LAW 3527 - Law and Justice Internship

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2024

The course helps to make students 'career ready' by placing them in 'internships' with host institutions for a period of between 22 and 25 days in total. Semester 1 and 2 enrolments ordinarily involve two intensive weeks over non-teaching weeks, eg summer or winter break, followed by one day per week over the semester (with each day being a 7 1/2 hour day) or five weeks intensive over the summer semester. The internships enable students to build on their understanding of the theory of law by gaining an appreciation of its practical operation. The course aims to give depth and context to students' existing knowledge of law. Students will be required to complete an agreed research task under the supervision of the course coordinator. The research task will be negotiated between the student and the course coordinator, and will build on the work the student completes during the internship. It is expected that students will also be involved in day-to-day activities of their internship office and gain a broad understanding of the operation of law generally. During the internship, students will be asked to reflect on legal processes and on the development of their legal skills.

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Course Details

Course Code	LAW 3527
Course	Law and Justice Internship
Coordinating Unit	Adelaide Law School
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate Law (LLB)
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Prerequisites	LAW 2504
Restrictions	Available to LLB students only. Enrolment is by selection only, please consult with Course Coordinator for eligibility.
Assessment	Typically to include the preparation of a portfolio related to the placement and a research essay.

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Laura Grenfell

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course students will be able to

Undertake self-directed research in law, analyse and synthesise legal information and materials.
Apply law to complex practical issues, and critique the operation of law from a policy perspective.
Structure and sustain concise and cohesive written arguments for a legal audience.
Undertake practical legal work at the highest level.
Analyse the impact of law from policy perspectives and in the context of social and cultural diversity.
Reflect on their abilities to effectively undertake legal work in a practical setting.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.	1
Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.	2
Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.	3
Attribute 4: Professionalism and leadership readiness Graduates engage in professional behaviour and have the potential to be entrepreneurial and take leadership roles in their chosen occupations or careers and communities.	4
Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.	5
Attribute 6: Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competency Graduates have an understanding of, and respect for, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values, culture and knowledge.	5
Attribute 7: Digital capabilities Graduates are well prepared for living, learning and working in a digital society.	1, 4
Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.	6

Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

The internships enable students to build on their understanding of the theory of law by gaining an appreciation of its practical operation. The course aims to give depth and context to students’ existing knowledge of law. It is expected that students will be involved in day-to-day activities of their internship office and gain a broad understanding of how such organisations operate and of the operation of law generally.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The University expects full-time students (ie those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of up to 48 hours per week to their studies. In law, this figure represents the bare minimum necessary to an understanding of the concepts covered.

While there are no formal classes, students should expect to dedicate an average of 12 hours a week to completing the requirements of this course.

Learning Activities Summary

There are no scheduled learning activities for this course. Instead, each student will be involved in the day to day activities of their host organisation and will be able to receive from the course coordinator regular feedback on their interim assessment as well as assistance in formulating their research essay question.

Specific Course Requirements

The course places students in 'internships' for a total period of between 22 and 25 days, with each day being a 71/2 hour day. The exact dates and number of dates will be determined between the student and the course coordinator.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary


Task	Weight	Due date	Task Type	Length	Redeemable	Learning Outcomes
Research Essay	70%	To be negotiated; all work must be submitted no later than on the Monday of week 13.	Individual	3500 words (max)	No	1, 2, 3, 5
3 x Diary Summaries	10% each	Upon completion of: the first 10 placement days (summary 1) the next 6 placement days (summary 2) the final 6 placement days (summary 3) but no later than on the Monday of week 13.	Individual	500 words (max) each	No	2, 4, 5, 6

Assessment Detail

(1) The Research Essay

The topic of your research essay will be negotiated with the course co-ordinator. Ideally the focus of this essay should be on an aspect of your internship.

For example, if you are asked to research and write a paper for the organisation, you may use this as the basis of your essay as long as you have the organisation’s permission to do so. This permission is important, especially where the material you are looking at is of a confidential nature.

Alternatively, you can use your experience as the basis of your paper – eg. What are the limits of the Ombudsman’s powers? Why?

Your research essay must have a legal focus and include legal analysis.

(2) Three Diary Summaries

The diary summaries should identify and analyse
(i) how the internship is helping to develop students' legal skills;
(ii) the applicable law; and
(iii) the effectiveness of the legal processes students are observing/interacting with.

The first of these summaries must be submitted after the first ten days at the placement agency so that feedback can be provided to assist in the preparation of subsequent summaries and preparation of the research essay.

Submission

All assessments will be submitted and monitored through text or code comparative software (e.g. Turnitin) where possible.

PRESENTATION OF ASSIGNMENTS
Students must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.

All assignments must be submitted electronically on MyUni via Turnitin. This means that all papers will be electronically checked for plagiarism.
The research essay must:
1. Be footnoted (substantive footnotes will be included in the word count)
2. Be 1.5 or double-spaced and paginated
3. Have a cover sheet, table of contents and a bibliography
4. Adhere to the word limit.

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES FOR REFERENCING
Students must use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, available at http://law.unimelb.edu.au/mulr/aglc/about

ASSIGNMENT EXTENSION APPLICATION
Requests for extensions must be made electronically according to law school policy. Extensions will be granted only for unexpected illness, hardship or on compassionate grounds in accordance with University Policy. Work commitments, travel, holidays or sporting engagements are not unexpected circumstances.

RETURN OF ASSIGNMENTS AND FEEDBACK
Assignments will be returned to students within 4 weeks of the due date with written feedback or once marks have been approved by the Law School Board of Examiners.
Students must not submit work for an assignment that has previously been submitted for any other course.

Late Submission Penalties: When an assessment is submitted after the due date, without an extension, 5% of the total mark possible will be deducted for every 24 hours or part thereof that the assignment is late, including each day on a weekend. For example, an essay that is submitted after the due date and time but within the first 24 hour period, and that has been graded at 63%, will have 5% deducted, for a final grade of 58%. An essay that is more than 24 hours late will lose 10%, etc.

Word Length Penalties: 5% of the total mark possible for a written assessment will be deducted for every 100 words (or part thereof) by which it exceeds a stipulated word limit. For example, a 3,000 word essay graded at 63% will have 5% deducted if it is between 3,001 and 3,100 words long for a final mark of 58%. If the essay is between 3,101 and 3,200 words long, 10% will be deducted for a final mark of 53%, etc. Word limits include all words in the text, in headings, in quotations, but exclude citations in footnotes. Any separate cover page, table of contents, bibliography or list of sources is excluded from the word limit. If the word limit is misstated, this may be regarded as academic dishonesty.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Finality of Assessment Grades

Students are advised that Course Coordinators will not enter into negotiations of any kind with any student regarding changes to their grades. It is irrelevant, in any given circumstance, that only a minimal number of additional marks are required to inflate a student’s grade for any individual assessment item or course as a whole. Pursuant to the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policyand the Adelaide Law School Assessment Policies and Procedures, grades may only be varied through the appropriate channels for academic review (such as an official re-mark).

Moderation

In accordance with the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, course coordinators ‘ensure that appropriate marking guidelines and cross-marking moderation processes across markers are in place’ in each course. Procedures adopted by Adelaide Law School to ensure consistency of marking in courses with multiple markers include:

assurance of the qualifications of markers, and their knowledge of the content covered in each course;
detailed marking guidelines and assessment rubrics to assist in the marking of items of assessment;
sharing of example marked assessments at various grade bands across markers;
reviewing of selected marked assessments from each marker by the course coordinator;
comparison of the marks and their distribution across markers;
automatic double-marking of all interim assessment receiving a fail grade, and of final assessments where a student’s overall result is a fail grade;
the availability of re-marking of assessments in accordance with Adelaide Law School’s Assessment Policies and Procedures.

Approval of Results by Board of Examiners

Students are reminded that all assessment results are subject to approval (and possible moderation/change) by the Law School’s Board of Examiners. Assessment results at the University are not scaled. Under the Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, students are assessed ‘by reference to their performance against pre-determined criteria and standards … and not by ranking against the performance of the student cohort in the course’. However, under that same policy, the Board of Examiners (as the relevant Assessment Review Committee for courses at Adelaide Law School) is required to ‘ensure comparability of standards and consistency’ in assessment. On occasions, the Board of Examiners will form the view that some moderation is required to ensure the comparability of standards and consistency across courses and years, and accordingly provide fairness to all law students. All assessment results are therefore subject to approval (and possible change) until confirmed by the Board of Examiners and posted on Access Adelaide at the end of each semester.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

Student feedback
The course is constantly being updated and revised to reflect the evolution of the law, to respond to student feedback, and to engage with the latest teaching practices. Student feedback is collected each time the course is run, including through SELT reports. Previous SELT reports, and staff feedback on them, are posted on the course MyUni site for students to view and consider.
Student Support
The University Writing Centre provides academic learning and language development services and resources for local, international, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students enrolled at the University of Adelaide.

The centre offers practical advice and strategies for students to master reading, writing, note-taking, time management, oral presentation skills, referencing techniques and exam preparation for success at university through seminars, workshops and individual consultations.

Lex Salus Program
Lex Salus (law and wellbeing) is an initiative of the Adelaide Law School aimed at destigmatising mental health issues; promoting physical, mental and emotional wellness; building a strong community of staff and students; and celebrating diversity within the school. It also seeks to promote wellness within the legal profession, through the involvement of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Honourable Chris Kourakis, as the official Patron of the program.

Students can participate in the Lex Salus program by attending barbecue lunches, pancake breakfasts, knitting and crochet circles, seminars, guest speakers, conferences and other activities. Our Facebook page, website and regular all-student emails promote upcoming events, and have tips and information on wellness.

Our Lex Salus YouTube channel also includes videos on topics like managing stress, and interviews with LGBTQ lawyers and their supporters which celebrate diversity and individuality. Students who commit to 10 hours of volunteering with Lex Salus in one year can have their service recognised on their academic transcript and through a thank you morning tea with the Chief Justice and law school staff.

Student Life Counselling Support
The University’s Student Life Counselling Support service provides free and confidential service to all enrolled students. We encourage you to contact the Student Life Counselling Support service on 8313 5663 to make an appointment to deal with any issues that may be affecting your study and life.
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Academic Integrity
All students must be familiar with the University’s Academic Integrity Policy. Academic Misconduct is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Academic Misconduct (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia. Academic Integrity is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator