THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

SEMESTER 1 2018
LAWS2270/JURD7270
LAW IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT

LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING

ASSIGNMENT

Available on Moodle: 24 April 2018 at 1800.

Deadline for submission via Turnitin on Moodle: no later than 0900 on 1 May 2018.

The assignment and word limits

1. For this assignment you are asked to prepare both a legal memorandum and a draft client
letter.
2. The maximum word limit for the assignment is 1,500 words in total. The word limit
includes everything other than the Faculty cover sheet: all text, headings, references and
all text in footnotes is counted. The word count should be calculated using the word count
feature in Microsoft Word with the footnotes option selected. The word limit will be
strictly applied and there is no leeway. The following penalties will apply if you exceed the
word limit:
0%-10% excess - 10% penalty (of maximum mark available for the take-home)
11%-20% excess - 15% penalty
21%-30% excess – 25% penalty
31% excess and above - 30% penalty
3. The legal memorandum and the letter to the client are each worth 50% of your overall
mark for this assignment. We recommend that:

(a) the legal memorandum should be around 1,000 words in total (including
footnotes / endnotes); and
(b) the letter to the client should be around 500 words in total.

These are not strict word limits for the two items, but the two documents combined must
not exceed 1,500 words overall.

Submission of your assignment

4. You must submit your assignment no later than the deadline via Moodle (under the
Assessment tab). Please ensure that you submit your assignment to the Turnitin
assignment box for your class teacher and specific class (if a teacher has more than one
class). A hard copy is not required unless your teacher has told you otherwise. If the

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 Turnitin assignment submission process is not working, please email your exam to
[email protected] (whoever your teacher is), but also try to upload it again.
5. Your assignment should be submitted as Word document (not a PDF), formatted in 12-
point font, with 1.5 line spacing and with at least 2.5 cm margins on all sides. Your answer
must be accompanied by a Faculty assignment cover sheet (Annex A to this exam paper
and also here). You must include your name, student number, an exact word count, and
your lecturer’s name on the cover page of your assignment, and your student number
must appear at the top of each successive page. Failure to comply with these
requirements may result in a penalty and the return of your exam for resubmission in the
proper format.

Citation format

6. You should cite sources in the form set out in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (3rd
ed). If the AGLC does not provide a citation format, provide as full a reference as you can
to the source in question. However, you may use short form citations, eg, references to
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora to
‘the CITES Convention’ or ‘CITES’, and similar short forms or abbreviations may be used
for second and subsequent references to a source. You do not need to repeat in full
citations when a source is cited a second or subsequent time: you may make use of ‘above
n xx’ cross-references as long as it is clear which source you are referring to.

7. Please use footnotes rather than endnotes. Do not include a list of sources – any source
you need to refer to should be included in the footnotes.

No consultation permitted in the preparation of your assignment

8. As this is a formal piece of assessment, the assignment you submit should represent only
your work. No team efforts and no external assistance are permitted in the preparation
of your responses to exam questions. You should not discuss the substance of the
assignment or your answer with anyone.

Good luck!

***

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 LAW IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT
LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING MODULE
ASSIGNMENT

[Note: This scenario refers to a chess set actually advertised online. Please do NOT contact
the owner of the website or the dealer advertising the set as part of your research!]

On 24 April 2018 you received the following memo from your supervising partner who has
recently interviewed a new client, Mr Zack Maté.

‘Re: Maté
File ref: 2018/888

Request for advice on purchase of chess set

1. I met with Mr Zack Maté on 23 April 2018. He sought advice on a number of issues
relating to his proposed purchase of an ivory chess set, as well as his possession and proposed
sale of two other chess sets which he owns.

2. I explained to him the basis on which our professional fees are charged and he signed
a fee agreement. I estimated that no more than 6 hours of your time should be required.

3. Mr Maté lives in Sydney and is an Australian national. He is an avid chess fan, and one
of his hobbies has been collecting chess sets. Whenever he visits a new country, Mr Maté tries
to buy a chess set that has been made in that country. He has chess sets from more than thirty
countries, including Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, China, India, the UK, Italy, and many other
countries. His collection of chess sets includes sets made from bone, crystal, plastic,
soapstone, and ivory.

4. Mr Maté also acquires chess sets online and keeps an eye out for interesting and
beautiful sets that come up for sale. He regularly visits online sites such as Barnebys.com to
get a sense of what may be out there. He has recently seen the following Chinese carved ivory
chess set advertised on that website and is interested in acquiring a chess set similar or
identical to the ‘Burmese Pattern” Ivory Chess Set, circa 1840’ (picture) recently advertised
for sale on that website, which describes it as follows:

‘A Cantonese Export “Burmese Pattern” Ivory Chess Set, circa 1840 one side stained
red, the other side left natural, extensively carved with foliate decoration, kings with
faces and surmounted with foliate sprays, queens similar, with faces and surmounted
with lotus buds, bishops as mitres with faces, knights as horses’ heads, rooks as turrets
with flags, pawns with lotus bud finials King: 9.6cm high Pawn: 5.1cm high Stock
Reference: JA 1466 Important Notice on the Export of Antique Elephant Ivory (CITES)
Please note that as the chess set contains antique elephant ivory it will require a CITES
export licence to export to destinations outside the European Union. Due to recent US
legislation, it is with regret that we are unable to export this item to the United States
of America…’.

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5. Your client has asked whether, if he purchased this chess set or one of similar age that
was made of ivory and available for purchase from a UK antiques dealer, he would have any
legal or other problems getting it sent to him in Australia by the seller in the United Kingdom
or importing it into Australia.

6. He is also concerned about two ivory chess sets which he already owns and which he
keeps at his home in Sydney. He is not sure when they were made, but he thinks that one of
them was made in 1970 in India and the other in 1993 in Hong Kong. But he does not have
any documentation establishing the age or provenance of these two sets and does not recall
where he bought them. He knows that ‘there are international treaties on ivory’, ‘doesn’t
want to get into trouble for violating international law’ and ‘wants to do the right thing by
elephants’; he is concerned that possessing these two sets without documentation might be
an offence. He is also considering selling the two ivory sets he already owns once he acquires
a ‘Burmese Pattern’ set and would like your advice on whether he can sell them to a buyer in
New York without any legal problems here or in that jurisdiction.

7. I undertook to provide Mr Maté with advice by 3 May 2018, so I would appreciate

receiving your memo and draft letter by no later than 9 am on 1 May 2018.

*****

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 LAW IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT – LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING MODULE

ASSESSMENT RUBRIC

Memorandum for partner (50%)

Criterion Unsatisfactory Satisfactory Good Very Good Excellent

Understanding of
the client’s
problem

Research into
issues / use of
sources

Appropriate
citation of
material

Accurate
statements of
law/fact

Clear advice to
the client /
solution to the
problem

Common sense
advice

Clear and logical

structure

English
expression,
grammar and
punctuation

Client Advice (50%)

Criterion Unsatisfactory Satisfactory Good Very Good Excellent

Understanding of
the client’s problem

Plain language /
avoidance of jargon

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 Practical and
common sense
advice

Anticipating
obstacles

Accurate statements
of law/fact

Expression,
grammar and
punctuation

Clear and logical

structure

Mark (out of 100):

Other comments:

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UNSW Law

Electronic Assignment Cover Sheet

Student Declaration of Academic Integrity Student name:

https://student.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism
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own
work, except where acknowledged, and has Course name:
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Due date:
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may, for the purpose of assessing this item: No of words:
• Reproduce this assessment item
and provide a copy to another Topic:
member of the University; and/or,
• Communicate a copy of this
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retain a copy of the assessment
item on its database for the
purpose of future plagiarism
checking).

I certify that I have read and understood

the
University rules in respect of Student
Academic
Misconduct.
By the act of submitting this assignment to
turnitin you are agreeing to the above
Student Declaration of Academic Integrity.