1. Handbook
  2. Subjects
  3. Persuasion and Advocacy
  4. Print

Persuasion and Advocacy (LAWS90102)

Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

You’re viewing the 2017 Handbook:
Or view archived Handbooks
You’re currently viewing the 2017 version of this subject

Overview

Availability(Quotas apply)
May
FeesLook up fees

Lawyers need to persuade many different audiences, including their clients, their opponents, their employers and employees, juries, the courts and others. This subject will help lawyers to persuade more effectively, through a mixture of theoretical and practical approaches. Students will read widely about advocacy, persuasion and influence, including from empirical studies and research from disciplines other than law (such as psychology). Students will also develop their practical skills in both written and oral persuasion, led by a very experienced teaching team: Noah Messing from the Yale Law School (and author of The Art of Advocacy), Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth from the Supreme Court of Victoria and experienced commercial barrister and teacher David O’Callaghan QC.

Principal topics include:

  • Leading theories of persuasion, in the law and generally
  • Empirical research into the persuasion of judges, other lawyers and lay people in a legal context (including juries and clients)
  • Empirical research into other instances of persuasion
  • Cognitive biases and how the law does—and should—react to them
  • The balance between ethics and persuasiveness
  • Developing a generalised theory of persuasiveness and how various actors reach various decisions
  • Different ways to practically apply those theoretical approaches.

Intended learning outcomes

A student who has successfully completed this subject will:



  • Develop an advanced and integrated understanding of the theories of persuasion
  • Be able to critically identify and assess the effectiveness of different techniques of persuasion on different audiences
  • Have developed at an advanced level their oral and written advocacy skills
  • Become more adept at weaving together ethos, pathos, and logos in their oral and written work
  • Have the cognitive and technical skills to independently examine, research and analyse existing and emerging issues in this area
  • Have acquired skills to be able to build and counter arguments even more quickly by practicing persuasion in mock-crisis situations
  • Gather feedback from the instructors and from peers about what arguments and approaches are effective or ineffective
  • Have the communication skills to clearly articulate and convey complex information to relevant specialist and non-specialist audiences.

Last updated: 3 November 2022

Eligibility and requirements

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Non-allowed subjects

None

Recommended background knowledge

Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.

Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)

The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.

Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home

Last updated: 3 November 2022

Assessment

Additional details

  • Oral individual presentation, on an allocated day during the teaching period (10 - 15 minutes) (15%)
  • Take-home examination (5,000 - 6,000 words) (85%) (23 - 26 June 2017)

A minimum of 75% attendance is a hurdle requirement.

Last updated: 3 November 2022

Quotas apply to this subject

Dates & times

Time commitment details

136-150 hours The pre-teaching period commences four weeks before the subject commencement date. From this time, students are expected to access and review the Reading Guide that will be available from the LMS subject page and the subject materials provided by the subject coordinator, which will be available from Melbourne Law School. Refer to the Reading Guide for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences.

Additional delivery details

This subject has a quota of 30 students. Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.

Last updated: 3 November 2022

Further information

Last updated: 3 November 2022