Module LAW2104C for 2019/0
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
LAW2104C: Access to Justice 1
This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.
Module Aims
This module will provide you with first-hand experience working with the public. After initial training and observing, you will have the opportunity to provide support to individuals that attend the drop-in clinics or help-desk. You will also facilitate the provision of expert legal advice where required. You will develop important transferable skills in interviewing technique and developing rapport with clients, whilst also shadowing any one of a network of lawyers who offer their time free of charge to support members of the public gain access to justice.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
---|---|
Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate identified clinical legal skills to take initial instructions from clients and communicate these initial instructions to legal professionals 2. communicate basic legal information effectively to clients orally and in writing, in a manner appropriate to the setting and to the particular client |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. keep detailed and up to date client records as directed 4. identify relevant legal problems from a clients account |
Personal and Key Skills | 5. interact effectively, professionally and ethically within a professional environment 6. plan and undertake tasks, with guidance from legal professionals, to reflect critically on the learning process and make use of feedback |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the module will cover some or all of the following topics:
- Listening to clients
- Interviewing
- Note taking
- Issue Spotting
- Asking Difficult Questions
- Dealing with clients who are distressed or angry
- Confidentiality
- Signposting
- Helping with forms
- Working as part of a legal team
- Learning from professionals
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
---|---|---|
51 | 99 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 30 | Attendance at Dracaena Centre Law Clinic, court help desk and other law clinic outreach projects. |
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 21 | 7 x 3 hour tutor-led workshops |
Independent study | 50 | Preparation of skills portfolio |
Guided independent or group study | 49 | Preparation for clinical work, including on-line skills and knowledge training |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|
Individual tutor meeting on draft skills portfolio | 20 minutes | 1-6 | Oral and written Feedback |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
---|---|---|
100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Reflective skills portfolio including skills self-assessment, reflections on an anonymised case, and attendance record | 100 | 4,500 | 1-6 | Written feedback |
0 | ||||
0 | ||||
0 | ||||
0 | ||||
0 |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
---|---|---|---|
Reflective skills portfolio | Reflective skills portfolio (4,500 words) | 1-6 | 1st September |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Ross Hyams, Susan Campbell & Adrian Evans(2014) Practical Legal Skills : Developing Your clinical technique (Oxford University Press)
Several copies of Emily Finch & Stefan Fafinski (2014) Employability Skills for Law Students (Oxford University Press) and Paula Baron and Lillian Corbin (2016) Legal Writing : Academic and Professional Communication and other more specific books which will be referred to for different stages of the module. Multiple copies of these are available in the Penryn Campus Library.