LAW5120

Professional practice (summer) 506 ( 6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL)

Leader:

Offered:
Clayton SA-02 2006 (Day)

Synopsis: Attendance at a legal service which endeavours to meet the needs of its community. Students learn a range of lawyers' skills and develop professional commitment and ethical standards. The subject adds a social dimension to academic training by creating an opportunity for students to assess the adequacy of law and legal processes in context.

Objectives: Students completing this unit should have acquired (1) the ability to analyse critically legal principles and the legal system in the context of contemporary society; (2) an understanding of the extent to which the law and the legal system meet the needs of the community; (3) skills involving judgment, such as the investigation of facts, the recognition of issues, the analysis of problems and situations, the use of tactics and decision making; (4) skills in oral and written communication required of lawyers, including interviewing, counselling, negotiating, advocacy and drafting; and (5) an understanding of professional legal issues of ethics and morality.

Assessment: Legal service work: 80% + Written assignment or two court appearances plus report: 20%

Contact Hours: One half-day legal service session per week throughout semester plus file follow-up tasks (including non-teaching period) plus one 2-hour seminar and one 1-hour tutorial per week during teaching period

Prerequisites: LAW1100 or LAW1101 and LAW1102; LAW2100 or LAW2101 and LAW2102; LAW2200 or LAW2201 and LAW2202; LAW3300 or LAW3301 and LAW3302

Prohibitions: LAW5216