LAW-20092 - Module Specification
School of Law
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

The ability to communicate complex legal issues clearly and persuasively is an essential skill for lawyers and professionals in law related fields. Mastering this skill will help you be effective in your role, inspire trust and confidence in you in others and expand your sphere of influence.
Communicating Current Issues in Law offers you a unique opportunity to engage with a current legal problem and to refine your understanding by reference to a range of sources. You will hone your oral and written communication skills and develop your presentation skills, building an impressive portfolio of evidence to demonstrate your skills and abilities. Employing authentic assessments with real world relevance, this module will equip you well to convey your knowledge and expertise cogently and clearly to different audiences in a range of different ways.

The module aims to provide students with the skills and confidence to engage with current legal issues that are the subject of Law Commission Consultation or Government White Papers. It seeks to walk students through the process of identifying, locating and construing relevant primary and secondary sources with a view to refining their comprehension, interpretation and information transmission skills. Students will utilise newly acquired knowledge to craft communications utilising different modes and media to target different audiences. Students will be encouraged to see the real-world relevance of legal research and the role of the lawyer in communicating their knowledge and understanding clearly and effectively, acquiring the self-belief needed to communicate complex legal and non-legal issues in their future roles.

Intended Learning Outcomes

locate, collate and deploy primary and secondary sources pertaining to a current legal issue or problem
: 1
summarise and synthesise arguments to explain and critique legal developments: 1
construct clear, considered and well-supported written arguments to defend or undermine a proposition: 1
communicate knowledge clearly and effectively to target audiences, utilising different modes (visual, written, oral) and media: 1

Study hours

introductory workshop = 2 hours
library refresher = 2 hours
Learning Development support = 2 hours
workbook completion plus pre-reading = 60 hours
workshops/skills retreat = 10 hours
writing/preparing submissions = 74 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment