Students

LAWS5051 – PACE: Individual Placements

2022 – Session 1, In person-placement, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Paul Maluga
paul.maluga@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
160cp in LAW or LAWS units and permission by special approval
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit provides the opportunity for students to engage with the legal profession and community through participation in a variety of workplace experiences including, but not limited to, law firms, legal centres, community-based legal organisations and services, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations. The experience may be via clerkship, volunteer work, or internship, and may be undertaken on a weekly or block basis. Students source their own placement, and nominate it for approval by the convenor. Applications for the unit are advertised by the convenor via email.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Analyse issues that arise in professional practice and community engagement. In particular the personal and professional demands on, and expectations of, lawyers and advocates in practice.
  • ULO2: Reflect on your professional skills and knowledge and develop and implement plans for continuous learning
  • ULO3: Identify, manage and reflect on ethical issues that arise in the legal environment
  • ULO4: Critique current practices and regulation of the legal profession.
  • ULO5: Demonstrate advanced practical skills necessary in legal practice.
  • ULO6: Apply the specialised cognitive, interpersonal and communication skills necessary in legal practice.

General Assessment Information

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – 10 marks out of 100 credit will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted seven days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Independent Research Report 40% No Week 7
Engagement in unit and workplace tasks 30% No Bi-weekly engagement
Skills Checklist and Goal Setting Exercise 30% No Week 3 and Week 13

Independent Research Report

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 40%

 

Students are required to prepare a final report that outlines the nature of the professional challenges in the legal workplace and the regulatory response to those challenges

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse issues that arise in professional practice and community engagement. In particular the personal and professional demands on, and expectations of, lawyers and advocates in practice.
  • Identify, manage and reflect on ethical issues that arise in the legal environment
  • Critique current practices and regulation of the legal profession.
  • Apply the specialised cognitive, interpersonal and communication skills necessary in legal practice.

Engagement in unit and workplace tasks

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: Bi-weekly engagement
Weighting: 30%

 

Students will participate in online discussion, quizzes and problem solving tasks related to legal practice and regulation

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse issues that arise in professional practice and community engagement. In particular the personal and professional demands on, and expectations of, lawyers and advocates in practice.
  • Identify, manage and reflect on ethical issues that arise in the legal environment
  • Critique current practices and regulation of the legal profession.
  • Demonstrate advanced practical skills necessary in legal practice.
  • Apply the specialised cognitive, interpersonal and communication skills necessary in legal practice.

Skills Checklist and Goal Setting Exercise

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 3 and Week 13
Weighting: 30%

 

Students will be required to set goals for their placement and to reflect on how well they have achieved those goals over the course of their placement.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Reflect on your professional skills and knowledge and develop and implement plans for continuous learning
  • Identify, manage and reflect on ethical issues that arise in the legal environment
  • Demonstrate advanced practical skills necessary in legal practice.
  • Apply the specialised cognitive, interpersonal and communication skills necessary in legal practice.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

All unit readings are available via Leganto.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2022.03 of the Handbook