This is a clinical program based in a community legal practice environment. During the course students work for one full day a week at Canberra community Law where they provide legal information and undertake casework under the supervision of solicitors.
The course objectives are to:
- contextualise the study of law and student learning in a wide range of other law courses;
- guide and support students in identifying, developing and applying ethical legal practice skills;
- develop students' critical understanding of legal practice approaches, the roles of lawyers in relation to individual clients and social justice issues; and
- encourage, promote and validate student aspirations to promote access to justice and equality before the law.
Course topics include:
- introduction to public interest law;
- professional responsibilities;
- legal practice skills - legal writing, interviewing, casework skills, advising;
- substantive law in relation to tenancy, Social Security and Disability Discrimination; and
- law Reform.
Students must apply to undertake this course. Please go to Law Professional Experience for application information.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Identify, plan, manage and execute a substantive and original written research project addressing a complex problem, and do so independently, and to a high professional standard appropriate to the professional setting.
- Demonstrate persuasive and inclusive written and oral communications skills appropriate to specialist and non-specialist audiences, and a given professional setting.
- Integrate and apply multiple areas of legal knowledge, skills and professional values gained throughout the JD program.
- Recognise and apply JD graduate attributes such as, but not limited to: an extended understanding of recent developments in law and its practice; high level research skills; high level conceptualisation; the ability to generate and evaluate complex ideas; legal technical and communication skills; a reflective and ethical approach, and high level personal autonomy and accountability.
- Reflect on and review key elements of a growing professional and ethical identity by, for example, naming and debating specific interests, interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, and career motivations and aspirations.
- Describe and critique how advanced knowledge and skills acquired through the study of law relate to a legal practice setting, assisting individual clients and working for social justice.
- Recognise and apply improved practical legal skills particularly relating to work routines, professional conduct rules, ethical practice, communication with a variety of audiences, interviewing, writing, and legal research principles and methods.
- Describe and critique a range of legal practice approaches having regard to the legal needs of individual clients.
- Analyse the predicament of individual clients having regard to the operation of the law and the legal system.
- Describe and critically assess a range of strategies to improve justice / social justice outcomes.
- Identify concrete and achievable ways in which they can promote access to justice and equality before the law.
Other Information
Enrolment is limited with selection based on a competitive process. Application information can be located on the ANU College of Law Website.
Indicative Assessment
- Participation in on-site sessions - ie quality of performance at on-site sessions including client assistance and casework (70) [LO null]
- Participation in reflective tutorials and simulated hearings — ie quality of contributions made during (a) evening reflective tutorials, including case study presentation and (b) simulated hearings (15) [LO null]
- Research paper and presentation (15) [LO null]
- Attendance at both orientation days, a minimum of 6 out of the 8 scheduled Thursday evening tutorials and the research presentation / debrief session in the last week of the course. No marks are assigned for attendance at these events but attendance is a requirement to pass the course. (0) [LO null]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
- Classes offered in non-standard sessions will be taught on an intensive base with compulsory contact hours (approximately 26 hours of face to face teaching). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion of this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours.
- Classes offered during semester periods are expected to have three contact hours per week.
Click here for the LLM Masters Program course list
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
You will need to contact the ANU Law School to request a permission code to enrol in this course.
Prescribed Texts
Students must rely on the approved Class Summary which will be posted to the Programs and Courses site approximately two weeks prior to the commencement of the course. Alternatively, this information will be published in the Program course list when known.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 34
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $4980 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $6660 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4081 | 21 Feb 2022 | 28 Feb 2022 | 31 Mar 2022 | 27 May 2022 | In Person | View |
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7071 | 25 Jul 2022 | 01 Aug 2022 | 31 Aug 2022 | 28 Oct 2022 | In Person | View |
