assessment tasks involve the use and development of these research skills throughout your law studies.

Critical legal analysis

Starting in your first year of legal studies, you will practise the skills of legal analysis. Legal analysis will involve developing your ability to identify, analyse, apply and critique legal principles in a range of theoretical and fact situations. You will need to develop and apply inductive and deductive reasoning processes.

Legal writing and its conventions

Your assessment tasks will set a context for the use and application of your legal research skills and analysis. Through your writing, you will be able to demonstrate the development of the required legal skills.

 

What are the main features of legal argument?

Every legal problem has one or more issues. Once issues are identified then each issue is dealt with using a basic formula to construct a legal argument. In your unit notes and legal texts, you will find this formula outlined in a variety of ways. is a common acronym used by the School of Law to describe the process used to formulate legal arguments.

	Identify the Issue(s)
	In problem questions, you are given a set of facts and asked to provide advice on the legal issues arising from those facts. The first step is to ascertain what the assignment requires you to do. Read through the facts and carefully read and analyse the question. Then reread the facts with the goal of identifying any legal issues arising therein. To identify the legal issues, you need to know the law. So you will need to research text books, cases and legislation. Then you need to go back to the hypothetical facts and the question. Try identifying the issues from the facts. The facts that are pivotal to the legal issues are called material facts.
	State the Rules relevant to the legal issues
	Once you have analysed the facts and identified the legal issues arising from them, then it is time to research the relevant law to find the rule/s. The rule is the law. This could be legislated law or common law.
	Apply the rules to the facts of the problem
	This involves taking the legal principles or rules you have found through your research and applying them to the facts of the problem you have been given. This means seeing if there is a match between the legal rules and principles you have found and the facts you have been given. Where the rules don't match the facts, this amounts to a counter argument in that the facts at hand can be distinguished from the case or statutory provision.
	Draw a Conclusion
	Once you have exhausted all your arguments on an issue, draw a conclusion that demonstrates a reasonable degree of certainty not absoluteness. There is rarely a definite/single answer to a legal issue. Your conclusion for each identified issue should be based on the strength of your arguments. Your concluding statements should use phrases like: It is contended that ... Based on the discussion of the relevant authorities, it would appear that ...

 

 

Based on your experience in assessing law essays, what advice would you give to first year students?

DO'S

1. Do cite the cases and statutes which support the relevant legal principles in your argument or exposition. Every case or statutory provision correctly referred to is worth marks!
2. Do use primary resources. Many first year law students rely on textbooks and lecture notes (secondary resources) when writing their assignments. This is not sufficient. You should be focusing on primary resources (ie case law and statutes) when writing any legal assignment. This is because every statement of law you make must be supported by legal authority. The ONLY sources of legal authority are CASES and LEGISLATION.
3. Do put some time and effort into composing a well-written introduction to your essay. When writing the introduction to an assignment which asks a problem question, it is advisable to identify the issues in dispute. Many students write an introduction something like this: 'In answering this question, I will determine whether there is a duty of care owed by the plaintiff to the defendant. I will then determine the standard of care and whether it has been breached. It is necessary to determine whether the breach caused the damage and whether the damage is too remote'. This is a poor example of an introduction to an academic essay. Remember, the first impression your marker has of your writing ability begins with your essay introduction.
4. Do use headings and subheadings unless you are specifically requested by your lecturer not to. Headings and subheadings give your essay a logical structure. They also assist the reader (marker) to understand what you have to say. A good example of using headings to organise what you have to say in a problem question is to first identify the parties (eg Jack v Jill). Then you should work through all of the relevant legal elements for a negligence issue (eg Duty, Standard, Breach, Causation etc) using subheadings.
5. Do ask a non-law person to read your work at the editing stage of your writing. For example, ask your non-lawyer grandmother or grandfather to read your assignment before you hand it in. If your non-lawyer grandparents can understand it then you have probably written the assignment with clarity and precision. These are two very important skills when presenting legal work.

DON'TS

1. Do NOT regurgitate the facts of the question, to do so will only waste time and word space.
2. Do NOT get distracted by ISSUES of how the case would be proved or what evidence is required. You are asked to apply the law to a given set of facts so, unless expressly told otherwise, assume the given facts ARE TRUE and can be proved.
3. Do NOT be concerned if there are variables that could alter the answer to a question. The fact that you can discern such variables indicates that you have discovered some issues. The fact that you understand that different facts may lead to a different legal result indicates that you are able to apply the law to the facts. These are two of the most important elements of answering a legal question. If the facts are SILENT or AMBIGUOUS then address all relevant variables in your answer.
4. Do NOT be concerned if there doesn't appear to be a definite answer to the question. You will be deliberately directed to areas of law where the issues are not clear-cut. Where the issues are clear-cut, no questions or discussions of law arise. Also note that even the Justices of the High Court of Australia will decide differently on points of law.
5. Do NOT over-quote from statutes and cases. Remember that the purpose of assignments set for you is primarily to determine how well you understand the law and its potential application to a given set of facts. This means that we want to know what you understand the cases to mean. This IS NOT demonstrated by quoting from statutes and cases alone. If you do quote from primary sources, make sure you explain their relevance to the issues/problem at hand.
6. Do NOT hand in work with incorrect citation. If you quote from a statutes or cases, then cite correctly according to the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (3^rd ed, 2010) (AGLC 3).

 

What are the features of assignments in law which receive high marks?

Question analysis

A well-written answer to an essay/problem question should ANSWER the set question. Showing that you understand the issues embedded in the question and NARROWING your answer to deal ONLY with the contentious legal issues is an important skill.

Writing skills

Firstly, you will receive good marks for your writing skills if your essay is developed around a readable structure. Well-written essays are logically sequenced. There must be THREE clear stages in your essay - INTRODUCTION, BODY and CONCLUSION. The BODY of your essay should be divided into logical sections which relate to the question. Putting a system of headings and subheadings in to mark these sections also contributes to the readability of your writing. It should be obvious that you developed a plan before commencing to write then stuck to that plan.

Secondly, you will be rewarded if you show precision in your writing style. Good legal writing is the opposite of flowery expressive prose. Every word, phrase and sentence should be carefully chosen in legal writing. Nothing is said that is NOT STRICTLY NECESSARY but nothing is left out that is required for full development of a legal argument or exposition of an area of law.

Thirdly, you need to demonstrate a high level of accuracy in your writing. The correct use of spelling, punctuation and grammar matters. Also, citations must be used and listed accurately according to the rules set out in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (3^rd ed, 2010) (AGLC 3) .

Legal argument

A well-developed legal argument will attract those higher marks. To develop a good legal argument, you need a sound knowledge of the relevant legal principles. You must then apply this knowledge to new fact situations and topics while properly citing legal authority to support your argument.

A good legal argument will be clear, concise, logical and well organised. It will present arguments for and against each position and will conclude that one position is stronger or that one outcome is more likely because of the weight of legal authority for that position or outcome.

Well-reasoned legal argument applies the structure to its form.

	Identify the Issue(s)
	State the Rules relevant to the legal issues
	Apply the rules to the facts of the problem
	Draw a Conclusion

Research

You will need to demonstrate that you have adequately researched key primary and secondary resources. Ideally you should read cases and become familiar with the legislation relevant to the question or topic (as opposed to using extracts from textbooks). These are the primary sources of legal principle and they should be the primary focus of your research. A good understanding of relevant cases and legislation will enable you to develop sound coherent arguments which will be rewarded with high marks.

In your first year, you are not expected to research extensively for secondary materials. However, a textbook is a GOOD STARTING POINT for research on any topic. The key point is to focus on developing your ability to find, read and analyse cases and legislation.

 

 

Why does a piece of assessment writing in law receive a poor mark?

Poor question analysis

One of the major reasons for poor marks with many first year assignments is that students DO NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION BEING ASKED. No matter how clever or interesting such answers are, they gain NO MARKS because they do not answer the question.

Lack of basic writing skills

Comments from law lecturers indicate that a primary reason for a poor result in first year student assignment writing is a lack of basic writing skills. Following is a typical comment from a lecturer, 'When I mark first year assignments I am consistently presented with student's poor writing and grammatical skills. Some examples of these difficulties include poor sentence structure as well as tense changes in the middle of a sentence.'

In most law essays, you should avoid using the first person, for example, 'I think'. Rather the lecturer would like you to come to a reasoned conclusion based on the relevant authority that you have relied on.

Poor essay writing often lacks structural coherence and a balanced approach to using references throughout the essay. It is a good idea to do an essay/assignment plan before you start writing as this will help you with your writing structure. Remember - the basic building blocks of an essay are INTRODUCTION, BODY and CONCLUSION. Also, try to avoid excessive quoting, rather, only quote when it enhances your argument and keep quotes succinct and to the point.

Poor legal argument

Some students use the 'scatter gun' approach. They pick out a few key ideas from the question then write down everything they know about the topic and hope that they will somehow hit the target. The marker has then to sift through volumes of irrelevant information and pick out the pieces that answer the question. This approach is unacceptable and will result in a failure.

Underlying this approach is a student's inability to analyse the law and thus pursue a legal argument. To analyse a particular issue, it is necessary to look at the relevant law (case law and legislation) and other research (textbooks, journal articles etc) and analyse how the research is applicable to your issue. It is then necessary to argue or come to a conclusion as to how the research should be applied to the given issue at hand.

A method you can use when structuring your assignment is the approach:

	Identify the Issue(s)
	State the Rules relevant to the legal issues
	Apply the rules to the facts of the problem
	Draw a Conclusion

Lastly, many beginning law students make the mistake of discussing issues in problem questions that are NOT contentious. For example, in a recent first year problem assignment, many students spent two pages or more discussing the legal principles relating to the existence of duty of care. All that was required, in that instance, was to state that the given facts gave rise to an established category of duty of care - cite the authority and move on to the next point. They received NO MARKS at all for these pages of writing because it was neither necessary NOR relevant in that instance to expound the law on duty of care.

Lack of research ability

The main reason for this problem is that many first year law students rely on textbooks and lecture notes (secondary resources) when writing their assignments. This is not sufficient. You should be focusing on primary resources (ie case law and statutes) because these are the ONLY sources of legal authority when writing any legal assignment.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious offence in university writing resulting in immediate failure (see Avoiding plagarism: Information for students). Poor writing is often characterised by sections of plagiarised text. Avoid doing this - lecturers know legal materials and soon recognise copied and unreferenced writing. When you are note taking for assignments, it is a good practice to ALWAYS write down your sources beside your notes. This way you won't come to think that you wrote the passage at some later time.

 

What citation conventions are used in law assignments and exam essays?

Citing in the text of your essay

Law students at UNE are required to use the footnote referencing system set out in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (3^rd ed, 2010) (AGLC 3) .

Most word processing programs have footnoting tools in the menu options, for example, 'Insert --> footnote'. This tool automates the numbering system and sets up the footnoting reference list area. It can be edited in the same way as any other text editing. If you are not familiar with the tool, take five minutes to learn how to use it before you start on your essay writing.

One of the major problems students have with using quotes in their essay writing is over quoting. Quote sparingly from statutes and cases and remember to demonstrate their relevance to your argument. Also, remember that the purpose of assignments set for you is primarily to determine how well you understand the Law and its potential application to a given set of facts. This means that we want to know what you understand the cases to mean. This IS NOT demonstrated by quoting from statutes and cases alone.

Using primary sources rather than secondary sources

Both primary and secondary sources of law are important resources for law students. Secondary sources, such as textbooks and case books are excellent STARTING POINTS for learning new areas of law and researching assignment topics.

However, it is important that you understand that primary sources, that is, cases and legislation, are the ONLY AUTHORATIVE sources of law. Whenever you make a statement of law, it MUST be supported by either statutory or judicial authority. For this purpose textbooks, case books and all other secondary materials DO NOT SUFFICE.

Citing references in exams

You are NOT REQUIRED to provide proper citation (Australian Guide to Legal Citation style) in either open or closed book exams. However, you are REQUIRED to provide authority for legal principles but this can be done informally. When referring to cases and statutes, provide sufficient information for the marker to identify the case or statute you are discussing. When referring to secondary sources, the author's name will suffice.

For example:

• 'In Mabo the court held…' (case)
• 'The Australian Constitution provides for…' (statute)
• 'Blackstone argues that…' (secondary source).