Monash Law Students' Society

UPDATE: The problem has been released and available to download below

LETTER WRITING COMPETITION

Sponsored by: Allens Arthur Robinson

Letter Writing Competition Information Session will be held on Tuesday the 11th May at 1pm in H2/11

The Letter Writing Competition is here! The competition is designed to help students develop their letter writing and advice skills, both of which are necessary in any future career as a lawyer.

The Letter Writing Competition is one of the most useful competitions- as a practicing lawyer, the ability to write letters of advice to clients will be a vital skill. 

The Rules

The competition involves writing a letter of advice to a hypothetical client, based on a problem writing by one of the members of the Monash Academic Law staff.

The letter must be between 800 to 1200 words. Competitors have 11 weeks from the release of the problem to research, write and submit their letter of advice.

The top three finalists will then be invited to the Grand Final Presentation, where the winner will be announced.    

Marks will be allocated as follows:

• Accurate summary of facts and Client’s Instructions (20 marks)
• Explanation of the Relevant Law (25 marks)
• Application of the Relevant Law (25 Marks)
• Suggested Resolution based on Client’s Instructions (30 marks)

Total available marks: 100

Why participate?

The competition is an invaluable opportunity to develop your ability to clearly identify important and relevant issues and to structure a clear and concise letter of advice. It is also a fantastic opportunity to acquire a greater understanding of issues regarding a certain area of the law.

Letter writing skills are skills that are essential in all areas of the legal field. So, utilise this opportunity to show off the skills you have or use it as opportunity to develop your more basic letter writing skills. As the saying goes: ‘practice makes perfect’.

The problem will be released ONLINE on Thursday 13 May 2010, with a limited number of hard copies available in the LSS office.

Competitors must fill out an entry form ONLINE by 5pm Thursday 29 July 2010. The form is found at: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGhlMktWVnZ4UVJaSWtRdnhmTHVFUGc6MQ

Submissions are due at competitions@monashlss.com by 5pm Thursday 29th July. Please make the subject of the email ‘Letter of Advice Competition- (your name)’.

Further Information

For any other queries or questions, see the documents below or contact the competitions team at competitions@monashlss.asn.au or come and visit us in the office!

Or have a read of the guide and info pamphlet (found below)

NB: Also available for download is the 2009 Problem as a sample