The taught modules offered on the LLM programme vary from year to year. Please check the full list of taught modules list for details of modules running in specific academic years. We make every effort to ensure that every module will be offered, but modules are subject to change and cancellation. You are therefore advised to check this site regularly for further updates throughout the year preceding entry to the LLM programme.
MODERN ADVOCACY AND CLASSICAL RHETORIC Credit value: 15 credits (6 ECTS)
Assessment method for LLM students: two-hour unseen written examination
Assessment method for SIL students: n/a
Module Overview
Module summary
This module is about advocacy – the art of arguing persuasively on behalf of others. Advocacy is at the heart of what modern lawyers do.
The module draws heavily on classical rhetoric, the system for teaching oratory that the ancient Greeks and Romans developed from the fifth century B.C. Classical rhetoric was simultaneously a theory of persuasion and a practical step-by-step guide to making persuasive speeches.
Like classical rhetoric, this module combines theory and practice. The theoretical element comprises classical and modern ideas about persuasion, particularly in the context of legal disputes. Students then put those ideas into practice both by analysing examples of real-life advocacy and by participating in a non-assessed moot exercise run in conjunction with Professor Cheryl Thomas's LLM module, "Judges, Courts and Judicial Decision-Making".
Module syllabus
1. Introduction
• Summary of the module
• Brief history of classical rhetoric
2. Meaning of 'rhetoric'
• Ancient and modern definitions of 'rhetoric'
• Three 'types' of rhetoric
3. Means of persuasion
• 'Non-artistic' and 'artistic' means of persuasion
• Logos, ēthos and pathos in modern advertising
4. 'Canons' of classical rhetoric I
• Analysis of Cicero's speech Pro Ligario
• Invention
5. 'Canons' of classical rhetoric II
• Arrangement
• Style
• Memory
• Delivery
6. Modern written advocacy
• Key skills of written advocacy
• Analysis of a leading Q.C.'s skeleton argument
7. Modern oral advocacy
• Key skills of oral advocacy
• Analysis of a leading Q.C.'s speech in the UK Supreme Court
8. Supreme Court moot exercise I
• Joint seminar with Professor Thomas's class
• Moot hearing at which students deliver oral submissions
9. Supreme Court moot exercise II
• Joint seminar with Professor Thomas's class
• Moot court delivers judgment
• Discussion about advocacy and judging attended by senior judges
10. Revision
• Discussion about the Supreme Court moot exercise
• Review of the module
Recommended materials
No single text covers the entire module. However, the reading for most seminars includes an extract from one of the following texts:
Iain Morley Q.C., The Devil's Advocate, 2nd ed., 2009
Kristen Konrad Robbins-Tiscione, Rhetoric for Legal Writers: The Theory and Practice of Analysis and Persuasion, 2009
Additional materials, including extracts from modern and classical texts, journal articles, case reports and documents used in real legal disputes, are provided electronically through Moodle (UCL's virtual learning environment).
Preliminary reading
Robbins-Tiscione (above), pp.1-4 and 9-24.
Other information
A reading list for each seminar is posted in advance on the module Moodle page. Each list includes items of "essential reading", which students are expected to read before the seminar so that they can participate in class discussions. Reading lists also include "further reading", some of which may be mentioned in the seminar, but on the assumption that not everyone has read it.
Prizes for this module: There are currently no prizes available for this module.
APPLICATION NOTICES
The application process for the 2013-14 academic session is open.
The deadline for applications to be received has been extended to Monday 1 July 2013
Please refer to the How to apply section for information on the application process.
