Available in 2014
| Newcastle City Precinct | Semester 1 |
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Previously offered in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004
LAW courses are only available to students enrolled in Bachelor of Laws (LAWS) degree programs.
Examines and critically reviews the role of the legal profession and the legal, ethical and professional conduct duties and responsibilities of lawyers . Students consider the history, structure and regulation of the legal profession, before focusing on the admission requirements to the legal profession. The course considers in detail the duties and obligations of a lawyer to the courts, clients, other legal practitioners, the public and other parties. The course will examine in detail the ethical and professional conduct issues and dilemmas that can arise for a lawyer in practice. The course also focuses on the legal profession and its commitment to pro bono and consider a lawyers role in assisting marginalised persons in accessing justice and the legal system.
| Objectives | The aim of this course is to provide students with knowledge and a critical understanding of the standards of character demanded of lawyers, their duties to clients, the courts, the profession and the community, and the rationale and institutional framework for regulating the legal profession. On successful completion of the course students should be able to: 1. apply their knowledge of professional responsibility in novel fact situations raising ethical dilemmas or demands like those they might encounter in practice, 2. make ethical decisions of choices in these situations including identifying any conflict of interest 3. critically evaluate the institutional framework for regulating the legal profession 4. respond to demands for reform in an analytical and public-spirited fashion. |
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| Content | 1. Overview of Professional Regulation 2. The Changing Nature of Legal Practice 3. Access to justice, Legal Aid, Pro Bono work and Social Justice 4. Regulation of Admission to the Legal Profession; Disclosure 5. Practising law; Solicitors and Barristers 6. Lawyers Duty to Client 7. Client Capacity 8. Conflict of Interest; Information Barriers 9. Lawyers Duty to the Court and to the Administration of Justice 10. Witnesses 11. Lawyers Duty to Other Lawyers, the Public and to Others 12. Prosecutors and Defence Lawyers duties and obligations 13. Barristers and Advocates Immunity 14. Judicial Bias 15. Lawyers and the Media 16. Discipline Professional Misconduct and Unsatisfactory Professional Conduct, conduct in practice and conduct outside of practice, the role of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal and the Supreme Court of NSW, penalties and striking off 17. The role of the Ethics Section of the Law Society of New South Wales and the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner NSW 18. Retainer, Costs Disclosure and Agreement, Lien 19. Trust and Office Accounting - Introduction to Accounting, Receiving money, rendering costs, maintaining a Trust Account, Controlled Money, legislative requirements and record keeping |
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| Replacing Course(s) | n/a | ||||||
| Transition | n/a | ||||||
| Industrial Experience | 0 | ||||||
| Assumed Knowledge | LAWS1001A, LAWS1001B, LAWS1002A, LAWS1002B, LAWS2003A, LAWS2003B, LAWS3004A, LAWS3004B, LAWS3005 | ||||||
| Modes of Delivery | Internal Mode | ||||||
| Teaching Methods | Lecture
Tutorial |
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| Assessment Items |
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| Contact Hours | Lecture: for 2 hour(s) per Week for Full Term Tutorial: for 1 hour(s) per Week for 5 weeks |
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| Compulsory Components |
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| Timetables | 2014 Course Timetables for LAWS4007 |