LW7122 - Family Professional Practice

The module will be delivered through both large group, small group sessions and directed learning. You will also be expected to conduct a significant amount of independent learning.

The large group sessions will be delivered to the whole group of students and will be as interactive as possible.

The small group sessions will:
- give an overview of the module area;
- prioritise learning points within a topic;
- explain, emphasise and demonstrate, with examples, substantive or procedural points within the context of given scenarios;
- focus on areas that pose particular difficulties and require further explanation or examples;
- encourage students to consider the module from a practical perspective as they will do later in pupillage;
- develop problem solving and other legal skills;
- promote intellectual inquiry;
- implement knowledge in a practical way to solve legal problems;
- develop individual presentation skills;
- develop advocacy skills;
- develop conferencing skills;
- develop written skills of drafting and opinion writing.

You will be given directed learning in advance of SPSs and will be expected to carry out independent learning to expand on materials covered in SPSs.

Experiential learning is present in the simulated practical exercises that take place in each SPS, following which you will be expected to complete self-assessment forms in order to ensure that you have taken on board the comments made by the tutor.

The University is well-placed to support you in learning and research with an excellent library and teaching facilities, access to on-line legal databases and resources and appropriate software.

This module will be managed by your designated Module Tutor who will be responsible for guiding you in your engagement and learning on the module. All relevant materials and instructions will be accessible on-line through the module eLP site, maintained by your Module Tutor, and will give guidance on legal skills, assessment and provide self-study materials. You may communicate with your Module Tutor by email or telephone and are encouraged to make contact if you encounter any difficulties relating to any aspect of the module.

Academic support is also available through feedback on set and multiple choice questions undertaken through the eLP and in the small group sessions. You will have the opportunity to formally sit a mock exam and feedback on the mock exam will be given in a large group session. At a programme level you will be supported by the Programme Leader and your Guidance Tutor who will provide pastoral support throughout the module and the programme as a whole.

The Programme Administration and Student Progress teams are responsible for the non-academic administration of the module; they will contact you throughout the duration of your module with details about the centralised assessment, and other issues.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
• Demonstrate up-to-date knowledge and understanding of the key legal and procedural rules and principles of family law and practice as specified by the Bar Standards Board, including an understanding of how lawyers apply legal rules in practice.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• Demonstrate good communication, case analysis and problem solving skills; an ability to locate and make effective use of legal source materials, together with an awareness of professional conduct issues.
• Demonstrate a high level ability to persuade orally and in writing in a family practice context, using cogent legal and factual analysis, developing reasoned argument supported by evidence.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• Display a professional and responsible approach to the course, staff and other students; to observe the requirements of the Bar Standards Board Professional Statement and Handbook

• Act in way that demonstrates an awareness of diversity and is non-discriminatory

Formative Assessment:

This module will consist of a number of workshops. These will cover and develop a variety of different skills including conferencing, advocacy, opinion writing, drafting and ethics – with a focus on advocacy and conferencing. The student will be set advanced preparation prior to the workshop.

The formal formative assessments in Submission Advocacy and Conferencing will take place during the workshops. Individual feedback will be given.


Summative Assessment: The module will be assessed by two oral assessments set by the University but prescribed by the BSB.

Submission advocacy: This is an opposed or unopposed submission. The oral assessment will last no longer than 15 minutes. Students will be expected to submit a written skeleton argument to support their submission.

Conferencing: This is a conference of 20 minutes duration aided by a written plan.

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Family Professional Practice is a year-long module delivered across the portfolio of Bar programmes at Northumbria University. It is designed to reflect the nature of family cases encountered during pupillage and the early years of practice.

This module involves the study of family practice in the context of realistic scenarios which incorporate fact management, case analysis, legal research, advocacy, drafting, opinion writing and conference skills, linked to the relevant procedural framework and ethical considerations as in practice. The module involves a number of different cases which raise legal and procedural scenarios of the kind that family practitioners regularly encounter in practice. Examples of the areas that may be covered are contact, anxcillary relief, non-molestation orders. It is designed to ensure that each student appreciates the importance of identifying legal, procedural, tactical and ethical issues when they arise.

This Family Professional Practice module is designed to build on existing legal knowledge and allows the acquisition of the knowledge, skills and attributes necessary for practice as an effective and successful legal professional at the Family Bar. The module is supported throughout by research rich and practice informed learning and technology enhanced learning which are crucial to current legal practice in a demanding, rapidly changing legal landscape