First Set of Advanced Internet Studies for Lawyers
by Delia Venables

This is a course with 5 hours CPD for reasonably experienced internet users exploring topics with legal relevance, mainly related to the UK.
Available in an August 2009 edition.

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Comments from people who have done these courses..... How to Purchase

Accreditation

The materials (part reading matter and part online tutorials) can be used to qualify for CPD hours as follows:
  • Solicitors Regulation Authority - accredited for 5 CPD hours
  • Bar Standards Board - accredited for 5 hours

There is a straight forward test required for this course, submitted online. See below for more details.

Course Aims and contents

Study One - Parliament and the Legislative Process

The processes of Parliament are available on the web, including current Bills, the stage they have reached, Parliamentary Committees and Hansard. We look at the site which provides Acts and S.I.'s. and also look briefly at the Statute Law Database.

Study Two - Government Online

Most Government bodies are now online and some of the web sites are very extensive. The main “Directgov” site is examined as well as the Ministry of Justice site and Her Majesty's Court Service. The Government is committed to providing a large proportion of its interactions with businesses and individuals online over the next few years.

Study Three - Free Sources for Legal Research Online

This Study looks at the free case law and current awareness sources available to lawyers which are available without charge from publishers, journals, courts, lawyers and legal bodies. In particular, it covers the very useful site of the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (“BAILII”).

Study Four - Publishers' Sources for Legal Research Online

The study considers the way that legal publishing has developed in the internet age and then covers the most important subscription sources of legal research material available from four of the main legal publishers online.

Study Five - Practice Management Online

Until quite recently, most firms and chambers have assumed that they will run their own practice management system on their own premises. This is however beginning to change with a new breed of practice management systems which can be run online. This study looks at the pros and cons of "Software as a Service".

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of this course, you will have an awareness of:
  • How the internet is used to make legislation available to the citizen (and to lawyers) and to show the parliamentary process;
  • How the internet is changing the way that Government interacts with ordinary people and the attempts being made to provide "joined up" information;
  • The best online resources to keep up with current legal developments and legal information;
  • The information provided online, on subscription, by the key legal publishers;
  • How practice management software, for both solicitors and barristers, is now being run remotely rather than in house, and the advantages and disadvantages of doing this.

Course Test

There is a straight forward test required for this course, submitted online. The questions are not on substantive issues of the law but are designed to check that you have read the materials provided, visited some of the main legal web sites described and considered the issues involved.

The questions are provided online and the practitioner can see the questions whilst going through the materials (but should note that the questions change from time to time).

There are ten questions. Most of the questions consist of two parts.

I am normally able to mark the tests, and send an email indicating whether or not you have passed, within 2 working days.

The pass rate is 70 percent and practitioners may submit one further set of questions if they fail the test the first time.

Costs

The First Set of Advanced Internet Studies for Lawyers costs
  • £60 plus VAT for an individual licence
  • £150 plus VAT for an Intranet/Multiple Use licence. Licences last for one year and allow up to 5 people to take the course and obtain the CPD. Additional people can take the course and obtain the CPD for a £15 plus VAT fee.
I am happy to accept orders by email - just give me your name, firm/chambers, postal address and phone number and I will send you the printed part of the material with an invoice. (You use the printed material together with a special area of my web site to do the Studies).

Combined Price

You can purchase both sets of Advanced Internet Studies for Lawyers for £95 plus VAT for an individual licence or £225 plus VAT for the Intranet/Multiple Use licence. (You can see details of the Second Set of Advanced Internet Studies for Lawyers here.)

Special Bonus

As a special bonus we will include a complimentary subscription to the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers & Law 2.0 until the end of 2010 with any two courses purchased. This essentially keeps you up to date with legal web developments for a whole year. If you already have a subscription to the Newsletter in the same name, your subscription period will be extended to the end of 2010.

Course Evaluation

There is an online form available for this purpose, which the practitioner can fill in after submitting the online test. Questions asked:
  • Has this course met its aims and intended learning outcomes?
  • Have you found the course interesting?
  • Did you find the printed material useful?
  • Did you find it easy to access the tutorials online?
  • Did you find it easy to submit the test answers?
  • Are there any points relating to accessibility which you would like to make?
  • Did you find the course good value for money?
  • Any other comments you would like to make.

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email delia@venables.co.uk