Students

LAWS8099 – Professional and Community Engagement

2024 – Session 2, In person-placement, On location

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor
George Tomossy
Contact via iLearn
17WW Room 209
see iLearn
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
120cp in LAW or LAWS units at 6000 level or above and permission by special approval
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit provides JD students with an opportunity to apply their legal knowledge and skills in practical placements within partnerships between Macquarie University and the legal profession and community. Students will develop vital employability skills and have opportunities to participate in a variety of workplace experiences including law firms, legal centres, community-based legal organisations and services, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations. In these placements, students will be able to engage with the real world application of legal skills and principles developed in earlier units of study either through internships, clerkships and voluntary or paid legally related employment. In line with the university's Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) initiatives, the unit aims to provide students with a broad social perspective, critical thinking skills and the technical competence that employers value. Students will be advised of clinic, workplace or project opportunities on a regular basis and will be invited to apply for these opportunities online before they are required to apply for special approval to enrol in the unit.

Visit Employability Connect for important information on this unit including required preparation and closing dates for PACE activities.

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 analyse the personal and professional demands that arise in professional legal practice and community legal engagement. .
  • 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: Apply the specialised cognitive, interpersonal and communication skills necessary in legal workplaces including the ability to take direction and work in a team to address or resolve legal problems.

General Assessment Information

This unit accommodates two streams -- Individual Placements and PACE Projects/Clinics. Each stream has a distinct assessment structure that may not align precisely with the framework set out in this unit guide. Please refer to the iLearn page for details. 

All written assessments submitted electronically must be submitted through the link provided in iLearn. This unit 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.

The design, moderation and feedback of all assessments is in accordance with the Macquarie University Assessment Procedure (link provided under ‘Policies and Procedures’ below).

Successful completion of an approved pace activity

Barring unavoidable disruptions in accordance with the University's Special Consideration Policy, students who do not complete their approved pace acitivity will receive a grade of zero for the unit.

Late Submission Policy

A maximum penalty of five (5) percentage points of the total possible marks will be applied per day to late submissions, for up to a maximum of seven calendar days. Tasks that have not been submitted within the maximum number of additional late days will receive a mark of zero. This provision does not apply to online exams or other assessment with a time limit of less than 24 hours.

Penalties for late submission will be applied consistently and equitably to all students enrolled in the unit. Where short-term, serious and unavoidable circumstances have affected their ability to submit an assessment task, a student must submit a formal application for Special Consideration as per the Special Consideration Policy. Students should not request an informal arrangement from their tutor, lecturer or Unit Convenor.

Where an application for Special Consideration is approved, and the outcome is an extension to the due date of a task, submissions that are received after the new due date will be subject to late penalties that are calculated from the new due date. This only applies where the outcome is an extension to the due date – see the Special Consideration Policy for a schedule of all possible outcomes.

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
Clinic, project and workplace tasks 30% No Refer to iLearn page
Reflection and contribution report 30% No Refer to iLearn page
Clinic, project or workplace report 40% No Refer to iLearn page

Clinic, project and workplace tasks

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 0 hours
Due: Refer to iLearn page
Weighting: 30%

 

Students are required to attend and participate online or in person in all meetings with their clinic, workplace or project supervisors and to prepare work in response to their supervisor's instructions

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe and analyse the personal and professional demands that arise in professional legal practice and community legal engagement. .
  • 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
  • Apply the specialised cognitive, interpersonal and communication skills necessary in legal workplaces including the ability to take direction and work in a team to address or resolve legal problems.

Reflection and contribution report

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Refer to iLearn page
Weighting: 30%

 

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

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe and analyse the personal and professional demands that arise in professional legal practice and community legal engagement. .

Clinic, project or workplace report

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Refer to iLearn page
Weighting: 40%

 

Students will be required to write a report that either represents a reflection upon their clinic placement or project or which responds to the initial brief in a project. The requirements for reports will be outlined in detail on iLearn and will be clinic, placement or project specific

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe and analyse the personal and professional demands that arise in professional legal practice and community legal engagement. .
  • Apply the specialised cognitive, interpersonal and communication skills necessary in legal workplaces including the ability to take direction and work in a team to address or resolve legal problems.

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

Individual Placement participants

Please complete your individual placement as required by your workplaces. All assessment information will be available to you in the Inidivdual Placement section of the iLearn page.

Clinic and Project Placement participants

Students will undertake the unit in one of two streams: A clinic stream or a project stream.

The clinic stream begins with a comprehensive orientation program, including training in reflective practice and a session on dealing with vicarious trauma when appropriate to the clinic context. Further skills-based modules are available for students to complete in their own time on ilearn. Students will work under the close supervision of solicitor-teachers on real-world social justice cases, undertaking a range of activities including legal research and writing, client interviewing, and legal and non-legal advocacy. Students work face-to-face with their solicitor-teacher in the clinic on campus or on location with the partner organisation. 

In the project stream, students are introduced to the PACE program and course structure in Week 1 before meeting their PACE partner. Students are given additional support in relation to reflective practice and teamwork to help ensure a successful team work experience. PACE partners provide a written project brief that outlines the PACE activity. These are legal and/or policy projects that will contribute to the work of the partner organisation. The projects are developed in consultation with the convenor and supervisor to ensure that the projects are challenging but achievable within one session. PACE partners also brief the students on the work of the partner organisation and the projects. Students in the project stream will meet regularly as required by the project and partner, allowing teaching staff to monitor students’ progress and to support students and teams as the need arises.

Students require access to a computer and a secure and reliable internet provider.

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.

Unit information based on version 2024.01 of the Handbook