Legal Writing and Drafting

This unit of study focuses on developing skills in good legal writing and drafting. It includes 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.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Scrutinise complex legal problems; conduct research and draft legal documents in plain English language;
2. Interpret and apply different types of legal writing and drafting techniques and conventions;
3. Locate, analyse and adapt and use relevant legal precedents for effective legal drafting;
4. Use analytical and written communication skills in producing context-specific legal documents, in contemporary Australian legal contexts; and
5. Utilise a variety of approaches to interpreting legal documents (“statutory interpretation”) and understand how such approaches may inform the process of drafting legal documents in appropriate contexts.