Course Title: Legal Research Method

Part A: Course Overview

Program: C6070

Course Title: Legal Research Method

Portfolio: BUS

Nominal Hours: 51.0

Regardless of the mode of delivery, represent a guide to the relative teaching time and student effort required to successfully achieve a particular competency/module. This may include not only scheduled classes or workplace visits but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
JUST5010	City Campus	TAFE	650T TAFE Business	Face-to-Face	Term2 2008, Term2 2010

Course Contact: Peter Snowdon

Course Contact Phone: +61 3 9925 5852

Course Contact Email: peter.snowdon@rmit.edu.au

Course Description

This module covers identifying research questions and legal categories to which they belong, finding sources of legal information, computer searching techniques, citing legal information, searching for secondary sources of legal information, searching for case law and searching for legislation and delegated legislation.

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

LAW5040 Legal Process [VBM898]

National Competency Codes and Titles

National Element Code & Title:

VBM913 Legal Research Method

Learning Outcomes

1. Analyse a fact situation and identify the research questions raised. Identify and propose legal categories to which those questions relate.
2. Analyse and evaluate sources of legal information.
3. Determine the format for the citation of sources of legal information.
4. Determine and evaluate techniques for searching for legal information in computer databases.
5. Identify secondary sources of legal information, search secondary sources and locate and analyse legal information relevant to case study material.
6. Determine methods of searching for case law and locate and analyse case law relevant to case study material.
7. Evaluate methods of searching for legislation and locate and analyse legislation relevant to case study material.
8. Analyse and determine methods of finding delegated legislation and locate and analyse delegated legislation relevant to case study material.

Overview of Assessment

Assessment will consist of assignments, in-class practical exercises and a written test.