Students

LAWS5051 – PACE: Individual Placements

2025 – Session 1, In person-placement, North Ryde

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
Wednesdays 2-3pm or by appointment
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.

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: 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

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).

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 the Service Connect portal, 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
Legal Practice and Regulation 20% Yes 13 April 2025 11:55pm
Oral Report 30% No summary 27 April 2025 11:55pm; vivas Weeks 9-12
Skills Checklist and Goal Setting Exercise 50% No 8 June 2025 11:55pm

Legal Practice and Regulation

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: 13 April 2025 11:55pm
Weighting: 20%
This is a hurdle assessment task (see assessment policy for more information on hurdle assessment tasks)

 

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.

Oral Report

Assessment Type 1: Viva/oral examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: summary 27 April 2025 11:55pm; vivas Weeks 9-12
Weighting: 30%

 

Students are required to research and deliver an oral report that outlines the nature of the professional challenges in the legal workplace and the regulatory response to those challenges, and be prepared to answer questions on the report

 
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.

Skills Checklist and Goal Setting Exercise

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 8 June 2025 11:55pm
Weighting: 50%

 

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

This unit is delivered entirely online. There are no face-to-face classes or lectures. You must complete at least 80 hours with your placement provider and follow their lawful workplace directions.

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/

Academic Success

Academic Success 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 2025.04 of the Handbook