UnitLevel 5Postgraduate

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 2022. It has no prerequisites.

Credit points
6
Offered in 2022
Other periods
Monash Law Chambers
Assessment
Exam 50%
and 4 other tasks

This is the 2022 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 2022 handbook.

Enrolment rules

For students in the Juris doctor (L6005), you must have passed 48 points of study.

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. You will be encouraged to develop awareness of your 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. You 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. You 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 2022

Teaching periodCampusMode
Trimester 1Monash Law ChambersOn campus
Trimester 2Monash Law ChambersOn campus
Trimester 3Monash Law ChambersOn campus

Assessment

  • Video presentationPresentation
    10%
  • Video presentationPresentation
    20%
  • Research essayEssay
    30%
  • Final ExamExam
    50%
  • Class participationParticipation
    10%

Learning outcomes

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

  1. 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. 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. 3

    Exhibit an advanced ability to exercise professional judgment;

  4. 4

    Identify and articulate complex ethical and responsibility issues in lawyering;

  5. 5

    Apply ethical approaches and the law of professional responsibility to generate appropriate jurisprudential and practical decision-making and conduct in lawyering;

  6. 6

    Engage in critical analysis and make reasoned and appropriate choices amongst alternatives;

  7. 7

    Demonstrate sophisticated cognitive and creative skills in approaching legal and ethical issues and generating appropriate responses and developing new understandings;

  8. 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. 9

    Demonstrate ability to learn and work with a high degree of autonomy, accountability and professionalism, and reflect on and assess your own capabilities and performance in relation to ethical judgment, making use of feedback as appropriate, to support personal and professional development.

Workload and teaching

  • Workshops36 hours
  • Teaching approachActive learning

Students enrolled in this unit will be provided with 36 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
Miss Tamara Wilkinson
Professor Jeffrey M Giddings

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 2022 handbook.

Does LAW5015 have an exam?

Yes. The exam is worth 50% of the final mark, alongside 4 other tasks.

More details

Credit points
6
Level
5
Study level
Postgraduate
Faculty
Faculty of Law
Type
Coursework
EFTSL
0.125
Student contribution
SCA Band 4
Study abroad
Available