About
If you want to demonstrate your skills and expertise in a subject area there is no better proof than getting a publication in your name. In this course we cover all the basic issues faced by students when they wish to get published. Students often ask: What it means to write a legal paper? How do I find a good topic? How long should it be? How should I organise it? How should I edit my article? What should I include in my introduction? When should I quote and when not? How can I get more publications? These are all valid and vital questions when it comes to legal writing. These are questions that a law student should be concerned about. Legal writing is an essential skill that defines your legal career. But legal writing in law school rarely gets the attention that it deserves.
Through this seminal course, we seek to change that. In this course, through personalised feedback on written work on the topic of your choice, we will guide you through the several stages of legal writing. That is right! Get your topic or paper that you are working on or want to work on and we will help you improve, guiding you step-by-step. If you don't have a topic yet, we will help you arrive at one.
At the end of the course, you would also have the opportunity to get your article published in prestigious EBC journals. A publication with EBC is itself no mean feat.
The course is taught by experienced editors and writers who have themselves gone through the rigorous process of writing, feedback, editing and rewriting. Legal writing can’t be learnt alone, everyone needs someone to give feedback and guide them. So join the masters who are happy to share their secrets and years of experience. Let us make you into a legal writing ninja!
Prerequisites
There are no pre-requisites to take this course, only that you must be a student of law. You will work on your own paper to get it up to publishable standards and we will guide you every step of the way.
You see, fear is a fighter's best friend. You know, but it ain't nothing to be ashamed of. See, fear keeps you sharp, it keeps you awake, you know, it makes you want to survive.
— Rocky Balboa from the movie Rocky- Course introduction and timetable
- Course introduction and timetable
- 1. Week 1: Selecting your topic and identifying legal issues
- I. LIVE CLASS 1: Introduction and orientation
- 1.1 Video: Welcome
- 1.2 Video: Who is a ‘law’ researcher?
- 1.3 Video: Approaches to legal scholarship
- 1.4 Video: Research methodology: prognostic or diagnostic?
- 1.5 Video: No to shortcuts: choosing a topic
- II. Practice Exercises
- III. Pre-Class Assignment: Selecting your tentative topic
- IV. LIVE CLASS Workshop 1: Identifying your topic and legal issues
- V. Post-Class Assignment: Submit a tentative topic for your article
- 2. Week 2: Literature review
- I. Introduction
- 2.1 Video: Literature review
- 2.2 Video: Applicability of literature review beyond academia
- 2.3 Video: Objectivity in your research
- II. Homework Exercises
- III. Pre-Class Assignment: Identify the legal gap that your paper has filled
- IV. LIVE CLASS Workshop 6: How to review literature?
- V. Post-Class Assignment: Finalise the research gap that you wish to address
- 3. Week 3: Thinking it through and outlining
- I. Introduction
- II. Pre-Class Assignment: Trace an author's argument and identify the core argument
- III. LIVE CLASS Workshop 3: Class on organising your thoughts and identifying legal issues
- IV. Post-Class Assignment: Submit flowchart and core argument
- 4. Week 4: Getting your logic and reasoning right
- I. Introduction
- 4.1 Video: Introduction to analogical reasoning
- 4.2 Video: Analogical reasoning and judicial precedents
- 4.3 Video: How to identify ratio and obiter
- II. Practice Exercises
- III. LIVE CLASS Workshop 4: Logic and reasoning
- IV. Post-Class Assignment: Know and check your reasoning
- 5. Week 5: Undertaking comparative and interdisciplinary research
- I. Introduction
- 5.1 Video: Introduction to comparative and interdisciplinary research
- 5.2 Video: Steps in contemporary research
- II. Practice Exercises
- III. Pre-Class Assignment: Find a suitable comparator
- IV. LIVE CLASS Workshop 5: Identifying comparative and multidisciplinary elements
- V. Post-Class Assignment: Identify comparative and multidisciplinary elements in your paper
- 6. Week 6: Using empirical tools in research
- I. Introduction
- 6.1 Video: Introduction to empirical research
- 6.2 Video: Steps in empirical research
- II. Practice Exercises
- III. Pre-Class Assignment: Identify a paper that uses empirical research
- IV. LIVE CLASS Workshop 6: How to use empirical tools in research?
- V. Post-Class Assignment: Evaluate the empirical scope of your paper
- 7. Week 7: Editing and refinements
- I. Introduction
- 7.1 Video: Legal writing sins
- 7.2 Video: What serious researchers write?
- 7.3 Video: Do’s and don’ts when you want to get published
- 7.4 Video: Performance indicators in research
- II. Practice Exercises
- III. LIVE CLASS Workshop 7: Substantive and technical editing
- IV. Post-Class Assignment: Editing text
- 8. One-on-one feedback session and final paper submission
- 8.1 LIVE CLASS 8: Schedule a one-on-one session with your instructors
- 8.2 Final paper submission
Course features
- First of its kind workshop-based course on practical aspects of writing and research.
- Personalised feedback on project assignments and your papers for publication.
- Post-workshop support.
- Seminar-style sessions: no lecture and not theory-based.
- Access to handy writing materials.
- Applicable to all research types, be it law firms, consultancy, academia, and/or litigation.
- Classes on weekends.
- Flipped classroom method followed: a mix of homework and classroom workshops.
- Selected articles will be considered for publication in SCC Journal or Practical Lawyer magazine published by EBC. If your article is not selected we will guide you on how to bring it up to publishable standards.
- Senior EBC editor guest lectures.
Registration for the course
- To participate in live classes you must register for the course by the last date for registration.
- Once the course starts you can still register for the course, and you will have access to the recorded classes that you have missed. You can participate in any live classes that are remaining in the course.
Classes
- The course provides you with access to live classes and pre-recorded video classes.
- One live class will be scheduled per week, typically on a Saturday.
- If you miss a class the recorded version of the class will be available to you.
Instructors
Abhinandan Malik
Editor Publications & Director, EBC Learning
Abhinandan Malik is Director Publications at EBC, India's top law publisher with a demonstrated history of working in publishing, the information technology and services industry. He is a graduate of NALSAR University of Law with an LLM from the University of Toronto. He is skilled in E-Learning, Legal Assistance, Legal Research, and Legal Writing.
He has 10 + years of editorial experience, conceptualising, guiding and editing publications at EBC. He has also authored the course on Contract Law at EBC Learning and is fond of guiding students, especially in the area of legal writing. At NALSAR he was the founder editor of an inter-law school magazine and law review called The Edict. It comprised students from the top national law schools across India as editors.
At the University of Toronto, he specialised in private law. His thesis was on the Horizontal Application of Fundamental Rights. He was also invited to be part of the Academic Council for the Refresher Program in Law titled “Evolutions in Legal Pedagogy” offered by NALSAR University, under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Shashikant Yadav
Teaching Associate, University of Surrey, Guildford
Shashikant Yadav is a writer, energy law researcher, and academic with more than seven years of experience in legal research and writing. He has been associated with the University of Dundee, Scotland, as an academic researcher and is currently affiliated with Central European University, Vienna.
Recently, he reviewed Columbia Law School’s Sabin Centre for Climate Change Law Report’s titled “Legal Levers for Cleaner Air in Kolkata”. His work, mostly on natural resources law, is published with: The Ecologist (UK); The Wire; The Hindu; The Swaddle; The Sunday Statesman; The Hindu Businessline, among others.
His academic work is published with leading (Scopus indexed) journals, including Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law; Economic and Political Weekly, Global Energy Law and Sustainability, Edinburgh University Press.
There are two things wrong with almost all legal writing. One is its style. The other is its content. That, I think, about covers the ground.
— Fred RodellCertificate
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