Details for LAW102 Legal Research and Writing

Clear writing is a lawyer’s most powerful tool. Legal Research and Writing teaches you to find the cases, scholarship and sources that matter, and to turn them into plain, persuasive prose. You’ll master Australian Guide to Legal Citation referencing, plan and edit your work, and practise professional writing from memoranda to client letters. You’ll finish able to research with confidence and write with clarity, structure and academic integrity.

Quick Stats

• Currently offered by Alphacrucis: Yes
• Course code: LAW102
• Credit points: 10

Subject Coordinator

Prerequisite

Nil

Unit Content

Outcomes

1. Correctly cite cases, books, journal articles, and any other sources in your academic work according to the latest edition of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation.
2. Plan, draft, develop and structure written assignment tasks, taking account of formative feedback and applying the techniques for editing structure and content.
3. Identify and evaluate cases, scholarly books, journal articles, and any other legal sources that are relevant to your argument.
4. Apply the principles of plain English drafting and academic integrity to all your written work.
5. Design and implement an independent research strategy using library resources and research engines to effectively identify and evaluate cases, scholarship and any other legal sources that are relevant to your argument

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Subject Content

1. Introduction to the Subject
2. Legal Referencing and the AGLC
3. Legal Research: The Basics
4. Plain English Drafting
5. Writing: The Basics
6. Clear Writing: Simplicity and Structure
7. Grammar
8. Academic Writing
9. Planning, Editing and Reflecting
10. Professional Writing
11. Ethics
12. Subject Revision
13. Examination Week

This course may be offered in the following formats

Face to Face on site

Please check the timetable to see when this subject will next be offered at Alphacrucis University College.

Assessment Methods

1. AGLC Knowledge Test (15%)
2. Library Research Test (15%)
3. Plain English Redrafting Assignment (20%)
4. Plain English Assignment – Memorandum (25%)
5. Plain English Assignment – Client Letter (25%)

Prescribed Text

• Melbourne University Law Review Association, Australian Guide to Legal Citation (Melbourne University Law Review Association, 4th ed, 2018)  
• Nichola Corbett-Jarvis and Brendan Grigg, Effective Legal Writing: A Practical Guide (LexisNexis, 4th ed, 2026) 

Check with your instructor before purchasing any textbooks