Faculty of Law

Degree Programs

Integrated Legal Skills Program for LLB/JD Students

Overview

The subject Legal Skills is made up of eighteen (18) separate components or building blocks spread over the duration of the LLB and JD degrees. Each component is taught and assessed in a substantive law subject. The mark obtained for a skill component is counted towards both the mark for the relevant substantive law subject and for the subject Legal Skills. Students will not receive a grade for Legal Skills until all eighteen components have been completed. Below are some commonly asked questions and answers about the subject Legal Skills. Refer also to the Legal Skills Brochure and FAQ.

Integrated Skills Program Policy

The integrated skills program was introduced in 1997 and has three distinctive features:

  • Subject-oriented: skills are taught with substantive law subjects because we believe that theory and practice complement and reinforce each other.
  • Incremental: the program is spread over the LLB degree because skilled behaviour takes time to develop.
  • Compulsory: skill components are a part of compulsory substantive law subjects and students are obliged to enrol in the program because we believe that all students should acquire basic "lawyering" skills.

Subject-Orientated Program

The Integrated Skills Program is encompassed in the subject Legal Skills (LS). The codes for the subject are LAWS11-111 (LLB) and LAWS75-111 (JD). The subject is a full-credit unit consisting of six individual modules or skill areas focusing on the skills associated with:

Each module consists of a number of levels or components taught with various substantive law subjects taken throughout the degree.

Incremental Program

The program is incremental. Most skill components build upon previous components found in the same or previous semesters. Accordingly, students are encouraged to enrol in substantive subjects in the prescribed order. It will be the student’s responsibility to upgrade their knowledge should they attempt the components in an order other than the prescribed order.

Skill components are part of compulsory substantive law subjects and enrolment is compulsory. Unless granted an exemption from this program, all students must satisfactorily complete the subject Legal Skills, ie the subject Legal Skills is a compulsory subject for the LLB and JD degrees. Students should enrol in Legal Skills in their first semester in the program.

Passing Legal Skills

Students are obliged to obtain an overall pass in Legal Skills. If a student does not obtain an overall pass, the student will be obliged to re-enrol in the subject. The student can carry forward credit for the modules passed but will be required to pass supplementary exercises in failed modules to obtain a passing grade in the subject on re-enrolment.

A result will be recorded for the subject at the end of the semester in which all components have been completed. Until all components are completed students will be shown as having an ongoing result (‘ICON’).

Marks

In each skill component students will be given a mark which will be recorded for both the substantive subject in which the skill component is contained and for Legal Skills. For example, 10/15 for Legal Research and Analysis in Property Law will be part of the 100 marks for that subject and will also be applied to the mark in Legal Skills.

Legal Skills currently contains 18 components. The components are equally weighted. This means that each component of Legal Skills carries 5.55% of the marks for the subject, no matter how many marks are applied to the skill exercise in the substantive subject. The final mark for Legal Skills will be the average of the percentages gained across all components in the skill subject.

Most marks will derive from work undertaken by students on an individual basis. In some components a student’s mark will derive from their performance as part of a small group for which either an individual or group mark will be awarded.

Failure

Students who fail a substantive subject containing a skill component will be required to complete the skill component again when repeating the substantive subject. The best mark for the skill component in that substantive subject, whether on the first or subsequent attempt, will be the mark applied to Legal Skills.

Students Exempted from Legal Skills

Some students who have been given substantial credits for study at other institutions have been exempted from the skills program. Those students are still obliged to undertake any skill components in the substantive subjects that they take.

If those students are concerned that they are at a disadvantage in undertaking this exercise they should contact the skills coordinator where they can be referred to materials covering that skill module. Exempt students can choose to sit in on other subjects where prior skill components are being taught to upgrade their skills. Students should contact the subject coordinator of any subject where prior skill components are offered before sitting in on that subject.

Exempt students who are not enrolled in Legal Skills might not be permitted to participate in the skills assessment phases of “sit in” subjects if, in the opinion of the subject coordinator, this would unduly disrupt enrolled students.

Exempted students will need to replace the subject Legal Skills with another full credit law elective.

Students with Credits from other Institutions but NOT Exempt

For students with credit for some compulsory substantive subjects but who are not exempted from the skills program their marks for Legal Skills will be averaged across those components attempted. Students may choose to slot into substantive subjects in which they have a credit to undertake a prior skill component. It is the responsibility of the student to contact the relevant subject coordinator, attend any scheduled skills lectures, seminars etc, and undertake the relevant skills task. The student will then have the choice of applying these marks to Legal Skills or electing to accept the average mark obtained for skill components included in subjects which they complete.

Skills Certificate

At graduation, students will be given a skills certificate recording the grade obtained in Legal Skills and the mark obtained in individual skills modules.

Amendments to Skills Program

As this skills program continues over a number of semesters, amendments to the program may be necessary due to curriculum changes, university regulations, professional admission requirements and other contingencies. The Faculty of Law constantly reviews the program to maintain and improve its quality.

University Regulations

Generally, the University and Faculty of Law Regulations will apply to the skills program, for example, regulations in regard to plagiarism.

Questions

If you have any questions about the skills program, please contact either of the Skills Coordinatosr, Libby Taylor, or Kathy Atkins.

Policy Number: LAW021
Policy Name: Legal Skills
Contact Person: IT & Administration Manager
Date of Approval: 1998
Date Last Amended: 3 March 2007
Date of Next Review: March 2007