Monash's Faculty of Law aspires to be the leading Australian law school for
a changing world, a leader in initiating, influencing and managing constructive
change for the benefit of its teaching, research and service to the
community.
With more than 60 full-time academic staff and a total enrolment of more than
2000 undergraduate and graduate students, Monash Law is large by both
Australian and international standards. In spite of its size, the faculty has a
strong sense of community and operates in a collegial environment in which
students as well as staff are invited to share in decision-making processes
affecting their interests. Students, for example, are represented on many
committees in the faculty and make a major contribution to the work and the
affairs of the faculty.
Monash Law's undergraduate program builds upon 35 years of experience in
blending ethical awareness, skills training and substantive law knowledge. It
reflects the school's desire for our graduates to have:
The LLB is intended to equip graduates for the wide and growing
variety of careers in which law is practised in some way. Monash Law provides
the basis for scholarly or professional engagement with tomorrow's law. It is
designed to develop life-long learning skills in law, ensuring flexible lawyers
with transferable skills.
Monash Law provides its law students with ´strength in depth' in the main
areas of law, while ensuring a reasonable range of elective choice. The LLB is
not intended as a complete or exhaustive training in any area of law -- an
inappropriate, and impossible, aspiration in a fast-changing world. As our
graduates are the international legal citizens of tomorrow it would be
impossible to provide a complete legal education spanning the globe.
At the same time, Monash law students are encouraged to enrol in a combined
degree program because of the intrinsic importance of other disciplines and the
added dimension they enable for the understanding of law. The Law School offers
13 LLB programs, allowing students the opportunity of enrolling in the straight
Bachelor of Laws, or undertaking one of the 12 combined degrees.
The undergraduate curriculum reflects a hands-on approach to learning,
combining practical training with theoretical study. A distinctive feature of
this curriculum is the Professional Practice Clinical Program, in which
final-year students spend a semester working at Monash--Oakleigh or Springvale
Legal Service. The first of its kind in Australia, the program allows
final-year students to work with real clients under the supervision of our
teaching staff, for which they receive credit towards their degree. Along with
the classroom component, the program gives students skills and knowledge on a
local level, while at the same time assisting those members of the local
community who would not otherwise have access to such a service.
The Monash Law faculty is committed to broadening students' employment
opportunities through student internships and has appointed a placement officer
to facilitate this. For example, through the Property Law Placement Program,
short-term placements for students have been organised with members of the
legal, banking, commercial and allied professions and relevant government
departments to gain practical work experience in this area.
The placement officer's role is also integral to the achievement of the
faculty's objectives of incorporating international perspectives into its
teaching and broadening the opportunities available to its students. Monash Law
is actively seeking and developing partnerships with overseas law schools and
firms to enhance students' international experience through exchange programs
and internships.
Students have access to the world-class Monash Law Library, which has more than
150,000 volumes and many thousands of items in microform. They can also access
legal and non-legal materials through on-line electronic databases, and on-line
and ondisk resources. Three modern computer laboratories, containing more than
50 computers, are available for the preparation and research of assignments.
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