Legal English for LLM Students
Who is the course for?
This course is specifically designed for students whose native language is not English but who are studying for an LLM degree in an English-speaking country or who are planning to enroll in such a program of study.
What does the course teach?
It teaches over 750 terms essential for successful postgraduate legal studies in English, and also includes invaluable study tips, exercises designed to train your academic legal skills development and reading, writing, listening and speaking practice. The texts are all taken from common law legal systems and provide an indispensable introduction to common law legal systems.
How long will the course take?
Approximately 15 hours.
Understanding the law Unit 1
The sources of law 1: the Constitution and legislation
The sources of law 2: unenacted law
The US court system
The UK court system
Understanding cases Unit 2
A case from the US Supreme Court
A case from the European Court of Human Rights
- Judgment of the European Court of Human RIghts in the case of Gillan and Quinton v. The United Kingdom
- Understanding cases: a case from the European Court of Human Rights
- A case from the European Court of Human Rights: vocabulary in use (1)
- A case from the European Court of Human Rights: vocabulary check (1)
- A case from the European Court of Human Rights: vocabulary check (2)
- A case from the European Court of Human Rights: vocabulary check (3)
A case from the European Court of Justice
Key legal topics 1 Unit 3
Competition law
Intellectual property law
Common law systems: juries
Law, fact and language Unit 4
Law and fact
Law and language
The judicial construction of cases
Common law and the doctrine of judicial precedent Unit 5
Common law and the doctrine of judicial precedent
Common law and the doctrine of judicial precedent Unit 6
Common law systems
Precedent
A seminar discussion on the US civil justice system
- A seminar discussion on the US civil justice system (1)
- A seminar discussion on the US civil justice system (2)
- The US civil justice system: vocabulary in use (1)
- The US civil justice system: vocabulary in use (2)
- The US civil justice system: vocabulary check (1)
- The US civil justice system: vocabulary check (2)
- The US civil justice system: vocabulary check (3)
Key legal topics 2 Unit 7
Company law
Trust law
Contract law
Tort law
Understanding statutes Unit 8
The rules of interpretation
- The rules of statutory interpretation (1)
- The rules of statutory interpretation (2)
- The rules of statutory interpretation: vocabulary in use
- The rules of statutory interpretation: vocabulary check (1)
- The rules of statutory interpretation: vocabulary check (2)
- The rules of statutory interpretation: vocabulary check (3)
- The rules of statutory interpretation: vocabulary check (4)
A lecture on statutory interpretation
Academic legal skills 1: Listening skills Unit 9
A lecture on intellectual property law
A law students' discussion group: privacy law
Note taking
Academic legal skills 2: Writing skills Unit 10
An introduction to academic writing
Grammar, spelling and punctuation
Avoiding plagiarism
Referencing
Answering problem questions Unit 11
LLM students are required to answer a number of problem questions to demonstrate their understanding of the law. This final unit presents some useful tips, an example problem question and model answer.