This chapter discusses the acquisition of ownership in Roman law. It covers derivative modes of acquiring ownership; original modes of acquiring ownership; and gifts. The methods of acquiring ownership inter vivos can be classified in a number of ways. For example, some methods can be described in modern civilian systems as ‘original’—where the acquisition of ownership did not depend on there being a prior owner—whereas others were derivative, i.e. where ownership was derived from a prior owner. Or some methods were formal, others causal: in the former case ownership passed because of the use of particular form and ceremony, whereas in the latter case ownership depended on the ground or ‘cause’ of the acquisition.
Chapter
7. Acquiring Ownership
Chapter
13. Advocacy and mooting
Scott Slorach, Judith Embley, Peter Goodchild, and Catherine Shephard
This chapter focuses on advocacy skills required during academia and in practice. The section on academia considers persuasive oral communication and confidence. It provides guidance on how to succeed both in mooting and in criminal advocacy competitions. It examines how to undertake effective case analysis using the IRAC model, and how to prepare skeleton arguments and case bundles. Examples of skeleton arguments are provided. The section on professional advocacy considers professional roles, rights of audience, areas of practice and activities. It covers practicalities such as etiquette, dress, conduct and ethics. The progress made towards a move to digital courts is also explored.
Chapter
11. Alternative dispute resolution
This chapter examines the ethical issues raised by alternative dispute resolution (ADR). It first looks at the process of negotiation, which is the way in which lawyers resolve most disputes. It then considers other forms of ADR, including mediation and, briefly, arbitration. The chapter highlights the advantages and disadvantages of these processes. There are particular concerns where one party is in a stronger bargaining position, for example in a family case which has involved domestic abuse. There is also much debate over the role a mediator should play, andin particular over whether a mediator should take a neutral role or persuade the parties to reach what they regard as a fair settlement. It also considers what attracts clients to use these forms of dispute resolution.
Chapter
15. Answering problem questions
This chapter focuses on the skills needed to use the law to answer a problem question. It guides students through the process of analysing a scenario to identify the relevant issues to ensure that their answers are comprehensive and do not miss any important points. It outlines strategies to ensure that the law is applied effectively, and that good use is made of supporting authorities.
Chapter
15. Applying ethical theories
This chapter explores the application of the principles discussed in the preceding chapters to specific cases. It imagines how four lawyers might respond to three different scenarios. The first is taken from criminal law. The other two are taken from commercial law and family law. The four lawyers represent different schools of thought on lawyers’ ethics. This gives readers the chance to think through how taking a different general ethical approach might impact on their response to a particular scenario. It also might help readers more clearly identify which broad ethical theory they support. It shows how ethical disputes can have considerable practical significance.
Chapter
9. Assessments and Assignments in Law
This chapter looks at some of the many different forms of assessment a law student may come across, depending on where they are studying and the subjects they choose. These include coursework, exams, multiple-choice tests, advocacy or other oral presentations, posters, and reflective reports. The chapter also considers dissertations and other research projects, and group work for assessment. The chapter gives advice on how to approach different types of assessment to enhance their chances of success. Specific guidance is also provided on responding to problem questions and essays, whether in coursework or exams including consideration of the IRAC and CEEO methods.
Chapter
9. Authorities – advanced considerations
This chapter discusses what it means to ‘handle precedent’, to ‘interpret statutes’, and to do justice ‘fitted to the needs of the times in which we live’. It provides answers to the following questions: When and how should policy arguments be used? How should foreign case names be pronounced in a moot? What is the correct way to refer to a case? Is it acceptable to give a personal view of the relevant law? When is an authority binding on a moot court? How can one escape from an inconvenient authority? In what circumstances can a case be overruled? How and when can a case be distinguished in law from another? How and when can a case be distinguished on its facts from another? What is the distinction between a judge's finding of fact and his or her decision on the law? What is the status of a judgment of the Divisional Court? Is a ‘Jessel’ better than a ‘Kekewich’? When is a change in the law a matter for Parliament and when is it a matter for the courts?
Chapter
8. Books, journals, and official publications
This chapter describes the role of books (student textbooks, cases and materials books, monographs, practitioners’ books, legal encyclopedias and digests, dictionaries, revision guides), journals (general journals, specialist journals, practitioner journals, foreign journals), and official publications (Command Papers, Bills, Parliamentary papers, Parliamentary debates, Law Commission reports) amongst the secondary sources which may be encountered during legal studies.
Book
Paul J. du Plessis
Course-focused and comprehensive, Borkowski’s Textbook on Roman Law provide an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. Borkowski’s Textbook on Roman Law provides an account of Roman private law and civil procedure, with coverage of all key topics, including the Roman legal system, and the law of persons, property, and obligations. The text sets the law in its social and historical context, and demonstrates the impact of Roman law on our modern legal systems. For the sixth edition, the text has been comprehensively reviewed and references to a wide range of scholarly texts have been included, to ground the account of Roman law firmly in contemporary scholarship. Examples from legal practice have been added where these illuminate legal doctrine. The text has been updated to reflect current scholarly opinions. References to the latest legal scholarship on Roman law have been included to reflect the most recent developments in the field.
Chapter
9. ‘Bringing Rights Home’: Legal Method and the Convention Rights
In the twenty-first century, two important pan-European forces to which English law has been subject are the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998. This chapter discusses the following: the scope, outline, and enforcement of the ECHR to identify and protect fundamental human rights and freedoms and the balancing of these freedoms against the sovereignty of Parliament; its incorporation into the HRA 1998; incorporation under the devolution Acts; the consequences for legal method; and practical and conceptual issues raised by the HRA 1998 around legal research and argumentation. It closes by looking at the prospects of a ‘British Bill of Rights’.
Chapter
13. Business ethics
This chapter examines the issue of business ethics. It first explains why business ethics matter. It then considers the notion of notion of corporate responsibility, and sets out policies and practices to ensure that businesses have an ethical dimension to their decision-making. The chapter explores the role of businesses in promoting worldwide social goods. It also considers the role of the lawyer in helping businesses to behave in an ethical way. This can be a particular challenge for in-house lawyers who may find a tension between their role as an employee of a firm and as a voice to ensure good practice.
Chapter
19. Businesses and the business environment
Scott Slorach, Judith Embley, Peter Goodchild, and Catherine Shephard
This chapter discusses the following: the importance of commercial awareness in understanding how businesses work; the main types of business structure (sole traders, partnerships, public and private companies), their organisation, and management; factors influencing management decisions; the environment in which businesses operate. It examines different markets, sectors, and industries, and the role of consumers within these markets; the increasing complexity of supply chains from business to consumer and the problems they face; the impact of competition within those different markets; and the challenges facing businesses within increasingly competitive global markets, including the advances in technology and environmental, social and governance issues (ESG).
Chapter
15. Career Pathways
This chapter discusses the many different career options open to law graduates in light of the skills and attributes cultivated by legal study. It discusses traditional legal pathways (solicitor, barrister, legal executive) and other career pathways both within the law and those that do not involve the law directly but welcome graduates with a law degree because of the skills they offer. The chapter also looks at the opportunities for, and merits of, further postgraduate study. The chapter highlights the breadth of possibilities open to the successful law student, and highlights things to consider when contemplating different career pathways and options.
Chapter
5. Case law
Scott Slorach, Judith Embley, Peter Goodchild, and Catherine Shephard
This chapter first discusses the fundamental distinctions between common law and civil law, an important aspect of which is the role of judge-made law. It then examines the operation of the doctrine of precedent—the means by which law made in earlier cases binds the reasoning of some courts in later cases. This involves the skill of identifying statements of law, and the skills involved in applying those earlier statements, or alternatively avoiding their impact. It then considers the arguments for and against the roles of judges and legislators in making law.
Chapter
5. Case law
Case law can be broken down into common law, equity, and custom. This chapter begins with a discussion of common law and equity, including a brief history on how these sources came into being. It then turns to custom as a further source of law. It also provides an overview of the court system to illustrate how the various courts in the system link together in a hierarchy. It concludes with a discussion of the European Court of Human Rights and the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on case law.
Chapter
4. Choice and use of authorities
This chapter focuses on the main tool of the mooter's trade — case authorities. It provides answers to the following questions: What is ‘exchange of authorities’ and is it appropriate to rely on the opponent's authorities? How should authorities be chosen? How should authorities be cited? Should research be delegated to others? Can other people's ideas be used? Should help be sought from tutors? In what ways can the law library be used in preparing for a moot presentation? What is the difference between square and round brackets in a case citation? How should electronic information resources be used? When and how should overseas authorities be referred to? What does the Latin mean in a law report? How can old cases be obtained? Is an authority ever too old to use? In addition to reading a report of a judgment of a case, should counsels' arguments also be read?
Chapter
11. Client interviews and meetings
Scott Slorach, Judith Embley, Peter Goodchild, and Catherine Shephard
This chapter builds on the learning from Chapter 10 about persuasive oral communication skills. It considers these skills specifically in the context of client interviews and meetings. It covers interview role-plays and assessments in academia, and interviews, meetings and calls in practice. A flowchart is provided for use as a guide on how to structure an effective first meeting or interview with a client. Consideration is given to the importance of rapport and how to establish it. Information is provided on the particular advantages and challenges of meeting using legal tech, including over the phone or in video conference, and how to overcome those challenges. Guidance is provided on effective note-taking and the production of an attendance note.
Chapter
10. Competitions
This chapter deals with the next and necessary step towards the completion of apprenticeship in moot advocacy — the step into the world of competitive mooting. It provides answers to the following questions: What further information is there out there about mooting? What are inter-university competitive moots?
Chapter
6. Confidentiality
This chapter discusses the principle of confidentiality. It explains the protection of lawyer–client communications and it discusses professional guidance on confidentiality. It is clear that the duty of confidence is not an absolute one and there are circumstances in which it is appropriate, indeed even required, for a lawyer to disclose confidential information. The chapter explores when these exceptions to the general principle of protection of confidence arise. It goes on to examine the rule of legal professional privilege and the circumstances in which lawyers have a duty to disclose. The chapter discusses when a lawyer is permitted to breach confidence. In doing so, it looks at the broader ethical foundation for the duty of confidence.
Chapter
7. Conflicts of interests
This chapter discusses the ‘conflicts of interest’ principle. It explains the principles that underpin the no conflict rule. While generally lawyers are required to avoid being in a position in which there is a conflict between their own interests and the interest of a client, or indeed between the interests of two clients, sometimes this is unavoidable. The chapter consider the obligations under the professional codes of conduct for the rule. The chapter also explores the ethical basis for the principle and exceptions to it. The chapter looks too at some of the case law on how lawyers should avoid conflicts of interest.
