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LAWS12063 - Legal Drafting

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Legal practitioners engage in legal drafting on a daily basis and effective written communication skills are essential for legal practice. This unit aims to enhance your legal drafting skills by providing you with an authentic practical learning experience. You will complete a variety of practical drafting tasks that newly qualified lawyers are likely to undertake in practice, including: - drafting legal documents, such as pleadings and affidavits; - drafting contracts in accordance with a client’s instructions; - preparing letters of advice; and - preparing persuasive arguments, such as outlines of argument. This unit will analyse a range of drafting techniques and explore how to convey complex information using clear and simple language. You will also consider how to draft a document in accordance with its purpose, the needs of the audience and the client’s instructions. You will further refine their drafting skills by engaging in reflective practice and through a process of critically analysing and redrafting existing documents. Topics of focus include: - drafting techniques and plain English drafting; - grammar, syntax and punctuation in legal drafting; - the art of persuasive writing; - common sources of ambiguity in the drafting of documents; and - devising solutions to drafting issues. Note that a comprehensive coverage of drafting convention relevant to specialised substantive areas of the law is not possible in this unit. Instead, the unit focuses on the foundational principles for drafting legal documents to prepare students for the significant and diverse range of tasks they may face as a legal practitioner.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisite: 24 credit points of law. 

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2021

Term 2 - 2021 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2022 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2024 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 20%
2. Reflective Practice Assignment 20%
3. Written Assessment 60%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

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Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Tutor reflection, comments from students in their reflective portfolios
Feedback
Students benefitted from the peer review/collaboration process in the second half of the unit and this helped strengthen the 'drafting community'
Recommendation
Include a peer review/collaboration exercise in the first half of the term to further strengthen the 'drafting community'.
Action Taken
The peer review exercises were maintained. Students were encouraged to engage in peer review through MS Teams in relation to tasks in the first half of the portfolio.
Source: Tutor reflection, comments from students in their reflective portfolios
Feedback
Even though the drafting portfolio should be completed weekly, some students were not completing it until shortly before the deadline in week 12, which impacted on the quality and the progression of their drafting skills
Recommendation
Explore whether the drafting portfolio could be submitted on a weekly/fortnightly basis or in two parts to ensure students complete their portfolios over the course of the term.
Action Taken
A review of the assessment took place. It was decided not to split the submission into two because the timing of this would coincide with the practical assessment task and this would increase stress for students.
Source: SUTE comments and informal feedback
Feedback
Some students identify that they do not keep on top of the weekly tasks because they are not required to submit anything until the end. This also means that the peer review exercises are often rushed and completed (if at all) shortly before the deadline.
Recommendation
Explore with the Learning and Teaching team whether any teaching and learning assets (i.e. in Moodle) can be leveraged so that students submit a compilation of drafting tasks across the term while also requiring students to engage in peer review and collaborative learning on a regular basis.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Tutor reflection
Feedback
Although one module is dedicated to learning the benefits and pitfalls of using generative AI, students should not rely on generative AI to build their portfolio or complete the practical assessment task as they need to first acquire a sufficient level of competency in drafting to be able to recognise any drafting issues produced by generative AI. The assessment design must therefore include components which cannot be completed through reliance on generative AI alone.
Recommendation
Incorporate an oral component into the assessment design.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Communicate effectively in writing, including the appropriate usage of grammar, syntax and punctuation
  2. Evaluate and debate issues affecting the drafting of documents and redraft any provisions requiring amendment
  3. Apply principles of plain English drafting and drafting conventions to create legal documents that comply with the client’s instructions and the objectives of the document
  4. Analyse a variety of approaches to the interpretation of documents and utilise these approaches and legal principles to inform the drafting of a document
  5. Reflect critically on their own written work and provide comprehensive feedback to others through a peer review process.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online Quiz(zes) •
2 - Reflective Practice Assignment • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • •
3 - Critical Thinking •
4 - Information Literacy • • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
2 - Reflective Practice Assignment • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • •