Law Study Skills & Library Research PDF

5.10707: LAW STUDY SKILLS & LIBRARY RESEARCH ( L ANGUAG E & C O M M U NI CATI O N S K I L L S C O M P ONE NT ) Lecture 1: Report Writing Skills  OBJECTIVES At the end of this lecture, you will be able to:  Explain what a report is and distinguish it...

5.10707: LAW STUDY SKILLS & LIBRARY RESEARCH ( L ANGUAG E & C O M M U NI CATI O N S K I L L S C O M P ONE NT ) Lecture 1: Report Writing Skills  OBJECTIVES At the end of this lecture, you will be able to:  Explain what a report is and distinguish it from other academic genres.  Identify the purpose of reports and how they determine the types of reports.  Recognize the stages, format and language of report writing, and  Write reports using the correct format, appropriate language and logical sequence.  INTRODUCTION Report writing is an important skill that plays a crucial role in various fields, including academia, business, the scientific and the legal profession. It serves as a means of documenting and communicating information, findings, and recommendations. Whether it’s a financial analysis, a scientific research report, or a legal report, reports provide a structured format for presenting data, drawing conclusions, and influencing decision-making. Effective reports enhance transparency, facilitate informed discussions, and contribute to organizational success. In your tenure as a law student, you may be asked to write a report about a specific area of law. Hence, a report will be a neutral presentation, often dealing with the current law, proposals for change and whether those proposals have been approved by leading bodies and interested parties. A report will also often consider alternatives to proposed change.  WHAT IS A REPORT? “All good reporting is the same thing – the best version of the truth” (Carl Bernstein). A report is an orderly objective communication of factual information that serves a specific purpose. The key words are: o Orderly – care must be taken in its preparation, and it must follow the appropriate format. o Objective – it must take an unbiased approach to the facts presented, and must serve to seek the truth regardless of the consequences. o Communication – All ways of transmitting information – speaking, writing etc. Reports play vital role in o Informing decision-making o Facilitating problem-solving, and o Initiating appropriate action So, what does it mean to report in law? The legal field is an ever-evolving landscape that requires constant monitoring and reporting. Legal reports are essential documents that present information and analysis on legal matters, and in turn provide valuable insights into legal cases, decisions, and trends. Hence, in law, to report means to choose and investigate some legal information, structure it, and present the data to a specific audience. Consequentially, the report should also have a purpose.  THE PURPOSE OF REPORTS “When ideas are communicated effectively, people follow and change” (Nancy Duarte). The main purpose of a report is “to present information accurately and objectively”, which serves an immediate and practical purpose, and is the basis upon which decisions are made in many organizations. As a report writer, it is important to have a clearly defined objective or purpose as this will enable you to: o Decide what information to include, o Determine the right level to pitch the report, and o Make the report writing process easier for you. An objective is not what you intend to write, it is what you intends to achieve. Some possible overall objectives for a report writer are: to inform; to describe; to explain; to instruction; to evaluate (and recommend); to provoke debate, or to persuade So, what is the purpose of reports in law? In law, reports are used by legal professionals, policy makers, and researchers to gain a deeper understanding of legal issues and make informed decisions. Hence, the purpose of reports in law is to state and explain the legal and factual events and concepts in a case. Therefore, for you as a student, report writing is an important process as it allows you to showcase your knowledge and written communication skills; finesse your skills in analyzing information, highlight the most important issues of the case or articles in the law; present a well-balanced report; make effective and informed decisions and provide appropriate solutions to legal issues.  WRITING THE REPORT “To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail”. (Benjamin Franklin) The importance of preparation and planning cannot be stressed to highly. Anything you commit to paper before your overall plan has taken shape is likely to be wasted; it will be like a bricklayer starting to build the wall of a house before the architect has drawn up the plans. Therefore, to make report writing easier and more effective, write it in stages as follows: Stage One: Understanding the report brief In the initial stage, analyze the brief carefully to ensure that you fully understand the topic, question. Initially, ask yourself the following questions: 1. Why am writing? → My purpose 2. Who am I writing for? → My target audience 3. What do I have to say? → My message 4. How am I going to say it? → My method Stage Two: Gathering and selecting information In the second stage, collect relevant information from a wide variety of sources. The amount of information you collect will depend on how much detail is required in the report. Begin by reading around relevant literature to broaden your understanding of the topic or issue before resorting to other means of collecting information, such as questionnaires, surveys, etc. As you read and gather information, assess its relevance to your report and select it accordingly. Keep referring to your report brief to help you decide on the relevance of the information collected. Stage Three: Organizing your material In the third stage, organize information in the sequence that it should be presented in. You may begin by grouping together related points, which may form sections or paragraphs of your report. Keep referring to the report brief and leave out any information that is not directly related to the report. From there, you can choose a logical and easy to follow layout for information. Stage Four: Analyzing your material In the fourth stage, consider the points you will make using the facts and evidence you have gathered. To help you in your analysis, consider the following questions: 1. What conclusions can be drawn from the material? 2. What are the limitations or flaws in the evidence? 3. Do certain pieces of evidence conflict with one another? It is not enough to simply present the information you have gathered; you must relate it to the problem or issue described in the report brief.  Stage Five: Prewriting the report In the fifth stage, come up with a thesis statement, which states the main idea of your report, and summarizes what you want to prove in your report for your reader. All the subsequent topic sentences for each paragraph should tie back into this thesis statement, so make sure it is general enough to stand throughout your report. Once you have come up with a thesis statement, create an outline to help you visualize how your report will look. o First, make a list of topics that need to be covered in the report. o Then, break the topics into sub-sections, and add appropriate introductions and conclusions to each one. o You can also decide on the format of your report. The structure of your report will depend on your topic, purpose and audience.  Stage Six: Writing the report In the sixth stage, begin writing the first draft of your report. You may develop each section and individual paragraphs with a clear structure in this manner: o Introduce the main idea of the section or paragraph (topic sentence). o Explain and expand the idea, defining any key terms. o Present relevant evidence to support your point(s). o Comment on each piece of evidence showing how it relates to your point(s). o Conclude your section or paragraph by either showing its significance to the report as a whole, or making a link to the next section or paragraph. o Write the summary and contents page last once you know exactly what will be included. Stage Seven: Proofreading and redrafting In the seventh stage, rearrange or rewrite sections of the report in light of your review. Try to read the draft from the perspective of the reader and consider the following questions: 1. Is the report easy to follow with a clear structure that makes sense? 2. Are the points concisely but clearly explained and supported by relevant evidence? Typing your report makes it easier to rewrite and rearrange sections or paragraphs in your drafts. If you hand write your first draft, write each section on separate sheets to make redrafting easier. Stage Eight: Reviewing the report In the last stage, review your report at the content or structural level (revision), sentence and paragraph level (editing), and language or word level (proof) to ensure that: o You have adhered to the instructions in your report brief regarding format and presentation. o The wording of each chapter/section/subheading is clear and accurate. o There is consistency in the numbering of the respective sections and appendices. o All your sources are acknowledged and correctly referenced. o There are no errors of spelling or grammar, as errors in presentation or expressions can create a poor impression and make the report difficult to read.  THE FORMAT OF REPORTS “Structure is more important than content in the transmission of information” (Abbie Hoffman). A well-crafted legal report contains factual information, expert analysis and recommendations for action. There are different interpretations of what a report should look like, so it is important that you find out what the required format is and make sure that your report meets those requirements. However, the following is a good structure for a law report: 1. Title Page - should contain: o the title of the report, o the author, o the person for whom the report is prepared, and t o the date of completion. 2. Abstract/Synopsis/Executive Summary: (approx. 10% of word count) – should give an overview of each section of the report by identifying: o The purpose of the report, o The scope of the report – issues covered/not covered, o The important results and findings, o The conclusions and recommendations, o Acknowledgement of any assistance in researching and compiling the report’ 3. Table of contents - should include: o The main sections of the report, and o The corresponding page numbers on which they appear in the report. 4. Body of report - should include: o An Introduction – what is the report about, and o Discussion – divided into sections and sub sections, presented clearly and confined to fact rather than analysis/opinion. 5. Conclusion - should: o Relate back to the findings in the body of the report, o Include a clear summary of the main points, o Outline the findings of the research. There should be nothing in the conclusion that has not already been mentioned in the body of the report.. 6. Recommendations – should: o Emerge from the conclusions o Suggest what is to be done, who is to do it and how/when it is to be done o Be justified based on findings, not just the opinion of the writer. Bibliography - should list bibliographic details: o of all the sources used or consulted in the write up of the report. o using the appropriate referencing style (APA, Harvard or MLA). Appendix/Appendices - should contain supplementary material too detailed for the main body of the report, such as  tables,  diagrams or charts,  statistics,  Questionnaires,  pictures or photographs, etc. (Adapted from Source: NCI Learning Centre: Study Skills/Writing Skills/Writing Reports)  THE LANGUAGE OF REPORTS “Effective word choice is characterized not so much by exceptional vocabulary but by one’s ability to use every day language naturally and in a fresh or unexpected way” (Vicki Spandel). The main focus of a report is on presenting information in such a way that the reader will be able to follow and understand. The following language features or formulaic language are most commonly used in the different sections of a report: 1. The title of your report should tell the reader in as few words as possible the report’s central focus and its significance. Hence, a good academic report title should contain three separate elements: o The hook – this should be a catchy phrase that highlights the paper’s subject matter, such as a direct quote or a new and exciting element of your topic. o Key terms – these are crucial words or phrases that are central to your topic. Mentioning these key terms will orient your reader to the concepts under discussion in the paper to follow. o The source – Depending on the discipline, your source might be a piece of writing, the name of a text, a geographical place, a person, an existing debate or an organism. For example, the title of a report on Impact of using Facebook for teaching and learning in UPNG can be written as follows: “From Social Media to Academia: The Impact of Using Facebook for Teaching and Learning at UPNG”. The title contains the three separate elements as follow: o The hook – The hook is the phrase “From Social Media to Academic” which is catchy as well as highlights the area of focus of the paper. o Key terms – The next part following the colon include key terms “Impact”, “Facebook” and “Teaching and Learning”, which orient the readers to and promise to engage them in the discussion of these three critical concepts in the essay. o The source – The source of the title is prompted by the preposition “at” in “at UPNG” pertaining to the institution of focus.. 2. The Abstract/Synopsis/Executive Summary uses key phrases or formulaic language used in each of the sections of the report to give an overview of what each section covers. 3. The Table of Contents does not require any key phrase or formulaic language as it does not present any content. 4. The Body of the Report contains the Introduction and Discussion sections. Each section uses certain key phrases or formulaic language: a. The Introduction – uses certain key phrases or formulaic language when i. Presenting brief background information e.g. According to Wayne (2020).…, As Wayne (2020) states…., Wayne (2020, p.112) points out/suggests that…. Wayne (2020, p. 112) defines… as…., OR …. Wayne, 2020, p.112).  ii. Providing definitions or making reference to theories or principles e.g. As stated by Newton’s First Law…., According to Newton’s First Law…., Newton’s First Law states that…. iii. Stating the purpose of the report e.g. The report aimed to…. The aim/purpose/objective of this report is to…. This report has been written in order to…. b. The Discussion - uses certain key phrases or formulaic language when i. Stating the findings e.g. This study found that…., The results of the investigation show that…. On the question of …., this study determined that…. The responses from interviewees reveal that…. The most obvious finding to emerge from this research us that…. ii. Discussing the findings e.g. This suggests that…. This is an important finding as….. These results highlight that…., From the results, it is clear that…. Together, the present findings conclude that…. As is shown in…., It is evident from these findings that…. According to…. The implications of these findings are…. The results demonstrate that…. These results show that …. As can be seen from…. Or It can be seen from…., 5. The Conclusion – uses the following key phrases or formulaic language to indicate the degree of accuracy of the findings and discussion e.g. In conclusion,…. It can be concluded that,…. The following conclusions can be drawn from the findings and discussion …. The results obtains agree with/partly agree with/are close to/are a little different from the given/accepted/true value of …. 6. The Recommendations - use the following modal verb constructions to provide suggestions e.g. Based on the conclusion, it is suggested that…. It is recommended that…. The following suggestions should be considered…. 7. The References section does not require any key phrase or formulaic language as it does not present any content. 8. The Appendices section does not require any specific language, though the following key phrases or formulaic language may be used in the main body of the report to refer to the appendices e.g. A complete copy of…. is shown in Appendix 1. For more details, refer to Appendix 1, which shows…. See Appendix 1 for more information. Further description is available in Appendix 2. Complete data is available in Appendix 2. Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the online version at…. The full colour images can be found in the on-line version at…. In addition to the formulaic language commonly used in the different sections of the report, ensure to use the following language features in reports: 1. Use the active voice rather than the passive voice The active voice is more direct, less vague and less wordy. Only use the passive voice upon instruction or advice. The active voice uses action verbs, whereas the passive voice uses forms of the verb,“to be,” (is, be, am, are, we, were, and been). For example: Conclusions have been drawn and recommendations have been made. (Passive voice) The report concludes with recommendations. (Active) 2. Use the imperative voice for recommendations The imperative voice begins with a verb, and assumes the subject “you’. Use the imperative voice to be concise and to eliminate the moral tone of ’should’ and the overly emphatic tone of ‘must’. For example: You must create self-managed work teams → Create self-managed work teams. 3. Use formal reporting verbs to introduce citations and findings Reporting verbs, also known as referring verbs are verbs used to report findings or to refer to another writer’s work to substantiate the research findings and methodology. For example; Pais (2018) identifies social issues commonly experienced throughout the Pacific. Other formal reporting verbs include: stated, highlighted, recommended, suggested, indicated, reported, demonstrated, etc. 4. Use parallel structure, particularly within lists A parallel structure contains phrases that are expressed in the same grammatical form. Parallelism enables readers to read documents more efficiently. For example: (Non-parallel structure) Currently, the company has no defined future goals; shortsighted without goals and long-term mission; merit system, and do not appear prepared to meet rapid changes. (Parallel structure) Currently the company lacks a plan for the future; needs a mission statement; rewards merit only for individual production, and adjusts too slowly to markets forces. 5. Use concise words for clarity Avoid using unnecessary words and expressions that hinder readers instead of helping them. For example: (Wordy) My suggestion is that we must begin to socialize our employees into the Lincoln culture so that they internalize the core values of cost reduction and high quality that Lincoln embraces. (Concise) Train employees so they will internalize the core values of the company. 6. Use shorter sentences to avoid confusion Check the length of your sentences. If the length of your sentences goes beyond 25, break it up into smaller sentences. For example; One long sentence) Making a sentence too long can be confusing because it is easy to lose track of what was said at the beginning, since they do not give the reader enough time to process what they are reading, and by the end of the sentence you might have forgotten where it started. (Three short sentences) 1Making a sentence too long can be confusing. 2It is easy to lose track of what was said at the beginning, since they do not give the reader enough time to process what they are reading. 3By the end of the sentence, you might have forgotten where it started. 7. Use precise or concrete words to avoid ambiguity Ambiguous words are imprecise or vague words, such as various, some, particular, numerous, etc. Use precise or concrete words instead. For example: A majority of students…. → Eighty out of a hundred students…. Or 80% of the students…. 8. Use of formal and objective language to avoid personalizing Personalizing pronouns in turn lead to personalizing of issues or problems discussed in the report. Write objectively instead to be more formal. For example: You need to … → “Law students needsto…"  REFERENCES Artigos, M. (2023). Law Legal Report Example: A Comprehensive Guide. Retrieved from: https://produtoresflorestais.pt/law-legal-report-example-sample-legal-report-writing/ Customs Writing.com (2024). “How to Write a Report in Law: What is it & Why Is It Important for College Committee?” Retrieved from: https://www.customwritings.com/howtowrite/post/law-report-essay-guide/ Dietrichs, I. (2018). Academic Writing in a Swiss University Context – Writing the Abstract & Executive Summary. Retrieved from: https://ebooks.hslu.ch/academicwriting/chapter/4-1-abstract-executive summary summary/ Ref-n-write. (14 September 2017). Academic Phrases for Writing Acknowledgements & Appendix Sections of a Research Paper. Retrieved from: https://www.ref-n- write.com/blog/acknowledgements-appendix-academic-phrases/ Ref-n-write. (17 September 2017). Academic Phrases for Writing Results & Discussion Sections of a Research Paper. Retrieved from: https://www.ref-n-write.com/blog/results-and- discussion-academic-phrases/ Shekhar, M. (29 October 2021). How to write a legal report. Retrieved from: https://www.legalbites.in/how-to-write-a-legal-report/ Smith, S. (10 April 2022). Language for Reports. Retrieved from: https://www.eapfoundation.com/writing/reports/language/#google-vignette Teacher, Law. (November 2013). Structure of Law Essays and Reports. Retrieved from https://www.lawteacher.net/law-help/essay/structure_of_essays.php?vref=1