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Legal Writing and Drafting

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This unit of study aims to teach, enhance and refine skills in good legal writing and drafting. Students will be taught principles of plain English, effective written communication and drafting legal documents, including court documents and how to apply them in practice. The unit will cover the function and operation of a document, stages in preparing a document and structuring a document. Students will also learn about style, appearance, content and presentation of documents. The unit will further address legal rules of construction that apply to documents such as agreements, the use of precedents and rules of evidence and procedure that apply to court documents.

Unit details

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Prerequisites

BLB1101 - AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM IN CONTEXT

BLB1114 - LEGAL RESEARCH METHODS

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Assessment

Assessment typeDescriptionGrade
Case StudyLetter of advice to a client10%
AssignmentSettlement Agreement30%
AssignmentAffidavit10%
AssignmentPleadings50%
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Required reading

Clear and Precise - Writing Skills for Today's Lawyers 3rd edn
Macdonald R, Clarke-Dickson D, 2010
Sydney, Thomson Reuters

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Where to next?

If you are interested in this unit as part of a course, refer to our how to apply page to find out more about our application process.

If you are a current VU student, you may be able to enrol in this unit as an elective.

  • Contact the College of Law and Justice to see if you are able to take the unit.

You can also contact us directly:

  • Ring us on +61 3 9919 6100
  • Find answers and ask questions at GOTOVU

VU takes care to ensure the accuracy of this unit information, but reserves the right to change or withdraw courses offered at any time. Please check that unit information is current with the Student Contact Centre.

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How to apply

Already a VU student?

You may be able to enrol in this unit as an elective.

For more info contact the
College of Law and Justice

Courses this unit belongs to