DVVP01 Lawyering Skills: Writing for Legal Practice

Faculty of Law
Autumn 2010
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Juliana Victoria Campagna, M.A. (lecturer)
Mgr. Slavomír Halla, Ph.D. (assistant)
JUDr. Radka Chlebcová, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Jan Neckář, Ph.D.
Faculty of Law
Contact Person: JUDr. Radka Chlebcová, Ph.D.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 22 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The goal of the Lawyering Skills course is to help prepare law students for their life’s work: identifying, analyzing and explaining legal problems and solutions. This is what legal professionals do for a living, regardless of where they work, or the substantive area of law in which they work. Legal professionals cannot analyze and communicate rules in an arbitrary, ad hoc, lawless fashion. Giving advice about legal rules is a rule-governed skill set that all lawyers need to know. Students who take this course – and take it seriously – will be able to discuss legal issues in English both with their colleagues and with their clients. They will learn the vocabulary, the linguistic structures and the legal format necessary to write the foundational documents of our profession: the memorandum of law and the client advice letter.
Syllabus
  • 1. The memorandum of law – the Plain English rule a) Identifying and focusing on the audience b) Ascertaining the legal issue c) Setting forth the rule – conveying parties’ rights and duties d) Analyzing the facts and applying them to the law e) Predicting legal outcomes 2. The Client Advice Letter – the Plain English rule a) Identifying and focusing on the audience b) Explaining required conduct c) Presenting options in light of their risk 3. Negotiating – using appropriate terms and structures to support your client’s bottom line
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Garner, B., A., Legal Writing in Plain English. Chicago> The University of Chicago Press., 2001. ISBN:0-226-28417-4
  • Coughlin, Ch., Malmud, J., Patrick S., A Lawyer Writes - A pratical Guide to Legal Analysis. Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 2008, ISBN:978-1-59460-360-0
Teaching methods
Lecture and workshop with students
Assessment methods
Participation in the class, evaluation of client's letter, evaluation of written legal memoranda
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught only once.
The course is taught: in blocks.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 20 hodin v jednom týdnu.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2009.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/autumn2010/DVVP01