LAW4328 Professional practice
Faculty of Law
LAW4328 Professional practice is a level 4, 12-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Law. It isn't offered in 2021. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 12
- Offered in 2021
- Other periods
- Clayton
- Assessment
- No exam
- 1 task
This is the 2021 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before LAW4328
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After LAW4328
No unit lists LAW4328 as a prerequisite in the 2021 handbook.
Enrolment rules
Corequisite:
- For students who commenced their LLB (Hons) course in 2015 or later: LAW3111; LAW3112
Prerequisites:
- For students who commenced their LLB (Hons) course in 2015 or later: LAW1111; LAW1114; LAW1112; LAW1113; LAW2101; LAW2102; LAW2112; LAW2111
- For students who commenced their LLB course prior to 2015: LAW1100 OR LAW1101 and LAW1102 or LAW1104; LAW2100 OR LAW2101 and LAW2102; LAW2200 OR LAW2201 and LAW2202; LAW3300 or LAW3301 and LAW3302.
Overview
Students undertake a practical placement at a community legal centre which endeavours to meet the needs of its community. Under supervision by qualified solicitors, students provide legal advice to clients, undertake ongoing casework, brief Counsel, and in appropriate cases, represent clients in Court. Students acquire a diverse range of practical legal skills essential for legal practice including: the capacity to undertake legal research and apply legal research to factual scenarios; the ability to synthesise professional, technical and ethical knowledge acquired in the law degree and apply it in a practical legal context; skills in critical thinking and legal judgment; the capacity to independently devise legal solutions for complex legal problems and to provide non-adversarial options to clients for dispute resolution; and the capacity to identify and respond to ethical, moral and professional dilemmas in legal practice. Students also develop an appreciation of social justice and access to justice issues and have a heightened awareness of the operation of the justice system, law reform and policy issues. The skills learnt in this unit will be useful for students who wish to practise law, along with students interested in policy, government and social justice career pathways.
Offerings in 2021
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | Clayton | On campus |
| Term 2 | Clayton | On campus |
| Term 3 | Clayton | On campus |
| Term 4 | Clayton | On campus |
Assessment
- Performance of responsibilities at clinicOther100%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Independently undertake complex legal research and, using such research: (a)Assess and articulate adversarial and non-adversarial options for clients, including the strengths and weaknesses of available legal options; (b)Pro-actively develop solutions to complex legal problems; and (c)Demonstrate a capacity for recognising and appropriately responding to the strategic and ethical implications of different legal approaches.
- 2
Effectively communicate (both orally and in writing) legal advice, information, options for litigious and non-litigious pathways, arguments and strategies with a wide range of audiences involved in the justice system.
- 3
Demonstrate practical legal skills of interviewing, advocacy and drafting; and appropriate use of non-adversarial methods and principles for the resolution of client disputes (mediation, negotiation, collaboration, arbitration).
- 4
Assess their own capabilities and performance as future legal practitioners by having developed skills of self-reflection and self-management, with the ability to independently synthesise this information to aid in the exercise of sound professional and ethical decisions.
- 5
Independently identify a law reform or policy problem of relevance to the clinic, isolate and critically analyse the relevant legal principles that underpin that problem, and articulate recommendations for reform through an advanced theoretical and technical knowledge of the designated problem.
Workload and teaching
- Teaching approachProfessional placement
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcome for this unit is as follows:
- A one-day Orientation Program;
- One half-day Legal Service session per week for 14 weeks (including non-teaching period) plus a minimum of one and a half days per week client follow-up and
- One 2-hour seminar for 6-8- weeks.
Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, client interviewing and advice sessions, supervision and online engagement.
Learning resources
Required resources
See the Moodle unit page for prescribed and recommended resources. Prescribed texts are usually available for purchase through the University Bookstore and are sometimes available for short-term loan or as eBooks through the library.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Ms Jackie Weinberg
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for LAW4328?
LAW4328 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is LAW4328 offered?
LAW4328 has no offerings listed in the 2021 handbook.
Does LAW4328 have an exam?
No. LAW4328 has 1 assessment task and no exam.