LEGAL METHOD SYLLABUS

1. Overview & Purpose

Legal Methods is a foundational compulsory course in the first of your

LL.B program. This course should go some way to preparing you to
deeply understand the structure and nature of law that will engage you
through out your study program, and into the practice of law in the
future.

The course commences by examining the nature of law, its relationship

with other social control mechanisms, and basic concepts like justice,
morality, and customs. But it goes deeper. It explores the essence of how
to “think like a lawyer” —thereby interrogating the four basic concepts
of how to find the law; read, understand and analyze law; organize your
reasoning like a lawyer; and then how to professionally identify yourself
as a lawyer. In effect, the course structure attempts to speak to finding
the law, legal reasoning, legal writing and professional ethics.

For 2022, we have chosen the theme ‘towards an integration of

doctrine, skills and values in learning law’ since we are on the precipice
of interesting times in the legal profession, with particular reference to
negotiating professional skills training.

More than 3 weeks of the course will be reserved for the discussion of
this important aspect. We believe that—as students—you have much to
offer to the legal profession in making a real difference as to how to
lawyers should think, perform and identify with the profession. We
regard this course as a useful stepping-stone to your impending career
as a legal practitioner should you follow that route.

2. Assumption of Prior Learning

In order to successfully complete this course, students should: (i) be

capable of communicating competently in written and spoken English;
(ii) be capable of engaging in critically reading, analysis and extracting
relevant legal information from case law, legislation and other source
material; (iii) be aware of the influence of society on the development of
law; and (iv) be capable of independent learning.
3. Outcomes
In addition to those outcomes included under the ‘Overview and
Purpose’ heading above:find below specific outcomes for the course
please.
Knowledge Outcomes: It is intended that students know and
understand: (i) the nature and functions of law; (ii) methods of social
control; (iii) classifications of law; (iv) how to find law (v) methods of
legal reasoning; (v) skills of legal writing; and (vi) how to identify
yourself as a lawyer.
Skills Outcomes: It is intended that students should be able to: (i) draft
and argue case-based scenario on law, justice and morals using the
Speluncean Explorers case as basic road-map; (ii) draft, write legal
letters and prepare basic court processes; (iii) present basic mock and
moot presentations.
Values Outcomes:Reflected under ‘Overview and Purpose’ heading
above And Further the kinds of ethical dilemmas which lawyers face,
particularly negotiating the theory of ‘ethical lawyering’ and the
practice of lawyers governed by the various rules of the society, general
bar and case law, which speak to the two dimensions of professional
ethics, that is, to individual and to collective responsibility – both to
personal decision making and to professional regulation.
.
4. Teaching Method
Oghenemaro Festus Emiri and Oghenerukevwe Ituru Esq. & Patrick
Aloamaka, Esq. teach this compulsory course for the LL.B degree and it
runs for 13 weeks. All the class lectures will be interactive-student-
centred. The course will taught in the hybrid-synchronized style of in-
class learning and zoom; seminar discussions and presentations by
students.
Students are expected to read ahead of the next lecture so that they may
participate in the lecture and consider practical scenarios either
individually or in groups. There is no comprehensive handout for the
course and as such, students are expected to take their own notes
during lectures and to supplement these with readings provided in the
course outline. Students are expected to assume responsibility for their
own learning by independent study according to guidance provided by
the reading list. Throughout the course and in test and exam evaluation,
problem-solving scenarios will be put before students on a regular
basis.
In line with the 2022 theme of ‘towards an integration of doctrine, skills
and values in learning law’ students are required to write up and
present a research project on the topic. The writing up of this project
must be completed within the first 10 weeks of term. This project is
divided into two parts-a miniature part one, and a detailed part two.
The first will be for the first semester and the latter will concern us next
semester. Presentation of the project will take place in weeks 10-11 of
the course.

Students are referred to the Faculty’s ‘Brochure’ in respect of

attendance and assignment requirements. Students are welcome to
discuss problems with the lecturers.

5. Course Content

Week 1-Introduction
The week will be used to communicate clearly the ground rules for
learning; the performance expected of students as learners; the
conditions and circumstances surrounding competent performance, and
the criterion for acceptable performance.
They will be made to see the tweaked syllabus and be referred to
standard course material.
Importantly, they will be instructed on our teaching and learning
methods; particularly that the topic coverage is slanted towards a
practical purpose.
As much as a methods class, is considered a “real-time learners’
community,” with focus on competency not competitive assessment,
their learning will be student, outcome-focused, with plenty of skills
interaction in the form of role-play, simulation, discussion, clinic, etc.
and technology will be used to deliver some learning components.

Week 2-Legislation.
The first classes will be used to familiarize them with the sources of law;
divided into legislation, case law, journal and other custom and official
publication.
This part is designed to enable the students understand where law
comes from, how to find it, understand it, and how to use it. It is
presented in an overlapping manner interrogating the legal system–
hierarchy of courts, operation of precedent, and the way judges
interpret the law. But the coverage is slanted towards a practical
purpose. This topic considers the process by which an Act becomes law;
how to locate statute both in library and online; the anatomy of an Act
and interpretation rule

Week 3-Case Law

Examines the role of common law, equity and custom as case-based
sources of law; explains the different courts involved in deciding cases;
skills of how to find case from law reports; how to use cases,
particularly in extracting principles from them and determine their
binding effect.
Understanding precedent or stare decisis; distilling ratio decidendi from
obiter dicta;

Week 4-Learned & Official Publications

Deals with secondary sources of law, their different types; how they
contribute to understanding of law; general citation literary etc.
Week 5 & 6-Nature of Law
Examines the nature of law and the legal process in society;
perspectives to law, life humanity and society, such as order and justice,
law and freedom, law and state, law and legitimacy, law and
sovereignty, divine law, positive law and social control through law;
changing province of jurisprudence such as feminist and race critique,
revisionist Marxist perspective, postmodernism, law and economics, etc.

Week 7 & 8-Legal Reasoning

Examines critical thinking; process of rule application; relationship
between reasoning and logic; process of developing rules; deductive and
analogical reasoning; place of syllogism and enthymeme in reasoning
process; flawed syllogism; inductive reasoning and generalization in the
common law process

Week 9 & 10-Schemata For Organizing Legal Thought

Examine organizational scheme for thinking, writing and advocacy such
as IRAC, (QfrFR)+IRAC,’ IGPAC, CREAC, TREAT, CREXAC, CRAC, CRuPAC;
use of syllogism; flexible Non-IRAC; narrative style; etc.

Week 11-Study Skill

It deals with skills of legal study; study skills such as recognizing the
benefits of lectures, personal organizational skills, collaborative study,
time management, etc.

Week 12-Writing Skills

Examines the elements of good writing; why writing skill is important;
appropriate legal writing style; judicial and academic writings; grammar
rules and punctuation; referencing and plagiarism; essay writing and
structure of legal argument; dissertations; answering problem
questions; revision and examination skills;
Week 13 & 14-Process Writing & Persuasion
rhetoric triangle (logos, pathos and ethos); ethics of persuasion; legal
imagination and lawyering;

Week 15 & 16-Presentation Skills

Examines how to deliver effective oral presentation; research and
preparation; material organization; use of visuals and demonstratives;
mooting skills; negotiation skills; ADR, etc.

Week 17-Facts
Examines how to identify and evaluate facts; scope of relevant facts;
fact-finding facilities; facts indeterminacy; narrative and legal
storytelling skills; etc.

Week 18-Adjudication
Deals with the process by which judges decide cases, especially seeking
an understanding of the legal reasoning process concerning governing
precedent and how ‘hard cases’ are decided; blackletter formalism;
interstitial legislator; legal realism; politics of the judiciary; law as
integrity; critical legal studies and feminism.

Week 19-Critical Skills

Focuses on ow to asses laws critically so that lawyers can argue logically
and persuasively and present argument more clearly. It examines three
concepts which can be used to critique standard: efficiency, morality
and justice.

Week 20-Analyzing Government Regulation

Examines the ubiquitous nature of regulations; deficiency of
administrative law analysis; regulatory tools and methodology;
regulatory capture, match and mismatch; explanatory basis for
regulation.

Week 21-Professional & Social Responsibility

Examines the RPC; nature of lawyering whether vocation or business;
access to justice and pro bono services; law reform; equality and
distributive justice; human rights; technology and legal services, etc.

6. Reference Sources
You may purchase any useful book(s) for this course. Useful material
will be readily found in:

(i) Farrar & Dugdale, Introduction to Legal Method (Sweet &

Maxwell, 1990)
(ii) Abiola Sanni, Legal Method
(iii) Glanville Williams, Learning the law (11th ed. Stevens, 1982)
(iv) Lord Denning, The Discipline of Law (OUP, 2009
(v) Dennis Lloyd, The Idea of Law
(vi) Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007
(RPC)
(vii) The Speluncean Explorers case (1947)
(viii) Inakoju v. Adeleke (2007) 4 NWLR (pt. 1025) 423, see
especially Niki Tobi, JSC judgment.

7. Student Assessment

The final mark for the course is comprised of the following components:
Class work: out of 40 marks
Examination: out of 60marks
Total: 100 marks

For the component of class work, students are assessed on the basis of
two pieces of work (assignment/presentation and test). The
assignment/presentation will count 20% (10% for each part) and the
test will count 20% of the final class mark.

Please note that no late assignments/the failure to present such

assignment on the due date will be accepted for purposes of the class
mark. Late assignments/late presentations will receive 0% unless the
student has a valid leave of absence. The test (date to be announced)
may contain: multiple choice questions (MCQ) based on problem
questions which require the application of theory, rules and/or case law
to solve practical issues; case notes; oreven theory-type questions, in
which students are required to describe, explain and critically evaluate
the current law. The failure to complete the class work on time will be
considered a failure to perform the work of the class. This may result in
the taking away of a student’s DP for the course by the Dean.

For examination, this course will comprise a two or three-hour long

examination paper out of 60 marks. It is usually in the form of long
requiring you to engage in much of issue spotting, problem solving and
essay writing.

8. General

Please feel free to approach the teachers about any aspect of this course.
If you have a specific query, to ensure availability, please email or
WhatsApp us to arrange an acceptable consultation time.
Email: ofemiri@yahoo.co.uk
WhatsApp: 08033724570
We hope that you will find this an interesting and worthwhile course.

OFE/RI
November 2023