Legal Writing Skills – Deakin resources
The following collection of legal writing skills guides was prepared by academics of the Deakin Law School.
Writing a Case Analysis guideline
This instructional guide was prepared by Dr Sharon Erbacher, Deakin Law School. It was prepared for first year law students at Deakin University.
Copyright: Deakin Law School, 2021.
Memorandum of Advice guideline
This instructional guide was prepared by Dr Nicole Siller, Deakin Law School and revised in 2020 by Dr Antje Kreutzmann-Gallasch. It was prepared for first year law students at Deakin University.
Copyright: Deakin Law School, 2020.
How to Write a Good Research Essay
This instructional guide was prepared by Senior Lecturer Ben Saunders, Deakin Law School. It was prepared for law students at Deakin University and provides an overview on how to write legal research essay assessments.
Copyright: Deakin Law School, 2021.
How to Read and Summarise Cases
This instructional guide was prepared by Dr Gabrielle Wolf, Deakin Law School. It is a sample guide for contract law, but can be applicable for any law unit at Deakin University.
Copyright: Deakin Law School, 2021.
How to Answer Legal Problem Questions
This instructional guide was prepared by Dr Gabrielle Wolf, Deakin Law School. It is a sample guide for contract law, but can be applicable for any law unit at Deakin University.
Copyright: Deakin Law School, 2021.
How to Prepare Notes for Studying Law
This instructional guide was prepared by Dr Gabrielle Wolf, Deakin Law School. It is a sample guide for contract law, but can be applicable for any law unit at Deakin University.
Copyright: Deakin Law School, 2021.
Deakin Law School Study Support
The Faculty of Business & Law Study Skills webpage contains useful information on the following topics:
- Law note taking - improve your note taking for success
- Listening - how to listen out for and pay attention to detail
- Legal cases - what are they?
- Legal referencing - learn how to reference properly
- Legal reasoning - learn to critically reason and think
- Legal writing - how to write correctly for success
- Statutory interpretation - skills on how to interpret the law
- Law exams - succeed in your law exams
Deakin University academic writing resources
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Deakin University Active Reading Guide
This short self-paced guide will develop your active reading and your learning skills. -
Deakin University Making Digital Notes Guide
This guide provides information and resources about making useful notes with the help of digital tools.
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Deakin University Academic Writing Guide
Deakin University Study Support have a good guide on academic writing skills. -
Deakin University Annotated Bibliography Guide
An annotated bibliography consists of an alphabetical list of sources (bibliography), each accompanied by a brief paragraph with descriptive and critical comments (annotation). -
Deakin University - Literature review
Deakin University Study Support has an extensive guide on how research and write literature reviews. -
Deakin University - Thesis structure options
A thesis can be structured in a number of ways. The style you choose should be appropriate for your discipline.
Note
These are general guides and are not specific to law or AGLC referencing.
Deakin Library Writing & Study Resources
Deakin Library has a number of useful general study resources.
- Making Digital Notes
A generic library resource guide on tools and resources to take digital notes during your studies. - Managing Information
A good guide to managing your information using software and tools available through Deakin University. - Note Taking
A library resource guide which explores the different methods of taking notes.
Types of Academic Legal Writings
If you are wondering what is the difference between a law research assessment, a problem question assessment or a case analysis assessment, you might like to look at Chapter 5 'Academic Legal Writing' of Nichola Corbett-Jarvis, Effective Legal Writing: A Practical Guide (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2020).