Law 3920.03: Intensive Legal Research & Writing

Assignment Information and Schedule

Last updated: August 10, 2017          Duplicate this page          Schedule of Classes and Topics

General Information

• Class Attendance and Participation
  • Students are expected to attend every class.
  • Class attendance and participation are not graded, nor do they form a component of your grade.
  • Neverthless, it is true that students who regularly attend class will tend to do better on the graded assignment. This is because the purpose of class time is to provide an opportunity for you to gain new knowledge and skills which you can apply to your work on the graded assignment.
  • In particular, significant amounts of class time will be devoted to student presentations of their work in progress, to constructive feedback on that work, and to the discussion of related questions.
  • Students who do not take advantage of scheduled class time to receive feedback on their work in progress should not expect to receive that feedback outside of class.
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• Grading Profile
  • Paragraph 2.3 ("Grading Profile") of Osgoode academic rule E applies to seminars, including this one.
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• Role of Student Services in Paper Submission, Deferrals, etc.
  • The Graded Assignment (Research Paper) together with the ungraded Reflective Comments, or Meta-Paper (if any), must be submitted to Student Services using the Online Assignment Drop Box at: https://ozdomapp1.osgoode.yorku.ca/myosgoode.nsf/jdexamsassignments.xsp
  • Because of the emphasis on providing classroom feedback on work in progress, the grading in this seminar cannot really be anonymous. Thus, the principal reason that the Graded Assignment needs to be submitted using the Online Assignment Drop Box is so that the time of receipt can be officially recorded. The ungraded assignments (Note Indicating the Topic Chosen and Discussion of an Authority) should be sent to the instructor by e-mail in the format indicated below.
  • Of course, any requests for extensions or deferrals must be addressed to Student Services, and not to the instructor.

Due Date 1: Thursday, September 14, at 3:30 p.m.

• Note Indicating the Topic Chosen
  • This assignment is not separately graded, but students who do not submit one may be publicly reminded in class that their assignment is due.
  • Use your word-processing software to save this assignment in Rich Text Format (rtf), then submit it by e-mail to the instructor.
  • One page maximum.
  • The assignment is to submit a brief written statement of the topic chosen for the Graded Assignment.
  • The instructor will make these statements available on the seminar website.
  • In the weeks following, students will be asked to present their topics to the class. Other students in the class will be encouraged to ask questions for clarification, and to offer suggestions as to the sources and methodology to be used in carrying out the research.
  • Subject to the other requirements set out below, any legal topic is fine. (The topics listed in this linked document are only suggestions.)
  • It is expected that students may need to revise their topics as they become more familiar with the relevant authorities and the issues they raise. When that happens, students should submit and be prepared to present a new topic statement for class discussion.
  • The Graded Assignment will, in part, be evaluated in relation to the relevant topic statement or statements submitted.

Due Date 2: Thursday, October 12, at 3:30 p.m.

• Discussion of an Authority
  • This assignment is not separately graded, but students who do not submit one may be publicly reminded in class that their assignment is due.
  • Use your word-processing software to save this assignment in Rich Text Format (rtf), then submit it by e-mail to the instructor.
  • Three pages maximum, but aim for one page.
  • The assignment is to submit a paragraph or paragraphs discussing an authority which will be of central importance to the topic chosen for the Graded Assignment. You should discuss the authority in the same way that you intend to discuss it in the Research Paper.
  • You should provide all parallel citations for the authority discussed, i.e., citations for each full-text report of the case, printed and online. (Do not include citations to digests or summaries of the case. You may also omit the citations of the French versions of the case if it is available in English, unless, of course, you are discussing the French version as such.)
  • The instructor will make these discussions available on the seminar website. The instructor will also provide links and citations, on the miscellaneous cases page, to the several versions of the authorities that students have chosen to discuss.
  • In the weeks following, students will be asked to present this authority and their discussion to the class. Other students will be encouraged to ask questions for clarification, and to offer suggestions as to how the paragraph or paragraphs might be improved.

Due Date 3: Monday, December 4, at 3:30 p.m.

• THE GRADED ASSIGNMENT: General
  • One hundred percent (100%) of the grade for the course is based on the Research Paper.
  • As noted more specifically below, the Research Paper must satisfy the Upper Year Research and Writing requirement set out in paragraph 3.6 of Osgoode Academic Rule A.
  • Submit this Research Paper to the Online Assignment Drop Box as indicated above.
  • Paragraph 6.5 of Academic Rule A provides

    6.5 The late submission of a final paper or supervised research paper shall result in an F grade unless the student has been granted an extension ...

  • Students may cite authorities either within the main text (case report style), or in footnotes (law journal style). Please do not cite your authorities in end notes.
  • Line spacing should be one and one-half lines, except for block quotations and footnotes, which should be single-spaced.
  • The font is to be Times New Roman, 12 point in the main text, and 10 point in footnotes.
  • Margins should be 2.5 centimetres (one inch) on all sides.
  • Pages should be numbered. If Reflective Comments (see below) are submitted, they should follow the Research Paper, and the pages should be numbered.
  • There is no need for a separate bibliography.
  • You should provide all parallel citations for the cases to which you refer, i.e., citations for each full-text report of the case, printed and online. (Do not include citations to digests or summaries of the case. You may also omit the citations of the French versions of authorities available in English, unless, of course, you are discussing a French version as such.) N.B. This usually involves more citations than are required by the McGill Law Journal, Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, 8th ed. (Toronto: Thomson Carswell, 2014). The instructor believes this requirement will help you learn to be familiar with the various reporters and the differences in what they offer. N.B. as well: You may, in general, follow the recommendations of the McGill Guide for this seminar if you choose, but you are not required to do so. You may adopt the citation practices of any reputable Canadian law publisher, so long as you do so consistently.
  • Two or more students may choose the same topic, but joint assignments are not allowed. Students are encouraged to collaborate and advise one another with the writing of the assignment, but ultimately each assignment submitted must be the unique, original work of an individual student.
  • The Research Paper must be original work for this seminar, not previous work updated or revised.
  • You may not submit the same paper for this seminar and for another course or seminar.
  • Students must, in general, be familiar with the principles of academic integrity, and apply those principles in their own work. Please take note of the resources at York's "Academic Integrity" web page: http://www.yorku.ca/academicintegrity/students/.
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• The Research Paper (graded and mandatory)
  • The research paper must satisfy the Upper Year Research and Writing requirement set out in paragraph 3.6 of Osgoode Academic Rule A, that is, be "at least 7,000 words in length, excluding notes, bibliography and appendices."
  • There is no penalty per se for submitting a Research Paper which has significantly more than 7,000 words. As this only creates unnecessary work for the person doing the grading, however, a Research Paper which significantly exceeds the minimum length will have to be extremely well written to escape criticism. There will certainly be no bonus points for a Research Paper which is longer or more ambitious than required.
  • A Research Paper which has more than 7,000 words may be criticized because:
    1) the topic is too big;
    2) the argument repeats itself unnecessarily;
    3) the argument contains unnecessary material; or
    4) the writing could have been more concise.
  • Of course, a Research Paper which has more than 7,000 words may also be criticized because:
    1) the topic is relatively slight or trivial; or
    2) aspects of the topic have not been adequately dealt with.
  • Subject to the other requirements set out below, any legal topic is acceptable. (The topics listed in this linked document are only suggestions.)
  • The Research Paper must include a substantive discussion of at least one case decided by the Supreme Court of Canada, a Canadian federal court or tribunal, an Ontario court or tribunal, or another tribunal acceptable to the instructor.
  • The Research Paper must have a thesis, that is, a debatable proposition which you seek to establish by argument.
  • The best arguments against your thesis must be articulated in their strongest form, and countered.
  • The Research Paper must persuade the reader that the literature, research sources and methods applicable to research on your topic have been thoroughly and masterfully sought out and reviewed, and then read or applied. It will usually help if these sources and methods are specifically articulated.
  • For example, you probably should
    - systematically identify the research sources that one would need to consult in order to indentify the authorities relevant to your chosen topic, with efficiency and thoroughness, including the leading texts, articles, journals, newsletters, databases, websites, etc.; and
    - indicate the particular strengths and weaknesses of these sources.
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• Reflective Comments, or Meta-Paper (ungraded and optional)
  • Along with the Research Paper, students are encouraged to submit additional comments which reflect upon the paper, and explain the choices made in the process of writing it. Although these additional Reflective Comments (Meta-Paper) will not be graded, they will be taken into account in the grading of the Research Paper.
  • Students are encouraged to think of this Meta-Paper as a safety net. It provides an opportunity to explain choices made in the research and writing of the Research Paper. Thus, the Research Paper itself need not be cluttered up with apologetic asides, or with mere lists of tangential authorities which you cited because you wanted the reader to know that you were aware of them, but which you didn't think needed to be fully discussed.
  • For example, you might
    - indicate which sources and authorities you used in your research, but did not cite in the Research Paper, together with your reasons for using them;
    - indicate which other sources and authorities you almost used, but decided not to use, together with your reasons for not using them;
    - indicate the process by which you decided how your argument would be organized;
    - indicate how you refined the topic of your Assignment as the work proceeded; or
    - indicate how you went about proofreading so as to correct spelling and grammar errors and typos, and to improve the style and readability of your Assignment.
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• Feedback After Grading
  • Every student, whether satisfied with the grade or not, is encouraged to meet individually with the instructor to review the assignment, and to obtain a copy and explanation of the instructor's grading notes. These notes normally consist of the following:
    • a list of the headings and subheadings found in the paper;
    • detailed notes and comments, page by page;
    • general comments, by way of summary, on the following:
      • miscellaneous;
      • readability and organization;
      • adequacy of citations;
      • identification of the relevant authorities;
      • adequacy of discussion of the authorities;
      • grasp of the issues, and originality of contribution;
    • overall impression and grade.

  
  evaluation Copyright © 2017 John N. Davis