CQUniversity Unit Profile

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Please note that this Unit Profile is still in progress. The content below is subject to change.
LAWS12063 Legal Drafting
Legal Drafting
All details in this unit profile for LAWS12063 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student).
The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile.
General Information

Overview

Lawyers engage in legal drafting on a daily basis and effective written communication skills are essential for legal practice. The unit focuses on the foundational principles for drafting legal documents to prepare you for the significant and diverse range of tasks you may face as a legal practitioner. This unit aims to enhance your legal drafting skills by providing you with an authentic practical learning experience. You will complete a variety of practical drafting tasks that newly qualified lawyers are likely to undertake in practice, such as drafting pleadings, affidavits, contracts and letters of advice.

Details

Career Level: Undergraduate
Unit Level: Level 2
Credit Points: 6
Student Contribution Band: 10
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.125

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisite of 36 credit points of law units. 

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Offerings For Term 2 - 2024

Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Class and Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Class Timetable

Bundaberg, Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville
Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Assessment Overview

Assessment Grading

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.

Previous Student Feedback

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from Reflection by the unit coordinator.

Feedback

The unit includes a week focused on digital drafting, including the practical and ethical implications of using generative AI in legal drafting. As generative AI is advancing all the time, further content should be directed towards this topic.

Recommendation

Expand discussion of the ethical implications of lawyers using generative AI when drafting legal documents and encourage students to investigate the quality of legal documents generative AI produces.

Feedback from Student feedback and reflection by the unit coordinator

Feedback

Students benefited from extensive feedback on the two different drafting tasks in the mid-term written assessment, but there was only a short amount of time between completing the content relevant to the second task and the due date.

Recommendation

Review the timing of the mid-term written assessment.

Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
  1. Communicate effectively in writing, including the appropriate usage of grammar, syntax and punctuation.
  2. Apply principles of plain English drafting, principles of interpretation, and drafting conventions to create legal documents that comply with the client’s instructions and the objectives of the document.
  3. Reflect critically on written work and provide comprehensive feedback to others through a peer review process.
Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes
N/A Level
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Professional Level
Advanced Level

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 25%
2 - Written Assessment - 50%
3 - Portfolio - 25%

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Communication
2 - Problem Solving
3 - Critical Thinking
4 - Information Literacy
5 - Team Work
6 - Information Technology Competence
7 - Cross Cultural Competence
8 - Ethical practice
9 - Social Innovation
10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures
Textbooks and Resources

Information for Textbooks and Resources has not been released yet.

This information will be available on Monday 17 June 2024
Academic Integrity Statement

Information for Academic Integrity Statement has not been released yet.

This unit profile has not yet been finalised.