Synopses & Reviews
Skills for Law Students is an innovative new online resource which covers all of the skills that law students need to understand and develop during the course of their law degree. It includes clear, practical advice on how to develop your skills as well as over 170 interactive activities to test progress and to help put the theory into practice.
Skills for Law Students is unique in its approach to the teaching of legal skills. It is an online resource with an accompanying textbook. This innovative approach encourages blended learning and supports flexible learning and self-directed study.
Each of the 32 chapters deals with a separate skill. Each chapter contains two key elements: the text providing an overview of what that skill is; why it is important; and how to develop it and interactive activities which enable students to understand the topic better; to put the skills into practice; and to self-study and receive immediate feedback on their progress.
About the Author
Helen Carr, BA Juris (Oxon) MA (SP&C) (Open) Solicitor; Lecturer in Law. Helen Carr joined Kent Law School in 2006 following 10 years of practice at Bradford Law Centre and a further period teaching and researching at London Metropolitan University. She spent the years 2001-2005 seconded to the Law Commission working on the reform of tenure and housing disputes. She is currently chair of the Legal Action Group and honorary legal adviser to Sir Richard Tilt, the Social Fund Commissioner. Her publications include the best-selling Brayne and Carr:
Law for Social Workers (OUP 2005).
Sarah Carter, BA Hons. (Keele), Dip.Lib. Law Librarian at Kent since 1985, also responsible for Official Publications and European Documentation. Duties include liaison with KLS students and staff, collection development, training in legal research skills and use of electronic resources. Responsible for building up the Library's collection of legal datasets. Editor of internationally-recognised Lawlinks website.
Dr Kirsty Horsey is Lecturer at the University of Kent. In 2007 she was awarded the Barbara Morris Prize for Learning Support for the work she has done with struggling law students and her key role in the VALUE Programme (value added learning within university education) within the Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching at Kent.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
I. Study skills
2. Managing your time
3. Writing good English
4. Taking notes
5. Working in groups
6. Contributing to seminars and tutorials
7. Avoiding plagiarism
8. Thinking critically
9. Thinking creatively
10. Reflecting on your work
II. Research and technical skills
11. Embarking on research
12. Using a law library
13. Sources of law
14. Citing legal authorities
15. Using law books
16. Using legal journals
17. Using legal databases
18. Using reference materials
III. Legal method
19. Reading statutes and the legislative process
20. Understanding judicial interpretation of statutes
21. Reading cases I: the basics
22. Reading cases II: the rule of precedent and the opertation of ratio decidendi
23. Reading cases III: developing a strategy for reading judgments
24. Reading cases IV: a complex case
IV. Academic and assessment skills
25. Writing essays
26. Writing extended essays and dissertations
27. Anwering problem questions
28. Revising for and succeding in exams
V. Practical skills
29. Making presentations
30. Mooting
31. Interviewing
32. Negotiating and alternative dispute resolution
Glossary
Key abbreviations
Index