LAW5015 Ethics in legal practice
Faculty of Law
LAW5015 Ethics in legal practice is a level 5, 6-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Law. It isn't offered in 2020. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2020
- Other periods
- Monash Law Chambers
- Assessment
- Exam 60%
- and 2 other tasks
This is the 2020 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before LAW5015
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After LAW5015
No unit lists LAW5015 as a prerequisite in the 2020 handbook.
Enrolment rules
Overview
This unit provides a practical and critical introduction to ethical decision-making and the law and codes of professional responsibility in lawyering. It introduces different moral approaches to legal practice, focusing on the justifications for and criticisms of the traditional adversarial advocate approach and alternatives to it in the context of different areas of practice. Students will be encouraged to develop awareness of their own ethical orientation and expected to be able to apply different ethical approaches to hypothetical scenarios. This unit examines the way that lawyers' ethics and conduct are regulatedand set out in legal principles and codes. Students will be expected to be able to identify and resolve ethical issues that arise in legal practice using the professional conduct rules and law of lawyering. Students will also be expected to be able to critically assess the way lawyers' ethics are regulated by these rules against different ethical approaches to legal ethics and in different practice contexts.
Offerings in 2020
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Trimester 1 | Monash Law Chambers | On campus |
| Trimester 2 | Monash Law Chambers | On campus |
| Trimester 3 | Monash Law Chambers | On campus |
Assessment
- Three minute video presentation10%
- Research essay (2250 words)30%
- Final Exam (2 hours and 30 minutes)60%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Demonstrate understanding of knowledge of the law of professional responsibility and the principles and values of justice and of ethical practice in lawyers' roles;
- 2
Display an advanced and integrated understanding of: + the approaches to ethical decision-making; and + the professional responsibilities of lawyers in promoting justice and in service to the community;
- 3
Exhibit an advanced ability to exercise professional judgment;
- 4
Identify and articulate complex ethical and responsibility issues in lawyering;
- 5
Apply ethical approaches and the law of professional responsibility to generate appropriate jurisprudential and practical decision-making and conduct in lawyering;
- 6
Engage in critical analysis and make reasoned and appropriate choices amongst alternatives;
- 7
Demonstrate sophisticated cognitive and creative skills in approaching legal and ethical issues and generating appropriate responses and developing new understandings;
- 8
Communicate how to apply professional responsibility principles and resolve ethical issues in ways that are effective, appropriate and persuasive for legal and non-legal audiences;
- 9
Collaborate effectively in resolving ethical dilemmas in different practice contexts and in context of commercial challenges to professionalism; and
- 10
Demonstrate ability to learn and work with a high degree of autonomy, accountability and professionalism, and reflect on and assess their own capabilities and performance in relation to ethical judgment, making use of feedback as appropriate, to support personal and professional development.
Workload and teaching
- Seminars36 hours
- Teaching approachActive learning
Students enrolled in this unit will be provided with 30 contact hours of seminars per semester whether intensive, semi-intensive, or semester-long offering. Students will be expected to do reading set for class, and to undertake additional research and reading applicable to a 6 credit point unit.
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
- Professor Jeffrey M Giddings
- Assoc Professor Kate Seear
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for LAW5015?
LAW5015 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is LAW5015 offered?
LAW5015 has no offerings listed in the 2020 handbook.
Does LAW5015 have an exam?
Yes. The exam is worth 60% of the final mark, alongside 2 other tasks.