Legal Family Law Essay Help

[sidzeman]

Hello to all those reading
I have a in-class family law essay coming up in a few weeks, where we have to research 2 contemporary issues and answer an unknown question on the day. The two issues i chose were the
1.   The changing nature of parental responsibility
2.   Care and protection of children
The question is: does it undermine my essay if i say the law has been effective in achieving justice for one issue but not other, because i don't make a complete judgement? Asking because I'm having struggles with finding anything to talk about for changing nature of parental responsibility.
    - Thanks

[jamonwindeyer]

Hello to all those reading
I have a in-class family law essay coming up in a few weeks, where we have to research 2 contemporary issues and answer an unknown question on the day. The two issues i chose were the
1.   The changing nature of parental responsibility
2.   Care and protection of children
The question is: does it undermine my essay if i say the law has been effective in achieving justice for one issue but not other, because i don't make a complete judgement? Asking because I'm having struggles with finding anything to talk about for changing nature of parental responsibility.
    - Thanks

Hey sidzeman! Welcome to the forums!

Definitely not - I'd argue that's a more interesting perspective than a straight agree or disagree. You would essentially be arguing that the effectiveness of the law varies from issue to issue. As long as you still argue that point with conviction (that is, use high modality language and prove your argument with effective evidence), it should work well for you!

[sidzeman]

alright thank you so much hahahahha
I don't suppose you have any cases demonstrating the problems with forced shared care after divorces - perhaps a case where the child continued to suffer domestic violence because spending equal time with both parents is so highly stressed by the courts?

[jamonwindeyer]

alright thank you so much hahahahha
I don't suppose you have any cases demonstrating the problems with forced shared care after divorces - perhaps a case where the child continued to suffer domestic violence because spending equal time with both parents is so highly stressed by the courts?

Hmmm... I can't think of one off the top of my head, though good thinking for looking for a case like that.

This article discusses this very issue, and it looks like there was a bill in parliament regarding it - Could be worth giving this a read then following up on the bill or the report it mentions?

Sorry I can't help more, but it's a start

[sidzeman]

That's an excellent media article I can use in my essay thank you! 
Do you know where I can go about finding a case like that? Any websites perhaps?

[jamonwindeyer]

That's an excellent media article I can use in my essay thank you! 
Do you know where I can go about finding a case like that? Any websites perhaps?

You're welcome! Austlii has the details of pretty much every case heard in Australia, some clever searching of the Family Court databases (top left of this page) should hopefully turn up something! Be prepared to spend a bit of time searching though

[bellerina]

I totally agree with Jamon.. Austlii helped me heaps when I was trying to find cases from the family court of Australia.. despite there being TONNES, you'll obviously need to find the one suited for you which does take a long time! It took me a good 1-2 hrs trying to find two cases for my assignment. You could also search up the Family Law Act 1975 and then choose a section you're searching on, then click on 'noteup'. By doing this, it will directly lead you to cases for that specific section...

[jamonwindeyer]

I totally agree with Jamon.. Austlii helped me heaps when I was trying to find cases from the family court of Australia.. despite there being TONNES, you'll obviously need to find the one suited for you which does take a long time! It took me a good 1-2 hrs trying to find two cases for my assignment. You could also search up the Family Law Act 1975 and then choose a section you're searching on, then click on 'noteup'. By doing this, it will directly lead you to cases for that specific section...

Wow, I so didn't know you could do that! How cool! Thanks for the hot tip bellerina

[bellerina]

And if anyone is having trouble finding media articles...you can always type the topic/issue you are focusing on, press +, and then add the news agency.
For e.g. When one searches up 'Domestic Violence+ SydneyMorningHerald'. You get the latest newsarticles that have been published with recent research and stats, which then you can use for your essays! 

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/domestic-violence-the-deaths-in-nsw-apprehended-violence-orders-couldnt-prevent-20160422-gocphw.html
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/we-were-terrified-how-the-court-system-allows-domestic-violence-perpetrators-to-continue-their-abuse-20170219-gug6hv.html
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/two-deaths-arent-worth-more-than-the-32-deaths-from-domestic-violence-20161124-gswpoi.html

Better than using anything from the textbooks, because yes they are useful, but outdated!!

[kiiaaa]

hello all,

I have been given a family law essay to  do but i struggle for how to structure it and how to evaluate (if that makes sense) for a question "EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE LAW IN ACHIEVING JUSTICE FOR PARTIES IN RELATIONSHIP BREAKDOWNS" how would you write a thesis and how exactly do we structure each paragraph. I tried using the MAPLE technique but im confused on how to talk about stuff and where to exactly add it in.

I hope all of that does make sense

Thank soo much

EDIT: when talking about the effectiveness of blah blah, do we say if it is effective at the start of the paragraph then give reasons why it is (like a business essay) or should present the facts and how the law is and then at the end if it is effective? it is no surprise that i am a slightly confuzzled child

[jamonwindeyer]

hello all,

I have been given a family law essay to  do but i struggle for how to structure it and how to evaluate (if that makes sense) for a question "EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE LAW IN ACHIEVING JUSTICE FOR PARTIES IN RELATIONSHIP BREAKDOWNS" how would you write a thesis and how exactly do we structure each paragraph. I tried using the MAPLE technique but im confused on how to talk about stuff and where to exactly add it in.

I hope all of that does make sense

Thank soo much

EDIT: when talking about the effectiveness of blah blah, do we say if it is effective at the start of the paragraph then give reasons why it is (like a business essay) or should present the facts and how the law is and then at the end if it is effective? it is no surprise that i am a slightly confuzzled child

Hey kiiaaa!! First thing I'll do is link you to this guide on writing Thesis paragraphs for Legal Studies - I reckon it will help with your first question!!

As for structuring body paragraphs, as you say there are a lot of methods (MAPLE is my preferred), but what it comes down to is basically:

- State your argument
- Prove it
- Restate your (now proven) argument

So your argument might be, "The Family Court is bad." Then you go through laws, cases, reports, stats, media - All sorts of evidence that proves that it is bad. Then you say, "Thus, Family Court is bad." Rinse, repeat

So with regards to your edit, yep, sounds identical to a business essay. Of course you could do it the other way but it wouldn't work as well in my opinion

[kiiaaa]

Hey kiiaaa!! First thing I'll do is link you to this guide on writing Thesis paragraphs for Legal Studies - I reckon it will help with your first question!!

As for structuring body paragraphs, as you say there are a lot of methods (MAPLE is my preferred), but what it comes down to is basically:

- State your argument
- Prove it
- Restate your (now proven) argument

So your argument might be, "The Family Court is bad." Then you go through laws, cases, reports, stats, media - All sorts of evidence that proves that it is bad. Then you say, "Thus, Family Court is bad." Rinse, repeat

So with regards to your edit, yep, sounds identical to a business essay. Of course you could do it the other way but it wouldn't work as well in my opinion

Calling you amazing is a HUGE understatment. You (Jamon and the AN team) are a blessing for all HSC students.

[Wales]

Calling you amazing is a HUGE understatment. You (Jamon and the AN team) are a blessing for all HSC students.

Just want to say my thanks also, always out and about making our HSC lives a more pleasant experience.

His advice is spot on. In Legal your evaluation is the basis for your essay. You need to come up with a position and effectively back it up with evidence. Think of the law/cases as techniques in English