Syllabus PO209 Fall 2023 (4) (2)

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Wilfrid Laurier University *

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209

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Political Science

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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Course Syllabus Legal Writing PO209 Faculty of Arts, Department of Political Science September 2023 Revision We acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnawbe and Haudenosaunee peoples. Instructor Jeff Boich jboich@wlu.ca Office Hours | Virtual by appointment Course Information Designed to provide students with the basic skills necessary to understand and write about legal decisions in a manner intended to enrich broader public dialogue, this course equips students with the knowledge and skills needed to make the legal system intelligible to the ‘outside' world. Topics to be covered in the course may include: legal research and preparation; understanding legal challenges, libel/privacy/contempt and criminal cases; legal commentary and analysis; and legal writing in a digital age. 0.5 Credit Course Prerequisite: None, however, PO210 Introduction to Law is recommended. Communication Policy I will communicate important information to the entire class via the Newsfeed located on the course MyLS page. Additionally, I will use email for course updates and where necessary I will communicate with you individually through email using jboich@wlu.ca . I will not use MyLS email for any purpose. All email will be checked Mon, Wed and Friday (Fri till noon) and a response will be given within 24 hours. No email will be opened on weekends or holidays, any email received during that time will be responded to promptly on the following business day. Course Goals and Learning Outcomes This course is designed as a stand alone course although student may benefit from having taken PO210 Introduction to Law. Students will be introduced to several foundational areas of law, including contract law, tort law and criminal law. Students will begin to develop an ability to conduct legal research and begin to develop an ability to write in different formats used in the legal field. Students will be introduced to legal concepts like stare decisis, distinguishing and precedent and asked to use those principles to apply legal reasoning concepts to different fact situations in written form. Students will be exposed to how the legal system both shapes and is shaped by social policy. By the end of this course students should be able to: 1. Describe the interplay between sources of Canadian law including federal and provincial statues, regulations, case law and the Charter. 2. Explain common law principles including stare decisis, use legal analysis by applying legal precedent and be able to distinguish cases. 3. Conduct legal research into different areas of law. 4. Communicate legal ideas in a clear and concise manner. 5. Explain and apply the fundamental principles of written legal advocacy. 6. Write case briefs, memorandum of law and other common forms of legal writing.

7. Identify needs of different audiences for legal writing (legal practitioner; community expert, broader public) and practice format change. Course Tools and Learning Materials There is no required text. There is, however, substantial reading that will be required for in class discussions and assignments. Assigned readings will be posted on the Ares reserve system and linked to MyLearningSpace. Additional assigned reading may be provided in lesson activities or by email. 1. Learning Management System course login – http://mylearningspace.wlu.ca 2. Library - http://library.wlu.ca/ Student Evaluation : 1. Discussion Posts 20% 2. Case Brief 10% 3. Midterm examination 20% 4. Proposal Assignment 5% 5. Legal Memorandum 20% 6. Appellant Factum 25% Total 100% Assessment Due Dates For all dues dates for this iteration of the course, please see below: Below is a list of Due dates for Assignments and other important dates for the course being offered in Fall 2023. *please note that the regular twelve week format not including a Reading Week is compressed into six weeks for Intersession. 1. Week 1 Day 1 is Thursday, September 7. 2. Week 2 Day 1 is Thursday, September 14. 3. Week 3 Day 1 is Thursday, September 21. 4. Week 4 Day 1 is Thursday, September 28. 5. ***** Case Brief Assignment is due Monday, October 1 at 11:59pm. 6. Week 5 Day 1 is Thursday, October 5. 7. Week 6 Day 1 is Thursday, October 19. 8. Week 7 Day 1 is Thursday, October 26. 9. ***** Midterm will be written on Week 7 – Monday, October 30 between 7:00PM and 10:00PM and will be written online. 10. Week 8 Day 1 is Thursday, November 2. 11. ****** Proposal Assignment is due Monday, November 6 at 11:59pm. 12. Week 9 Day 1 is Thursday, November 9. 13. Week 10 Day 1 is Thursday, November 16. 14. Week 11 Day 1 is Thursday, November 23.

15. Week 12 Day 1 is Thursday, November 30. 16. ***** Legal Memorandum Assignment due on Monday, December 4 at 11:59PM 17. December 7 and 8 are "study days". 18. December 9 - 21 is the exam period. 19. ***** Final Assignment Appellant Factum is due Monday, December 18 at 11:59PM Assignment Descriptions Online Discussions (10 x 2% = 20% final grade) Graded asynchronous online discussion forums will be available in lessons 1 to 11 (11 online discussion opportunities of which you can choose to participate in 10 or participate in all 11 and have your lowest grade dropped). The online discussion forums will all be open on the first day of class to allow students to contribute and work ahead to accommodate individual schedules. Each initial post is due on Day 5 of each week by 11:59pm. Responding posts are due by 11:59pm of day 7. Discussion forums will close by 11:59 p.m. on Day 7 of the Lesson’s week within which the discussion forum resides. For exact calendar dates check the course calendar. There are no make-up missed discussions. A topic or issue from that week’s lesson material will be put to the group for discussion. Each discussion will be worth 2% of your overall grade (1% for your initial post and 1% for a response post). Ensure your initial posts (worth 1% each) are at least 200 words in length unless otherwise directed in the instructions for each week. Also ensure you respond to at least one post of your peers (also worth 1% each/ 100 word min.) – responding to a classmates by supporting (providing further evidence from readings etc.) or critically examining peer’s post (by offering alternative evidence/insights). The purpose of the online discussions is to: • Promote critical reflection upon the academic content covered in the lesson materials • Develop critical thinking and analytical skills • Develop professional communication and presentation skills • Integrate scholarly materials and contemporary issues While many of you may be accustomed to participating in traditional face-to-face classes by attending and speaking up during lectures or tutorial discussions, in PD209OC, grades will be determined by your contributions to the discussions. You are expected to keep up with the assigned readings and be prepared to participate actively in course discussions. This requires careful reading and giving yourself enough time to think about and process the material you have read. You will be assessed based on your engagement with the lesson concepts, as well as your engagement with your peers. Students will receive a grade out of 4 for their participation in the online discussion that accompanies each lesson. Grading Rubric for Online Discussions Criteria Excellent (2.0) Good (1.5) Developing (1.0) Poor (0.5)

Grasp of Concepts, Themes, and Arguments /2 Exceptional effort, clearly worked through and amply referred to/integrated specific concepts, excerpts, and arguments in the course material. Solid effort, shows that texts and concepts have been thought carefully about and worked through. Shows some effort and understanding of specific concepts and themes. Not much effort, demonstrates lack of thought and reflection into the post content, no specific reference/integr ation of course material. Communication, Coherence, and Creativity /2 Writing is sophisticated, clear, respectful, and uses proper grammar and spelling; content of posts is original and thoughtful; posts are welldistributed throughout the week Writing is clear, uses proper grammar and spelling, content of posts shows thought but could use more originality; posts somewhat distributed Writing is mostly clear with some grammar and spelling errors, posts are unoriginal or missing content, communication style needs improvement; posts poorly distributed Poorly written with many grammar and spelling errors, communication in posts is ineffective or disrespectful; posts not distributed throughout the week ** Note: Grade total out of 4 for posts and responses will be divided by 2 to equal grade out of 2.0/week ** As well, Discussion Board submissions should follow APA format as well as avoid any abusive language, slang, or shortform phrases/wording (e.g., lol, BTW, etc.). Please show your colleagues the respect that you wish to receive in return. Discussion Boards are for the sharing of ideas, information, and research to advance the collective knowledge of the subject matter. Case Brief – 10% - The case for the case brief assignment will be chosen by the instructor. Students will be required to provide a structured brief of the assigned case. Students will also be asked to apply the legal principles from the assigned case to a hypothetical fact situation. Review carefully the instructions below: Memorandum to Legal Student From WLU LLP, Senior Partner, Wilma J. Willwe, RE: New Client, Bo-Katan Kryze ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We have been retained by a new client, Bo-Katan Kryze. Ms. Kryze is a very private person who believes that her privacy rights have been violated. Ms. Kryze belongs to a culture where she is expected to keep her face covered at all times. Ms. Kryze advised me in our meeting that photographs of her face have been taken without her knowledge or consent by a person named Moff Gideon. To the knowledge of our client, Moff Gideon has not published or disseminated those pictures in anyway. Nonetheless, Ms. Kryze feels violated and wishes to pursue legal action against Moff Gideon.

In order to properly advise our client, I require your assistance. I would like you to locate a case on Canlii that I am somewhat aware of named Jones v. Tsige. I believe the case is from Ontario, but I am uncertain of the highest level of court that have ruled on the case. I would like you to brief the case for me. In your case brief, please address the following: A: INTRODUCTION  who is my audience, why am I writing this, what have I been asked to address, what is my roadmap of what is to follow and what is my short conclusion. B: CASE BRIEF  case citation  operative facts  procedural history  issues addressed  holding on each issue  legal analysis applied C: TREATMENT - does the assigned case remain good law? - Has the assigned case been applied and accepted by other courts? I am NOT expecting you to provide any direct advice to our client as to how she should proceed to consider whether to proceed with a claim against Moff Gideon. I will provide advice to our client once I review your case brief. The case brief must be between 750 and 1200 words. Thanks. Review the grading rubric provided below for further criteria. Please try to use 1500 words or less. Submit your brief into the appropriate dropbox. At the top of your MyLS webpage you will find a Dropbox menu item. Click on it and select the appropriate dropbox. Make sure you label your file with your last name and assignment title. E.g., CBMcdonald.doc Case Brief Grading Rubric

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