LAW4330 Family law assistance program: Professional practice
Faculty of Law
LAW4330 Family law assistance program: Professional practice is a level 4, 12-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Law. It isn't offered in 2022. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 12
- Offered in 2022
- Other periods
- Clayton
- Assessment
- No exam
- 1 task
- Workload
- 14 hours
- per semester
This is the 2022 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before LAW4330
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After LAW4330
No unit lists LAW4330 as a prerequisite in the 2022 handbook.
Enrolment rules
Prerequisite:
- For students who commenced their LLB (Hons) course in 2015 or later: LAW1111; LAW1114; LAW1112; LAW1113; LAW2101; LAW2102; LAW2111; LAW2112
- 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
Corequisite:
- For students who commenced their LLB (Hons) course in 2015 or later: LAW3111 and LAW3112
Overview
Students undertake a practical placement in a specialist family law program based at a community legal centre which endeavours to meet the legal 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 and attend Court to instruct Counsel in hearings. Students also attend the duty lawyer service at the Dandenong Family Court each Monday to assist and advise unrepresented litigants. Students acquire a diverse range of practical legal skills 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 the capacity to identify and respond to ethical, moral and professional dilemmas in legal practice. Students also develop an appreciation of social 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 practice law (especially family law), along with students interested in policy, government and social justice career pathways.
Offerings in 2022
| 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 legal research into complex areas of family law and related legislation, including children's and property issues, child support and spousal maintenance 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 pathway, 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-management, and to independently synthesise this information to aid in the exercise of sound professional and ethical decisions.
- 5
Independently identify a practical, law reform or policy problem of relevance to the clinic, isolate and critically analyse the legal principles relevant problem, and articulate these issues 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 client interview session per week at FLAP for 14 weeks (including during non-teaching period)
- Participation in a 2 hour seminar program for 6-8 weeks involving 2 hour contact per week
- 14 hours per week for client-group consultations, private research and casework and Court attendance for one day every third week
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 LAW4330?
LAW4330 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is LAW4330 offered?
LAW4330 has no offerings listed in the 2022 handbook.
How much work is LAW4330?
The handbook expects about 14 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does LAW4330 have an exam?
No. LAW4330 has 1 assessment task and no exam.