Module leader: Dr Gregory Ioannidis
One term (15 units)
At Buckingham Law School students will have the opportunity to develop their legal skills as part of the core curriculum. This is a compulsory module, which teaches and develops practical skills with particular emphasis on advocacy and negotiation, and also introduces students to civil and criminal procedure, legal research, analysis of evidence, disclosure and legal opinion.
Legal Skills is an integral component of the LLB (Hons) and aims to equip students with the necessary practical skills to enable them to become highly competent lawyers able to practise anywhere in the world.
The Legal Skills module ensures that our graduates are well prepared and well equipped to face the competition during their vocational training and immediately upon graduation in finding training and work. This strengthens not only their confidence, but also their ability to withstand the strenuous and demanding elements of the practice of law. Buckingham Law School is assisted in the delivery of this module by a teaching team who are themselves professionally qualified and some are also practising barristers with an internationally recognised profile. An essential element of the module is the Masterclass on Advocacy delivered by a Master Bencher and our Visiting Professor in Law Sir Ivan Lawrence QC.
Assessment on this module is continuous and students are tested on a variety of practical skills including advocacy and negotiation, preparation and performance in mooting workshops, drafting of skeleton argument and research. With regard to mooting, students are required to analyse points of law and consideration is given to the clarity of their argument, attention to the court etiquette and presentation skills. In negotiation practice workshops and the negotiation exercise, students are introduced into a wide variety of negotiation skills and ethics.
Finally, the module introduces the students into criminal and civil procedure. In the former students are required to examine criminal appeals and the general criminal justice process, whereas in the latter students are required to examine the civil justice reforms and to proceed with a civil law claim. In this particular aspect, students are required to familiarise themselves with the pre-trial stage, which includes an examination of the stages of ADR, exchange of statements and disclosure of evidence.
What the external examiners say:
“The module on Legal Skills & Procedure should be congratulated for teaching and testing a range of legal skills by interactive means, including mooting.”
Mr Gary Watt, University of Warwick, 19 October 2009.
What our graduates say:
“Having recently started the BVC, I found that the Legal Skills and Procedure module that I took at the University of Buckingham was of tremendous assistance to me. In comparison to my colleagues, many of whom had attended Oxford and Cambridge or had completed a GDL, I noticed that I was more confident and better prepared in classes which required the use of my oral skills, such as Conference and Advocacy. Since it was not my first time making a submission to a judge, I was more familiar with the proper court language and etiquette. I was particularly commended for having the appropriate demeanour. The module was definitely something which I enjoyed not only because it assisted me in the continuation of my studies, but because it was the only module of the LLB programme which allowed me to experience what life would like as a practising lawyer.”
Sofia Papageorge, LLB (Hons), Dec. 2008
Details of the module
The module is designed to develop a number of key skills with particular emphasis on advocacy and negotiation, whilst introducing the student to aspects of the English legal system that were not studied in Introduction to Legal Studies 1. Some of these skills are applied in the practical exercises with each student having to conduct a negotiation, a moot and attend three mooting workshops.
Upon completion of this module a student will understand:
- issues related to miscarriages of justice and the criminal appeals system.
- issues relating to the background of the civil justice reforms, and how these reforms have affected civil procedure and practice in England and Wales.
- how to undertake a research project.
- how to undertake and conduct a negotiation, and the ethics of negotiation.
- how to present legal arguments orally.
The module is assessed in the following manner:
- An essay of 1,500 words on a topic related to miscarriages of justice and criminal appeals, or civil justice reforms (25%).
- A student’s performance and preparation for the mooting workshops (25%).
- A student’s performance in an assessed moot (25%).
- A student’s performance and preparation for an assessed negotiation exercise (25%).
Main texts
A folder containing relevant material will be provided at the beginning of the module, but the student is expected to engage in legal research for all elements of the module.
Recommended texts:
- Boyle, F. A practical guide to lawyering skills (Latest ed., London: Cavendish, 2005). ISBN: 1-85941-975-5.
- Hill, Jeffrey, A practical guide to mooting (Palgrave MacMillan, 2009). ISBN: 978-0-230-22068-3.
- Elliott, C. & F.Quinn, English legal system (8th ed., Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2007). ISBN: 978-1-4058-4733-9.
- Finch, E. & S. Fafinski, Legal skills (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). ISBN: 978-0-19-920390-1.
- McPeake, R. / City Law School, Advocacy 2009-2010 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). ISBN: 978-0-19-956846-8.
- Webb, J. Lawyers’ skills 2009-2010 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). ISBN: 978-0-19-957347-9.
