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Handbooks Courses Units
 

LAW7292 - Professional legal skills

6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Postgraduate Faculty of Law

Leader: Associate Professor Gaye Lansdell

Offered

City (Melbourne) First semester 2008 (On-campus block of classes)
City (Melbourne) Second semester 2008 (On-campus block of classes)
City (Melbourne) Full year 2008 (Online)
City (Melbourne) Full year (extended) 2008 (Online)

Synopsis

This unit comprises a program of legal skills teaching which runs fulltime over the first week of the PDLP Online, and includes separate sessions presented at intervals throughout the 39 week program.

In each teaching session the lecturer introduces students to the basic principles of the relevant skill. Students are then given exercises, often working in pairs, or groups, which are discussed by the whole class.

Students are also required to submit individual assessable tasks for each skill.

Assessment

Online courses 3389 and 3390: Skills individually assessed, according to the PDLP performance guides. Grades of Pass, Pass with Credit (60%), Pass with Merit (70%) used in the PDLP are used in this unit. Students must pass each assessment in order to pass the unit. The assessment tasks for each skill are: Structured Client Interviewing: simulated client interview
Advising: written plan of advice (based on instructions taken in simulated client interview)
Electronic legal research: research memorandum
Plain English letter writing: letter of advice to client and letter to opposing solicitor based on research done for electronic legal research
Drafting (litigious and non-litigious): preparation of statement of claim and formal agreement respectively
Negotiating: satisfactory participation
Mediation and Commercial ADR: satisfactory participation; Advocacy: satisfactory participation.

On campus course 2772: Skills individually assessed, according to the PDLP performance guides. Grades of Pass, Pass with Credit (60%), Pass with Merit (70%) used in the PDLP are used in this unit. Students must pass each assessment in order to pass the unit. The assessment tasks for each skill are: Drafting: completion of 7 in-course drafting assessments: 20%
Interviewing: completion of one oral interviewing exercise in the final week: 20%
Advising: completion of one oral advising exercise in the final week: 20%
Negotiation: completion of one oral negotiation exercise in the final week: 20%
Advocacy: completion of one plea in mitigation in a criminal matter in the final week: 10%
Advocacy: completion of one oral court submission in civil litigation in the final week:10%

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