MLM Part-Time Orientation, July 2013

1. MLM Part-Time Orientation, July 2013 Australia’s First, Australia’s Global. Chantal Morton, LASC, Melbourne Law School

2. Agenda for Today • Resources and Supports for your academic experience • Expectations in the MLM Course (graduate work) • Assessment: • Take Home Exams • Legal Research Papers

3. Academic Culture at MLS • ‘Independent learning’ • Seminar style • Intensive classes • Take home hypotheticals & research assessment formats • New to law? Or common law? • Australian Legal system, political, economic & cultural context • Reading case law; new legislation; international law focus • Dealing with the electronic information environment

5. 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, chantal.morton@unimelb.edu.au Judy Bourke, Legal Writing, bourkej@unimelb.edu.au Tom Andrews, Legal Research, toma@uniemelb.edu.au You can now book an appointment online through the Student Advising System at: http://student-advising-system.unimelb.edu.au/

7. 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

8. MLM Legal Writing ClinicMonday, 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

9. http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/lasc/

11. As always – more detail on the website

13. 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

14. Forms of Assessment • 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 • For details of Assessment • Check the Handbook or distributed material • Website Note due dates !

15. 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

16. 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

17. Exams

18. Exam techniques • 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

19. Answering Hypotheticals: IRAC (AKA FILAC) • IRAC is a legal problem solving technique • I: 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

20. Conventions • 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

21. Using authorities effectively: • 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!

22. Doing well on law exams 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

23. Review old exams ....

24. http://www.library.unimelb.edu.au/examination_papers/

25. Essays

26. Research papers • Choosing a topic • Research methods • Research sources • Primary and secondary sources • Finding and using sources • Plagiarism • Preparing your paper • Presenting your paper • Publishing your paper

27. Legal essays demonstrate: • 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

28. Defining your own topic: • 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

29. If you are stuck, ask yourself these questions Identify the research question • What are you trying to find out? • Why does it matter? • What is the problem? • What is your hypothesis? The question should be: • Suitable for in-depth treatment within the word limit (in particular, not too large) • Interesting to you • Original (you need to be able to write something original)

30. The Structure • Introduction –generally serves three purposes: • Orient the reader to the topic, its significance and the main issues to be explored • Preview the author’s argument and main supporting reason/s • Outline the essay’s organisation and approach. • 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. • Body - should support and substantiate your argument • 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 • Each paragraph should make a contribution by developing a particular topic, point or subsidiary argument • Remember to incorporate your sources • Conclusion

31. Every legal paper needs an Argument • What’s an argument? • 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’ • Referenced throughout the paper

32. Research method Decide how best to answer the question • Examples of different approaches: • Legal analysis • Empirical research • Theoretical/conceptual argument Form a preliminary view about structure: • Decide on a framework for your paper • Decide what you need to find out in order to answer the question

33. 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 • Books and articles • Reports from NGOs • Commentary on cases and legislation • International legal materials • Empirical data • Other (for example, government reports, etc.) The law is found in primary sources • Cases • Legislation • Regulations • International instruments (conventions, treaties, etc) Note: Many sources are available online – but be sceptical!

35. Avoid plagiarism by: • 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

36. Citing Footnotes are used in legal writing for 4 main purposes: • acknowledging the words and work of other authors - this is essential to avoid plagiarism • providing authority for assertions of fact and law • providing support for arguments or points in your discussion • 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.

37. 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?

38. Submission and Plagiarism Plagiarism is a threat to high quality graduate study • It is caused partly by the availability of sources online • Examiners look for work that is not original • We also automatically check for plagiarism at the time of submission • All Research papers and take-home exams are submitted electronically using TurnItIn • It follows that email and hard copy submissions will not be accepted • TurnItInscans all submissions to check for instances of plagiarism or collusion Submitting assessment • Go to the relevant subject page on the Masters website (log in using University username and password) • Select the TurnItIn Online Assignment Submission that relates to your assessment and subject • Follow the instructions for uploading your work • Hard copies of papers will be returned once they have been marked

39. 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!

40. 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: • General and specialist journals • Refereed journals and others (what do ‘referees’ do?) • Australian and overseas journals • Internet publishing If in doubt, ask academic staff for advice

41. Recap • Resources, materials and programs in support of the academic program • Preliminary tips for approaching exams and legal research essays

42. 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!