Hale's Resolutions - modified

Readers who have delved into Lord Thomas Bingham's excellent book, "The Rule of Law" would no doubt have been introduced to Sir Matthew Hale in Chapter 2. Hale was noted as a jurist and legal researcher, and his Analysis of the Common Law was influential on Blackstone's Commentaries.

 Bingham (Ch 2 (5)) quoted Hale's Resolutions, a list of 'Things Necessary to be Continually had in Remembrance'. 

Having given some thought to these resolutions, I had in mind that some were too antiquated to stand in a modern world, though they were likely to have been adequate in Hale's time. Resolutions 1 and 3, I reject in their entirety; God has no business in the administration of justice; neither King nor Queen. The Law should stand above all and no man should answer to more than the Rule of Law and his conscience. 

Having these thoughts, and similar, in my mind, I decided to rewrite Hale's list to fit my own thoughts and also to 'modernise' them to fit in with today's world/knowledge. 

1.    That in the pursuit of justice, I am bound by the Rule of Law and my conscience, and in seeking justice I will do so:

2.    With

a.    Forthrightness

b.    Purpose

c.    Tenacity

d.    Regard that the path to justice may not be easy or quick; but

3.    I will be prepared to do right, and my best endeavours will not be withheld for lack of trying; and

4.    I will be passionate about my cause but not a slave to my passions, or fall to them however provoked; and

5.    Focus my attention and energy to the business at hand; and

6.    Never prejudge before the entire matter is done and over with; and

7.   Recognise that bias and paucity of thought are my failures and no one else’s; and

8.    That discretion and compassion and mercy are equally part of justice and law as much as punishment and rehabilitation; and

9.    Law should not give way except and only to conscience and justice; and

10. That the law is supreme except as conscience and justice demands it to bend or fall.

Keeping in mind that I do not administer justice (Hale was a judge) but intend to practice law, resolution 1 is therefore clear in stating 'the pursuit of justice'. Note too, that 'justice' does not imply a "win at all costs" stance on behalf of a client. The aim should be to give your best, but if your client is guilty, then justice should still be administered by those so charged. The Rule of Law and your conscience should be your guide in doing what is right, and your best.

     Bias and paucity of thoughts refer to defects in thinking in yourself, and therefore has no one else to blame . This is where I am a strong believer in critical thinking. While studying law introduces elements of critical thinking, it does not go far enough on its own to really eliminate defective thoughts. Critical thinking is best practiced after studying it as a subject by itself.

     Resolutions 9 and 10 refer to conscience. Note that in this instance the conscience referred to is not my conscience as in Resolution 1, but is a reference to a 'collective' conscience (of society). So what was the law in instances such as permissible marital rape, outlawing homosexuality etc fell to the collective conscience of society through the judges administering what is right. The law as it stood then fell to the changes in society. This is what I mean by conscience.

     Thus, Resolution 1 is a reminder that if a law is unjustifiable (to a client or society), then I consider it a duty to argue for it to be changed or discarded. Resolution 10 then becomes clear in its intention.

      Any thoughts?

Pro Bono – Will you do it?

If I have to be completely honest, I have never actively thought about getting involved in pro bono work. I think, for me at least, it has always been part of my internal ethical character – to help people who find themselves in unfortunate circumstances, mainly in part because of my personal circumstances. I had worked many years in social welfare, as well as doing voluntary work in the community, and assisting several government initiatives (in Trinidad and Tobago) to help those who were not capable of helping themselves.

Since March 2018, I have been volunteering as an adviser in the advice centre at my local community centre. I would like to think that I have made a difference in the lives of the clients who visit seeking assistance. I have had success stories; for example, the single mother living on benefits who bought a cooker which was defective – condemned within a few days of purchase – and the company refused to replace it or refund the money, for nearly one year. Law students will know that this is a breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. After I got involved, it was replaced within a couple of weeks. I remember when the client came to say thank you, she literally had tears in her eyes, as she could not afford to buy a new cooker.

I see many people who have been living in atrocious circumstances. Usually, it is the City Council which is most at fault but also private landlords. Many times, repairs are not done in a timely or adequate manner and can cause significant health problems for tenants. Mould and damp are much too common and cause respiratory problems. It is not an exaggeration to say that many of these problems put the health of little children at risk – considerably more so than adults. The problem is so bad that I now have a standard paragraph in my complaint letters:

“The RSPCA would certainly disapprove of an animal living under these conditions! In fact, I dare say that the owner of any animal living in such accommodation would soon be prosecuted in court.”

The fact that Councils try to balance the use of resources against the health and well-being of tenants is certainly not a problem as far as the rights of tenants are concerned – Hotak& Ors v London Borough of Southwark & Anor (Rev 1) [2015] UKSC 30 made that very clear:

“an authority’s duty under Part VII of the 1996 (Housing) Act is not to be influenced or affected by the resources available to the authority. Once they have determined the status of an applicant under Part VII of the 1996 Act, their duty to that applicant is as defined in the Act: the fact that the authority may be very short of money and/or available accommodation cannot in any way affect whether an applicant is in priority need. In so far as a balancing exercise between housing the homeless and conserving local authority resources is appropriate, it has been carried out by Parliament when enacting Part VII.” [Emphasis added].

“Aha!”, you may say, “That only refers to homeless people.”

Well, under the Homelessness Code of Conduct Guidance, “a person who has accommodation is to be treated as homeless where it would not be reasonable for them to continue to occupy that accommodation.” [Emphasis added].

On 2 November 2018 I represented a client in Small Claims Court, pursuant to Section 3(1) of the Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order 1999, and as set out in CPR 27 and PD 27, paras. 3.1 and 3.2.

The client had a leaking roof since 2010. The City Council owned the property then and did not do any effective repairs. In 2016, the client bought the apartment he was living in. It was one apartment, in a building that contained 4 such apartments. The result was that he owned the apartment under a lease for the building, which was still owned by the Council and who was still responsible for repairs to the outside of the apartment where the client lived, including the roof of course.

The leak in the roof continued up to February 2018 this year when the client filed his claim in court, then the Council hastily put down a tar covering on the roof to stop the leak. It wasn’t enough, as by then 8 years of leaks had damaged his apartment to some severity. He was so stressed he had to be medicated and treated for depression and anxiety.

At court, the Council was represented by a barrister, a solicitor and a junior lawyer. Plus, the Council’s witness who was the person responsible for the computer system that logs the repair calls and passes the jobs to the repair contractors. This witness brought in a partial list of the call logs for the past 8 years showing that when the tenant (my client) called to get repairs done, he was not at home when the workers turned up. 13 pages of call logs.

But here is the Council’s mistake. The barrister argued first that the tenant, my client, had a responsibility to call the Council to repair the roof. Well, the very fact that there were 13 pages of call logs was like shooting themselves in the head, right? I couldn’t believe a qualified barrister made such an elementary error.

Second, he argued that the tenant/my client should be home to allow access to the roof. I merely pointed out to the judge that the Council’s own witness said in his witness statement that the roof was accessed at least twice using an elevated electrical platform from outside and that was at times the tenant was not at home. So that was another headshot, right?

The result was that the judge agreed that my client had no duty to inform the Council more than he already did, that he was not needed to access the roof and that the statutory law, as well as his lease, made the Council responsible for the repairs. He was awarded £6000, plus costs.

There are some lessons to learn from the anecdotes I related:

a)   No matter how experienced you are in law, you can make elementary mistakes. In fact, the more experienced you are, the more you have to watch that you do not overlook very basic principles and ideas.

b)   Do not be intimidated by the ‘big names’ opposing you. Prepare your argument well, and you have nothing to fear, or be ashamed of.

c)   The law is not contained only in statute or statutory instruments. There may be guidance orders, case law etc and a well-prepared argument involves spending time on research, even if you do not need it in court or in your arguments. Better be prepared.

d)   Don’t be afraid to assert yourself and your client’s (really your) argument. I can be assertive to the point of being aggressive, as you can see. Experience has taught me that being too polite gets you ignored.

e)   The law is both a shield, to protect your clients, and a sword, to assert their rights. Used appropriately, the battle is half-won.

f)    Mind map everything. I actually presented my case to the judge as a printed mind map.

g)   Clearly state that you are making a “formal complaint” when writing your complaint letter/email. Without the use of the words ‘formal complaint’, a complaint is treated as an informal complaint and there is no requirement to act upon it (advice from the Housing Ombudsman).

h)   Always put complaints in writing. Never by phone calls – but if you do make calls, log the date, time and name of the person taking the complaint.

i)    Keep copies of all your documents. You may need them as evidence if you need to go to court.

j)     Resolving problems take time. Don’t get (too) impatient but follow the policies and complaint procedures and allow the time limits for responses and resolution.

k)   Do not hesitate to escalate your complaints. Remember, the law does not help those who ‘slumber’ on their rights.

There may be other lessons that more experienced lawyers can share. This is a few that I have learnt in my volunteering experience so far.

I hope more people do get into pro bono work.

A little advice for newbies

A whole bunch of newbies will be starting in October. As a 'seasoned' OU law student (and Learner Experience Rep), I would like to share a little advice on what studying law entails… This is from my own experience of course! I will not speak for anyone else.

First, the law is not that difficult to understand. It teaches a logical and strategic thinking process even while you are learning the content. At first, probably the first four months of W101, you will be confused and find the concepts a bit difficult to understand. This is only natural. However, by the time March or April comes around in 2019, you will find that everything is falling together in place. In the beginning, what I found was that the concepts appeared to be isolated from each other. But then, when you begin to see how it all fits in together, it is far easier to understand.

Try not to put things off at the last minute, whether it is reading that unit or doing that TMA. Falling behind makes it difficult to catch up but not impossible. Your tutor is usually your first port of call. If you have difficulties contacting your tutor then, by all means, contact student support (SST). You will find the link on your student homepage. You will also find that the OU is very flexible and very willing to help you catch up if you fall behind. The most important thing is not to panic, don't feel that the task ahead is impossible, and to take it one small step at a time.

When you are starting off, try not to pay too much attention to what your peers are saying – you will find that there are often misconceptions and bad ideas promulgated on different groups! Remember that they are also new to law, and may be having the same struggles in understanding the concepts just as you do. This is why I am stressing, and I am sure the University will support me in this, please try to contact your tutor first! Your tutor is paid to help you, so do not feel guilty about contacting them.

During the course of your law studies, you will begin to learn many new things, some of which are:

learning how to learn

learning how to write academically

learning how to do proper referencing

learning how to read critically

learning how to think critically

learning how to analyse complex ideas

learning how to summarise these complex ideas

The above list is not exhaustive of course.

If this all sounds complex, don't panic. You will be gradually eased into these, and in most cases, you will never know that you are learning. 

Important:

1) Pay attention to your grammar and spelling. Law requires words, to explain and to convey ideas. Avoid complexity, by thinking that you are explaining these concepts to your grandparents or someone who is less educated than you – as will be your future clients. You can set Microsoft Word to check your grammar as well as spelling, and it will give you a "readability score" on how easy your writing is to understand.

2) Do not take tutor feedback personally. Tutor feedback is usually given in positive terms, but because it is a critique of your writing skills and thinking processes, it is difficult not to feel offended or disheartened. Keep in mind that your tutor is there to help you, not to discourage you and that if you follow their feedback, you will certainly improve – there's no question about that. By following my tutor's advice my grades jumped from the early 70s to the early 90s.

3) Begin to bookmark important legal websites. I will add some of my favourites at the end of this blog post to start you off.

4) Read as many judgements as you can. I love judgements coming out of the Supreme Court because they are written in very simple English, explains complex ideas very simply, and are very good examples of how to write for law.

5) Many law firms have part of their websites dedicated to explaining concepts of law. These are written by experienced solicitors and barristers and will offer you an opportunity to understand the concepts in a simpler format than many of the textbooks. Again, this has been my personal experience. I do not use these websites for reference, merely to understand and break down complex ideas.

I have another post in this forum on software, telling you how to get free software to assist you in your studies and give some examples of useful software that I have used over the years – I have 20+ years ICT experience. Still, you are free to choose whatever your preference is. I only recommend my personal favourites and I am not a replacement for the IT helpdesk at the OU.

Tips:

I have created a folder in my computer with many subfolders inside. The subfolders are named for each course example, W101, W102, et cetera. Inside of these subfolders, I have further subfolders for the TMAs, judgements, statutes (Acts of Parliament) et cetera. Think of your computer like a filing cabinet, and begin by arranging things neatly. You will find that this is beneficial later on for finding stuff – especially after a few years of study when you need to go back refer to previous studies.

Do try to make time to attend your local courts to see how the judicial process works. Most local courts will have volunteer opportunities as well. I appreciate that many of you will be fully employed and also busy with studies, family life et cetera, but it is well worth the sacrifice and time spent. After all, you are studying law to get into this world – hopefully.

Some of my favourite websites:

http://www.bailii.org/ – a repository for cases. You will find almost any case here, and it is an acceptable official source.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules – the Civil Procedure Rules 1998

http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Home.php – website explaining very simply and briefly important concepts with case examples

https://www.cps.gov.uk/ – homepage of the Crown Prosecution Services

https://www.jcpc.uk/ – homepage of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), the final court of many Commonwealth countries.

https://www.supremecourt.uk/ – the UK Supreme Court

https://publications.parliament.uk/ – webpage dedicated to publications arising out of the UK Parliament at Westminster.

Blogs I like:

http://oulawstudent.blogspot.com/ – my personal blog where I document my own study journey

http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/openjustice/ – the Open University's pro bono blog

https://howtogetafirst.wordpress.com/ – how to get a first-class honours degree in law by someone who did it

https://publiclawforeveryone.com/ – Prof Mark Elliott's blog – beautifully and simply written

http://www.thingslegal.co.uk/forum/index.php – a forum that I set up for discussing ideas about law, with a lot of resources uploaded. Members include already qualified lawyers, so the advice given is sound and based upon actual practice.

I hope that you find these tips useful. Good luck with your studies.

5 Writing tips

I try to emphasise at every opportunity how important plain English is to the legal profession. I came across the this blog on The Law Society’s website with 5 great tips:

1. plenty of short, informative, accurate headings
2. sentences no more than 2 lines long – 26 words or less (my recommendation)
3. writing the reader's language – for the reader to understand (know your audience)
4. use a list format wherever possible – this summarises – very clearly – big chunks of text
5. good punctuation – punctuation helps understanding. The precise

The blog can be found here: http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/news/blog/5-writing-habits-every-lawyer-needs/

Is it worth it?

Pretending to know the law is not a good idea, especially when you are among people who actually know the law. Let me explain.

Some time ago, there was a brouhaha on the OU law forum. The gist of the 'argument' was this:

A student, who started studying law approximately 20 years ago, but started at the Open University on the very beginning module of W101, made some rather outrageous claims on the LLB forum, to wit –

• that students who had a negative experience with the OU, and dared to say so on the LLB forum, were actually defaming the OU

"but to write how disappointing the end of the course was (publicly) in my opinion and after reading the rules of the forum (which every student should have done). is rather unnecessary. I would never do that and I have seen that other students are actually courteous to others (including the OU) too. Perhaps I should have mentioned all the student names I was referring to. The actual statement includes more than just defamatory:

Don’t write or share anything that is: defamatory, obscene, discriminatory, illegal, incites hatred or could damage the reputation of the University.”

When challenged, it was clear that the student did not know the difference between criticism and defamation. The student posted numerous messages on the forum, suggesting that her legal qualifications and experience were far in excess of those which a first-year student may reasonably be expected to have. When challenged, she was unable to substantiate her claims, and appeared to be pursuing an agenda of dominating forum discussions.

The starting point at which the student’s credibility was undermined, was when she asserted that she was “a practising solicitor with 25 years’ experience”, an assertion which is clearly ridiculous for someone starting out on the Level 1 LLB modules, as well as being a potential offence pursuant to Section 21 of the Solicitors Act 1974.

The student then asserted that she had represented a person at an Employment Tribunal. When asked to provide a link to the case report on the HMCTS website, she then stated that the barrister had advised that the details be kept private, which suggests that, while she may have assisted in some way, representation at the substantive Tribunal hearing was undertaken by Counsel. All of the above examples, and many others, indicate that the student inhabits a world of fantasy, in which she exaggerates her qualifications and experience out of a misplaced sense of self-importance.

Requests for proofs of her qualifications resulted in the posting of some strange documents purporting to be certificates of achievement, including some typed up in MS Comics font as well as various redacted scans and photos.

The robust challenges to the student’s outlandish claims resulted in the challengers, other OU students, being accused of – and subsequently sued for – defamation against this student's imaginary qualifications. Additionally, the student made several complaints to her local constabulary that she was being defamed on the OU forum – not surprisingly, the police did not take her seriously, and no action was taken by the police. On the other hand, the student sent approximately 110 emails in the space of a few hours, resulting in those receiving the emails reporting harassment to the police. Subsequently, a written warning was issued to the student by her local police.

The assigned Master to the lawsuit deemed that “the claim form, particulars of claim and accompanying documents are an abuse of the Court’s process or is otherwise likely to obstruct the just disposal of proceedings…”

Sadly, the penance this student now has to undergo for having grandiose ideas of her own knowledge and capabilities is likely to prove a heavy burden. Ask yourself whether the consequence of your boastings is worth the repercussions you may suffer, then… DON’T!

Academic English - A little discovery

I know that students who are new to higher education struggle with writing ‘academic’ English. It can be difficult to get used to writing in this new style which requires you to acknowledge sources and reference your material appropriately. Not to mention writing introductions, conclusions and linking paragraphs back to the questions and to preceding and successive paragraphs.

The OU has a very nice 8-weeks-long course to help with this. It is called “English: Skills for learning” and it is a FREE course that I’ve found to be excellent at starting you on the skills you need to cope with an undergraduate degree, in law as well as any other.

The course has built in exercises and quizzes to aid in developing the writing skills you will need. At the end, you can download a certificate. Take a look at it.

Skills 2 - Effective Writing Skills cont’d

In developing effective academic writing skills, a student needs to adopt a ‘formal’ tone of expression. By this, I mean that there should be an objective manner of writing, and that opinions of the writer should not creep into the writing, unless of course, that opinion is asked for. One way of ensuring this is to write without using the ‘first person’ approach, that is, the writer must not use words such as ‘I’ or ‘We’. Neither should the ‘second person’ be used so no words such as ‘You’. Avoid using ‘one’ (as in ‘One must not…’) also.

In essay type answers especially, a good rule of thumb is to have a clear introduction in which the aims of the essay is set out, a brief outline on how you will do this and where you will evidence your answer from. this should be roughly one paragraph and about 10% of the total word count.

Next, the main body of the essay (roughly 80% of your word count) will have the arguments you are presenting, with examples and in-text references. Each paragraph here should cover one point. The beginning sentence should ideally summarise the point being made and the following sentences will expand the argument/point. The last sentence should link to the next paragraph and attempt to link back to the question being asked. It sounds complicated, and it is in the beginning, but time and experience will make it easier. This is one of the reasons why academic writing skills need to be learnt and developed.

The conclusion should introduce NO NEW material, but merely summarise what was argued/presented before, and explain how the question was answered. It should be roughly 10% of the total word count.

Some tips:

• There is a move toward plain, simple English and so Latin phrases are less used now. Some which are still regularly used (like mens rea, ratio decidendi, acteus reus, stare decisis) are written in italics to differentiate from regular text.
• Some words have a specific meaning in law that can’t easily be replaced, and may have a different meaning in everyday speech or writing. Care has to be taken to use in the proper context. A few examples are: bail, precedent, testimony, intention, damages, injunction. There are many more and the OU recommends making a list of such words with the specific legal meaning (sort of like your own legal dictionary) so you don’t have to keep looking them up.
• Write in complete sentences. Each sentence should convey one simple idea, and therefore should not be too long and convoluted.
• Avoid beginning sentences with conjunctions, such as ‘because’, ‘and’, ‘or’, or ‘but’.
• Be grammatically correct. ‘Must of’, ‘should of’, ‘could of’ are not grammatically correct. A common mistake I’ve seen gaining in notoriety is the use of the word ‘drug’ being used as the past tense of ‘drag’. If you need help, type “conjugate x” (where x is the verb you want to use) into Google.
• Pay attention to what you write. Look at this sentence: "Is there some kind of virus going around with symptoms of massive headache and teeth pain?”. My response was: “I didn't know viruses had heads and teeth. Take a photo, they will name it after you and your name will live on in perpetuity.”
• LEARN TO SPELL! This is very common area where a student can lose simple marks. Confusing their/there, principle/principal, practise/practice, advice/advise, tort/taught/thought etc. really isn’t acceptable.
• Punctuate properly. Use punctuation marks to make your writing flow smoother and easier to read. Poor punctuation can change the meaning of the words in a sentence. For example,  “A visit to the site at 2 pm showed that the area was deserted except for a security guard dressed in black and a pitbull.”. I’m still waiting to see what a security guard wearing a pitbull looks like.

Skills 2 – Effective Writing Skills

Effective writing skills are essential in the study of law. Keep in mind the words of Lord Denning:

The reason why words are so important is because words are the vehicle of thought. When you are working out a problem on your own – at your desk or walking home – you think in words, not in symbols or numbers. When you are advising your client – in writing or by word of mouth – you must use words. There is no other means available. To do it convincingly, do it simply and clearly. If others find it difficult to understand you, it will often be because you have not cleared your own mind upon it. Obscurity in thought inexorably leads to obscurity in language.

Clarity of thought leads to clarity of expression. To write well is not only an indication of writing skill, but also an indication of how well you understand what you are writing about. You will need to determine also who you are writing for. A good idea when doing assignments is to pretend that the person you are writing for understands nothing at all about the subject matter, but “is capable of understanding the principles and issues if they are explained clearly and accurately.”

The Open University has a number of free skills courses available, and I suggest that students take advantage of these, especially at the beginning of their studies. One of these courses is “Essay and Report Writing Skills” [click the link for access] and is a short course of 15 hours but is excellent for starting the pathway to developing great writing skills. You can also download the course as an eBook. I use Adobe Digital Editions for reading epubs (OU eBook format) as it preserves the interactive features.

Presentation Style:

When I started the W101, there were quite a few questions from students about how we should write. Most of the questions were based around the presentation of the TMAs, so I will explain how I write my TMAs and why I think it is effective. Note: You do not HAVE to copy my style as long as your TMA is clear and easy to read.

1. I created a template in Microsoft Word that has a header with my name on the left, my Personal Identifier Number (PI) in the middle and the course name eg W101, at the right hand side on one line. Under that, in the middle, I have which TMA it is, eg TMA 01. When I begin using the template, I “SAVE AS” TMA 01, TMA 02 etc., in a folder for that particular assignment (so each TMA is in its own folder) and the template itself is untouched. Only the TMA itself is amended with changes.
2. At the bottom of the page, I insert the page number which helps to arrange in order when printed.
3. I like justifying the body of my writing (as you can probably tell from my blog) as I find it looks much neater. I also use a double line space (court judgments use this style) which makes it easier to read as there is less ‘crowding’ of text on the page. It also allows the tutor to insert comments with ease.
4. DO NOT use fancy colours or headline styles. Use a plain black font, Arial size 12 is the recommended format. Use British English spelling (some users may have US English installed as the default language; this should be changed).
5. DO NOT use abbreviations unless it is an acceptable legal term! So you are not to use “shouldn’t, couldn't, they’re” etc. but you may use PACE if you define it on the first use! So you may write: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (“PACE”) and thereafter refer to PACE. Putting an abbreviation into brackets and quotation marks shows you are defining it. European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) may thereafter be written as ECJ.
6. Try to minimise the use of quotations – instead, try as far as possible to write in your own words. If you do use quotations, keep it to as few words as possible and reference the source, both in-text and in your reference list!

Formality:

Legal writing is relatively formal and uses language in an accurate and precise way. However, it is important to resist the temptation to be too formal. It is not necessary to copy the rather archaic language in the older law reports; words such as ‘aforesaid’, ‘pursuant to’, and ‘hereafter’ should be avoided. Avoid being pompous or pretentious.

There is a move towards the plain use of English in law: it is important not to complicate your language unnecessarily for effect when a simple word or explanation will do.

Avoid:

• the use of slang and colloquialisms, such as ‘he was nicked by the old bill’, or ‘when she was off her head she set fire to the house’
• ‘text speak’ – the language of text messages
• lists and bullet points.

© The Open University

To be continued…

Skills 2 – Personal Development Planning

Skills 2 is a unit presented in Week 11 of W101.

Learning outcomes

After studying this unit you should be able to:

• understand your progress so far and understand Personal Development Planning
• understand the need for, and nature of, effective writing skills for law
• understand the use of legal language and vocabulary
• understand the use of grammar, punctuation and spelling
• understand the use of a legal database to find statute and case law.

© The Open University

Keep in mind that these skills are built upon each other, so that they should be treated as a continuous learning process, rather than individual ‘lessons’. In other words, you should be using these throughout your study. Don’t worry too much though, you will eventually become unaware that you are actually using them as they become more familiar and part of your study habits. The skills of reading, note-taking and summarising are integral and essential to any field of study, including law.

Personal Development Planning

At this stage in the OU W101, you should have submitted a TMA (tutor marked assignment) and received feedback from your tutor. I had mentioned before that the initial feedback from tutors might be a bit uncomfortable because you are forced to face some negative aspects of your performance. Keep in mind that tutors are not making personal statements about you, but rather they are trying to critique (not criticise!) your work. You may find comments on content (and the relevance of what you wrote to what the question was asking), identifying the correct material, writing style including grammar and spelling, referencing, presenting information concisely and accurately, making appropriate use of legal terminology and examples (remember when using examples to clearly state what the relevance is to the topic), et cetera. If all this seems a bit much at the moment, don't worry because the types of comments that are included in your feedback are designed to help you, and will be referenced to the appropriate part of your work.

More importantly, each TMA is designed so that the student can give some personal feedback on their own performance. In other words, you may have to answer questions such as: "Outline two things that you think you could improve when preparing for TMA 02 and give reasons why."

This forces you to think about your own self study, and a good student will think of all aspects of study, not just areas that help to complete answering the question(s). Therefore you are forced to examine things such as time management, understanding of the material, appropriateness and relevance to the questions, choosing examples, writing skills, referencing et cetera. And as mentioned before, some of your discoveries about yourself might not be too comfortable to admit such as (and this is just an example) browsing the Internet or being on Facebook instead of studying.

PDP aims to improve your capacity to learn and to ensure that you review, plan and take responsibility for your own learning. It is an active and continuous process of self-appraisal, review and planning. It should enable you to:

• become a more effective, independent and confident learner
• improve your generic and legal study skills
• identify your goals and evaluate your progress towards them.

The PDP Cycle © The Open University

The important lesson here is that your tutor is not making personal attacks on you, and you have to take responsibility for your own learning.

W101 Skills 1 – Reading and Understanding Case Law

© The Open University

Note that the person bringing a claim in civil court is now called the “claimant”; before 1999 the person was called the “plaintiff”. The person defending the claim is now called the “respondent”. A person appealing a decision of a lower court is called the “appellant”. See the Supreme Court’s decisions webpage for examples.

Remember too, the case is known by the names of the parties e.g. Smith v Jones which is read as Smith and Jones. NOT Smith versus Jones. In a criminal case, the case R v Jones is read as R against Jones (where R signifies the Crown – Rex if the Monarch is male and Regina if the Monarch is female).