Legal Research and Writing (LRW)
Legal research and writing are fundamental skills for practicing lawyers in Canada. The Legal Research and Writing (LRW) course provides internationally trained lawyers with best practices and hands-on opportunities to apply these skills. Developed in collaboration with the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA), LRW lays a strong foundation for entry into the Bar admission process in a Canadian common law jurisdiction.
Course
Overview
The LRW course is delivered entirely online over eight weeks and requires approximately 60 hours to complete. It blends research and writing tasks with interactive learning through CPLED’s D2L platform.
To successfully complete LRW, candidates must:
- Achieve a weighted average of 60% or higher.
- Complete two multiple-choice assessments and two written assignments.
Assignments are assessed by experienced Canadian lawyers with a minimum of three years of practice.
Course
Structure
The course is self-paced, giving students flexibility to manage their workload.
In addition, each intake offers optional webinars to enhance learning; however, if you cannot attend live, all webinars are recorded and available for viewing later.
The LRW course begins with an introductory module that provides orientation and outlines expectations. Students then progress through two self-directed modules featuring readings, videos, activities, and practice quizzes to reinforce learning. To apply these skills, candidates complete two comprehensive assignments, one focused on legal research and the other on legal writing. A student’s final grade is determined by a weighted combination of all deliverables, ensuring a balanced assessment of performance.
Learning
Outcomes
Upon completion of the LRW course, successful students will be able to:
- Conduct research using primary and secondary sources
- Use appropriate citation
- Identify relevant legal issues in a given fact scenario to support the research objective
- Evaluate and interpret the applicability of legislation and case law to a given fact scenario
- Develop a logical analysis by integrating research results with the facts and issues of the given fact scenario
- Understand how to use writing basics to express concepts using plain language with precision and logic
- Identify and tailor the form of writing to the proper audience
- Use appropriate structure and organization for the given document
- Compose a professional document that achieves its intended goal
- Apply the basics of legal writing by learning how to write an opinion letter, an advocacy letter, legal brief and/or legal memorandum