LAW5711 Advanced Legal Professional Practice and Ethics
| Semester 1, 2013 On-campus Springfield | |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Business and Law |
| School or Department : | School of Law |
| Version produced : | 11 April 2013 |
Staffing
Examiner: Katie Murray
Moderator: Reid Mortensen
Requisites
Pre-requisite: LAW5502 and LAW5605 and LAW5704
Pre-requisite or Co-requisite: LAW5708
Other requisites
Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at http://www.usq.edu.au/ict/students/standards/default.htm.
Rationale
This is a core course in the Juris Doctor and is mandated by the Legal Practitioners' Admission Board, Queensland, being a prescribed area of knowledge for legal practice.
Synopsis
The course deals with the nature of legal practice, and involves further study of philosophies of applied ethics in legal practice. It includes skills exercises in letter drafting, and accounting for client money. Topics studied include the regulation of the legal profession; admission and discipline; engagement; billing; and responsibilities in relation to client money, the conduct of litigation and advocacy, competence and careful practice, confidences, and loyalty to clients. It also deals with civility and courtesy in dealings with clients and other lawyers.
Objectives
On successful completion of this course students should be able to demonstrate the following outcomes:
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knowledge, including:
(i) fundamental knowledge of professional conduct (including trust accounting) and underlying principles and concepts, including local and national contexts
(ii) the broader contexts within which legal issues arise, including the ability to critically evaluate and examine the broader context within which legal issues arise, including, for example, the political, social, historical, philosophical and economic context
(iii) the principles and values of justice and of ethical practice in lawyers’ roles -
ethics and professional responsibility, including:
(i) an understanding of approaches to ethical decision-making
(ii) an ability to recognise and reflect upon, and a developing ability to respond to, ethical issues likely to arise in professional contexts
(iii) an ability to recognise and reflect upon the professional responsibilities of lawyers in promoting justice and in service to the community
(iv) a developing ability to exercise professional judgment - thinking skills, including the ability to identify and articulate legal issues; comprehend legal and other materials; apply legal reasoning and research to generate appropriate responses to legal issues; engage in critical analysis and make a reasoned choice amongst alternatives; and think creatively in approaching legal issues and generating appropriate responses
- communication skills, including the ability to communicate in ways that are effective, appropriate and persuasive for legal and non-legal audiences, particularly in the context of legal letter-drafting.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Introduction to the legal profession | 10.00 |
| 2. | Moral frameworks of legal practice | 20.00 |
| 3. | Regulation and discipline | 10.00 |
| 4. | Engagement and fees | 10.00 |
| 5. | Litigation and advocacy ethics | 10.00 |
| 6. | Competence and care | 10.00 |
| 7. | Conflicting loyalties | 10.00 |
| 8. | Relations with other lawyers | 10.00 |
| 9. | Client money | 10.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/bookweb/subject.cgi?year=2013&sem=01&subject1=LAW5711)
Please contact us for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/contact/)
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Mortensen, R 2010, Managing client money: lawyers' trust accounts in Queensland, LexisNexis, Sydney, New South Wales.
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Parker, C & Evans, A 2007, Inside lawyers' ethics, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Victoria.
Reference materials
Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
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Dal Pont, G 2012, Lawyers' professional responsibility, 5th edn, Thomson Reuters, Pyrmont, New South Wales.
Student workload requirements
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Assessments | 80.00 |
| Lectures and Tutorials | 39.00 |
| Private Study | 46.00 |
Assessment details
| Description | Marks out of | Wtg (%) | Due Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COURSE ENGAGEMENT (FORMATIVE) | 20 | 0 | 22 Mar 2013 | |
| ESSAY | 20 | 20 | 17 Apr 2013 | |
| COURSE ENGAGEMENT (SUMMATIVE) | 30 | 30 | 22 May 2013 | |
| 2-HOUR EXAMINATION | 50 | 50 | End S1 | (see note 1) |
NOTES
- The examination is scheduled to be held in the end-of-semester examination period. Students will be advised of the official examination date after the timetable has been finalised.
Important assessment information
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Attendance requirements:
It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures, tutorials, laboratories and practical work) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration. -
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.) -
Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without prior approval of the examiner, then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. -
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course. -
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course. -
Examination information:
This will be an open examination. Candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination. -
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period. -
University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au/portal/custom/search/category/usq_document_policy_type/Student.1.html.
Assessment notes
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Referencing in assignments: Students studying this course as part of the Juris Doctor must use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) style. Students who are not enrolled in the Juris Doctor may use either Harvard (AGPS) or the AGLC style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. For AGLC style guide enquiries, consult the AGLC manual from the USQ Library's referencing guide at http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/referencing/default.htm, or contact the Law librarian. The AGPS style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide at http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/referencing/default.htm.
Other requirements
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Computer, e-mail and Internet access: Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at http://www.usq.edu.au/ict/students/standards/default.htm.