Course Title: Postgraduate Legal Internship

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Postgraduate Legal Internship

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

LAW2554

City Campus

Postgraduate

660H Graduate School of Business and Law

Face-to-Face

Spring2022

LAW2554

City Campus

Postgraduate

660H Graduate School of Business and Law

Internet

Sem 2 2022

Flexible Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

LAW2554

City Campus

Postgraduate

660H Graduate School of Business and Law

Face-to-Face

PGRDFlex21 (ZZZZ),

PGRDFlex21 (All)

Course Coordinator: Lloyd England

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3

Course Coordinator Email: Lloyd.England@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: Building 13

Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None


Course Description

The legal system in Australia is made up of various agencies, courts, and institutions. It is valuable to observe and reflect on each of the elements of the legal system, critically engaging with their role and purpose. This course provides the opportunity for you to spend time in an external legal institution, for a placement or “shadow” a legal professional such as lawyers, policy advisors, advocates, Magistrates and Judges to gain insights into legal practice and to critically engage with the legal system. You will be required to attend the partner organisation for at least 10 days by arrangement between you and the organisation. The internship should not extend beyond 30 days.You will undertake the placement under the guidance of a workplace mentor and with the support of academic and professional University staff. The range of projects in which you will be involved will be determined according to the project priorities of the partner organisation.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

-


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

CLO1: Critically analyse the role of the selected legal workplace or organisation in the legal system.
CLO2: Critically reflect on the design, implementation and evaluation of a work-based project during the placement.
CLO3: Explore the need for law reform options and conduct independent research to make specific law reform recommendations appropriate to the legal internship.


Overview of Learning Activities

Details of Learning Activities

This course is designed for students to find THEIR OWN unpaid or paid internship. The Graduate School of Business and Law or the Centre for Innovative Justice may also advertise opportunities from time to time.

Process and Enrolment Requirements:

1. You will need to have a spare LAW elective to enrol into this course. If you are unsure, contact Business Connect.

2. You are responsible for securing your own internship (internal or external to RMIT)

3. Once you have secured an internship and are ready to enrol, launch an enquiry through the Business Connect Online Portal selecting “Work & Study Opportunities” from the Services menu. In the enquiry, provide details of your internship and upload a copy of your Position Description (Details MUST include: your job title, location, duties (specifying connection to law, regulation and/or policy), proposed internship start/finish dates and work schedule (eg. One day per week (Mondays) 9-4pm). This will be sent to the Course Coordinator and/or Program Manager for approval.

4. Once your internship has been approved, Business Connect will contact you with instructions to finalise your enrolment online

5. Before you commence your internship: A WIL Relationship Agreement must be completed by the host organisation, student and RMIT University AND the internship and associated documents must be recorded in the university’s InPlace WIL system

6. International internships have must also be registered through RMIT Global Mobility’s Mobi system

7. You are responsible for obtaining an Assessment Plan from your Course Coordinator before you commence your internship that sets out what tasks etc will contribute to the assessment tasks, and identifies the submission date for each assessment task, tailored to your internship dates.

For more information, visit rmitbuswil.com Once you are successfully been enrolled in this course, your course coordinator becomes your point of contact. The details of your course coordinator can be found on this Course Guide and the Canvas site for this course.


Overview of Learning Resources

Various learning resources are available online through MyRMIT Studies\Canvas. The lecture notes and workshop notes are posted on Canvas.

Resources are also available online through RMIT Library databases and other facilities. Visit the RMIT library website for further details. Assistance is available online via our chat and email services, face to face at our campus libraries or via the telephone on (03) 9925 2020.

Additional resources and/or sources to assist your learning will be identified by your course coordinator and will be made available to you as required during the teaching period.

Additional resources and/or sources to assist your learning will be identified by your course coordinator and will be made available to you as required during the teaching period.

Students are encouraged to refer to the following references:

  • Christine Parker and Adrian Evans, Inside Lawyers’ Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 3rd edition, 2018)
  • Rachael Field, James Duffy and Anna Huggins, Lawyering and Positive Professional Identities (LexisNexis, 2014)


Overview of Assessment

Assessment Task 1: 20%

Linked CLOs: 1

Assessment Task 2: 30%

Linked CLOs: 1, 2

Assessment Task 3: 50%

Linked CLOs: 1, 3