Universität Wien

030233 KU Legal Writing (2022W)

3.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 3 - Rechtswissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work
MIXED

The class will be complemented by three online sessions of two hours each in a COIL (collaborative online international learning) setting in collaboration with international partners
additional dates between 10.10.2022 and 25.10.2022 tbc

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 40 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

The class will be complemented by three online sessions of two hours each in a COIL (collaborative online international learning) setting in collaboration with international partnersadditional dates between 10.10.2022 and 25.10.2022 tbc

  • Wednesday 12.10. 14:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum SEM34 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 3.OG
  • Friday 14.10. 14:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum SEM31 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 3.OG
  • Friday 21.10. 14:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum SEM31 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 3.OG

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Students will acquire basic legal writing and research skills. The course focuses on legal writing from a comparative legal perspective and offers an introduction to the US legal system. It will consist of the following topics:
(i) legal writing;
(ii) reading cases globally; briefing a case;
(iii) argumentation and presentation skills;
(iv) organization of sources:
(v) appellate writing;
(vi) finding the necessary information in books, journals, and case law;
(vii) citation skills: making correct citations, and avoiding copyright infringements (plagiarism);
(viii) find important information;
(ix) formal rules and structures for writing legal documents, seminar papers, and final papers.

Interactive class sessions in a highly international environment will stimulate active discussions and exchange between students and instructors. Presentations and basic input by the lecturers will accompany group exercises and presentations in class.

Assessment and permitted materials

We will base the grading on the quality of the active participation during the class modules (quality of ad hoc group discussion results and their presentation during and in classes) and on a written paper (summary of writing skill exercises carried out and/or explained in class) that you have to submit after the end of the class sessions.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Students should be advanced in their undergraduate law studies and going to prepare a seminar paper/master thesis or enrolled in a doctoral, Ph.D., or post-graduate master program.
We will assess the output according to the standards of good legal writing, and the individual level of the participant's legal writing tasks (seminar paper, master thesis, doctoral thesis).

Examination topics

The evaluation of the student's performance will be based on the content of the class sessions and home exercises.

Reading list

Christoph Konrath (ed.), SchreibGuide Jus, 4th edition, Manz: Vienna 2018
John B. Thornton, U.S. Legal Reasoning, Writing, and Practice for International Lawyers, LexisNexis: New Providence/San Francisco 2014

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 27.10.2022 11:28