LAW 3609 - Legal Practice Internship

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2020

This course supports students undertaking internships with a legal practice to appreciate the operation of the law in practice and develop their practical legal skills. Students are responsible for obtaining their own placement of at least 20 days in a legal practice, where it is expected they will participate actively in all aspects of the work at the office, including client interviewing, research, drafting and case file management. This course provides a compulsory induction equipping students with basic skills that will form a foundation for the internship which follows, and guides students through assessment during their internship which is based on practice and reflection.

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Course Details

Course Code	LAW 3609
Course	Legal Practice Internship
Coordinating Unit	Adelaide Law School
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate Law (LLB)
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 36 hours
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange
Prerequisites	LAW 2504
Assumed Knowledge	LAW 3501

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Kellie Toole

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

This course does not have any formal classes, but students are required attend a compulsory induction session and 150 hours of internship placement.

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1. Actively apply theoretical legal principles to client legal casework
2. Demonstrate legal practice skills in dealing with clients, colleagues and the courts, through appropriate professional activities such as drafting legal documents, conducting client or witness interviews, undertaking practical legal research, providing legal advice (to colleagues not clients), or engaging with opposing lawyers and the courts
3. Exercise forensic judgment and make informed and considered decisions in a legal practice environment
4. Work effectively and reliably in a professional environment, both individually and as a member of a team
5. Demonstrate reflexive learning practices.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1, 2, 3
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	1, 2, 3
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	2, 4
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	2, 3
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	5

Learning Resources

Required Resources

All materials required for this course will be provided via MyUni.

Online Learning

Course materials and assignment instructions will be made available on MyUni.

All students are expected to check MyUni regularly to keep up to date with announcements during the semester.
Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

Students will attend a compulsory induction day prior to commencing their internship.
Students will attend their internship for a minimum of 20 days.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

Students will undertake 6 hours of contact time at the compulsory induction day, and 150 hours (20 days x 7.5 hours per day) of internship placement, plus preparation of assessment items.

Learning Activities Summary

The topics covered in the intensive induction in this course will include:

• File management
• Dealing with colleagues, clients and the court
• The concept of professionalism and models of lawyering
• Client Interviewing
• Reflective learning techniques and self-reflective practices
• Legal ethics
• Self-care and care of others in the legal profession.

Specific Course Requirements

The induction day is critical for students' preparation for dealing with clients, colleagues and the courts, and so attendance is compulsory. Students cannot pass the course without attending the induction day.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Length	Weighting	Learning Outcome
Podcast 1	Individual, summative	After completion of 10 days of internship	10 minutes	20%	2, 3, 5
Podcast 2	Individual, summative	After completion of 15 days of internship	10 minutes	20%	2, 3, 5
Performance on placement	Individual, summative	NA	NA	30%	1, 2, 3, 4
Project Report	Individual, summative	4 weeks after completion of internship placement	Max 2,000 words	30%	1, 5

Assessment Related Requirements

Students must undertake 150 hours of supervised placement.

Assessment Detail

Podcast 1
Students are required to create a 10-minute podcast on an aspect of any area of substantive law where their practical experience will assist other students to understand the relevant substantive law. As well as submitting the podcast for assessment, students are required to submit the podcast to the relevant course co-ordinator for consideration for inclusion in materials for the course. The mark will not be affected by whether or not the course co-ordinator chooses to make the podcast available to students.

Podcast 2
Students are required to create a 10-minute podcast on an aspect of any area of legal practice where their practical experience will assist other students to prepare for transition to the legal profession. It could relate to ethical issues, office protocols, communication with supervisors, etc. As well as submitting the podcast for assessment, students are required to submit the podcast to the Law School Career Readiness team for consideration for inclusion on the Next Steps Youtube channel. The mark will not be affected by whether or not the Career Readiness team chooses to make the podcast available to students.

Placement Assessment:
The student’s internship supervisor will assign the student a grade for their performance on placement, assessing the following learning outcomes:
1. Actively apply theoretical legal principles to client legal casework
2. Demonstrate legal practice skills in dealing with clients, colleagues and the courts, through appropriate professional activities such as drafting legal documents, conducting client or witness interviews, undertaking practical legal research, providing legal advice (to colleagues not clients), or engaging with opposing lawyers and the courts
3. Exercise forensic judgment and make informed and considered decisions in a legal practice environment
4. Work effectively and reliably in a professional environment, both individually and as a member of a team
Students will be assessed using the attached rubric. The course co-ordinator will moderate the grade for the placement assessment by reference to the grades for other assessment tasks in the course and, if necessary, in consultation with the placement supervisor.

Project Report:
Students are to prepare a report of 2,000 words maximum addressing some aspect of their experience or learning from the internship. The topic should be negotiated with the course coordinator no later than at the completion of the internship. The report should link the student’s experience of legal practice with relevant principles of law, ethical constructs and/or theories of lawyering or other topic covered in the induction for the internship.

Submission

Podcasts and Project Reports are to be submitted electronically on MyUni.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator