Welcome to another module breakdown blog post! So far, I have done 3 posts in this little series on my blog. Essentially, I break down each module and look at it in detail so if you are doing this module, or something very similar, then you know what to expect!
You can find my previous module breakdown posts here:
Year 1 Modules
This post is about Legal Skills. Let’s get to it!
Content
Legal Skills is another core module within the LLB degrees. It is also one of the qualifying law degree modules which means you have to pass this module in order to have professional exemption from the academic stages of qualifying as a barrister or solicitor.
This module is all about developing and practicing research, writing, problem-solving, presentation and communication skills. Semester One is primarily focused on these, as well as touching on careers development and employability skills. There were a few guest lecturers involved in semester 1, as we had training and guidance given on various law databases, such as Westlaw. Semester Two was all about preparing for our E-Moot assignment, which I’ll get into during the assessment section of this post. We were given an introduction to mooting and what it entails, which allowed us to focus on advocacy skills. Towards the end of the semester, we then went over revision and exam techniques so we were prepared for the exams we had in May.
Lectures
Lectures in Semester One happened once a week over a two hour time slot. These lectures were delivered online via Blackboard so I did not have to go to campus into a lecture room for them. This was completely different in Semester Two, in which lectures were delivered on campus but with the capability of being shown on Blackboard online too. This is because there were some people who had requests to study off campus.
Each lecture focused on one specific topic, such as how to write a good law essay or problem question. They were actually quite interactive as well, with the lecturer quite often asking questions to us. Our cohort is quite small, meaning lectures feel really personal which I liked.
Tutorials
There were six tutorials in total for Legal Skills. Each tutorial, like tutorials in my other modules, had pre-set questions we needed to complete in order to help us with what we would be discussing in the tutorials. Every tutorial was interactive, with expectations for us to answer any questions the lecturer gave us.
Tutorials were held on campus across both semesters but they were also shown on Blackboard simultaneously for people who had a ‘request to study off campus’ excepted.
Assessments
Within legal skills, there are two assessments. Towards the end of semester one, there was a multiple-choice test on Blackboard worth 40% of our overall mark for the module. This test was on everything we learned in semester one, such as the correct way to use OSCOLA, using different law databases such as Westlaw or JustisOne, and the authority of law reports to name a few. I managed to get 80% in this test which is a first. I’m really happy with how I did in this and to get such a high first is something really promising.
In semester two, around March time, we had to submit an e-moot which I’ve touched upon already. The question was surrounding public law, more specifically judicial review, and was worth 60% of our mark for Legal Skills. We had to record a 10 minute clip of ourselves as if we were doing a moot and prepare a skeleton argument for submission. As of writing, I have not received my mark back for this but hopefully I did well!
My Overall Thoughts
I have really enjoyed Legal Skills. It’s been a really engaging module to go through but what I particularly like about it is how it’s relatively chilled compared to my other law modules. The things we went through have been very useful to me so I can certainly understand why this is a compulsory module. I particularly found the training sessions we received for each law database extremely helpful. They certainly guided me through my assignments!
Thank you very much for reading.
Beth
Beth Olivia 
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