Memorandum

A further 20% of your grade is determined by your performance on a group-based experiential learning activity.There are two components to the experiential learning activity: (1) experiential learning activity and (2) the written component. This is due by 16:00 sharp, on Monday, November 18, to be uploaded via our Brightspace page. Late assignments will not be accepted.

The assignments will be completed in groups of four or five. All members of the team will be assigned the same mark for this assignment. You will rarely work on a legal project in solitude; most often you will work with other lawyers, or with other professionals and experts such as accountants, real estate agents, engineers, social workers, police, Indigenous governments or business people. Collaboratively developing an argument or project, and dividing the labour of research and writing, and advocacy is an important skillset.

In the experiential component, you will visit one of three pre-selected sites in Ottawa. All of the sites have been chosen because they are easy to reach, and I hope accessible to everyone. Please inform me immediately if you face barriers to travelling to these venues. The pedagogical purpose of this component of the assignment is to help you see the real-world impacts of the property laws we are studying in the course. I encourage you to take observe the surroundings, investigate connections with legal issues, and communicate about your experiences with classmates or others.

In the written component, you will prepare a memorandum of law answering the questions as they appear in the package of information provided for your selected site. You will find all packages with questions on Brightspace. The questions test your legal skills, substantive knowledge, and ability for critical analysis.

The memorandum should be approximately 1500-2000 words and presented in a more formal tone and manner than your blog commentary. When conducting external or secondary research, please stay within the scope of the material covered in class and on your syllabus (including Brightspace). You may find supporting documentation as external or secondary research but as a group you are responsible to discern whether it is relevant. External or secondary research may include academic, legal or journalistic sources. The relevance, depth, and integrity of your research will impact your grade.