Interviewing/advising and legal drafting will be taught intensively from 9 am - 5 pm over one day, or equivalent number of hours across several evenings. Full details of seminars and activities are made available on MyUni course website prior to the course commencing.

Students are strongly advised to attend all workshops. There is an in class activity for Interviewing and Advising (mandatory attendance) that forms the basis for the assessments of this topic. Attendance at the legal drafting workshop is not mandatory, however the assessment is linked to the content taught in the workshop.

Students MUST discuss the placement requirements with the Law Society of South Australia before enrolling in this course.

Duration Interviewing and Advising plus work experience placement
1 hr Topic 1 – Legal Writing
2 hrs Topic 2 – Client Interviewing and Advising
2.5 hrs Topic 3 – Legal Drafting

Placement must be approved by the Law Society of South Australia. Students must not commence placement before receiving approval from the Law Society of South Australia. Placement will comprise of 105 hours=3 weeks full time or part time 2 days per week at 7 hours, or 4 x 4 hours per week.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1 Identify the purpose, audience and structure and construct concise and cohesive written letters, arguments, and submissions etc for a client/legal/professional/general/mixed audience in the context of social and cultural diversity.

2 Prepare, conduct and analyse real or simulated client interviews, clarify instructions and provide follow-up and advice, if
applicable, having regard to the circumstances, good practice and the requirements of the law.

3. Develop a methodical and effective approach for obtaining instructions from a client, including appropriate questioning techniques and the provision of accurate preliminary advice.

4. Demonstrate practical legal drafting skills.

5. Demonstrate practical legal skills in a professional legal practice.

6. Work effectively and independently under direction in a legal practice environment.

No textbooks are assigned for GDLP courses.

Seminar resources and readings are available on MyUni ONLY. Students must bring electronic devices to seminars to access seminar materials.

Due to an emphasis on current legal practice other materials may be added after the course outline has been posted. Students are required to check MyUni daily to keep up to date.

Most course resources are provided to students ONLINE via MyUni. Relevant law can be accessed online via:

http://www.comlaw.gov.au/
http://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/index.aspx
http://www.austlii.edu.au/

Due to the emphasis on current legal practice, other materials may be added after the course outline has been posted. Students are required to check MyUni daily to keep up to date.

The course is supported by the MyUni course website. The website contains the following resources:

1. Course information – including seminar schedule and assessment outline.
2. Course materials – such as lecture presentations, seminar materials, readings and resources.
3. Assessment – items of assessment and online submission.
4. Grade centre – where students’ results for assessments are entered.

MyUni will also be used to post announcements. Students are expected to check MyUni daily to keep up to date.

Students should check daily their University of Adelaide email.

The course will be taught intensively. Problem-solving seminars and practical exercises are supported by online lectures and readings.

Students must come prepared for seminars and, where applicable, having listened to online lectures, undertaken prior reading and developed draft responses to seminar questions.

A reminder that students must bring along electronic devices to the seminar so they can access the seminar materials electronically.

Seminar attendance -attendance at Interviewing and Advising is mandatory due to an in class activity that forms the basis of the final assessments. Attendance at the Legal Drafting seminar is not compulsory, however not attending will put you at a severe disadvantage in completing the assessments, as content taught in class is linked to the assessments.

Attendance at all placement days (15) is compulsory and can be completed as follows:

Placement- 105 hours=3 weeks full time or part time 2 days per week at 7 hours, or 4 x 4 hours per week.

Contact time
This course will be taught intensively.

Preparation time
In addition to attending formal classes, it is anticipated that students will do substantial independent work to prepare for classes and to complete the course assessments.


This is a three-unit course and the university workload measurement for students on this course, including class contact time, is 156 hours. This includes any required pre-reading before the course commences, and any research and writing of assessments after the end of formal classes. In addition the work placement component is 105 hours.

Learning activities will involve an intensive seminar series as well as online lectures and materials to be used in preparation for the seminars.

Lectures are a teacher-driven learning activity; relaying of knowledge and information.
Seminars are more interactive than lectures. Students are expected to prepare answers to seminar questions to facilitate useful in-class discussions between peers. As such, seminars are largely student driven. Seminar leaders are learning facilitators.

Assessment tasks are also learning activities.

A detailed seminar schedule will be posted to MyUni prior to the course commencing. Topics include, but are not limited to: interviewing and advising and legal drafting.

The placement handbook includes a number tasks that must be completed over the placement period.

This course is based on the rules of the Legal Practitioners Education and Admission Council (LPEAC) 2018 which specifies the expected competency standards for entry level lawyers at the point of admission.

In this course, the following elements of the National Competency Standards for Entry Level Lawyers are embedded:
Ethics and professional responsibility
Lawyer's Skills
Problem Solving
Work management and business skills

For further information please contact the Law Society of SA Program Manager (GDLP).

Assessments will be made available to students, prior to the nominated deadline. Assessment deadlines will be posted on MyUni prior to the course commencing.

The assessment tasks due dates and day may vary to what is currently scheduled.

Assessment item	Task Type	Dates	Length	Weight	Redeemable in exam?	Learning Outcomes
Trust Accounting	Individual	Week 2	45 Multiple choice questions	n/a	Yes	1, 4, 5
Interviewing and Advising	Individual	Week 1 Tuesday	2,500 words approximately	n/a	Yes	1-3
Pre task legal drafting short answer questions	Individual	Due the day (Tuesday) before the course commences	850 words approximately	n/a	Yes	1-4
Legal drafting	Individual	Week 1 Wednesday	2,000 words approximately	n/a	Yes	1-4
Refer to Assessment detail for an outline of the placement tasks.	Individual	Submitted at the completion of placement -Friday	There are several tasks outlined in the placement handbook. The length of each task will vary depending on the instructions from the placement supervisor.	n/a	Yes	5-6

The purpose of the GDLP program is to facilitate your transition from undergraduate academic law studies to the legal professional employment environment through the demonstration and practice of professionally-based skills and competencies.

Assessments will be made available to students, prior to the nominated deadline. Assessment deadlines will be posted on MyUni prior to the course commencing. Assessments guidelines will be provided for each assessment task.

Students MUST discuss the placement requirements with the Law Society of South Australia before enrolling in this course.

All assessments are competency based (non-graded pass). Competence must be demonstrated in all assessment tasks and activities. MyUni requires a numerical value to display that competency has been demonstrated. Please note:
1=Competency demonstrated (Non-graded pass)
0=Competency not demonstrated (Re submission required)

Students MUST discuss the placement requirements with the Law Society of South Australia before enrolling in this course.

Assessment Detail

Interviewing and advising
Letter confirming client’s instructions. Length Max 1,500 words.

This assessment is designed to allow students to demonstrate their ability to:
-Interview a client and confirm the client's instructions in writing;
-Summarise advice provided during the interview and identify any legal advice extracted from the materials provided;
-Identify the next steps for the client, including a summary of the process to be followed;
-Confirm terms of engagement, including hourly rate and an estimate of how much the matter will cost the client;

Letter to Other Party’s Solicitor in an Estate or Defamation matter. Length Max 1,000 words.

Estate matter
-Notify other party's Solicitor that you act for your client who intends to make a claim for provision from the estate of the deceased;
-You are gathering personal and financial information in respect of your client's claim;
-You are requesting an undertaking that the estate will not be distributed before the six-month time limit from the date of the grant of probate;
-The letter must specify who you are asking to give the undertaking;
-In whose favour the undertaking is being given;
-The scope of the undertaking.

Defamation matter
-The Other Party's Solicitor has written to you with an offer which was rejected by your client as inadequate;
-You are to write to the Other Party's Solictor noting that your client has been willing to compromise, having made various offers and advising that you have been instructed to issue proceedings.


Legal Drafting-Pre Task short answer questions. Length -850 words approximately
This assessment is submitted prior to the seminar on legal drafting. The assessment comprises of 4 short answer questions in relation to:
-Affidavit evidence;
-Drating affidavits;
-Affidavit rules- Uniform Civil Rules 2020

Legal Drafting -Interlocutory application -Affidavit and Form 14- cover sheets for exhibits. Length -2,000 words approximately
This assessment is designed to allow students to demonstrate their ability to:
-Draft an Interlocutory application;
-Draft an affidavit;
-Complete Form 14- cover sheets for exhibits.

Placement Handbook tasks

Interviewing and Advising
• Prepare a pre-interview checklist in anticipation of an interview with a client.
• Observe the interview.
• After the interview finalise the checklist on the basis of observations and in consultation with the interviewing practitioner.
• Determine the steps needed for the next interview.
• In advance of an interview with a client, in which the lawyer plans to give advice or counselling, prepare a list of possible remedies and options.
• Attend the interview, observe the process of advice or counselling,
• After the interview discuss the process with the interviewing practitioner by reference to the pre-prepared list.

Legal Research
Prepare a research report on a topic agreed with the Supervisor. The report must include one or more of the following:
Find legislation in a volume of the South Australian or Commonwealth Statutes and giving the volume and page reference for that legislation, or the on-line reference.
List relevant amendments to legislation, noting when the amendments came into operation, the name of the amending Act, its number and year.
Find relevant regulations made under the statute in particular year(s) and listing them by date, with reference to the page number and the source of those regulations, including any on-line references.
List all reported cases that have judicially considered relevant sections of the statute, giving a full citation, including page number and/or on-line reference, and listing possible reference sources for this information.
Find relevant cases and literature references by identifying the leading cases on the topic (giving case name, report volume and page number or on-line reference) and by identifying the latest published discussion on the topic (giving details of the publication, the title of the article, author, date and page number or on-line reference of the article).

Write a letter or an email
o to a client confirming instructions and advice
o on behalf of a client
a letter of demand
a response to a letter of demand
to an expert seeking an opinion
to an authority outlining a client’s problem and requesting advice as to the client’s rights (the authority not at this stage being a party to the client’s claim)
to the solicitor for a client’s opponent (e.g. formulating the client’s claim, confirming access arrangements or changes to arrangements in a family law matter)
requesting and providing informal discovery
accompanying and explaining a formal document to be filed/lodged for a client
to the police /DPP asking for additional information

Draft an Affidavit
• Draft an affidavit on behalf of a client
• Draft a responding affidavit
• Draft an affidavit on behalf of a witness
• Draft an affidavit on behalf of your Supervisor as solicitor for the client

Drafting
Draft simple pleadings in the form of:
o Particulars of Claim (long form) or Statement of Claim
o Defence or Defence and Counterclaim
• Draft a Will
• Draft a Notice of Appeal from a Court
• Draft a Rule 9 voir dire application (refer to the Supreme Court Criminal Rules)
• Draft Consent Orders or Initiation Application in the Family Court
• Draft an Interlocutory Application
• Subpoenas

Using Court Registries and Public Records Offices
Electronically lodge a document in a Court Registry. Write a synopsis of the formalities, fees and legal effect of lodgement.
Electronically lodge a document in a Public Records Office. Write a synopsis of the formalities, fees and legal effect of lodgement.

Negotiation
Prepare a negotiation plan on a file with which there is familiarity and in which negotiation is ongoing or likely to occur during the placement period,
Observe the negotiation process,
Prepare a commentary on the negotiation with reference to the negotiation plan and discussions with the practitioner involved,
Negotiation may take the form of a chain of correspondence between, for example, the DPP and solicitors for the defence.

Advocacy
Assist an experienced practitioner in preparing for an application to the court and/or a mediation.
• Prepare the necessary documentation and application on behalf of the client and make notes for the appearance
• After observing the appearance, debrief with your supervisor about was learned
• Compare and contrast observation and debrief with earlier preparation notes and discussions with the practitioner who appeared
Students are to observe an experienced practitioner in the conduct of a trial or tribunal hearing.
After observing the trial/hearing debrief with your supervisor about an aspect of the trial/hearing. What was learnt from the experience?

Practice Management
Consider the placement legal office’s approach to:
o File maintenance – opening, maintaining and closure
o Whether files are kept in hard copy or electronically or both
o Recording and organisation of information on files
o Diarising
o File costing (if applicable)
Prepare an Analysis of an Aspect of Practice Management, Including Reference to Ethical Considerations
• Consider the placement legal office’s approach to:
o Client service
o Communication with clients/police/government departments/barristers or other legal practitioners
o Time management
o Marketing
o Conflicts of Interest

Discuss with the Placement Supervisor, Office Manager or Accountant the System of Office and Trust Accounting Used in the Placement Office

Risk Management Checklist
All students must complete the Risk Management Checklist by the end of the placement. The checklist consolidates learning and reflects on risk management systems and practices.

Students must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.

All assignments in this course are to be submitted electronically through Turnitin. Submissions to Turnitin are to be in Microsoft Word formate (not in pdf).

Students work will be marked in accordance with the marking rubric.

Resubmission

Students must demonstrate competency in all elements of the national competency standards, and failure to do so will result in the relevant assessment being marked as non-competent. If the assessment is deemed, non-competent, students may be offered the opportunity to revise and resubmit the assessment. A resubmission is only allowed if a bona fide attempt has been made in the initial submission. In most cases, only the parts of the assessment that do not attain competence will be required to be resubmitted. Students may access supplementary teaching. Usually, only one resubmission is allowed per assessment.

Final assessments that do not attain competence on resubmisison (fail), per University policy, are double-marked before the results are released back to the student.

Extensions

Requests for extensions must be made electronically via GDLP Enquiries GDLPEnquiries@lawsocietysa.asn.au Students MUST apply for an extension prior to the deadline. 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.

Late Submission

Assessments submitted late without an approved extension may not be marked.

Failure to complete assessments

All assessment in this course must be completed. Failure to complete any of the assessments will result in course failure.

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 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.

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.

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.