Legal Academic Writing Resources

The Legal Academic Writing – or L.A.W. - resources have been developed to help students understand the features and requirements of some of the most common forms of writing used for assessment in the Law School.

The L.A.W. resources contain three ‘foundation’ modules:

• Academic Legal Writing explores issues of purpose, readership and style.
• Writing for Assessment in Law offers advice on the writing process for both assignments and exams.
• Referencing explains when, why and how you cite sources in legal writing.

Students are encouraged to review the foundation modules before exploring the resources on particular forms of legal writing including: Research Essays, Exam Essays, Hypothetical Problem Answers, and Case Notes. Each of these sections of the website provides samples of student work that have been annotated to highlight particular features, strengths and weaknesses.

Whether students are commencing studies in Law at an undergraduate or postgraduate level, it is hoped that they will browse the resources in L.A.W. early in their studies and then return to relevant sections as needed.

University of Melbourne Law students and staff can access the Legal Academic Writing Resources at: http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/LAWresources/ (password protected)

Further information

Contact: Dr Wendy Larcombe, Legal Academic Writing Project Manager
Email: w.larcombe@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 8344 1005