Critically examine the importance of legal methods, research and writing.
This essay critically examines the importance and relevance of legal methods, research and writing. This view can be determined as being quite factual. This essay posits that legal methods, research and writing are skills necessary for success within the study and practice of law. The following will be shown in support of this thesis. Firstly, that legal method is critical to a better understanding of legal principles as it establishes the foundation of other legal courses as well as to the application and analysis process carried out by legal professionals. Secondly, that legal research is an essential procedure for aspiring and established lawyers. Lastly, that legal
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Legal research is therefore the process of finding the law that applies to a client’s problem to support an argument or solve a legal issue. Thus, legal research is a skill that must be acquired by individuals within the legal profession as there is an overabundance of cases and statutes that must be reviewed to come to a legal conclusion. Legal research can be characterized as one of the most important skills for students to grasp within their undergraduate degree as they must learn how to locate the applicable authority of law among the plethora of cases and statutes, assisting them in building the framework needed for legal analysis . Legal research is vital to lawyers as cannot practice law without conducting research and do not have the option of possessing mediocre researching skills . There is therefore a standard of legal research that is expected of lawyers as seen in Lougheed Enterprises Ltd v Ambruster , where it was determined that legal counsel has a duty to ensure that they are knowledgeable of the relevant authority to strengthen one’s argument. Gibb v Jiwan highlights this duty, where Justice Ferguson stated “The court must rely on counsel to conduct reasonably complete research on points of law they raise. That is part of counsel’s professional duty”. …show more content…
Legal writing, regarded as one of the most vital tools within the legal field, is a skill that is important to both law students and legal professionals, as it is the basis in which one can successfully persuade and advocate their legal position. Students studying law as their undergraduate degree, often find legal writing a very difficult concept as they are required to abandon the writing techniques they once learnt within other disciplines . Though it is challenging, the emphasis of the importance of legal writing cannot be underestimated. Students are stressed on the importance of legal writing because the basis of the success of a lawyer is mostly determined on their ability to write well. A study conducted by the American Bar Association concluded that majority of employers expect recent law school graduates to possess an above average level of competency in relation to legal writing. Therefore, students are taught legal writing courses within their first year to aid in writing for other courses and to ensure they have more time to hone such a skill. Wojick even noted that by possessing outstanding writing skills, will more likely result in a form of future job security. Slocum (2011) noted that the skill of writing the analysis and solution of a client’s legal issue, is the basis of a lawyer’s practice. Kauffman (1978) further expounded on this
Culver, Keith Charles. Readings in the philosophy of law. 1999. Reprint. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 2008. Print.
Since 15th century, barristers have been split up into two professions in United Kingdom, Barristers and Barristers. Barristers have traditionally been the people who research cases, deal with clients directly, and Barristers have had the rights of advocate in courts. Hence, Barristers' ethical duties are very important to the court and the client, and this is an essay to discuss the duties to the court, clients and conflicts in between.
The importance of doing pro bono work as part of legal education is something that law students should take into account, not only due to the benefits it provides, both in developing key legal skills within a real-life context and enhancing graduate employability, but also because its charitable nature gives them a sense of having “given back” to their community by aiding those who seek out legal advice.
Although the legal profession is a single discourse community, it is made up of many smaller discourse communities. This is so because while all lawyers share the same broad goals of the legal profession and have a general knowledge and expertise in all areas of the law, most lawyers after graduating from law school and passing the bar exam specialize in a particular area of law. This specialization requires the lawyer to go beyond the broad concepts of law as a whole and to become knowledgeable and proficient in the sometimes minute details of a more specific area of law. Even then, some lawyers will go even further to focus on one aspect or another of that particular area of law. This results in most lawyers being members of many even smal...
Over the years, different jurisdictions had built their specific system of rules of conduct to govern behaviour. These legal systems, influenced by historical and cultural roots, can be distinguished in two families, the Civil law and the Common law legal systems. The distinctions lies in the process in which each decision is make by the judge and on the legal sources that shapes the law. Indeed, by contrast to the Common law system, which is largely based on Precedents, meaning the decisions that have already been made by judges in similar cases, the Civil law system is based on legislator’s decisions and legal codes with which judges have to justify their judgment . Consequently, instead of referencing to concepts and rules
Moot courts also teach professionalism and ethics to students of law, to apply law to fact, to structure and rank a legal argument by strength, and not to assert losing propositions. They provide law students opportunities to improve their legal writing, legal research, and oral advocacy in a competitive environment that prepares students for a competitive world. The moot court experience is perhaps the most important activity in law school. It is the activity that fully develops the skill every lawyer must possess: advocacy. Regardless of practice area, all lawyers must communicate in a way that advances their client’s interests, whether in a courtroom or boardroom. Most important, moot court builds character. Every student competitor “will be a better lawyer, and a better person, because of the moot court experience.”
The intention of this essay is to explain the process of law reform within the English legal system. The way in which the activity of parliament and that of the judiciary affects the way in which laws are reformed in the UK will be also discussed. The common law system in the UK means that the UK's primary legal principles have been developed by the judiciary rather than by parliament. However, as parliamentary sovereignty is an important key principle of the UK constitution parliament is the supreme legal authority in the UK. Parliament can create, change or repeal any law and generally speaking the judiciary cannot overrule legislation that has been passed by parliament.
We must consider whether they are “authoritarian law-makers, or if their profession makes them mere declarers of the law”. In this essay, I will argue the ways that judges do make law, as well as discussing the contrary. The English legal system is ostensibly embedded on the foundation of a ‘high degree of certainty with adaptability’ based on a steady ‘mode’ of legal reasoning. This rests on four propositions. 1.
If a person has a problem, that needs to be addressed in a court venue, it is likely that person will bring the problem to an attorney. Competence comes with the ability, of an attorney, to know where to find the answers to their client’s problems. Legal research is the process of finding the key facts of the case, and applying them to the cause of action. Research good case law and match it to the elements in the case. The hope of an attorney is to create an argument in court that is indisputable.
...-legal helps to bring about a better understanding of the law and postgraduate scholars would do well to prepare themselves with other research methodologies.
writing” by R. Ramsey, the ability to write competently is a requirement for success in any field.
The Paralegal Professional, A reference to the source of legal information chapter 12, pages 434, 446, and 454.
Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of the practice of law is learning to be a lawyer. Virtually every new lawyer today is a graduate of law school, a much dreaded, but fulfilling journey to practicing law. Modern law schools differ greatly from their earlier counterpart, in that many more requirements and responsibilities exist. In colonial times, students pursuing a career in law would enter institutions for instruction of the law, and would automatically become qualified to practice law in the courts after a few years of study. Today, however, becoming a lawyer takes much more training, rigorous work and effort, and many years of studying in order to take a bar exam of which passage represents qualification. There is much more consideration concerning who is admitted, what kind of curriculums are taught, how exams are offered, what kinds affiliation exist, how much law schools differ from one another, and what it ultimately takes to be fully competent as a practicing attorney.
Law is a tool in society as it helps to maintain social control, promoting social justice. The way law functions in society and its social institution provide a mechanism for solutions. There are many different theories of the function of law in relation to society in considering the insight they bring to different socio-legal and criminological problems. In the discussion of law’s role in social theory, Leon Petrażycki and Eugen Ehrlich share similar beliefs in the jurisprudence of society. They focused their work on the experience of individuals in establishing meaning in their legal relations with others based on the question of what it means to be a participant in law. Jürgen Habermas presents a relationship between law and morality. From a certain standpoint, law is a key steering mechanism in society as it plays an educational role in promoting conducts, a mean of communication and it
As I plan to pursue a postgraduate degree in the field of legal affairs, I have hoped that this particular course could help me gain a better understanding of the prevailing