Module 2

Writing the case study: six sections, numbers and honest limits

A case study is the unit of a portfolio. It is a short, structured account of one piece of work: what was wrong, what you did, how you know that it worked and what you would do next. Done well, it lets a busy reader see how you think in a page. Done badly, it is a list of tools and adjectives. The shape is stable and can be learnt, and the discipline that it imposes (to say what happened, with numbers, and what did not work) is the same discipline that makes the work itself good. This module teaches the six sections, how to write results when your numbers come from a pilot or from test data, how to state limits in a way that increases credibility and the weaknesses to avoid. You will practise with the Case Study Builder, which prompts each section and checks the draft.

General education on presenting and building a career in legal engineering, using invented examples. It is not legal or career advice and promises no employment or outcome. Rules on confidentiality and on who may provide legal services differ between countries: check the rules that apply to you.