Contents - Faculty of Law - University of Cambridge

The Freshfields Legal Research Skills CourseThe Freshfields Legal Research Skills Course is designed to satisfy the requirements of the Solicitors RegulationAuthority and the Bar Standards Board in respect of law students who wish to enter the legal professions in England andWales. The course gives students a grounding in research and the use of IT in the law, and includes skills valuable bothfor their studies and future careers. Students attend a hard-copy research skills seminar in the Michaelmas Term, andIT-based teaching in the Michaelmas and Lent terms of their Part IA studies (or first year of law). Further advancedsessions are available for Part IB and Part II students, as well as introductory and research group teaching forpostgraduate students. The course explains the use of IT in the legal professions, and trains students to use bothtraditional paper and the most advanced and up-to-date online research tools such as Lexis Library and Westlaw UK.Small-group sessions are conducted in the Freshfields IT Room (S19), with students having hands-on access to a PC todevelop their skills. The course is assessed by a combination of written and online assessments and students pass bydemonstrating that they have a sufficient grasp of the skills required by the Joint Statement issued by the Law Societyand the General Council of the Bar. It is necessary for students to complete the course successfully in order to beincluded on the block exemption form which the Faculty submits to the Law Society indicating those students who havesatisfactorily completed the academic stage of training.The Legal Research Skills course is generously sponsored by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.Freshfields Legal IT Teaching andDevelopment Officer:Mr Daniel Bates (db298@cam.ac.uk)Freshfields Computer Officer:Mrs Sarah Kitching (slk25@cam.ac.uk)Computer FacilitiesThe Faculty currently has around 40 computer terminals available for use by students and staff in the Library areas, someof which have dedicated functions (such as e-mail access only) but the majority of which are general-purpose machinesconnected to the Cambridge University Data Network (CUDN). In addition, there are 24 machines in the FreshfieldsComputer Teaching Room, where computer-based teaching is carried out, the machines being available for general useat other times. These computers form part of the University Managed Cluster Service, the main advantage of this beingcentralised file storage and familiarity of software when working on other PWF workstations. The Faculty also providesaccess to the University wide wireless network call Lapwing and eduroam. There are currently 5 wireless access pointslocated throughout the building enabling students to connect wirelessly to the CUDN and hence the internet using theirown wireless devices.The Computer Office is also available to help support Faculty staff and students with their IT requirements and can befound on the second floor in rooms S7 and S8 (opposite the Freshfields IT Room). The computing team is made up oftwo full-time and one part-time members of staff. The offices are generally open between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm (closedfor lunch between 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm) Monday to Friday. Further information is available athttp://computeroffice.law.cam.ac.uk/Computer Staff:Senior Computer Officer:Mr Andrew Gerrard (acg12@cam.ac.uk)Computer Officers:Mr Steve Burdett (srb4@cam.ac.uk)Mrs Sarah Kitching (slk25@cam.ac.uk)13