Phone: 83135221
Email: paul.babie@adelaide.edu.au
Building: Ligertwood Building, floor 3
Room: 3 05

Please note that all classes will be two hours in duration (9am-11am).

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Analyse the principles of their chosen thesis topic in law, undertake legal research at an advanced level with primary and secondary materials, and evaluate complex legal information.
2. Apply advanced and integrated knowledge of the law to complex issues, and critically evaluate the operation of the law from theoretical and practical perspectives.
3. Structure and sustain coherent extended written arguments for a sophisticated legal audience, orally communicate complex legal concepts effectively, and critique advanced legal research from substantive and structural perspectives.
4. Conduct and analyse legal research at an advanced level, write extended legal arguments effectively and persuasively.
5. Analyse the impact of law from policy perspectives, and in the context of social and cultural diversity, and appreciate the value of interdisciplinary approaches.
6. Reflect on their abilities to undertake individual work effectively.

There is no required text on this topic.

A booklet of 40 activities, which will also give important references, will be supplied.
Several works on research and writing will be recommended.

Recommended books will be discussed in the first class.

MyUni will be used to post announcements, post additional lecture materials (including slides, and where available, audio recordings of lectures) and announce assignment tasks. It will also contain electronic copies of the Course Outline, Lecture and Seminar Guides, and Course Materials. Students are expected to check MyUni regularly to keep up to date with these materials and additional learning resources throughout the course.

Learning and Teaching Activities amounting to 24 hours (across lecture, seminar and structured learning activity formats) will be offered to students in this course.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours of private study in addition to your regular classes.

Week 1	Our first session will provide an introduction to the course and guidance on how things will run. We will also begin by building individual profiles of yourself as a reader, writer and communicator.
Week 2	Thinking about methodology It was T.S. Eliot that once noted (admittedly in the context of literary criticism) that there is ‘no method except to be very intelligent’ (Sacred Wood, 1921). That is a view that I suspect many legal scholars hold. There is a fear that methodology courses, and a slavish focus on methodology, work against intelligent thinking. In this session the unappealing nature of methodology courses is confronted head on and the intellectual significance of methodology is considered. Three different issues are covered. First, a map of different types of legal methodology is given. Second, different understandings of scholarly expertise are examined. Finally, the practical significance of methodology to great legal scholarship is considered.
Week 3	Exploring the field: finding, keeping and writing about the literature in your field In this session we will consider research questions; purposes of reviewing the literature; note taking, storing, sorting and planning; and doing literature searches.
Week 4	Different approaches to scholarship: Doctrine, socio-legal and more The primary aim of the seminar is to consider alternative ways of approaching scholarship such as a doctrinal approach, socio-legal, or theoretical approach etc. We will also reflect on the effect that approach might have on publication, career opportunities, and research funding possibilities in the light of various research ‘buzz words’: impact, knowledge exchange, and dissemination.
Week 5	Critique This session focuses on the nature and practice of critique. It alsodistinguishes critique from trashing and provides instruction on best practice.
Week 6	Theory and the non-theorist Legal theorists study legal theory (i.e. jurisprudence, or the philosophy of law) because they find it intrinsically interesting and because they aspire to make some progress on theoretical problems about law. But what about everyone else? If one is doing doctrinal, or historical, or empirical research in law?
Week 7	Identifying and Avoiding Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information that confirms or supports one's prior personal beliefs or values. It is something that we all do and need to actively combat as researchers.
Week 8	Interdisciplinary Research Interdisciplinarity is a reality and an aspiration of much legal scholarship. As so much scholarship is about thinking about the interrelationship between law and real world problems legal scholars are engaging with many other disciplines in a range of complex ways. Despite this being the case there is little analysis within legal scholarship about what it means to be interdisciplinary. This is particularly problematic when interdisciplinary research can result in poor scholarship due it veering into ‘dilettantism’ (Feldman) or simple polemic. In this seminar we first begin at looking at the different ways to conceptualise disciplines (ways of thinking, vocabularies, sociological constructs etc.) and interdisciplinarity. Second, five different types of interdisciplinary legal scholarship are identified. Finally, a series of dos and don’ts for this type of scholarship are outlined.
Week 9	Rules of Good Writing (and of Writing a Good Thesis) Our final unit on legal writing begins with a focus on George Orwell's essay, "Politics and the English Language". After that we consider canonical essays on good legal writing.
Week 10	Finding out What The Style Guides Advise This session focuses on legal style guides such as the AGLC and other elements of legal style. We also consider Steven Pinker's argument that having too much knowledge on a subject can interfere with style.
Week 11	Being Sensitive to Disciplinary Conventions This week we focus on research and writing conventions in law and contrast them with other disciplines such as the social sciences. We also use this week to unpack in more detail the relationship between legal method and multi-disciplinary scholarship
Week 12	The Politics of Legal Writing The course will finish with an examination of the political economy of university research and its future.

*Please note that these learning activities are subject to change. For the latest information please consult Myuni.

Assessment Task	Task Type	Weighting	Word count/ time	Due	Learning Outcomes
Critical analysis of a piece of writing	Individual	55%	3,000 words	Friday of Week 6, 2pm	1, 2, 3, 6
Oral presentation of research proposal	Individual	20%	N/A	Students will be advised of the timetable for presentations of their research proposals in the first weeks of the course.	3, 4, 5
Written research proposal	Individual	25%	2,000 words	Friday of Week 12, 2pm	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Total		100%

Critical Analysis of a Piece of Writing Throughout the semester, students will be asked to analyse critically the writing of others, especially landmark articles.  For this assessment, an article of influence will be set for comment. Students will be asked to explain the main argument, whether they find it persuasive and why, what are its strengths and weaknesses, and so on.

Students may be permitted on application to revise and re-submit their critical analysis within two weeks of receipt of their initial grade if that grade is 60% or more.

Oral presentation of research proposal There will be ongoing or rolling presentations of the proposal to class members (it will evolve over the course of the semester), and all students are expected to provide constructive comments to other students. There is then a final presentation of the proposal to the class. (This is a very interesting exercise. Your ideas will grow and develop over time.)

Written research proposal This is the final written version of the proposal which will be informed by the former presentations to class. The assessment of the written research proposal will take into account the development of the proposal.

Standard Adelaide Law School submission requirements apply. Specific information will be provided in the assessment instructions for each item of assessment.

Finality of Assessment Grades

Students are advised that Course Coordinators will not enter into negotiations of any kind with any student regarding changes to their grades. It is irrelevant, in any given circumstance, that only a minimal number of additional marks are required to inflate a student’s grade for any individual assessment item or course as a whole. Pursuant to the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policyand the Adelaide Law School Assessment Policies and Procedures, grades may only be varied through the appropriate channels for academic review (such as an official re-mark).

Moderation

In accordance with the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, course coordinators ‘ensure that appropriate marking guidelines and cross-marking moderation processes across markers are in place’ in each course. Procedures adopted by Adelaide Law School to ensure consistency of marking in courses with multiple markers include:

• assurance of the qualifications of markers, and their knowledge of the content covered in each course;
• detailed marking guidelines and assessment rubrics to assist in the marking of items of assessment;
• sharing of example marked assessments at various grade bands across markers;
• reviewing of selected marked assessments from each marker by the course coordinator;
• comparison of the marks and their distribution across markers;
• automatic double-marking of all interim assessment receiving a fail grade, and of final assessments where a student’s overall result is a fail grade;
• the availability of re-marking of assessments in accordance with Adelaide Law School’s Assessment Policies and Procedures.

Approval of Results by Board of Examiners

Students are reminded that all assessment results are subject to approval (and possible moderation/change) by the Law School’s Board of Examiners. Assessment results at the University are not scaled. Under the Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, students are assessed ‘by reference to their performance against pre-determined criteria and standards … and not by ranking against the performance of the student cohort in the course’. However, under that same policy, the Board of Examiners (as the relevant Assessment Review Committee for courses at Adelaide Law School) is required to ‘ensure comparability of standards and consistency’ in assessment. On occasions, the Board of Examiners will form the view that some moderation is required to ensure the comparability of standards and consistency across courses and years, and accordingly provide fairness to all law students. All assessment results are therefore subject to approval (and possible change) until confirmed by the Board of Examiners and posted on Access Adelaide at the end of each semester.

The course is constantly being updated and revised to reflect the evolution of the law, to respond to student feedback, and to engage with the latest teaching practices. Student feedback is collected each time the course is run, including through SELT reports. Previous SELT reports, and staff feedback on them, are posted on the course MyUni site for students to view and consider.

The University Writing Centre provides academic learning and language development services and resources for local, international, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students enrolled at the University of Adelaide.

The centre offers practical advice and strategies for students to master reading, writing, note-taking, time management, oral presentation skills, referencing techniques and exam preparation for success at university through seminars, workshops and individual consultations.

Lex Salus Program

Lex Salus (law and wellbeing) is an initiative of the Adelaide Law School aimed at destigmatising mental health issues; promoting physical, mental and emotional wellness; building a strong community of staff and students; and celebrating diversity within the school. It also seeks to promote wellness within the legal profession, through the involvement of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Honourable Chris Kourakis, as the official Patron of the program.

Students can participate in the Lex Salus program by attending barbecue lunches, pancake breakfasts, knitting and crochet circles, seminars, guest speakers, conferences and other activities. Our Facebook page, website and regular all-student emails promote upcoming events, and have tips and information on wellness.

Our Lex Salus YouTube channel also includes videos on topics like managing stress, and interviews with LGBTQ lawyers and their supporters which celebrate diversity and individuality. Students who commit to 10 hours of volunteering with Lex Salus in one year can have their service recognised on their academic transcript and through a thank you morning tea with the Chief Justice and law school staff.

Student Life Counselling Support

The University’s Student Life Counselling Support service provides free and confidential service to all enrolled students. We encourage you to contact the Student Life Counselling Support service on 8313 5663 to make an appointment to deal with any issues that may be affecting your study and life.

Academic Integrity

All students must be familiar with the University’s Academic Integrity Policy. Academic Misconduct is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Academic Misconduct (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia. Academic Integrity is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.