Students

LAWS1100 – Law, Lawyers and Society

2024 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to LLB
Corequisites Corequisites
LAW115 or LAWS1000
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

In this unit students are introduced to applied legal ethics and the law that governs the roles and responsibilities of solicitors and barristers in Australia. The unit covers the history and profile of the legal profession, the development of ethical reasoning and application of ethical systems to legal practice. Students will study the legal and philosophical problems confronting lawyers, including confidentiality, access to justice, truth in the adversarial system, conflicts of interest and relationships between lawyers, clients and the community. They will learn how the legal profession is regulated and analyse the effectiveness of the professional disciplinary regime. The unit also introduces students to general skills of ethical problem solving and to the importance of sound communication skills for the practice of law.

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: Describe and explain the role of the lawyer in Australian society.
  • ULO2: Identify different theoretical approaches to legal ethics and relate these approaches to a range of problems and settings.
  • ULO3: Explain and apply the law of professional responsibility that regulates the practice of law in Australia, including duties owed to the court, to the client, to practitioners, and to the community.
  • ULO4: Explain and apply communication skills required for ethical practice, especially listening skills, interviewing skills, cross cultural communication skills, negotiation skills and writing skills, with an emphasis on plain English.

General Assessment Information

All written assessments that are submitted electronically will utilise Turnitin plagiarism detection software.

Students should carefully check that they submit the correct file for an assessment, as re-submissions will not be accepted after the due date and time, including instances where students upload an incorrect file in error.

Word limits are strictly applied. Work above the word limit will not be marked.  Footnotes are to be used only for referencing. Referencing must conform to the requirements set out in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition.

Marking of all assessments is moderated through a process of blind marking and the use of detailed marking rubrics.

Late penalty policy

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of ‘0’ (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue.    

This late penalty will apply to non-timed sensitive assessments (incl essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc). Late submission of time-sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special consideration application. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic. 

Special Consideration

Students should submit applications for Special Consideration electronically via ask.mq.edu.au, along with the supporting documentation. Before submitting their applications, students should refer to the Special Consideration Policy (link provided under 'Policies and Procedures' below).

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Participatory tasks 20% No Ongoing to 31/05/24
Legal Ethics Essay 40% No 21/04/24, 11:55pm
Professional skills 40% No Video 3/5/24, 11:55pm; Exam: University Exam Period

Participatory tasks

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 0 hours
Due: Ongoing to 31/05/24
Weighting: 20%

 

A series of role plays, debates and problem solving activities

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe and explain the role of the lawyer in Australian society.
  • Identify different theoretical approaches to legal ethics and relate these approaches to a range of problems and settings.
  • Explain and apply the law of professional responsibility that regulates the practice of law in Australia, including duties owed to the court, to the client, to practitioners, and to the community.
  • Explain and apply communication skills required for ethical practice, especially listening skills, interviewing skills, cross cultural communication skills, negotiation skills and writing skills, with an emphasis on plain English.

Legal Ethics Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 18 hours
Due: 21/04/24, 11:55pm
Weighting: 40%

 

A research essay on a topic relevant to legal ethics

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe and explain the role of the lawyer in Australian society.
  • Identify different theoretical approaches to legal ethics and relate these approaches to a range of problems and settings.
  • Explain and apply the law of professional responsibility that regulates the practice of law in Australia, including duties owed to the court, to the client, to practitioners, and to the community.
  • Explain and apply communication skills required for ethical practice, especially listening skills, interviewing skills, cross cultural communication skills, negotiation skills and writing skills, with an emphasis on plain English.

Professional skills

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 18 hours
Due: Video 3/5/24, 11:55pm; Exam: University Exam Period
Weighting: 40%

 

An assessment requiring students to apply one or more professional skills relevant to legal ethics

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe and explain the role of the lawyer in Australian society.
  • Identify different theoretical approaches to legal ethics and relate these approaches to a range of problems and settings.
  • Explain and apply the law of professional responsibility that regulates the practice of law in Australia, including duties owed to the court, to the client, to practitioners, and to the community.
  • Explain and apply communication skills required for ethical practice, especially listening skills, interviewing skills, cross cultural communication skills, negotiation skills and writing skills, with an emphasis on plain English.

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

There is a weekly one-hour face-to-face lecture and additional weekly online lectures from weeks 1 to 12. Face-to-face lectures will also be live-streamed and recorded.  Students are expected to attend and listen to the lectures and work their way through the other materials on a weekly basis. All lecture recordings and associated slides will be accessible through iLearn.

There is a weekly one-hour face-to-face tutorial on campus from weeks 1 to 13 for students.

The required texts are:

Paula Baron and Lillian Corbin, Ethics and Legal Professionalism in Australia (Oxford University Press, 3rd ed, 2020)

Nichola Corbett-Jarvis and Brendan Grigg, Effective Legal Writing: A Practical Guide (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2021)

Please note: Ethics and Legal Professionalism in Australia by Paula Baron and Lillian Corbin is the main text for the unit and is available online through the MQ library but note that the publisher has restricted access to just four students at any one time and only allows 4 pages to be downloaded. If you wish to purchase the text, you can find it at: oup.com.au/higher-education. Use code SAVE20 at the checkout for a 20% discount when purchasing the print textbook, or eBook. This text is also available to rent as an eBook, at half the cost of the print book. View the individual title to explore the different options.

Students can also buy these textbooks online from online resellers such as Booktopia , Amazon and Zookal. 

Additional readings will be accessible through iLearn.

Students require access to a computer, internet with decent speed and a secure/reliable server. The iLearn page contains all Unit requirements and a weekly schedule for teaching, readings and tutorials. Information about all assessment tasks is also available on iLearn. Students MUST submit all assessments except the exam through iLearn.

Unit Schedule

Perception of Lawyers

The Legal Profession

The Regulation of the Profession

Truth and Honesty (costs, trust accounts, admission and discipline)

Fidelity to the Law (candour, abuse of process)

Loyalty to the Client (retainers, conflicts, in house lawyers)

Confidentiality and Privilege

Competence (fiduciary duty and duty of care)

Service and Access to Justice

Civility and Courtesy

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 connect.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 the Service Connect Portal, 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.

Changes since First Published

Date Description
01/02/2024 updated contact details

Unit information based on version 2024.01 of the Handbook