Legal Skills

• Covers both academic and practical skills in one manageable volume meaning students need only buy one text and are encouraged to develop an overarching and integrated understanding of academic and practical legal skills
• Self-test questions and practical activities can be integrated into lectures and seminars to encourage active engagement with the subject
• Written in an informal, lively and entertaining style with concepts illustrated using examples that speak to real life experience and diagrams to support the written text
• Each legal skill is set in its wider context with clear links to other legal skills and to academic and legal practice to instil the importance of developing legal skills in context
• Accompanied by an innovative online resource centre featuring videos of 'real life' mooting practice which immediately bring the subject to life. Videos featuring good and bad practice in negotiations and presentations are also available online so you can pick up the key skills whilst also finding out what not to do by learning from examples of common mistakes

New to this edition

• Once you have mastered the basic legal skills there are a number of more advanced exercises for you to complete which provide you with the opportunity to develop a more sophisticated set of skills
• New material on EU Law and the European Court of Human Rights is incorporated into the section on finding, using and navigating case law section
• Material has been added on Personal Development Plans (PDPs) to assist you in planning the steps you need to take to achieve your personal, professional and academic goals
• Additional information is included on referencing styles ensuring you have the necessary information to avoid plagiarising material and giving you confidence in your ability to reference your sources correctly

Readership: LLB students studying a legal skills module in their first year of the course. The book would also be suitable for those studying law at any undergraduate level or at GDL level.

Emily Finch, University of Surrey, and Stefan Fafinski, University of Leeds

Review(s) from previous edition

""An excellent text, ideal for anyone new to the study of the law. Extremely accessible" - Dr Lee Roach, University of Portsmouth

""If you are studying law, you need this book. It is like an encyclopaedia of all the things that you need to know to do well on your degree" " - Second year law student, Amazon

Introduction
PART I: Sources of law
Section A: Legislation
1: Legislation
2: Finding legislation
3: Using legislation
Section B: Cases
4: Case law
5: Finding cases
6: Using cases
Section C: Books, journals, and official publications
7: Books, journals and official publications
8: Finding books, journals and official publications
PART II: Academic legal skills
9: Study skills
10: Writing skills
11: Referencing and avoiding plagiarism
12: Essay writing
13: Dissertations
14: Answering problem questions
15: Revision and examination skills
PART III: Practical legal skills
16: Presentation skills
17: Mooting skills
18: Negotiation skills
ONLINE RESOURCES
For lecturers
Test bank of 200 multiple choice questions
Diagrams available to download electronically
For students
Answers to self test questions
Glossary and web links
Video clips of good and bad practice for mooting, negotiations and presentations
Web links to allow you to easily research those topics th at are of a particular interest to you
Lecture notes to show different methods of recording information
Writing skills advice
Advice on referencing and avoiding plagiarism
Essay skills
Dissertation guidance
Sample answers to problem questions
Focus on different answer approaches to exam questions
A worked example of a presentation
Mooting skills, including preparation and a skeleton argument, includes answers to practical activities in the book
Guidance through a negotiation skills scenario