Overview
This unit offers a range of work integrated learning (WIL) opportunities around the community legal sector including students who have an offer of a short term placement. The unit is designed for you to actively seek practical legal training and experience in preparation for entry into the legal profession once you have completed your law degree. You will participate in a range of roles and tasks relating to everyday legal practice under supervision in an authentic legal environment. These experiences will allow you to develop the knowledge and skills to transition to the workplace. Central to the experience is an opportunity to become involved in a Community Legal Centre helping to deliver advice, information and minor assistance for clients. You should expect to be exposed to everyday legal issues around family law, employment law, debt, neighbourhood disputes or other areas of the law. You will also choose at least one other experience from a range of possible skills based options associated with work-integrated learning with a Government agency, a private law firm or with a member of the Private Bar or a self-directed task performed under the supervision of the coordinator. The unit commences with a compulsory online induction program preparing you for work in a variety of roles. Issues covered will include cultural competence, professional and ethical behaviour, client confidentiality and client care. The induction also involves an introduction to the community legal sector, how it works, how it is funded and who it serves. Entry to this unit is only via a successful application, interview and invitation. It is necessary to satisfy the specific requirements to attend placement at the CQUniversity Law Clinic. These attributes include confidentiality, professionalism, client care, and conflicts of interest. The code of conduct for the agency will form part of this assessment also. If you do not pass the hurdle assessment, you will be unable to attend the clinic for your practicum.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
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 1 - 2020
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).
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
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.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
- Evaluate the broader contexts within which legal issues arise in practice
- Apply the principles and values of ethical practice and professional responsibility lawyers employ when working with clients
- Classify legal issues and exercise legal reasoning and research to provide appropriate responses to legal problems.
This unit is not a Priestley 11 unit subject to accreditation requirements.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 0% | |||
| 2 - Portfolio - 60% | |||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 40% | |||
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 | |||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 0% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Portfolio - 60% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th ed
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
l.price@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Module 1: Clients, Clinics & You
Module 2: Professional Conduct
Chapter
Module 1
Stephen Wizner, 'The Law School Clinic: Legal Education in the Interests of Justice' (2002) 70 Fordham L Rev 1929, available on HeinOnline via the University Library
Deborah L Rhode, 'Law, Lawyers, and the Pursuit of Justice ' (2002) 70 Fordham L Rev 1543, available on HeinOnline via the University Library
Module 2
Shane Budden, Bragging is for the Boardroom (QLS Ethics Centre, Queensland Law Society, 2018), available at: https://www.qls.com.au/files/db3b4441-3cf4-4ce8-8f4f-a89300c8ebbd/doc20180226_Bragging_is_for_the_Boardroom_FINAL_SLB.pdf
Stafford Shepherd, Loose Lips Sink Ships (QLS Ethics Centre, Queensland Law Society, 2014), available at: https://www.qls.com.au/files/90b0e430-a025-4a22-8118-a43a00ca3acb/doc20150114_Loose_Lips_Can_Sink_Ships_Note.pdf
Reid Mortensen, 'Professional legal ethics in Australia' (2018) 192 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research 12, available at: https://download.atlantis-press.com/article/25903132.pdf
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module 3: Legal Practice Skills
Chapter
Hai-Van Nguyen, Leanne Ho, Jillian Mitford-Burgess, Angela Harvey & Hannah Rose, Client management and self-care - A guide for pro bono lawyers (Australian Pro Bono Centre, 2018), available at https://www.probonocentre.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Client-management-guide.pdf
Clark D. Cunningham, 'What Do Clients Want from Their Lawyers' [2013] 1(7) Journal of Dispute Resolution 143, available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/jdr/vol2013/iss1/7
Events and Submissions/Topic
Multiple-choice Quiz 1 available on Moodle, to be completed prior to the commencement of clinical placements.
Multiple-choice questions Due: Week 2 Friday (20 Mar 2020) 5:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Clinical placements begin
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Module 4: The Role of University Law Clinics
Chapter
Orla Drummond & Gráinne McKeever, Access to Justice through University Law Clinics (Ulster University, 2015), available at: https://www.ulster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/132654/Access-to-Justice-through-Uni-Law-Clinics-November-2015.pdf
Christine Coumarelos, Deborah Macourt, Julie People, Hugh M McDonald, Zhigang Wei, Reiny Iriana & Stephanie Ramsey, Legal Australia-Wide Survey: Legal need in Australia (Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Sydney, 2012), available at: http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/ljf/site/templates/LAW_AUS/$file/LAW_Survey_Australia.pdf
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module 5: Law Student Advocacy
Chapter
Margaret Fisher, 'So What is Street Law Anyway - A U.S. Perspective' (2017) 1 International Journal of Public Legal Education 87, available at: https://www.northumbriajournals.co.uk/index.php/ijple/article/download/641/1049
Sean Arthurs, 'Street law: Creating Tomorrow's Citizens Today' (2015) 19(4) Lewis & Clark Law Review 925, available at: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/arthurs/files/street_law_published.pdf
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Multiple-Choice Quiz 2 available on Moodle
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Written Assessment Due: Week 12 Monday (1 June 2020) 5:00pm AEST
Research Report Due: Week 12 Monday (1 June 2020) 5:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Portfolio Due: Review/Exam Week Monday (8 June 2020) 5:00pm AEST
Reflective portfolio Due: Review/Exam Week Monday (8 June 2020) 5:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
During your clinical practice you will be presented with a range of legal issues. For this assessment, you are required to choose one legal issue that has arisen during your clinical practice and produce a research-based report of that issue.
Your report should:
- Summarise the legal issue;
- Explain the social, political, or other context of the legal issue;
- Examine the underlying causes of the legal issue and reasons for its importance;
- Critically assess the relevant law; and
- Suggest avenues for improvement.
Your report should draw on at least 10 external sources: a combination of primary and secondary sources.
The word limit for this assessment is 2000 words.
Week 12 Monday (1 June 2020) 5:00 pm AEST
Exam Week Monday (15 June 2020)
- Knowledge and understanding
- Critical awareness and engagement
- Integration of research to develop and support arguments
- Written expression and referencing in accordance with AGLC, 4th ed.
The rubric will be uploaded to Moodle, attached to the assignment instructions.
- Classify legal issues and exercise legal reasoning and research to provide appropriate responses to legal problems.
- Communication
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Portfolio
Critical reflection on your clinical practice is an essential element of learning from clinical legal education. For this assessment, you are required to submit four reflective journal entries, each discussing a different week of your clinical placement and a legal, social or professional challenge you encountered.
Each journal entry should:
- Describe what happened;
- Explore and evaluate your experience of these events;
- Critically analyse the event, its causes and your experience of it; and
- Propose lessons for the future or an action plan.
Each journal entry should be contextually situated in, and refer back to, your previous experience and reflection, and earlier journal entries.
The word limit for this assessment is 2000 words (total)
Review/Exam Week Monday (8 June 2020) 5:00 pm AEST
Exam Week Monday (15 June 2020)
- Knowledge and understanding
- Integration of reflective thinking and processes
- Critical analysis and reasoning
- Written expression and referencing in accordance with AGLC, 4th ed.
The rubric will be uploaded to Moodle, attached to the assignment instructions.
- Apply the principles and values of ethical practice and professional responsibility lawyers employ when working with clients
- Classify legal issues and exercise legal reasoning and research to provide appropriate responses to legal problems.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Ethical practice
3 Online Quiz(zes)
A multiple-choice quiz will be made available on Moodle in Week 2 for students to complete prior to the commencement of their clinical placement. This quiz will test foundational skills and understanding to ensure students are prepared for clinical practice.
Additional multiple choice questions will also be made available on Moodle in Week 8. Students are encouraged to answer these to test their knowledge and understanding of the key elements of clinical legal education and issues relating to legal practice.
2
Other
Week 2 Friday (20 Mar 2020) 5:00 pm AEST
Students should complete the first quiz prior to the commencement of their clinical placement
Week 2 Friday (20 Mar 2020)
Students will receive immediate feedback via the quiz platform
- Knowledge and understanding
- Critical thinking
- Evaluate the broader contexts within which legal issues arise in practice
- Apply the principles and values of ethical practice and professional responsibility lawyers employ when working with clients
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
