Foundations in Legal Skills Assignment

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit a Foundations in Legal Skills assignment. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the module you should be able to:

1. Identify and provide evidence of personal qualities and transferable skills necessary for employability and further study.

2. Use methods of enquiry to explore personal development opportunities and related issues.

3. Identify, retrieve and evaluate legal material for a given purpose and use such material appropriately.

4. Demonstrate the ability to communicate legal information in an appropriate form to a given scenario.

This assignment will assess Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3 & 4.

Your assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, the module name, the submission deadline and a word count; the appendices if relevant; and a reference list in OSCOLA format. You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below. Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work.

This assessment comprises of THREE tasks. You must complete ALL tasks. All three tasks MUST be submitted in a single in the same Word or Pdf document. Each PowerPoint in your presentation prepared for Task 1 MUST be individually copied and pasted into the Word or Pdf document.

Task 1

You are a newly qualified solicitor at Arden LLP. You have been asked by your supervising partner to deliver a 30-minute professional development seminar for the new intake of trainee solicitors and paralegals on the topic of: ‘How to conduct an effective client interview’

Prepare and submit a series of 12 PowerPoint slides which would underpin such a presentation giving consideration to:

• the complexity of the subject matter and your target audience

• the amount of information and the time constraints

• the structure of your presentation

• correct referencing practice in relation to all sources

Produce an annotated bibliography of relevant sources (excluding case and statutory materials) for the following research problem:

Discuss the potential impact of the provisions contained in the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

You should NOT write an essay answering the question. You should construct an annotated bibliography of eight entries. Each entry must be accompanied by a short paragraph (annotation):

• Summarising the source

• Evaluating the source for credibility and reliability

• Explaining why you chose the source

• Explaining how the source helps you answer the question on impact

At least three of the entries must be drawn from freely accessible material on the internet (i.e. not taken from Westlaw or any other subscription service).

There are THREE Parts to this task, parts (i), (ii) and (iii). You must complete ALL parts of this task

i. Prepare a CV as if you were applying for your ideal legal graduate position or a legal work placement. Your CV should be no more than two sides of A4.

ii. Produce a covering letter to accompany your CV prepared in (i) above. This should be no more than one side of A4.

iii. Prepare a reflective statement which evaluates your personal skills development whilst participating in the Foundations in Legal Skills module. You may include references to knowledge and skills acquired via other Level Four modules such as English Legal System if relevant. This should be no more than one side of A4.