Prof. Ishawar Bhat, a renowned scholar in legal research methodology and author of the seminal work Idea and Methods of Legal Research, outlined the comprehensive framework on legal writing of dissertation by law students. The round table discussion was emphasized on the significance of the systematic panning of legal writing and provided the direction and his guidance to our current LL.M. Batch students.
He distinguishes the legal writing by bifurcating the dissertation legal writing journey in two frameworks. First, he discussed the importance of pre-framework which includes planning and preparation before starting of the dissertation. He touched upon the serval key concepts, such as- research topic selection, formulation of research questions and objectives. Additionally, he emphasized on the methodology selection where he discussed the evolution of legal research though different approaches, such as- doctrinal research, non-doctrinal, and socio-legal studies etc. Furthermore, he discussed the developing of synopsis for research proposal along with realistic planning.
The second part of the discussion was related to post-framework dealing with the writing and evaluation phase. Prof. Ishawar Bhat outlined the standard structure which needs to be followed in dissertation. In addition, he also shared his experience on legal writing along with important suggestions, such as- legal writing must encompassing clarity, precision, citation should be properly followed as per the given instructions (e.g. OSCOLA or Bluebook 21st Edition).
The last part of the discussion is related to the important checklist must follow by law students along with questions asked by the law students, such as- supervisor feedback through multiple drafts, peer review, and proofreading of drafts.