LAW1024C Legal Foundations Summative Assessment Spring Term Portfolio

Portfolio

This Portfolio of Spring term work uses the Cornwall Law School assessment criteria found on the LAW1024C ELE page under the Assessment tile.

The overall word count limit for the written element (1,750 words) excludes the bibliography as well as all citation information in  footnotes. Note that where footnotes contain additional arguments or material which is not for the purpose of referencing, these  words will be counted within the word count.

The overall word limit is strict. Exceeding the overall limit for the assessment will result in the following penalties being applied: 
• Up to and including 5% beyond the word limit, one mark on the categorical scale will be deducted (ie 68 will become 65; 62 will  become 58). 
• Over 5% beyond the word limit, ten marks will be deducted (ie 62 will become 52).

Introduction 

75% of your final module mark for LAW1024C Legal Foundations 2 comprises of a mark for a portfolio of work in accordance with intended learning outcomes 1 to 6 for Legal Foundations 2. 
You are required to 
1. write a case note (see instructions below), and  
2. write a contextual account of the spring term civil case (see instructions below).

Task:

A. Write a concise case note on one of the following cases:- 
• Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers [2004] 2 AC 457 or 
• Murray v Express Newspapers plc [2009] Ch 481 [36] or 
• Charleston v News Group Newspapers Ltd [1995] 2 AC 65

You should cover the following elements (you may wish to use these as subheadings).  
1. The nature of the case. 
2. The material facts.  
3. The procedural history. 
4. The legal issues in the case.  
5. The ratio decidendi of the case expressed as a general principle.  
6. The steps of reasoning used by the judge.  
7. The Judgment. 
8. Any concurring or dissenting Judgments. 
9. The treatment of precedents and authorities in the judgment.  
10. How the case was relevant to your mock Civil trial.

Task:

You are required to write a contextual account of the spring term civil case. A contextual account requires you to  show that you understand what civil trials are for and how they work, and when it is worth proceeding to trial and  when it is not, using the spring term case as an example to illustrate those things. You are also being asked to  demonstrate that you understand how (1) written advocacy in the form of skeleton arguments and (2) oral advocacy  can be used to persuade a Judge at trial.

In writing your account, you should draw on appropriate secondary sources as well as your own experience of  preparing for and conducting the civil trial. Please consider and address all of the following:

• How and why civil trials differ from Employment Tribunal hearings;

 • The advantages and disadvantages of a negotiated settlement instead of proceeding to trial for your client; • How lawyers should approach negotiation;

• The advantages and disadvantages of going to court for your client;

• How the use of written skeleton arguments can persuade a Judge before a trial even starts; • What should be included in a skeleton argument;

• How oral advocacy can be used effectively in our adversarial legal system.
 
Note that a strong account will not simply answer each of these questions in turn but will address them within the  structure of an essay.