LAW5216 - Professional practice 512

Leader: Semester Two: Ross Hyams

Offered

Clayton First semester 2007 (Day)
Clayton Second semester 2007 (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;
5. an understanding of professional legal issues of ethics and morality.

Assessment

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

Contact hours

One half-day Legal Service session per week for 17 weeks (including non-teaching period) plus one 2-hour seminar for 10 weeks and one 1-hour tutorial per week for the first three weeks of the teaching period

Prerequisites

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