Policy issues in property law

Part 1 of this assessment tests your ability to think critically about policy issues in property
law. It also examines your ability to reflect critically on the cases and readings provided in the
course. You also will need to use research skills to find articles or cases outside of the
prescribed readings to help you craft your answer. Part 1 will be the only policy assessment in
this unit.
Part 2 of the assessment is a traditional exam style question. It tests your ability to draft a
legal advice considering both sides of an argument and providing a client with an answer to
their problem. The feedback on this part will assist with improving your ability to answer
hypothetical exam questions and the expression of legal advice. This part provides you with
the opportunity to improve your practical legal drafting skills in the form of a letter to a
client. The format, tone, and style of your letter of advice will be graded in this part of the
assessment.
CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL MARK
1. This assignment is worth 35% and is compulsory.
WORD LIMIT
2. The word limit for this assignment is 4,000 words with a 10% tolerance. There are
important reasons for imposing and enforcing word limits; they are something lawyers
have to grapple with in practice. For example, arguments for special leave to the High
Court must not exceed 10 pages (responses to those applications must not exceed 5
pages) and must adhere to formatting requirements. Oral arguments for special leave to
appeal to the High Court must not exceed 20 minutes.
3. More importantly, there is an important skill associated with conveying your arguments
with brevity. It is often harder to be brief than verbose when formulating an argument,
but working to achieve the former will normally produce a better result; as with most
things, quality is more important than quantity!