Legal Writing

ABOUT THE COURSE
The written word is one of the most important tools of most professions, but especially the legal profession where words are used to advocate, inform, persuade and instruct. This intensive three-day course carries the award of a UCT certificate to candidates who attend all lectures and successfully complete a prescribed assignment.

This course will assist you in acquiring skills that, with time and practice, will result in superior writing skills.

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS COURSE?
This course attracts participants from all over Southern Africa and benefits anyone undertaking any type of legal drafting in legal practice, in government or in commercial organisations.

COURSE OUTLINE
The course explores legal writing in a variety of contexts, from rule-driven to persuasive, through a study of the topics outlined below.

Objectives of legal writing
This topic focuses on the broad objectives and general strategies of legal drafting and the contexts within which it takes place.

Plain language in legal drafting
This topic explores the plain language approach to drafting based on the course reading and the participants' experience of drafting legal texts.

Elements of professional drafting
This topic considers drafting as a process requiring a project management approach, incorporating elements of planning, coordination, teamwork and quality control.

Structure and organisation
This topic analyses the ways in which texts, both in their entirety and in their component parts, can be structured with intelligent drafting supported by thoughtful document design to improve coherence, consistency, certainty and accessibility.

Elements of legal texts
The topic looks at the essential principles of constructing the various elements of legal texts; from their core features to their component parts, for example, sentences, paragraphs and clauses.

Legal language
This topic looks critically at the terms and words that lawyers use, including words of authority, such as 'shall' and 'may', particularly in the light of legislation such as the Consumer Protection Act and the Companies Act. It also covers the inherent ambiguity of language together with various strategies to manage it. Finally, it includes a discussion on gender-free drafting and explores methods of achieving it.

Legal rules in context
This topic looks at the difficulty of creating and applying legal rules given the complexity of clients' objectives, the inherent ambiguity of language, the uncertainty of the future, and the consequent difficulties arising in application and interpretation.

Presentation
This topic looks at the presentation of documents, particularly the navigational and referential aids that should be incorporated into legal documents. The topic also covers a range of techniques and tools to promote efficient and consistent legal writing and branding.

The course presenters use a variety of pedagogic methodologies, including facilitator-led sessions, group workshops, demonstrations, hands-on activities and drafting.

COURSE PRESENTERS

Sally Burt has worked as a freelance writer, editor, and trainer in education, the public sector and business communications for the last ten years. Currently, she works for Footprint Communications, a consultancy she set up in 2006. Footprint encompasses a variety of aspects relating to developing and enhancing professional and business communication, with an emphasis on plain language across a variety of media. On-going consultancies include ENS, the Special Investigating Unit, UCT staff development and training centre, and UCT Law@work.

The focus of the consultancy is on developing clarity, consistency and accuracy in a professional manner, both for individuals and across organisations in all forms of communication. The business also facilitates a wide range of training courses and editing services. Sally has edited and revised theses for honours, masters and PhD students in a variety of disciplines and has written a number of educational publications for well-known international educational publishers. She holds a BA and MA in Modern History from Magdalen College, Oxford and a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education from the Roehampton Institute, London.

Terry Boxall majored in English and Law and spent the first 20 years of his working life lecturing in English language and literature at the University of Cape Town. Returning to law in the early 1990s, he established his own practice in 1995 specialising in business contracts and property. Concurrently he developed and presented programmes that teach specific areas of the law to non-lawyers in organisations, primarily to corporate clients and state departments.

Over the last five years, Terry has lectured in law and ethics at the University of Cape Town to graduates and undergraduates in the faculties of Law, Commerce and Engineering and the Built Environment. He also examines on the executive MBA programme at the UCT Graduate School of Business. Terry has presented at conferences on legal topics largely concerned with making law and the language of law more accessible. He presents a three-day programme for Law@Work on Understanding and Drafting Contracts. He holds the degrees of BA(Hons) (English Language), LLM (Commercial Law) and MBA, all from the University of Cape Town and is an attorney and conveyancer of the High Court of South Africa.

REGISTRATION DETAILS
Entry requirements:
A legal qualification or background is advisable though not mandatory.

Assessment:
Delegates will be expected to submit a prescribed assignment.

Programme and venue information:
Signing in will commence on the first day at 9:00 unless otherwise advised and each day will end at approximately 17:00.

Award of certificate:
Those candidates who successfully complete the assignment will be awarded a certificate of successful completion. A certificate of attendance from UCT will be awarded to those who attend the full three days of the course, but fail the assignment. Please ensure that you sign the attendance register each day.

Closing date for registration:
One week prior to the course.

Registration and enquiries:
Please contact the Professional Development Project:
Paula Allen on 021 650 5558
Andrea Blaauw on 021 650 5413
Fax:021 650 5513
Email:az.ca.tcu@nella.aluap/az.ca.tcu@wuaalb.aerdna/az.ca.tcu@llafressaw.aneri
OR visit our website:www.lawatwork.uct.ac.za to download the registration form.

Date: 24 June 2015 to 26 June 2015
Time: 09:00 - 17:00
Venue: Cape Town
Cost: R7,500/delegate. Includes parking, teas, lunches, any course materials.

More info:

Instructions regarding the programme and directions to the venue will be sent to you electronically a week prior to the event.