seminar reflections

Seminar 1 – Introductory

What did I do today?

During this seminar introductory I introduced myself and met everyone else in my seminar group. I was able to demonstrate my presentation skills and team work skills. I learnt the importance of leadership and team work during the group exercise. The role I specifically demonstrated was my oral ability to expand on my ideas and presenting to other members of the seminar group not just the groups we were allocated to. I was also allocated to my Action Learning Set for the duration of my Land Law journey.

What did I learn from the seminar?

The ability to network with other students and important information in regards to the skills programme in seminar and lectures. I also learnt the ability to apply law principles and reasoning to everyday situations by working to introduce solutions to the problem question set.

What did I do well preparing for the seminar?

I looked over my Land law reading book which would assist me in understanding legal principles and content of the module.

Why did I do those things well?

I understood the importance of learning how to understand basic land law introductory topics and reading legislation.

What difficulties did I have during preparation and the seminar?

Coming up with more unique ideas and solutions to the problem scenario we were required to tackle in teams.

Why did I have those difficulties?

It was a difficult task however working as part of a team the ideas came together and assisted us with the solutions to the problem.

How will I overcome those difficulties in the future?

Ensure to work as part of the team and not to give up if I have difficulties as others in the team can help bring out ideas and inspire ideas.

What skills did I develop/gain from the seminar?

Team work and leadership skills were developed during this seminar.

How do I plan to further improve those skills?

Continue to work in my seminar as a team as we all our on a journey to bring out the best potential in each other through networking and sharing ideas and experiences.

How may these skills help future career?

Networking is important as well as team work to help an organisation come forward with ideas and expand their business. Therefore skills of team work and leadership is important.

If I had to prepare and participate in this session again, what would I do differently and why?

I would introduce new ideas which were collectively introduced in the seminar as well as look over Land law tenancy rules and legal techniques in my main Land Law recommended reading book.

Seminar 2 – Analysing cases in regards to fixture and fittings


In this seminar I analysed legal cases and contributed to the Action Learning Set meeting in regards to fixtures and fittings a topic that will be discussed in the Land Law E-Portfolio problem question.


How legislation applies to case analysis and the format of legislation highlighting key elements to fixtures and fittings law development. I also networked and developed my confidence in undertaking team work tasks and communication of ideas.


I read and made relevant notes through my reading on legislation in my land law reading book. I also focused on two cases in particular one from the mandatory case list and other from wider reading list. In the Action Learning Set we all did this but also overviewed the remaining cases which other members of the Action Learning Set were analysing.


I understand the importance of understanding how legislation is structured and applied in cases. Also it helped consolidate all our thoughts and ideas by splitting the case between us and adding to the two cases we focused on but also adding to the overviewed cases to help with our understanding with the topic of fixtures and fittings.


It was hard to take in a lot of information in regards to reading the full judgement in the cases and how this developed the law of fixtures and fittings.


It was the first time I had come across complex case issues distinguishing what fixtures and chattels were.


I will familiarise myself with the case law on Westlaw and Lexis and my textbook does not cover full case judgements.


Analysing was important in working to answer the exercise in the seminar. Therefore my development of critical thinking and analysis was used thoroughly. I also developed an understanding of what fixtures and fittings mean in the land law syllabus and intend to build upon this knowledge in my problem based answer for the E-Portfolio problem question.


To read relevant cases by analysing them and familiarise myself with longer scripts of text in both cases in regards to fixtures and fittings.


Analysing and preparing for longer text reading will asset in attempting future assessments and exercise in the legal career.


Prepare myself mentally for the demand of analysing legal cases in relation to fixtures and fittings.

Seminar 3 – The Creation of Rights in Land


This seminar I began to understand what was needed in order to have a freehold title on a property. We went through our answers for the problem question that we had prepared before the seminar. Also I was introduced to legal land law memorandums which we analysed in or Action Learning Sets.


From this seminar I learnt the ways in which legislation deals with freehold title and increased my awareness of application of legislation of creation of Rights in Land.


I read my notes which I have made previously in regards to Law of Property Act 1925 legislation and did extra wider reading to prepare my construction of the student code of conduct.


I understood from my previous seminar the need to familiarise myself with legislation elements.


Overall I had no difficulties as I was aware of the task requirements. However unlike previous team work seminar tasks were I had difficulty in reaching unique ideas, this time the team had many more ideas so we had difficulty in selecting which ones would be ideal for equitable interest and estates in land.


Selecting ideas and specific points was a difficult I encountered.


I will try to select the least important points as a team and come up with better ideas which will help put the best solutions at a the forefront of a problem question to achieve an easy solution.


Critical thinking was one of the skills I improved as the team had many ideas but had difficulty deciding the best ideas to put forward to the rest of the seminar group.


Expand on my critical thing through exercises and practices attempts.


Important decision making skills are vital to move forward in employment and the business organisation you will work for without being prompted.


I would make the decision of drawing up an action plan of the necessary codes of conduct and least required.

Seminar 4 – Registered Title


This seminar involved case summarising and sharing idea in a team in regards to answering the problem based scenario presented.


The skills required to highlight key elements of the judgement.


I looked over my reading notes in regards to case summarising which I applied to the problem question when identifying property interests and their relevance to land owners and third parties


I understood the importance of understanding key principles before attempting problem questions.


One of the major difficulties I encountered was identifying the difference of equitable interests and legal when applying to it to this types of problem based scenario presented in the seminar.


I felt I struggled due to not being familiar and lacking confidence of approaching this style of questions and case summaries.


Look at more case summary exercises and attempt more precise at case summarising as it shows more of an historical approach and social development which helps with building a better picture, and understanding of the development of key principles in the topic of registed titles..


It is important to do background reading than solely rely on one textbook especially as I realise the core textbook only relies on discussing the principles not in depth discussion in to the background of the source of law. Therefore my research skills have developed and I should access more reading material related to the topic which can help develop better knowledge and understanding not just for coursework material but general gist of principles of sources of law. I also developed my understanding how to use lexis in particular the journal search box.


Not to solely rely on the reading list and I will access more material through online and library material as it is important in particular for the course. This will help access better research material and help with my understanding of topic in upcoming lectures. I also realise

the importance of using lexis search engine for not only research material for lectures but coursework as it goes into more in depth discussions and analysis.


Research skills are vital for job offers and career progression as commercial awareness is important for careers. Interviewers require evidence that the candidates have researched into companies’ values and the job role in order to be culturally fit for the position applied for. It is also beneficial for career progression as it is important to not telly on one piece of research material for instance the company website as they can be biased about their company progression and therefore newspaper articles like the Times can give key information to showing the company is financially doing bad and criticised for the way it treat their employees. Therefore research is essential for knowing whether company is financially and socially in a position to provide a good career progression in the future. Lexis also identifies news of solicitor’s law firms which would be ideal for the legal field of work for work placements and will be ideal to impress the interviewers either through the application form or face to face interviews


I would ensure that I do not stick to the reading list and I should ensure to access other research material I have available to. In particular Lexis search engine is good for journal articles and my understanding has further developed on using Lexis for not only the student research for the degree but employability with job offers in the legal field to show commercial awareness.

Seminar 5 – Co - Ownership


In this seminar we looked at key statues rules and principles such as legislation and cses. The seminar looked into key cases to understand how these rules are used and when they are required to be used. We also looked at how to answer these type of problem question which dealt with legal principles relating to co – ownership and the different types that we may encounter on the course.


How rules are available and to use a grid to help in breaking up the issues facts and applying the relevant principles required in land law.


I read the core textbook and went through key statues and cases on the Westlaw database. This helped me get to grips with rules available to judges to assist in interpreting legislations.


I prepared and realised the importance of learning key terminology from the previous lecture which required exploring legal terms in order to understand how to identify legislation layout. This approach was similarly used for preparing for this seminar.


I couldn’t understand how judges would apply the rules as there were so many factors other than legal reasons to take into consideration. For instance would having the rules available be open for the judge to interpret how he wishes and sees the legislation? This was one of the difficulties I felt while I researched surrounding this topic.


I felt I didn’t acknowledge one of the common themes during all the seminar I had is that the law is not black and white and the is a lot of grey areas in the law therefore it is not certain how cases will be decided nor is it certain all cases will be decided differently and leaving the cases to be opened to unlimited interpretation as it is important to recognise parliament is the supreme law maker.


I will keep an open mind and keep the phrase the law is not ‘black and white’, therefore not straight forward and that cases can go either way at the judge’s and courts discretion when applying these rules.


A major skill I developed is debating that the legal system although recognise law is the supreme law maker, individual judges can lead a outcome of a case to individual beliefs of how they see parliament intended the legislation to be interpreted and reason for it to be in force.


I intend to read journal articles to evaluate the discussions scholars and academic writers have especially suggestions of reforms that should be taken into consideration.


Evaluation is important as it not only consists of analysis a problem but reflecting on its possible outcome. Therefore this skill is vital for any career progression and is essential for a law field of work where I have found that you have to make room to manoeuvre through legal principles.


I would ensure to read more research identifying where the law has gone either way in key cases, therefore I will read journal articles related to key cases in the topic of co ownership.

Seminar 6 – Leasehold


I presented my ideas to the seminar groups the advantages and disadvantages of using leaseholds and apply them to the problem question.


Different reasons and legal principles of leases and licences and the pricniples in the leasehold topic. I learnt to apply my research and legal information correctly ot th problem question and seen improvement.

What did I do well preparing for the lecture?

I read relevant chapters of my skills book and making notes for both sides of the argument.


Its important to support both sides of the argument with facts and evidence.


Deciding the conclusion of if there should or should not be juries in this country as both arguments were strong in my research and reading I carried out.


The reason why I had difficulties were due to both the arguments were valid.


Try to not make definite conclusions and acknowledge both sides of the argument but favouring one of the sides even more.


I developed my debating, advising and advocacy skills.


By working on more arguments and analysing counter arguments in future scenarios.


Forward planning with arguments can help make better decisions and conclusions to scenarios faced in work environment.


I would look at my counter arguments and to approach the question with an open mind as the law is not black and white and contains grey areas

Seminar 7 – Adverse Possession


This seminar helped me refresh the use statues and case summarising. A review the negotiation skills required while I worked in the team going through the problem question presented and discussing my ideas and reflecting my research.

What did I learn from the lecture?

I understood the elements required for the Legal Memorandum by working through the activity and sharing my ideas with group and Action Learning Set. Component and importance of using legal writing is required for the assessment. The exercise helped me in understanding different methods of pursuing legal rights and better understanding of applying the methods to factual like situations.


I looked over my notes from previous seminar on statutory interpretation and case summarising. I read the required chapter of the text book and the key cases and judgments required to be read.


I understood in order to refresh my memory I needed to look over my previous notes to greater my knowledge and understanding of what skills are required for the Legal Memorandum component. Reading the chapters of the recommended reading book ensured I understood the methods of negotiation involved in legal cases.


I had difficulty preparing in regards to the creating my legal memorandum for the formative assessment practice as the topic was very unique and different. My concern was in regards to using the methods in negotiations for factual legal questions.


I was new to the assessment criteria and did not understand fully what was required and allowed. Another reason I had difficulties with my lack of familiarity with the subjects and topics discussed in regards to the lecture.


I will ensure that I read and answer the questions stated in my assessment as it is very easy to drift away with what is required of me to understand he topic Adverse Possession. I will also practice problem questions in regards to negotiation exercises to greater my knowledge and understanding of the methods required for the legal memorandum writing.


The skills I had developed were to ensure I will be practising and familiarity with problem questions. Ensuring that I stick to the questions, will make sure my assessment answers are consist and not packed with unnecessary information and knowledge of topics that I will not be assessed on.


Consistency skills are important with practise and reading. It is only with practise I can improve the required skills for future assessments and career prospects.


It is important to remain consistent through a job role therefore focusing and attention to detail is important with the skill of consistency.


I would read the question and stick to answering the question in the component; this would have saved unnecessary questions in regards to being competent in creating the legal memorandum with complex topics such as adverse possession. Practising more problem questions in regards to adverse possession would help me understand the methods better and greater my knowledge.

Seminar 8 – Rights and Easements


This seminar went into detail of how to create the annotated bibliography and the use of referencing for the legal memorandum assessments. This helped and refreshed my memory and added to my notes on how to reference and to give credit to all the sources I use in my assessments. We also looked at examples of bad referencing and good referencing samples to understand what refracting requires. This was done by looking at the marking criteria.


The importance of referencing and acknowledging all sources used in assessments. This is not just for evidence but also to achieve a higher mark.


I looked at the referencing system that is used on the Law course which is Oscola and downloaded a quick use guide to get a grasp of the basics of referencing with this system. I reviewed my draft Annotated Bibliography and brought it along to the seminar to discuss with the group and my Action Learning Set.


I had a better understanding of what is required with this referencing system unlike other referencing system such as Harvard which requires different methods to references and crediting sources.


The difficulty I faced was trying to understand how to direct my annotated bibliography at level 5 law and different types of sources as I am only familiar with referencing books at A Level History essay standard. What I found was Law Undergraduate level legal memorandum required more evaluation of different sources such as newspaper articles, law commission reports, cases and journal articles.


I have never attempted to do annotated bibliography however I have created a draft but understanding the requirements for the module were difficult. A law legal memorandum at undergraduate is difficult to understand when it would be appropriate to use these references in terms of relevance of acknowledging wider source than just textbooks.


I will attempt referencing in my formative assessments in order to ensure that I understand what is required and needs to be improved when using the Oscola reference system.


It is an important skill to acknowledge sources through the Oscola reference system. This is important for evidence for any legal arguments presented in law essays.


To practice referencing through formative assessments in order to understand how improvements could be made before attempting to reference summative assessments as errors in referencing can reduce marks


Referencing is important skill for evaluation and evidence of constructing legal arguments therefore this skill will help to demonstrate advocate arguments as well as expanding legal argument in summative assessments.


I would look into detail of the sources that are required to be referenced with the Oscola system in the full guide online as the overview helped me to understand the requirements but not fully understand the use of using these sources in referencing law essays.

Seminar 9 – Freehold Covenants


The seminar required understanding what is required for the answering problem questions with freehold covenants and skills required for critical analysis.


What I learnt from this lecture was how to apply the skills of critical thinking to my upcoming formative assessment in skills and the importance of using and testing these skills in my formative assessment.


I ensure that I referred to my previous notes and understood my strengths and weaknesses in regards to the skills required for the assessment for the legal memorandum.


I made use of my experience so far in skills and understood that this lecture in particular would help address my weakness in attempting the problem questions. Therefore this also meant that I could address any issues that would set back my mark for the skills assessment.


I had difficulties in understanding how I could apply the statutory rules to the assessment.


I had difficulties with critical thinking in regards to applying reasoned conclusions.


I will ensure that I make use of formative assessments feedback and practise my skills and I understand I have the knowledge but I am hesitant in applying the knowledge as part of the critical analysis skills required for this assessment.


The skills I developed was highlighting and reviewing my strengths and weaknesses.


Acknowledge my strengths but work harder to improve my weaknesses.


In understanding what my weaknesses are is a good skill in regards to criticising and ensuring I can appeal better to my employers in the future.


I would try to attempt and work at weakness in practise problem questions in regards to applying principles of freehold covenants.

Seminar 10 –Mortgages


I had the opportunity to have my answer reviewed in regards to the application of Mortgage legal principles in land law and analysis attempted practise answers and marking the answers.


I understood that my overall application of and marking the work was satisfactory however I should be clear of the marking scheme for problem questions in future assessments.


I read the answers continuously and had the opportunity to clarify if I was using the knowledge correctly in order to mark the answer and provide correct feedback.


I expanded on my experience of preparing for the lecture in order to discuss and understand how to improve my weaker areas of critical analysis.


Overall the difficulties for preparing for this formative assessment have decreased over time but I still felt hesitant in my use legal principles and answering and dealing with problem questions.


A major reason why I had these difficulties was due to ensuring I was applying the correct knowledge to the practices answers presented and lack of confidence in providing the relevant feedback for the answers presented and misleading knowledge would not be correct and ultimately be off point.


I will make sure that I have my answers checked regularly which will build my confidence in approaching answering the questions.


I made use of taking on board common pitfalls students may encounter on applying statutory interpretation which were common in majority of my use of statutory interpretation to case and preparation for my answers.


Avoid common mistakes by reviewing my answers and feedback.


Comparisons of skills and approaches to problems can help in understanding better skills and requirements of problem questions.


I would ensure that I discuss with my other students problems they face (without collusion) and how they deal with overcoming those common pitfalls.

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